Guide for Authors

1. OVERVIEW

The American Journal of Transplantation (AJT) is the official journal of the American Society of Transplantation and the American Society of Transplant Surgeons. AJT seeks to provide its readership with literature of both the highest quality and impact through a process of careful peer review and editorial comment. All papers, including those invited by the Editorial Board, are subject to peer review.

2. MANUSCRIPT SUBMISSION

All manuscripts must be submitted through Editorial Manager at editorialmanager.com/amjt.

AJT charges a standard fee of $50 USD for all unsolicited submissions with the exception of invited manuscripts and Letters to the Editor. This fee covers expenses for processing and evaluating submissions by the Editorial Office and its Editors.

2.1 File upload

1. Cover letter (optional)
2. Main body document must be double spaced and in DOC, DOCX, or RTF format. For most manuscript types, the main body should contain the following:
   • Title page
     • Title
     • Authors’ full names
     • ORCIDs
     • Affiliations
     • Corresponding author email
     • Word count (Main body and Abstract)
   • Abbreviation page
   • Abstract
   • Main body text
   • Acknowledgments / Funding
   • Disclosure
   • Data availability statement
   • Figure legends
   • References
3. Tables and figures should be uploaded separately with each table and figure appearing on its own page.
4. Do not embed them within the text.
5. Each table and figure should appear on its own page, and tables and figures should not be mixed.
6. Supporting information
7. Statistical analysis plan (if applicable)
8. Clinical trial protocol (if applicable)

Why your paper may be unsubmitted: The Editorial Office reviews each paper after submission to verify its adherence to word limits and other guidelines stated in this document. If your paper exceeds the limits or does not meet formatting requirements, it will be unsubmitted. You may correct the issues and resubmit your paper. It will retain the manuscript number assigned during the initial submission.

3. MANUSCRIPT TYPES

This table lists the types of manuscripts AJT publishes. Descriptions follow below.

3.1 Manuscript types

Brief communications should convey singular novel, factual observations that have been tested with the same rigor as required by Original Articles. This format is appropriate for observations of limited scope; it is not appropriate for items that have been incompletely tested or preliminary observations that remain speculative in nature.

Case reports highlight exceptionally unique clinical observations made on one or a small number of patients that convey generalizable insights about the practice or science of transplantation. Rare, but otherwise typical, clinical scenarios or particularly difficult clinical situations are generally not appropriate unless they inform a broader concept in the field. Notable first cases or new applications of transplantation will be considered to the extent that they support a nonintuitive conclusion.

Images in Transplantation is a learning opportunity built around one or more key images and is a Continuing Medical Education (CME) activity certified for 1 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™. The first author of the article can claim 10 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™ per article, directly from the American Medical Association. Images submissions are limited to 4 authors. Please see the full instructions for this manuscript type at AJT Images in Transplantation

Please Note: All Images in Transplantation submissions must include a completed Declaration of Relevant Financial Disclosure form. You will be prompted to upload this file with your submission files in Editorial Manager.

Letters to the Editor are appropriate to convey thoughts about and/or publicly question recently published material or current events. The time limit for submitting a letter regarding an AJT article is one month after the date of print publication. When an accepted letter specifically refers to an article in AJT, the authors of the cited article may be given an opportunity to reply briefly. Letters are also appropriate for a brief, definitive, scientific or clinical observation that is supported by data and adequately conveyed in this abbreviated format.

Minireviews present a concise review of an area where there has been recent (generally within the past 5 years) significant progress by a number of investigators and/or laboratories. They should be broadly based, and not simply a review of one or two centers or laboratories. With rare exceptions, references should be from peer-reviewed journals with no unrefereed proceedings, personal communications, or unpublished results. When appropriate, the first few references should be review articles that direct readers to older literature on the subject matter. Most Minireviews are invited by the Editorial Board; however, proposals may be submitted to the Editorial Office at amjtransplant@duke.edu for consideration. Proposals should be approximately 250 words and include major references to be cited.

Original articles should be original factual observations important to the practice of transplantation or its related science that have been rigorously tested using the scientific method. Original articles must follow the standard presentation format as detailed in the Manuscript Preparation section below, and they must present results in sufficient detail for their merit to be judged by the authors’ peers and for the experiments to be repeated by others. The use of supplemental information is encouraged in cases where the word limit constrains the authors’ abilities to provide sufficient detail. The Discussion should convey the significance of the findings with minimal extrapolation or hyperbole, allowing the empirically tested facts to support the commentary.

Personal viewpoints collegially convey the opinion of an author or group of authors and inform the science and/or practice of transplantation. Opinions are appropriate where there are substantial barriers to actual prospective testing of an issue, but should not be used to advance thought that could be directly tested. The topic should be important, controversial, and/or highly topical, and either be of high interest to the transplantation community or have high potential impact to change prevailing thought or practice. While there is greater latitude than afforded a research manuscript, personal viewpoints must be, to the greatest extent possible, fact-based.

3.2 Invited manuscript types

Book reviews are based on an author’s firsthand reading of a book review. The review should guide readers with regard to the book’s strengths and weaknesses, as well as the readership to which the book is likely to appeal. New publications of likely interest to the readership of AJT may be submitted to the Editorial Office to be considered for a Book review.

Comprehensive reviews focus on major advances shaping the field today. The expanded format allows authors to pay some appropriate homage to the seminal history of the topic to the extent that it informs the evolution of the present practice. The manuscript should demonstrate the relationship between the relevant biology and the clinical phenotypes defining the field. A section on likely future developments is appropriate.

Editorials are commissioned to comment on a recently accepted manuscript, published subject, or event. The Editorial should place its referenced subject in a broader perspective, provide a balancing interpretation, or highlight important features or consequences that may be insufficiently apparent.

Meeting reports delineate the major outcomes of a congress or consensus meeting of special relevance and importance to transplantation. Manuscripts should not be a simple account of the proceedings but should focus on impactful deliberations or finding that have the potential to change thought and/or practice. The manuscript must include specifically address each of the following points:

1. Cover Letter: Statement as to the number of planned manuscripts related to the specified meeting and the scope of each manuscript
2. Methods or Supplementary Methods:
   
   • Description of how meeting participants were chosen. Meeting participants should represent the opinions of stakeholders that who accurately and proportionately mirror the diversity of the community, or there must be an explanation as to why this was either not possible or not desirable.
   • Description of the methodologies used to ensure the findings’ accuracy. Conclusions must be supported by data consistent with a scientific publication.
   • In addition, if the manuscript reports Consensus Recommendations, please follow the ACCORD guideline: ACCORD guideline for reporting consensus-based methods in biomedical research and clinical practice: a study protocol.

Special articles highlight a topic of special relevance to the entire field of transplantation, emanating as an official policy of a relevant governing body, or conveying important consensus recommendations for clinical or academic practice (e.g. practice guidelines).

4. MANUSCRIPT PREPARATION

Please adhere to the instructions below, as failure to do so may result in your manuscript being unsubmitted. Revised manuscripts have additional requirements noted in the next section.

Uploads are restricted to 100 MB per manuscript (all files combined).

4.1 Language and terminology

AJT does not condone or publish hurtful or bigoted language. We reserve the right to unsubmit your manuscript for any language that is unsuitable.

English language services: Authors who feel their English language manuscript may require editing to eliminate possible grammatical or spelling errors and to conform to correct scientific English may wish to use the English Language Editing service available from Elsevier's Author Services.

Trade/brand names: In general, no trade or brand names should appear in titles or abstracts. Please use generic or chemical names whenever possible. If it is necessary, for clarity, to stipulate a particular name, it may be mentioned in the Materials and methods section of a manuscript with the manufacturer’s name, city, and state or country. Deviations from this policy may be appealed to the Editor-in-Chief and will be considered in circumstances where the trade name is absolutely required for scientific accuracy.

Transplant terminology: Please use the following suitable terminology. For further guidance, refer to the glossary maintained by the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network at https://optn.transplant.hrsa. gov/resources/glossary.

4.2 Manuscript sections

Title page (mandatory)

1. Title: Use sentence case. Abbreviations are discouraged. Brand names are not allowed.
2. Authors: List the full names of all authors. There is no limit to the number of authors, except for Images in Transplantation; however, all authors must meet the guidelines for authorship in section 5.3.
3. ORCIDs: ORCIDs are unique identifiers authors can use to be sure their work is linked and are required for submitting authors. ORCIDs must be associated with an author’s account during submission in Editorial Manager to be included in the final article. Get more information at orcid.org.
4. Affiliations: List the department, institution, city, and state/country of the individual authors where the work was performed.
5. Corresponding author email: Provide the email address of the author to whom correspondence should be directed after publication.
6. Abbreviations: Include an alphabetical list of all abbreviations used. All terms should be spelled out at first mention in the text.
7. Word count: Provide the word count of the manuscript, including the abstract.

Abstract (if applicable)

• Abstracts should clearly describe the purpose, methods, findings, and conclusions of the study.
• Abstracts should be a single paragraph with no headings.
• Abstracts are limited to 200 words.
• Abbreviations are discouraged.
• Brand names are not allowed in the abstract.
• For prospective randomized trials, include the clinical trial registration number at the end of the abstract. Prospective randomized trials should also include a completed copy of the CONSORT checklist as a Supporting information document; see 4.3 for more information.

Main body text

• Suggested sections for Original Articles are Introduction, Materials and methods, Results, and Discussion. These sections should be numbered 1–4, with subsections 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, etc.
• Materials and methods
  • Publication generally implies that reagents (e.g. monoclonal antibodies, transgenic animals, etc.) used by the authors and critical to the conclusions will be made available to bona fide researchers for assessment of reproducibility of findings.
  • It is the authors’ responsibility to have the research study approved by the proper institutional review board (IRB). The submission must state the IRB approval if the paper describes human subjects or experimental animals. For human studies, the IRB approval number and protocol number should be listed. In the case of a multicenter study, the statement may be a global statement reinforced with supplementary material listing the individual approval numbers.
  • Describe any hazardous procedures or chemicals involved in the studies and what precautions were taken to avoid injury to subjects and investigators.
  • Provide a brief but complete description of the statistical methods used, including which tests were used to analyze which variable.
  • If your manuscript describes data obtained by microarray analysis, include the accession number.
• Results and Discussion
  • Results presented in the Results section should not be repeated in the Discussion section.
  • Restrict comments and discussion to the Discussion section.

Acknowledgments
Funding sources and personal acknowledgments should be listed in this section. Authors are strongly encouraged to list all sources of funding used for the preparation of their manuscript and are responsible for acknowledging funding sources that require acknowledgment as a condition of funding.

Disclosure
Authors must disclose any conflicts of interest as well as the involvement of a commercial organization in manuscript preparation or funding. AJT defines a conflict of interest as a financial interest that may affect, or appear to affect, the presentation or content of a publication, thus calling into question its credibility or importance. Financial interests may include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Research funds: Funds received for operations, supplies, salaries, travel, etc. from organizations that may gain or lose financially as a result of the publication.
• Employment funds: Funds received for employment during the time that the research was conducted or promise of future employment from organizations that may gain or lose financially as a result of the publication.
• Personal financial interests: Owning stocks or shares in organizations that may gain or lose financially as a result of the publication, or having patents or patent applications in progress whose value you may increase as a result of the publication.

One of the following statements must be included as the disclosure:

1. The authors of this manuscript have no conflicts of interest to disclose as described by the American Journal of Transplantation.
2. The authors of this manuscript have conflicts of interest to disclose as described by the American Journal of Transplantation. [The conflicts must then be described.]

Data availability statement
All article types - except Editorials, Letters to the Editor, Book reviews, Viewpoints, and Images in Transplantation - are required to have a data availability statement, even if no data is available. Additional details may be found in section 5.2 of this document.

Figure legends
Include a page in your manuscript that lists every figure and its title and description. Number figures according to their order of appearance in the text. Figure legends should allow interpretation of the figures without reference to the text.

Supporting information statement (if applicable)
If supporting information is included in the submission, include this statement: “Additional supporting information may be found online in the Supporting Information section”.

References

• AJT uses AMA style. When using Endnote, select JAMA style.
• Number references in the text in order of appearance.
• References to unpublished material, such as personal communications and unpublished data, should be noted within the text and not cited in the References. Personal communications and unpublished data must include the individual’s name, location, and date of communication.

Tables
Tables must be cited, but not embedded, in the text and numbered according to the order of appearance. Each table should appear on its own page with titles and footnotes as needed.

Figures
Figures should clarify the text. The use of color is strongly encouraged to enhance clarity and readability of the displayed data.

• All figures should be cited, but not embedded, in the text in numerical order.
• Make sure you use uniform lettering and sizing of your original artwork.
• Preferred fonts: Arial (or Helvetica), Times New Roman (or Times), Symbol, Courier.
• Number the illustrations according to their sequence in the text.
• Use a logical naming convention for your artwork files.
• Indicate per figure if it is a single, 1.5 or 2-column fitting image.
• For Word submissions only, you may still provide figures and their captions, and tables within a single file at the revision stage.
• Please note that individual figure files larger than 10 MB must be provided in separate source files.

A detailed guide on electronic artwork is available.
You are urged to visit this site; some excerpts from the detailed information are given here.
Formats
Regardless of the application used, when your electronic artwork is finalized, please 'save as' or convert the images to one of the following formats (note the resolution requirements for line drawings, halftones, and line/halftone combinations given below):
EPS (or PDF): Vector drawings. Embed the font or save the text as 'graphics'.
TIFF (or JPG): Color or grayscale photographs (halftones): always use a minimum of 300 dpi.
TIFF (or JPG): Bitmapped line drawings: use a minimum of 1000 dpi.
TIFF (or JPG): Combinations bitmapped line/half-tone (color or grayscale): a minimum of 500 dpi is required.

Please do not:

• Supply files that are optimized for screen use (e.g., GIF, BMP, PICT, WPG); the resolution is too low.
• Supply files that are too low in resolution.
• Submit graphics that are disproportionately large for the content.

Supporting information (files)
Supplementary material such as applications, images and sound clips, can be published with your article to enhance it. Submitted supplementary items are published exactly as they are received (Excel or PowerPoint files will appear as such online). Please submit your material together with the article and supply a concise, descriptive caption for each supplementary file. If you wish to make changes to supplementary material during any stage of the process, please make sure to provide an updated file. Do not annotate any corrections on a previous version. Please switch off the 'Track Changes' option in Microsoft Office files as these will appear in the published version.

Videos: AJT encourages submissions with video content. Videos are subject to the same rigor of peer review as all other submissions. Authors who have video or animation files that they wish to submit with their article are strongly encouraged to include links to these within the body of the article. This can be done in the same way as a figure or table by referring to the video or animation content and noting in the body text where it should be placed. All submitted files should be properly labeled so that they directly relate to the video file's content. In order to ensure that your video or animation material is directly usable, please provide the file in one of our recommended file formats with a preferred maximum size of 150 MB per file, 1 GB in total. Video and animation files supplied will be published online in the electronic version of your article in Elsevier Web products, including ScienceDirect. Please supply 'stills' with your files: you can choose any frame from the video or animation or make a separate image. These will be used instead of standard icons and will personalize the link to your video data. For more detailed instructions please visit our video instruction pages. Note: since video and animation cannot be embedded in the print version of the journal, please provide text for both the electronic and the print version for the portions of the article that refer to this content.

The video must function as a stand-alone feature. Use captioning, annotation, or voiceover commentary to explain what is happening.

Statistical analysis plan: AJT now requires the statistical analysis plan to be uploaded, if applicable.

Clinical trial protocol: Please upload your clinical trial protocol for reference by reviewers and editors.

4.3 Reporting guidelines

Sex and Gender: Authors should ensure correct use of the terms sex (i.e. biological factors) and gender (identity, psychosocial, or cultural factors). Report the sex and/or gender of study participants, the sex of animals or cells, and describe the methods used to determine sex and gender. If only one sex and/or gender is included in the study, the authors are strongly encouraged to provide written justification for this decision using published or preliminary data.

Race and Ethnicity: Authors should distinguish between race and ethnicity (i.e. social constructs, without inherent biological meaning, which vary by context) and ancestry, which refers to a person's country or region of origin or an individual's lineage of descent. A related characteristic is genetic admixture, which refers to genetic exchange among people from different ancestries and may correlate with an individual's risk for certain genetic diseases. Authors should explain who identified participant race and ethnicity and the source of the classifications used. The reporting and interpretation of race and ethnicity should not be considered in isolation but should be accompanied by other sociodemographic factors.

Clinical trials: In accordance with the policies of the ICMJE, all papers reporting prospective randomized clinical trials must include evidence of registration as a clinical trial as well as a completed copy of the Con solidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT) checklist. The CONSORT checklist can be obtained at consort-statement.org/consort-2010 and must be included in the file upload step (step 2) of manuscript submission as a supporting document. The trial registration number should also appear at the end of the abstract.
Authors are also encouraged to consider guidelines that have been published concerning appropriate reporting of prospective and retrospective studies, including CONSORT, STROBE (STrengthening the Reporting of OBservational studies in Epidemiology), and STREGA (STrengthening the REporting of Genetic Association Studies). Links to the respective guide lines can be found at www.equator-network.org/reporting-guidelines/ strobe-strega/.

Systematic reviews and Meta-analyses: Systematic reviews of existing literature or meta-analyses of published results that follow the PRISMA guidelines (http://prisma-statement.org/) are considered by the American Journal of Transplantation. Please format the submission according to the guidelines for Original Articles .

• The PRISMA checklist and flow diagram must be uploaded when a systematic review or meta-analysis of interventional or clinical trials is submitted (http://prisma-statement.org/).
• The MOOSE checklist must be uploaded when a systematic review or meta-analysis of observational studies is submitted. Please utilize the table from the publication https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10789670/.

Note: To avoid overlap with already existing or ongoing meta-analysis protocols, pre-registration of the study protocol into the PROSPERO database (https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/) is strongly recommended, but not required.

Statistical guidelines: All manuscripts containing data analyses will be evaluated for the integrity of the statistical methods as well as a sufficient description of the methodological approach. This will entail evaluation of the study design, statistical analysis, and presentation and interpretation of study results. As a general guideline, readers of the manuscript should be able to replicate the analysis with the same data based on the description given in the Materials and methods section. Authors are encouraged to carefully select language in the Discussion that is appropriate given the study design and to refrain from causal in ferences from observational (nonrandomized) studies. Authors should also be explicit about the limitations of the study. Failure to disclose important limitations upon submission will be viewed with greater scrutiny than those clearly discussed.
Key elements that should be consistent for all submitted manuscripts in clude the following:

• Authors should report all P values (no use of "NS" to represent non significant findings). P values should not be the sole determinant of null hypotheses.
• Authors should explicitly state the study design in the Abstract and in the Materials and methods.
• For phase III clinical trials, authors must include a justification for the sample size with all assumptions clearly delineated.
• Figures and tables should be interpretable as stand-alone products and should include P values, if applicable, and a description of units, axes, and symbols.
• Clinical studies should include a table providing descriptive statistics of the study population.
• The sample size for all studies should be included in the Abstract and the Results section along with an explanation of all patient exclusions if applicable (for the latter a flow diagram may be helpful if exclusions appear at multiple steps).

Qualitative research: For manuscripts reporting the results of qualitative and/or mixed-methods research studies, authors should prepare their submissions in a way that reports their validity (or credibility) and reliability. This includes providing reference citations and rationale to support the methods and methodology used. Authors should consult with applicable published guidelines such as the COREQ checklist developed by Tong et al. (intqhc.oxfordjournals.org/content/19/6/349). Word limits for qualitative research manuscripts remain the same, thus it is recognized that complete adherence to these guidelines may not be possible. Authors may consider placing illustrative quotations in tabular format to help stay within the word count, but should keep in mind the shortcoming of removing quotations from their context in the body of the manuscript for making sense of the findings. We encourage authors to make use of supplemental information.

Biostatistical and bioinformatic analysis of genomics and similar large-scale data sets: Complex data sets generated by current and future technologies for high-throughput functional genomics raise significant new challenges for analysis and interpretation of results. While this element of the field continues to change rapidly, certain general guidelines are still important to describe. In Materials and methods, authors must provide details of data analysis sufficient for readers to gain a reasonable basic understanding of what has been done and with what tools. A reader, given the raw data, should be able to reproduce the analysis unless a proprietary analysis tool was used; then this must be described and justified in detail. If word limit constraints are prohibitive, the details of these approaches can be included as supporting information.
Key elements of an adequate data analysis plan for complex data must include a statement of statistical power and an explanation of how this calculation was made and what assumptions were made. Whenever applicable, the issues of user-defined thresholds must be detailed, including normalization protocols, thresholds for signal strengths or fold expression, and the rationalization for user-defined P values. Whenever applicable, the issue of multiple testing corrections must be described. Other variables that can impact complex data analysis (such as clinical values and population characteristics including age, race/ethnicity, center effects, time, disease causes, therapy deviations, or use of investigational agents) must be acknowledged and can be addressed by multivariate analysis or equivalent methods. Whenever possible, authors should demonstrate that results can be obtained by more than one tool for data analysis, or they should acknowledge that only one tool provides a given result and a reasonable number of others fail. In this situation, authors need to explain why only the one tool will work.
While authors are not expected to solve all the issues currently created by complex data analysis, they are expected to use the best current tools for analysis, though that does not require all the possible tools available. Authors are also expected to reasonably acknowledge the issues that might complicate the analysis of the data in their study to properly contextualize any claims.

Data sharing and data accessibility: AJT recognizes the many benefits of archiving research data and expects authors to archive all data from which published results are derived in a public repository. The repository should offer guaranteed preservation (see the Registry of Research Data Repositories at https://www.re3data.org/) and should help make it findable, accessible, interoperable, and re-useable, according to FAIR Data Principles (https://www.force11.org/group/fairgroup/fairprinciples). All accepted manuscripts are required to publish a data avail ability statement to confirm the presence or absence of shared data. If you have shared data, this statement will describe how the data can be accessed and include a persistent identifier (e.g., a DOI for the data, or an accession number) from the repository where the data is shared. Authors will be required to confirm adherence to the policy. If data described in the manuscript cannot be shared, e.g. for legal or ethical reasons, or the data is not shared, then the appropriate data availability statement must be provided. AJT notes that FAIR data sharing allows for access to shared data under restrictions (e.g., to protect confidential or proprietary information) but notes that the FAIR principles encourage you to share data in ways that are as open as possible (but that can be as closed as necessary).
Sample statements are available at https://www.elsevier.com/authors/tools-and-resources/research-data.

Data citation: Please cite the data you have shared, like you would cite other sources that your article refers to, in the References. Follow the format for your data citations laid out in the Joint Declaration of Data Citation Principles, https://www.force11.org/datacitationprinciples: [dataset] Authors; Year; Dataset title; Data repository or archive; Ver sion (if any); Persistent identifier (e.g. DOI).

Public data disclosure requirement: Raw data from coding and noncoding gene expression, proteomics, genetic association studies, exome sequencing, epigenetic profiling, large-scale quantitative PCR "plates," small molecule screening, siRNA screens, and other similar high-complexity data sets must be made publicly available at the time of publication. It may also be requested by reviewers. In such a case, a request from reviewers will come to the authors from the Editors. The information will be considered confidential and will be destroyed once the review process is complete.
Deposition of raw, high-complexity data in a public site should be modeled after the NIH Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO). GEO will accept gene expression profiling by microarray or next-generation sequencing, noncoding RNA profiling by microarray or next-generation sequencing, chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) profiling by microarray or next-generation sequencing, genome methylation profiling by microarray or next-generation sequencing, genome variation profiling by array (arrayCGH), SNP and protein arrays, and Serial Analysis of Gene Expression (SAGE). GEO also allows authors to deposit their data, create a private accession number that can only be used by reviewers, and withhold public access to the data until the manuscript is formally accepted. The European equivalent of GEO is the Gene Expression Atlas maintained by the European Bioinformatics Institute for the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL).
In the case of high-complexity data that cannot be deposited in GEO, authors should seek alternative public data sites and direct readers accordingly. For example, mass spectrometry proteomics data can be deposited in several public databases. Data should be publicly available for one year after online publication, then should be personally or institutionally archived indefinitely so it can be queried by those seeking it for verification.

5. PUBLICATION POLICIES

5.1 Executed prisoners

AJT does not accept manuscripts whose data derives from transplants involving organs obtained from executed prisoners. Manuscripts written about this practice (e.g. an editorial or a report recounting secondary con sequences) may be considered at the discretion of the Editor-in-Chief, but require a written appeal to the Editorial Office prior to submission.

5.2 Patient privacy

Patients? identifying information should be omitted unless the information is essential for scientific purposes and the patient (or parent or guardian) has given written informed consent, including being shown the manuscript to be published. Patient data should never be altered or falsified in an attempt to attain anonymity.

5.3 Authorship

Authors should be limited to those individuals who contributed in an important manner to the study design, data collection and analysis, or writing of the paper. Authorship should adhere to the guidelines of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), found at http://icmje.org/recommendations/browse/roles-and-responsibilities/defining-the-role-of-authors-and-contributors.html. Submission implies that all authors have read and approved the manuscript, all authors take responsibility for the manuscript, and the submitting author has permission from all authors to submit the manuscript on their behalf.

Declaration of generative AI in scientific writing
The below guidance only refers to the writing process, and not to the use of AI tools to analyse and draw insights from data as part of the research process.

Where authors use generative artificial intelligence (AI) and AI-assisted technologies in the writing process, authors should only use these technologies to improve readability and language. Applying the technology should be done with human oversight and control, and authors should carefully review and edit the result, as AI can generate authoritative-sounding output that can be incorrect, incomplete or biased. AI and AI-assisted technologies should not be listed as an author or co-author, or be cited as an author. Authorship implies responsibilities and tasks that can only be attributed to and performed by humans, as outlined in Elsevier's AI policy for authors.

Authors should disclose in their manuscript the use of AI and AI-assisted technologies in the writing process by following the instructions below. A statement will appear in the published work. Please note that authors are ultimately responsible and accountable for the contents of the work.

Disclosure instructions
Authors must disclose the use of generative AI and AI-assisted technologies in the writing process by adding a statement at the end of their manuscript in the core manuscript file, before the References list. The statement should be placed in a new section entitled ‘Declaration of Generative AI and AI-assisted technologies in the writing process’.

Statement: During the preparation of this work the author(s) used [NAME TOOL / SERVICE] in order to [REASON]. After using this tool/service, the author(s) reviewed and edited the content as needed and take(s) full responsibility for the content of the publication.

This declaration does not apply to the use of basic tools for checking grammar, spelling, references etc. If there is nothing to disclose, there is no need to add a statement.

5.4 Prior publication

Submission of a manuscript to AJT implies that the content has not been published previously and will not be submitted for publication elsewhere while the manuscript is under review. AJT considers research results (ex cluding abstracts and student dissertations) to have already been published if they are publicly available with a fixed content (i.e. content is in an unalterable form) and are citable in any language. AJT policy allows for material to be presented in abstract form and to appear in conference ab stract books, but not in a citable journal.

5.5 Duplicate publication and scientific fraud

Your manuscript may be checked electronically using plagiarism detection software. In case of possible scientific misconduct (e.g. suspected fabrication or falsification of data, double publication, or plagiarism), the Editor in-Chief will attempt to clarify the matter with the authors. Should that fail to resolve the situation satisfactorily, the Editor-in-Chief will contact the institution of the corresponding author and request an inquiry. Until the matter is clarified, no papers by any authors on the disputed manuscript will be considered for publication.

6. REVISED MANUSCRIPTS

6.1 Time limit

AJT strives for prompt adjudication and publication of accepted manuscripts, and thus requests that revisions occur within a time frame deemed reasonable for the requested changes. Manuscripts requiring substantial revisions and/or new scientific data will be given 90 days from the decision date to be resubmitted. Manuscripts requiring minor revisions or grammatical/stylistic changes will be requested in 14 days. Resubmission within the specified time frame is required to maintain the original manuscript number. After this time, the manuscript will be treated as a new submission. Requests for an extension to the designated time limit will be considered by the Editor-in-Chief. Please submit your request to the Editorial Office.

6.2 Files

Regardless of the file format of the original submission, at revision you must provide us with an editable file of the entire article. Keep the layout of the text as simple as possible. Most formatting codes will be removed and replaced on processing the article. The electronic text should be prepared in a way very similar to that of conventional manuscripts (see also the Guide to Publishing with Elsevier).

To avoid unnecessary errors you are strongly advised to use the 'spell-check' and 'grammar-check' functions of your word processor.

Revised manuscripts must adhere to the same word and reference limits as first submissions. Three files are required for revised manuscript submissions:

1. Detailed Response to Reviewers: A point-by-point response to the previous round of review must be provided. This response should be itemized, as detailed as possible, and address all of the Editors? and reviewers? concerns. During the file upload process, choose Detailed Response to Reviewers for this file.
2. Revised Manuscript with Changes Marked: This copy of the manuscript will be used by the reviewers and Editors and must have the changes highlighted or underlined. It is not necessary to indicate deleted text, simply remove it. Do not use the ?track changes? function of Microsoft Word.
3. Revised Manuscript – Clean: This copy will be sent to the publisher if the manuscript is accepted. There should be no underlining or highlighting as this copy will be used for typesetting.

Please ensure both versions of the Revised Manuscript are uploaded as an editable source file. A PDF source file is not acceptable at this stage. Please remove any previous versions of the manuscript that have been uploaded, to ensure only the most recent version is available.

7. ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPTS

7.1 Publicity

At authors’ request, AJT will tweet about an article published on Early View. Please send us your account handles that should be included in the tweet. Email amjtransplant@duke.edu for more information.

7.2 Embargo policy

For manuscripts considered to be in press or approved for publication, the public release of information should not precede the actual publication of the work. The publication date is defined as the date the paper is posted full-text online. This embargo policy protects the peer review process and the newsworthiness of the scientific content of published articles, and it minimizes the chance for the appearance of misinformation in the lay press. The policy also ensures that scientists have access to all relevant information at the same time as the public. These restrictions do not apply to the presentation of the work at scientific conferences or symposia that precede the actual publication date. Although news reporters may be present at such meetings or symposia, authors should not provide information, tables, or figures that in any way duplicate the content of a manuscript submitted for publication or in press to reporters. In particular, press conferences should not be held before the embargo date. The official release of video presentations and electronic prepublication of articles on the Internet should adhere to the embargo policy. Violations of these policies are legitimate grounds for withdrawal of the manuscript from publication or other measures that AJT may choose to take. If your institution plans to release a press release, please alert the Journal Manager so they can assist with timing of publication.

7.3 Copyright

Upon acceptance of an article, authors will be asked to complete a 'Journal Publishing Agreement' (see more information on this). An e-mail will be sent to the corresponding author confirming receipt of the manuscript together with a 'Journal Publishing Agreement' form or a link to the online version of this agreement.

Subscribers may reproduce tables of contents or prepare lists of articles including abstracts for internal circulation within their institutions. Permission of the Publisher is required for resale or distribution outside the institution and for all other derivative works, including compilations and translations. If excerpts from other copyrighted works are included, the author(s) must obtain written permission from the copyright owners and credit the source(s) in the article. Elsevier has preprinted forms for use by authors in these cases.

Author rights
As an author you (or your employer or institution) have certain rights to reuse your work. More information.

7.4 Accepted article publication

Articles that have been accepted, but not copyedited or typeset, will usually appear online within 7 days of acceptance. These articles are assigned a DOI and are available to be cited.

7.5 Publication costs

Page Charges
AJT collects page charges for accepted papers. Six journal pages are printed free of charge. Each additional page will be charged $115 USD, applicable to papers authored by AST or ASTS Members as well as Non-Members. Page charges are waived for invited papers. This fee covers expenses for processing and evaluating submissions by the Editorial Office and its Editors.

Color Figures
Color figures are charged at $635 USD for the first figure, and $200 each additional color figure. Charges are waived for invited papers and for Images in Transplantation. Figures may be in color online and printed in black and white at no charge.

7.6 Open access

Please visit our Open Access page from the Journal Homepage for more information.

7.7 NIH public access policy

The NIH public access policy requires authors to submit accepted manuscripts that arise from NIH funding to PubMed Central, immediately upon acceptance for publication, to be made publicly available after 12 months. Elsevier and NIH have an arrangement that supports NIH-funded authors and NIH employees who publish with Elsevier to comply with NIH?s public access requirements. As a service to our authors, where the author has identified themselves as being NIH funded or an NIH employee, Elsevier will deposit the accepted manuscript to PMC on behalf of the author, to be made publicly available after 12 months. More information can be found here.

7.8 Open research

Recognizing the importance of research transparency and data sharing to cumulative research, AJT encourages authors to share data, materials, research instruments, and other artifacts supporting their study’s results by archiving them in an appropriate public repository. Qualifying public, open-access repositories are committed to preserving data, materials, and/or registered analysis plans and keeping them publicly accessible via the web into perpetuity. Examples include the Open Science Framework (OSF) and the various Dataverse networks. Hundreds of other qualifying data/materials repositories are listed at the Registry of Research Data Repositories. Personal websites and most departmental websites do not qualify as repositories.