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Introduction

INTRODUCTION
Taiwanese Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology is a peer-reviewed and open access journal publishing editorials, reviews, original articles, short communications, case reports, research letters and correspondence in the field of obstetrics and gynecology. The aims of the journal are to:
  1. Publish cutting-edge, innovative and topical research that addresses screening, diagnosis, management and care in women's health
  2. Deliver evidence-based information
  3. Promote the sharing of clinical experience
  4. Address women-related health promotion
The journal provides comprehensive coverage of topics in obstetrics & gynecology and women's health including maternal-fetal medicine, reproductive endocrinology/infertility, and gynecologic oncology.

Types of article

Editorials
These are usually written by invited authors or editorial board members and are comments on recent news or articles published in the Journal.

Format guide
• Word limit: 1200 words (excluding references)
• References: 10 or less
• Tables/Figures: 1 table and/or 1 figure
• No section headings in main text
• Conflicts of interest statement after the main text

Review Articles
These articles aim to provide the reader with a balanced overview of an important and topical issue in research or clinical practice. They should cover aspects of a topic in which scientific consensus exists as well as aspects that remain controversial and are the subject of ongoing scientific research, systematic review and meta-analysis. All articles and data sources reviewed should include information about the specific type of study or analysis, population, intervention, exposure, and tests or outcomes. All articles or data sources should be selected systematically for inclusion in the review and critically evaluated.

Format guide
• Word limit: 4000 words (excluding abstract and references)
• References: 50 or less
• Abstract: up to 250 words, unstructured (i.e., no subheadings)
• Conflicts of interest statement after the main text

Original Articles
These articles typically include randomized trials, intervention studies, studies of screening and diagnostic tests, laboratory and animal studies, cohort studies, cost-effectiveness analyses, case-control studies, and surveys with high response rates, which represent new and significant contributions to the field.

Section headings should be: Abstract, Introduction, Materials and methods, Results, Discussion, Acknowledgments (if any), and References.

The Introduction should provide a brief background to the subject of the paper, explain the importance of the study, and state a precise study question or purpose.

The Materials and methods section should describe the study design and methods (including the study setting and dates, patients/participants with inclusion and exclusion criteria, patient samples or animal specimens used, the essential features of any interventions, the main outcome measures, the laboratory methods followed, or data sources and how these were selected for the study), and state the statistical procedures employed in the research.

The Results section should comprise the study results presented in a logical sequence, supplemented by tables and/or figures. Take care that the text does not repeat data that are presented in tables and/or figures. Only emphasize and summarize the essential features of the main outcome measures, and the main results.

The Discussion section should be used to emphasize the new and important aspects of the study, placing the results in context with published literature, the implications of the findings, and the conclusions that follow from the study results.

Format guide
• Word limit: 3000 words (excluding abstract and references)
• References: 40 or less
• Abstract: up to 300 words, structured (i.e., with the section headings Objective, Materials and methods, Results and Conclusion)
• Conflicts of interest statement after the main text
• Tables/Figures: no limit, but data in text should not be repeated extensively in tables or figures

Short Communications
These should be concise presentations of preliminary experimental results, instrumentation and analytical techniques, or aspects of clinical or experimental practice that are not fully investigated, verified or perfected but which may be of widespread interest or application.

Section headings should be: Abstract, Introduction, Materials and methods, Results, Discussion, Acknowledgments (if any), and References.
The Editors reserve the right to decide what constitutes a Short Communication.

Format guide
• Word limit: 1500 words (excluding abstract and references)
• References: 12 or less
• Abstract: up to 150 words, structured (i.e., with the section headings Objective, Materials and methods, Results and Conclusion)
• Conflicts of interest statement after the main text
• Tables/Figures: 1 table and/or 1 figure

Case Reports
These are short discussions of a case or case series with unique features not previously described that make an important teaching point or scientific observation. They may describe novel techniques or use of equipment, or new information on diseases of importance. Section headings should be: Abstract, Introduction, Case Presentation, Discussion, Acknowledgments (if any), and References.

The Introduction should describe the purpose of the present report, the significance of the disease and its specificity, and briefly review the relevant literature.

The Case report should include the general data of the case, medical history, family history, chief complaint, present illness, clinical manifestation, methods of diagnosis and treatment, and outcome.

The Discussion should compare, analyze and discuss the similarities and differences between the reported case and similar cases reported in other published articles. The importance or specificity of the case should be restated when discussing the differential diagnoses. Suggest the prognosis of the disease and possibility of prevention.

Format guide
• Word limit: 1500 words (excluding abstract and references)
• References: 15 or less
• Abstract: up to 150 words, structured (i.e., with the section headings objective, case report, conclusion))
• Conflicts of interest statement after the main text
• Tables/Figures: no limit, but data in text should not be repeated extensively in tables or figures

Research Letters
These include short interesting case reports that do not meet the requirement of being truly exceptional. Research Letters do not require an abstract and headings of Introduction, Case report and Discussion. The Editors reserve the right to decide what constitutes a Research Letter.

Format guide
• Word limit: 500 words (excluding eferences)
• References: 5 or less
• Tables/Figures: 1 table and/or 1 figure
• Begin with "Dear Editor"
• No section headings in main text
• Conflicts of interest statement after the main text

Correspondence
Brief constructive comments in response to previously published TJOG articles or relating to a topical subject in the field, as well as other communications of general interest are welcome. They are edited, sometimes extensively, to sharpen their focus. They may be sent for peer review at the discretion of TJOG Editors.

Correspondence should have a title, and the corresponding author's mailing and e-mail addresses.

Format guide
• Word limit: 500 words (excluding references)
• References: 5 or less
• Tables/Figures: 1 table and/or 1 figure
• Begin with "Dear Editor"
• No section headings in main text
• Conflicts of interest statement after the main text

MANUSCRIPT SUBMISSION

Submission by E-mail
Please submit your manuscript by E-mail. Manuscripts (meaning all submission items, including all text, tables, artwork, cover letter, conflicts of interest disclosures, and any other required documents/material as detailed in Section "Supporting Documents") can be submitted by e-mail to the Editorial Office at [email protected].

Important Information

  • Articles should be in Microsoft Word document format and prepared in the simplest form possible. We will add in the correct font, font size, margins and so on according to the journal’s style.
  • You may use automatic page numbering, but do NOT use other kinds of automatic formatting such as footnotes, headers and footers.
  • Put text, references, table headings and tables, and figure legends in one file.
  • Figures must be submitted as separate picture files, at the correct resolution and named according to the figure number, e.g., “Fig1.tif”, “Fig2.jpg”. Please see section 9.8. for more information.

Supporting documents
The following documents must be included in your submission (refer also to the Checklist that follows these author instructions). Items (1), (2) and (3) are mandatory. Items (4), (5) and (6) are required only if they are applicable to your manuscript.
  1. Cover Letter. This must include the following information:
    • title of the manuscript
    • corresponding author details (name, e-mail, mailing address, telephone and fax numbers)
    • a statement that the material contained in the manuscript has not been previously published and is not being concurrently submitted elsewhere
    • persons who do not fulfill the requirements to be listed as authors but who nevertheless contributed to the manuscript (such as those who provided writing assistance, for example) should be disclosed
    • signature of the corresponding author
  2. Authorship & Conflicts of Interest Statement. Each author's contribution to the manuscript should be listed. Any and all potential and actual conflicts of interest should also be listed (see Section 2 for more information). Please use the TJOG Authorship & Conflicts of Interest Statement. The e-mail addresses of all authors listed in the manuscript must be provided, and the corresponding author must sign the statement on behalf of all the listed authors.
  3. Copyright Transfer Agreement. In the event that your manuscript is accepted for publication in the TJOG, you are required to transfer all copyright ownership in and relating to the work to the Taiwan Association of Obstetrics and Gynecology. Please use the TJOG Copyright Transfer Agreement. The corresponding author must sign the agreement on behalf of all the authors listed in the manuscript.
  4. Ethics Statement. Articles covering the use of human or animal samples in research, or human or animal experiments must be accompanied by a letter of approval from the relevant review committee or authorities. See Section 3 for more information.
  5. Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT) flow chart for randomized controlled trials submitted for publication. See Section 4 for more information.
  6. Copyright Permission. If you have reproduced or adapted material from other copyrighted sources, the letter(s) of permission from the copyright holder(s) to reproduce or adapt the copyrighted sources must be supplied. Otherwise, such material must be removed from your manuscript.

Before you begin

Ethics in publishing

Please see our information on Ethics in publishing.

Studies in humans and animals

If the work involves the use of human subjects, the author should ensure that the work described has been carried out in accordance with The Code of Ethics of the World Medical Association (Declaration of Helsinki) for experiments involving humans. The manuscript should be in line with the Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals and aim for the inclusion of representative human populations (sex, age and ethnicity) as per those recommendations. The terms sex and gender should be used correctly.

The author should ensure that the manuscript contains a statement that all procedures were performed in compliance with relevant laws and institutional guidelines and have been approved by the appropriate institutional committee(s). This statement should contain the date and reference number of the ethical approval(s) obtained. Authors should also include a statement in the manuscript that informed consent was obtained for experimentation with human subjects. The privacy rights of human subjects must always be observed.

The journal will not accept manuscripts that contain data derived from unethically sourced organs or tissue, including from executed prisoners or prisoners of conscience, consistent with recommendations by Global Rights Compliance on Mitigating Human Rights Risks in Transplantation Medicine. For all studies that use human organs or tissues authors must provide sufficient evidence that they were procured in line with WHO Guiding Principles on Human Cell, Tissue and Organ Transplantation. The source of the organs or tissues used in clinical research must be transparent and traceable. Authors of manuscripts describing organ transplantation must additionally declare within the manuscript:

  1. that autonomous consent free from coercion was obtained from the donor(s) or their next of kin; and
  2. that organs/tissues were not sourced from executed prisoners or prisoners of conscience.

All animal experiments should comply with the ARRIVE guidelines and should be carried out in accordance with the U.K. Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act, 1986 and associated guidelines, EU Directive 2010/63/EU for animal experiments, or the National Research Council's Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals and the authors should clearly indicate in the manuscript that such guidelines have been followed. The sex of animals must be indicated, and where appropriate, the influence (or association) of sex on the results of the study.

Ethical Approval of Studies and Informed Consent

For human or animal experimental investigations described in original articles, appropriate institutional review board or ethics committee approval is required, and such approval should be stated in the methods section of the manuscript. For those investigators who do not have formal ethics review committees, the principles outlined in the Declaration of Helsinki should be followed (World Medical Association. Declaration of Helsinki: ethical principles for medical research involving human subjects. Available at: https://www.wma.net/policies-post/wma-declaration-of-helsinki-ethical-principles-for-medical-research-involving-human-subjects).

For work involving animals, the guidelines for their care and use that were followed should be stated in the methods section of the manuscript. For those investigators who do not have formal institutional guidelines relating to animal experiments, the European Commission Directive 86/609/EEC for animal experiments (available at http://ec.europa.eu/environment/chemicals/lab_animals/legislation_en.htm) should be followed and the same should be stated in the methods section of the manuscript.

Disclosure of Conflicts of Interest

Conflicts of interest may be financial or non-financial. Financial conflicts include financial relationships such as honoraria; educational grants; participation in speakers' bureaus; membership, employment, consultancies, stock ownership, or other equity interest; expert testimony or patent-licensing arrangements. Non-financial conflicts include personal or professional relationships, affiliations, academic competition, intellectual passion, knowledge or beliefs that might affect objectivity.

Please ensure that the name of each author listed in your manuscript appears in either Section I or Section II of the TJOG Authorship & Conflicts of Interest Statement form (an author’s name cannot appear in both Section I and Section II of the form).

Declaration 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 competing interests include employment, consultancies, stock ownership, honoraria, paid expert testimony, patent applications/registrations, and grants or other funding. Authors must disclose any interests in two places: 1. A summary declaration of interest statement in the title page file (if double anonymized) or the manuscript file (if single anonymized). If there are no interests to declare then please state this: 'Declarations of interest: none'. 2. Detailed disclosures as part of a separate Declaration of Interest form, which forms part of the journal's official records. It is important for potential interests to be declared in both places and that the information matches. More information.

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.

Submission declaration

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.

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. When coding terminology is used, we recommend to avoid offensive or exclusionary terms such as "master", "slave", "blacklist" and "whitelist". We suggest using alternatives that are more appropriate and (self-) explanatory such as "primary", "secondary", "blocklist" and "allowlist". These guidelines are meant as a point of reference to help identify appropriate language but are by no means exhaustive or definitive.

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.

Changes to Authorship

This policy concerns the addition, deletion, or rearrangement of author names in the authorship of accepted manuscripts. Before the accepted manuscript is published online, requests to add or remove an author, or to rearrange the author names, must be sent to the Journal Manager from the corresponding author of the accepted manuscript and must include: (i) the reason the name should be added or removed, or the author names rearranged; and (ii) an updated Authorship & Conflicts of Interest Statement with signatures from all authors that they agree with the addition, removal or rearrangement. In the case of addition or removal of author names, this must include confirmation from the author(s) being added or removed. Requests that are not sent by the corresponding author will be forwarded by the Journal Manager to the corresponding author, who must follow the procedures as described above.

Previous Publication or Duplicate Submission

Submitted manuscripts are considered with the understanding that they have not been published previously in print or electronic format (except in abstract or poster form) and are not under consideration in totality or in part by another publication or electronic medium.

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 can be found on https://www.goodreports.org/reporting-checklists/consort/. TJOG has adopted the ICMJE proposal from the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) that require, as a condition of consideration for publication of clinical trials, registration in a public trials registry. Purely observational studies (those in which the assignment of the medical intervention is not at the discretion of the investigator) do not require registration. Further information can be found at https://www.icmje.org.

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.

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


The TJOG is the official peer-reviewed publication of Taiwan Association of Obstetrics and Gynecology. Manuscripts published in the TJOG become the permanent property of the Taiwan Association of Obstetrics and Gynecology. This is a subsidized open access journal where Taiwan Association of Obstetrics and Gynecology pays for the publishing costs incurred by the journal. Authors do not have to pay any Article Processing Charge or Open Access Publication Fee.

All articles will be available Open Access on ScienceDirect. Permitted (re)use is that outlined by the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs (CC BY-NC-ND) license, which states that for non-commercial purposes, others may distribute and copy the article, and 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.

Open Access

This Journal is a peer reviewed, subsidized open access journal where Taiwan Association of Obstetrics and Gynecology pays for the publishing costs incurred by the Journal. Authors do not have to pay any Article Processing Charge or Open Access Publication Fee.

Elsevier supports responsible sharing
Find out how you can share your research published in Elsevier journals.

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, it is recommended to state this.

Open access

Please visit our Open Access page for more information about open access publishing in this journal.

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 Language Editing service available from Elsevier's Language Services.

Preparation

Manuscript Preparation

Text should be typed double-spaced on one side of white A4 (297 × 210 mm) paper, with outer margins of 2.5 cm. A manuscript should include a title page, abstract, text, acknowledgments (if any), and figures and tables as appropriate. Each section of the manuscript should begin on a new page. Pages should be numbered consecutively, beginning with the title page.

Title Page
The title page should contain the following information (in order, from the top to bottom of the page):

  • article category
  • article title
  • names (spelled out in full) of all authors*, and the institutions with which they are affiliated; indicate all affiliations with a superscripted lowercase letter after the author's name and in front of the matching affiliation.
  • Conflicts of interest statement**
  • corresponding author details (name, e-mail, mailing address, telephone and fax numbers)
*The name of each author should be written with the family name last, e.g., Wan-Lin Chang. Authorship is restricted only to direct participants who have contributed significantly to the work.

**Since it is difficult to distinguish between an actual conflict of interest and a perceived conflict of interest, the TJOG requires authors to disclose all and any potential conflicts of interest and let readers judge for themselves. Therefore, please ensure that you provide information about any potential financial and non-financial conflicts of interest (see Section 2 for more information) in a concise statement before the corresponding author details.

Abstract and Keywords
An abstract and up to 6 relevant keywords (in alphabetical order) are required for the following article categories: Review Articles, Original Articles, Short Communications, and Case Reports.

Abstracts for Original Articles, Case Reports and Short Communications should be structured (according to the article Categories).

And abstracts for Editorial, Review Article, Research Letters, and Correspondence should be unstructured.

Abstracts for Original Articles should be structured into the following sections.
Objective: briefly explain the importance of the study topic and state a precise study question or purpose.
Materials and methods: briefly introduce the methods used to perform the study; include information on the study design, setting, subjects, interventions, outcome measures and analyses as appropriate.
Results: briefly present the significant results, with data and statistical details such as p values where appropriate; be sure that information in the abstract matches that in the main text.
Conclusion: state the meaning of your findings, being careful to address the study question directly and to confine your conclusions to aspects covered in the abstract; give equal emphasis to positive and negative findings.

Keywords should be taken from the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) list of Index Medicus (http://www.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/meshhome.html).

No abstract or keywords are required for Editorials, Research Letters and Correspondence.

Main Text
The text for Original Articles and Short Communications should be organized into the following sections: Introduction, Materials (or Patients) and methods, Results, Discussion, and References. The Introduction should discuss the objective of the reported work and provide relevant background information. The Materials and methods should identify the population or patient samples in the study and explain the methods used. The Results should explain all the important findings and provide information about the accuracy and reliability of the results. The Discussion should state the implications of the findings and any conclusions based on the


The text for Review Articles should be divided into logical sections with appropriate headings.
The text For Editorials, Research Letters and Correspondence should be in one single section with appropriate paragraphs, but there should be no section headings.
Please note that writing errors will result in immediate rejection of the paper.

Abbreviations
Where a term/definition will be continually referred to, it must be written in full when it first appears in the text, followed by the subsequent abbreviation in parentheses (even if it was previously defined in the abstract). Thereafter, the abbreviation may be used. An abbreviation should not be first defined in any section heading; if an abbreviation has previously been defined in the text, then the abbreviation may be used in a subsequent section heading. Restrict the number of abbreviations to those that are absolutely necessary and ensure consistency of abbreviations throughout the article. Ensure that an abbreviation so defined does actually appear later in the text (excluding in figures/tables), otherwise, it should be deleted.

Numbers
Numbers that begin a sentence or those that are less than 10 should be spelled out using letters. Centuries and decades should be spelled out, e.g., the Eighties or nineteenth century. Laboratory parameters, time, temperature, length, area, mass, and volume should be expressed using digits.

Units
Système International (SI) units must be used, with the exception of blood pressure values which are to be reported in mmHg. Please use the metric system for the expression of length, area, mass, and volume. Temperatures are to be given in degrees Celsius.

Names of drugs, devices and other products
Use the Recommended International Nonproprietary Name (rINN) for medicinal substances, unless the specific trade name of a drug is directly relevant to the discussion. Generic drug names should appear in lowercase letters in the text. If a specific proprietary drug needs to be identified, the brand name may appear only once in the manuscript in parentheses following the generic name the first time the drug is mentioned in the text.

For devices and other products, the specific brand or trade name, the manufacturer and their location (city, state, country) should be provided the first time the device or product is mentioned in the text, for example, "...IBM SPSS Statistics 21.0 was used (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, USA)". Thereafter, the generic term (if appropriate) should be used.


References
Authors are responsible for the accuracy and completeness of their references and for correct in-text citation.

In the main text, tables, figure legends

  • References should be indicated by numbers in square brackets in line with the text, and numbered consecutively according to order of appearance in the text. [The actual authors can be referred to, but the reference number(s) must always be given.]
  • References cited in tables or figure legends should be included in sequence at the point where the table or figure is first mentioned in the main text.
  • Do not cite abstracts unless they are the only available reference to an important concept.
  • Do not cite uncompleted work or work that has not yet been accepted for publication (i.e., “unpublished observation”, “personal communication”) as references. Also see Section

In the references list

  • References should be limited to those cited in the text and listed in numerical order, NOT alphabetical order, i.e., in numerical order, NOT alphabetical order.
  • References should include, in order, authors’ surnames and initials, article title, abbreviated journal name, year, volume and inclusive page numbers.
  • The surnames and initials of all the authors up to 6 should be included, but when authors number 7 or more, list the first 6 authors only followed by “et al”.
  • Abbreviations for journal names should conform to those used in MEDLINE.
  • If citing a website, provide the author information, article title, website address and the date you accessed the information.
  • Reference to an article that is in press must state the journal name and, if possible, the year and volume.

Examples of the most common reference types are provided below. (Please pay particular attention to the formatting, word capitalization, spacing and style.)

Standard journal articles
[1] Kanamori C, Kanamori T, Tanaka Y, Kanzaki H. Three-cycle fentanyl patch system contributes to stable control of plasma fentanyl concentration in gynecologic cancer pain patients. Taiwan J Obstet Gynecol 2011;50:79-84.
[2] [dataset] Oguro M, Imahiro S, Saito S, Nakashizuka T. Mortality data for Japanese oak wilt disease and surrounding forest compositions, Mendeley Data, v1; 2015. http://dx.doi.org/10.17632/xwj98nb39r.1

Journal article with more than 6 authors
Chen CP, Wu PC, Lin CJ, Chern SR, Tsai FJ, Lee CC, et al. Unbalanced reciprocal translocations at amniocentesis. Taiwanese J Obstet Gynecol 2011;50:48-57.

Journal supplement


Conflicts of Interest Statement and Funding/Support Statement
Since it is difficult to distinguish between an actual conflict of interest and a perceived conflict of interest, the TJOG requires authors to disclose all and any potential conflicts of interest and let readers judge for themselves. Therefore, please ensure that you provide information about any potential financial and non-financial conflicts of interest (see Section 2 for more information) in a concise paragraph after the main text. If none, then state, "The author(s) have no conflicts of interest relevant to this article."

All financial and material support for the reseach, work, writing and editorial assistance from internal or external agencies, including commercial companies, should be clearly and completely identified in a Funding/Support Statement.

Acknowledgments
After the Funding/Support Statement(if any), general acknowledgments for consultations and statistical analyses should be listed concisely, including the names of the individuals who were directly involved. Consent should be obtained from those individuals before their names are listed in this section. Those acknowledged should not include secretarial, clerical or technical staff whose participation was limited to the performance of their normal duties.


References
Authors are responsible for the accuracy and completeness of their references and for correct in-text citation.

In the main text, tables, figure legends

  • References should be indicated by numbers in square brackets in line with the text, and numbered consecutively according to order of appearance in the text. [The actual authors can be referred to, but the reference number(s) must always be given.]
  • References cited in tables or figure legends should be included in sequence at the point where the table or figure is first mentioned in the main text.
  • Do not cite abstracts unless they are the only available reference to an important concept.
  • Do not cite uncompleted work or work that has not yet been accepted for publication (i.e., “unpublished observation”, “personal communication”) as references. Also see Section

In the references list

  • References should be limited to those cited in the text and listed in numerical order, NOT alphabetical order, i.e., in numerical order, NOT alphabetical order.
  • References should include, in order, authors’ surnames and initials, article title, abbreviated journal name, year, volume and inclusive page numbers.
  • The surnames and initials of all the authors up to 6 should be included, but when authors number 7 or more, list the first 6 authors only followed by “et al”.
  • Abbreviations for journal names should conform to those used in MEDLINE.
  • If citing a website, provide the author information, article title, website address and the date you accessed the information.
  • Reference to an article that is in press must state the journal name and, if possible, the year and volume.

Examples of the most common reference types are provided below. (Please pay particular attention to the formatting, word capitalization, spacing and style.)

Standard journal articles
Kanamori C, Kanamori T, Tanaka Y, Kanzaki H. Three-cycle fentanyl patch system contributes to stable control of plasma fentanyl concentration in gynecologic cancer pain patients. Taiwan J Obstet Gynecol 2011;50:79-84.

Journal article with more than 6 authors
Chen CP, Wu PC, Lin CJ, Chern SR, Tsai FJ, Lee CC, et al. Unbalanced reciprocal translocations at amniocentesis. Taiwanese J Obstet Gynecol 2011;50:48-57.

Journal supplement


Kaplan NM. The endothelium as prognostic factor and therapeutic target: what criteria should we apply? J Cardiovasc Pharmacol 1998;32(Suppl 3):S78-80.

Journal article not in English but with English abstract
Hofele C, Schwager-Schmitt M, Volkmann M. Prognostic value of antibodies against p53 in patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma-five years survival rate. Laryngorhinootologie 2002;81:342-5. [In German, English abstract]

Book with edition
Bradley EL. Medical and surgical management. 2nd ed. Philadelphia: Saunders; 1982, p. 72–95.

Book with editors
Letheridge S, Cannon CR, editors. Bilingual education: teaching English as a second language. New York: Praeger; 1980.

Book chapter in book with editor and edition
Greaves M, Culligan DJ. Blood and bone marrow. In: Underwood JCE, editor. General and systematic pathology. 4th ed. London: Churchill Livingstone; 2004, p. 615-72.

Book series with editors
Wilson JG, Fraser FC, editors. Handbook of teratology, vols. 1-4. New York: Plenum Press; 1977-1978.

Bulletin
World Health Organization. World health report 2002: reducing risk, promoting healthy life. Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization; 2002.

Electronic publications
Duchin JS. Can preparedness for biological terrorism save us from pertussis? Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med 2004;158(2). Available at http://archpedi.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/158/2/106. Accessed June 12, 2004.

Smeeth L, Iliffe S. Community screening for visual impairment in the elderly. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2002(2):CD001054. Doi:10.1002/14651858.CD1001054.

Item presented at a meeting but not yet published
Khuri FR, Lee JJ, Lippman SM. Isotretinoin effects on head and neck cancer recurrence and second primary tumors. In: Proceedings from the American Society of Clinical Oncology, May 31-June 3, 2003; Chicago, IL, abstract 359.

Item presented at a meeting and published
Cionni RJ. Color perception in patients with UV- or bluelight-filtering IOLs. In: Symposium on cataract, IOL, and refractive surgery. San Diego, CA: American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery; 2004, abstract 337.

Theses
Ayers AJ. Retention of resin restorations by means of enamel etching and by pins [MSD thesis]. Indianapolis: Indiana University; 1971.

Website
Glueckauf RL, Whitton J, Baxter J. Videocounseling for families of rural teens with epilepsy-project update. Telehealth News 1998. Available at http://www.telehealth.net/subscribe/newslettr_4a.html#1. Accessed November 15, 2008.

Company/manufacturer publication/pamphlet
Eastman Kodak Company, Eastman Organic Chemicals. Catalog no. 49. Rochester, NY: Eastman Kodak; 1977, p. 2-3.


Tables

Tables should supplement, not duplicate, the text. They should have a concise table heading, be self-explanatory, and numbered consecutively in the order of their citation in the text. Items requiring explanatory footnotes should be denoted using superscripted lowercase letters (a, b, c, etc.), with the footnotes arranged under the table in alphabetical order. Asterisks (*, **) are used only to indicate the probability level of tests of significance. Abbreviations used in the table must be defined and placed after the footnotes in alphabetical order. If you include a block of data or table from another source, whether published or unpublished, you must acknowledge the original source.

Figures

General guidelines
The number of figures should be restricted to the minimum necessary to support the textual material. Figures should have an informative figure legend and be numbered in the order of their citation in the text. All symbols and abbreviations should be defined in the figure legend in alphabetical order. Items requiring explanatory footnotes should follow the same style as that for tables as described in Section "Tables".

Patient identification should be obscured. All lettering should be done professionally and should be in proportion to the drawing, graph or photograph.Photomicrographs must include an internal scale marker, and the legend should state the type of specimen, original magnification and stain.

Figures must be submitted as separate picture files at the correct resolution (see Section 8.8.2 below). The files should be named according to the figure number and format, e.g.,“Fig1.tif”,“Fig2.jpg”.

Formats
Regardless of the application used, when your electronic artwork is finalized, please “save as” or convert the images to one of the following formats (note the resolution requirements for line drawings, halftones, and line/halftone combinations given below):

  • EPS: Vector drawings. Embed the font or save the text as “graphics”.
  • TIFF: Color or grayscale photographs (halftones) — always use a minimum of 300 dpi.
  • TIFF: Bitmapped line drawings — use a minimum of 1000 dpi.
  • TIFF: Combination of bitmapped line/half-tone (color or grayscale) — a minimum of 600 dpi.
  • DOC, XLS or PPT: If your electronic artwork is created in any of these Microsoft Office applications, please supply “as is”.
Please do not:
  • Supply files that do not meet the resolution requirements detailed above;
  • Supply files that are optimized for screen use (such as GIF, BMP, PICT, WPG) as the resolution is too low;
  • Submit graphics that are disproportionately large for the content.
A detailed guide on electronic artwork is available at https://www.elsevier.com/artworkinstructions.

Peer review

This journal operates a single anonymized review process. All contributions are typically sent to a minimum of two independent expert reviewers to assess the scientific quality of the paper. The Editor is responsible for the final decision regarding acceptance or rejection of articles. The Editor's decision is final. Editors are not involved in decisions about papers which they have written themselves or have been written by family members or colleagues or which relate to products or services in which the editor has an interest. Any such submission is subject to all of the journal's usual procedures, with peer review handled independently of the relevant editor and their research groups. More information on types of peer review.

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.

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.

After acceptance



Once a manuscript has been accepted for publication, authors should submit the final version of their manuscript in MS Word format, with all tables/figures as applicable, via e-mail to the Editorial Office.

Accepted manuscripts are then presented to the Publisher to be copyedited according to the Journal's style and the galley proofs in the form of a PDF file are sent by the Publisher to the corresponding author for final approval. Authors are responsible for all statements made in their work, including changes made by the copy editor. Proofreading is solely the authors' responsibility. Note that the Editorial Board reserves the right to make revisions to the manuscript and the Publisher may proceed with the publication of your article if no response from the author(s) is received.

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.

Publication Charges and Reprints

There are no page charges or color printing charges associated with publishing your work in the TJOG. However, authors should note that while color figures will be reproduced on the Journal's website in color free of charge, most color figures will be converted to grayscale in the print journal. The Editor-in-Chief will decide which color figures will be printed in color (if any) in the print journal, and his decision is final.
**The cost of duplication of editorial production work, withdrawal of articles or major corrections after articles are sent for editorial production, the author will be charged at NT$1,500 per editorial page.

For environmental reasons, TJOG does not provide article offprints to authors. Professional reprints (which include a cover page) of your article may be ordered at prices based on the cost of production.

Author inquiries



Visit the Elsevier Support Center to find the answers you need. Here you will find everything from Frequently Asked Questions to ways to get in touch.
You can also check the status of your submitted article or find out when your accepted article will be published.

FORMS

Updated Mar 2016