• Aims & Scope
• Adopting Free Access Policy
• The Recommendations of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE)
• Requirements for Submission
  1. Cover letter
  2. Ethic Committee Approval
  3. Consent Form
  4. RCT Registration
  5. Title Page
  6. Conflict of Interest Notification Page
  7. Abstract
  8. Introduction
  9. Methods
  10. Results
  11. Discussion
  12. Conclusion
  13. References
  14. Tables
  15. Illustrations (Figures)
  16. Units of Measurement
  17. Abbreviations and Symbols
  18. Acknowledgements
  19. Conflict of interest
• The journal’s policy on plagiarism
• Peer-review policy
• Copyright policy
• License information

Aims & Scope
The Journal of Reproduction & Infertility is a peer-reviewed quarterly journal, published by Avicenna Research Institute (ARI) affiliated to the Academic Center for Education, Culture & Research (ACECR) since 1999. JRI has continued to publish cutting-edge scientific papers in collaboration with Iranian Society of Embryology & Reproductive Biology (ISERB) since 2015. The Journal publishes original research articles, clinical trials, review articles, case reports, letters to the editor, editorials, commentaries, latest related news and views to help disseminate life science knowledge.
Scientists in basic and clinical fields will find a place to represent their research findings and reach their colleagues to share their experience through this journal. In addition to the three main subject areas mentioned previously, the journal also encompasses subcategories such as reproductive gynecology, reproductive medicine, gynecologic oncology affecting fertility, reproductive endocrinology, reproductive immunology, reproductive physiology and pathology, andrology, prenatal diagnosis, preimplantation genetic diagnosis, sexually transmitted infections, reproductive law and bioethics, epidemiological and psychological studies concerning reproduction and infertility.

Adopting Free Access Policy
This peer-reviewed journal provides free, immediate, permanent, full-text, online access worldwide to its digital scientific content, mainly research articles, but the use of articles or parts of them needs proper referencing and citation.

The Recommendations of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE)
The requirements for manuscripts submitted to the Journal of Reproduction & Infertility (JRI) are based on the recommendations of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) which evolved from the Vancouver Group formed initially in 1978 and it is known as the Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals. The Uniform Requirements state the ethical principles in the conduct and the ways of reporting research and provide recommendations related to specific elements of editing and writing. Editors and reviewers of this journal appreciate manuscripts that are easy to read and edit and more importantly are to the point and precise. The guidance that follows is largely based on ICMJE's guidelines and provides a general background and rationale for preparing manuscripts for the Journal of Reproduction & Infertility. We have tried to be in accordance with requirements for submission to the journal of ICMJE. Therefore, we encourage authors to refer to the copy published by the organization at www.ICMJE.org.

Requirements for Submission

1. Cover letter
   
   1. A statement that the manuscript has been read and approved by all the authors
   2. That the requirements for authorship have been met for all the authors, based on the criteria stated by ICMJE
   3. Approval of all the authors regarding the order in which their names have appeared
   4. That each author confirms the manuscript represents honest work
   5. The name, address, and telephone number of the corresponding author who is responsible for communicating with other authors about revisions and final approval
   6. The letter should give any additional information that may be helpful to the editor, such as the type or format of the article. If the manuscript has been submitted previously to another journal or in another language, it is helpful to include the previous editor's and reviewers' comments with the submitted manuscript, along with the authors' responses to those comments. Submitting previous evaluatory review of another journal accelerates the review process.
   7. For accepted manuscripts, the authors are requested to fill and sign the journal’s cover letter to express their consent for its publication.
   8. To reproduce published material, to use illustrations or tables or report information about identifiable people, the author should submit a copy of the permission with the manuscript to the journal.
2. Ethic Committee Approval
   Inclusion of the approval letter from the relevant Ethics Committee or Institution’s Review Board regarding the research protocol and the rights of the subjects (if applicable to the study)
3. Consent Form
   Attach a copy of the consent form to the letter, if applicable. Consent forms would be evaluated by the Ethics Committee and then signed by the participant.
4. RCT Registration
   Emailing the letter denoting registration of RCTs in domestic or international databases (The trial's registration number needs to be mentioned, too).
5. Title Page
   The title page should have the following information:
   • The title of the article: Concise titles are easier to read than long or complex ones. The study design should also be included especially for randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Authors should include all information in the title that will make electronic retrieval of the article both sensitive and specific.
   • Authors' names, their highest academic degree(s)
   • The name of the department(s) and institution(s) to which the work should be attributed, e.g. university, research institute or hospital.
   • Corresponding author: Full name, postal address, telephone and fax numbers should be included for correspondence.
   • Source(s) of support in the form of grant, equipment, drug, etc.
   • Separate word counts for the main text (Excluding acknowledgments, figures legends, and references) and body of the abstract are necessary. The body of abstracts (From background to the end of conclusion) should not exceed 250 words and the main text of an original article should not exceed 4500 words. Longer papers will be considered but they need editors’ approval. Short communications should not exceed 1500 words or equivalent space including figures and tables. Letters to the editor should be unstructured and not exceed 750 words and also the references must be limited to 10 in number.
   • The number of figures and tables.
6. Conflict of Interest Notification Page
   Provide a notification page regarding potential conflict (s) of interest for authors. If this is not the case, state its absence.
7. Abstract
   • Abstracts are usually indexed on databases and are frequently read. Therefore, abstracts should accurately reflect the content of the article.
   • The abstract should provide the Background of the study which contains the justification for doing the research and objectives of the study; Methods section includes the study subjects or lab animals, observational and analytical methods, methods of statistical analysis and significance level; Results, effect sizes and their statistical significance; and principal conclusion. For case reports, background, case presentation and conclusion are needed.
   • Key Words: To visualize your work internationally, you are advised to provide 5 to 8 key words or short phrases that represent the main topic(s). You should verify whether the terms exist on the NLM site under the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH). The URL for the site to be used is: https://www.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/meshhome.html
8. Introduction
   The introduction should provide a background for the study (i.e., the features of the problem and its importance), clearly state the research objective(s) or the hypothesis tested by the study. The primary and secondary objectives should be made clear in this section. Give only strictly relevant references and do not include data or conclusions from the study.
9. Methods
   The methods section should include only information that was available at the time the plan or protocol for the study was written. It may also include:
   1. Statement of the study registration at a domestic or international database for RCTs (The trial's registration number needs to be mentioned, too).
   2. Selection and description of participants: Describe clearly your selection criteria, if any, of the observational or experimental participants (cases or lab animals and the controls), including eligibility plus a description of the source population. Make sure to indicate the justification for inclusion or exclusion of variables such as age and sex and their relevance to the objective of research as they are not always clear. For variables such as race or ethnicity, you should define how you measure these variables and justify their use.
   3. Technical information: Indicate the methods, tools (plus the manufacturer's name and address in parentheses), and procedures in full detail for reproducibility. For established methods, referencing to them and giving brief descriptions for published new methods or modified methods while including their limitations and justification for their use are necessary. Describe precisely all chemicals and medications used, including their generic names, doses and routes of administration. If you are submitting a review, include a section describing the methods used for locating, selecting, extracting, and producing data. Summarize these pieces of information in the abstract, too.
   4. Observance of ethical issues regarding human and animal rights: Aside from the inclusion in the cover letter, state the issue in the methods section and the procedures of observance of ethical issues related to human or animals that might be of concern to the readers of the journal, any legal body or the journal’s authorities as this journal is in conformity with the Declaration of Helsinki.
   5. Declaration of Helsinki: The Declaration of Helsinki was developed by the World Medical Association (WMA) as a statement of ethical principles for medical research involving human subjects and research on identifiable human material and data. The declaration was first adopted by the 18th WMA General Assembly, Helsinki, Finland, June 1964, and amended by the 59th WMA General Assembly, Seoul in October 2008. To get more insight about the principles, it is suggested to log onto: https://www.wma.net/en/30publications/10policies/b3/
   6. Statistics: Describe the statistical methods and significance level in a fashion to make it possible for a knowledgeable reader to validate the reported results when the data are available. Relying merely on hypothesis testing by using p-values falls short of demonstrating the effect size properly. Mention the statistical software used for analysis and its version, if any. For selecting the design of the study and use of statistical methods, provide standard works and references. Define statistical terms, abbreviations, and the main symbols.
10. Results
    Results should be written in logical sequence in the text with the main or most important findings first. Report or summarize only important observations related to the objectives or secondary objectives of the study. Supply more information, if needed to be mentioned, in footnotes and or appendix. These could be easily published in electronic formats without any restriction. Give numeric results not only as percentages but also as numbers and express the statistical methods used to analyze them. Restrict tables and figures to only explain the argument of the paper and to assess its support. Use graphs as an alternative to tables with many entries; do not duplicate data in graphs and tables and vice versa. Avoid non-technical usages of statistical terms (such as the word "normal", etc.), adverbs of frequency (e.g. usually, etc.), common words or phrases or vague words for describing subjects (such as "a promising drug", "a devastating disease", etc.) instead of numbers and percentages.
11. Discussion
    Stress the novelty and important features of the study and the conclusions derived from them. Do not repeat the data or other material given in the introduction, methods or the results sections. For experimental studies:
    • Begin the discussion by summarizing the main findings,
    • Show possible mechanism(s) or explanations for these findings,
    • Compare and contrast the results with other studies,
    • State the limitations of the study and finally,
    • State the implications of the findings for future studies or for clinical practice.
12. Conclusion
    It is necessary to add "conclusion" at the end of article. Link the conclusions with the goals of the study but avoid statements and conclusions that are not adequately supported by your data. Avoid making statements unless your manuscript includes the appropriate and relevant data and analyses. Avoid claiming precedence in doing the intended research which almost always proves to be faulty and faces strong criticism, especially by foreign and domestic reviewers (e.g. This research is the first to establish a link …), or referencing to work that has not been completed yet.
13. References
    • Provide direct references to original research sources whenever possible.
    • Small numbers of references to key original papers will often suffice as well as more exhaustive lists, since electronic version of published papers are available too and the retrieval of the original published articles would be easier for the readers.
    • Do not use abstracts as references.
    • References to papers accepted but not yet published can be included if tagged "In press" or "Forthcoming", but obtain written permission for citing such papers as well as verification that they have been accepted for publication.
    • Minimize citation errors by double-checking the references to the original article.
    • You are responsible for checking that none of the references cited are retracted articles (for articles published in MEDLINE indexed journals, PubMed is a perfect source for information on retractions).
    • Reference format: Referencing format of the Journal of Reproduction & Infertility (JRI) is based on the American National Standards Institute style adapted by the NLM for its databases as ICMJE refers to for this purpose. Therefore, authors are advised to consult NLM’s Citing Medicine available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/bv.fcgi?rid=citmed.TOC&depth=2
      A shorter version is also available at: https://www.nlm.nih.gov/bsd/uniform_requirements.html Any other site providing Vancouver Citation Style is approved by this journal too.
      1. Journals: Authors' last names and initials (List all authors when six or fewer; when seven or more, list six and add et al.). Title of article. Journal’s name. Year; Volume (number): Inclusive pages. Example: Zarnani AH, Moazzeni SM, Shokri F, Salehnia M, Dokouhaki P, Ghods R, et al. Microenvironment of the feto-maternal interface protects the semiallogenic fetus through its immunomodulatory activity on dendritic cells. Fertil Steril. 2008;90(3):781-8.
      2. Books: Authors' last names and initials. Book title. Edition. Place of publication: Publisher; Date of publication. Pagination. Example: Eyre HJ, Lange DP, Morris LB. Informed decisions: the complete book of cancer diagnosis, treatment, and recovery. 2nd ed. Atlanta: American Cancer Society; 2002.768 p.
      3. Parts of books: Authors' last names and initials. Title of book. Edition. Place of publication: publisher; Date. Number of part, title of part; Location of the part. Example: Cunningham FG, Leveno KJ, Bloom SL, Hauth JC, Hauth JC, Gilstrap III LC, et al. Williams obstetrics. 22nd ed. New York: Mc Graw-Hill; 2005. Chapter 6, parturition; p.151-86.
    • References should be numbered consecutively in the order in which they first appeared in the text.
    • Identify references in the text, tables, and legends by Arabic numerals in parentheses.
    • The titles of journals should be abbreviated according to the style used in Index Medicus or find them at PubMed Locator Plus.
    • ISSN, the international identifier for serials, provides invaluable information and is available at https://www.issn.org/.
    • Nonetheless, all authors are encouraged to use referencing tools such as EndNote, Reference Manager, EndNote Web, etc. for referencing to guarantee precision and for ease of work.
14. Tables
    
    • Tables efficiently and precisely display pieces of information. To express the results and reduce the size of the text explaining them, use tables.
    • Number tables in the order of their first appearance in the text.
    • Write a short title for each one.
    • Do not use internal vertical or horizontal lines.
    • Include explanatory texts in footnotes, not in the heading.
    • Nonstandard abbreviations should be explained beforehand.
    • Symbols used for footnotes usually follow this sequence: *,†,‡,§,||,¶,**,††,‡‡
    • Include statistical measurements for variations, such as standard deviation and standard errors of the mean.
    • Cite all tables in the text.
    • Obtain written permission for using data from another published source, in the press or unpublished source and properly acknowledge the use at the end of the paper.
    • Table formats: The table formats accepted by the journal include PDF, MS Excel, MS Word and MS PowerPoint.
15. Illustrations (Figures)
    
    • Always include high quality electronic files of figures with 300dpi resolution. Acknowledge the original source of photographs, tables or graphs AND submit written permission from the copyright holder for reproducing their material, except for documents in the public domain.
    • Legends for figures: Provide numbered legends for figures (double-spaced) on separate pages. Clearly explain symbols, arrows, numbers, or letters on the illustrations belonging to the legend. Identify the scale you use to show the objects.
16. Units of Measurement
    All measurements should be reported in metric units (meter, kilogram, or liter) or decimal ( e.g. temperatures are stated in degrees centigrade). Report laboratory information or drug concentration in SI units.
17. Abbreviations and Symbols
    Any use of standard abbreviations needs prior use of the word(s) and indication of the abbreviation or the acronyms in parentheses. Do not use abbreviations in the title.
18. Acknowledgements
    1. Contributors: In acknowledgement section, name people for their contributions or their permission to reproduce their published material, to use their illustrations or provide information about them- try to fully name people who have helped from the conception of the idea to adoption of the hypothesis, to finalization of the study, etc., earnestly.
    2. Statement of financial support: Aside from the title page, state any financial or other relationships that might lead to a conflict of interest.
19. Conflict of interest
    Provide information regarding potential conflict(s) of interest for authors. If this is not the case, state its absence.

The journal’s policy on plagiarism
Any practice of plagiarism will not be tolerated by the journal regarding submitted manuscripts. Non-identifiable quoted segments of articles or close paraphrases from other author/s or even submitting the author’s previously published work are known as the act of plagiarism by this journal unless proper use of quotations or paraphrasing with decent citation or referencing are in place. Heavy use of one or a couple of articles is discouraged, even if paraphrased fully. Advertent practice of plagiarism will abort reviewing process or later submission to this journal.

Peer-review policy
Authors may suggest or exclude peer-reviewers for their work when they submit their articles but keep in mind that the journal has the right not to fully follow all the suggestions as this might undesirably lower the necessary number of peer-reviewers for the article.
The peer-review process in the journal includes the following steps:

1. Authors submit an article.
2. The editor-in-chief verifies relevance of the article to the journal's policy for publishing such papers.
3. He chooses associate editors to evaluate the submitted manuscript initially and assigns peer-reviewers according to their specialty and the subject relevance. Utmost care is practiced to select those who are authorities in the selected field(s). The submitted papers are statistically reviewed by the journal’s statistical associate editor throughout the editing process, before sending the article to the peer-reviewers to check for the decency and scientific validity of the study design, accuracy of the statistical methodology and popularity of the medical issue.
4. For determining the merits of the paper and reaching a final conclusion on the paper's suitability for publication, the editor-in-chief usually asks associate editors to study the peer-reviewers’ comments.
5. The authors may be asked to respond to the questions raised by reviewers if the paper is accepted for publication and the paper usually contains major and minor faults or inaccuracies of the article. A rejection letter is sent for the authors if their paper is not accepted.
6. The author/s should respond in due time and clarify ambiguities if any.
7. Upon receiving the resubmitted paper, the associate editor or reviewers (usually two out of three and the biostatistician) check the author/s feedbacks on their comments.
8. Upon the last round of review (mentioned at 7) and the final approval, the paper is revised by editors for technical language and the accuracy of scientific content. Next, it is placed in the queue for publication.

Copyright policy

License and Copyright Agreement

In submitting the manuscript to the journal, the authors certify that (1) they are authorized by their co-authors to enter into these agreements; (2) the work submitted has not been published elsewhere, except in the form of an abstract or as part of a published lecture, review, and thesis; (3) that it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere; (4) that its publication has been approved by all the author(s) and by the responsible authorities , whether implicitly or explicitly, of the institutes where the work has been performed; and (5) they have the right to reproduce any material that has already been published or copyrighted elsewhere

Copyright

Authors who publish with Journal of Reproduction and Infertility have the right to enter into independent, additional contractual agreements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work, with an acknowledgment of its first publication in this journal.

License information
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 Unported License which allows users to read, copy, distribute and make derivative works for non-commercial purposes from the material as long as the author of the original work is cited properly.