The Tohoku Journal of Experimental Medicine

Guidelines for Authors

(Version September 20, 2024)

Aims and Scope
The Tohoku Journal of Experimental Medicine (TJEM) is one of the oldest and the most prestigious periodicals in Japan and the world. The TJEM is an international general medical journal founded in 1920, and is published online (Open Access) and with a monthly print issue by the Tohoku University Medical Press.

Our mission is to publish peer-reviewed papers in all branches of medical sciences, including basic medicine, social medicine, clinical medicine, nursing sciences, disaster medicine, and education for healthcare professionals, and to present new information of exceptional novelty, importance, and interest to a broad readership of the TJEM.

The TJEM is open to Original articles in all branches of medical sciences from authors throughout the world. The TJEM also covers the fields of disaster science that include health aspects. Case reports, which advance significantly our knowledge of medical sciences or practice, are also accepted. Review articles, including systematic or scoping reviews, which synthesize the evidence, are welcome. Registration to a database for systematic reviews and following the guidelines are preferable. News and Views, which can be a case study of a disaster or public health emergency, contribute to health policy and education are welcome.
Letters to the Editor are open discussions with the editor and authors on specific articles published in TJEM. A letter should cite the specific article and should not have more than three references.
In particular, the TJEM welcomes full papers requiring prompt publication.

Ethical Issues
Author’s Responsibility
Papers that will be simultaneously or have been published in any other periodicals or proceedings will not be accepted. Manuscripts submitted under multiple authorships are reviewed on the assumption that all listed authors concur in the submission and that the final version of the manuscript has been seen and approved by all authors.

Each author should have participated in conceptions and design, execution, analysis, or interpretation of data. Each author must agree to the terms stated in the Authors’ Responsibility Form and sign on this form. The corresponding author is required to submit a copy of the completed Authors’ Responsibility Form to the Editorial Office online via TJEM Editorial Manager^® when submitting a revised manuscript.

Experimental Subjects
Scientific investigations involving human subjects must follow the ethical standards formulated in the Helsinki Declaration of 1964. They must have been formally approved by the appropriate institutional review board, ethical review committee, or equivalent.

Experimental Animals
Animal experiments must follow ethical standards, and measures taken to protect animals from pain or discomfort should be mentioned. All research animals must be acquired and used per national legislation and local institutional review board requirements.

Conflict of Interest
Authors/reviewers should declare any conflicts of interest.

Scientific Misconduct
All work must be free of falsification, fabrication, and plagiarism. The Editors reserve the right to reject manuscripts describing research that does not meet acceptable standards of research behavior as determined by the Helsinki Declaration, national or local legislations on human studies or animal experiments, institutional review board, or equivalent.

The Editor-in-Chief of the TJEM reserves the right to withdraw a published paper without consent of the author(s), in case of any misconduct of the author(s) relating to a published article. The decision of withdrawal by the Editor-in-Chief and its reason will be notified to the author(s) by e-mail. However, publication fees already paid by the authors cannot be refunded.

Manuscript Preparation Guidelines
Before Writing a Manuscript
Authors are advised to consult recent issues of the TJEM for the general format, such as layout of tables and citation of references.
http://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/browse/tjem/list/-char/en

Repositories and Preprint Servers
The TJEM welcomes manuscripts based on a large scale of data posted to the Repository or the Database. However, the TJEM does not welcome manuscripts that have been posted to preprint servers before the submission to the TJEM.

Writing a Manuscript
General Preparation

The TJEM is a general medical journal that is not specialized for a certain field of medicine. Prepare the manuscript for a broad readership of the TJEM!
Articles are written in English with American spelling.
Use a standard font size (e.g., 12-point) with double space.
Provide the page number and the line number for each page, starting from the title page. Providing the line number is also welcome to make the review process easier.
Each abbreviation should be defined when it appears for the first time.
Avoid abbreviations that are used only in a specific field and are unfamiliar to general readers.
Insert a space between a number and a symbol. For instance, ±, =, <.

The Title Page

The title page must contain a main title, a running title, the full name(s) of all author(s), their affiliation(s) where the work was performed, and information for the corresponding author, including complete corresponding address and e-mail address.
Abbreviations should not be used in the main title, except commonly used ones such as DNA, RNA, etc.
The vague title must be avoided. The title should be written for readers outside the discipline.
A running title must not exceed 60 characters, including space.

The Abstract Page

The abstract should state the backgrounds/rationale, objectives, findings, and main conclusions of the work in a single paragraph of 250 words or less. No heading is required.
State the significance of your findings in the abstract.
The abstract should be written for readers outside the discipline.
Abbreviations should be avoided in the abstract as far as possible.
No references are allowed in the abstract.
Provide five keywords in alphabetical order after the abstract. Abbreviations should be avoided in the Keywords as far as possible.

The Main Text
Each type of paper should contain sections, as shown below:

Original articles: Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, and Discussion.
Case reports: Introduction, (Methods), Case Presentation, (Results), and Discussion. The Methods and Results sections are optional in Case reports. The Methods section should be included in Case reports if special examinations were done to reach the diagnosis, and/or the scientific research was done to clarify the pathophysiology of the disease. The Results section may be included if novel findings are obtained by the scientific research in the Case report.
News and Views: Introduction, (Methods), Case overview, (Results), and Discussion.
Review articles: Introduction, other optional sections, and Conclusion. Systematic and scoping reviews should follow the PRISMA guidelines (Moher et al. 2015, Tricco et al. 2018).

PRISMA Guidelines (Use updated statements)

Moher, D., Shamseer, L., Clarke, M., Ghersi, D., Liberati, A., Petticrew, M., Shekelle, P., Stewart, L. A., & PRISMA-P Group (2015). Preferred reporting items for systematic review and meta-analysis protocols (PRISMA-P) 2015 statement. Systematic reviews, 4, 1. https://doi.org/10.1186/2046-4053-4-1

Tricco, A. C., Lillie, E., Zarin, W., O'Brien, K. K., Colquhoun, H., Levac, D., Moher, D., Peters, M. D. J., Horsley, T., Weeks, L., Hempel, S., Akl, E. A., Chang, C., McGowan, J., Stewart, L., et al. (2018). PRISMA Extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR): Checklist and Explanation. Annals of Internal Medicine, 169, 467-473. https://doi.org/10.7326/M18-0850

Letter to the Editor: A rapid communication to articles published in the TJEM without Figure(s) or Table(s). It should be no longer than 300 words and three or fewer references, including the specific article in TJEM. The article processing fee for the Letter to the Editor is free of charge.

Regardless of the article type, the background and the aim of the study should be clearly written in the introduction for a broad readership of the TJEM.

Informed Consent and Animal Welfare
In cases where a study deals with human subjects or live animals, the Methods section of the manuscript must include a statement that all experiments were performed in compliance with the relevant laws and/or institutional guidelines, and a statement that the study was approved by the institutional review board, if necessary. A statement must also be included that informed consent was obtained from human subjects.

Acknowledgments (Optional), Author Contributions (Optional) and Conflict of Interest are placed at the end of the main text. All sources of funding should be declared in the Acknowledgments.

References
References are cited in the main text by the first author’s last name and year of publication in parenthesis, as shown below.

Single author: (Shibahara 2020)
Two authors: (Shibahara and Takahashi 2020)
Three or more authors: (Shibahara et al. 2020)
Two or more references can be cited in the order of publication years, such as; (Hodgkinson et al. 1993; Hughes et al. 1993; Steingrimsson et al. 1994; Hozumi et al. 2012)

References are listed after the main text in alphabetical order under the first author’s name: Last name(s), followed by initials of first and middle names; year of publication (in parentheses); the title of the article; the title of periodical (abbreviated according to Index Medicus and italic); number of volume (bold); and the first and last pages. Attach the Digital Object Identifier (DOI) as much as possible. Publications by the same author(s) in the same year should be listed as 2007a, 2007b, etc. In the reference with more than fifteen authors, give the first fifteen authors and then use et al. Do not put serial numbers on reference lists.

When a book is referred to, the reference should include the author’s name, year of publication (in parentheses), the title of the book (capitalized and italicized), edition (if any), publisher, place of publication, and page(s). Attach the International Standard Book Number (ISBN) or DOI.

When a website is referred to, indicate the relevant page rather than the top page of an organization. The website reference should include the author (publisher)'s name, year of publication (in parenthesis), the title of the page (capitalized and italicized), and URL.

Confirm that all references are traceable.

A reference management tool, EndNote, offers a current Output Style file that can assist you with the formatting of your references. In case of submitting, Do Not Remove “EndNote Add-In” from the Word file (DOC, DOCX).

Personal communications or unpublished papers should not be included in the list of references.

Please note the following examples.
1) A journal article:
Misu, T., Fujihara, K., Nakamura, M., Murakami, K., Endo, M., Konno, H., & Itoyama, Y. (2006) Loss of aquaporin-4 in active perivascular lesions in neuromyelitis optica: a case report. Tohoku J. Exp. Med., 209, 269-275. https://doi.org/10.1620/tjem.209.269

2) A chapter in an edited book:
Klaus, S.N. (2006) A History of the Science of Pigmentation. In The Pigmentary System, edited by Nordlund, J.J., Boissy, R.E., Hearing, V.J., King, R.A., Oetting, W.S. & Ortonne, J.-P. Blackwell Publishing Ltd., New York, pp. 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1002/9780470987100.ch1

3) A book:
Nordlund, J.J., Boissy, R.E., Hearing, V.J., King, R.A., Oetting, W.S. & Ortonne, J. P. (2006) The Pigmentary System. Physiology and Pathophysiology, 2nd ed., Blackwell Publishing, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1002/9780470987100

4) Website:
World Health Organization (2022) WHO Guidance on Research Methods for Health Emergency and Disaster Risk Management.
https://iris.who.int/bitstream/handle/10665/363502/9789240057968-eng.pdf
[Accessed: September 9, 2024].

> Download sample for References

Tables

Tables should be prepared in editable files, such as Word and Excel.
Table(s) are placed after References.
Tables should be uploaded separately as individual files.
A large size of Table is not welcome. The final printed size of the Table, including its title, legends, and footnotes, should be less than one printed page.
Authors should emphasize the most essential points in the Table by providing an understandable title and legends to each Table.
Abbreviations should not be used in the title as far as possible.
Indicate the noticeable findings with some markers in each Table.
All the abbreviations used in Tables must be defined in the footnotes.

Figures

Figures should be prepared in PowerPoint, J-PEG, or PDF files. The PowerPoint file is the most preferred.
Figure legends should be placed after the References.
Figures should be uploaded separately as individual files.
Authors should emphasize the essential points in the Figure by providing understandable titles and legends for each Figure.
Abbreviations should not be used in the titles as far as possible.
Indicate the noticeable findings with some markers in each Figure.
Provide an explanation for symbols in figure legends.
All the abbreviations used in Figures must be defined in the legends.
Photographs of high quality may be requested for printing of morphological data.
Provide a scale bar in a representative morphological photo.

Graphical Abstract

Graphical Abstract should be submitted with the manuscript if you have one.
Graphical Abstract should contain images or figure(s), showing the summary or the conclusion of the article.
Graphical Abstract should be prepared in color (J-PEG, PowerPoint, or TIFF with less than 2.0 MB) with a brief title.
Graphical Abstract will be displayed in the online journal only. Graphical Abstract is not published within the PDF file or print.

Supplementary Materials

Supplementary Figures/Tables will be published as PDF files in the online journal only.
Supplementary file(s) can be downloaded at the ‘Supplementary material’ of the Article overview or at the end of the online publication on the HTML.
Supplementary Figures/Tables must be numbered Supplementary Fig. S1, Supplementary Fig. S2, etc., and Supplementary Table S1, Supplementary Table S2, etc.
Titles and legends of Supplementary Figures/Tables need to be included in the respective Figure/Table. References for the Supplementary Figures/Tables should be listed in the Supplementary file if required.
All the supplementary Figures/Tables must be referred to in the manuscript at an appropriate point in the text.
Supplementary Figures/Tables should be less than a total of 5.0 MB.
If authors hope to submit other types of supplementary material, please consult the TJEM office by e-mail.

Manuscript Submission
Authors should submit their manuscript files online via Editorial Manager^® for the TJEM.
http://www.editorialmanager.com/tjem/

The manuscript files should be provided in the Word version of a manuscript (the title page, the abstract, the main text, references, and legends to figures), the Word or Excel version of Tables, and the PowerPoint, J-PEG or PDF version of the Figures. Tables and Figures should be uploaded separately as individual files.

When the conversion of the manuscript files to a PDF file is completed after uploading files in the Editorial Manager^® of the TJEM, authors should carefully check the quality of the manuscript PDF before the final submission, particularly Tables and Figures.

Authors should suggest qualified reviewers with complete mailing addresses. In an effort to expedite the review process, please provide us with the e-mail addresses and affiliations of the potential reviewers. Please note that the final decision on reviewers used is at the discretion of the Editorial Board.

The TJEM requests no submission charges.

Peer Review
All the submitted manuscripts, including the Invited Review articles, are subject to initial review by Editor(s), and Similarity Check plagiarism screening. The Editor(s) will determine if a submitted manuscript should be returned without peer review or sent for peer review. If the manuscript is returned without peer review, the author is notified immediately.

If the manuscript warrants full peer review, the Editor assigns two independent reviewers, including the Editorial Board Members. All reviewers who review a manuscript remain unknown to the authors. Every manuscript is treated as privileged information. The Editor-in-Chief makes the final decision based on the comments and the recommendations of the reviewers.

The primary criteria for judging the acceptability of a manuscript are its novelty and/or scientific importance. In addition, manuscripts should be written clearly and simply for readers outside the discipline or non-specialist readers. Manuscripts judged lacking in these respects are declined, even if the experimental work appears technically sound.

Submission of the Revised Manuscript
Please indicate the corrections and changes made in red in the revised manuscript. The response letter should summarize the changes made and include a list of your point-to-point responses to the critiques of reviewers. The revised manuscript and the response letter should be uploaded with a Word version.

When submitting a revised manuscript online, the corresponding author is required to submit a copy of the completed AUTHORS’ RESPONSIBILITY FORM and AUTHORS’ AGREEMENT FORM to the Editorial Office online via Editorial Manager^® for the TJEM. Please note that these submission forms do not guarantee acceptance of your paper.

> Authors’ Responsibility Form

> AUTHORS’ AGREEMENT FORM

Changes to Authorship
Any addition, deletion, or rearrangement of author names in the authorship list must be made only before the manuscript has been accepted and only if approved by the Editor-in-Chief of the TJEM. The corresponding author must write the reason for the change in the author list and the agreement of all authors with the addition, removal, or rearrangement on the accompanying letter of the revised manuscript. In the case of removal of the author(s), the confirmation letter from the author(s) being removed must be accompanied by the revised manuscript.

Post Acceptance
The Advance Publication was introduced in April 2022. Along with the payment of the Article Processing Charge (APC), the PDF of your accepted manuscript will be uploaded soon with DOI in the Advance Publication by J-STAGE.
https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/browse/tjem/ The corrections of the PDF of your accepted manuscript are not welcome.

Your accepted paper may be substantially edited by the Editor(s) or requested to be partly re-written after acceptance to ensure that your publication is accurate, clear, and understandable to a broad readership of the TJEM. Editors reserve the right to request authors to revise the manuscript when required.

A copyedited proof will be sent to the corresponding author within a few weeks. Authors should review the proof and return the requested corrections within 48 hours. Tables are adapted to the TJEM style in our Production Department. Authors should, therefore, check carefully the correctness of your Tables in the proof.

Significant changes to the article at this stage will only be considered with permission from the Editor-in-Chief. Processing fees may be charged to the authors if many corrections are requested at this stage. Changing the authorship after acceptance is not permitted. If you do not pay the APC, the editorial office retains the right to withdraw the article without the consent of the authors. The decision of withdrawal by the Editor-in-Chief and its reason will be notified to the author(s) by e-mail.

Copyright and Permissions
Copyright
As a condition of publication, all authors must transfer copyright to the Tohoku University Medical Press.

The articles published in the TJEM after January 2020 are marked by the Creative Commons (CC) License and the CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 (Attribution-NonCommercial- NoDerivatives 4.0 International) License. Anyone may download, reuse, copy, reprint, or distribute the article marked by the CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 without modifications or adaptations for non-profit purposes if they cite the original authors and source properly.

Permissions for Reuse and Reproduction
It is our policy that authors reserve the right to reuse or reproduce their own article, in whole or in part, for non-commercial use, provided the acknowledgement is given to the original source of publication. The non-commercial use includes the uses in the author’s own thesis, dissertation, textbook, review article, deposit in any repository, Websites, lectures at the conference or other meetings, and so on. Authors are not requested to obtain permission by the Tohoku University Medical Press in such cases.

Please refer to the supplement Permissions if you request other types of permissions for reuse and reproduction.

> Permissions

Article Processing Charges (APC)
The TJEM is an Open Access Journal. All the publications are published with the Creative Commons (CC) License; CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 (Attribution-NonCommercial NoDerivatives 4.0 International).

Effective October 1, 2024, a new APC for articles will be applied.

The price is 230,000 JPY+ 10% consumption tax for all article types (Original Article, Case Report, News and Views, and Review Article) regardless of the number of pages. The Letter to the Editor is free of charge.

Additionally, all prices are subject to consumption tax, except for Bank Charges. Color figures will appear in color on the Web (both PDF and HTML images) at no additional charge, providing that these appear suitably as greyscale figures in the print version and reprints.

Prices are subject to change without notice.

Color Figure Charge
TJEM no longer publishes color figures in the printed version. Color figures appear in color on the Web (both PDF and HTML images) at no additional charge. Reprints can be color printed with an additional charge upon request. Ask prices for reprints to the journal office. The 10% tax will apply to the prices.

Bank Charge: In the international transfer of money, the Bank charge (4,000 JPY per article, no tax) is added to the charge in advance for intermediary and beneficiary bank fees.

Support of Article Processing Charges
The TJEM has a support system for article processing charges. Please contact the TJEM Editorial Office if you need financial support for publication.

Reprints
Reprints are available upon request. Please contact the TJEM Editorial Office.

The TJEM Editorial Office
The Tohoku Journal of Experimental Medicine
Tohoku University Medical Press
Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8575, JAPAN
Tel: 81-22-717-8183/8184
e-mail: office@journal.med.tohoku.ac.jp