Specifications for the layout of traditional Chinese medicine periodicals
1Key Takeaways
Academic journals are the starting and ending point of scientific research. The quality of journal editing directly affects the process and quality of scientific research, playing a crucial guiding role in research work. For a long time, due to the disciplinary characteristics of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), the…
2Expert Interpretation
It deeply interprets the core content of the "Standards for the Editing and Publishing of Traditional Chinese Medicine Journals" of the China Association of Traditional Chinese Medicine, covering the entire process of technical specifications including journal structure design, paper writing requirements, terminology standardization, digital publishing, etc., and provides a professional implementation framework and quality control points for the editing and publishing of traditional Chinese medicine academic journals.
Background of Standardization Construction of TCM Journals
As an important carrier of academic exchanges, the editing quality of TCM journals directly affects the efficiency of dissemination of scientific research results. Based on 35 national standards and 6 industry standards, this standard has for the first time constructed a special editing standard system for TCM journals, solving problems such as inconsistent terminology and confusing formats caused by the characteristics of the discipline.
Comparison of core standard frameworks
| Dimensions | General journal standards | Special regulations for Chinese medicine |
|---|---|---|
| Terminology system | General medical terminology | Integrate professional standards such as "Chinese Medicine Terminology" and "Chinese Medicine Clinical Diagnosis and Treatment Terminology" |
| Units of measurement | International System of Units | Retain traditional units of measurement such as "liang" and "qian", and clarify modern conversion rules |
| Documentation | GB/T 7714 standard | Add standards for citing ancient books (such as handling of taboo characters) |
Key content implementation points
1. Structural element specifications
- Cover system: requires fixed position layout of journal name, ISSN barcode, volume and issue number
- Table of contents page: must include column name, article title, author, starting page number
- Copyright logo: 16 required information (from supervisory unit to pricing)
2. Paper writing requirements
Typical example: Clinical research reports must indicate the ethics approval number and follow the CONSORT-CHM 2017 standard. For example, clinical trials of acupuncture must report:
- Acupoint location (using the Zusanli(ST36) format)
- Needle specifications (in millimeters)
- Treatment frequency
Special treatment of TCM terms
The specification specifies the following treatment principles:
- Homophones: "矢气" should remain the same, "高梁" should be changed to "油梁"
- Variant characters: 8 special characters not included in the "General Standard Chinese Character Table" (such as "瞏") are allowed to be used
- Prescription naming: Self-made prescriptions should be named in pinyin (such as Bushen Huoxue Wan)
Technical requirements for digital publishing
Added the Digital Object Unique Identifier (DOI) registration specification, requiring:
- Prefix/suffix structure: 10.1234/abc format
- The encoding is case-insensitive
- The article QR code should include the title, author, and electronic version download link
Editorial Ethics Code
Establish a three-level prevention and control mechanism:
- Author Statement: A conflict of interest statement must be submitted
- Review Recusation: Related experts voluntarily recuse themselves
- Withdrawal Process: Four types of situations such as data falsification require withdrawal and publication of a statement