POLICIES AND GUIDELINES
INFORMATION FOR AUTHORS AND REVIEWERS
OTHER POLICIES AND GUIDELINES
POLICIES AND GUIDELINES
INFORMATION FOR AUTHORS
INFORMATION FOR REVIEWERS
OTHER POLICIES AND GUIDELINES
EDITORIAL POLICY
Our editorial policy complies with the following characteristics:
- Accessible and constructive peer-reviewed editorial process.
- Authors retain copyright.
- Prestigious and international editorial board.
- Fast and affordable publication.
- Use of metrics (Impact).
- Indexing and archiving (Scope)
1. ACCESSIBLE AND CONSTRUCTIVE PEER-REVIEWED EDITORIAL PROCESS.
A rigorous peer review process (see “Peer review guidelines”) which aim is to provide a constructive and reasoned approach for authors to the critical-evaluative process of reviewers and editors (see “Evaluation criteria”), always with the intention to work actively with the authors in the improvement of their manuscripts. The authors always have the opportunity to argue back the final decision. Manuscripts are always considered based on the scientific validity and technical quality; in no case the “novelty” or the possibility of impact shall be considered a criterion for acceptance or rejection.
2. AUTHORS RETAIN COPYRIGHT.
IBJ considers the publication in Open Access as a moral duty: The authors retain their work and publication rights; readers, meanwhile, should not pay for access to new knowledge and the society ensures that all research with positive or negative results, are accessible and transparent. The publication will be made using the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY-NC).
3. PRESTIGIOUS AND INTERNATIONAL EDITORIAL BOARD.
The editorial board is composed of experienced editors in the editorial and/or research activity in the Latin American region, as well as globally. Each manuscript is sent to an editor that will choose a reviewer, keep the authors informed of the process and respond to any questions, complaints or suggestions. All this is done through the OJS software, free and easy to use.
4. FAST AND AFFORDABLE PUBLICATION.
The publication of accepted articles is done immediately in unedited format. Edited format will be available within a maximum of 15 days. The cost (see Publication fees) of publishing in the IBJ magazines covers only the costs of publication. If you wish you can request the English translation service (from Spanish or Portuguese) and editing service, also at cost price. Authors can edit their manuscripts, thus reducing the cost of publication; the final article to be published will be reviewed and approved by the editorial department (see “Submission guidelines”).
5. USE OF METRICS.
IBJ provides use of performance metrics for every article: like number of views, page views, article impressions and citations. This way you can use this data in order to measure the impact of your work in the scientific and medical community.
6. INDEXING AND ARCHIVING.
As we can meet the conditions of the different providers, the articles published in the IBJ magazines will be indexed in PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, Google Scholar, Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS), EMBASE, PsycINFO and search through the Web of Knowledge. All articles are archived in EuroMed Central.
AUTHORSHIP POLICIES
- The main authors of a manuscript will be a maximum of 12. Exceptionally, the editor may accept a larger number depending on the complexity and size of the study performed and provided with the proper justification by the senders of the manuscript. The rest of participants with a significant contribution may be included in a section at the end of the manuscript (and the final article).
- Everyone listed as an author should meet our Authorship criteria. Everyone who meets our criteria for authorship must be listed as an author.
- The contributions of all authors must be described. Author lists should accurately reflect contributions to the work and we expect that all authors will take public responsibility for the content of the manuscript submitted to IBJ.
- All authors will be contacted by email at submission to ensure that they are aware of and approve the submission of the manuscript, its content, and its authorship. Some journals require that all co-authors confirm their assent to publication by email. All authors must see the final draft of the manuscript before it is published.
- Contributors who do not meet the Authorship criteria should be mentioned in the Acknowledgments or Non-author contributors respectively.
- Authorship issues identified after publication may result in a correction. In the case of an authorship dispute, the journal will not arbitrate. We will raise the issue with the authors’ institution(s) and abide by its guidelines.
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
An original article should contain the following sections ordered as presented below:
- Cover letter
- The title page of the manuscript
- Summary and keywords
- Introduction
- Material / Subjects and Methods
- Results
- Discussion/Conclusions
- Funding sources
- Non-Author Contributors
- Conflict of interest
- Acknowledgments
- References
- Figures
- Tables
- Supplement material
COVER LETTER
This letter must mention that the article is original material that has not been published elsewhere and has not been under review for publication in any other way during the revision. This work may have been published in abbreviated form in congresses or scientific meetings, reporting this respectively. This letter must also include a section on conflict of interest that will be also included in the text of the manuscript (See Editorial Policy).
THE TITLE PAGE OF THE MANUSCRIPT
This page should include the title of the manuscript, the full name of the authors, the highest of each degree and affiliations; must also submit the name, full postal code, Phone number, fax and email of the corresponding author (this information will also be required to submit the article for review).
The title should be brief, informative, should not make statements or present findings and should have less than 150 characters. The abbreviated title must contain less than 50 characters including spaces, should as short as possible, should contain the main message of the article and not contain abbreviations.
SUMMARY
The abstract of the manuscript should not exceed 250 words for not structured summaries or 300 words for structured ones. IBJ Plus will accept not structured summaries (250 words max) while IBJ Clinical Pharmacology/Infectious Diseases will accept structured summaries (300 words max).
Note: For the manuscripts in Spanish or Portuguese, the abstract must also be accompanied by the English translated version. Those items submitted in English the translation to Spanish / Portuguese is not required.
KEYWORDS
It is recommended to write six key words chosen from MEDLINE MeSH, which best describe the manuscript. Choosing a correct list of words ensure that this arises in a large number of searches in the different search engines and thus increase its visibility.
INTRODUCTION
In the embodiment of the introduction the author should assume that the reader has knowledge of the matter treated article and therefore should be as concise as possible but still it is advisable to present a brief historical review of the subject which will be discussed.
MATERIAL / SUBJECTS AND METHODS
In this section of the manuscript the authors must include sufficient detail of the procedures performed so that these can be replicated information. However the methods that have been published in detail elsewhere should not be described in detail, but they have to be referenced. In the case of clinical trials should refer to the approval of the trial by an ethics committee duly authorized to do so and must be registered in a public register before submitting the manuscript for review (For more information see Editorial policy). Authors should refer to the manufacturer’s name and location of the same for each of the specific medical equipment and instruments used in the study, and all medication must be identified by its pharmaceutical name and your business name if relevant.
RESULTS
The results section should be brief and present the experimental results in text, tables and figures. Tables and figures should not be extensively described in the text. The explanatory descriptions of the content of figures and tables should be included as footer at the end of each one.
DISCUSSION/CONCLUSIONS
The discussion should focus on the interpretation and the significant results with objective comments that describe their relation to other jobs in the same area. Discussion should not repeat the information in the results. The final paragraph should extol the main conclusions of the study and provide some indications of future research should be performed.
FUNDING SOURCES
At this point the authors should include all kinds of financial and / or logistical support for the study and source of all kinds of new drugs not marketed.
NON-AUTHOR CONTRIBUTORS
Following the regulations of the ICMJE, those who do not meet the authorship criteria but has contributed substantially to the research, either technically, scientifically or legally, and not been sufficient their inclusion in the Acknowledgements, they should be included in this special section entitled as “Non-Author contributors “.
Authors must get consented permission from the contributors to be included in this section.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
Authors should declare whether they have any financial interest related to the study described. This information must be included in this session and will be published as a meeting of the article. This information must also be present in the letter making the submission process.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Those who helped in the design, editing, design, data collection or analysis and interpretation of data but do not meet the autorship criteria should be included in the acknowledgments section.
The role of a scientific (medical) writer must be included in the acknowledgements section, including their source(s) of funding. We suggest wording such as ‘We thank Jane Doe who provided medical writing services on behalf of XYZ Pharmaceuticals Ltd.’
Authors must get the permission of the partner consented people for inclusion in this section.
REFERENCES
Should only reference articles directly related to the manuscript. They should avoid exhaustive lists. References should follow the Vancouver format. Numbers in the text should appear at the end of the manuscript, and these should be listed in order of appearance in the text. All authors must be referenced to a total of six authors, for papers with more than six authors should submit only the first six followed by et al.
Abbreviations of journal titles should be in accordance with those used in the latest edition of Index Medicus. The number of the first and last page of each reference should be indicated. Abstracts and letters must be identified as such. Published in the press and articles submitted for publication and may be included in the reference list, but no citation is required to works not yet submitted for publication items.
Personal communications should be followed by the reference number that corresponds to them in order and should be included in the list of references in the usual way or simply referenced in the text; the author can choose which method to use. In any case the authors must obtain permission from the original author to cite his unpublished work.
Examples:
- Article in journal, up to six authors followed by et al. : G Casari G, De Fusco M, Ciarmatori S, Zeviani M, Mora M, Fernandez P et al. Spastic paraplegia and OXPHOS impairment Revised 2/10/2013 4 Caused by mutations in paraplegin, a nuclear-encoded mitochondrial metalloprotease. Cell1998; 93: 973-983.
- Journal article not yet published but accepted for publication: Séguin B, Hardy B, Singer PA, Daar AS. Bidil: recontextualizing the race debate. Pharmacogenomics J 2008; e-pub ahead of print 15 January 2008; doi: 10.1038 / sj.tpj.6500489.
- Article published in the press: Lesch KP, Gutknecht L. Pharmacogenetics of the serotonin transporter. Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry (in press).
- Complete book: Heilman KM, Valenstein E. Clinical Neuropsychology. Oxford University Press: New York, 1995.
- Chapter in a book: Schatzberg AF, Schildkraut JJ. Recent studies on norepinephine systems in mood disorders. In: Bloom FE, Kupfer DJ (eds). Psychopharmacology: The Fourth Generation of Progress. Raven Press: New York, 1995, pp 911-920.
- Summary: Hood E. Pharmacogenomics: the promise of personalized medicine. Environ Health Perspect 2003, 111 (Suppl 1): 581 (Abstract 123).
- letter: McGinn E. Medical treatment and weight gain [letter]. Prev Chronic Dis 2007; 4: 80.
TABLES
Tables should submit a title and submit a footnote to table abbreviations used where appropriate, should be numbered successively and cited in the text. Tables should not duplicate the content of the text. Should consist of at least two columns; columns must have always header. Authors must ensure that the information contained in the tables is consistent with data reported in the text, which totals are added correctly and that the percentages have been calculated correctly.
FIGURES
Figures and images must present title, be numbered sequentially and cited in the text. The legend of the figures should be brief and specific.
If any figure and / or table has been previously published authors should obtain informed consent to reproduce such material. The same goes for quotes, illustrations and other materials that are not previously published in the public domain. The original source must be cited in a footnote in the figure or table. The use of a third dimension is widely discouraged when this third dimension not provide relevant information. Scale markers should be used in photographs and indicate the type of stain used.
SUPPLEMENT MATERIAL
This session can present all the material that is relevant to the conclusion of the article but due to space or formatting will not be included in the published version. Item must be clear and contain all necessary information without the need for the reader to have to resort to supplement materials which will be linked to the article. This material should consist of data files, graphics, movies or extensive tables. See the graphic design section for more information on the type of files that are accepted.
The files will appear exactly as they have been submitted without any editing.
When material is subjected to supplement the authors must:
- Include an abstract of no more than 50 words to describe the contents of each of the files
- Identify the file type (file format)
- Include in the text of manuscript material exists supplement.
- Include page numbers and line numbers in the manuscript file.
- Style of writing
- The color should be different when used as an identification tool.
- Abbreviations should be preceded by the words they represent when they appear for the first time in the text.
- Always use SI units.
- The text must be at least 1.5 line spacing.
The first mention of a manufacturer, the city (and state, if in the USA) and the country must be provided.
LANGUAGE
Manuscripts written in English, Spanish and Portuguese, with the judgment of the author’s choice of language will be accepted. The article will be published in the language in which it is under review.
Example:
You can download a template of the manuscript here.
SUBMISSION FORMAT
Manuscript files can be in the following formats: DOC, DOCX or RTF. Microsoft Word documents should not be locked or protected.
AUTHOR’S RESOURCES
-
Responsible reporting of research studies, which includes a complete, transparent, accurate and timely account of what was done and what was found during a research study, is an integral part of good research and publication practice and not an optional extra. IBJ supports initiatives aimed at improving the reporting of health research
We ask authors to use the following guidelines when drafting their manuscripts. We ask authors to address all items recommended by the guidelines (as a minimum); where this is not possible, please provide an explanation in the text to give a transparent account of your study.
Adherence to recommended reporting guidelines will facilitate review of your manuscript, increase the probability of its successful publication, and improve the usability of research findings from your study in further research and clinical practice.
BEST PRACTICE IN RESEARCH REPORTING
Research submitted to IBJ must comply with internationally-accepted standards for research practice and reporting, including data management, figure preparation, reproducibility, and reporting guidelines.
We reserve the right to enforce standards that may be more strict than local legal or ethical frameworks. Issues discovered after publication will be addressed according to guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and may lead to a correction, retraction, or expression of concern. We may also contact authors’ institutions as appropriate.
REPORTING GUIDELINES FOR SPECIFIC STUDIES
Authors are expected to comply with standard reporting guidelines for study designs. Check the EQUATOR Network for reporting instructions and supporting documentation. Documentation for specific studies should be uploaded as supporting information during manuscript submission. Read the Submission guidelines.
ABOUT OPEN ACCESS
In IBJ we provide a free and immediate access to content, adhering to the principle of open access to scientific research, contributing to the improvement of knowledge sharing globally.
WHAT IS AN OPEN ACCESS ARTICLE?
An OA article is universally and freely accessible via the Internet, in an easily readable format and deposited in at least one widely and internationally recognized open access repository.
The author(s) or copyright owner(s) irrevocably grant(s) to any third party, in advance and in perpetuity, the right to use, reproduce or disseminate the research article in its entirety or in part, in any format or medium, provided that no substantive errors are introduced in the process.
CREATIVE COMMONS LICENSE (ATTRIBUTION NON COMMERCIAL CC-BY-NC 4.0)
This license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon your work non-commercially, and although their new works must also acknowledge you and be non-commercial, they don’t have to license their derivative works on the same terms. (See license)
In IBJ we rely on the ICMJE criteria regarding authors groups. More information here.
This work is under Creative Commons license Attribution Non-Commercial CC-BY-NC 4.0.
AUTHORSHIP CRITERIA
QUALIFYING FOR AUTHORSHIP
Authorship criteria are based on the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals.
The ICMJE lists four conditions for authorship credit. Authors must meet all four conditions in order to be listed.
- Substantial contributions to conception and design, acquisition of data, or analysis and interpretation of data.
- Drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content.
- Final approval of the version to be published.
- Agreement 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.
AUTHORSHIP GROUP
In IBJ we rely on the ICMJE criteria regarding authors groups. More information here.
PEER REVIEW GUIDELINES
ACCEPTING OR DECLINING INVITATIONS
Reviewer invitations are sent by email from the submission OJS system. Use the links in the email to accept or decline.
SUBMITTING THE REVIEW
Reviews must be entered through OJS system. Email the journal office if you are having trouble accessing the manuscript or entering your comments. (assistant@ibjournals.com)
COMPETING INTERESTS
You should not accept a review assignment if you have a potential competing interest, including the following:
- Prior or current collaborations with the author(s)
- You are a direct competitor
- You may have a known history of antipathy with the author(s)
- You might profit financially from the work
Please inform the editors or journal staff and recuse yourself if you feel that you are unable to offer an impartial review.
When submitting your review, you must indicate whether or not you have any Competing interests.
EVALUATION CRITERIA
In IBJ we also care about the compliance of reporting guidelines in the review of manuscripts, which is why we follow the COPE Guidelines for peer reviewers in order to provide a transparent and fair review to our authors.
WRITING THE REVIEW
IBJ employs a structured reviewer form provided by OJS Software to help reviewers focus on our publication criteria and improve the efficiency of peer review. IF you want to know more about the reviewer process read OJS: Reviewer-Review user guide.
EDITORIAL PROCESS
DECISION PROCESS
The final decision on a manuscript is made by the Academic Editor. The Academic Editor’s decision is based on the reviewers’ comments as well as IBJ´s Publication Criteria and the editor’s own assessment of the manuscript. When reviewers disagree, the decision is not necessarily made according to majority rule.
NOTIFYING REVIEWERS OF DECISIONS
We send reviewers’ comments along with the decision letter to all reviewers of that manuscript. If reviewers have identified themselves, this information will be passed on to other reviewers.
Reviewers who may have offered an opinion not in accordance with the final decision should not feel that their recommendation was not duly considered and their service not properly appreciated. Experts often disagree, and it is the job of the Academic Editor to make a decision.
REVISIONS
When an author revises a manuscript, the Academic Editor will often ask the original reviewer(s) to evaluate the authors’ revision. We expect the reviewers to be available to provide these additional comments.
Revised manuscripts are indicated with the letter “R” in the manuscript number (e.g., R1, R2, R3, etc.). The invitation letter will also mention that the assignment is for a revision.
BECOME A REVIEWER
Academic Editors decide which experts to invite to review papers they are handling. If you are interested in reviewing for IBJ, you may want to look through our list of Academic Editors to identify the ones who are in your field of research, and send them a brief summary of your expertise as well as your interest in being a reviewer. Make sure you sign up for an account in our submission system so your name can be searched in the database.
HELP
If you have questions or concerns about the manuscript you are reviewing, or if you need assistance submitting the review, please email us. (assistant@ibjournals.com)
PUBLICATION TYPES
IBJ is designed to communicate scientific research in the areas of biomedicine, clinical medicine and clinical pharmacology. We accept submissions of any basic or applied disciplines that can contribute to the enrichment of scientific knowledge in this area.
To be accepted for publication in IBJ, research articles must satisfy the following criteria:
- Articles reported must have not been published elsewhere, except as in abstract format on conference proceedings or scientific meetings.
- Experiments, statistics, and other analyses are performed to a high technical standard and are described in sufficient detail.
- Conclusions are presented in an appropriate fashion and are supported by the data.
- The article is presented in an intelligible fashion and is written in Standard English, Spanish or Portuguese.
- The research meets all applicable standards for the ethics of experimentation and research integrity.
- The article adheres to appropriate reporting guidelines and community standards for data availability.
TYPES OF ARTICLES ACCEPTED BY EACH JOURNAL
WE WILL CONSIDER THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE TYPES:
IBJ PLUS
- Originals
- Systematic reviews
- Letters to the editor and perspectives
- Research protocols
IBJ CLINICAL PHARMACOLOGY
- Originals
- Systematic reviews
- Case reports or case series
- Letter to the Editor and perspectives
- Protocols of clinical drug trials
- Special items (upon request by the Editor)
IBJ INFECTIOUS DISEASES
- Originals
- Systematic reviews
- Case reports or case series
- Letter to the Editor and perspectives
- Therapeutic protocols and guidelines consensus
- Special items (upon request by the Editor)
SPECIFIC GUIDELINES FOR EACH SECTION
ORIGINALS
Original clinical research studies that meet appropriate study design and established guidelines. (See submission guidelines) are included in this section results of clinical trials.
- Word limit: 5,000 words excluding abstract, references, tables and figures.
- References: Maximum 50 (the rest will go as supplementary material)
- Figures and tables: Maximum 10 (the rest will go as supplementary material)
SYSTEMATIC REVIEWS
We will consider the publication of systematic reviews only if the method can guarantee full and fair sampling of existing sources and also to follow the submission guidelines. (See submission guidelines)
- Word limit: 7,000 words excluding abstract, references, tables and figures.
- References: Maximum 50 (the rest will go as supplementary material)
- Figures and tables: Maximum 10 (the rest will go as supplementary material)
CASE REPORTS AND CASE SERIES
Studies with descriptive basis, virtually devoid of inferential statistics, and presenting one or more series of clinical cases that lead to conclusions that may be relevant to everyday clinical practice, on the issue of the magazine (clinical pharmacology IBJ Clinical Pharmacology, or IBJ infectious diseases infectious disease). IBJ in the journal Clinical Pharmacology will have special consideration with adverse drug reactions and drug interactions relevant and little known.
- Word limit: 2,500 words excluding abstract, references, tables and figures.
- References: Maximum 20 (the rest will go as supplementary material)
- Figures and tables: Maximum 5 (the rest will go as supplementary material)
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Comments on articles recently published in the journal or communications very brief or an exceptional case of a study that is easy to summarize. The letter is not structured or presented abstract. It does not support supplementary material. If the letter to the editor refers to an article recently published in the journal he will be sent to the author of it to exercise its right to reply, if deemed appropriate.
- Word limit: 750 words.
- References: Maximum 10
- Figures and tables: Maximum 1
PERSPECTIVES
A section called Perspectives is included in all IBJ magazines. Usually, manuscripts for this section will be requested directly by the editors. If you want to send a manuscript of these, here are the required characteristics:
The perspectives should be brief trials addressing relevant topics of biomedical research including history, methods, ethics, science policy and regulations, social, professional and others. In this regard, we are especially interested in the perspectives of the different countries of the Latin American region.
- Word limit:1200-1500 words.
- References: Maximum 5
- Figures and tables: Maximum 1
We ask the authors previously get in contact with the editorial office.
RESEARCH PROTOCOLS
Research protocols considered of general interest authorized by relevant ethics committee. (See submission guidelines).
- Word limit: 5,000 words.
- References: Maximum 50 (the rest will go as supplementary material)
- Figures and tables: Maximum 10 (the rest will go as supplementary material)
- Protocols of clinical drug trials, approved by regulatory agencies (with Eudra-CT code or registration ClinicalTrials.gov) that are in recruitment phase but not yet completed with an appropriate study design and according to the guidelines established. (See submission guidelines).
THERAPEUTIC PROTOCOLS AND GUIDELINES CONSENSUS
Protocols and therapeutic guidelines considered of general interest. (See submission guidelines).
- Word limit: 5,000 words.
- References: Maximum 50 (the rest will go as supplementary material)
- Figures and tables: Maximum 10 (the rest will go as supplementary material)
COMPETING INTEREST
WHAT REPRESENTS A COMPETING INTEREST?
A competing interest is anything that interferes with, or could reasonably be perceived as interfering with, the full and objective presentation, peer review, editorial decision-making, or publication of research or non-research articles submitted to IBJ.
Competing interests can be financial or non-financial, professional, or personal. Competing interests can arise in relationship to an organization or another person.
Declaring all potential competing interests is a requirement at IBJ and is integral to the transparent reporting of research.
Failure to declare competing interests can result in immediate rejection of a manuscript. If an undisclosed competing interest comes to light after publication, IBJ will take action in accordance with COPE guidelines and issue a public notification to the community.
WHAT TO DECLARE?
All potentially competing interests (see below) must be declared if they occurred within 5 years of conducting, or preparing for publication, the research under consideration.
Interests outside the 5-year time frame must also be declared if they could reasonably be perceived as competing according to the definition above.
FINANCIAL COMPETING INTERESTS:
Financial competing interests include but are not limited to:
- Ownership of stocks or shares
- Paid employment or consultancy
- Patent applications (pending or actual), including individual applications or those belonging to the institution to which the authors are affiliated and from which the authors may benefit
- Research grants (from any source, restricted or unrestricted)
- Travel grants and honoraria for speaking or participation at meetings
- Gifts
NON-FINANCIAL COMPETING INTERESTS:
Non-financial competing interests include but are not limited to:
- Acting as an expert witness
- Membership in a government or other advisory board
- Relationship (paid or unpaid) with organizations and funding bodies including nongovernmental organizations, research institutions, or charities
- Membership of lobbying or advocacy organizations
- Writing or consulting for an educational company
- Personal relationships (i.e. friend, spouse, family member, current or previous mentor, adversary) with individuals involved in the submission or evaluation of a paper, such as authors, reviewers, editors, or members of the editorial board of an IBJ journal.
- Personal convictions (political, religious, ideological, or other) related to a paper’s topic that might interfere with an unbiased publication process (at the stage of authorship, peer review, editorial decision-making, or publication)
WHO MUST DECLARE COMPETING INTERESTS?
AUTHORS
At the time of submission, authors must state what competing interests are relevant to the submitted research. These may include but are not limited to:
- Names of all funding sources
- Description of funder’s role in the study design; collection, analysis, and interpretation of data; writing of the paper; and/or decision to submit for publication
- Whether they have served or currently serve on the editorial board of the journal to which they are submitting
- Whether they have acted as an expert witness in relevant legal proceedings
- Whether they have sat or currently sit on a committee for an organization that may benefit from publication of the paper
EDITORS AND REVIEWERS
Editors (professional or academic, paid or unpaid) and reviewers must declare their own competing interests and if necessary disqualify themselves from involvement in the assessment of a manuscript.
Common reasons for editors and reviewers to recuse themselves from the peer review process may include but are not limited to:
- They work at the same institution or organization as an author, currently or recently
- They collaborate with an author, currently or recently
- They have published with an author during the past 5 years
- They have held grants with an author, currently or recently
- They have a personal relationship with an author that does not allow them to evaluate the manuscript objectively
READERS
Anyone who comments on published IBJ articles must declare all competing interests (financial or non-financial) at the time of posting the comment.
EDITORIAL ACTIONS AND DECISIONS
- IBJ editors must take all competing interests into account during the review process and ensure that any relevant ones are declared in the published article.
- IBJ editors will not publish commissioned or any other non-research articles if they are aware of a competing interest that, in their judgment, could introduce bias or a reasonable perception of bias.
- IBJ editors do not consult reviewers who have competing interests that, in the editors’ judgment, could interfere with unbiased review.
ETHICAL GUIDELINES
In any studies that involve experiments on human or animal subjects, the following ethical guidelines must be observed. For any experiments on humans, all work must be conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki (1964-October 2013). Papers describing experimental work which carries a risk of harm to human subjects must include a statement that the experiment was conducted with the human subjects’ understanding and consent, as well as a statement that the responsible Ethical Committee has approved the experiments. In the case of any animal experiments, the authors must provide a full description of any anesthetic or surgical procedure used, as well as evidence that all possible steps were taken to avoid animal suffering at each stage of the experiment.
PATIENT CONSENT AND CONFIDENTIALITY
IBJ’s policy is based on Spanish’s Data Protection Law, Spain and European Union common law of confidentiality, and the traditions of medical ethics.
- Any article that contains personal medical information about an identifiable living individual requires the patient’s explicit consent before we can publish it. We would like the patient to sign our consent form, which requires the patient to have read the article.
- If consent cannot be obtained because the patient cannot be traced then publication will be possible only if the information can be sufficiently anonymised. Anonymisation means that neither the patient nor anyone else could identify the patient with certainty. A consequence of any anonymisation is likely to be the loss of information/evidence. If this happens we will include the following note at the end of the paper: “Detail has been removed from this case description/these case descriptions to ensure anonymity. The editors and reviewers have seen the detailed information available and are satisfied that the information backs up the case the authors are making.” Such anonymisation might, at an extreme, involve making the authors of the article anonymous.
- If the patient is dead the Data Protection Act does not apply, but the authors should seek permission from a relative (as a matter of courtesy and medical ethics). If the relatives are not contactable we will balance the worthwhileness of the case, the likelihood of identification, and the likelihood of offence if identified in making a decision on whether we should publish without a relative’s consent.
- This policy applies to any identifiable medical information. The most obvious places where this occurs is in case reports, anecdotes, and photographs of patients. However, the issue may also arise in articles describing research if the numbers in some subgroups are very small.
- Our policy on obtaining consent for publication of pictures of patients is a subset of our general policy on patient confidentiality. If there is any chance that a patient may be identified from a photograph or other image or from its legend or accompanying text we need the patient’s written consent to publication by IBJ.
- Images – such as x rays, laparoscopic images, ultrasound images, pathology slides, or images of undistinctive parts of the body – may be used without consent so long as they are anonymised by the removal of any identifying marks and are not accompanied by text that could reveal the patient’s identity through clinical or personal detail.
- An exception to this policy of needing consent for recognizable photographs of individuals is when we use photographs from picture agencies to illustrate news stories and other articles. We state where these photographs have come from and we rely on the fact that the agencies and their photographers have obtained the relevant permissions from the people shown in the photographs. If we doubt that someone photographed could have given consent – owing for example to severe mental illness or learning disability – we will use our discretion and avoid using such images.
DISCLOSURE OF FUNDING SOURCES
All IBJ authors are required to declare what support they received to carry out their research. Declaring funding sources acknowledges funders’ contributions, fulfills funding requirements, and promotes greater transparency in the research process.
We support GPP2 Good Publication Practice for Communicating Company Sponsored Medical Research.
WHAT TO DECLARE?
Each author must individually declare all sources of funding received for the research submitted to the journal. This information includes the name of granting agencies, grant numbers, and a description of each funder’s role. If the funder has played no role in the research, this must be stated as well.
Authors are not required to provide the complete list of every single grant that supports them if the grant is not related to the research published.
FUNDING STATEMENT
A Funding Statement is included in the metadata of each published article. The Funding Statement includes the funding information declared by the authors.
Inaccurate information about funding discovered after publication may require a correction.
HOW TO DECLARE
Funding information is entered in the online submission system. Read the Submission guidelines.
COPYRIGHT NOTICE
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work’s authorship and initial publication in this journal.
Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal’s published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).
PRIVACY STATEMENT
The names and email addresses entered in this journal site will be used exclusively for the stated purposes of this journal and will not be made available for any other purpose or to any other party.
DISCLOSURE POLICY
A competing interest exists when professional judgment concerning the validity of research is influenced by a secondary interest, such as financial gain. We require that our authors reveal any possible conflict of interest in their submitted manuscripts.
If there is no conflict of interest, authors should state that “The author(s) declare(s) that there is no conflict of interest regarding the publication of this paper.”
CONTENT LICENSE
IBJ applies the Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY-NC) license to works we publish. This license was developed to facilitate open access – namely, free immediate access to, and unrestricted reuse of, original works of all types.
Under this license, authors agree to make articles legally available for reuse, without permission or fees, for virtually any purpose. Anyone may copy, distribute or reuse these articles, as long as the author and original source are properly cited.
USING IBJ CONTENT
No permission is required from the authors or the publishers to reuse or repurpose IBJ content provided the original article is cited. In most cases, appropriate attribution can be provided by simply citing the original article.
EXAMPLE CITATION:
Kaltenbach LS et al. (2007) Huntingtin Interacting Proteins Are Genetic Modifiers of Neurodegeneration. IBJ Plus 3(5): e82. doi:XX.XXXX/journal.pgen.XXXXXX.
If the item you plan to reuse is not part of a published article (e.g., a featured issue image), then indicate the originator of the work, and the volume, issue, and date of the journal in which the item appeared.
For any reuse or redistribution of a work, you must also make clear the license terms under which the work was published.
GUIDELINES FOR ILLUSTRATION AND FIGURES
FIGURES, TABLES, AND IMAGES
IBJ encourages authors to use figures where this will increase the clarity of an article. The use of color figures in articles is free of charge.
IBJ journals publish articles in author version PDF within days of acceptance. This version in then replace with a typeset final PDF version and full text web version.
Figures in the full-text web version of an article are linked directly from the text each time they are mentioned and open in a new window. In the typeset PDF figures are placed appropriately within the text, as close as possible to their first mention in the text.
IBJ journals do not redraw author-provided figures. It is the author’s responsibility to ensure that figures are provided at a sufficiently high resolution to ensure high quality reproduction in the final article.
Production of the final full-text web and PDF versions will proceed more quickly if authors submit figures in accordance with IBJ guidelines as specified in this document.
Figures, tables, and images are published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY-NC) license.
PREPARING IMAGES FILES FOR SUBMISSION
- Illustrations should be provided as separate files, not embedded in the main manuscript file.
- Each figure of a manuscript should be submitted as a single file.
- Tables should NOT be submitted as figures but should be included in the main manuscript file.
- Multi-panel figures (those with parts a, b, c, d etc.) should be submitted as a single composite file that contains all parts of the figure.
- Figures should be numbered in the order they are first mentioned in the text, and uploaded in this order.
- Figures should be uploaded in the correct orientation.
- Figure titles and legends should be provided in the main manuscript, not in the graphic file.
- Figure keys should be incorporated into the graphic, not into the legend of the figure.
- Each figure should be closely cropped to minimize the amount of white space surrounding the illustration. Cropping figures improves accuracy when placing the figure in combination with other elements, when the accepted manuscript is prepared for publication on our site.
- Individual figure files should not exceed 10 MB. If a suitable format is chosen, this file size is adequate for extremely high quality figures.
- Please note that it is the responsibility of the author(s) to obtain permission from the copyright holder to reproduce figures (or tables) that have previously been published elsewhere. In order for all figures to be open access, authors must have permission from the rights holder if they wish to include images that have been published elsewhere in non-open access journals. Permission should be indicated in the figure legend, and the original source included in the reference list.
SUPPORTED FILE FORMATS
IBJ accepts the following file formats for figures, tables and images:
- EPS (suitable for diagrams and/or images)
- PDF (suitable for diagrams and/or images)
- Microsoft Word (suitable for diagrams and/or images, figures must be a single page)
- PowerPoint (suitable for diagrams and/or images, figures must be a single page)
- TIFF (suitable for images)
- JPEG (suitable for photographic images, less suitable for graphical images)
- PNG (suitable for images)
- BMP (suitable for images)
- CDX (ChemDraw – suitable for molecular structures)
- TGF (ISIS/Draw – suitable for molecular structures)
FIGURE SIZE AND RESOLUTION
Figures are resized during publication of the final full text and PDF versions to conform to IBJ standard dimensions, which are detailed below.
FIGURES ON THE WEB:
- width of 600 pixels (standard), 1200 pixels (high resolution)
FIGURES IN THE FINAL PDF VERSION:
- width of 85 mm for half page width figure
- width of 170 mm for full page width figure
- maximum height of 225 mm for figure and legend
- image resolution of approximately 300 dpi (dots per inch) at the final size.
Illustrations should be designed such that all information, including text, is legible at these dimensions. All lines should be wider than 0.5 pt when constrained to standard figure widths. Note that all fonts must be embedded.
FIGURE FILE COMPRESSION:
- Vector figures should if possible be submitted as PDF files, which are usually more compact than EPS files.
- TIFF files should be saved with LZW compression, which is lossless (decreases file size without decreasing quality) in order to minimize upload time.
- JPEG files should be saved at maximum quality.
- Conversion of images between file types (especially lossy formats such as JPEG) should be kept to a minimum to avoid degradation of quality.
FIGURE LEGENDS:
Figure legends should be included after the reference list in the main manuscript text file rather than being a part of the figure file. For each figure, the following information should be provided:
- Figure number (in sequence, using Arabic numerals – i.e. Figure 1, 2, 3 etc.)
- Short title of figure in sentence case (maximum 15 words – required)
- Detailed legend (up to 300 words – optional)
CHEMICAL SCHEMES:
Chemical scheme images, unlike figures, should be included as part of the manuscript. CDX is the file format for saving chemical reaction schemes prepared using ChemDraw. Suggested ChemDraw settings are:
- Chain Angle 120°
- Bond spacing 18%
- Fixed length 0.406 cm (11.5 pt)
- Bold width 0.056 cm (1.6 pt)
- Line width 0.018 cm (0.5 pt)
- Margin width 0.046 cm (1.3 pt)
- Hash spacing 0.071 cm (2 pt)
Scheme legends should not form part of the embedded scheme image, but should appear immediately after the scheme in the text. Please include a legend comprising:
- Scheme number (in sequence, using Arabic numerals – i.e. Scheme 1, 2, 3 etc.)
- Short title of scheme, in sentence case (maximum 15 words – required)
- Detailed legend (up to 300 words – optional)
DATA:
If any relevant accompanying data is submitted to repositories with stated licensing policies, the policies should not be more restrictive than CC-BY-NC.
SUBMITTING COPYRIGHTED OR PROPRIETARY CONTENT:
Do not submit any figures, photos, tables, or other works that have been previously copyrighted or that contain proprietary data unless you have and can supply written permission from the copyright holder to use that content. This includes:
- maps and satellite images
- slogans and logos
- social media content.
REVISING YOUR MANUSCRIPT
SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS
If you are submitting a revised manuscript, include the following items with your revised submission:
- Response to reviewers: Address the specific points made by each reviewer. Include your responses to all the reviewers’ and editors’ comments and list the changes you have made to the manuscript. Upload this as a “Response to reviewers” file.
- Revised manuscript (marked-up copy): Include a marked-up copy of your manuscript file showing the changes you have made since the original submission. The best way to show these changes is the “Track Changes” option in Microsoft Word. Upload this as a “Revised Article with Changes Highlighted” file.
- Revised manuscript (clean copy): Upload a clean copy of your revised manuscript that does not show your changes. Upload this as your “Manuscript” file.
REQUEST AN EXTENSION
Need more time to prepare your revision? Email assistant@ibjournals.com
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR RESPONSIBILITIES
The corresponding author takes responsibility for and speaks on behalf of all authors.
The corresponding author is responsible for ensuring all authors have access to the final version of the manuscript that is submitted to the journal.
In the event that a member of the author group requests a change to the author list after submission, the corresponding author is asked to provide written confirmation that all other others consent to the change.
NAME AND AFFILIATIONS
Read the submission guidelines for instructions on formatting author names and affiliations.
PROFESSIONAL MEDICAL WRITERS
The involvement of any professional medical writer in the publication process must be declared. The European Medical Writers’ Association Guidelines contain additional information about the role of medical writers.
CHANGES IN AUTHOR LIST
IBJ journals follow the COPE guidelines for changes in authorship.
EDITOR AND REVIEWER REQUIREMENTS
Editors should be aware of the author list and author affiliations when they invite reviewers to review a manuscript in order to reduce the likelihood of inviting individuals with potentially competing interests that would disqualify them from participating in the peer review process.
Editors and reviewers should contact the journal with any concerns about the author list or if they identify any potentially competing interests that should be declared or that mean they should recuse themselves from the process.
PLAGIARISM
Plagiarism is not acceptable in IBJ submissions. Plagiarized content will not be considered for publication. If plagiarism is identified, we will follow COPE guidelines.
PLAGIARISM INCLUDES, BUT IS NOT LIMITED TO:
- Directly copying text from other sources without attribution
- Copying ideas, images, or data from other sources without attribution
- Reusing text from your own previous publications without attribution or agreement of the editor (read the COPE guidelines on text recycling)
Exception:
- Reusing text from the Methods section in the author’s previous publications, with attribution to the source, is acceptable.
- Using an idea from another source with slightly modified language without attribution
If plagiarism is detected during the peer review process, the manuscript may be rejected. If plagiarism is detected after publication, we may issue a correction or retract the paper, as appropriate. We reserve the right to inform authors’ institutions about plagiarism detected either before or after publication.
We expect that editors and reviewers will be vigilant in their evaluation of IBJ submissions and will notify the journal about any plagiarism identified.
CONFIDENTIALITY
We are committed to ensuring the integrity of the peer review process, in accordance with COPE guidelines. All submitted material should be treated as strictly confidential until published.
The peer review process is confidential to all parties. Correspondence as part of the review process is also to be treated confidentially by all parties, including authors.
Authors may provide basic details about the nature of the research presented in manuscripts currently under review.
Editors and reviewers are required to treat all submitted manuscripts in strict confidence and should not share information about submissions with any other parties unless previously agreed with the editor. The involvement of a third party in the review must be declared at the time of the submission of the review.
We expect that editors and reviewers will not make use of any material or take advantage of any information they gain through the peer review process.
We will follow up on any and all breaches of confidentiality. If there are any concerns about misconduct during the review process, we will follow COPE guidelines in investigating them.
ANONIMITY
Reviewers may identify themselves by signing their names at the time reviews are submitted if they wish.
FIGURE PREPARATION
Image files should not be manipulated or adjusted in any way that could lead to misinterpretation of the information present in the original image.