Author Guidelines

1. Manuscript Submission Overview
2. Manuscript Preparation
3. Supplementary Materials
4. Original Images for Blots and Gels Requirements
5. Research and Publication Ethics
6. Authorship
7. Copyright/Open Access
8. Reviewer Recommendation
9. Conflict of Interest
10. Funded by the National Institute of Health (NIH)
11. Editorial Process and Peer-Review
12. Editorial Independence
13. Process for in-House Submissions
14. Promoting Equity, Diversity and Inclusiveness within DBM

1. Manuscript Submission Overview

1.1 Types of Publications

The submitted manuscripts to Diagnostic Brain Medicine (DBM) should be original manuscripts that have not been published elsewhere in the same form and are not currently being considered by other journals. DBM mainly publishes four types of paper:

• Original Researchshould provide new insight into the field based on well-conducted research through performing proper scientific experiments with supporting data presented. Any original works, in the forms of Original Research, Short Communication, Rapid Report, Brief Report, etc., are encouraged. The original research article should be organized in the following order: full Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion and Conclusion sections. The article provides complete research results in which the objectives/hypotheses have been fully addressed. Authors should not and need not divide their work into several related articles, although Short Communication with preliminary but important results will be considered. During the peer review, a thorough evaluation on the quality and impact of the research would be made. Articles should comply with but not be limited to the guidelines below:
• Randomised trials: CONSORT
• Observational studies: STROBE
• Qualitative research: SRQR
• Diagnostic/prognostic studies: STARD
• Animal pre-clinical studies: ARRIVE
• Study protocols: SPIRIT
• Clinical practice guidelines: AGREE
• Reviewis primarily addressed to the experts in a specific hot topic, conveying main perspectives through comparing and analyzing massive literature written by renowned specialists. Reviews own a wider scope of readers and are highly cited, for instance, it may be referred to when the researchers look for a complete introduction to a field. Reviews commonly cite approximately 60 primary research articles.
• Systematic Reviewarticles present a synthesis of previous research, and use systematic methods to identify, categorize, appraise and report aggregated evidence on a specific topic. PRISMA is the basis for systematic reviews of RCTs, and MOOSE is recommended for systematic reviews of observational studies. Authors are advised to complete the flow diagram and supplement the file at the time of submission.
• Editorialare opinion articles submitted by the editor or an invited author. Editorials written by an invited contributor may cover the topic of concern in a special issue or thematic section. Editorials may comment on one or more articles in the same issue of DBM or on an area of current interest in Bioscience. The articles should be concise and to the point, with a maximum length of 1000 words, 15 references, and 1 table or figure. Usually, authors for Editorials should not exceed three. A continuous text or integration of subsections is accepted as the composition of the Editorial, while abstract is not included.

1.2 Accepted File Formats

Manuscript should be prepared using our Microsoft Word template by accessing to our website. If any problems exist, please contact the Editorial Office. The accepted formats include:

• Microsoft Word: Manuscripts must be submitted as a single file.
• Figures: JPG. or TIF. Files are acceptable (see 2.5for further details）
• Supplementary Materials: Formats are unrestricted, but common, non-proprietary formats are recommended (see 3for further details).

1.3 Submission Process

• Manuscripts are required to meet international English language standards and are scientifically sound to be considered for publication.
• The onlineEditorial Manager submission & editorial system should be used to complete the submission of correctly formatted manuscripts. Figures and Tables should be inserted into the text near their first reference, and must be numbered in order of appearance.
• The submitting author, generally the corresponding author, is responsible for the manuscript submitted through Editorial Managersubmission & editorial system and the peer-review process. All eligible co-authors should be included in the author list and have approved the final version of the manuscript. The corresponding author should register and log in to the submission website to complete the submission.
• ORCIDis an unique identifier that users---authors or reviewers can use to ensure their work is linked. By using ORCID, DBM enables a continuously updated publication data of authors or reviewers to be presented. Although optional, DBM recommends authors to use ORCID.
• In DBM, the initial evaluation results regarding the suitability will be informed to the corresponding author through e-mail within a few days after submission. Once such evaluation is passed, the manuscript will undergo peer review. Usually, the editor-in-chief will make final decision on the manuscript based on Reviewer and academic editor’s comments.

2. Manuscript Preparation

2.1 General Guidelines

Please read the Author’s Submission Review Instructions, and view a sample document in the correct format to make submission preparation.

2.1.1 Title Page

The Title Page should include the following information: full manuscript title, full names and affiliations of all authors, full name and address of the Corresponding Author (e.g.,. e-mail), source(s) of financial support, word count as well as the number of tables and figures.

• Title:The title should be short and informative. The title should reflect whether the study reports trial data (human or animal), or is a systematic review, meta-analysis, or replication study. Abbreviations of gene or protein names should be used rather than full names.
• Author information: The name(s) and the affiliation(s) of the author(s) should be provided. The affiliation should be formatted according to the PubMed/MEDLINE standard format, including the information of Department, Institution, ZIP code City, State (or Province), Country. Affiliations of the authors indicated by numbers (not symbols); equal contribution indicated by ^#. DBMencourages authors to provide Open Researcher and Contributor Identification (ORCID).
• Correspondence: at least one valid email address of the corresponding author and more detailed affiliation (Department, Institution, ZIP code City, State (or Province), Country, District, Road, Street) is required.
• Author contributions. Allauthors should have made substantial intellectual contributions to published research. Authorship credit should be given in accordance with the standard proposed by the ICMJE Specifically, authorship is merited by (1) substantial contributions to conception and design of the study, acquisition of data, or analysis and interpretation of data; (2) drafting the article or making critical revisions related to important intellectual content of the manuscript; (3) final approval of the version of the article to be published; (4) agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work and to ensure that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved. Each author should be fully involved in the work and take public responsibility for the content of the appropriate parts. Acquisition of funding, collection of data, or general supervision of the research group alone does not constitute authorship.
• The authors' individual contributions to the manuscript should be identified and expressed using initials. Changes in authorship are only allowed after submission but before publication. In such cases, the corresponding author is responsible for contacting the journal staff and clearly stating the reasons.
• In case that changes to authorship are approved and also adhered to the above-mentioned guidelines, the corresponding author should provide written confirmation (e-mail, letter) from all authors that they agree with the addition, removal or rearrangement. DBMwill individually notify anyone added or removed from the author list.
• Ethics approval and consent to participate. For manuscripts involving human or animal subjects, a statement identifying the ethics committee that approved the study and approval number are required. Please note that further information may be required by the Editorial Office.
• Contributions from individuals who do not meet the criteria for authorship should be listed with permission from the contributor, in the Acknowledgment section. Administrative and technical support, as well as financial and material support should also be included.
• Authors should list all funding sources in this section. Authors should guarantee the accuracy of their grant numbers and funding agency names. For any doubt, please check at https://search.crossref.org/funding.
• Conflict of interest. Authors are required to disclose any conflict of interest in this section. lf you have no competing interests to declare, please state this (suggested wording: “The authors declare no conflicts of interest statement” or “The author declares no conflicts of interests”). The text in this section should match the text provided in the Declaration of Interests form in the publishing agreement. Read more on competing interests policies.
• Word count. To help editors and reviewers accelerate the evaluation covering the paper’s length, formats and word limits, a word count should be performed on the paper’s main text, with the exclusion of its abstract, acknowledgments, tables, legends, and references. For the same purpose, a separate word count is  required for abstracts.
• Specification of number of figures and tables. These numbers help editorial staff and reviewers confirm whether all figures and tables are included in the manuscript or not.
• Disclosure of relationships and activities. The manuscript contains information disclosed by each author. Each journal shall formulate standards regarding the form and place of publication of information. ICMJEhas developed a uniform Disclosure Form for use by ICMJE member journals, and ICMJE encourages other journals to adopt it. Although forms can be used, editors may require disclosure information to be presented on the manuscript title page or other Disclosure section, so as to reduce the time required to gather forms to speed up editorial decisions, or save reviewers and readers the work of reading each author’s form.

2.1.2 Abstract

A concise and factual abstract with about 250 words is required. All abbreviations should be defined when first mentioned, unless they correspond to a gene name. References, figures or tables, website, equations or other graphical elements should be avoided.

Structured abstracts are required in original research, systematic reviews, and meta-analyses, with the sections as follows:

• Background: A brief statement of the purpose of the study.
• Methods: A summary of descriptions of the study design, experimental procedures and relative key measures if applicable.
• Results：Brief introduction of main results, with sample size provided.
• Conclusions: Clinical and theoretical implications of the findings.
• Clinical Trial Registration: Include a fifth heading, “Clinical Trial Registration”, if applicable. Please include a unique identifier and the URL of the publicly accessible website to register the trial. For data stored in a public repository and/or used in secondary analyses, the unique, persistent data set identifier, repository name and number should be stated at the end of the abstract.

2.1.3 Keywords

Each submission must provide five or so keywords related to the article that are reasonably common within the subject discipline, avoiding general and plural terms as well as multiple concepts (e.g., ‘and’, ‘of’)

2.1.4 Main Text

• Introduction

This should be concise and describe the nature of the problem under investigation and its background. In the context of previous research by citing relevant references, the significance of the study and the hypotheses could be better discussed and expounded. Please note not to review the subject extensively.   

• Materials and Methods

Details of the methodology used along with information on any previous efforts with corresponding references should be provided in this section, to make the study more transparent and reproducible. These widely used techniques, well-established or elaborated methods should be described briefly with appropriate references, while new methods and protocols should be described specifically. SI units are used throughout the text. Informed consent regarding reports involving human subjects should be obtained prior to the study, and the confidentiality should be maintained accordingly. Experiments involving animals must comply with the accepted ethical standards.

The name of the statistical test used, the number of each analysis, the comparison of interest, the alpha level, and the actual p-value for each test are included in the statistical analysis. The statistical test for each p-value should be clearly generated. The error bars on the graph should be clearly labeled, and whether the number following the ± sign is the standard deviation or the standard error should be indicated. The word ‘significance’ should only be used to refer to statistically significant results, and should be accompanied by an associated p-value. Significance indicators should be applied to graphs and tables, and should be described to clearly show which groups are being compared. Any statistical software used to perform the analysis should be specified.

• Results

The study results should be properly detailed and paired well with the figures and tables. Appropriate statistical tests described in the Experimental Design and Statistical Analysis section should be applied for analyzing numerical data. Details should be provided for each statistical test applied. The results should be presented objectively and not overly interpreted (interpretation as well as supporting references should be made in the Discussion section).

Reproducibility of Results and Statistical Analysis:The author should be confident in the reproducibility of the data when submitting data for publication. The significance of the findings should be determined adopting appropriate statistical analysis, with the word ‘significant’ for description. Probability of significance should be stated. For new assays, the following data should be included:

• Within-assay variability
• Between-assay variability
• Slope of the dose-response curve
• Mid-range of assay
• Least detectable concentration
• Specificity
• Parallelism of the standard and the unknown on recovery
• Comparison with another method for the detection of the compound
• Discussion

The implications of the findings in the context of existing research as well the limitations in the study should be discussed. The Results and Discussion may be presented together. Extensive citations and discussion of published literature should be avoided.

• Conclusions

A concise summary of the contents of the article, usually in one paragraph, should be made in this section. It mainly presents the final outcome of the research or propose further study on the subject, if applicable.

2.1.5 Cover Letter

Main points of the research should be briefly described in the Cover Letter, together with brief explanation of unique submission, all authors’ agreement on the submission, ethical approval, written informed consent as well as declaration of conflicts of interest.

2.2 Format of Manuscript

2.2.1 General Formatting Guidelines

• The manuscript should be formatted, revised and corrected, and only saved as a MS Word document. Manuscripts should be written in clear, concise English with no grammatical, spelling or scientific errors. After submitting the manuscript, please do not send the same document in any other form of modification. Such files will not be used.
• Permission from the publisher should be obtained before using any previously published text, tables or graphics. Such permissions can be obtained simply by calling or writing to the publisher.
• If referencing previously published previously published text, figure or table, please add the following note, “Reproduced with permission from, (ref #)”, to the text, figure or table legend.
• All terms such as et al, in situ, in vitro, in vivo, etc. should be italicized.
• Avoid using automatic numbering in tables of contents, titles, subtitles, or references. Use proprietary numbering in Word, and avoid conversion to HTML documents. Please delete the automatic and manual numbering of numbered items in the text.
• Submit supplementary materials (where applicable) through Editorial Manageronline submission & editorial system as separated files. All supplementary figures and tables must be referenced in the text as consecutive numbers.
• Footnotes to the text are not allowed, and should be incorporated at the end of the reference and cited in superscript numerical order in the text and footnotes.
• All files must be scanned for viruses prior to submission.
• Page Layout: General.
• The first line indents 2 characters of a new paragraph.
• Sub-headings and general headings should be presented in upper case letters (capitalize the initials of all substantives).
• Use either British English or American English spelling throughout your manuscript, but not both.
• Do not use page breaks in your manuscript.
• Headings should be used to divide the sections of their manuscript, if appropriate: Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion, and Conclusions. Subsections should be numbered 1.1 (then 1.1.1, 1.1.2, ...), 1.2, etc. This number is also used for internal cross-referencing: do not just refer to ‘the text’. A brief heading may be needed for any subsection.
• Figure Legends (References should not be included in Figure Legends).
• Tables (References should not be included in Tables).

Notes:

• Place a hard return after each paragraph.
• Please cite references throughout the text in sequential numbers and place references inside parenthesis at the end of sentences throughout the text.

2.2.2 References

• Reference list is prepared in sequential order as cited in the text. The references should be relevant to the study and should refer to the original research sources.
• All references must be complete and accurate.
• For authors of less than 3, please list the names of all authors. For those more than 3, please list the first six authors’ names, then use “et al.”.
• Please list the standard journal title, do not abbreviate the page number.
• Use the [number] for the references in the text.

Sample reference citation.

(1) Journal:

① Less than 3 authors

[1] Boyden EA. A critique of the international nomenclature on bronchopulmonary segments. Diseases of the Chest. 1953; 23: 266–269.

② More than 3 authors

[2] Truong M, Dreier T, Wassélius J, et al. Sub-micrometer morphology of human atherosclerotic plaque revealed by synchrotron radiation-based μCT-A comparison with histology. PLoS One. 2022; 17: e0265598.

(2) Book:

[1] Dybvig DD, Dybvig M. Det tenkende mennesket: filosofiog vitenskapshistorie med vitenskapsteori. 2nd edn. Tapir akademisk forlag: Trondheim. 2003.

[2] Lang TA, Secic M. How to report statistics in medicine. American College of Physicians: Philadelphia. 1997.

(3) Patent:

[1] Cho ST, inventor; Hospira, Inc., assignee. Microneedles for minimally invasive drug delivery. USA: United States patent US 6,980,855. 27 December 2005.

(4) If there are non-English journals in the reference, please insert the journal language as the ending:

[1] Zhou Y, Liu M, Liang WN. Progress on the epidemiological study of epilepsy. Zhong Hua Journal. 2007; 28: 92–94. (In Chinese)

(5) Website:

[1] Fugelsnes E. Oppvarmet støv kan gi økte helseplager. 2004. Available at: http://www.forskning.no/Artikler/2004/mars/1079517069.32 (Accessed: 1 April 2004). 

2.2.3 Abbreviations

• Chemical naming should comply with the standards in Chemical Abstracts Service
• When abbreviations are considered, use only standard abbreviations. When it is not a statement about a specific brand or formulation, use generic names for medications.
• All abbreviations should be defined when they are first used in the text unless the abbreviation is a standard unit of measurement.

2.2.4 Tables

• All tables should be inserted into the text near their first appearance place, and must be numbered in order of appearance. (Table 1, Table 2, etc.).
• Do not submit tables in any other format such as an image, Excel file, PDF file, etc.
• Each table must be a real table with columns, rows and cells.
• Do not use tab to create tables.
• Each piece of information should reside in its own cell.
• Tables must be numbered sequentially in the text and in the table title.
• Do not use any numbering style other than 1, 2, etc.
• Table titles should be included above the table, and legends should be included underneath the table.
• Please refer to any notation within the table with sequential superscripted numbers and not by any other attribute such as a, #, etc.
• Please cite references in the right column by numbers referenced in the reference section. Do not use the name of author followed by et al.
• If possible, please do not use abbreviations in tables.
• All abbreviations must be defined in footnotes.

2.2.5 Figures

• Figure File Requirements
• File type: .tif, .jpg.
• Image resolution: The authors are expected to submit good quality figures (1200 dpi for Line Art, 600 dpi for Combo (Line Art + Halftone) and 300 dpi for Halftone, at the correct size). 72 dpi web-quality graphics (usually jpg or gif format) will not be accepted because of unreal colors, illegible text, or pixelated images. The goal to obtain the available highest quality images should be emphasized.
• Color space: RGB.
• Alpha channels: None.
• Readability should be ensured with clear, consistent and enough large presentation of the letters, numbers and symbols on the figures. 8 to 10 point font is used on the figure for legibility. Unit labels should be consistent with text and legend, and unit abbreviations should follow AMA style.
• Solid lines should not be broken up. Any lines in the graphic should be no smaller than 2 points wide.
• Do not include trial logos in figures.
• The layout of the PDF should be considered when you submitting figures of your manuscript. Each figure should be no longer than one page in length and equal to one column (85 mm) or two columns (180 mm) in width.
• All figures should be embedded in the text, and must be numbered consecutively (Fig. 1, Fig. 2, etc.). Besides, file for figures can be submitted as separate files.
• Encourage to follow the guideline of WCAG.
• Photomicrographs and clinical and diagnostic images requirements:
• Photomicrographs should be marked with internal scales. Symbols, arrows, or letters used in photomicrographs should contrast with the background. Interpret the internal scale of the photomicrograph and identify staining methods.
• For radiological and other clinical and diagnostic images, as well as pictures of pathological specimens or photomicrographs, high-resolution photographic image files should be submitted. Ensure the before-and-after images are taken with the same light intensity, direction, and color.
• Original images for blots and gels requirements:

Original, uncropped and unadjusted images must be provided to support all blot and gel results reported in the figures and supporting information files.

All original blot and gel images contained in the manuscript’s main figures and supplementary figures are saved as a ZIP file and submitted. Each original image, corresponding to the figure in the main article or supplementary information, should be annotated, and each lane or loading sequence should be labeled.

All labeling and annotations should not obscure any data or background bands. All experimental samples and controls for a single comparative analysis should be performed on the same blot/gel image. Different images should not be spliced together to illustrate the results.

• Figure Label & Panel Label
• Figures should be labeled as Fig. 1, Fig. 2, Fig. 3, etc.
• The format of panel label is (A), (B–D), (a), (a,b), etc.
• Figure legends begin with the term Fig. in bold type, followed by the figure number, also in bold type.
• Figure parts should be clearly labeled. The size and style of the letters and labels must be uniform within each figure and, if possible, between figures.
• The white space between figure panels and within each panel should be limited.
• Authors are strongly encouraged to limit the number of panels per figure to 6.
• Figure Legends
• A brief title and an informative caption to illustrations should be provided to make the figures self-evident and help the reader quickly grasp the content.
• As for the statistical testing methods adopted in each legend, a concise description should be given.
• Special signs, such as arrows, circles, etc., must be stated.
• At the end of each legend, each abbreviation and acronym should be written out in full at first mention.
• Please note that it is the responsibility of the authors to obtain permission to reproduce copyrighted material (figures that have been published before) from the original authors and publishers.
• The original source of figures that have appeared in a copyright form elsewhere must be specified in the figure legend.
• In-text Citations
• Figures should normally be abbreviated as Fig, followed by the figure number (e.g., Fig. 1A, Fig. 1B, Fig. 2, Fig. 3, etc.)
• Figures should be consecutively cited in accordance with their first appearance in the text. Figures should be embedded in the main text of a published article, on the basis of the placement of their first citation and caption in the article.
• Lettered subparts of whole figures (such as Fig. 3A, Fig. 3B, Fig. 3C, etc.) can be freely quoted without restriction of order (Fig. 3C can be put ahead Fig. 3A), providing that the whole figures are first mentioned in numerical order.
• If there are one or more figures/tables in the appendix of manuscripts, the corresponding appendix figures/tables should be consecutively numbered and quoted in the form of “Appendix Fig. 1, Appendix Table 1, etc.”, rather than numbered as “A1, A2, A3, etc.”.
• Supplementary figures or tables should be accordingly named and quoted in the form of “Supplementary Fig. 1, Supplementary Table 1, etc.”.

You are welcome to send an email to DBM@exploverpub.com, if in doubt with any information on figures.

2.2.6 Label Styles, Units and Symbols

The preparation and phrase of labels should adhere to the requirement of in-house style in DBM, where spelling and other language errors should be avoided to the greatest extent possible.

• *: Correspondence.
• ^#: These authors contributed equally.
• : The author's own special request.
• The SI system of units is preferred. For detailed advice please refer to the guidelines in Baron, DN (1988). Units, symbols and abbreviations, 4th edn. (Obtainable from The Royal Society of Medicine, 1 Wimpole Street, London W1M 8AE, UK).
• SI system of units is recommended. Please read the following reference for more details:

Baron, DN (1988). Units, symbols and abbreviations, 4th edn. (Obtainable from The Royal Society of Medicine, 1 Wimpole Street, London W1M 8AE, UK).

• Note:
• Always use a leading zero (0) before decimal points: 0.5 NOT .5.
• Decimal points must use a full stop/period (.) NOT a comma (,).
• A space must be inserted before measurement units: 132 bp NOT 132bp, 5 mm NOT 5mm, 1 h NOT 1h.

3. Supplementary Materials

Supplementary materials (data or files such as images and sound clips) can be submitted as "Supplementary Files", which will be sent to the peer reviewers for reference. DBM recommends generic and non-proprietary formats of supplementary files.

4. Original Images for Blots and Gels Requirements

The authors should provide the original images without cropping or any other processing and upload them as Supporting Information files at the time of initial submission. This is to further improve the reporting transparency, integrity and scientific validity of blotting techniques (including, but not limited to, Western blots) and gel data.

All raw images, including those in the text and in the supplemental materials, are recommended to be included in a PDF file or zip folder. Concise annotation of each raw image, along with explicit labeling of each lane or loading order, should be provided and matched to the relevant figures in the text or supplementary materials. With regard to the experimental samples and controls for a comparative analysis, they should be presented on the same blot/gel image. DBM do not allow the splicing of distinct images together to demonstrate the experimental results.

5. Research and Publication Ethics

5.1 Research Ethics

In case that the research involves human or animal subjects, appropriate ethics declarations, including the information regarding approval of the Ethics Committee, informed consent, implementation principles considering the welfare of animals), should be described clearly in the Methods section of the manuscript.

5.2 Publication Ethics Statement

DBM adhere to the publication ethics requirements from Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals.

DBM provide a reliable platform for scientific articles to be known, disseminated and evaluated by the public. Prior to submission, authors have the obligations to ensure the accuracy of the content, originality of their work, and readability of language, and clarity of logical structure. In the process of peer review, it is not likely to identity the erroneous nature of a single dataset. To this end, authors must repeatedly examine their raw data in manuscripts to avoid unnecessary mistakes.

• Authors should bear the following responsibilities:
• Any act of plagiarism (partial or complete extract of the content in published articles by someone else without any citation sources) is strictly forbidden.
• Data fabrication is not allowed.
• Any fraud (altering or suppressing information ) is prohibited.
• The article either published or to be published in other journals is not allowed to be submitted to DBM.
• The work should be described accurately.
• All necessary information should be specified so that other researchers of interest can replicate and validate the experiments.
• The data involved in the study, no matter whether it can verify the proposed conjecture or not, should be provided.
• When applicable, all the relevant contribution of other investigations and references should be cited to support the explanation of the results.
• Sources of all experimental materials utilized in the research should be specified.
• Experimental samples or products (e.g., protein, DNA, clone, cell or other types of material) should be provided as much detail as possible to improve the replicability and testability of experimental data or ideas.
• Declaration of Helsinki and Recommendation for Conduct of Clinical Research should be adhered to.
• The care and use of laboratory animals should comply with the requirement of NIH and the institution
• The utilization of a recombinant DNA should comply with the requirement of NIH and the institution.
• In case of any error or inaccuracy in the article, authors should report it to the journal editors for a timely correction. For more details, please read the terms of publications on addenda and corrections.
• Details on publication ethics policies in DBMare available in Publishing Ethics and Research Ethics and Informed Consent.

5.3 Borders and Territories

DBM respects the potential controversial issues involving borders and territories in the author's research or correspondence address. Upon the settlement of such controversial issue or complaint, the editors in DBM retain the right of final decisions and will strive to reach a solution that is agreed upon by all parties as far as possible.

DBM always maintains neutrality on the jurisdiction of public maps and institutional relationships.

5.4 Citation

Relevant literature must be properly quoted to provide adequate evidence for the claims made in articles such as opinions, comments, and commentaries based on the following instructions:

• A citation should be made when the author’s viewpoints or conclusions arise from external sources of information.
• References from other publications with no relevance should not be quoted in authors’ articles.
• The accuracy of quotations must be ensured in the manuscript, where the statements made must be highly relevant to the quotations and sufficient to support the relevant viewpoint or conclusion.
• Authors should not cite sources that they have not read.
• Any act of inappropriate quotations (e.g., intentionally citing a large number of articles published by themselves or their friends) is not encouraged in DBM.
• Peer-reviewed sources are recommended to cite in authors’ articles.
• Advertisements or advertorial content is not allowed to be quoted.

6. Authorship

6.1 Author Contributions

All authors should have made substantial intellectual contributions to published research. Authorship credit should be given in accordance with the standard proposed by the ICMJE guidelines. Specifically, authorship is merited by (1) substantial contributions to conception and design of the study, acquisition of data, or analysis and interpretation of data; (2) drafting the article or making critical revisions related to important intellectual content of the manuscript; (3) final approval of the version of the article to be published; (4) agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work and to ensure that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved. Each author should be fully involved in the work and take public responsibility for the content of the appropriate parts. Acquisition of funding, collection of data, or general supervision of the research group alone does not constitute authorship.

The authors' individual contributions to the manuscript should be identified and expressed using initials (e.g.,. FC analyzed and expounded data on patients with pulmonary disease. RH conducted the histologic examination of the lung and was the primary contributor to writing the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript). Changes in authorship are only allowed after submission but before publication. In such cases, the corresponding author is responsible for contacting the journal staff and clearly stating the reasons.

In case that changes to authorship are approved and also adhered to the above-mentioned guidelines, the corresponding author should provide written confirmation (e-mail, letter) from all authors that they agree with the addition, removal or rearrangement. DBM will individually notify anyone added or removed from the author list.

6.2 Acknowledgment

All listed contributors in ‘Acknowledgment’ section must have made a significant scientific contribution to the research in the manuscript, including but not limited to those who provide general support (e.g., department chair), purely technical help (e.g., technicians) or writing assistance (e.g., medical writers) during the preparation of the manuscript. In light of the European Medical Writers Association (EMWA) guidelines, the medical writers with great contributions to the drafting of manuscripts should be acknowledged in addition to their funding sources. The specific tasks that the medical writers undertake need to be stated in the ‘Acknowledgment’ section as much detailed and explicit as possible.

6.3 Authorship Change

During initial submission, corresponding author has an obligation to guarantee the accuracy of authorship as much as possible. DBM allows authors to correct authorship on a submitted article if a valid reason exists to do so. All authors, including those to be added or removed, must agree to any proposed change. Authorship changes (e.g., adding or removing authors, author names, or contributing changes) will not be considered in the absence of a fully completed Author Change form with the signature of all authors. New authors can be added only if they satisfy all the corresponding authorship requirements of DBM.

7. Copyright/Open Access

Starting from 2022, all DBM journals’ content is available online, allowing readers to browse and search. Authors retain copyright, and agree that the article, if accepted for publication by DBM, will be granted a Creative Commons Attribution license (CC-BY license) by default as Open Access articles.

The following statement will be declared in the footnote at the first page of a published article:

© Year The Author(s). Published by Exploration and Verfication Publishing.

This is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0 ) license.

8. Reviewer Recommendation

Two experts in specific areas can be suggested by the authors to participate in the peer review process of submissions, who are mainly responsible for assessing the manuscripts objectively, and proposing unbiased scientific comments, providing that they have no potential conflict of interest concerning the submitted work. The recommendation will not be considered if the reviewers:

• Being aware of the relevant authors' work prior to submission.
• Having recent collaboration with any author of the submitted work.
• Sharing an affiliation with any author of the submitted work.

Likewise, opposed reviewers can be proposed by the authors.

The editors in DBM reserve the right to invite or decline the suggested or opposed reviewers proposed by authors for the assessment of their submissions.

Invitation to the suggested reviewers is at the discretion of editors in DBM after the confirmation that there is no potential conflict of interest between the reviewers and authors. Simultaneously, the decline to the opposed reviewers will be considered at the maximum extent, providing that the objectivity and integrity of assessment will not be significantly affected by the decision.

9. Conflict of Interest

Any potential competing interest of the authors, reviewers and editors that might appear to affect their ability to present or review work objectively must be disclosed. These might include relevant financial, personal, political, or religious, or academic interests (e.g., reimbursement for salaries, equipment, supplies, competing patents, grants, funding, employment or a strong personal/ethical belief). If professional judgment concerning a primary interest (such as patients’ welfare or the integrity/validity of research) is likely to be affected by a secondary interest (such as financial gain), the competing interest is deemed to exist and should be explicitly stated. Public funding sources also should be included in the statement of competing interests.

Cover letter and manuscript should include the content of competing interests. If there is no conflict of interest to disclose, the following statement acknowledged by all authors must be provided in the ‘Competing interests’ section: “The authors declare that they have no competing interests”. In the absence of any conflict of interest, it should be explicitly specified in the corresponding section.

Upon acceptance of the manuscript, the editors in DBM will communicate with the authors for further confirmation or update of the disclosed statements. Details on conflict of interest statements are available at ICMJE.

External reviewers must decline to review a submission when they have any potential interest that may affect the objectivity. Any competing interests of reviewers should be declared, which will be considered by the editors of DBM. Decisions to reject or accept the manuscript are at the discretion of the editor, who shall take the peer-reviewed comments into consideration, but will not absolutely rely on them.

10. Funded by the National Institute of Health (NIH)

In accordance with the requirement of National Institute of Health (NIH), all accepted manuscripts with portion or all of fund from NIH should be included in PubMed Central (PMC). DBM is pleased to provide services for authors to deposit their NIH-funded manuscripts into PMC upon publication.

11. Editorial Process and Peer-Review

Throughout the peer review and editorial processes, the principle of rigorousness and transparency should be adhered to maintain the high quality of publications in DBM. The peer review team is made up of well-known experts in their specific areas.

12. Editorial Independence

In terms of the editorial independence, final decisions upon the rejection or acceptance of manuscripts in DBM are at the discretion of the journal editors, regardless of any external pressure from influential groups or organizations.

The editorial policy on editorial independence in DBM is analogous to that proposed by World Association of Medical Editors (WAME)

13. Process for in-House Submissions

Editorial staff or editors in DBM can submit their own research work, but are not allowed to participate in its assessment process. Under such circumstance, alternative members of the Editorial Board will take in charge of the assessment of submissions. Likewise, the manuscripts are independently reviewed by a minimum of two external peer reviewers. Similarly, final decisions to accept or reject the manuscript are not at the discretion of submitting editor/board member, but other editorial board members who are determined to have no potential conflict of interest regarding the authors or their submitted work.

Guest Editors in DBM cannot be involved in the assessment of the submitted manuscripts when they have potential conflicts of interest with authors, such as sharing an affiliation or having recent collaboration with any author. Under such circumstance, the rights for the final decision regarding acceptance or rejection of submission are owned by the Editor-in-Chief or a suitable Editorial Board member.

Statement on conflict of interests is necessary for all of the submitted work. In the absence of any potential competing interests, please note: “Considering his/her role as [Guest] Editor [in Chief], <NAME of Editor> will not participate in the peer-review of this article any longer, and has no access to any information about its peer review. <NAME of commissioned editor> is commissioned to take full charge of the editorial process for this article".

14. Promoting Equity, Diversity and Inclusiveness within DBM

To maintain the diversity of expert team in Editorial Boards, Editors-in-Chief and Associate Editors in DBM are encouraged to recruit assorted experts in specific areas. With regard to the recruitment of experts, there is no specific restriction on the gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, age, religion, or socio-economic status. Everyone is equal in the workplace of DBM, which is deemed as the first principle of editorial work.

 

Updated on 31 March 2023