Requirements for Manuscript Submission

Publication statement

The Journal of Reproduction and Infertility (JRI) (ISSN: 2228-5482, eISSN: 2251-676X) is a peer-reviewed quarterly published by Avicenna Research Institute (ARI) affiliated to the Academic Center for Education, Culture and Research (ACECR) since 1999. JRI publishes original research, clinical observations, and special feature articles in the field of genuine basic and clinical studies, reproduction, fertility and infertility, as broadly defined topics. Contributions pertinent to JRI also include related fields such reproductive biology, reproductive gynecology, reproductive medicine, gynecologic cancers affecting fertility, reproductive endocrinology, reproductive physiology, immunology, genetics, pathology, andrology, prenatal and preimplantation genetic diagnosis, sexually transmitted infections, reproductive law and bioethics, epidemiological and psychological studies concerning reproduction and infertility. Papers submitted to this Journal for publication are considered on condition that they have been neither submitted elsewhere, nor published elsewhere other than in abstract form.

JRI is committed to observe the following regulations of International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) and International Standards for Authors and Editors of Committee on Publication Ethics in designing and the Journal’s reviewing and publishing process. It also follows Principles of transparency and best practice for scholarly publications based on COPE guideline.

Authorship

Authorship demonstrates credit and has significant academic, social, and financial implications. In fact, it implies responsibility and accountability for published articles. Contributors who have made essential intellectual contributions to a paper are recognized as authors and the contributors credited as authors are definitely cognizant and aware of their role in taking responsibility and accountability of the published work.

Our journal like many others requires and publishes information about the contributions of each person who has assisted in preparation of the work submitted, at least for original research. Accordingly, our editors have developed and implemented a contributorship policy. Such policy crosses out the ambiguity regarding the contributions. Our journal implements the ICMJE regulations for authorship that can be used by all journals, including those that make a difference between authors and another contributor. As a brief explanation of the guidelines, authorship is comprised of a significant contribution to the conception or design of the work or the extraction, analysis and interoperation of the data of the manuscript; significant revising or making a draft of the manuscript for important intellectual content; final approval of the version to be published; and taking the responsibility for the whole parts of manuscript ensuring that all relevant questions to accuracy and integrity of the manuscript are appropriately addressed.

All persons listed as authors must meet these criteria, and all persons who meet these criteria must be considered as authors. Some articles are submitted with an unusually huge number of authors; in this case, a precise assessment will be carried out by editors and reviewers for submitting a clear justification in mentioning each person on the authorship list. JRI provides a ground for a statement of equal contribution for two first authors and two senior authors. On the title page, the researchers must include asterisks by each name and a statement that reads: * Contributed equally as co-first authors or *Contributed equally as co-senior authors. Moreover, before submitting the manuscripts, the authors must decide on authorship issues. JRI does not permit inclusion or removal of authors or modifications to the author order after a manuscript is submitted without clear approval from the editors. After publication, authors’ first names, surnames, and affiliations will appear in the submitted manuscript Word and PDF document and the final proofs. All authors need to ensure their information is correct and precise.

Corresponding author

The corresponding author is the person who manages the manuscript and correspondence during the publication process, including approving the article proofs. In fact, the corresponding author’s authority and responsibility is to act on behalf of all co-authors in all matters relevant to submission of the manuscript, its publication process including supplementary material. The corresponding author in the first place obtains the agreements from all authors and informs the co-authors of the manuscript’s status throughout the submission, review, and publication process. In addition, the corresponding author is also the focal point for contact for any enquiries including those pertinent to the integrity of the work after the paper is published.

The corresponding author’s specific responsibilities include:

Manuscript correction and proofreading. Managing the revisions and re-submission of modified manuscripts until obtaining the acceptance letter;
Agreeing to and signing the author publishing agreement as the main representative for all relevant co-authors and/or arranging for any third-party copyright owners’ signature;
Acting on behalf of all co-authors in replying to all questions from all sources post-publication, including questions related to publishing ethics, request for using the content, or the availability of data, materials, images, etc.

Peer review statement

JRI adheres to a blinded peer review process in which the reviewers’ names are commonly unknown to the author. Authors are invited to suggest the names, affiliations, and contact information of up to six referees, but the Editor-in-Chief or associate editors are not obliged to use all or any of these individuals as reviewers. All manuscripts are reviewed initially by the Editor-in-Chief and only those papers within the scope of journal that meet the scientific and editorial criteria of the journal will be assigned for external review. Each paper is reviewed by at least three referees. All manuscripts are reviewed as swiftly as possible, and a first editorial decision is generally reached within 4 weeks of submission.

Manuscript preparation

Manuscripts should follow the last updated recommendations issued by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE). All parts of the manuscript including the title page, abstract, text, acknowledgments, references, individual tables, and legends should be double-spaced, with margins of at least 2.5 cm on all sides. Authors should also supply a shortened version of the title suitable for the running head, not exceeding 50 character spaces. JRI processes all manuscripts exclusively by electronic means. The authors should not mail or fax backup hard copies of manuscripts and related items. Manuscripts submitted other than through website will be desk rejected. The authors need to proceed with article submission at https://slby.ir/1l3lg. Both the manuscript and cover letter must be attached as separate MS Word documents. Statement of the study's registration at national or international databases for RCTs is essential.

Types of journal articles

Original Research: The most common type of journal manuscripts received by the journal office are full reports of data from research. It may be called an Original Article or Research Article. The Original Research format is suitable for many different fields and various types of studies in the scope of our journal. It includes full Introduction, Materials/Patients and Methods, Results, Discussion, and Conclusion sections. The preceding Abstract at the beginning of the manuscript should not exceed 250 words with 3-8 keywords. Structured abstract must include background, method, result, and conclusion sections separately. Moreover, objective of the study, findings (including its statistical significance), and the conclusion made on the basis of the findings should be clearly stated. Also, authors are suggested to use most specific MeSH terms as keywords rather than the broad and more general headings. Manuscripts of length up to a maximum of 4500 words will be considered for publication.
Review articles: Review papers are high ranked scholarly manuscripts written by experts who not only are aware of the research and technical developments in the field but also are able to critically examine the state-of-the-art and explain viewpoints and provide guidance/ideas for further research in the topic of interest. Therefore, before submission of the paper, it is highly recommended that the potential authors contact the Editor-in-Chief to ensure that the proposed review article is within the scope of the journal and in line with its objectives. In the next step, they need to provide detailed information for the Editor-in-Chief regarding the title of the review, detailed reason and justification for the novelty of the research, and a concise description of the content of the paper including chapter titles. In the final step, the Editor-in-Chief will assess the proposal and contact the authors with a decision for submission and peer-reviewing. Three types of reviews are welcomed in our journal. Narrative reviews consist of title page, unstructured or traditional abstract, keywords, and the text including introduction, discussion, and conclusion. Authors’ contributions, ethical statements, conflict of interest, acknowledgment, references, tables, figures, and legends should be added. Narrative reviews should not exceed 5000 words excluding the references. Systemic reviews with logical methodology are encouraged. The systematic reviews consist of title page, structured abstract, keywords, introduction, materials/patients and methods, results, discussion, and conclusion. Authors’ contributions, ethical statements, conflict of interest, acknowledgment, references, tables, figures, and legends should be inserted. Systematic reviews should not exceed 5000 words excluding the references. Moreover, systematic review should follow the same principles of original papers. Mini reviews: The aim of mini-reviews in medical sciences is to publish short reviews on the important recent developments in medicine and relevant disciplines. Mini-reviews should not exceed 1500 words. The same conditions as narrative reviews described above apply.
Case reports: Case reports should be limited to 1500 words excluding the references. They should include abstract not exceeding 1500 words, 3 to 5 keywords compatible with MeSH, introduction, case presentation, discussion, acknowledgment, references, and 1–4 figures. Moreover, it is obligatory to provide evidence and documents regarding the case (s) such as pathology reports, laboratory tests, and images as a complete package at the beginning of submission. In order to follow the rights for the confidentiality of patient identity, the patients’ photographs should not be recognizable. The case report should present a case with unique features in which the novelty and educational purposes will be imparted to the reader.
Letters to the Editor: A Letter to the Editor is a brief communication to a journal’s editor or editorial team. It is mostly written in response to a recent publication within the journal, but can also be a topic of interest to the journal’s readership irrelevant to any previously published articles in the journal. As we promote the intellectual discussion between readers and authors, letters to the editor are encouraged by our journal. They must be unstructured and not exceed 750 words.
Brief /Short Communications: JRI also encourages the authors to submit brief communications as they are used to report findings that are not suitable for a full research article, but yet reflect the same value. Distinguishing between a full research article and a brief communication is therefore not a question of research quality, but rather depends on the amount of research done and the intricacy and complexity of results. Subheadings should not be inserted but the text should chronologically contain a short background, aim, materials and methods, a short and focused discussion and a short conclusion not exceeding 1,500 words.

Cover letter

All submissions to the JRI must be accompanied by a completed copy of signed covered letter including the copyright agreement. The cover letter serves to assure the editors that the article and the authors meet the criteria of publication. A concise paragraph providing any additional information that may be useful to the editors is welcomed as a cover letter. However, in preparing them, the authors must affirm that the manuscript submitted to JRI has not been submitted or published elsewhere or is not under consideration by any journal. Also, it confirms that all authors are responsible for the reported research. Also, it reflects the authors have participated in the concept and design, analysis and interpretation of data, and drafting or revising of the manuscript.

Title page

The necessary information on this page are complete title (it is suggested to avoid using unapproved abbreviations or formulas), full names including the first name and last name of all authors, complete affiliations of all authors, the number of article pages including the whole sections like Figures, Tables, and Captions and the number of Figures and Tables, running title, the complete first and last name and complete address of the corresponding author as well as telephone number, facsimile number, and E-mail address to whom correspondence and proofs should be addressed.

Abstract

An Abstract of up to 250 words describing the "Purpose" of the study, the "Materials and Methods", the "Results", and the "Conclusion" should precede the main text. As a primary goal, the abstract should reflect the general significance and conceptual advance of the paper. For the specific structure of the abstract, authors should follow the requirements of the article type or journal to which they're submitting. It is highly suggested to reduce the number of abbreviations and do not cite references, figures, or tables. For clinical trial articles, the unique identifier and the URL of the publicly-accessible website on which the trial is registered must be included.

Keywords

A minimum of 3 and maximum of 8 keywords or phrases should be provided and they must be compatible with Medical Subject Headings (MeSH); preferably, the selected keywords should exist in the main body of the manuscript.

Galley Proofs

The galley proofs must be precisely revised and modified and returned within 48 hours. If the authors do not have access to their email, they must ask a colleague to reply the proof by the acceptable deadline.

Reference style and format

When preparing the references, the authors must follow the below procedures:

Provide direct references to original research sources whenever possible
Small numbers of references to key original papers will often suffice, 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 written permission should be obtained for citing such papers as well as verification that they have been accepted for publication
Minimize citation errors by double-checking the references
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 and 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
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/
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

Typical examples for referencing different materials are stated below

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
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.
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.

Tables

Tables should be well organized in a way that together with their captions and legends, impart comprehensible information with minimal reference to the text. Tables should not retrieve information mentioned in the Results section, but rather must provide clear and concise data that effectively illustrate the main point. Tabular data should directly relate to the hypothesis and tables of numerical data are required to be typed (with double spacing) on a separate page, numbered in sequence in Arabic numerals (Table 1, 2, etc.) and mentioned in the text as table 1, table 2, etc. The caption of the table should appear above it. A detailed description of its contents and footnotes besides its interpretation should be given below the body of the table. Tables may use any legible font size and may appear in portrait or landscape orientation. Moreover, scan/image formats of table are not accepted by the journal. There is no maximum number of tables.

Figures

Figures should be numbered in the order in which they appear in the text. Figures include graphs, charts, photographs, and illustrations. Each figure must contain a legend (placed in a list appearing after the References) that does not exceed 50 words. Also, figures should be uploaded as separate files and figure legends must be listed as the last item in in the main Word/text file. There is no limit for inclusion of figures. They must be visible and clear and readers should be able to understand figures without referring to the text. Also, it is recommended to avoid 3-dimensional graphs and excess ink in general and the axes on graphs must be labeled, including units of measurement with appropriate font size.

For text within the figures, the authors must use the same font for all figures in the manuscript, and various letter type sizes within a single figure are not acceptable. The preferred font size is 8 points and the minimum font size must be 6 points.

Ethics approval

Manuscripts reporting studies involving human participants, human data or human tissue must include a statement on ethics approval and the name of the ethics committee that approved the study and the committee’s reference number if appropriate besides the statement emphasizing the research conforms to the provisions of the WMA Declaration of Helsinki. Moreover, studies involving animals must demonstrate the ethics approval. If your manuscript does not report on or involve the use of any animal or human data or tissue, the phrase “Not applicable” must be inserted in this section. The clinicians who carried out a clinical trial on human subjects and want to publish the results of their investigations in this Journal should have obtained permission for their clinical trial from Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials (IRCT), World Health Organization – International Clinical Trials Registry Platform or other well-known clinical trials registries.

Funding

All sources of funding and financial grant for the research reported should be declared. The role of the funding agency in the design and conception of the study and collection, analysis, and interpretation of data and in writing the manuscript should be stated as well.

Research Reporting Guidelines

To ensure a high and consistent quality of research reporting, original research articles must contain sufficient information to allow readers to understand how a study was designed and conducted. For review articles, systematic or narrative, readers should be informed of the rationale and details behind the literature search strategy. Authors are encouraged to use the EQUATOR Network reporting guidelines for the study type:

Randomized Controlled Trials:(CONSORT) Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials guidelines
Observational Studies:(STROBE) Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology guidelines
Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses : (PRISMA) Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines
Diagnostic Accuracy Studies: (STARD) Standards for Reporting Diagnostic accuracy studies guidelines
Quality Improvement Studies: (SQUIRE) Standards for Quality Improvement Reporting Excellence guidelines
Case Reports:(CARE) for case reports

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

Authors are asked to declare all relationships or interests regarding their work. All submitted manuscripts must have a ‘conflict of interest’ paragraph at the end of paper to disclose all financial and non-financial competing interests. In cases that no conflict of interest is detected, the statement of “The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest” must be included. In this section, both financial competing interests and any non-financial competing interests must be referred to. However, the Editor in Chief preserves the right to ask for further information about competing interests. Associate editors, member of advisory board, associate editors, and reviewers are also required to declare any competing interests and will be excluded from the peer review process in case of competing interest.

Acknowledgement

This section follows the Discussion and Conclusions sections. Its main objective is to thank all people who assisted the research team but did not qualify for authorship. In fact, all people who provided intellectual assistance, technical help, or special equipment or materials must be acknowledged. If the authors do not have anyone to acknowledge, the phrase “Not applicable" must be mentioned in this section.