Reporting Guidelines and Best Practices

The journal is committed to promoting clear, complete, transparent, and reproducible reporting of scientific research. Authors are strongly encouraged to follow internationally recognized reporting guidelines appropriate to the design and nature of their study. Such guidelines help ensure that research methods and findings are reported consistently, sufficiently, and transparently, including information relevant to potential sources of bias.

Examples of widely recognized guidelines and standards include, but are not limited to:

Human research: Declaration of Helsinki and applicable ethical and reporting standards.

Systematic reviews and meta-analyses: PRISMA and, where applicable, PRISMA-P for systematic review protocols.

Case reports: CARE guidelines.

Clinical trials: CONSORT and, where applicable, SPIRIT for clinical trial protocols.

Observational studies: STROBE.

Diagnostic accuracy studies: STARD.

Animal research: ARRIVE and applicable guide for the care and use of laboratory animals.

Qualitative research: COREQ, SRQR, or other appropriate established standards.

Research abstracts: Relevant recommendations of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) and the National Information Standards Organization (NISO) for the preparation of abstracts.

Authors are encouraged to consult the EQUATOR Network and other recognized resources to identify the reporting guideline most appropriate for their particular study design.

Where an appropriate reporting guideline is available, authors may be asked to submit the relevant reporting checklist and, where applicable, indicate where each checklist item has been addressed in the manuscript. Editors and reviewers may consider adherence to relevant reporting standards when assessing the completeness, transparency, and methodological quality of submitted manuscripts.

Transparency and Reproducibility

Manuscripts should provide sufficient methodological detail to enable readers and other researchers to understand and appropriately evaluate the research and, where applicable, reproduce the reported work. Authors should clearly describe the study design, participant or sample selection, interventions or exposures, outcome measures, statistical methods, ethical approval, and other information relevant to the validity and interpretation of the findings.

Authors are expected to report research findings accurately and transparently, including relevant limitations, potential sources of bias, conflicts of interest, funding information, and other disclosures required by the journal.

Editorial and Publishing Best Practices

The journal encourages adherence to established standards, recommendations, and best practices developed by recognized organizations in scholarly publishing and biomedical research, including the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), National Library of Medicine (NLM), Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), and other relevant professional organizations.

These principles support high-quality scientific communication, responsible editorial practices, transparency, research integrity, and consistency throughout the publication process.

Authors should select and follow the reporting standard most appropriate for their specific study design rather than assuming that a single guideline applies to all types of research.