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F&S Reports



This journal is a peer-reviewed, open access journal. Only those manuscripts which are original, have not been published elsewhere, and are not currently being considered for inclusion in another publication will be considered for publication in F&S Reports. Authors are advised to keep a copy of all manuscripts submitted.

All manuscripts will be evaluated by peer reviewers who will remain anonymous. Selection of the peer reviewers is at the sole discretion of the F&S Reports editors. The editors and reviewers do not disclose any information about a manuscript or its review. If revisions are required, authors are asked to return the revised manuscripts within 40 days for the first revision, and within 30 days for any subsequent revisions. Please notify the editorial office if additional time is needed or if you choose not to submit a revision.

Authors are strongly encouraged to limit article length to 3,500 words for effective and efficient communication. If substantial merit would be gained from increasing the number of words in an article, longer submissions may be considered for publication. A combined maximum of 4 total figures and tables is allowed for the print version. Article length does not include the running title, title page, capsule, abstract, or references.

If you wish, you may include expanded discussion of the materials and methods section, or additional figures or tables, as supplemental material. This supplemental material will be published in the online version only, and will be referenced in the print version. Please indicate in your cover letter which sections are intended to be supplemental material. Title any supplemental figures or tables as "Supplemental figure 1," and so on.

REQUIREMENTS FOR SPECIFIC ARTICLE TYPES

Reviews

F&S Reports accepts unsolicited mini-reviews but does not accept systematic reviews, meta-analyses, or critical analytic reviews of published literature.

CONTACT INFORMATION

All correspondence regarding submitted manuscripts will be handled via e-mail through EM. Send all other correspondence to:

F&S Reports
E: [email protected]

Before you begin

ETHICS IN PUBLISHING

Authors

Conditions of Authorship

  • Authors should have made significant conceptual, intellectual, experimental, and analytical contributions to the research, as well as having participated in writing and revising the manuscript.

  • Each author should have participated sufficiently in the work to take public responsibility for its content.

  • Honorary authorship (i.e., not adhering to the conditions of authorship and, none-the-less, being granted authorship) is not permitted.

  • All authors must sign the Statement of Authorship (typed or printed name is not acceptable) and include the form on initial submission.

Responsibilities of Authors

  • Authors must describe the research in sufficient detail such that others could repeat it.

  • Written, informed consent under protocols approved by an institutional or local review board or approved animal protocols are essential if the research involves human or animal subjects, respectively. This information should be stated in the manuscript and the protocol number or exempt status of approved protocols should be stated in the manuscript at the time of submission for review.

  • Authors of clinical trials are required to prospectively register their trial with one of the ICMJE-recognized trial registries (5).

  • Selective reporting of data is inappropriate, especially if unreported data are in disagreement with the findings of the selectively reported data. In accordance with the ICJME, the ASRM supports publication of negative studies.

  • Authors should cite publications in the literature that are relevant to the uniqueness of the research and should including publications by others, as well as of their own research group.

  • Previous publication of a preliminary report on the data is permissible, if this is stated clearly in a footnote in the manuscript.

SCIENTIFIC MISCONDUCT

Definition: The DHHS Office of Research Integrity defines plagiarism, fabrication, and falsification.

The ASRM accepts these definitions and considers them to constitute scientific misconduct. Additional unethical behavior that comprises scientific misconduct includes: submission of results from animal or clinical research that was conducted without appropriate approval and written, informed consent; duplicate publication; and honorary authorship. Research misconduct occurs when results are falsified, fabricated or plagiarized. The actions are willful or intentional, although the actual definition of misconduct varies somewhat by country. This can occur at various times during the process of proposing, performing or reviewing research. Differences of opinion or honest errors do not constitute misconduct.

  • Fabrication: Data, results or recording or reporting information that does not exist.

  • Falsification: Changing research materials, equipment or processes; omission of data or results. As a consequence, the research is not accurately represented in the research records.

  • Plagiarism: Using another person's words, ideas, results, and processes without giving credit to them. Plagiarism includes the theft of intellectual property, ideas or methods such as the use of information gained by personal communication, or during a grant or manuscript review. Plagiarism also includes the direct textual copying of another person's work. Direct copying of 100-250 words constitutes plagiarism. Authorship disputes are not included in this definition. Citation plagiarism is the failure to credit others with prior discoveries and is extremely common. Self-plagiarism can include multiple publications of the same manuscript in different journals or books.

Submission without animal or human subjects oversight approvals. Any manuscript submitted without proof of animal or human subjects approval by institutional or local IRBs will not be reviewed and will be returned to the authors.

Duplicate publication. Duplicate publication can take several forms:

  • Duplicate Publication with other journals. On occasion ASRM journals may decide to publish an article simultaneously with another journal, e.g., with consensus statements from consensus conferences. Such intention on the part of the Editor-In-Chief should be discussed with the Publications Committee immediately after the two journals have had discussion so that Publications Committee members can assess the appropriateness of such joint publications and approve or disapprove.

  • Publication of identical data. The ASRM considers that disclosure, citing the original publication, and obtaining permission are essential. Without all of these, publication of identical data is inappropriate and not permissible.

  • "Salami" publications. Dividing data, analysis, and presentation into "minimally publishable units" is a slippery slope, and can be used to extend one data set over several manuscripts. While this may be acceptable for clarity of presentation and focus on specific outcomes in different manuscripts, a motivation may also be to increase the publication list in an author's CV. The latter is unethical and unacceptable. Therefore, please acknowledge in your cover letter any similar publications or submitted manuscripts.

Partial publication
Partial presentation of data in another medium (e.g., on a website) does not necessarily preclude publication in F&S Reports, but acknowledgment of the previous presentation is required, along with identification of the source (e.g., the URL of the website). Content cannot be copied verbatim from the previous presentation, as that would constitute self-plagiarism, but must be rewritten to comply with journal standards.

Investigation of scientific misconduct. The journal follows COPE guidelines. All cases of suspected misconduct will be investigated initially by the Editor-In-Chief and the Publications Committee of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine to determine if the evidence of misconduct is sufficient to proceed with a formal inquiry. If so, the author will be notified in writing of the allegations, and will be asked to provide information useful to the investigation, including access to all original data, notes, and copies of prior publications. The author's institution may be contacted, as well. Processing and publication of the manuscript will be delayed while the matter is resolved. Confidentiality will be maintained and care taken to protect the rights and reputations of all concerned. The final decision on disposition of the paper and any sanctions against the author will be made by the Editor-In-Chief in concert with the Publications Committee.

Potential sanctions include, but may not be limited to: rejection of a manuscript in process; a letter of reprimand to the author, copied to the author's institution; and correction or retraction of the manuscript, including a statement in the print issue detailing the nature of the misconduct.

Reviewers. Reviewers have the responsibility to objectively and fairly review the manuscript. If there is a conflict of interest or if the reviewer does not have the requisite expertise, then the manuscript should be immediately returned to the Editor for reassignment. Strict confidentiality is required during the review process. If any portion of a manuscript is shared before the review is completed and before acceptance and publication, written consent of the authors is required.

Investigation of scientific misconduct
The journal follows COPE guidelines. All cases of suspected misconduct will be investigated initially by the Editor-In-Chief and the Publications Committee of the ASRM to determine if the evidence of misconduct is sufficient to proceed with a formal inquiry. If so, the author will be notified in writing of the allegations, and will be asked to provide information useful to the investigation, including access to all original data, notes, and copies of prior publications. The author's institution may be contacted, as well. Processing and publication of the manuscript will be delayed while the matter is resolved. Confidentiality will be maintained and care taken to protect the rights and reputations of all concerned. The final decision on disposition of the paper and any sanctions against the author will be made by the Editor-In-Chief in concert with the Publications Committee.

Potential sanctions include, but may not be limited to: rejection of a manuscript in process; a letter of reprimand to the author, copied to the author's institution; and correction or retraction of the manuscript, including a statement in the print issue detailing the nature of the misconduct.

Reviewers. Reviewers have the responsibility to objectively and fairly review the manuscript. If there is a conflict of interest or if the reviewer does not have the requisite expertise, then the manuscript should be immediately returned to the Editor for reassignment. Strict confidentiality is required during the review process. If any portion of a manuscript is shared before the review is completed and before acceptance and publication, written consent of the authors is required.

Conflict of Interest

All authors must disclose any financial and personal relationships with other people or organizations 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. If there are no conflicts of interest then please state: "Conflicts of interest: none." See also https://www.elsevier.com/conflictsofinterest. Further information and an example of a Conflict of Interest form can be found at: http://icmje.org/coi_disclosure.pdf.

Submission Declaration and Verification
Submission of an article implies that the work described has not been published previously (except in the form of an abstract, a published lecture or academic thesis, see "Multiple, redundant or concurrent publication" for more information), 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, including electronically without the written consent of the copyright-holder. To verify originality, your article may be checked by the originality detection service Crossref Similarity Check.

Use of Inclusive Language

Inclusive language acknowledges diversity, conveys respect to all people, is sensitive to differences, and promotes equal opportunities. Articles should make no assumptions about the beliefs or commitments of any reader, should contain nothing which might imply that one individual is superior to another on the grounds of race, sex, culture or any other characteristic, and should use inclusive language throughout. Authors should ensure that writing is free from bias, for instance by using "he or she," "his/her" instead of "he" or "his", and by making use of job titles that are free of stereotyping (e.g. "chairperson" instead of "chairman" and "flight attendant" instead of "stewardess").

Authorship

To meet the criteria for authorship, in accordance with the F&S Reports instructions for authors, all authors should have made substantial contributions to all of the following: (1) the conception and design of the study, or acquisition of data, or analysis and interpretation of data, AND (2) drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content, AND (3) final approval of the version to be submitted, AND (4) agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.

Changes to Authorship

Authors are expected to consider carefully the list and order of authors before submitting their manuscript and provide the definitive list of authors at the time of the original submission. Any addition, deletion or rearrangement of author names in the authorship list should be made only before the manuscript has been accepted and only if approved by the journal Editor. To request such a change, the Editor must receive the following from the corresponding author: (a) the reason for the change in author list and (b) written confirmation (e-mail, letter) from all authors that they agree with the addition, removal or rearrangement. In the case of addition or removal of authors, this includes confirmation from the author being added or removed.

Only in exceptional circumstances will the Editor consider the addition, deletion or rearrangement of authors after the manuscript has been accepted. While the Editor considers the request, publication of the manuscript will be suspended. If the manuscript has already been published in an online issue, any requests approved by the Editor will result in a corrigendum.

Reporting Clinical Trials

Randomized controlled trials should be presented according to the CONSORT guidelines. At manuscript submission, authors must provide the CONSORT checklist accompanied by a flow diagram that illustrates the progress of patients through the trial, including recruitment, enrollment, randomization, withdrawal and completion, and a detailed description of the randomization procedure. The CONSORT checklist and template flow diagram are available online.

Registration of Clinical Trials (ICMJE)

Registration in a public trials registry is a condition for publication of clinical trials in this journal in accordance with International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE, https://www.icmje.org) recommendations. Trials must be registered at or before the onset of patient enrollment. The clinical trial registration number should be included at the end of the abstract of the article. A clinical trial is defined as any research study that prospectively assigns human participants or groups of humans to one or more health-related interventions to evaluate the effects of health outcomes. Health-related interventions include any intervention used to modify a biomedical or health-related outcome (for example drugs, surgical procedures, devices, behavioral treatments, dietary interventions, and process-of-care changes). Health outcomes include any biomedical or health-related measures obtained in patients or participants, including pharmacokinetic measures and adverse events. Purely observational studies (those in which the assignment of the medical intervention is not at the discretion of the investigator) will not require registration.

The ICMJE accepts registration in the following registries:

http://www.anzctr.org.au

http://www.clinicaltrials.gov

http://www.ISRCTN.org

http://www.umin.ac.jp/ctr/index/htm

http://www.trialregister.nl

https://eudract.ema.europa.eu/ (new registrations after June 20, 2011)

In addition to the above registries, starting in June 2007 the ICMJE will also accept registration in any of the primary registries that participate in the WHO International Clinical Trials Portal (see http://www.who.int/ictrp/network/primary/en/index.html). Because it is critical that trial registries are independent of for-profit interests, the ICMJE policy requires registration in a WHO primary registry rather than solely in an associate registry, since for-profit entities manage some associate registries. Trial registration with missing or uninformative fields for the minimum data elements is inadequate even if the registration is in an acceptable registry.

Copyright

Upon acceptance of an article, authors will be asked to complete an "Exclusive License Agreement" (more information). Permitted third party reuse of gold open access articles is determined by the author's choice of user license.

Role of the Funding Source

You are requested to identify who provided financial support for the conduct of the research and/or preparation of the article and to briefly describe the role of the sponsor(s), if any, in study design; in the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data; in the writing of the report; and in the decision to submit the article for publication. If the funding source(s) had no such involvement then this should be stated. Please see https://www.elsevier.com/funding.

Funding body agreements and policies

Elsevier has established a number of agreements with funding bodies which allow authors to comply with their funder's open access policies. Some funding bodies will reimburse the author for the gold open access publication fee. Details of existing agreements are available online.

After acceptance, open access papers will be published under a noncommercial license. For authors requiring a commercial CC BY license, you can apply after your manuscript is accepted for publication.

Open Access

This is a gold open access journal. Permitted third party (re)use is defined by the following Creative Commons user licenses: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs (CC BY-NC-ND).

For non-commercial purposes, lets others distribute and copy the article, and to include in a collective work (such as an anthology), as long as they credit the author(s) and provided they do not alter or modify the article.

The gold open access publication fee for this journal is USD 2000, excluding taxes. There is a 50% discount off the open access publication fee for members of the ASRM. Learn more about Elsevier's pricing policy: https://www.elsevier.com/openaccesspricing.

Language (usage and editing services)

Please write your text in good English (American or British usage is accepted, but not a mixture of these). 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.

Submission Our online submission system guides you stepwise through the process of entering your article details and uploading your files. The system converts your article files to a single PDF file used in the peer-review process. Editable files (e.g., Word, LaTeX) are required to typeset your article for final publication. All correspondence, including notification of the Editor's decision and requests for revision, is sent by e-mail.

Submit Your Article

Please submit your article via: https://www2.cloud.editorialmanager.com/xfre/default2.aspx.

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.

Reporting sex- and gender-based analyses

Reporting guidance
For research involving or pertaining to humans, animals or eukaryotic cells, investigators should integrate sex and gender-based analyses (SGBA) into their research design according to funder/sponsor requirements and best practices within a field. Authors should address the sex and/or gender dimensions of their research in their article. In cases where they cannot, they should discuss this as a limitation to their research's generalizability. Importantly, authors should explicitly state what definitions of sex and/or gender they are applying to enhance the precision, rigor and reproducibility of their research and to avoid ambiguity or conflation of terms and the constructs to which they refer (see Definitions section below). Authors can refer to the Sex and Gender Equity in Research (SAGER) guidelines and the SAGER guidelines checklist. These offer systematic approaches to the use and editorial review of sex and gender information in study design, data analysis, outcome reporting and research interpretation - however, please note there is no single, universally agreed-upon set of guidelines for defining sex and gender.

Definitions
Sex generally refers to a set of biological attributes that are associated with physical and physiological features (e.g., chromosomal genotype, hormonal levels, internal and external anatomy). A binary sex categorization (male/female) is usually designated at birth (""sex assigned at birth""), most often based solely on the visible external anatomy of a newborn. Gender generally refers to socially constructed roles, behaviors, and identities of women, men and gender-diverse people that occur in a historical and cultural context and may vary across societies and over time. Gender influences how people view themselves and each other, how they behave and interact and how power is distributed in society. Sex and gender are often incorrectly portrayed as binary (female/male or woman/man) and unchanging whereas these constructs actually exist along a spectrum and include additional sex categorizations and gender identities such as people who are intersex/have differences of sex development (DSD) or identify as non-binary. Moreover, the terms ""sex"" and ""gender"" can be ambiguous—thus it is important for authors to define the manner in which they are used. In addition to this definition guidance and the SAGER guidelines, the resources on this page offer further insight around sex and gender in research studies.

Author contributions

For transparency, we require corresponding authors to provide co-author contributions to the manuscript using the relevant CRediT roles. The CRediT taxonomy includes 14 different roles describing each contributor’s specific contribution to the scholarly output. The roles are: Conceptualization; Data curation; Formal analysis; Funding acquisition; Investigation; Methodology; Project administration; Resources; Software; Supervision; Validation; Visualization; Roles/Writing - original draft; and Writing - review & editing. Note that not all roles may apply to every manuscript, and authors may have contributed through multiple roles. More details and an example.

Preparation

Use of word processing software
It is important that the file be saved in the native format of the word processor used. The text should be in single-column format. Keep the layout of the text as simple as possible. Most formatting codes will be removed and replaced on processing the article. In particular, do not use the word processor's options to justify text or to hyphenate words. However, do use bold face, italics, subscripts, superscripts etc. When preparing tables, if you are using a table grid, use only one grid for each individual table and not a grid for each row. If no grid is used, use tabs, not spaces, to align columns. The electronic text should be prepared in a way very similar to that of conventional manuscripts (see also the Guide to Publishing with Elsevier). Note that source files of figures, tables and text graphics will be required whether or not you embed your figures in the text. See also the section on Electronic artwork.
To avoid unnecessary errors you are strongly advised to use the 'spell-check' and 'grammar-check' functions of your word processor.

LaTeX
You are recommended to use the Elsevier article class elsarticle.cls to prepare your manuscript and BibTeX to generate your bibliography.
Our LaTeX site has detailed submission instructions, templates and other information.

Essential title page information

Title. Concise and informative. Titles are often used in information-retrieval systems. Avoid abbreviations and formulae where possible.
Author names and affiliations. Please clearly indicate the given name(s) and family name(s) of each author and check that all names are accurately spelled. You can add your name between parentheses in your own script behind the English transliteration. Present the authors' affiliation addresses (where the actual work was done) below the names. Indicate all affiliations with a lower-case superscript letter immediately after the author's name and in front of the appropriate address. Provide the full postal address of each affiliation, including the country name and, if available, the e-mail address of each author.
Corresponding author. Clearly indicate who will handle correspondence at all stages of refereeing and publication, also post-publication. This responsibility includes answering any future queries about Methodology and Materials. Ensure that the e-mail address is given and that contact details are kept up to date by the corresponding author.
Present/permanent address. If an author has moved since the work described in the article was done, or was visiting at the time, a 'Present address' (or 'Permanent address') may be indicated as a footnote to that author's name. The address at which the author actually did the work must be retained as the main, affiliation address. Superscript Arabic numerals are used for such footnotes.

Structured abstract

A structured abstract, by means of appropriate headings, should provide the context or background for the research and should state its purpose, basic procedures (selection of study subjects or laboratory animals, observational and analytical methods), main findings (giving specific effect sizes and their statistical significance, if possible), and principal conclusions. It should emphasize new and important aspects of the study or observations.

Keywords

Immediately after the abstract, provide a maximum of 6 keywords, using American spelling and avoiding general and plural terms and multiple concepts (avoid, for example, 'and', 'of'). Be sparing with abbreviations: only abbreviations firmly established in the field may be eligible. These keywords will be used for indexing purposes.

Subdivision - Unnumbered section

Divide your article into clearly defined sections. Each subsection is given a brief heading. Each heading should appear on its own separate line. Subsections should be used as much as possible when cross-referencing text: refer to the subsection by heading as opposed to simply 'the text'

Acknowledgements

Collate acknowledgements in a separate section at the end of the article before the references and do not, therefore, include them on the title page, as a footnote to the title or otherwise. List here those individuals who provided help during the research (e.g., providing language help, writing assistance or proof reading the article, etc.).

Article types

Original Article
Introduction
State the objectives of the work and provide an adequate background, avoiding a detailed literature survey or a summary of the results.

Material and methods
Provide sufficient details to allow the work to be reproduced by an independent researcher. Methods that are already published should be summarized, and indicated by a reference. If quoting directly from a previously published method, use quotation marks and also cite the source. Any modifications to existing methods should also be described.

Results
Results should be clear and concise.

Discussion
This should explore the significance of the results of the work, not repeat them. A combined Results and Discussion section is often appropriate. Avoid extensive citations and discussion of published literature.

Conclusions
The main conclusions of the study may be presented in a short Conclusions section, which may stand alone or form a subsection of a Discussion or Results and Discussion section.

Case Report

Introduction
State the objectives of the work and provide an adequate background, avoiding a detailed literature survey or a summary of the results.

Case Report
Description of the case

Discussion
This should explore the significance of the results of the work, not repeat them. Avoid extensive citations and discussion of published literature. Conclusions
The main conclusions of the study may be presented in a short Conclusions section.

Mini-Reviews
These are intended as brief, practical reviews of topics that are of current interest. The key characteristic of these reviews is their presentation of a practical approach to a specific problem. There should be specific take-home lessons, ideally presented in tables or bulleted lists. Length 2500 words, 25 references, no limits on figures or tables. In place of a comprehensive bibliography, other review articles may be cited.

Letters-to-the-editor
These are brief, specific responses to articles published in F&S Reports. Length 1000 words, no more than 5 references. Letters will be edited for content, then sent to the author(s) of the original article for response, if desired.

Correspondence
These are compact presentations of new data, which support a single idea, observation or insight. These are not letters to the editor, since they do not refer to a specific article in F&S Reports. These are not case reports, since the focus is not on a single clinical case. These are not unsolicited editorials or opinion pieces since new data must be presented. Length 1500 words, no more than 5 references.

Artwork

Color artwork
Please make sure that artwork files are in an acceptable format (TIFF (or JPEG), EPS (or PDF) or MS Office files) and with the correct resolution. If, together with your accepted article, you submit usable color figures then Elsevier will ensure, at no additional charge, that these figures will appear in color online (e.g., ScienceDirect and other sites). Further information on the preparation of electronic artwork.

Figure captions
Ensure that each illustration has a caption. Supply captions separately, not attached to the figure. A caption should comprise a brief title (not on the figure itself) and a description of the illustration. Keep text in the illustrations themselves to a minimum but explain all symbols and abbreviations used.

Tables

Please submit tables as editable text and not as images. Tables can be placed either next to the relevant text in the article, or on separate page(s) at the end. Number tables consecutively in accordance with their appearance in the text and place any table notes below the table body. Be sparing in the use of tables and ensure that the data presented in them do not duplicate results described elsewhere in the article. Please avoid using vertical rules and shading in table cells.

References

Citation in text
Please ensure that every reference cited in the text is also present in the reference list (and vice versa). Any references cited in the abstract must be given in full. Unpublished results and personal communications are not recommended in the reference list, but may be mentioned in the text. If these references are included in the reference list they should follow the standard reference style of the journal and should include a substitution of the publication date with either 'Unpublished results' or 'Personal communication'. Citation of a reference as 'in press' implies that the item has been accepted for publication.

Reference links
Increased discoverability of research and high quality peer review are ensured by online links to the sources cited. In order to allow us to create links to abstracting and indexing services, such as Scopus, Crossref and PubMed, please ensure that data provided in the references are correct. Please note that incorrect surnames, journal/book titles, publication year and pagination may prevent link creation. When copying references, please be careful as they may already contain errors. Use of the DOI is highly encouraged.

A DOI is guaranteed never to change, so you can use it as a permanent link to any electronic article. An example of a citation using DOI for an article not yet in an issue is: VanDecar J.C., Russo R.M., James D.E., Ambeh W.B., Franke M. (2003). Aseismic continuation of the Lesser Antilles slab beneath northeastern Venezuela. Journal of Geophysical Research, https://doi.org/10.1029/2001JB000884. Please note the format of such citations should be in the same style as all other references in the paper.

Web references
As a minimum, the full URL should be given and the date when the reference was last accessed. Any further information, if known (DOI, author names, dates, reference to a source publication, etc.), should also be given. Web references can be listed separately (e.g., after the reference list) under a different heading if desired, or can be included in the reference list.

Data references
This journal encourages you to cite underlying or relevant datasets in your manuscript by citing them in your text and including a data reference in your Reference List. Data references should include the following elements: author name(s), dataset title, data repository, version (where available), year, and global persistent identifier. Add [dataset] immediately before the reference so we can properly identify it as a data reference. The [dataset] identifier will not appear in your published article.

Preprint references
Where a preprint has subsequently become available as a peer-reviewed publication, the formal publication should be used as the reference. If there are preprints that are central to your work or that cover crucial developments in the topic, but are not yet formally published, these may be referenced. Preprints should be clearly marked as such, for example by including the word preprint, or the name of the preprint server, as part of the reference. The preprint DOI should also be provided.

Reference style
References follow style of "Uniform Requirements" (http://www.nlm.nih.gov/bsd/uniform_requirements.html).

Examples:
Journal article: 10. Fortier KJ, Haney AF III. The pathologic spectrum of utero-tubal junction obstruction. Obstet Gynecol 1985;65:93-8.

Journal article-volume with supplement: 10. Friesen H, Tollis G. Use of bromocriptine in the galactorrhea-amenorrhea syndromes: the Canadian Cooperative Study. Can Endocrinol 1977;6 Suppl 5:915-20.

Journal article-issue with supplement: 10. Gardos, G, Cole JO. The natural history of tardive dyskinesia. J Clin Psychopharmacol 1988;8(Suppl 4):31S-7S.

Journal article-letter: 10. Spargo PM, Manners JM. DDAVP and open heart surgery [letter]. Anesthesia 1989;44:363.

Journal article in press: 10. Donald JA. Pulmonary blood flow regulation in aquatic snake. Science. In press.

Books and other monographs: 10. Siegel S. Nonparametric statistics for the behavioural sciences. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1956.

Book, edited: 10. Diener HC, Wilkinson M, eds. Drug-induced headache. New York: Springer-Verlag, 1988.

Book, edition: 10. Zar JH. Biostatistical analysis. 2nd ed. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1983.

Book, chapter: 10. Coutts JRT. The abnormal luteal phase. In: Jeffcoate SL Jr, Smith GS, eds. The luteal phase. Chichester: John Wiley and Sons, 1985:101-10.

Book, volume: 10. Colton T. Statistics in medicine. Vol. 1. Boston: Little Brown and Co., 1974.

Scientific and technical report: 10. Akutsu T. Total heart replacement device. Bethesda (MD): National Institutes of Health, National Heart and Lung Institute; 1974 Apr. Report No.: NIH-NHLI-69-2185-4.

Thesis or dissertation: 10. Youssef NM. School adjustment of children with congenital heart disease [dissertation]. Pittsburgh (PA): Univ. of Pittsburgh, 1988.

Conference proceedings: 10. Vivian VL, editor. Child abuse and neglect: a medical community response. Proceedings of the First AMA National Conference on Child Abuse and Neglect; 1984 Mar 30-31; Chicago. Chicago: American Medical Association, 1985.

Conference paper: 10. Harley NH. Comparing radon daughter dosimetric and risk models. In: Gammage RB, Kaye SV, editors. Indoor air and human health. Proceedings of the Seventh Life Sciences Symposium; 1984 October 29-31; Knoxville (TN). Chelsea (MI): Lewis, 1985:69-78.

Web site: 10. Harley NH. Comparing radon daughter dosimetric and risk models. Available at: http://evernqeust-cgi.org. Accessed January 9, 2010.

Reference list

References are numbered consecutively, with Arabic numerals, in the order of text citation, including citations in figure legends and tables at first mention in text. List up to six authors, followed by a comma and et al. Journal article titles are initial cap/lower case. Use lower case letter after colon in journal article title. Abbreviate journal names according to the current Index Medicus. Do not use an ampersand in journal names. Delete issue number in parentheses after volume. Page ranges use only the numbers that change.

Journal abbreviations source

Journal names should be abbreviated according to the List of Title Word Abbreviations.

Video

Elsevier accepts video material and animation sequences to support and enhance your scientific research. 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.

Data visualization

Include interactive data visualizations in your publication and let your readers interact and engage more closely with your research. Follow the instructions here to find out about available data visualization options and how to include them with your article.

Supplemental data

Elsevier accepts electronic supplemental material to support and enhance your scientific research. Supplemental files offer the author additional possibilities to publish supporting applications, high-resolution images, background datasets, sound clips, and more. Supplemental files supplied will be published online alongside the electronic version of your article in Elsevier Web products, including ScienceDirect: https://www.sciencedirect.com. In order to ensure that your submitted material is directly usable, please provide the data in one of our recommended file formats. Authors should submit the material in electronic format together with the article and supply a concise and descriptive caption for each file. For more detailed instructions please visit our artwork instruction pages at https://www.elsevier.com/artworkinstructions.

Research data

This journal encourages you to share data that supports your research publication in an appropriate data repository, and enables you to interlink the data with your published articles. If you are sharing data, you are encouraged to cite the data in your manuscript and reference list. Please refer to the "References" section for more information about data citation.

Research data refers to the results of observations or experimentation that validate research findings. To facilitate reproducibility and data reuse, this journal also encourages you to share your software, code, models, algorithms, protocols, methods and other useful materials related to the project.

For more information on depositing, sharing and using research data and other relevant research materials, visit the research data page.

Data linking
If you have made your research data available in a data repository, you can link your article directly to the dataset. Elsevier collaborates with a number of repositories to link articles on ScienceDirect with relevant repositories, giving readers access to underlying data that gives them a better understanding of the research described.

There are different ways to link your datasets to your article. When available, you can directly link your dataset to your article by providing the relevant information in the submission system. For more information, visit the database linking page.

For supported data repositories a repository banner will automatically appear next to your published article on ScienceDirect.

In addition, you can link to relevant data or entities through identifiers within the text of your manuscript, using the following format: Database: xxxx (e.g., TAIR: AT1G01020; CCDC: 734053; PDB: 1XFN).

Mendeley Data
This journal supports Mendeley Data, enabling you to deposit any research data (including raw and processed data, video, code, software, algorithms, protocols, and methods) associated with your manuscript in a free-to-use, open access repository. Before submitting your article, you can deposit the relevant datasets to Mendeley Data. Please include the DOI of the deposited dataset(s) in your main manuscript file. The datasets will be listed and directly accessible to readers next to your published article online.

For more information, visit the Mendeley Data for journals page.

Submission Checklist
The following list will be useful during the final checking of an article prior to sending it to the journal for review. Please consult this Guide for Authors for further details of any item.

One author has been designated as the corresponding author with contact details:

  • E-mail address
  • Full postal address
  • Phone numbers

All necessary files have been uploaded, and contain:

Further considerations:
  • Manuscript has been spell-checked and grammar-checked
  • References are in the correct format for the journal
  • All references mentioned in the Reference list are cited in the text, and vice versa
  • Permission has been obtained for use of copyrighted material from other sources (including the Web). Provide copies of the permissions for journal records.
  • Color figures are clearly marked as being intended for color reproduction on the Web (free of charge) and in print, or to be reproduced in color on the Web (free of charge) and in black-and-white in print
  • If only color on the Web is required, black-and-white versions of the figures are also supplied for printing purposes

For any further information please visit our customer support site at https://service.elsevier.com.

Review and Publication Process

Each manuscript submission will be acknowledged in the order received in the Editorial Office. The acknowledgment letter will note the number assigned to the manuscript. All subsequent inquiries about the manuscript must indicate the manuscript number. Usually two and sometimes several reviewers and Editorial Board members will participate in the review of a manuscript. The journal does not reveal the identity of its reviewers but does provide pertinent comments to the corresponding author. Re-review may be required after revision if, in the judgment of the Editor-in-Chief, sufficient modification of the manuscript or data justifies another review cycle or if one (or more) of the reviewers requested to see the revision. The Editor-in-Chief has final authority on all editorial decisions unless the editor has been recused, e.g., if the editor is an author, in which case the review process is overseen and the decision made by a designated Associate Editor.

Appeals Regarding Manuscripts Rejected by F & S Reports. ? The Journal is able to accept a relatively small percentage of submissions received. Therefore, many good manuscripts are declined, oftentimes despite favorable peer reviews. If your paper is rejected but the reviews are accurate, please do not appeal the decision and request additional reviews. Doing so distracts the journal's editors and reviewers from evaluating submissions and editorial staff from processing other manuscripts and is unfair to the authors of those papers. If, however, the reviewer or editor assessments are reconsidered, the Editor-in-Chief will entertain an appeal and reopen the manuscript's file.

Any appeal must be made by the corresponding author to the Editorial Office by email prior to resubmitting the manuscript. Please do not resubmit a revised version of a rejected manuscript without without an appeal to the Editorial office. Please do not resubmit until your original manuscript is released back to you. By waiting for the manuscript release, it ensures that your paper is processed under the same manuscript number, keeping the manuscript history intact.

Peer Review

This journal operates a single-blind review process. All contributions will be initially assessed by an editor for suitability for the journal. Papers deemed suitable are then typically sent to a minimum of two independent expert reviewers to assess the scientific quality of the paper. The Editor-in-Chief is responsible for the final decision regarding acceptance or rejection of articles.

F & S Reports Editors have active research programs and on occasion publish work in the Journal. Editor/authors are masked to the peer review process and editorial decision-making of their own work and are not able to access this work in the online manuscript submission system. Work by Editor/authors is assessed using the same criteria as that applied to all F & S Reports submissions.

After acceptance

Proofs

One set of page proofs (as PDF files) will be sent by e-mail to the corresponding author (if we do not have an e-mail address then paper proofs will be sent by post) or a link will be provided in the e-mail so that authors can download the files themselves. To ensure a fast publication process of the article, we kindly ask authors to provide us with their proof corrections within two days. Elsevier now provides authors with PDF proofs which can be annotated; for this you will need to download the free Adobe Reader, version 9 (or higher). Instructions on how to annotate PDF files will accompany the proofs (also given online). The exact system requirements are given at the Adobe site.
If you do not wish to use the PDF annotations function, you may list the corrections (including replies to the Query Form) and return them to Elsevier in an e-mail. Please list your corrections quoting line number. If, for any reason, this is not possible, then mark the corrections and any other comments (including replies to the Query Form) on a printout of your proof and scan the pages and return via e-mail. Please use this proof only for checking the typesetting, editing, completeness and correctness of the text, tables and figures. Significant changes to the article as accepted for publication will only be considered at this stage with permission from the Editor. We will do everything possible to get your article published quickly and accurately. It is important to ensure that all corrections are sent back to us in one communication: please check carefully before replying, as inclusion of any subsequent corrections cannot be guaranteed. Proofreading is solely your responsibility.

Standards For Reporting Research

Incomplete or inadequate reporting of research complicates the identification of the strengths and weaknesses of the studies reported in the medical literature. To solve this problem, several sets of guidelines have been developed in order to guarantee that the required information is available in a manuscript, to improve the accuracy and completeness of reporting of studies, and to allow readers to assess the potential for bias in the study (internal validity) and to evaluate its applicability to other environments (external validity).

Authors are strongly encouraged to consult the widely-accepted checklists below for each study type. Their application will increase the chances of acceptance by ensuring that important information will not be missed, producing a homogeneous and structured medical report, permitting fair and objective refereeing, and simplifying future corrections and revisions.

Reports of randomized trials: CONSORT
https://www.goodreports.org/reporting-checklists/consort/

Studies of diagnostic accuracy: STARD
http://www.equator-network.org/reporting-guidelines/stard/

Observational studies (cohort, case-control, or cross-sectional designs): STROBE
http://www.strobe-statement.org/

Genetic association: STREGA
http://www.equator-network.org/reporting-guidelines/strobe-strega/

Systematic review/meta-analysis: PRISMA
http://www.prisma-statement.org/