Submissions
Submission Preparation Checklist
As part of the submission process, authors are required to check off their submission's compliance with all of the following items, and submissions may be returned to authors that do not adhere to these guidelines.
- The submission has not been previously published, nor is it before another journal for consideration (or an explanation has been provided in Comments to the Editor).
- The submission file is in OpenOffice, Microsoft Word, or RTF document file format.
- Where available, URLs for the references have been provided.
- The text is single-spaced; uses a 12-point font; employs italics, rather than underlining (except with URL addresses); and all illustrations, figures, and tables are placed within the text at the appropriate points, rather than at the end.
- The text adheres to the stylistic and bibliographic requirements outlined in the Author Guidelines.
Author Guidelines
1. Instructions for Authors
Manuscript Submission
Submission of a manuscript implies: The work has not been published before; it is not under consideration for publication anywhere else; its publication has been approved by all co-authors; and if any, by the responsible authorities (implicitly or explicitly) at the institute where the work has been carried out. The publisher will not be hold legally responsible should there be any claims for compensation.
Permissions
Authors wishing to include figures, tables, or text passages that have already been published elsewhere are required to get permission from the copyright owner(s) for both the print and online format and to include evidence that such permission has been granted when submitting their papers. Any material received without such evidence will be assumed to be originated by the authors.
Online Submission
Please follow the hyperlink “Submit” and upload all of your manuscript files following the instructions given on the screen.
Please ensure you provide all relevant editable source files. Failing to submit these source files might cause unnecessary delays in the review and production process.
2. Manuscript Length
Word Count Limit (for original articles and review articles): 3000 words maximum, longer articles may be considered by editors only under special circumstances.
The number of Figures and Tables should not exceed eight.
3.Title Page
The title page should include:
The name(s) of the author(s)
A concise and informative title
The affiliation(s) and address(es) of the author(s)
The e-mail address, and telephone number(s) of the Corresponding Author(s)
If available, the 16-digit ORCID of the author(s)
4. Abstract
Please provide a structured abstract of 150 to 250 words which should be divided into the following sections:
Purpose (stating the main purposes and research questions)
Methods
Results
Conclusion
Specific Notes on Abstract
Original articles may use the following headings for each section of your abstract: Background, Objective, Design, Participants, Interventions (if applicable), Main Measures (Use "Approach" if it is a qualitative research article), Key Results, and Conclusions.
For innovations in education or clinical practice, please use: Introduction, Aim, Setting, Program Description, Program Evaluation, and Discussion.
5. Keywords
Please provide 4 to 6 keywords which can be used for indexing purposes.
6. Text
Text Formatting
Manuscripts should be submitted in Word.
Use a normal, plain font (e.g., 10-point Times Roman) for text.
Use italics for emphasis.
Use the automatic page numbering function to number the pages.
Do not use field functions.
Use tab stops or other commands for indents, not the space bar.
Use the table function, not spreadsheets, to make tables.
Use the equation editor or MathType for equations.
Save your file in docx format (Word 2007 or higher) or doc format (older Word versions).
Manuscripts with mathematical content can also be submitted in LaTeX. Click here download the LaTex macro package.
7. Headings
Please use the decimal system of headings with no more than three levels.
8. Abbreviations
Abbreviations should be defined at first mention and used consistently thereafter.
9. Footnotes
Footnotes can be used to give additional information, which may include the citation of a reference included in the reference list. They should not consist solely of a reference citation, and they should never include the bibliographic details of a reference. They should also not contain any figures or tables.
Footnotes to the text are numbered consecutively. Footnotes to tables should be indicated by superscript lower-case letters (or asterisks for significance values and other statistical data). Footnotes to the title or the authors of the article are not given reference symbols.
Always use footnotes instead of endnotes.
10. Acknowledgements
Acknowledgements of people, grants, funds, etc. should be placed in a separate section on the title page. The names of funding organizations should be written in full.
11. Scientific Style
Please use internationally accepted signs and symbols for units (SI units).
Nomenclature: Insofar as possible, authors should use systematic names similar to those used by Chemical Abstract Service or IUPAC.
Genus and species names should be in italics.
Generic names of drugs and pesticides are preferred. If trade names are used, the generic name should be given at first mention.
Please use the standard mathematical notation for formulae, symbols, etc.:
Italic for single letters that denote mathematical constants, variables, and unknown quantities
Roman/upright for numerals, operators, and punctuation, and commonly defined functions or abbreviations, e.g., cos, det, e or exp, lim, log, max, min, sin, tan, d (for derivative)
Bold for vectors, tensors, and matrices.
12. References List
Citation
Reference citations in the text should be identified by numbers in square brackets. Some examples:
Negotiation research spans many disciplines [3].
This result was later contradicted by Becker and Seligman [5].
This effect has been widely studied [1-3, 7].
Reference list
The list of references should only include works that are cited in the text and that have been published or accepted for publication. Personal communications and unpublished works should only be mentioned in the text. Do not use footnotes or endnotes as a substitute for a reference list.
The entries in the list should be numbered consecutively.
Journal names and book titles should be italicized.
Please note that italicization cannot be displayed in the below samples due to a website limitation. The bolded passages should be read as italics.
Journal Article
Harris, M., Karper, E., Stacks, G., Hoffman, D., DeNiro, R., Cruz, P., et al. (2001). Writing labs and the Hollywood connection. Journal of Film Writing, 44(3), 213–245.
Article by DOI
Kreger, M., Brindis, C.D., Manuel, D.M., & Sassoubre, L. (2007). Lessons learned in systems change initiatives: benchmarks and indicators. American Journal of Community Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10464-007-9108-14.
Book
Calfee, R. C., & Valencia, R. R. (1991). APA guide to preparing manuscripts for journal publication. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Book Chapter
O’Neil, J. M., & Egan, J. (1992). Men’s and women’s gender role journeys: Metaphor for healing, transition, and transformation. In B. R. Wainrib (Ed.), Gender issues across the life cycle (pp. 107–123). New York: Springer.
Online Document
Abou-Allaban, Y., Dell, M. L., Greenberg, W., Lomax, J., Peteet, J., Torres, M., & Cowell, V. (2006). Religious/spiritual commitments and psychiatric practice. Resource document. American Psychiatric Association. http://www.psych.org/edu/other_res/lib_archives/archives/200604.pdf. Accessed 25 June 2007.
For authors using EndNote, Ziggurate Publishing uses IEEE style.
13. Tables
All tables are to be numbered using Arabic numerals.
Tables should always be cited in text in consecutive numerical order.
For each table, please supply a table caption (title) explaining the components of the table.
Identify any previously published material by giving the original source in the form of a reference at the end of the table caption.
Footnotes to tables should be indicated by superscript lower-case letters (or asterisks for significance values and other statistical data) and included beneath the table body.
14. Artwork and Illustrations Guidelines
Electronic Figure Submission
Supply all figures electronically.
Indicate what graphics program was used to create the artwork.
For vector graphics, the preferred format is EPS. For halftones, please use TIFF format. MSOffice files are also acceptable.
Vector graphics containing fonts must have the fonts embedded in the files.
Name your figure files with "Fig" and the figure number, e.g., Fig1.eps.
Line Art
Definition: Black and white graphic with no shading.
Do not use faint lines and/or lettering and check that all lines and lettering within the figures are legible at final size.
All lines should be at least 0.1 mm (0.3 pt) wide.
Scanned line drawings and line drawings in bitmap format should have a minimum resolution of 1200 dpi.
Vector graphics containing fonts must have the fonts embedded in the files.
Halftone Art
Definition: Photographs, drawings, or paintings with fine shading, etc.
If any magnification is used in the photographs, indicate this by using scale bars within the figures themselves.
Halftones should have a minimum resolution of 300 dpi.
Combination Art
Definition: A combination of halftone and line art, e.g., halftones containing line drawing, extensive lettering, colour diagrams, etc.
Combination artwork should have a minimum resolution of 600 dpi.
Colour Art
Colour art is free of charge for online publication.
If black and white will be shown in the print version, make sure that the main information will still be visible. Many colours are not distinguishable from one another when converted to black and white. A simple way to check this is to make a xerographic copy to see if the necessary distinctions between the different colours are still apparent.
If the figures will be printed in black and white, do not refer to colour in the captions.
Colour illustrations should be submitted as RGB (8 bits per channel).
Figure Lettering
To add lettering, it is best to use Helvetica or Arial (sans serif fonts).
Keep lettering consistently sized throughout your final-sized artwork, usually about 2-3 mm (8-12 pt).
A variance of type size within an illustration should be minimal, e.g., do not use 8-pt type on an axis and 20-pt type for the axis label.
Avoid effects such as shading, outline letters, etc.
Do not include titles or captions within your illustrations.
Figure Numbering
All figures are to be numbered using Arabic numerals.
Figures should always be cited in text in consecutive numerical order.
Figure parts should be denoted by lowercase letters (a, b, c, etc.).
If an appendix appears in your article and it contains one or more figures, continue the consecutive numbering of the main text. Do not number the appendix figures,
"A1, A2, A3, etc." Figures in online appendices (Electronic Supplementary Material) should, however, be numbered separately.
Figure Captions
Each figure should have a concise caption describing accurately what the figure depicts. Include the captions in the text file of the manuscript, not in the figure file.
Figure captions begin with the term Fig. in bold type, followed by the figure number, also in bold type.
No punctuation is to be included after the number, nor is any punctuation to be placed at the end of the caption.
Identify all elements found in the figure caption; and use boxes, circles, etc., as coordinating points in graphs.
Identify previously published material by giving the original source in the form of a reference citation at the end of the figure caption.
Figure Placement and Size
Figures should be submitted separately from the text, if possible.
When preparing your figures, size figures fit in the column width.
For large-sized journals, the figures should be 84 mm (for double-column text areas), or 174 mm (for single-column text areas) wide and not higher than 234 mm.
For small-sized journals, the figures should be 119 mm wide and not higher than 195 mm.
Permissions
If you include figures that have already been published elsewhere, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner(s) for both the print and online format. Please be aware that some publishers do not grant electronic rights for free and Ziggurat Publishing will not be able to refund any costs that may have occurred to receive these permissions. In such cases, material from other sources should be used.
Accessibility
In order to give people all abilities and disabilities access to the content of your figures, please make sure that:
All figures have descriptive captions (blind users could then use a text-to-speech software or text-to-Braille hardware)
Patterns are used instead of or in addition to colours for conveying information (colour-blind users would then be able to distinguish the visual elements)
Any figure lettering has a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1
15. Electronic Supplementary Material
Ziggurat Publishing accepts electronic multimedia files (animations, movies, audio, etc.) and other supplementary files to be published online along with an article. This feature can add dimension to the author's article, as certain information cannot be printed or is more convenient in electronic form.
Before submitting research datasets as electronic supplementary material, authors should read the journal’s Research data policy. We encourage research data to be archived in data repositories wherever possible.
Submission
Supply all supplementary material in standard file formats.
Please include in each file the following information: Article title, journal name, author names; affiliation and e-mail address of the Corresponding Author.
To accommodate user downloads, please keep in mind that larger-sized files may require very long download times and that some users may experience other problems during downloading.
Audio, Video, and Animations
Aspect ratio: 16:9 or 4:3
Maximum file size: 25 GB
Minimum video duration: 1 sec
Supported file formats: avi, wmv, mp4, mov, m2p, mp2, mpg, mpeg, flv, mxf, mts, m4v, 3gp
Text and Presentations
Submit your material in PDF format; .doc or .ppt files are not suitable for long-term viability.
A collection of figures may also be combined in a PDF file.
Spreadsheets
Spreadsheets should be submitted as .csv or .xlsx files (MS Excel).
Specialised Formats
Specialised format such as .pdb (chemical), .wrl (VRML), .nb (Mathematica notebook), and .tex can also be supplied.
Collecting Multiple Files
It is possible to collect multiple files in a .zip or .gz file.
Numbering
If supplying any supplementary material, the text must make specific mention of the material as a citation, similar to that of figures and tables.
Refer to the supplementary files as “Online Resource”, e.g., "... as shown in the animation (Online Resource 3)", “... additional data are given in Online Resource 4”.
Name the files consecutively, e.g. “ESM_3.mpg”, “ESM_4.pdf”.
Captions
For each supplementary material, please supply a concise caption describing the content of the file.
Processing of Supplementary Files
Electronic supplementary material will be published as received from the author without any conversion, editing, or reformatting.
Accessibility
In order to give people of all abilities and disabilities access to the content of your supplementary files, please make sure that:
The manuscript contains a descriptive caption for each supplementary material.
Video files do not contain anything that flashes more than three times per second (so that users prone to seizures caused by such effects are not put at risk).
16. Ethical Responsibilities of Authors
This journal is committed to upholding the integrity of the scientific record. As a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) the journal will follow the COPE guidelines on how to deal with potential acts of misconduct.
Authors should refrain from misrepresenting research results which could damage the trust in the journal, the professionalism of scientific authorship, and ultimately the entire scientific endeavour. Maintaining the integrity of the research and its presentation is helped by following the rules of good scientific practice, which including*:
The manuscript should not be submitted to more than one journal for simultaneous consideration.
The submitted work should be original and should not have been published elsewhere in any form or language (partially or in full), unless the new work concerns an expansion of previous work. Please provide transparency on the re-use of material to avoid the concerns about text-recycling (self-plagiarism).
A single study should not be split up into several parts to increase the quantity of submissions and submitted to various journals or to one journal over time (i.e. ‘salami-slicing/publishing’).
The concurrent/secondary publication is sometimes justifiable, provided certain conditions are met. Examples include translations or a manuscript that is intended for a different group of readers.
Results should be presented clearly, honestly, and without fabrication, falsification or inappropriate data manipulation (including image-based manipulation). Authors should adhere to discipline-specific rules for acquiring, selecting and processing data.
No data, text, or theories by others are presented as if they are the author’s own ideas (plagiarism). Proper acknowledgements to other works must be given (this includes material that is closely copied (near verbatim), summarised and/or paraphrased), quotation marks (to indicate words taken from another source) that are used for verbatim copying of material; and permissions secured for material that is copyrighted.
Important note: the journal may use software to screen for plagiarism.
Authors should make sure they have permissions for the use of software, questionnaires/(web) surveys and scales in their studies (if appropriate).
Authors should avoid untrue statements about an entity (who can be an individual / a company) or descriptions of their behaviour or actions that could potentially be seen as personal attacks or allegations about that person.
Research that may be misapplied to pose a threat to public health or national security should be clearly identified in the manuscript (e.g. dual use of research). Examples include the creation of harmful consequences of biological agents or toxins, disruption of immunity of vaccines, unusual hazards in the use of chemicals, weaponization of research/technology (amongst others).
Authors are strongly advised to ensure the author group, the Corresponding Author, and the order of authors is all correct at submission. Adding and/or deleting authors during the revision stages is generally not permitted, but in some cases, it may be warranted. Reasons for changes in authorship should be explained in detail. Please note that changes to authorship cannot be made after acceptance of a manuscript.
NOTE: All of the above are guidelines and authors need to make sure to respect third parties’ rights such as copyright and/or moral rights.
Upon request, authors should be prepared to send relevant documentation or data in order to verify the validity of the results presented. This could be in the form of raw data, samples, records, etc. Sensitive information in the form of confidential or proprietary data is excluded.
If there is suspicion of misbehaviour or alleged fraud, the Journal and/or Publisher will carry out an investigation following COPE guidelines. If, after investigation, there are valid concerns, the author(s) will be contacted under their given e-mail address and will be given an opportunity to address the issue. Depending on the situation, this may result in the Journal’s and/or Publisher’s implementation of the following measures, including, but are not limited to:
If the manuscript is still under consideration, it may be rejected and returned to the author.
If the article has already been published online, depending on the nature and severity of the infraction:
An erratum/correction may be placed with the article
An expression of concern may be placed with the article
Or in severe cases retraction of the article may occur.
The reason will be given in the published erratum/correction, expression of concern or retraction note. Please note that retraction means that the article is preserved in the platform, watermarked “retracted” and the explanation for the retraction is provided in a note linked to the watermarked article.
The author’s institution may be informed.
A notice of suspected transgression of ethical standards in the peer review system may be included as part of the author’s and article’s bibliographic record.
Fundamental Errors
Authors have an obligation to correct mistakes once they discover a significant error or inaccuracy in their published article. The author(s) is/are requested to contact the journal and explain in what sense the error is impacting the article. A decision on how to correct the literature will depend on the nature of the error. This may be a correction or a retraction. The retraction note should provide transparency which parts of the article are impacted by the error.
Suggesting / Excluding Reviewers
Authors are welcome to suggest suitable reviewers and/or request the exclusion of certain individuals when they submit their manuscripts. When suggesting reviewers, authors should make sure they are totally independent and not connected to the work in any way. It is strongly recommended to suggest a mix of reviewers from different countries and different institutions. When suggesting reviewers, the Corresponding Author must provide an institutional email address for each suggested reviewer. If it is not possible to include other means of verifying the identity such as a link to a personal homepage, a link to the publication record or a researcher or author ID in the submission letter should be provided. Please note that the Journal may not use the suggestions, but suggestions are appreciated and may help facilitate the peer review process.
17. Authorship Principles
These guidelines describe authorship principles and good authorship practices to which prospective authors should adhere to.
Authorship Clarified
The Journal and Publisher assume that all authors agreed with the content, all gave explicit consent to submit and that they obtained consent from the responsible authorities at the institute/organization where the work has been carried out before the work is submitted.
The Publisher does not prescribe the kinds of contributions that warrant authorship. It is recommended that authors adhere to the guidelines for authorship that are applicable in their specific research field. In absence of specific guidelines, it is recommended to adhere to the following guidelines*:
All authors whose names appear on the submission made substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work; or the acquisition, analysis /interpretation of data; or the creation of new software used in the work;
Drafted the work or revised it critically for important intellectual content;
Approved the version to be published; and
Agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.
Disclosures and Declarations
All authors are requested to include information regarding sources of funding, financial /non-financial interests, study-specific approval by the appropriate ethics committee for research involving humans and/or animals, informed consent if the research involved human participants, and a statement on the welfare of animals if the research involved animals (as appropriate).
The decision whether such information should be included does not only depend on the scope of the journal, but also the scope of the article. Work submitted for publication may have implications for public health /general welfare and, in those cases, it is the responsibility of all authors to include the appropriate disclosures and declarations.
Data transparency
All authors are requested to make sure that all data and materials as well as a software application /custom code support their published claims and comply with field standards. Please note that journals may have individual policies on (sharing) research data in concordance with disciplinary norms and expectations. Please check the Instructions for Authors of the Journal that you are submitting to for specific instructions.
Role of the Corresponding Author
One author is assigned as Corresponding Author and acts on behalf of all co-authors and ensures that questions related to the accuracy /integrity of any part of the work are appropriately addressed.
The Corresponding Author is responsible for the following requirements:
Ensuring that all listed authors have approved the manuscript before submission, including the names and order of authors;
Managing all communication between the Journal and all co-authors, before and after publication; *
Providing transparency on the re-use of material and the mention any unpublished material (for example manuscripts in press) are included in the manuscript in a cover letter to the Editor;
Making sure disclosures, declarations and transparency on data statements from all authors are included in the manuscript as appropriate (see above).
* The requirement of managing all communication between the journal and all co-authors during submission and proofing may be delegated to a Contact or Submitting Author. In this case please make sure the Corresponding Author is clearly indicated in the manuscript.
Author Contributions
Please check the Instructions for Authors of the Journal that you are submitting to for specific instructions regarding contribution statements.
In absence of specific instructions and in research fields where it is possible to describe discrete efforts, the Publisher recommends authors to include contribution statements in the work that specifies the contribution of every author in order to promote transparency. These contributions should be listed at a separate title page.
Examples of such statement(s) are shown below:
Free Text:
All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by [full name], [full name] and [full name]. The first draft of the manuscript was written by [full name] and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Conceptualisation: [full name], …; Methodology: [full name], …; Formal analysis and investigation: [full name], …; Writing - original draft preparation: [full name, …]; Writing - review and editing: [full name], …; Funding acquisition: [full name], …; Resources: [full name], …; Supervision: [full name],….
For review articles where discrete statements are less applicable a statement should be included who had the idea for the article, who performed the literature search and data analysis, and who drafted and/or critically revised the work.
For articles that are based primarily on the student’s dissertation or thesis, it is recommended that the student is usually listed as a principal author.
Affiliation
The primary affiliation for each author should be the institution where the majority of their work was done. If an author has subsequently moved, the current address may additionally be stated. Addresses will not be updated or changed after publication of the article.
Changes to Authorship
Authors are strongly advised to ensure the correct author group, the Corresponding Author, and the order of authors at submission. Changes of authorship by adding or deleting authors, and/or changes in Corresponding Author, and/or changes in the sequence of authors are not accepted after acceptance of a manuscript.
Please note that author names will be published exactly as they appear on the accepted submission!
Please make sure that the names of all authors are present and correctly spelt, and addresses and affiliations are current.
Adding and/or deleting authors at the revision stage is generally not permitted, but in some cases, it may be acceptable. Reasons for these changes in authorship should be explained. Approval of the change during revision is at the discretion of the Editor-in-Chief. Please note that journals may have individual policies on adding and/or deleting authors during revision stage.
Author Identification
Authors are recommended to use their ORCID ID when submitting an article for consideration or acquire an ORCID ID via the submission process.
Deceased or Incapacitated Authors
For cases in which a co-author dies or is incapacitated during the writing, submission, or peer-review process, and the co-authors feel it is appropriate to include the author, co-authors should obtain approval from a (legal) representative which could be a direct relative.
Authorship Issues or Disputes
In the case of an authorship dispute during peer review or after acceptance and publication, the Journal will not be in a position to investigate or adjudicate. Authors will be asked to resolve the dispute themselves. If they are unable the Journal reserves the right to withdraw a manuscript from the editorial process or in case of a published paper raises the issue with the authors’ institution(s) and abide by its guidelines.
Confidentiality
Authors should treat all communication with the Journal as confidential which includes correspondence with direct representatives from the Journal such as Editors-in-Chief and/or Handling Editors and reviewers’ reports unless explicit consent has been received to share information.
18. Compliance with Ethical Standards
To ensure objectivity and transparency in research and that accepted principles of ethical and professional conduct have been followed, authors should include information regarding sources of funding; potential conflicts of interest (financial or non-financial); informed consent if the research involved human participants; and a statement on welfare of animals if the research involved animals.
Authors should include the following statements (if applicable) in a separate section entitled “Compliance with Ethical Standards” when submitting a paper:
Disclosure of potential conflicts of interest
Research involving Human Participants and/or Animals
Informed consent
Please note that standards could vary slightly per journal dependent on their peer review policies (i.e. single- or double-blind peer review) as well as per journal subject discipline. Before submitting your article check the instructions following this section carefully.
The Corresponding Author should be prepared to collect documentation of compliance with ethical standards and send if requested during peer review or after publication.
The Editors reserve the right to reject manuscripts that do not comply with the above-mentioned guidelines. The author will be held responsible for false statements or failure to fulfil the above-mentioned guidelines.
19. Disclosure of Potential Conflicts of Interest
Authors must disclose all relationships or interests that could have direct or potential influence or impart bias on the work. Although an author may not feel there is any conflict of interest, disclosure of relationships and interests provides a more complete and transparent process, leading to an accurate and objective assessment of the work. Awareness of a real or perceived conflict of interest is a perspective to which the readers are entitled. This is not meant to imply that a financial relationship with an organization that has sponsored the research or compensation received for consultancy work is inappropriate. Examples of potential conflicts of interests that are directly or indirectly related to the research may include but are not limited to the following:
Research grants from funding agencies (please give the research funder and the grant number).
Honoraria for speaking at symposia.
Financial support for attending symposia.
Financial support for educational programs.
Employment or consultation.
Support from a project sponsor.
Position on advisory board or board of directors or another type of management relationship.
Multiple affiliations.
Financial relationships, for example, equity ownership or investment interest.
Intellectual property rights (e.g. patents, copyrights and royalties from such rights).
Holdings of spouse and/or children that may have a financial interest in the work.
In addition, interests that go beyond financial interests and compensation (non-financial interests) and that may be important to readers should be disclosed. These may include but are not limited to personal relationships or competing interests directly or indirectly tied to this research, or professional interests or personal beliefs that may influence your research.
The Corresponding Author collects the conflict of interest disclosure forms from all authors. In author collaborations where formal agreements for representation allow it, it is sufficient for the Corresponding Author to sign the disclosure form on behalf of all authors.
The Corresponding Author will include a summary statement in the text of the manuscript in a separate section before the reference list, and that reflects what is recorded in the potential conflict of interest disclosure form(s).
See below examples of disclosures:
Funding: This study was funded by X (grant number X).
Conflict of Interest: Author A has received research grants from Company A. Author B has received a speaker honorarium from Company X and owns stock in Company Y. Author C is a member of committee Z.
If no conflict exists, the authors should state:
Conflict of Interest: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
20. Research Involving Human Participants and/or Animals
Statement of Human Rights
When reporting studies involving human participants, authors should include a statement that the studies have been approved by the appropriate institutional and/or national research ethics committee and have been performed in accordance with the ethical standards as laid down in the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.
If doubt exists whether the research is conducted in accordance with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration or comparable standards, the authors must explain the reasons for their approach, and demonstrate that the independent ethics committee or institutional review board has explicitly approved the doubtful aspects of the study.
If a study was granted exemption from requiring ethics approval, this should also be detailed in the manuscript (including the name of the ethics committee that granted the exemption and the reasons for the exemption).
Authors must, in all situations as described above, include the name of the ethics committee and the reference number where appropriate.
The following statements should be included in the text before the References section:
Ethical Approval: “All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee (include the name of committee + reference number) and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.”
Ethical Approval for Retrospective Studies
Although retrospective studies are conducted on already available data or biological material (for which formal consent may not be needed or is difficult to obtain) ethical approval may be required to depend on the law and the national ethical guidelines of a country. Authors should check with their institution to make sure they are complying with the specific requirements of their country.
Statement on the Welfare of Animals
The welfare of animals used for research must be respected. When reporting experiments on animals, authors should indicate whether the international, national, and/or institutional guidelines for the care and use of animals have been followed, and the studies have been approved by a research ethics committee at the institution or practise at which the studies were conducted (where such a committee exists). Please provide the name of ethics committee and relevant permit number.
For studies with animals, the following statement should be included in the text before the References section:
Ethical Approval: “All applicable international, national, and/or institutional guidelines for the care and use of animals were followed.”
If applicable (where such a committee exists): “All procedures performed in studies involving animals were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institution or practice at which the studies were conducted (include the name of committee + permit number).”
If articles do not contain studies with human participants or animals by any of the authors, please select one of the following statements:
“This article does not contain any studies with human participants performed by any of the authors.”
“This article does not contain any studies with animals performed by any of the authors.”
“This article does not contain any studies with human participants or animals performed by any of the authors.”
21. Informed Consent
All individuals have individual rights that are not to be infringed. Individual participants in studies have, for example, the right to decide what happens to the (identifiable) personal data gathered, to what they have said during a study or an interview, as well as to any photograph that was taken. Hence it is important that all participants give their informed consent in writing prior to inclusion in the study. Identifying details (names, dates of birth, identity numbers and other information) of the participants that are studied should not be published in written descriptions, photographs, and genetic profiles unless the information is essential for scientific purposes and when the participant (or parent or guardian if the participant is incapable) gives written informed consent for publication. Complete anonymity is difficult to achieve in some cases, and informed consent should be obtained if there is any doubt. For example, masking the eye region in photographs of participants is inadequate protection of anonymity. If identifying characteristics are altered to protect anonymity, such as in genetic profiles, authors should provide assurance that alterations do not distort scientific meaning.
The following statement should be included:
Informed consent: “Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.”
If identifying information about participants is available in the article, the following statement should be included:
“Additional informed consent was obtained from all individual participants for whom identifying information is included in this article.”
22. After Acceptance
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