Acta Gastro-Enterologica publishes studies in the field of Gastroenterology. The language of the journal is English. Papers from any country will be considered for Publication. Manuscripts submitted to the journal should not already have been published previously in English or any other language, nor should they be under consideration for publication elsewhere in English or any other language. All unsolicited papers are peer-reviewed before it is decided whether they should be accepted, rejected, or returned for revision. The journal reserves the right to edit the language of papers accepted for publication for clarity and correctness, and to make formal changes to ensure compliance with Acta’s style. Authors have an opportunity to review such changes in the proofs. 

1. Submission of manuscripts

Manuscripts should be submitted electronically to the Editorial Office:  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it   

2. Presentation of manuscripts

Authors are invited to submit the following types of paper for consideration: original articles, case reports, letters to the editor, reviews, expert point of view, articles from Symposia or meetings, Consensus conferences and Guidelines from scientific societies.

a) A covering letter is required, stating the name and address of the corresponding author with telephone and fax numbers, e-mail and the type of manuscript (e.g. original article, case report, review, letter to the editor, symposium).

b) A signature sheet is required upon submission (electronic submission of a scanned original document). Please ensure that the original signatures of the principal author and all the co-authors appear under the following text : “I hereby declare that I am author of the paper by … et al. entitled… None of the material in this manuscript has been published previously in any form and none of the material is currently under consideration for publication elsewhere other than noted in the covering letter to the Editor”. Please scan your signature sheet with the original signatures of all the authors and send your page by email as a .jpg or .pdf file together with your manuscript, cover letter and figures (300 dpi). The reviewing process starts as soon as you comply with these Directions to Authors. 

The manuscript should consist of following sections (in 1 Word 97-2003 document) :

Title page including the following items :

- Full title without abbreviations.

- NAMES of all authors with initials of first names.

- Main affiliation of each author.

- Corresponding author’s name, full address, fax and e-mail.

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Abstract (summary).

Required for all contributions, except letters to the editor, and should contain a maximum of 250 words and be subdivided as follows for original articles :

- Background and study aims: not more than two sentences outlining previous work in this area and defining the aims of the study.

- Patients and methods: relevant data on patients, study design (prospective or retrospective), and parameters.

- Results: presenting the most relevant data.

- Conclusions: one or two sentences with a special emphasis on the clinical conclusions to be drawn from the study.

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Main text:

Original articles should present the results of original research in the form of a full-length study. Should contain the following sections : abstract, introduction, patients/materials  and methods, results, discussion; reference list, tables, figure legends.

Case reports should present only cases of exceptional interest. Should contain the following sections : short abstract, introduction, case report, discussion; reference list, tables, figure legends. An extensive review of existing published cases on the matter should be provided.

Letters to the Editor should refer to a recent article published in the journal or to a short relevant communication in the field of Gastroenterology.

Reviews, Symposia, Expert point of views or Guidelines should include an abstract, the core text, a summary and a research agenda for the future.

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References. Number references consecutively in the order in which they are first mentioned in the text. Identify references in text, tables, and legends by Arabic numerals placed in brackets. In the numbered reference list at the end of the text, use the style of the examples below.

Article (list all authors) :

13. Adler M, Goubau P, Nevens F. Hepatitis C virus: the burden of the disease. Acta Gastroenterol. Belg. 2002, 65: 83-86.

Book :

18. Day RA. How to write and publish a scientific paper. Philadelphia: Institute for Scientific Information, 1979.

Chapter in Book :

22. Costa M, Furness JB, Llewellyn-Smith IF. Histochemistry of the enteric nervous system. In: Johnson LR, ed. Physiology of the gastrointestinal tract. Volume 1. 2nd ed. New York: Raven, 1987:1–40. 

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Tables. Each table must be referred to in the text of the manuscript and be numbered (ex. Table 1). Tables and Table titles have to be typed on separate pages within the main manuscript document

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Legends for figures should be typed on a separate page within the main manuscript document

d) Figures (in colour if possible) should be forwarded as separate files (JPG, 300 dpi at least) and should not contain arrows or notations directly in the figure. Each Figure must be referred to in the text of the manuscript and be numbered (ex. Fig. 1). Figures inserted into Powerpoint presentations or Word documents are not acceptable. The figure’s title should include the first author’s name and a number referring to the text.

3. Reviewing process

All manuscripts (except symposium articles which are reviewed by the organizer and the Editorial Board), are submitted to one (case reports), two (original articles) or three (in case of disagreement) reviewers. Referees are requested to answer within 30 days or send back the manuscript if they cannot comply with this regulation.

Decisions of the reading committee (reviewers and editorial board)

-  The paper can be accepted for publication without further changes.

-  The paper can be accepted for publication after minor changes that must be addressed.

-  The paper can be accepted for publication after a major revision. In this case the authors should provide a clear point-by-point reply to all remarks of the referee on a separate

   sheet and provide one copy of the manuscript with the changes highlighted in bold. The paper is then resubmitted to the referees for final decision.

-  The paper does not meet priorities of the journal and is not to be considered for publication in Acta Gastro-Enterologica Belgica. 

Names of reviewers may be suggested by corresponding authors.       

4.   Reprints

Authors receive 25 reprints free of charge; further reprints can be ordered at cost price when returning the proofs. 

5.  Copyright

All rights are held by the publisher, including the right to reproduce all or part of any publication.