1. General
The Kurume Medical Journal (Kurume Med J) publishes articles in the field of medical and related sciences. Contributions are accepted from researchers and practitioners in Japan and abroad. Submitted manuscripts should be original research, not previously published, and should be written in English. Types of articles are 1) Original contribution, 2) Case report, 3) Study Protocol, 4) Methodology paper, 5) Short communication and 6) Technical note. Review articles are also invited. KMJ is an open access journal, and articles published in KMJ are fully indexed in PubMed and J-stage.
KMJ will not tolerate misconduct including, but not limited to, data fabrication or falsification including deceptive manipulation of images and plagiarism.
2. Copyright
Submission of a manuscript to the Kurume Medical Journal implies that, when accepted for publication, the authors agree to transfer the copyright to the Kurume Medical Journal. KMJ allows others to download the material and share if (either whole or parts of it) with others without any permission as long as they credit the original source and indicate if changes were made. However, commercial use of the published manuscript is prohibited. The original source should also be included in the reference list, if any.
3. Ethics
For experiments on human subjects and patients, evidence must be provided in the paper that the experiments were performed only after the investigators had obtained the voluntary consent of the subjects. A full explanation of the experiments must be made to the subjects before their consent is requested. Authors should adhere to the latest version of Declaration of Helsinki. Approval in writing is also required for the performance of such experiments from the Chairperson or the Ethics Committee of the University, Research Institute or Hospital.
Animal experiments must be performed with the least possible pain or discomfort to the animals. Accordingly, a full description of anesthetic procedures must be provided in the paper, including measures taken to maintain a satisfactory level of pain avoidance both during and after the experimental procedure. Muscle relaxants and paralytic agents are not of themselves anesthetics, and they should always be used in combination with drugs known to produce adequate analgesia. Experimental animals must be maintained according to recognized standards to safeguard their welfare. This includes proper housing and food, as well as sanitary conditions. In this respect, investigators must be aware of the legal requirements in Japan for animal husbandry. They are also obliged to follow the guiding principles of their local Ethics Committee.
4. Preparation of Manuscript
Authors are requested to follow the following instructions carefully so as not to delay review and handling of manuscripts.
Manuscripts are submitted through Editorial Manager®, a Web-based manuscript tracking system 〔URL https://www.editorialmanager.com/kmj/〕. This system allows authors to add a new manuscript or check the status of a submitted manuscript, while shortening the time needed for processing manuscripts in the Editorial Office and through peer review.
A cover letter should include a statement regarding prior publication, concurrent consideration for publication, and contact information.
5. Organization of Manuscript: Original Article
All manuscript must be organized according to the following format: 1) Title; complete title, no abbreviations, 2) Authors; first and last names with departments and addresses of their institutions, 3) Corresponding author; designating one author as corresponding author and provide his/her complete address, telephone and fax numbers, and e-mail address, 4) Abstract; not more than 200 words, 5) Keywords; 5-8 words, 6) Running title; not more than 10 words, 7) Text; consist of Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion and Conclusion, 8) Conflict of Interest; any financial relationship with pharmaceutical company, biotechnology manufacture or any other commercial entity that has an interest in the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript, 9) Acknowledgements and Notice; grant support etc., 10) References, 11) Tables, 12) Figures, and 13) Figure legends.
6. Case Report
The text of Case Report should contain Introduction, Case Presentation, and Discussion in sequence. Case reports should provide new information and clinical impact that enhance our knowledge on the diseases and process, such as a novel syndrome or a genetically confirmed rare case, or should report unusual clinical or pathophysiological features that promote further study on a large scale. Information linked to patients' identification must be carefully masked. Case reports are generally shorter than Original Articles in lengths. Please refer to the general instruction for reference style and other manuscript requirements.
7. Study Protocol
Study protocol articles can be for proposed or ongoing prospective clinical research, and should provide a detailed account of the hypothesis, rationale, methodology, time frame and expected outcomes of the study. Study protocols are generally shorter than Original Articles in lengths. Please refer to the general instruction for reference style and other manuscript requirements.
8. Methodology Paper
Methodology papers should focus on novel technical or methodological advances that significantly advance a field of research that is of interest to the broad readership of KMJ. Methodology papers are generally shorter than Original Articles in lengths. Please refer to the general instruction for reference style and other manuscript requirements.
9. Short Communication
Short communication articles are reports of novel findings of particular importance and/or current interest. The manuscript should be no more than 1,000 words and up to 4 pages of final printing including tables and figures. Key words (5-8) should be provided before the text, and summary of the results are unnecessary. The manuscript should not be partitioned into section, such as Introduction, Methods and Results, and have minimum number of references. The total number of tables and figures should not exceed 4. Please refer to the general instruction for reference style and other manuscript requirements.
10. Technical Note
A technical note provides a brief description of a specific development, technique or procedure, or it may describe a modification of an existing technique, procedure or device applicable to medicine with practical value in clinical diagnosis or management. The main criteria for publication will be the novelty of concepts involved, the validity of the technique and its potential for clinical applications. Technical notes are generally shorter than Original Articles in lengths. Please refer to the general instruction for reference style and other manuscript requirements.
11. Review Article
Review articles generally summarize the existing literature on a topic in an attempt to explain the current state of understanding on the topic. There is no fixed formats; however, if the work has previously been presented at a meeting, this should be stated in the article.
12. Submission
Once you reach the Editorial Manager® home page, log on to the system by creating an account or entering through your existing account.
Editorial Manager® will easily guide authors through the manuscript submission process. Required information pertaining to the manuscript includes the name, e-mail address, and name of institutions for the first author and all contributing authors; title of the manuscript; short title (not exceeding 40 characters including spaces); abstract (about 250 words); funding sources and key words (5-8). The title must explicitly represent the content of the manuscript. Subtitles are not recommended.
13. Abbreviations
A list of abbreviations should be provided in alphabetic order. A sample list is shown below.
Examples:
Abbreviations: BHIS, supplemented brain heart-infusion medium; HO, heme oxygenase; IRP, iron regulatory protein; nt, nucleotide(s).
14. Abbreviations
Figures and Tables should be prepared separately from the main text. Each table should have a short title, and tables should be numbered in the order in which they are cited in the text.
Each figure should have a legend containing sufficient information to make the figure intelligible without reference to the text. Figures should be submitted in TIFF, EPS, JPEG, or PowerPoint formats. A minimum resolution of 300 dpi is required, and it is recommended that authors supply their artwork in the RGB spectrum. Histograms should be presented in a simple, two-dimensional format, with no background grid.
15. References
References should be limited only to those having direct relevance to the subject of the paper. In the text, references should be cited by number in parentheses, in the order of appearance.
In the literature reference list, references should be entered as follows: reference number, names and initials of authors, full title of article, name of journal, year of publication, volume number and page numbers. The titles of journals must be abbreviated according to the Vancouver style. The form of citation of authors contributing a chapter to books should be similar to that for journals.
Examples:
1. Katsuki Y, Herman JP, and Yanagisawa K. The lateral line organ of sharks as a chemoreceptor. Adv Biophys 1970; 1:1-51.
2. Tanaka T, Yamada K, Suzuki A, Nishimura R, Koga I et al. Excitatory amino acid antagonists depress transmission in hippocampal projections to the lateral septum. Brain Res 1986; 382:437-440.
3. Tokizane T. Studies on the paradoxical phase of sleep in the cat. In: Progress in Brain Research, ed. Tokizane T and Schade JP, Elsevier, Amsterdam, Vol21B, pp230-268, 1965.
4. U.S. positions on selected issues at the third negotiating session of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. Washington, D.C.: Committee on Government Reform, 2002. (Accessed March 4, 2002, at http://www.house.gov/reform/min/inves_tobacco/index_accord. htm.)
Unpublished materials or personal communications, if needed, should be included in parenthesis in the text. It is strongly recommended that authors carefully examine each reference by direct confirmation of original publications.
16. Review System
Manuscripts submitted will be assigned to an Editor on the Editorial Board and then sent for evaluation to two referees recommended by the Editor. The Journal always attempts to minimize the potential for conflict of interest in the review of manuscripts. Therefore, authors may request that specific individuals with a possible conflict of interest not be involved in reviewing their manuscript. Authors may suggest the names and addresses of potential reviewers. The Editors will be guided but not necessarily bound by these suggestions.
Authors will receive a message from the Editor-in-Chief stating whether or not their manuscript is acceptable. Revised manuscripts and correspondence concerning manuscripts must be received by the date designated by the Editor-in Chief. Revised manuscripts received after that date will be considered as newly submitted papers unless there is a justifiable reason for the delay.
The accepted manuscripts may be sent to an Editorial Advisor for correction of English grammar and syntax, depending on the Editor's judgment before final acceptance; such manuscript correction will be at the author's expense. Manuscripts, if accepted, will be published only after agreement by the author(s) to pay the costs of publication including page charges.
The Editorial Board uses the following guidelines in making editorial decisions. To inform prospective authors of our criteria, the guidelines are listed below, but please note that these are only guidelines: 1) the manuscript is original and it contributes to science with significant novelty, 2) the English must be clear and understandable, 3) the title and the abstract are informative, 4) the description of the methods and/or the experimental work is adequate, 5) the number and the quality of the figures and the tables are suitable. Numbers and physical quantities are written with the proper number of significant digits and units, 6) the references cover recent and past activities in the field, and include papers reported in various relevant journals, 7) the conclusions sound convincing, and 8) the manuscript includes the necessary statements relating to contributorship, competing interests, data sharing and ethical approval.
In general, the Kurume Medical Journal will not publish papers that are: 1) merely confirmatory or descriptive as to the presence of a well-known process in tissues or organisms not previously studied, 2) not novel enough, 3) too preliminary or incomplete, and 4) too specialized in areas outside the scope of the Kurume Medical Journal.
17. Galley Proofs
Galley proofs of accepted manuscripts will be sent to the authors for their correction. Alterations in galley proofs, other than the correction of print errors, are not permitted, except when the Editor agrees that addition of a brief note in the proofs is essential.
Galley proofs corrected by authors should be returned by the designated date, otherwise, the Editor reserves the right of proofreading. Color plates and other special illustrations will be reproduced at the author’s expense at cost prices. The list of these cost prices will be sent to the author after the final decision. If the manuscript is rejected, all the materials will be returned to the author.
18. Reprints
Reprints are available when ordered with the return of the galley proofs. The minimum number of reprints available for order is 30, and the approximate cost for 30 copies is ￥5,000 for black/white copies. Color charges will be applied for individual pages.
19. Contact Information
The Kurume Medical Journal is published by the Kurume University School of Medicine. Manuscripts should be submitted through online system by accessing https://www.editorialmanager.com/kmj.
Correspondence should be addressed to:
KMJ Editorial Office
Kurume University School of Medicine
67 Asahi-machi, Kurume-city
Fukuoka 830-0011 Japan
E-mail: kmjedit@kurume-u.ac.jp
19. PDF version of Submision Guideline
■Submission Guideline for Authors in English
■Submission Guideline for Authors in Japanese
