Style Guide

Introduction

This is a guide, not a set of instructions. The aim of this guide is to communicate the latest scholarly findings in a way that is accessible and readable. Most of the guidelines here are to aid clarity and precision. Where rigidly following this guide does not achieve that goal, exceptions can be made.

We do not expect authors to have strictly followed all of these guidelines when they submit their paper. Preparing a manuscript for publication is a key task of a publisher and includes applying the house style. Our editors will not reject a manuscript where the authors do not add a space before a unit of measurement or use the wrong tense to describe their experimens. Authors may benefit from reading and applying the conventions given here, as improving clarity and removing ambiguity can increase the chance of passing peer review.

This style guide is organized according to the sections of a research article. It begins with the title page, which includes the title, article type, author information, and abstract. It continues with the main text, where the majority of advice on writing style can be found. There is a chapter on the presentation of mathematical content, followed by one on representations of data—including how to assemble tables and figures. Next comes information about the back matter, which includes various declarations by the authors and advice on writing the bibliography. Finally, there is a short section on publication ethics and how to revise and resubmit a paper.

2. Title page

The title page is the first page of the manuscript and shuold provide general information, including the title, abstract, information about the authors and corresponding author dedication. The format is standardized and much of it is added and formatted by the publisher.

2.1. Article Types

All articles are assigned a type, dependent on the content of the article. It is useful to readers, to inform them of what style of content to expect (case report, case series, commentary, letter to the editor) and for indexing services when applying filters to search results. This section details the most common article types. Editors have the final say on which type should be assigned to a published article.

- Case Report

Case reports represent the main focus of this journal. They must present detailed information on the symptoms, signs, diagnosis, treatment (including all types of interventions), and outcomes of an individual patient. They should thoroughlt describe clinical, laboratoric and experimental findings that serve to enhance medical care or highlight diagnostic approaches. Special care should be taken when submitting Case Reports to ensure that appropriate permission for publication has been obtained from patients featured in the paper. 

- Literature Review

Review papers consist of concise and precise updates on the latest progress made in a given area of research. They should be comprehensive and objective and not, for example, only report research results from a single research group or country. Systematic reviews are written by following a specific algorithm for finding papers to include. Criteria for which articles are reviewed are defined before carrying out a literature research. They should follow the PRISMA guidelines. Literature reviews are welocme in JBMR.

- Communication

A communication is a short report aimed at reaching the journal readership with important preliminary and significant results. It should contain a complete research project and follow the IMRAD structure.

- Commentary

Briefer than a review paper, a Commentary is usually an invited paper that gives an opinion on a specific topic. They are not as comprehensive as a review paper but should highlight the most significant papers and milestones in the subject area. While the author has the license to express their own opinion more than in other article types, they should acknowledge widely held divergent views. Commentaries are peer reviewed prior to publication. While Commentaries are generally invited by the editors, unsolisited Commentaries will be considered by the editorial board.

- Conference Proceedings, Extended Abstracts, Meeting Reports

These types contain peer reviewed research output from conferences. Proceedings report new evidence or conclusions, and are expanded versions of work presented in a conference presentation. Extended Abstracts are submitted to a conference in advance and give details in support of a presentation made at the conference. Meeting Reports comprise a summary of material presented at a conference; they are often written by an organizer of the conference to inform those who could not attend, and may include a list of abstracts and presenters.

- Clinical Image

Important diagnostic and clinical images will be considered to b published as papers. The number of images is at the discretion of the author. No regular manuscript text should be included. Instead, images should be accompanied by detailed captions with no restriction in length. An unstructured abstract of no more than 200 words should also be submitted. Image files can be included either in the template or uploaded separately in high resolution. There are no restrictions on use of color or image size, however features should be sharp and not blurred. For readability, we recommend that any text in figures is at least 12 pt. in size. Submitted images are peer-reviewed under the same process as a regular research article.

- Letter to the Editor

A letter to the editor should focus on existing papers. Typically, before publication the authors of the original paper adressed will be given the opportunity to respond, and both the letter and author reply will be published together. Comments are published at the discretion of the editor and must provide useful narrative about the paper in question. Peer review of Comments and Replies is at the discretion of the Editor-in-Chief.

- Editorial

Sometimes the editorial board or the publisher has an important viewpoint or information to communicate to readers. This can be done through an editorial. For example, the first publication of most journals is an editorial from the Editor-in-Chief setting out his or her vision for the journal. Major changes to the editorial process are also announced through editorials.

- Updates and Amendments: Corrections, Erratums and Addendums

There are several methods to update published papers. A Correction reports a change that could affect the scientific interpretation of the content. An Erratum reports an update that makes a technical change, such as replacing a low-quality figure or adding missing information to a reference. An Addendum adds extra information to a paper, such as clarification of a method or an additional source of funding. In all cases, the original paper is updated and the publication showing the update is linked to the original.

- Expression of Concern

Expressions of concern are used rarely and indicate that major but unresolved concerns have been raised about the paper. It is used either when an investigation could not determine the veracity of any potential problems, but the editorial office feels that readers should be aware of the allegations; or when an investigation is ongoing and likely to take a substantial amount of time. Most investigations can be completed sufficiently quickly that an Expression of Concern is not necessary. In other cases, the editors may decide that making unsubstantiated concerns public would be unfair to the authors or another party involved.

- Retraction

The process of retraction is used to remove a published paper from the literature. Reasons for retraction include the results being found to be unreliable or not sufficiently novel (including plagiarism), or where authors have acted unethically, such as by fabricating data or making false claims about authorship. Retracted papers are not completely removed, but are watermarked as retracted. Retractions are usually the result of an investigation into the paper. JBMR is in the proccess of applying for membership of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and is commited follow its guidelines. For full details about the circumstances for retraction, please refer to the COPE guidelines for retraction and the MDPI retraction policy. Note that a Retraction does not imply anything about the behavior of the authors—the key purpose of a Retraction is to remove the article from the publication record. It could be for technical reasons, or through circumstances beyond the control of authors or the journal.

2.2. Article Titles

There are few rules about the titles of submitted papers, however there are some points that authors should keep in mind. The title coneys the main topic of the research and normally includes the principle results. It should be concise, descriptive, and grammatically correct. Periods should be avoided, instead authors can use commas, colons or en dashes. Italics should only be used where they are required for specific nomenclature (such as species names or journal titles), but should not be used for emphasis.

We recommend authors keep their audience in mind and we try to appeal to as broad a readership as possible. Therefore, avoid abbreviations and jargon that those outside of your field may not understand. Creative and original titles can be used, but make sure they do not sacrifice clarity in an effort to be eye-catching.

Case reports have specific formats for the title that must be followed, these are conveniently organized in our existing templates.

2.3. Author Names and Affiliations

In order to identify who wrote the paper and contributed to the work, author names, contact e-mails and affiliations are displayed at the beginning of a paper. More details about qualification for authorship and author roles are given in the section on author contributions. It is very important that author names and affiliations are correct. Incorrect information can mean a lack of proper attribution, incorrect citation, and can even lead to problems with promotion or funding. The publisher attempts to verify the authors’ identities and where necessary will make contact with the authors to confirm details. Misrepresenting affiliations is extremely serious and may constitute fraud. Author names should be written in full, except for middle names. Authors should typically be individually named and using institution or organization names as authors should be avoided. To avoid additional checks, please indicate any authors that only have a single name.

Affiliations should be the one the authors had at the time the work was carried out. Authors may also add a current affiliation as a special note in the title page. If the author is not affiliated to an institution, they may add the town or city and country in which they work. The main role of the affiliations is, as far as possible, to unambiguously identify the authors. We strongly recommend authors to have an ORCID, which is a unique identifier for scholarly researchers. Your ORCID can be added in the submission system and will be included in the final version of the paper with an icon linking to your online ORCID profile.

2.4. Abstracts

The abstract contains a summary of the entire paper and can be up to 250 words long. It must not contain any images or tables (although a graphical abstract may also be submitted). Authors should follow the style of a structured abstract, as seen in the templates. Abstracts must be self-contained: they are often displayed and read independently of the rest of the paper. This means that any abbreviations used must be defined in the abstract, and no reference can be made to the bibliography or any figures. Citations to previously published papers are not required in abstracts.

The abstract, along with the title, is the first part of your paper that someone will read. It should give them a good overview of all the major aspects of the work carried out. It should not be thought of as a sales pitch to encourage readers to download and read the full article, although including some motivation is a good idea. Instead, you should focus on making it informative and comprehensive. A well-written abstract will mean that someone who reads the full article will already have a good idea of the contents and will be able to focus on the parts they are most interested in.

2.5. Digital Object Identifiers

A digital object identifier (DOI) is a unique number registered through a central organization, usually CrossRef for journal articles. Its role is to act as a persistent identifier, meaning that if the URL of an article changes the DOI can still be used to find its most recent location. The DOI is defined by the publisher. We recommend using the DOI when citing articles as it will help readers to quickly locate the cited work. Any article can be located from the doi by prefixing it with https://doi.org/, e.g., https://doi.org/10.3390/s10100001.

2.6. Pagination

Pagination is also issued for articles. This includes several numbers or series of letters that identify where and when the paper was published:

- ISSN A code that uniquely identifies serial works, such as academic journals. Each journal has a unique ISSN.

- Volume, Issue These numbers originated from when journals were physically printed. Typically, journals publish one volume per year with issues on a biannual, quarterly, or monthly basis. Electronic journals still often use these and they are useful for identifying when a paper was published.

- Page range or article number These identify the specific article in an issue. The page number typically starts with 1 at the beginning of a Volume. Many electronic journals have switched to article numbers, which assigns a single number to the entire paper.

3.  Structure and Formatting

The next few chapters cover the main text of an article, which is written almost entirely by the authors. For research articles, this is where details of the experiments and results are presented. The main text may be supplemented by additional documents or sections, such as appendixes, supplementary material. Accession numbers, URLs, or DOIs can be used to refer to data or code hosted on other websites.

3.1. Overall Structure

Case reports have a standard structure, which is set out in the instructions for authors and the existing templates. 

Review articles, essays and other article types usually have a different structure, which is often more flexible. There should, however, still be a logical pattern. We recommend that the structure of an article is still considered, so the paper firstly presents a motivation for the work, followed by relevant data and previous work, and gives conclusions at the end. For systematic reviews, the structure should more closely follow that of a research article, with the methods describing how literature was chosen for inclusion.

Figures, tables, and schemes should appear in the text shortly after the first time they are cited. Where possible, they should be in the same section as the citation. It is not necessary to add them at the top of bottom of a page and they should not break paragraphs. However, authors do not need to strictly follow these rules and the production team will determine the most appropriate placement of figures. Note that there may be some adjustments in figure placement between author proofreading and final publication. Further details about adding these elements are given below.

3.2. Paragraph Content and Structure

There are no specific requirements for paragraph structure but they should follow conventions for English writing. Paragraphs should contain and develop a single theme. They should be self-contained which means, for example, that you should not use pronouns (it, he, she, they) referring to previous paragraphs. A recommended structure for paragraphs is first to introduce the main idea, then give further relevant details, and finally to give interpretations or conclusions. This structure gives more clarity to readers: if the idea contained in a paragraph is not clear from the start there is more chance for misinterpretation. In some subjects, particularly in the humanities, an alternative structure may produce a particular effect on the reader that the author is trying to create, however, we recommend that care should be taken to ensure that the message is as clear as possible.

3.3. Headings and Sections

For research articles the heading titles are defined. For other types of paper the authors have more flexibility to choose the headings. You may use up to three levels of headings/subheadings. Sections headings are numbered, with first level headings as e.g., 1.; second level heading as, e.g. 1.2.; and third level headings as, e.g., 1.2.3. (as in this guide). Any headings used in a fourth level may simply appear as a paragraph with no indent. In this case, though, we recommend reassessing the section definitions to see whether only three levels could be used. Headings without numbers may also be used to introduce a series of different cases. See the mathematics section for certain special environments with their own heading styles (e.g., Theorem, Proposition, Proof).

Headings are written using title case, which means that the first letter of all words is capitalized with the exception of short words, including articles (a, the), and all prepositions (before, after, through, under, etc.). Pronouns (he, she, it) should be capitalized, as should prepositions used in compound words (e.g., set-up). If a word is hyphenated capitalize both parts. Italicized species names should not be capitalized (e.g. in Escherichia coli). The first word of the title and the first word after a colon should be capitalized regardless of the previous rules.

3.4. Formatting, Fonts and Symbols

When writing symbols, use common, standard fonts where possible. If you are using a template in Microsoft Word, ensure that the font is correctly set for all text, especially when copying and pasting text from a different document. The format painter tool can help. Avoid using fonts such as symbol, wingdings or webdings. Authors should also avoid adding symbols as pictures, as it can lead to difficulties in formatting the final version. If there is a symbol you have difficulty in adding, leave a comment in the text so that the copy-editing team can take note.

3.5. Abbreviations

Most abbreviated phrases should be written in full the first time that they are used, with the abbreviation in brackets, for example “deep inferior epigastric artery perforator flap (DIEAP flap)”. Some very common abbreviations do not need to be defined—some of these are universal and others depend on your intended audience. The following Latin abbreviations may be used in text: etc. (et cetera), to indicate that a list is incomplete; i.e., (id est), meaning “in other words” to add clarification to a phrase; e.g. (exempli gratia), meaning “for the sake of example” to introduce a list of examples. Note that it is not necessary to use e.g. and etc. in the same list. Confusion between i.e. and e.g. is common—if your list of examples is complete then use i.e., but if there are additional cases not mentioned then use e.g. Both e.g. and i.e. should be followed by a comma and do not need to be italicized. Do not abbreviate “also known as” to “aka” or use an ampersand (&) instead of “and”, they should be written in full.

3.6. Italics

Authors may use italics for emphasis at their discretion. Be careful that there is no confusion, especially in disciplines where italicization is used for another purpose, such as gene names. Journal and book titles should always be written in italic. Italics must be used for the genus and species when using Latin names of organisms. The first time the name is used it should be spelled out in full, but for further uses the genus can be abbreviated to the first letter. Note that the species is always written without a capital letter, including when it appears in a title; the genus name should always be capitalized. Similarly, italics should be used for gene names (but not for the corresponding proteins): e.g. "Lac1 is the gene that encodes for the Lac1 protein".

3.7. Bold Font

Bold font should generally be avoided. If you wish to add emphasis, italics are preferred. Bold font is used in specific contexts, including figure captions and subtitles. In chemistry, bold numbers can be used to refer to molecules defined in Schemes.

3.8. Quotations

Any text taken from previous work, whether published or not, should be clearly indicated. The recommended way to do this is as a quotation accompanied by a citation and bibliography entry. Quotations should appear in double quotation marks (“ . . . ”). Long quotations may appear as a block quote: a separate paragraph set off from the rest of the text with an indent on either side. The exact formatting will be completed by a layout editor during production.

3.9. Lists, Itemized Lists and Bullet Points

Most lists can be included as inline text, however, authors may decide that the information is more clearly represented using bullet points. If there is a specific order to the list a numbered list may be used. A descriptive list may also be used, in which each item begins with an emphasized word or short phrase.

For inline lists, items should be separated by commas. An exception is where one or more items contains a comma, in which case semicolons can be used. Do not use commas for lists of two items. Serial (or Oxford) commas are recommended, however they may be omitted if done so consistently, especially when not using American English for spellings.

For itemized lists, introduce the list with a colon, add a semicolon at the end of each item, and a period at the end of the last item. Alternatively, periods may be used at the end of each item. Always capitalize the first word of each item.

4. Figures, Tables and Data

Figures, tables and similar items may be added to the text as appropriate. This section details how to use these. Authors are required to make their original data available unless there is a valid reason for not doing so (e.g., related to patient confidentiality). The best way to do this is to publish the data at the same time as, or before, the published article. This may be done alongside the article as an Appendix or Supplementary Material, or on a separate platform. In the latter case, we strongly recommend a platform that uses the datacite mechanism (see https://datacite.org) to assign a digital object identifier (DOI) to your data.

Any figures, tables, supplementary information, etc., must be cited in the main text of the document.

Do not abbreviate Table and Figure to Tab. or Fig. The cited object should usually appear shortly after the citation and at the end of a paragraph. The final position of objects in the published PDF file is determined by the MDPI production team and may change between proofreading and publication.

4.1. Figures

Figures are a graphic that supports the main text. They may represent data, an algorithm, a model, an image, or any other pictorial representation. Figures must be clear and readable, and we recommend a minimum resolution of 600 dpi. Any common figure formats may be used, including (but not limited to) tif, jpg, and png. For Cad and similar formats, a representation as, for example, a png file may be included in the text and the full original file included as supplementary material.

Note that the production process may change the type of your file and all files will be published in tif format. This should not affect the quality of your figure, however if you notice a decrease in the quality after publication you should contact the editorial office as soon as possible.

For figures with more than one part, the panels should be labeled a, b, c, d, etc. and each part can be separately cited in the main text. Each part must be individually described in the caption. Captions are mandatory and are added below figures.

4.2. Tables

Long lists of categorized data may be added as a table. This could include where there are many cases with similar information or large amounts of numerical data. Tables will be reformatted to the standard journal style prior to publication, and the journal template provides an example. Use of color is not recommended in tables, but may be accommodated where necessary. Similarly, merged cells may be included, but should be used sparingly and it must be clear which rows/columns correspond to each other. Do not supply tables as images, they must be editable. Very large tables, or many different tables showing similar cases may be included in an Appendix or as supplementary data.

Captions are mandatory for tables and are placed above the table.

5.  End pages

The declerations section includes important information that supplements the main text and provides further information and context. Most of the back matter is provided by the authors, but the structures are quite standard.

5.1. Patents

Authors may declare any patents related to the published work, either those pending or already obtained. The aim of this section is to create a better link between research articles and new inventions that they have contributed to. This section is not obligatory and there is no penalty for not declaring patents, but in most cases authors benefit from adding any relevant information here. When declaring patents, please include the patent number and title, so that any interested readers can access the full details. We strongly recommend against submitting papers for publication before patents have been granted, since publication can compromise the patent application process. Published papers will not be removed from journals in order for patent applications to be filed.

5.2. Supplementary Material

Some types of data or information are not suitable to be included in the main text. In this case, it may be included as supplementary material or in an Appendix (see below). Examples of information suitable as supplementary material include additional graphs, original datasets, and computer programs. In most cases, authors are free to choose what is included as supplementary material. There is also no restriction on file type, although we recommend using common, open file types that will remain readable in the future. There may be restrictions on file size for files hosted by JBMR, however the editorial office will be able to offer alternative options if this is a problem. There are two ways that supplementary material can be added. Either it can be submitted to JBMR along with the manuscript, or it can be hosted on a third-party platform and details included in the paper. In the latter case, authors should use a repository that uses datacite or an equivalent mechanism to give the files a digital object identifier. The website must also have a policy for data preservation, which reduces that chance that at some point in the future the link to the files will no longer work. A personal website, for example, would not be suitable. There is a list of suitable repositories at https://www.re3data.org.

5.3. Acknowledgments

Acknowledgments are a place to recognize any contributions made to the paper that do not meet the criteria for authorship. This may include technical support, gifts received, or organizational assistance. There are few restrictions on what should be included, with the primary exception that anyone who meets the criteria for authors must be included as an author and not only acknowledged. Personal acknowledgements (e.g., of family members) are acceptable. This section should be kept relatively short, typically up to 100 words.

5.4. Author Contributions

Anyone included in the author list should have their role listed in the author contribution section. The CREDiT taxonomy for authorship should be used along with a standard wording as given in the journal template. Further details are available at https://casrai.org/credit/. Everyone and only those satisfying one or more of these roles should be included as authors. In addition, all authors must be fully aware of and approve submission of the manuscript.

5.5. Conflict of Interest Statement

JBMR uses the recommendations of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors with regards to conflicts of interest (CoIs) (http://www.icmje.org/icmje-recommendations.pdf):

“A conflict of interest exists when professional judgment concerning a primary interest (such as patients’ welfare or the validity of research) may be influenced by a secondary interest (such as financial gain). Perceptions of conflict of interest are as important as actual conflicts of interest.”

CoIs come in different forms and can affect authors, editors, and publishing staff. Having a CoI does not mean that your paper will not be published, however omitting them could lead to retraction or, at least, re-evaluation of your paper. No conflicted third parties should be able to directly influence the results of your research or have a say in the final version. Conflicts of interest where there is a negative effect on the author as a result of the paper’s publication should also be declared.

Types of CoIs include:

Direct/indirect: This concerns whether the CoI refers specifically to an author (direct) or one of their associates, such as a close colleague or family member (indirect). Financial/non-financial : Both of these are important. Financial CoIs concern receiving money from people or organizations with a vested interest in the outcome of the research, holding patents or salaried positions that depend on the research outcomes, or holding shares or other items whose value is dependent on the research. Non-financial CoIs include benefits to groups the author is associated with and reputational benefits. There are some grey areas about what to disclose as a conflict of interest. If you are unsure, we recommend making a declaration and checking with the editorial office prior to publication. Colleagues may also be able to provide advice. Examples of CoI statements can be found in the instructions for authors and the journal submission template.

5.6. Appendixes and Supplementary Information

Authors can use Appendixes to add further information to support the results reported in the manuscript. They should be used when including the information in the main text would disrupt the flow for readers or where only a minority of the audience is expected to be interested. Appendixes may include full details of lengthy mathematical proofs, additional figures, further experimental details, or additional data. If the information is very lengthy, or in a format that does not work well on a printed page, it may also be included as supplementary material. Note that sections in the Appendix are labelled with capital letters (as opposed to numbers, which are in the main text) and that all Appendixes must be cited in the main text. Figures or Equations in an Appendix are prefixed with ‘A’ (regardless of the section) and in supplementary material with ‘S’, and numbering begins from 1 at the beginning of the Appendix or Supplementary files (i.e. Figure A1, Figure A2, . . .).

5.7. References

Almost all papers contain a reference list giving details of previous work cited in the manuscript. The purpose of the reference list is to enable others to find works on which the published paper is based.

A citation should be included when what you are writing refers to or is based on previous work. Examples can also be cited. The citation list should contain only references to static content, i.e., something that is not expected to change over time. This includes journal and newspaper articles, patents, and details of specific equipment. Content that does not fulfil these criteria may be listed directly in the main text and might include company websites, or websites to track project development (such as github).

The reference section is highly structured and different types of references are formatted in a specific way. Full details are available from the instructions for authors’ page of the journal you are submitting to, however below are examples of the most common types.

Please see the reference guide of JBMR for further reading.

5.8. Copyright Statement

The final part of a manuscript is the copyright and licensing statement. This does not need to be edited by the authors and has a standard wording. Copyright of the manuscript is not transferred from the authors to JBMR, meaning that those who produce the work retain ownership. Sometimes authors are not legally entitled to own the work. In these cases, it should first be verified whether this applies in the United States of America, where JBMR is registered. If so, the authors should inform the editorial office about the correct copyright owner.

The license determines how the work can be used after publication. JBMR articles are published using a creative commons CC BY license, meaning that the work may be reused—either in full or in part—without restriction provided that the original source is acknowledged. In practice, this means that anyone using the article must cite it and thus give recognition to the authors. The terms of this license are what makes the articles open access. A different open access license may only be used in exceptional circumstances and must be approved at the submission step by the editorial office.

6.  Publication Ethics

Research and publication ethics is a large topic and a full discussion is beyond the scope of this guide. For further information, we recommend that consulting local sources such as university ethics committees or libraries, or the Committee on Publication Ethics (https://publicationethics.org).

Authorship: Include all and only authors that qualify for authorship. Avoid “gift authorship” for those that did not contribute, and omitting someone who played a significant role in the work.

Add ethical approval: If your work required ethical approval, add the name of the committee that approved the work and the approval code in the methods section. Also make sure that you have obtained permission to publish from any relevant third parties, such as funders, collaborators, or research subjects.

Plagiarism/copied text: It is considered unethical to present someone else’s words or ideas as your own—this is plagiarism. In addition, large amounts of copied text can constitute a copyright infringement. Do not directly copy text from other sources unless it is clearly indicated as such using quotation marks and is correctly cited.

Cite sources appropriately: Related to plagiarism, make sure that citations are made appropriately. Ensure that you have cited all of the relevant work. At the same time, avoid citing work that is outside the scope of the paper. Where reviewers or editors suggest that you add extra citations, you may disagree provided that you can argue why they are not relevant. It is also not necessary to add extra citations to the journal you intend to submit to—this will not make your paper any more or less likely to be accepted for publication. Ensure that all of your co-authors are aware of the ethical standards expected for academic publishing. Any infringement is considered by publishers as the responsibility of all authors.

7. Revision and Resubmission

This part briefly covers general advice about how to revise and resubmit your manuscript. You will receive notification by email of specific opportunities to revise and resubmit your paper. If you urgently need to submit a new version at some other time, write to the editorial office by email, but not that it may not always be possible if the paper is with editors or reviewers. Please use the “track changes” feature in Microsoft Word. This makes it easier for editors and reviewers to see the changes that have been made. The “compare” function in Word can add tracked changes to the final version by comparing it with an earlier version. Particularly during proofreading, you will find parts of the text that are highlighted and/or have comments on them that the editorial office would like you to check. This could be to verify information that has been added or modified, to ask check the original meaning where it is ambiguous, or to request additional information. Please pay close attention to these parts to ensure that the final published version is as you intended. Common requests are to ask for abbreviations to be defined, to add the city and country of companies from which materials were sourced, to check the author names and affiliations, and for modifications made to the reference list.

Reviewer comments are made to improve your work and help to make it acceptable for journal publication. Authors should be able to modify their manuscript to accommodate most comments. Sometimes, however, authors feel that remarks made are not fair or misunderstand their work. In this case, you can write a response to the reviewers and editors explaining your point of view. In addition, if a reviewer suggests additional experiments that would taken an unreasonably long time, you can also explain the situation. While the reviewers’ comments are taken very seriously by editors, they are suggestions and the Editor-in-Chief, Guest Editor, or other Editorial Board Member makes the final acceptance decision.

If you have difficulty understanding a request for revision or re-uploading your document, get in touch with the assistant editor handling your paper via email. Make sure you quote the manuscript ID assigned to your paper in all correspondence.