The European Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology and Reproductive Biology is the leading general clinical journal covering all European countries. It publishes peer reviewed original research articles, expert opinions and reviews, and also news, book reviews and biographical, historical and educational articles. Fields covered include obstetrics, prenatal diagnosis, materno-fetal medicine, perinatology, general gynecology, gynecologic oncology, uro-gynecology, reproductive medicine, infertility, reproductive endocrinology, sexual medicine and reproductive ethics. It provides a forum for scientific and clinical professional communication in obstetrics and gynecology throughout Europe and the world

Editorial policies
The following articles will be considered for publication: original research articles, review articles, expert opinions and letters to the Editors - brief communications (formerly case reports).


Submission of an article implies that the work described has not been published previously (except in the form of an abstract or as part of a published lecture or academic thesis), that it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere, that its publication is approved by all Authors and tacitly or explicitly by the responsible authorities where the work was carried out, and that, if accepted, it will not be published elsewhere in the same form, in English or in any other language, without written consent of the Publisher.

Upon acceptance of an article, Authors will be asked to transfer copyright (for more information on copyright see http://www.elsevier.com/authors. This transfer will ensure the widest possible dissemination of information. A letter will be sent to the corresponding author confirming receipt of the manuscript. A form facilitating transfer of copyright will be provided.

Articles must be written in English. Authors whose native language is not English are requested to have their manuscripts checked for linguistic correctness before submission.

English language help service
Upon request, Elsevier will direct authors to an agent who can check and improve the English of their paper (before submission). Please contact authorsupport@elsevier.com for further information.

Online submission
Submission to the European Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology and Reproductive Biology (EJOG) proceeds totally online. Paper copies of submissions are no longer acceptable. Via the web submission system for this journal, http://ees.elsevier.com/euro you will be guided stepwise through the creation and uploading of the various files. You will need to provide an electronic version of your manuscript and a separate electronic version of the abstract. You must select a category for your manuscript (see below). Once the uploading is done, the system automatically generates an electronic (PDF) proof, which is then used for reviewing. All correspondence, including the Editor's decision and request for revisions, will be by e-mail.

Author Agreement
An agreement by all authors (maximum 6 to 7) is required for submission. A statement to this effect is requested at submission stage.

Manuscript categories
During submission the author must select a category from the following list: Review Article, Research Article, Book Review, Letter to the Editor. In preparing submissions, authors should check the general requirements for the preparation of manuscripts (see below)

Review articles
As well as invited articles we welcome submitted reviews on topics of current interest in obstetrics and gynecology. Reviews are allowed a maximum of 3500 words (excluding title page, abstract and references), 10 figures and 10 tables. The reference list should not exceed 3 pages.

Expert Opinions
These are generally ″invited″ by the Editors-in-Chief but submission may be considered, with a maximum of 2000 words, 20 citations and 2 figures or 2 tables.

Research articles For details, see below: ″General Requirements for the preparation of manuscripts″. There is a limit of 2500 words(excluding title page, abstract and references), 10 figures and 10 tables. The reference list should not exceed 3 pages.

A Fast Track article is a research article which presents truly ground-breaking results that justify short reviewing and publication time. Articles accepted through this route can expect a minimum of 10 weeks editorial time from submission to publication online. Articles submitted for this route will be checked by the Editors-in-Chief to determine if the criterion for fast publication has been met: if not, articles will be redirected to the normal route of category article.

Letters to the Editors are limited to a maximum of 600 words (excluding references, names and addresses of the signers, and the phrase "to the Editors"). Only one type of letter will be considered for publication:
Letter to the Editors - Brief Communication giving a brief case presentation or short report of a pertinent clinical observation. Please use the correct format following the criteria: max 600 words, max 5 references, max 1 table or 1 figure, no abstract, no keywords, no headings. The information must be presented as a true Letter, e.g. starting with ″Dear Editor, we found that... etc.″ Brief communications that do not meet this criteria will be returned to the author. A Case Report cannot be submitted as Fast Track.

Announcements of major meetings and other significant activities should be sent to the Editors-in-Chief.

Editorial review process
Authors are responsible for following the criteria for the manuscript categories listed above before submitting the article to the Editorial Office. Articles not meeting these criteria will be rejected immediately without going through to peer review.

At submission authors will be asked to assign their article to a specialty subject area covered by the journal: obstetrics, maternal-fetal medicine, reproductive medicine and endocrinology, gynecology, gynecology oncology and urogynecology. All articles will undergo an initial review by an Advisory Board Editor expert in a particular specialty area. Articles will be assessed for:
- having sound methodological structure
- reporting novel results
- driving the field forward
- being within the scope of the journal
- being written clearly and understandably for a reviewer to do his/her job properly, and
- a potential for FastTrack review and publication
Articles not meeting these criteria will be rejected immediately without going through to full peer review.

Articles that have passed the initial review process are assigned by the Editorial Office to a Regional Accepting Editor on the basis of the corresponding author's address. At least 2 independent reviewers are assigned per article for a systematic review of the article's aims, methodology, results and conclusions.

Following peer review, articles may be accepted without revision, accepted pending minor revision, not accepted but eligible for re-submission following major revision, or rejected. No more than two revision cycles are permitted per article - articles that after two revisions have still not adequately addressed the reviewers and Regional Editors concerns will be rejected.

Authors are advised that during the review process the reviewers and/or the Regional Editor may request additional statistical and language review. These articles will be reviewed by respectively an independent Statistical Advisor and Language Editor to the journal, either of whom may subsequently request additional changes prior to final acceptance of the manuscript.

Author's suggested reviewers
With their submitted manuscript, authors must provide the names and addresses of at least two reviewers for the consideration of the Editors in the Comments field during the online submission.

Human and non-human experimentation
The Editors require that manuscripts from a particular institution are submitted with the requisite authority (Ethical Committee). Reports of experiments on animals should state that the guidelines for the care and use of animals approved by the local institution were followed. For work described in your article involving human experimental investigations of any kind, must have been carried out in accordance with The Code of Ethics of the Declaration of Helsinki

Clinical Trials
The Editors of EJOG endorse and strongly encourage authors of reports of clinical trails to use the CONSORT checklist. The CONSORT E-Flowchart and a checklist of items to be included when reporting a cluster or randomised trial can both be found on CONSORT Checklist

Commercial potential
Authors who believe there may be commercial interest in the their article, e.g. for advertising or reprints, are requested to provide brief notes on the reason why this might be the case, and indicate the company or types of company that might be interested in this service.

Authorship
Each author (for manuscripts with 2 but not more than 6 to 7 authors) must qualify by having significantly participated in the study that is reported as well as made substantial contributions to the first concept and design or analysis and interpretation of data and second, writing the manuscript or revising it critically for content (see author agreement). Others contributing to the work should be recognised separately in an Acknowledgment.

General requirements for preparation of manuscripts
Manuscripts of research articles must be submitted in English and be structured in the following order on a new page: title page, condensation, abstract, body of text, acknowledgments, references, legends for figures and tables.

Title page
The title page should contain in sequence the title (concise and suitable for indexing purposes), author line with first name, middle initials, and last name of each author; city(ies), state(s) and countries in which the study was conducted; divisional, or departmental, and institutional affiliations at the time the study was performed; name, address, telephone number, fax number and e-mail address of author responsible for correspondence concerning the manuscript if different from author to whom reprint requests are addressed.

Condensation
On the second page, provide a Condensation for use in the table of contents. This should be a single sentence of no more than 4 lines long, written in the present tense and stating in simple, declarative, and non-quantitative terms the conclusion(s) of the report.

Abstract page including key words/phrases
On manuscript page 3, type the abstract, double-spaced, with the required margins and headed by the title or the article and name(s) of the author(s. Below the abstract list 3 to 5 key words or short phrases for indexing purposes. A structured abstract (see description) is required for original research articles. A standard abstract is required for review articles and expert opinions (see description).
Structured abstract: A structured abstract, limited to 350 words, should be used for research articles and should contain the following major headings:
Objective(s), Study Design, Results and Conclusion(s). The Objective(s) reflects the purpose of the study, that is, the hypothesis that is being tested. The Study Design should include the setting for the study, the subjects (number and type), the treatment or intervention, and the type of statistical analysis. The Results include the outcome of the study and statistical significance if appropriate. The Conclusion(s) state(s) the significance of the results.
Standard abstract
A standard abstract is required for review articles and expert opinions and has no sub headings. It is limited to 500 words for reviews and 300 words for expert opinions.

Text
Only standard abbreviations may be used. Consult the Council of Biology Editors Style Manual or the AMA's Manual of Style: http://healthlinks.washington.edu/hsl/styleguides/ama.html.

Abbreviations in the title are not acceptable. They should be avoided, if possible, in the abstract and keywords. In the text they should be kept to practical minimum. The full term for which an abbreviation stands should not precede its first use in the text unless it is a standard unit of measurement.

The generic, chemical or proprietary names of pharmaceuticals may be used. If the generic or chemical names are used, authors may, if they desire, insert the proprietary name in parentheses after the first mention in the text, with the name of the manufacturer and city and state.

Research articles are customarily organised into the following sections: In the Introduction, state concisely the purpose and rationale for the study and cite only the most pertinent references as background. In the Materials and Methods section describe briefly the plan, the subjects, experimental animals or other species, material, and controls, the methods and procedures utilised, and the statistical method(s) employed. In the Results section present detailed findings. Include mentions of all tables, and/or figures. Figures and tables should supplement, not duplicate, the text; presentation of data in either one or the other will suffice. In the Comment section state the importance and significance of your findings. Limit your opinions to those strictly indicated by the facts in your report. Compare your findings with those of others. No new data should be presented in this section.

Acknowledgments
Acknowledge only persons, institutes and agencies who have made substantial contributions to the study.

References
Adhere to the maximum number of references for each category of article (see above). Number references consecutively in the order in which they are mentioned in the text. Use the format of the "Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals" (Vancouver style) (N Engl J Med 1991: 324: 424-8). Journal titles should conform to the abbreviations used in Cumulated Index Medicus. If six or fewer authors, list all; if seven or more authors, list three then "et al".

Examples:
Journals
(1) Paterok EM, Roenthal H, Sabel M. Nipple discharge and abnormal galactogram. Results of a long-term study (1964-1999). Eur J Obstet Gynecol Reprod Biol 1993; 50: 227-34.
Books
(2) Brown SS, ed. Prenatal Care. Reaching Mothers, reaching infants. Washington: National Academy Press, 1998.

Personal communications and unpublished data, if essential, may be used but not as numbered references. If they are used, they are to be referred to, within parentheses, at the appropriate location in the text. If used, the author(s) must obtain written and signed permission for their use from the individual being quoted. This signed permission must accompany the manuscript when it is submitted to the Editor. Published abstracts can be used as numbered references, however, reference to the complete published article is preferred.

Figures, Tables, Multi-media and Annexed files
Instructions on submitting these items online are provided under Artwork Instructions on the Journal's Instructions to Authors at http://www.elsevier.com/artworkinstructions.

The term figure includes all types of illustrations such as graphs, diagrams, photographs, flow charts and line drawings. A reasonable number of figures will be reproduced without charge. Figures must be cited consecutively in the text in Arabic numerals.

Colour figures will be published in print for an additional charge to the author of USD 1250.00 per page. The quoted charge is per page in colour, and as many as eight colour figures can be included on one page if the colour balance is appropriate. The colours used must be dark enough and of sufficient contrast for reproduction. With the exception of fluorescent colours, all colours can be reproduced in four colour figures. Figures submitted in colour will be published in colour online without charge.

Tables should be numbered in Arabic numerals. Each table must be cited in sequence at an appropriate point in the text. Titles should be brief yet indicate clearly the purpose or content of each table, and each column should be precisely defined by headings. Abbreviations and special designations should be explained in a footnote to the table. If a table or any part thereof has been taken from copyrighted material, a footnote to the table must give full credit to the original source.

Multi-media and annexed files are published only online. Multimedia files need to be sent to the Editorial Office on disk/cdrom or by e-mail, euro@elsevier.com

Permissions
Photographs of identifiable persons must be accompanied by signed releases. If not, all recognisable features must be masked.

If excerpts from other copyrighted works are included (direct quotations, tables or figures) the Author(s) must obtain written permission from the copyright owners and credit source(s) in the article along with complete reference information. Elsevier has pre-printed forms for use by Authors in these cases: contact Elsevier's Rights Department, Philadelphia, PA, USA: phone (+1) 215 239 3804, fax (+1) 215 239 3805, e-mail healthpermissions@elsevier.com. Requests may also be completed online via the Elsevier homepage http://www.elsevier.com/locate/permissions.

Conflict of interest
All authors must disclose any financial and personal relationships with other people or organisations that could inappropriately influence (bias) their work. Examples of potential conflicts of interest include employment, consultancies, stock ownership, honoraria, paid expert testimony, patent applications/registrations, and grants or other funding.

Role of the funding source
All sources of funding should be declared as an acknowledgement at the end of the text. Authors should declare the role of study sponsors, if any, in the collection, analysis and interpretation of data and in the writing of the manuscript. If the study sponsors had no such involvement, the authors should so state.

Page proofs
One set of pdf proofs will be sent to the authors to be carefully checked for printer's errors. Changes or additions to the edited manuscript will not be allowed at the this stage. Authors are requested to return the corrected proofs immediately by fax or e-mail as instructed.

Reprints
The corresponding author, at no cost, will be provided with a PDF file of the article via e-mail. The PDF file is a watermarked version of the published article and includes a cover sheet with the journal cover image and a disclaimer outlining the terms and conditions of use.
Additional paper offprints can be ordered by the authors. An order form with prices will be sent to the corresponding author. This must be completed and returned to the publisher with the proofs. Orders for reprints cannot be accepted at a later date because the reprints are made at the time the journal is printed.

Business communications
Communications of a business nature should be addressed to: The Publisher, European Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology and Reproductive Biology, Elsevier B.V., Health Sciences, PO Box 993, 1000 AZ Amsterdam, The Netherlands, Tel: (+31) 20 485 3007; Fax: (+31) 20 485 3249

Citations
The European Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology and Reproductive Biology is cited in: Current Contents (Clinical Medicine), Index Medicus (MEDLINE), Excerpta Medica (EMBASE), Pascal et Francis (INIST-CNRS), Elsevier BIOBASE/Current Awareness in Biological Sciences.

Page charges
The European Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology and Reproductive Biology has no page charges.

Table of Contents and Abstracts of published articles are freely accessible at http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/03012115.

Funding body agreements and policies
Elsevier has established agreements and developed policies to allow authors whose articles appear in journals published by Elsevier, to comply with potential manuscript archiving requirements as specified as conditions of their grant awards. To learn more about existing agreements and policies please visit http://www.elsevier.com/fundingbodies