Submissions

Author Guidelines

Rheumatology (Bulgaria) publishes peer-reviewed research articles, review articles, clinical case reports, and editorial commentaries. National and regional guidelines and recommendations relevant to Bulgarian and Balkan rheumatology are also considered, subject to independent peer review and full ethical compliance.

Manuscripts should be written in English. Where feasible (but not mandatory for non-Bulgarian authors), authors are encouraged to provide a Bulgarian translation of the abstract to support local dissemination.

Article Templates

Article templates are available from 19 Jan 2026 (Updated 17 Feb 2026):

1. Research article EN  BG

2. Review article EN  BG

3. Case report EN  BG

1. Title Page

The title page must include:

• The manuscript title (maximum 30 words, reflecting key concepts and searchable keywords);

• Full names of all authors (first name, middle initial if applicable, and family name);

• Author affiliations, identified by numeric superscripts;

• Full contact details of the corresponding author (name, postal address, telephone, e-mail);

• ORCID iD of the corresponding author (mandatory); ORCID iDs of all co-authors are strongly encouraged;

• Optional: authors’ professional social media identifiers (e.g. X/Twitter handles);

• A declaration by the corresponding author confirming that the work has not been published previously, except as an abstract presented at a scientific meeting.

2. Abstract and Keywords

Original Articles, Review Articles, and Case Reports must be accompanied by an abstract of up to 300 words, clearly stating:

• Aim and objectives;

• Study design and methodology;

• Key results;

• Principal conclusions.

A list of keywords should follow the abstract.

3. Manuscript Structure and Length

Maximum manuscript length (including references, tables, and figures):

• Original Articles: up to 15 standard typewritten pages (STPs)

• Review Articles: up to 17 STPs

• Editorials and Case Reports: up to 10 STPs

One STP equals 1,800 characters (including spaces).
Approximately 2.5 STPs correspond to one printed journal page (A4 format).

Structure

• Original Research Articles must include distinct sections:
  Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion, Conclusions.

• Review Articles should follow recognized principles for narrative reviews
  (https://rdcu.be/b3BPo) or systematic reviews/meta-analyses
  (http://www.prisma-statement.org/).

• All manuscripts must clearly state the study aim.

Tables, figures, and images should be embedded in the text, each with a clear title and legend.

4. Acknowledgments

Acknowledgments should recognize individuals who contributed to the work but do not meet ICMJE authorship criteria, as well as institutions providing support.

All sources of financial or material support must be disclosed, including grants, institutions, associations, or confirmation of no funding.

5. References

References must be cited in the text using Arabic numerals in square brackets, in order of appearance.

The reference list should follow Index Medicus journal abbreviations and standard biomedical formatting.

Examples:

• Journal article:
  Yakub YN, Freedman RB, Pabico RC. Renal transplantation in systemic lupus erythematosus. Nephron. 1981;27(1):197–201.

• Book chapter:
  Wilkinson AH. Evaluation of the transplant recipient. In: Danovitch GM (ed.). Handbook of Kidney Transplantation. 2nd ed. Boston: Little, Brown and Co.; 1996:109–122.

• Book:
  Sharma A. Textbook of Systemic Vasculitis. New Delhi: Jaypee Brothers Medical Publishers; 2015:20–30.

If there are up to three authors, list all names.
If more than three, list the first three followed by et al.

Submission Process

Manuscripts must be submitted exclusively via the journal’s online submission system after registration/login of the corresponding author.

Ethical Statements and Declarations

Copyright, Conflicts of Interest, and Funding

Rheumatology (Bulgaria) adheres to the ethical standards of COPE, ICMJE, WAME, and CSE.

All submissions must include:

• A Conflict of Interest Statement from all authors;

• Disclosure of all financial and non-financial support;

• Completion of the ICMJE Conflict of Interest Disclosure Form
  (http://www.icmje.org/downloads/coi_disclosure.zip).

Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement

The Bulgarian Rheumatology Society and Rheumatology (Bulgaria) are committed to preventing publication misconduct and follow:

• ICMJE (http://www.icmje.org/)

• COPE (http://publicationethics.org/)

• CSE (https://www.councilscienceeditors.org/)

• Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing
  (https://oaspa.org/principles-of-transparency-and-best-practice-in-scholarly-publishing-3/)

Responsibilities

Editors

Editors provide independent, unbiased decisions; manage complaints and appeals; comply with COPE Core Practices; and promote research integrity and ethical communication.

Reviewers

Reviewers must act confidentially, declare conflicts of interest, provide constructive and timely reviews, and alert editors to ethical concerns. Reviewer recognition via Publons is supported.

Authors

Authors are responsible for originality, data accuracy, ethical compliance, authorship integrity, and post-publication corrections when required.

Publisher

The Publisher supports editorial independence, ethical oversight, and corrective actions (corrections, retractions, database notifications) when misconduct is confirmed.

Plagiarism, Redundancy, and Retractions

All submissions undergo similarity screening. Plagiarism, redundant publication, and unethical overlap are handled according to COPE guidelines.

Preprints (e.g. medRxiv, bioRxiv) are permitted with transparent disclosure. Ethical secondary publication (e.g. society guidelines) may be accepted in line with ICMJE recommendations.

Systematic review authors are encouraged to register protocols in PROSPERO
(https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/).

Ethics Approval and Informed Consent

Research must comply with:

• Declaration of Helsinki
  https://www.wma.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/DoH-Oct2013-JAMA.pdf

• EU legislation on animal research
  https://ec.europa.eu/environment/chemicals/lab_animals/legislation_en.htm

• NIH Policy on Use of Laboratory Animals
  https://grants.nih.gov/grants/policy/air/index.htm

Ethics approval details (protocol number, date, institution) and statements on informed consent are mandatory for all applicable studies. Patient privacy and data protection must be strictly respected.