Manuscripts may be submitted within designated categories of communication, including:

� original basic or clinical investigation (original papers);

� brief reports of new methods or observations (brief communications);

� state-of-the-art presentations or reviews (review or mini review papers);

� case presentation and discussion (case reports);

� clinical infectious diseases images;

� letters to the editor concerning previous publications;

� editor's corner, containing ideas, hypotheses and comments (Editorial).

It is the most important section of the Journal. Original articles present new data about researches, issues and matters in the field of infectious diseases. These articles should conform strictly to the rules of publication, containing the following sections: abstract, objective or hypothesis, experimental design and methods used (statistical data), essential features of any interventions, main outcome measures, main results of the study, discussion and conclusion. An Original Paper should contain:

� an abstract of no more than 300 words

� no more than 7 key words

� a running title with no more 40 letters and spaces

� the text should be divided into separate sections (Introduction, Material and Methods, Results, Discussion, Conclusion, References)

� no more than 50 references

� authors do not exceed 10.

� authors should state in the cover letter that the manuscript is intended to be an original paper

A brief communication is focused in a single subject, which should be concise and a new point of view presentation of the subject. The scope of this section is intended to be wide and the methods, results and discussion should be in the same text. A brief communication should contain:

� an abstract of no more than 200 words

� no more than 4 key words

� a running title with no more 40 letters and spaces

� text not exceeding 12 double-spaced typed pages of 23 lines each

� a maximum of 2 figures or tables (or one of each)

� no more than 20 references

� the text should not be divided into separate sections

� authors should state in the cover letter that the manuscript is intended to be a brief communication;

� authors do not exceed 5.

This section is for an updated presentation on a specific topic. This section should contain critical analysis and a new point of view of a relevant area and not a chronological description of the literature. This section aims to raise the discussion among the readers of controversial issues and the development of concepts in Infectious Diseases. A review article has to bring the new point of views of the focus of the subject. A minireview is focused on a restricted part of a subject. A minireview and review article should contain:

� an abstract of no more than 300 words

� no more than 7 key words

� a running title with no more 40 letters and spaces

� no more than 80 references

� the text may be divided into sections with appropriate titles and subtitles

� authors do not exceed 5.

� authors should state in the cover letter that the manuscript is intended to be a review or mini review article.

The reports of clinical cases must contain a brief introduction on the nature diagnosis of the case, whose focus is the importance of the subject. The case has to be described with data and reports of examinations, treatment and prognosis of the case, discussion about the importance of the findings and presentation of the case in relation to literature. A case report should have a special interest to the clinical research community or it has to be a rare case; or to present a new diagnostic method; or new or modified treatment. A case report article should contain:

� an abstract of no more than 150 words

� no more than 4 key words

� a running title with no more 30 letters and spaces

� no more than 20 references

� the text may be divided into sections: brief introduction with a review of literature; case reports; and conclusion;

� authors do not exceed 5.

� authors should state in the cover letter that the manuscript is intended to be a case report article.

For submission to Clinical Infectious Diseases Images, which are not intended as a vehicle for case reports, all text should be:

� in one double-spaced electronic document, title (no more than eight words in the title; no more than five authors may be listed, including name, highest academic degree, address, e-mail address, telephone and fax number of each author);

� there is no abstract;

� the text should be uniform and contain no more than 300 words;

� it could present a minimum of references (no more than 4).

� authors do not exceed 3.

This is a section that is intended to comment a previous article published in the Journal. It emphasizes the main message of the author of the article; focussing the contribution of scientific article in the medical practice, drawing attention to the reference and impact that this caused in the community. The Letter to the Editor should contain:

� in one double-spaced electronic document, title, no more than 3 authors and their affiliations, and the text with no more than 2 double-spaced pages with 23 line pages;

� it could contain references, but no more than 5.

� authors do not exceed 2.

The editorial containing ideas, hypotheses, point of views and comments of the authors about a relevant subject. This section is also used to publish tributes or notices of congress and seminars. It should contain:

� in one double-spaced electronic document, title, no more than 3 authors and their affiliations, and the text with no more than 2 double-spaced pages with 23 line pages.

� authors do not exceed 3.