Submissions | International Journal of Spermatology

Submission Preparation Checklist

As part of the submission process, authors are required to check off their submission's compliance with all of the following items, and submissions may be returned to authors that do not adhere to these guidelines.

That this manuscript is being submitted only to the International Journal of Spermatology (IJS), that this manuscript shall not be submitted elsewhere while under consideration, that it has not been published elsewhere, and, should it be published in IJS, that it shall not be published elsewhere—either in similar form or verbatim—without permission of the editors. (Note: These restrictions do not apply to abstracts or to press reports of presentations at scientific meetings and conferences).
That all authors listed on this manuscript have made substantive intellectual contributions to the manuscript with regards to conception and design, acquisition of data, or analyses and interpretation of data, drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content; and that they all have given a final approval of the version to be submitted for publication.
That all authors have discussed and decided the authorship issues, including the order in which the authors would be listed in the published paper, before submission.
That all authors understand that IJS is an open-access journal and that, if accepted for publication, they fully understand that they shall be required to pay an article processing charge prior to the final publication of the paper.
That all authors have complied with the necessary local and international regulations regarding conduct of research, including declaration of conflict of interest, disclosure of financial interest, and institutional review board approval, where necessary, in the preparation of this manuscript. The text adheres to the stylistic and bibliographic requirements outlined in the Author Guidelines, which is found in About the Journal.
That the authors have obtained the necessary approvals in adherence with the local and international policies and other ethical guidelines outlined by the journal and guiding the universal conduct of research; and shall make all efforts to submit any approvals, if needed.

Author Guidelines

Manuscript submissions to IJS are free for all authors.

One of the reasons why manuscripts are delayed is non-adherence to the journal’s author instructions laid out in this section of the website. From experience we have observed that manuscripts from authors who strictly follow the journal’s author instructions are reviewed and, if accepted, published the fastest. On the other hand, manuscripts that do not follow the author instructions are unduly delayed because the editorial office is bogged down with multiple non-academic iterations of the manuscripts which waste everyone’s time. At the discretion of the Editor-in-Chief, manuscripts that do not follow the author instructions may be returned to the author(s) to bring the manuscript into compliance.

Prospective authors are highly encouraged to review every section of this author instruction in order to ensure that they are submitting manuscripts that comply with the laid out instructions. To say it simply, if you want your manuscript to be expedited, do your part and simply follow the instructions laid out in this document.

Article Types

IJS considers for publication particularly the: i) studies dealing with the cognitive object of human Spermatology that conform with the definitions and principals of the Hellenic Association of Spermatology (as follows); ii) studies evaluating the services offered in the field of human Spermatology; iii) articles related to the cognitive object of human Spermatology.

Definitions:

By Spermatology is defined the branch of Biology dealing with the study (from the Greek: -λογία, -logia, from the root λογ-; ablative variant of λεγ-, λέγειν, to speak; the substantive in -λογία denotes the department of knowledge or study) of semen (from Greek: σπέρμα, spérma, semen; genitive σπέρματος, spérmatos, of the semen), in every level of organization from cell to organism. Spermatology is classified within the sector of Physiology.
The semen is a secretion of the males’ reproductive tract. The human semen is composed from the spermatozoa, secreted from the testes, and the seminal liquid, secreted from the urogenital tract’s accessory glands, mainly the seminiferous tubules and the prostate.
By Spermatologist is defined the scientist graduated in Biological Sciences and dealing with the study of semen.
By Spermatology laboratory is a laboratory directed from a scientist graduated in Biological Sciences and dealing with the study of semen.
Andrology is the branch of Medicine dealing with the study of man (from Greek: ανδρας, andras, man (male); genitive ανδρός, andros, of the man (male)) and it is a clinical sub-specialty of Urology.

Principals:

HAS shall take in its internal law the necessary measures to give effect to the provisions of the ‘Convention for the protection of human rights and dignity of the human being with regard to the application of Biology and Medicine: Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine’ entered into force on 1997 in Oviedo (Spain).
The Members of HAS, the members of its bodies and its employees shall protect the dignity and identity of all human beings and guarantee everyone, without any kind of discrimination, respect for their integrity and other rights and fundamental freedoms with regard to the application of Biology and Medicine.
The interests and welfare of the human being shall prevail over the sole interest of society or science.
Discrimination of any kind against a natural or legal person on account of race, skin colour, ethnic, national or social origin, gender, language, religion, political opinion or any other opinion, wealth, health condition, birth or any other status, sexual orientation or any other reason is strictly prohibited.
Everyone, taking into account health needs and available resources, shall take appropriate measures with a view to providing, within their jurisdiction, equitable access to health care of appropriate quality.
Any intervention in the health field, including research, must be carried out in accordance with relevant professional obligations and standards.

Please feel free to communicate to the journal short reports, announcements or any information you consider relevant for dissemination throughout the scientific community.

Original Research Article

This will be reports of data from original research conducted by researchers.

Methodology Articles

These comprise of presentations of novel statistical, demographic, and public health applications and techniques, experimental methods, tests, or procedures. These articles must demonstrate how the new method improves upon what is currently in existence in the field of professional practice. Methodology articles undergo full peer-review.

Brief Research, Short Report, or Rapid Communication

These are brief reports of data from original research. Authors of rapid communication may be asked to sign an agreement to publish the full paper in IJS prior to publication of rapid communication. Short reports and communication undergo full peer-review.

Case Reports

These are reports of medical cases that can be educational, describe a diagnostic or therapeutic dilemma, suggest an association, or present an important adverse reaction. Authors of all case report articles should indicate that informed consent to publish the information was granted from the patients or their guardians and must submit such authorization if requested. Case reports undergo full peer-review.

Field Studies or Case Studies

These are descriptions of a major program intervention or policy option that is adjudged to be relevant to the field of human Spermatology. Case study articles should include a rigorous assessment of the processes and the impact of the study, as well as recommendations for the future. These undergo full peer-review.

Editorial and Commentary

These are short, focused and opinion articles addressing emerging issues in human Spermatology. These usually set the stage for galvanizing further action in the issues addressed. These are reviewed by at least one reviewer.

Review Articles

These are comprehensive, authoritative, descriptions of any subject that addresses existing or emerging areas in all aspects of human Spermatology. IJS complies with the international standards for reporting of review articles. As a result, review articles must conform to the PRISMA standard for reporting systematic reviews. Please review the PRISMA statement here for more information about the PRISMA standard. Authors interested in submitting a Review manuscript should contact the editorial office prior to manuscript preparation and submission by sending an e-mail to ijs@spermatology.org.

Book Reviews

These are short summaries of the strengths and weaknesses of a new book in the field evaluating the book’s usefulness in the fields of human Spermatology. Authors who plan to review relevant books must contact the Editor-in-Chief for more information.

Letters to the Editor

These are published responses to articles previously published in the journal and responses by the authors of the work so referred if the Letter to Editor substantially adds to the findings of the prior article in question. Letters to the Editor are limited to reactions to the prior or current volume of the journal. All Letters to the Editor are reviewed but are not peer-reviewed.

Conference Reports

These are short descriptions of a conference that the author has attended, which focuses on the key developments presented and discussed at the meeting. Meeting reports must address human Spermatology.

Supplements

IJS welcomes inquiries about publishing supplements. The proposal to publish the contents, (articles or meeting abstracts) should be addressed to the Editor-in-Chief. All Supplements are subject to the editorial policy and guidelines.

Manuscript preparation

IJS accepts manuscripts written in UK ENGLISH only. Manuscripts are to be typed single-spaced using UK English spelling ONLY. Manuscripts not adhering to this word limitation will not be considered.

All manuscripts should be submitted by the corresponding author. Submissions by anyone other than the corresponding author will be considered for acceptance under the author’s written consent or under proofs from official Authority that the author is unable to give his written consent because of mental disability or death. Manuscripts should be submitted as Microsoft Word (Microsoft Word 2007 or later versions) documents ONLY. Accompanying tables should be submitted in Excel or Word. No restrictions in pictures’ and designs’ formats. Manuscripts will not be accepted in any other format except those outlined above. Limit the use of special formatting in your submitted text.

After submitting your manuscript, corresponding authors are advised to add the journal’s email address ijs@spermatology.org to their email contacts. This will prevent emails from the journal from being delivered to their email spam/junk mailbox.

Manuscript Format

Title and Authorship Page

The following information should be included in the manuscript title page:

Paper title
Full name of authors and the persons who performed the statistical analyses (if any) including highest degrees and professional degrees only.
Full institutional address of each author (including ZIP code, if applicable)
Telephone number of each author with area codes
E-mail address of each author, especially of the corresponding author.

Abstract

The manuscript should contain an abstract. The abstract should be self-contained and citation-free and should not exceed 300 words.

Background and Objectives

This section provides an introduction and overview including what is known in the field. This is where you state what is known in the field and what is lacking using, if preferred the deficiency model in identifying gaps in current/prior research and practice. This is where you provide the statement of the problem followed by the objectives of your present study. This is where you make the argument why we should publish this paper.

Keywords

Authors should provide a list of 3-10 keywords directly below the abstract. Key words should express the precise content of the manuscript, as they are used for indexing and search purposes.

Methods

This part should contain sufficient detail so that all procedures can be replicable by other researchers. Authors may divide this into subsections if several methods are described. The methodology should be precise but with sufficient detail to guide scientific replicability. It should not be laborious. If the method is well-known and described elsewhere, please refer your readers to those sources. Include information about the approval of the study stating which Institutional Review Board or Ethics Board approved the study or granted exception.

Results

This section may each be divided by subheadings or may be combined. It provides the findings of the study without discussions. Begin with the key findings and work down to the last finding. Please limit all numbers to two decimal places.

Discussion

The discussion section should be as concise as possible and should include a brief statement of the principal findings, a discussion of the validity of the observations, a discussion of the findings in light of other published work dealing with the same or closely related subjects, and a statement of the possible significance of the work. It should also include strengths and weaknesses of the paper and unanswered questions and future research. Extensive discussion of the literature is discouraged in this section.

Conclusions and Global Health Implications

You may decide to separate these into two sections or one section. This section should clearly explain the main conclusions of the work; it should highlight the work’s importance and relevance to both practice and policy. This section should address the “so what?” question addressed by the paper. What is the contribution that this paper will make to the field? This is also the place where limitations of the study, including but not limited to the design, methods, or dataset, should be discussed.

Acknowledgement

Acknowledgement should be included at the end of the paper before the references. It should contain information about research support grants, fellowships, and presentations. This is a place to list contributors who do not meet the criteria for authorship such as people who provided technical help or writing assistance. Also include here details of any organization that has made a contribution to your research such as funding organization. Authors are responsible for obtaining permissions from all the people acknowledged before putting their names in the manuscript.

Conflict of Interest

IJS maintains a disclosure policy which requires that all authors of manuscripts must declare any conflict of interest existing in the work on which their manuscripts were based. A competing interest exists when professional judgment concerning the validity of research is influenced by a secondary interest, such as financial gain. Of course conflict of interest is never absolutely lacking since apart of an immediate financial gain each author has at least a professional gain which always ends up to a financial gain. We require that our authors reveal all possible conflicts of interest in their submitted manuscripts.

The author(s) should state if they have any conflict of interests regarding the paper. If there is, please state clearly what the conflict(s) is or are.

Funding

The authors should state the funding source.

References

Authors are responsible for ensuring that the information in each reference is complete and accurate. Authors should reference only the papers that they have read themselves and that are relevant to the manuscript.

References should follow the Harvard - Anglia Ruskin University style. Authors are strongly advised to use the ‘references’ tool’ to add their citations during the composition of their text. They will avoid omission of citations or typing mistakes when adding the citation more times. It will also be easy to trace the references. All references should be cited within the text; otherwise, these references will be automatically removed from the manuscript. Authors are strongly advised also to review any of the papers published in the journal for sample of article preparation. The editors reserve the right to delete references during the review process. Please minimize the use of internet references as these links in many occasions break and are no longer functional.

Tables, Figures, and Illustrations

Tables and figures should be numbered and referred to by number in the text. Each table or figure should have a descriptive title. Illustrations (photographs, drawings, diagrams, and charts) are to be numbered in consecutive series of Arabic numerals by restarting the enumeration each time the section paragraph changes and referred to by number in the text, e.g. ‘table 2.1’ or ‘figure 3.4’. Figures and illustrations shall preferably be in high resolution and clear. A copy of the artwork for each figure should be provided separately. Each figure should have an accompanying caption and cite the source. It is the responsibility of the authors to provide IJS with any copyright information and they shall have already asked permission for reproduction of tables, figures and illustrations.

Units of Measurement

Authors of manuscripts are advised to present units of measurement using the International System (SI) units.

Copyright Notice

Articles published in IJS are distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Publication policies

IJS subscribes, and will continue to subscribe, to the best ethical principles in the publication of scientific work. The policies published here are meant to provide general guidelines and are in tandem with the best practices adopted (and disseminated) by many prominent publishers, scientific journals, and scientific publication forums across the world. The policies outlined here are living policies and will thus be updated as necessary. Submission is a representation that the manuscript has not been published previously and is not currently under consideration for publication elsewhere (except in the form of an abstract or as part of a published lecture, review, final project, thesis or dissertation). The corresponding author is responsible for ensuring that the article’s publication has been approved by all the other coauthors. It is also the authors’ responsibility to ensure that the articles emanating from a particular institution are submitted with the approval of the necessary institution. Only an acknowledgment from the IJS editorial office officially establishes the date of receipt. Further correspondence and proofs will be sent to the corresponding author before publication unless otherwise indicated. It is a condition of submission of a paper that the authors permit editing of the paper for readability. All enquiries concerning manuscripts under consideration should be addressed to the Editor-in-Chief.

Peer Review

Every submission for a featured manuscript is evaluated by at least two members of the review panel. Reviewers help the Editor-in-Chief determine the paper’s relevance and significance, the degree to which it advances knowledge, the quality of scholarly presentation, the integrity of research methods, and content relevant to human Spermatology.

Copyright

All articles published by IJS are made freely accessible online immediately upon publication, without subscription charges or registration barriers. By doing this, authors’ works become accessible to the widest scientific and professional audience around the world especially in resource-limited parts of the world. In addition, authors of articles published in IJS are the copyright holders of their articles and have granted to IJS, the right to use, reproduce, or disseminate the article according to the journal’s copyright and license agreement.

Authors must obtain the written permission from the copyright owner (usually the author and publisher) for the use of tables, illustrations, or extensively quoted material which has previously appeared in another publication. The authors are responsible for any costs incurred relating to obtaining permissions for any such material.

Article processing charges

Author Fees Based on Location

Developed (Tier 1) Countries: Eur 400

Developing & Emerging (Tier 2) Countries = Eur 200

Ethical guidelines

To maintain high scientific quality, our editorial processes and practices follow guidelines/policies issued and updated by the following organizations:

Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE)

Council of Scientific Editors (CSE)

Open Access: In addition to strict compliance with the above guidelines, our open-access publishing practices follow best practices, guidelines, and policies outlined in The Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing issued by COPE, Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association (OASPA), and Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ).

This journal is to be indexed in DOAJ, and will be subjected to the required screening and rescreening for open-access publishing best practices as established and updated by DOAJ.

This journal will subscribe to and comply with best practices for open-access publishers as established and advocated by OASPA.

IJS subscribes to the highest ethical standards in the dissemination of scientific research work. IJS subscribes to the ethical standards established by most of the international organizations on ethics.

Authors should describe in detail all new experimental and non-experimental research methods and ethically relevant aspects of their work bearing in mind the following:

Human Experiments

All work must be conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki. Papers describing experimental work on human subjects who carry a risk of harm must include the following statement:

“I/we declare that the experiment described in this manuscript was conducted with the understanding and the consent of the human subject.”

In addition, please add a statement that the responsible Ethical Committee or Institutional review Board has reviewed and approved the study/experiments.

Animal Experiments

Papers describing experiments on living animals should provide information on the following:

A full description of any anaesthetic and surgical procedure used.

Evidence that all possible steps were taken to avoid animal suffering at each stage of the experiment. Papers describing experiments on isolated tissues must indicate precisely how the donor tissues were obtained.

In all cases, IJS reserves the right to ask authors for more information about their treatment of human and animal subjects in their work prior to publication.

IRB Approval

IJS requires that all studies that involve human subjects or participants be approved or deemed exempt by an official institutional review board or ethics review board as applicable in the authors’ country. Information about ethical approvable must be clearly stated in the Methodology section of the manuscript before submission.

Informed Consent

IJS requires that authors obtain requisite informed consent and/or assent or other applicable consent from all human subjects or participants in their study. Authors are required to state whether and how informed consent/assent was obtained in their study in their manuscript.

In reporting their studies, authors should avoid the use of names, initials, and hospital numbers of patients/volunteers or study participants or subjects. In very rare circumstances where the authors are submitting photographs of study participants, these individuals should not be recognizable from photographs unless their written permission has first been obtained.

Please contact the editorial office ijs@spermatology.org before submitting any videos, photographs, or other images of study participants.

Editorial principles

IJS adheres to the finest editorial principles to ensure that the work it publishes are accurate, timely, fair and conform to the best ethical principles of publication of scientific papers as outlined here and may be updated from time to time. We believe that principles like those outlined here provide clear and clarity and rigorous guidelines for best working practices in scientific publishing and for ensuring the integrity of the papers that we publish. We believe that these principles and policies will benefit our authors, editors and readers as we strive for a trustworthy, transparent and efficient publishing process.

Confidentiality

Editors and reviewers are expected to treat articles they handle confidentially. Editors and reviewers must not disclose information about manuscripts (including their receipt, content, status in the publishing process, reviewer feedback and final decision) to anyone, other than the authors.

Objectivity and Fair Play

An Editor will evaluate manuscripts for their intellectual content without regard to race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnic origin, citizenship, or political philosophy of the authors. Reviews should be conducted objectively. Personal criticism of the author is inappropriate. Referees should express their views clearly with supporting arguments.

Integrity of the Scientific Record

IJS is committed to maintaining the integrity of the published record and to publishing the most objective and unbiased scientific information possible. As such, we subscribe to the principles adopted by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), and follow the COPE’s Code of Conduct.

Research misconduct includes fabrication, falsification, or plagiarism in proposing, performing, or reviewing research, or in reporting research results, according to experts. If a suspicion or allegation of scientific misconduct or fraudulent research is brought to the journal’s attention concerning a manuscript submitted for review, IJS reserves the right to raise these concerns with other relevant institutions or other appropriate authorities for investigation. In the handling and resolution of such cases, we follow COPE’s guidance and recommendations

IJS will take all necessary steps to maintain the accuracy and quality of the papers it publishes. To this end, IJS will publish correspondence about papers and publish Errata and Corrigenda when appropriate. In cases of serious error or scientific misconduct, it may be necessary to ask authors to retract their papers or to impose retraction upon them. Should an author discern a significant error or inaccuracy in the published article, they are responsible for notifying IJS Editor-in-Chief or publisher, and should work together with them to retract or correct the paper. If the Editor-in-Chief or the publisher learns that a published article contains a significant error, the author will be asked to correct or possibly retract the paper, or assist verification by the Editor-in-Chief of the correctness of the original paper.

Errata and Corrigenda

Should an error appear in a published article that affects scientific meaning or author credibility but does not affect the overall results and conclusions of the paper, our policy is to publish a correction in print and online in the next available issue of the journal. If an error is introduced by the publisher during the editing and/or proofing stages, the journal takes responsibility and a correction is published as an Erratum, with appropriate apologies to authors and readers. If an error is introduced by the authors, the correction is published as a Corrigendum and the author is required to pay all costs associated with the correction.

Retractions

Should a paper contain one or more significant errors or inaccuracies that change some or all of the results or conclusions described therein, the entire paper may be retracted. The word ‘retraction’ will be used in the title of the retraction to ensure that it is picked up by indexing and archiving systems. The journal will request an explanation from the author(s) as to how the errors or inaccuracies occurred, and if they are not satisfied with the response they will ask the employers of the authors or some other appropriate body to investigate, and particularly to consider the possibility of fraudulent behaviour. The journal will make all reasonable attempts to ensure that such an investigation is carried out with due diligence. To the extent possible, we will assist the parties and their institutions in the resolutions of these cases.

Should an author discern a significant error or inaccuracy in the published article, they are responsible for notifying IJS, and should work together with the journal to retract or correct the paper. If the journal learns that a published article contains a significant error, the author will be asked to correct or possibly retract the paper, or assist verification by the Editor-in-Chief of the correctness of the original paper.

Redundant or Concurrent Publication

Research manuscripts that describe work already published elsewhere will not be considered. The submission of the same manuscript to more than one journal concurrently is also considered to be unethical practice. This does not prevent journals from considering articles that have been rejected by other journals or that were not previously published in full (e.g. abstracts or posters presented at scientific meetings).

When submitting, authors should declare any previous submissions or reports that might be regarded as redundant or duplicate publication. Copies of any such related articles should be included with the submitted manuscript to assist editorial decision making. If redundant publication is attempted or occurs, editorial action will be taken, including probable rejection or publication of a notice of redundant or duplicate publication.

Anti-Plagiarism

Plagiarism is the “use of others’ published and unpublished ideas or words (or other intellectual property) without attribution or permission, and presenting them as new and original rather than derived from an existing source”, see www.wame.org – the World Association of Medical Editors web site). It is considered a dishonest and unacceptable practice. By submitting an article, authors are thereby asserting that their work is entirely original and that others’ work or text has been appropriately cited or attributed.

IJS is committed to the publication of high-quality, original, research in the field of human Spermatology. The journal editors and publisher will take every step to ensure that, to the best of their knowledge, papers published in the journal are original and conform to the best ethical principles. This includes the use of proprietary and open-source anti-plagiarism screening services and software to verify the originality of content submitted before publication. Manuscripts found to have been plagiarized will be automatically rejected and the editors reserve the right to notify appropriate agencies or the institutions of the corresponding authors.

Author Contributions

An author is someone who has made significant and substantial contributions to a study. This should include conception, design, execution and interpretation of the findings being published, and drafting and revising the article. Papers must be submitted with the agreement of all authors, and all authors should give final approval of the version to be published. Those who have made other contributions to the work, such as by providing reagents or assisting with the writing, should be listed in the Acknowledgements, and their role or involvement outlined.

Privacy Statement

The names and email addresses entered in this journal site will be used exclusively for the stated purposes of this journal and will not be made available for any other purpose or to any other party.