Guide for authors
INTRODUCTION
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 Fertility and Sterility®. 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 Fertility and Sterility® 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 30 days for the first revision, and within 20 days for any subsequent revisions. Please notify the editorial office if additional time is needed or if you choose not to submit a revision.
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 . 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.
To meet the criteria for authorship, in accordance with the Fertility and Sterility instructions for authors, all authors should have made substantial contributions to all of the following:
- the conception and design of the study, or acquisition of data, or analysis and interpretation of data, AND
- drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content, AND
- final approval of the version to be submitted, AND
- 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.
For transparency, we require corresponding authors to provide co-author contributions to the manuscript using the relevant CRediT roles. The CRediT taxonomy (here) 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 and editing. Note that not all roles may apply to every manuscript, and authors may have contributed through multiple roles. More details and an example.
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.
Scientific Misconduct. 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:
- 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 Fertility and Sterility, 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. 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.
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. Content should make no assumptions about the beliefs or commitments of any reader; contain nothing which might imply that one individual is superior to another on the grounds of age, gender, race, ethnicity, culture, sexual orientation, disability or health condition; and use inclusive language throughout. Authors should ensure that writing is free from bias, stereotypes, slang, reference to dominant culture and/or cultural assumptions. We advise to seek gender neutrality by using plural nouns ("clinicians, patients/clients") as default/wherever possible to avoid using "he, she," or "he/she." We recommend avoiding the use of descriptors that refer to personal attributes such as age, gender, race, ethnicity, culture, sexual orientation, disability or health condition unless they are relevant and valid. These guidelines are meant as a point of reference to help identify appropriate language but are by no means exhaustive or definitive.
Submission
Please submit your article online via Editorial Manager.
Article structure
- Cover Letter
- Title Page
- Running title
- Title
- Authors
- Affiliations
- Corresponding author with contact information
- Article type (see below)
- Funding statement
- Conflict of interest statement for all authors
- Attestation statements (see below)
- Data sharing statement (see below)
- Word count - for text and abstract
- Registration (If applicable for study type)
- Capsule
- Structured Abstract - See below for format based on article type.
- Manuscript
- Introduction
- Materials and Methods
- Results
- Discussion
- Conclusions
Cover Letter
The cover letter should state that the material contained in the manuscript has not been published, has not been submitted, or is not being submitted elsewhere for publication. Each author's role in the manuscript should be detailed, and any other persons who contributed to the manuscript (providing writing assistance, for example) should be disclosed. Please note in the cover letter any manuscripts that have been published, submitted, or are in press that are similar to the submission to Fertility and Sterility and include in your submission copies of these so that the editors can be assured that there is no overlap. All authors' agreement to submission of the manuscript should be noted.
Title Page Download a sample title page here
Running title: A short version of your title, consisting of 40 characters or less, including spaces.
Title: The title should be concise, declarative and informative, consisting of 125 characters or less. Do not include any abbreviations. Avoid formatting the title as a question.
Author names and affiliations: Please include each author's full name and highest earned academic degree(s). Where the family name may be ambiguous (e.g., a double name), please indicate this clearly. Present the authors' affiliations below the names. Include the department (if applicable), institution name, city, and state/country. Indicate all affiliations with a lower-case superscript letter immediately after the author's name and in front of the appropriate affiliation. If an author's affiliation has changed since the work was done, the new affiliation also should be listed.
Corresponding author: Only one corresponding author may be designated. Clearly indicate who will handle correspondence at all stages of refereeing and publication, also post-publication. Ensure that phone numbers (with country and area code) are provided in addition to the e-mail address and the complete postal address. Contact details must be kept up to date by the corresponding author.
Article type: Please designate your article type as one of the following. See further information about each article type below.
- Clinical trial
- Cohort study or Case-control study
- Other observational study (specify)
- Cost-effectiveness analysis
- Decision analysis
- Study of screening and diagnostic tests
- Comparative effectiveness research
- Genetic association Study
- Quality improvement study
- Survey study
- Cross sectional study
- Mixed methods
- Qualitative study
- Case Report
- Systematic review (with meta-analysis)
- Systematic review (without meta-analysis)
- Laboratory based study
- Research letter
- Letter to the Editor
- Video article
- Consider This
- Invited articles
- Reflections
- Inklings
Funding Statement: Provide funding source (including grant number(s) as applicable), and role of funding. If there is no funding for the project, please state such.
Disclosure Statement: In the interest of transparency, we ask you to disclose all relationships/activities/interests that are related to the content of your manuscript. "Related" means any relation with for-profit or not-for-profit third parties whose interests may be affected by the content of the manuscript. Disclosure represents a commitment to transparency and does not necessarily indicate a bias. If you are in doubt about whether to list a relationship/activity/interest, it is preferable that you do so.
The author's relationships/activities/interests should be defined broadly. For example, if your manuscript pertains to stimulation for ART, you should declare all relationships with manufacturers of such medication, even if that medication is not mentioned in the manuscript. All authors must disclose any financial and personal relationships with other people or organizations that could influence the design, conductor or reporting of their work. Report all support for the work reported in this manuscript without time limit. For all other items, the time frame for disclosure is the past 36 months. 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 competing interests, then please state this for each author: Disclosure: "none'.
All authors are required to report potential conflicts of interest on the cover page of the manuscript and in the authorship form. The Conflict of Interest form can be found at: ICMJE | Disclosure of Interest.
Attestation statements: The following attestation statements are required for all manuscripts.
- The subjects in this trial have not concomitantly been involved in other randomized trials (If applicable).
- Data regarding any of the subjects in the study has not been previously published unless specified.
- Data will be made available to the editors of the journal for review or query upon request.
Data sharing statement: For reports of clinical trials, authors are required to provide a Data Sharing Statement to indicate if data will be shared or not. This information will be published in a Data Sharing Statement.
Authors need to identify what will be will be made available to others (i.e. the raw data, individual patient data, a data dictionary that defines each field in the data set, and supporting documentation such as statistical/analytic code). If data will be shared, information on when, where, and how the data will be available (eg, a link to a data repository) and if there will be any restrictions on the use of the data. Authors also have the option to explain why data may not be shared. For more information and examples of data sharing statements, please see the ICMJE data sharing guidelines.
Word count: Include word counts for text and abstract.
Trial registration: If applicable, provide trial registration number and URL to registration on the trial registry website. Also include date of registration and date of enrollment of the first subject.
Capsule
The capsule is a summary of the abstract of 30 words or less. This will be published in the table of contents. It should be a complete sentence and describe the final conclusion(s) of the paper.
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. The target word limit for the abstract is 350 words. Do not include abbreviations, acronyms or commercial names in the abstract.
The structured abstract for all study types except systematic reviews should include the sections: Objective (beginning with a phrase like "To study..."), Design, Subjects, Intervention (for RCT) or Exposure (for observational studies), Main Outcome Measures, Results, and Conclusion.
The structured abstract for a Systematic Review (with meta-analysis) should include the sections: Importance, Objective, Data sources, Study selection and synthesis, Main outcomes, Results, Conclusion and relevance.
The structured abstract for a Systematic Review (without meta-analysis) should include the sections: Importance, Objective, Evidence review, Findings, Conclusion and relevance.
Keywords
Immediately after the abstract, provide 3–5 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.
Text
The word limit for the text is 3,500 words. Authors are strongly encouraged to limit article length to 3,500 words for effective and efficient communication. Article length does not include the running title, cover page, capsule, abstract, or references. 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.
Introduction
State the objectives of the work and provide an adequate background, avoiding a detailed literature survey or a summary of the results.
Materials and methods
Provide sufficient detail to allow the work to be reproduced. Methods already published should be indicated by a reference: only relevant modifications should be described.
A statement of Institutional Review Board (IRB) status must be included. Similarly, a statement of Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) approval must be provided for research involving animals.
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.
ARTICLE TYPES
Clinical Trial
A clinical trial is a research project that prospectively and randomly assigns human participants to intervention or comparison groups to study the cause-and-effect relationship between an intervention and a health outcome. Interventions include but are not limited to drugs, surgical procedures, devices, behavioral treatments, educational programs, dietary interventions, quality improvement interventions, and process-of-care changes. Trials must be prospectively registered, prior to patient enrollment, in a publicly accessible database such as clinicaltrials.gov.
Required elements to be reported in the manuscript include: The primary hypothesis of the trial must be clearly stated. All outcomes should be clearly specified as primary, secondary or exploratory. Primary outcome must be reported in the abstract. Deviation or amendments from the protocol or original statistical plan should be listed. Target samples size (with underlying assumptions) and final sample should be reported. Inclusion and exclusion criteria should be clearly stated. The essential features of the intervention, blinding (if applicable) and allocation of subject should be clearly delineated. Dates of trial activation, first and last subject enrolled and database lock should be reported in the manuscript. Data for all specified outcomes should be listed, preferably as absolute numbers as well as relative difference (with 95% confidence intervals). The number needed to treat/harm should be presented (when applicable). Post Hoc analysis much be labeled as such. Unexpected and expected adverse events need to be reported. The discussion section should place the results in c ontext with the published literature and address study limitations.
The CONSORT checklist should be followed and the checklist submitted with the manuscript.
All clinical trials must be prospectively registered at an appropriate online public registry. Acceptable trial registries include those listed at http://www.icmje.org.
Authors of manuscripts reporting clinical trials must submit trial protocols (including the complete statistical analysis plan) along with their manuscripts. Protocols in non-English languages should be translated into English. The protocol may be redacted of proprietary information, but must include information on the patient flow, statistical plan, samples size and outcomes. Journal editors may ask for more information on redacted protocols.
Cohort and Case Control Studies
Cohort and case control studies are observational research when subjects are characterized by a specific exposure and outcome without randomization. The study design, if prospective or retrospective, should be clearly stated along with the a priori hypothesis. A cohort study compares exposed to non-exposed participants to evaluate a specific outcome. A case-control study selects participants based on the outcome (for example pregnant versus non-pregnant participants) and then looks back at exposure, such as a treatment or a risk factor. Each study should include specified detail about the population studied including clear inclusion and exclusion criteria (including the study setting and dates). The exposure and outcome must be clearly defined. If there are multiple exposures or outcomes each must be clearly identified and primary, secondary or exploratory. The data source should be clearly described and data validation methods explicitly stated. Confounding variables available (and pertinent variables not available), should be described. The rationale for the sample size or the power of the study should be stated (even if the study is a sample of convenience). The amount of missing data and how it was managed in the analysis should be stated. Results should be presented clearly and include both crude and adjusted associations with 95% confidence intervals. Statistical methods should be concisely and clearly reported. Causal language should not be used in describing results. The discussion section should place the results in context with the published literature and address study limitations.
The EQUATOR Reporting Guidelines should be followed including the STROBE for an observational study
Other Observational Studies
Each manuscript should clearly state an objective or hypothesis. The design and methods should be clearly stated. Important information (as applicable to each study type) should include the study setting and dates, patients or participants with inclusion and exclusion criteria, participation or response rates, or data sources (and how the data was validated) should be clearly presented. The essential features of any interventions or exposures and the main outcome (including those a priori noted as primary, secondary or exploratory) must be clearly described. Statistical methods should be concisely and clearly presented. The main results of the study should include crude and adjusted analyses (as applicable). The discussion section should place the results in context with the published literature and address study limitations. Data included in research reports must be original and should be as timely and current as possible.
The EQUATOR Reporting Guidelines should be followed including: STARD for a report of diagnostic test, CHEERS for reports of cost-effective analysis and decision analysis, STREGA for a genetic association study, CHEERS for reporting economic evaluation of health intervention, SQUIRE for reporting on quality improvement in health care.
Case Report
A case report should include the following sections. Please include the CARE checklist with your submission.
- 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. Include a statement regarding patient consent.
- 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.
Systematic Review (with Meta-analysis)
A meta-analysis is a systematic, critical assessment of literature and data sources pertaining to clinical topics that includes a statistical technique for quantitatively combining the results of multiple studies that measure the same outcome into a single pooled or summary estimate. In absence of statistical pooling, such a systematic assessment of the literature is called a systematic review (see below). We encourage these studies to be prospectively registered (prior to literature search) on a publicly accessible database such as PROSPERO.
All articles or data sources searched, and selected systematically for inclusion and critically evaluated, and the search and selection process should be described in the manuscript. The specific type of study or analysis, population, intervention, exposure, and tests or outcomes should be described for each article or data source. The data sources should be as current as possible, ideally with the search having been conducted within several months of manuscript submission. Meta-analyses of observation studies should include adjustment for pertinent confounding variables. Heterogeneity, publication bias, as well as quality and trustworthiness of evidence from the source studies should be assessed and reported.
As it is becoming more and more apparent that a substantial part of the medical literature, including randomized clinical trials, is not trustworthy, Fertility and Sterility now has the policy that published and unpublished randomized clinical trials that are included in meta-analysis should be assessed for their quality.
Please strongly consider the following for the studies used in your meta-analysis:
- Trial registration: If RCTs that started less than 15 years ago were not prospectively registered (i.e. not registered before or within 1 month after start of the inclusion), please exclude those RCTs from meta-analysis.
- Feasibility: If RCTs report unfeasible characteristics, for example report of live birth with less than 9 months after the last randomization as compared to date of submission, please exclude those RCTs
- Quality of Randomization: Assess the baseline characteristics of the RCT for extreme differences or extreme similarities. Exclude studies with these extremes noted.
- Ensure that studies have not been retracted or have an Expression of Concern attached to them.
For the assessment of bias, we refer to the Risk of Bias Tool from the Cochrane collaboration. The manuscript should include a section regarding the quality of the literature included in the study.
If there is doubt about the quality of any trails, the results of the meta-analysis should be presented with and without the studies identified as not trustworthy or high potential for bias.
The structured abstract should include the sections: Importance, Objective, Data sources, Study selection and synthesis, Main outcomes, Results, Conclusion and relevance.
The maximum number of tables or figures is 5. Supplemental material is allowed. The subtitle of the manuscript should include "A Meta-analysis"
The EQUATOR Reporting Guidelines should be followed and the checklist submitted with the manuscript. Authors of reports of meta-analyses of clinical trials should submit the PRISMA flow diagram and checklist. Authors of meta-analyses of observational studies should submit the MOOSE checklist.
Systematic Review (without meta-analysis)
A systematic review (without meta-analysis) is a critical assessment of the literature and data sources pertaining to clinical topics. Systematic Reviews should address a specific question or issue that is relevant for clinical practice and provide an evidence-based, balanced, patient-oriented review on a focused topic.
The structured abstract should include the sections: Importance, Objective, Evidence review, Findings, Conclusion and relevance.
The maximum number of tables or figures is 5. Supplemental material is allowed. The subtitle of the manuscript should include "A Systematic review".
The EQUATOR Reporting Guidelines should be followed.
Research Letter
A research letter is a concise, focused report of original research. A research letter can include any of the study types listed under Original Investigation and is not a review, case report, or editorial content. Original research may include sub-analyses or updates of previously published research, pilot studies or pre-clinical research but must not duplicate other material published or submitted for publication. A research letter is considered a scientific publication; authors must meet all requirements regarding responsible conduct of research (e.g. appropriate IRB approval, data integrity, data retention) and the policies outlined in the journal's Instructions for Authors likewise apply.
Research letters must include a title page, conflict of interest disclosure and keywords.
Submissions are limited to 650 words, up to a total of two tables and/or figures and a maximum of 5 references. Online supplementary materials are permitted.
Research letters should be formatted into 4 sections: Objective, Study Design, Results, and Conclusion.
Research letters do not include an abstract or condensation.
The EQUATOR Reporting Guidelines should be followed.
Laboratory Based Study
A laboratory based study provides original data from research performed in vitro or in vivo that address questions not amenable to the study of human subjects. Such studies can involve database analysis, bench, or other laboratory techniques, but the methods required must be sufficiently detailed to allow for replication of experiments in other laboratories. The hypothesis or objective must be clear and concise, with experiments providing data that supports or refutes the central hypothesis. Statistical methods should be concisely and clearly presented. The discussion section should place the results in context with the published literature, identify controversies, address implications, and identify areas for future advancement.
The EQUATOR Reporting Guidelines should be followed.
Letters to the Editor
A Letter to the Editor and Reply must include a title page, conflict of interest disclosure, and a Statement of Authorship signed by all authors. These submissions are subject to minor editorial alterations, may be shortened without the authors' approval, and are published both in print and on the Journal website.
Selected Letters to the Editors that focus on at least 1 article published in Fertility and Sterility within the previous 12 issues are considered for publication. Letters to the Editors are limited to 3 authors, 400 words (not counting the title page or references), and 1 to 4 references. At least one of the references must cite the related Journal article(s). All data presented must be fully citable and cited in the supporting reference list (unpublished data must not be described in the letter).
The editors routinely invite the author(s) of the related article to respond in writing. Letters that include specific questions for the original article's authors are prioritized for publication. Published letters are accompanied by either a reply from the original authors or the statement "Reply declined."
Video Article
Video submissions are peer reviewed, citable and indexed as publications in PubMed. The video article format allows you to provide a video demonstration of both the data and technique of your study. The following categories are taken into consideration during the review process: educational/scientific merit and clinical relevance of the topic; clarity of video; use of innovative surgical technique; and video editing or use of marking tools on the video to highlight important features or surgical landmarks.
Authors should submit a cover letter, title page, structured abstract, video file, and reference list through the Editorial Manager website.
Video articles should provide a significant contribution to the medical literature. They should include original data or provide a review of a subject. The visual demonstration of the topic is a key component and the video should demonstrate information beyond what would be in text alone. Videos should NOT be a series of text-only slides.
Videos should have an audio narration track. Silent videos will not be likely to be accepted. Music should be used with careful consideration. When utilized creatively, music can enhance some videos. If music is used, the author must obtain permission from the copyright holder or documentation that the music is royalty- free. The start of the video should include the title of the video and the author's name and institution. Commercial-type messages should not be used.
Length: Videos should be a maximum length of 8 minutes.
File formats: WMV, AVI, MOV, or MP4 are accepted.
Aspect ratio: We prefer videos to be in 16:9 format because we use 16:9 aspect ratio players. If you are uploading a non-16:9 file, it will be processed and displayed correctly as well, with pillar boxes or letter boxes provided by the player. If you want to fit the player perfectly, encode at these resolutions: 1080p: 19201080, 720p: 1280720
Resolution: Please submit your video files in HD 1080P. We accept 720P but prefer higher resolution. We do not accept video files with standard definition.
Suggested bitrates for uploads
Format 1080P: video bitrate 8,000 kbps; Mono Audio bitrate 128 kbps; stereo audio bitrate 384 kbps
Format 720P: video bitrate 5000 kbps; Mono Audio bitrate 128 kbps; stereo audio bitrate 384 kbps
Any patient identification must be removed or masked.Include the following statement of consent in both the written abstract and the video (include within the first 30 seconds). The patient(s) included in this video gave consent for publication of the video and posting of the video online including social media, the journal website, scientific literature websites (such as PubMed, ScienceDirect, Scopus, etc.) and other applicable sites.
Consider This
Consider This articles are brief, thought-provoking opinion pieces designed as an opportunity for you to share your thoughts regarding ethics, current events, research, and innovations within the field of reproductive medicine.
Consider This pieces are published on the main Fertility and Sterility website and have subcategories as follows: •Consider the Ethics: an opportunity for you to dissect the ethical implications of an idea, product, or approach •Consider the Moment: an opportunity for you to reflect on how a current event impacts the field of reproductive medicine •Consider this Idea: an opportunity for you to generate a novel hypothesis or propose a novel approach to an old problem •Consider this Paper: an opportunity to reflect on a paper published either in the Fertility and Sterility family of journals or other journals All submissions go through a peer review process and are citable via a DOI and unique URL. They are not indexed on PubMed but are archived on Google Scholar.
Submissions should be no more than 2,000 words and have a maximum of 5 references. They can be submitted via Editorial Manager with the article type Consider This. All pieces must include a cover image that will be displayed along with the submission on the Fertility and Sterility webpage.
All pieces must also include a 280-character social media ready summary that will be shared by Fertility and Sterility once the piece is accepted. This should include the title of your article and a single take-away message for the reader.
Invited Articles
Reflections
Reflections are editorials that comment on original research published in the same issue of Fertility and Sterility. This article type is invited.
Inklings
Inklings are editorial pieces on topics related to reproductive medicine. This article type is invited.
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 or writing assistance or proofreading the article, etc.). Please include full name and highest earned academic degree(s) for each person listed
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 encouraged.
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.
Users of Mendeley Desktop can easily install the reference style for this journal by clicking the following link: https://open.mendeley.com/use-citation-style/fertility-and-sterility. When preparing your manuscript, you will then be able to select this style using the Mendeley plug-ins for Microsoft Word or LibreOffice.
Reference style
References follow the style of the ""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.
Tables and Figures
A combined maximum of 4 total figures and tables is allowed for all study types except systematic reviews which may include up to 5. Alternatively, you may include expanded discussion of the materials and methods section, or additional figures or tables, as supplemental material to be published online only. If you include supplemental figures or tables, please title them ""Supplemental figure 1,"" and so on.
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 on the Web (e.g., ScienceDirect and other sites) in addition to color reproduction in print. For further information on the preparation of electronic artwork, please see https://www.elsevier.com/artworkinstructions.
Figure Captions
Ensure that each illustration has a caption. Supply captions separately on the page of your manuscript file following the reference list. 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 should be placed at the end of the manuscript file, following the figure legends or reference list. 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.
Video Illustrations
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.
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. 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.
AFTER ACCEPTANCE
Online proof correction
To ensure a fast publication process of the article, we kindly ask authors to provide us with their proof corrections within two days. Corresponding authors will receive an e-mail with a link to our online proofing system, allowing annotation and correction of proofs online.
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.
Open access
Please visit our Open Access page for more information.
CONTACT INFORMATION
All correspondence regarding submitted manuscripts will be handled via e-mail through Editorial Manager. Send all other correspondence to:
Fertility and Sterility
American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) 1209 Montgomery Highway
Birmingham, AL 35216
[email protected]