Guidelines for Authors

Thank you for your interest in the Journal Microphysiological Systems (Microphysiol Syst; MPS; Online ISSN 2616-275X). MPS adheres to the Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly work in Medical Journals, issued by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) (1), and the Cope of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors (2), issued by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). Please refer to the following guidelines to help you prepare your manuscript. Feel free to contact the editorial office by email (mps@amegroups.com) should you have any questions. To ensure a swift peer review and publication process, manuscripts that do not adhere to the following instructions will be returned to the corresponding author for technical revision at preliminary review.

1. ABOUT THE JOURNAL

It has been increasingly realized that the conventional planar cell cultures and the animals do not necessarily reproduce human physiology in vitro due to their limited structural and functional complexity and the genetic difference, respectively, oftentimes leading to inaccurate prediction of drug, chemical, and toxin effects as well as biased outcomes of biological investigations. Miniaturized physiological systems are therefore proposed as alternative platforms that are anticipated to bridge the gap between currently available models and the human body. The Journal Microphysiological Systems (Microphysiol Syst; MPS; Online ISSN 2616-275X) aims to provide latest insights and updates on the developments of in vitro tissue and organ models that can be used for applications ranging from biological studies to areas such as regenerative engineering, organs-on-chips, pharmaceutical screening, nanomedicine, and environmental toxicology.

2. MANUSCRIPT CATEGORIES

2.1 Original Article
Word limit: there is no fixed word limit for research articles, but authors must use the most concise language possible, as well as succinct, structured sentences. The word count for the main text (excluding the abstract, references, tables, boxes, or figures) should be provided when the manuscript is submitted.
Abstract: Structured (Background, Methods, Results, and Conclusions), 200-350 words max. No abbreviations.
Key words: 3~5.
References: No limit.
Figures/Tables: No limit, but 10 figures are deemed sufficient.
Description: Original articles should take the following format: Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion and/or Conclusions. Original articles must have originality and clinical impact.

Original articles should include a section describing the contribution made by each author to the manuscript. See the “3.4 Author Contributions” sections for details.

If a submitted article includes any data that are not publicly available, the authors are required to fill in a data-sharing statement form, which should be submitted along with their manuscript. If the article is accepted for publication, the Data Availability Statement (form) will be published online alongside the article. See the “3.7.1 Data Sharing Statement” section for details.

When a manuscript documents any experiment(s) involving human subjects or animals, the authors must indicate an ethical statement both in the methods section and the footnote. See the “3.7.4 Ethical Statement” section for details.

Please note that systematic review with meta-analysis will be categorized as Original Article.

2.1.1 Selection And Description Of Participants
In study articles, the process of selection for observational or experimental subjects (healthy individuals or patients, including controls) should be clearly set out in the methods section. Any eligibility or exclusion criteria should be provided, along with a description of the population from which the subjects were sourced. Ideally, representative populations should be included in all study types and characteristics (such as age, sex, or ethnicity) of the study population should be described. Terms relating to sex (when reporting biological factors) and gender (identity, psychosocial or cultural factors) should be used correctly, and the sex and/or gender of the human participants, or the sex of animals or cells, should be reported, except where this is not appropriate. The methods used to classify sex and gender should also be described, where relevant. If the study focused on a specific population (e.g., only females), unless the reason is obvious (e.g., cervical cancer), the authors should explain their reasoning for this. For race and ethnicity, authors should describe how these were determined, and their relevance to the study should be explained. Study subjects should be described in the most neutral, exact, and respectful language possible. Any language that might cause the stigmatization of subjects must be avoided.

2.1.2 Research Resource Identifiers (RRID)
MPS is pleased to be a part of the Research Resource Identification Initiative, a project aimed at clearly identifying key research resources, aka materials, used in the course of scientific experiments. These include antibodies, cell lines, model organisms, and software tools. To help authors quickly find the correct identifiers for their materials there is a single web site (https://scicrunch.org/resources) where all resource types can be found and a 'cite this' button next to each resource that contains proper citation text that should be included in the methods section of the manuscript. Several examples of properly formatted methods sections with RRIDs can be found below:

  • Antibodies: "antibody against ERK1 (Abgent Cat# AP7251E, RRID:AB_2140114)."
  • Cell Lines: "we used the following cell lines: RRID: CVCL_1H60,..."
  • Genetically modified organisms: "Fgf9Eks/Fgf9+ mice (RRID:MGI_3840442)..."
  • Software tools: "...terminals were mapped (Neurolucida, v10, RRID:SCR_001775)."

2.2 Review Article
Word limit: 6,000 words max. (including an abstract but excluding references, tables, and figures)
Abstract: Unstructured, 200-350 words max.
Key words: 3~5.
References: No limit.
Figures/tables: No limit.
Description: Review articles should present a timely, comprehensive analysis of a specific topic. We welcome the submission of proposals for review articles for initial consideration.

Review articles should entail a section describing the contribution made by each author to the manuscript. See the “3.4 Author Contributions” section for details.

Besides the conventional review article, there are some typical classifications of review article listed below, which may entail the conformation with a reporting guideline. Please note that the application of a checklist is aimed for transparent and clear reporting to allow critical appraisal of the manuscript. The final format of the manuscript should follow the author instruction requirements.

2.3 Editorial
Word limit: 2500 words max. (excluding references, tables, and figures)
Abstract: Not required
References: 25 max. (including the article being discussed)
Figures and Tables: 2 max. (combined)
Description: An Editorial is defined as a comment on an article or articles published in MPS. Editorials are generally solicited by the editorial office and written by recognized leader(s) in the field.

2.4 Editorial Commentary
Word Limit: 2,500 words max. (excluding references, tables, and figures).
Abstract: Not required.
References: 25 max.
Figures/Tables: 2 max in total.
Description: The Editors extend an invitation to an expert in the field to discuss a paper, report, or event from within the past few months, or in the near future. The problems addressed by the relevant paper/report/event should be considered within the wider context of the field.

2.5 Communication
Communications are reports of original research that are highly innovative and time-sensitive. They are structured similarly with Research Articles but are generally shorter focused on validation of concepts, usually containing no more than three figures and 4000 words.

2.6 Progress Report
Progress Reports highlight recent progresses in the authors’ own research groups. Manuscripts do not have word limit but they should reflect comprehensive analyses of the research groups’ recent contributions to the respective fields. Passport-type photos and short biographies (75 words maximum) of up to three authors can be included. Progress Reports are solicited by the editors and unsolicited contributions will not be considered.

2.7 Others
In general, MPS does not accept articles that fall outside the above-mentioned categories. If you have any questions regarding the article category for submission to MPS, please contact the Editorial Office at: mps@amegroups.com.

3. MANUSCRIPT SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS

The length of manuscripts must adhere to the specifications under the section “MANUSCRIPT CATEGORIES”.

Manuscripts should be presented in the following order: (i) Title page (title, running title, authors, institutions and affiliations, and Author contributions); (ii) abstract and keywords; (iii) the main text; (iv) Acknowledgments; (v) Footnote; (vi) References; (vii) Supplementary material; (viii) Figure legends; (ix) Tables (titled and with footnotes); (x) Figures (it is recommended that figures, tables and videos are provided in separate files).

Please note that changes to author information (except for the correction of grammatical errors) are not permitted after the manuscript has been accepted, nor can the manuscript be withdrawn after this point unless sufficient reasons are given.

3.1 Title Page
The title page should include: a) the title of the article; b) the authors’ full names and institutional affiliations; c) the address, telephone and fax numbers, and effective e-mail address of the corresponding author(s) (extremely important for subsequent timely communication); d) a running title of no more than 60 characters (including spaces); e) disclaimers (if applicable); f) word count; g) number of figures and tables.

3.2 Abstract And Keywords
The abstract must adhere to the specifications under the section ‘2. Manuscript Categories’. The abstract of an original article, as well as those of systematic reviews and meta-analyses, should be structured into four paragraphs with the following subheadings: Background, Methods, Results, and Conclusions. The abstracts for all the other manuscript types should be unstructured. The abstract should not contain any abbreviations or acronyms, citations, figures, or tables. General statements (e.g., “the significance of the results is discussed’’) should be avoided. After the Abstract, 3-5 keywords should be provided.

Where relevant, the clinical trial registration number should be included at the end of the abstract. For studies that have a registration number, this number should be included initially when a trial acronym is used to refer to the trial in the report or to other trials discussed in the paper. For data that have been deposited in a public repository and/or are the subject of analysis elsewhere, the distinctive, persistent data set identifier, the repository name, and the number should be included at the end of the abstract.

3.3 Text
Format: Text should be double-spaced throughout. The pages should be numbered.
Font: A clearly readable font (e.g., Arial, Calibri, Times New Roman, or Verdana) with 10 or 12 pt. font size.
Language: English. British or American spelling is acceptable but must be consistent throughout.

3.4 Author Contributions
This section is only required for original articles, review articles, systematic reviews, and meta-analyses. It describes the contribution each author made to the manuscript. Authorship credit should be based on: 1) substantial contributions to the conception and design of the study, acquisition of the data, or analysis and interpretation of the data; 2) drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content; and 3) the final approval of the version to be published. Authors should meet all three of these conditions.
Note: acquisition of funding, collection of data, language editing, or general supervision of the research group alone does not constitute authorship.

The ‘Author contributions’ section should be presented as follows:
(I) Conception and design:
(II) Administrative support:
(III) Provision of study materials or patients:
(IV) Collection and assembly of data:
(V) Data analysis and interpretation:
(VI) Manuscript writing: All authors
(VII) Final approval of manuscript: All authors

Note: 1. With VI and VII, “All authors” is obligatory, while the other credits are case-based; 2. The ‘Author contributions’ section is not required when there is only one author.

3.5 Data Citation
We are committed to improving openness, transparency, and reproducibility of research, and believe research data citation through standard reference lists offers an easy way to access data for reproducible research.

To support best practice in data citation, AME has endorsed the FORCE11 Data Citation Principles (https://www.force11.org/datacitationprinciples). According to the FORCE11 Data Citation Principles, data can be cited in the same way as article, book, and web citations, and authors are required to include data citations as part of their reference list.

Data citation is applicable for data held within institutional, subject-focused, or more general data repositories. When citing or making claims based on data, authors should refer to the data at the relevant place in the main text of the manuscript and include a formal citation in the reference list. We recommend the format proposed in the Joint Declaration of Data Citation Principles .

Below is an example of an in-text data citation:
[dataset] Authors; Year; Dataset title; Data repository or archive; Version (if any); Persistent identifier (e.g. DOI)

“[dataset]” should be included immediately before the reference so it can be properly identified as a data reference.

3.6 Acknowledgments
Textual material that names the parties that the author wishes to thank or recognize for their assistance (e.g., producing, funding, or inspiring the work, or assisting in the research on which the work was based).

All contributors who do not meet the criteria for authorship should be listed in the ‘Acknowledgments’ section. Examples of those who might be acknowledged include an individual who provided purely technical help, writing or language editing assistance, or a department chairperson who provided only general support. If a part of the manuscript has been presented elsewhere (e.g. meeting presentation/poster history), a corresponding statement should be provided in the acknowledgment section. Financial and material support should also be acknowledged.

The ‘Acknowledgments’ section should also detail all funding sources for the work in question. There must be a section “Funding” within the “Acknowledgments” section. If the research was carried out without funding, "None" should be stated in this section.

In providing details of funding, authors should adhere to the following guidance:

  • The sentence should begin: ‘This work was supported by …’
  • The full official funding agency name should be given, (i.e., ‘National Institute of Health’, not ‘NIH’). Grant numbers should be given in brackets (e.g., [grant number xxxx]).
  • Multiple grant numbers should be separated by a comma (e.g. [grant numbers xxxx, yyyy]).
  • Agencies should be separated by a semi-colon (with ‘and’ before the last funding agency)
  • Where certain sources of funding were received by a specific author, the following text should be added after the relevant agency or grant number: ‘to [author initials]’.

Example: ‘This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health [AA123456 to C.S., BB765432 to M.H.]; and the Alcohol & Education Research Council [hfygr667789].’

3.7 Footnote
3.7.1 Data Sharing Statement

The journal is committed to responsible data sharing in the setting of clinical trials. If an original article includes any data that are not publicly available, the authors are required to fill in a data-sharing statement form, which should be submitted along with their manuscript. If the article is accepted for publication, the Data Availability Statement (form) will be published online alongside the article. The data sharing statement form can be downloaded here.

Meanwhile, we require clinical trials that began enrolling participants on or after January 1, 2019, to include a data-sharing plan in the trial’s registration. The ICMJE’s policy regarding trial registration is explained at www.icmje.org/recommendations/browse/publishing-and-editorial-issues/clinical-trial-registration.html. Should the data-sharing plan change after registration, this should be reflected in the statement submitted and published with the manuscript, and updated in the registry record.

3.7.2 Peer Review File
With a commitment to openness and accountability, and to increase the level of transparency throughout our peer review process, MPS has decided to implement a transparent peer review process as an option for all manuscripts submitted to the journal from June 11, 2020.

The practice will see the inclusion of a “peer review file” (a record of reviewer reports and author replies) in the footnote of the corresponding article. The peer review file will be published online (only) along with the article.

For more details, please refer to: https://mps.amegroups.org/announcement/view/199.

3.7.3 Conflicts Of Interest
All authors will be asked to fill in the ICMJE’s unified disclosure form (the latest version). The form could be downloaded at: https://cdn.amegroups.cn/static/public/coi_disclosure.docx. Each author should submit a separate form and is responsible for the accuracy and completeness of the submitted information. The corresponding author should use the information in the form completed by each author to create the COI statement for the manuscript. The statement (but not the forms) must be included along with the submission. The statement should include the initials of the author along with the conflicts of interest. The following examples show the format in which the Conflicts of Interest statement should appear in the manuscript:

“Conflicts of Interest: All authors have completed the ICMJE uniform disclosure form. The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.”

“Conflicts of Interest: All authors have completed the ICMJE uniform disclosure form. KSS and VS are former employees of Scanco Medical AG. NV is a current employee of Scanco Medical AG. The other authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.”

If the paper is accepted, the completed ICMJE’s unified disclosure forms will be required and will be published alongside the article.

For more about the journal’s policy on conflicts of interest, visit: https://mps.amegroups.org/page/about/conflicts-of-interest.

3.7.4 Ethical Statement
Statement #A is a must for every article, followed by statement #B.Statement #B should be described ①based on research experiments type and article type; ②both in the Methods section/case presentation and the “Ethical Statement” section of Footnote.

#A. (Must) Statement for every article

(a) Please note that all articles submitted to our journal must include an Ethical Statement in Footnote, containing the following wording: “The authors are 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.”

(b) Written informed consent for the publication of details relating to an individual person must be obtained from that person (or their parent or legal guardian in the case of children under 18) for all manuscripts that include images, details, or videos. The consent must be for publication of their details under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) (such that they will be freely available on the internet). If the person has deceased, consent for publication must be acquired from their next of family. A statement that written informed consent for publication was obtained must be included in the manuscript.

To get consent for publication, authors can use the consent form (download the form for patient or the form for participant ) or a consent form from their own institution or region, if suitable. The consent form must specify that the details/images/videos will be freely available on the internet and that the general public will be able to view them. Authors do not need to provide a copy of the consent form to the editorial office; however, if the Editor requests it, the consent form must be provided and will be kept confidential.

Consent for image publication may not be necessary in circumstances where photographs are completely unidentified and there are no details on persons mentioned within the text. The Editor has the final say on whether or not consent to publish is required.

#B. Based on research experiments type and article type

(a) Human Experiments
For research involving human experiments, the article must include a statement that ethical approval was obtained (or a statement that it was not required and why), including the name of the ethics committee(s) or institutional review board(s), the number/ID of the approval(s), and a statement that the participants gave informed consent before taking part (or a statement that it was not required and why). Authors should also state that the study conformed to the provisions of the Declaration of Helsinki (as revised in 2013), available at: https://www.wma.net/policies-post/wma-declaration-of-helsinki-ethical-principles-for-medical-research-involving-human-subjects. For example:

“The trial was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki and the Harmonized Tripartite Guideline for Good Clinical Practice from the International Conference on Harmonization. This study was reviewed and approved by the Hamilton Integrated Research Ethics Board (approval number XXX) and the Hoffmann-La Roche global review committee. All patients enrolled completed the informed consent form.”

(b) Animals Experiments
For any experiments involving animals, the authors must indicate the nature of the ethical review permissions, relevant licences (e.g. Animal [Scientific Procedures] Act 1986), and national or institutional guidelines for the care and use of animals by which the research was conducted. For example:

“Experiments were performed under a project license (license number XXX) granted by the Veterinäramt des Kantons Zürich, Switzerland, in compliance with the Swiss Animal Protection Act (TSchG) and the Swiss Animal Protection Ordinance (TSchV). ”

C. Suggested wording in Footnote:
Human Experiments
- “Ethical Statement: The authors are 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. The trial was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki. The study was approved by institutional/regional/national ethics/committee/ethics board of ******* (NO.: the registration number of ethics board) and informed consent was taken from all the patients.”

Animal Experiments – “Ethical Statement: The authors are 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. Experiments were performed under a project license (NO.: the license number) granted by institutional/regional/national ethics/committee/ethics board of *******, in compliance with ******* national or institutional guidelines for the care and use of animals.”

D. Additional Notes:
The Editorial Office may request copies of the informed consent documentation at any time. While the Editorial Board recognizes that it might not always be possible or appropriate to seek such consent, the onus will be on the authors to demonstrate that this exception applies in their case.

The Journal retains the right to reject any manuscript on the basis of unethical conduct in either human or animal studies.

3.8 References
Sources should be referenced according to the Vancouver reference style. In text references should be identified using numbers in round brackets. Where more than one number is required, they should appear consecutively [e.g., "cancer-related mortality (19)”; “denocarcinoma (29,30)”]. References (including in the text, tables and figure legends) should be numbered consecutively and consistently according to the order in which they first appear in the text.

The titles of journals should be abbreviated according to the style used in Index Medicus. For reports with up to three authors, all the author names should be listed. However, if a report has more than three authors, the first three authors should be listed followed by “et al.”

  • McLeer-Florin A, Lantuéjoul S. Why technical aspects rather than biology explain cellular heterogeneity in ALK-positive nonsmall cell lung cancer. J Thorac Dis 2012;4:240-1.
  • Lin X, Li W, Lai J, et al. Five-year update on the mouse model of orthotopic lung transplantation: Scientific uses, tricks of the trade, and tips for success. J Thorac Dis 2012;4:247-58.

For other styles of publication or Internet articles, see https://www.nlm.nih.gov/bsd/uniform_requirements.html.

Below are two examples for management of the reference:
a.     If you manage references manually or in other way, you could refer to the reference example below:
Lin X, Li W, Lai J, et al. Five-year update on the mouse model of orthotopic lung transplantation: Scientific uses, tricks of the trade, and tips for success. J Thorac Dis 2012;4:247-58.
b.     If you use “Endnote” (a commercial reference management software package produced by Clarivate Analytics, used to manage bibliographies and references when writing essays and articles), the reference style file for AME journals can be directly downloaded here: https://cdn.amegroups.cn/static/public/reference-style.ens.

3.9 Tables
Tables should be self-contained and complement, but not duplicate, the information contained in the text. All tables should be numbered consecutively in the order in which they are mentioned in the text. Each table should be on a separate page; tables must be typed and editable in a tabular format that is convenient for copyediting and typesetting; they should not be inserted as images. Please refer to the examples for different cases.

Each column must have an appropriate heading and, if measurements are given, the units should be provided in the column heading. Column headings should be brief, with units of measurement in parentheses; all abbreviations must be defined in footnotes. Footnote symbols: †, ‡, §, ¶, should be used (in this order), and *, **, *** should be reserved for P-values. Statistical measures such as SD or SEM should be identified in the headings.

If the tables have been reproduced from another source, a letter or permission from the copyright holder (usually the publisher) authorizing the reproduction of the material must be submitted as supplemental material along with the manuscript.

3.10 Figures
All illustrations (line drawings and photographs) are classified as figures. Figures should be cited in the order in which they appear in the text. Magnifications should be indicated using a scale bar on the illustration. Please refer to the specification (file types, resolution, image size, file size etc.) for more detailed requirements.

If the figures have been reproduced from another source, a letter from the copyright holder (usually the publisher) authorizing the reproduction of the material must be attached to the covering letter.

Where illustrations include recognizable individuals, living or deceased, great care must be taken to ensure that consent for publication has been given (see Ethical Statement ). A statement like “This image is published with the patient/participant’s consent.” should be included at the end of the figure legend. Patient anonymity should be preserved. Photographs need to be cropped sufficiently to prevent human subjects from being recognized and the eyes and eyebrows (at a minimum) must be masked using Coarse Pixilation to make the individual unrecognizable.

In-text citations

  • Cite figures with the format: Figure 1A, Figure 1B, Figure 2, Figure 3, etc. When consecutive subparts of a figure are cited, they should be cited as: Figure 1A-1D, Figure 2B-2L, etc.
  • Cite figures in ascending numeric order upon first appearance in the manuscript file. This includes citations to text boxes and tables. In the published article, figures are inserted according to the placement of their first citation and caption in the article.
  • Lettered subparts of whole figures may be cited in any order in the text if the first mention of each whole figure is in numerical order. For example, Figure 1 contains 4 subparts (ie: Figure 1A, 1B, 1C, 1D). These subparts should be cited consecutively, unless Figure 1 as a whole is already cited before Figure 1A, 1B, 1C, 1D.

3.11 Videos
The journal will accept digital files in mp4, flash video (flv.), MPEG (MPEG video file), DVD video, mov., avi., and mwv. formats or videos on CD / DVD. Contributors are asked to be succinct, and the editorial office reserves the right to request a shorter video if necessary. Video files can be submitted online at: https://mps.amegroups.org/pages/view/submit-multimedia-files

  • Duration: Video files should be limited to 20 minutes.
  • Quality: Please set the video aspect ratio as 4:3 or 16:9 (widescreen). The original video should be of high quality with the resolution > = 1280*720, the frame rate > = 24 frames per second and the bit rate > = 5 Mbps.
  • In-video text: All text notes, explanations, or descriptions, etc. in the video must be provided in English. The logo or watermark of the hospital / institution should not appear on screen. Any patient information should be erased from the video.
  • Video legends: Legends should be provided for the video files. The video files should be numbered consecutively in their order of reference in the text.

For promotion, all accepted videos will be subsequently included in AME Surgical Video Database (ASVIDE: https://www.asvide.com) and its youtube channel (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCA4NnVYmMW2NS5QrnLEVQNg).

3.12 Abbreviations And Symbols
Use only standard abbreviations; All abbreviations should be defined when they are first used in the text unless the abbreviation is a standard unit of measurement and a list of full terms should be provided in the manuscript.

3.13 Supplementary Appendix
The Supplementary Appendix should be paginated, with a table of contents, followed by the list of investigators (if there are any), text (such as methods), figures, tables, and then references. The supplementary appendix should not be included in the article’s reference list.

The Appendix must be submitted in a Word file. The Appendix will not be edited for style. It will be presented online as additional information provided by the authors.

The published article will contain a statement that supplementary material exists online and will provide the reader with a URL and / or link. Refer to the following example for how to reference the supplementary appendix in the text of the article: “Many more regressions were run than can be included in the article. The interested reader can find them in a supplementary appendix online.”

3.14 Equations
Equations should be numbered sequentially with Arabic numerals; these should appear right in parentheses. All variables should appear in italics. Use the simplest possible form for all mathematical symbols. For example:

  • “a2+b2=c2” equations: normal text format.
  • All other equations: a graphic of the entire equation should be produced using MathType and inserted into the main body of the text as an object.

4. STYLE OF THE MANUSCRIPT

Manuscripts must follow the style of the Vancouver agreement detailed in the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors’ revised ‘Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals: Writing and Editing for Biomedical Publication’, as presented at: http://www.ICMJE.org/.

  • Author name: Each author’s given name should be followed by their surname. The first letter of the surname should be capitalized. A hyphen can be used in the surname depending on the rule in the author’s region.
    Note: Author names will be published exactly as they appear in the manuscript file. Please double-check the information carefully to make sure it is correct. If applicable, an ORCID should be placed after the name of the author.
  • When abbreviating an author’s name, the first letter of each capitalized word will be used for the name’s abbreviation, i.e., “Shaoling Li” becomes “SL.” The first letter of the second name SHOULD NOT be capitalized, or else it will be included in the abbreviation. However, if the author wishes to use an abbreviation that includes their second name, they should write their second name using a hyphen to connect it with its anterior word, i.e., “Shao-Ling Li” to become “SLL.”
  • Spelling: British or American spelling is acceptable but must be consistent throughout.
  • Units: All measurements must be given in SI or SI derived units. For more information about SI units, please go to the Bureau International des Poids et Mesures (BIPM) website at: https://www.bipm.org/en/about-us.
  • Abbreviations must be used sparingly and only where they ease the reader’s task by reducing repetition of long, technical terms. Initially, the full term should be given, followed by the abbreviation in parentheses. Thereafter, only the abbreviation should appear.
  • Trade names: Drugs should be referred to by their generic names. If proprietary drugs have been used in the study, these should be referred to by their generic name, with the proprietary name and the name and location of the manufacturer mentioned in parentheses.

5. AUTHORSHIP AND CONTRIBUTORSHIP

For specification, please refer to: https://mps.amegroups.org/page/about/authorship-and-contributorship

6. COPYRIGHT AND PERMISSIONS

For specification, please refer to: https://mps.amegroups.org/page/about/copyright-and-permission

7. PEER REVIEW PROCESS

For specification, please refer to: https://mps.amegroups.org/pages/view/peer-review-process

8. ARTICLE PROCESSING CHARGES

For specification, please refer to: https://mps.amegroups.org/pages/view/article-processing-charges

9. PROOFS
Page proofs will be sent to the author via e-mail. Page proofs should be returned within three working days, preferably by e-mail. Corrections should be marked on the actual proof and provided in a numbered list. Lengthy additions should be avoided but, when necessary, should be provided in an MS Word file with explicit instructions regarding placement.

10. OFFPRINTS AND REPRINTS
Authors will be sent a free URL link to the published online article for their personal use. Authors who wish to purchase hard-copy offprints should fill in the offprint order form, which will be sent with the author’s proof. Orders should be sent to the Editorial Office. Orders for reprints should be sent to the Publisher’s Office.

11. SUBMITTING AND TRACKING MANUSCRIPTS
All articles are submitted and the entire review process is managed electronically through the OJS system (https://mps.amegroups.org/login), which has been developed to provide authors with a straightforward online submission process.

For any questions, please contact our Editorial Office by e-mail: mps@amegroups.com.

References
1. Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly work in Medical Journals: http://www.icmje.org/recommendations/.
2. CODE OF CONDUCT AND BEST PRACTICE GUIDELINES FOR JOURNAL EDITORS: https://publicationethics.org/files/Code_of_conduct_for_journal_editors.pdf.


Updated on September 05, 2022