Gut will consider for publication articles that have been posted on ePrint servers such as the BMJ NetPrints server.

The word count excludes the title page, abstract, tables, acknowledgements and contributions and the references.

Also see detailed instructions for online submission and formatting your manuscript.

We invite authors to submit potential illustrations for the cover with their paper

For papers reporting original data (eg, controlled trials and intervention studies):
Word count: up to 3500 words. This does not include the title page, abstract, figure / table legends, references.
Structured abstract: up to 250 words.
Tables/ Illustrations: Images submitted should be those which uniquely display the data and not repetition of information available either in the text or as a table. Figures are not limited, but must be thoroughly justified.
References: limited to those critical and relevant to the manuscript.
If after removing redundancy and repetition your article exceeds these limits please consider whether you are better served by writing two separate articles; but bear in mind the need to avoid duplicate publication.

Reports of randomised controlled trials should follow the revised CONSORT statement (Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials.) published in JAMA (2001;285:1987-91), as closely as possible. See RCTs for more guidelines.

1. Title Page

   When you choose a title bear in mind that others will have to find your work using bibliographic searches. Check that it represents the content of the paper and is not misleading. Also suggest a short running head.

   The title and authors' names should be typed on the title page and in the journal style. Inconsistency in the number of forenames or initials given for an individual author will mean that several versions of an author's name will appear in the index. Authors' degrees etc are not printed in Gut.

2. Abstract

   Authors of original scientific papers must supply a structured abstract of no more than 250 words under the following headings:

   1. Objective
   2. Design
   3. Setting
   4. Patients
   5. Interventions
   6. Main outcome measures
   7. Results - give numerical data rather than vague statements that drug x produced a better response than drug y. Favour confidence intervals over p values, and give the numerical data on which any p value is based.
   8. Conclusions - do not make any claims that are not supported by data in the paper.

These are commissioned only articles. Original papers should not be submitted under this article type.

There are commissioned only articles. Original papers should not be submitted under this article.

Word count: up to 1000
Structured abstract: not required
Tables/illustrations: up to 2
References: up to 10

We rarely publish case reports unless they illustrate a significant advance in our understanding of disease aetiology or pathogenetic mechanisms.

Word count: up to 1500 words.
Structured abstract: up to 200 words.
Tables/Illustrations: up to 1 table and 2 figures.
References: up to 15.

Gut welcomes Letters to the Editor. These should be related to a recent article published in Gut. Original data may be included if it is relevant and gives added weight to the comment on the previously published article.

Word count: up to 600 words.
Structured abstract: not required.
Tables/Illustrations: up to 2.
References: up to 4.

This functunality has now been removed from the Gut website. Please can you submit any correspondance for potential publication in the Journal via Bench>Press as a Letter to the Editor.

This citable category is for unusual images that make an educational point. Since the aim of these articles is to stimulate the reader to think about the case, the title should be ambiguous and not give away the final diagnosis immediately, for example, "A rare cause of haematemesis".

GI snapshots will appear in two parts. The first part should contain a very brief clinical introduction to a case (maximum 150 words) followed by an image and a question designed to stimulate the reader to think about what the image shows. The legend should not indicate the diagnosis but should simply describe the nature of the image e.g. 'endoscopic view of second part of duodenum'. The second part (maximum 150 words) will appear later in the issue should contain the answer. The answer should include a brief description of the key diagnostic features of the image, the outcome, and a teaching point. GI snapshots will not include more than 5 references.

The quality of the image must be at least 600dpi and in TIFF, JPEG or EPS format.

Videos are also welcome and should be in .mov, .avi, or .mpeg format. They should be offered as two different files, one for viewing at lower speed connections, and of low resolution; and one for higher speed connections, of high resolution. For a good example of this at work see http://www.bjophthalmol.com/video/collection.dtl - click on a [View video] link and you'll see one video for dial-up and one video for fast connections.

These are commissioned only articles. Original papers should not be submitted under this title.

The BMJ Publishing Group journals are willing to consider publishing supplements to regular issues. Supplement proposals may be made at the request of:

1. The journal editor, an editorial board member or a learned society may wish to organise a meeting, sponsorship may be sought and the proceedings published as a supplement.
2. The journal editor, editorial board member or learned society may wish to commission a supplement on a particular theme or topic. Again, sponsorship may be sought.
3. The BMJPG itself may have proposals for supplements where sponsorship may be necessary.
4. A sponsoring organisation, often a pharmaceutical company or a charitable foundation, that wishes to arrange a meeting, the proceedings of which will be published as a supplement.

For further information on criteria that must be fulfilled, download the supplements guidelines (PDF).