Instructions to Authors

Thank you for contributing to the International Journal of Nutrology (IJN). Please read the instructions carefully and observe all the directions given. Failure to do so may result in unnecessary delays in publishing your article.

The International Journal of Nutrology (IJN) is the official scientific journal of the Brazilian Association of Nutrology (ABRAN). The journal aims to publish scholarly articles that contribute to the advancement of nutrology, nutrition-related medical care, research, professional practice, and education in the medical and health sciences.

The IJN is a quarterly, open-access, peer-reviewed journal established in 2011, with a scope that includes articles on nutrology and all medical specialties related to nutrological care and/or nutrological and dietary interventions in the context of disease prevention and/or treatment and health benefits. The IJN also encourages the publication of articles related to lifestyle, quality of life, healthy aging, sports/physical exercise, chronic diseases, and palliative care, whether dependent on or independent of nutrological care. The IJN covers nutrological science through biological, microbiological, biochemical, genetic, and omics analyses (metabolomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, etc.). Furthermore, the IJN encourages the publication of articles from other health areas, such as dentistry, that benefit from nutrology, as well as encouraging the publication of clinical, preclinical, and experimental studies on nutrology, food science, food and health, and pharmacology for the promotion of human health. In addition, epidemiological and public health studies relevant to nutrology and related areas are encouraged. The IJN publishes original articles, review articles, case reports, and letters to the editor, as well as supplements and special editions.

The IJN is considered an international journal due to its editorial board and reviewers with a global geographic diversity, including representatives from Brazil, the United States, Israel, Spain, Portugal, South Korea, Nigeria, Jordan, India, Palestine, Chile, Mexico, Paraguay, Ecuador, Argentina, Uruguay, and Sudan. Furthermore, the IJN accepts articles from international authors.

The publisher responsible for the management and administration of the International Journal of Nutrology, which supports the Brazilian Association of Nutrology (ABRAN), is the MetaScience Press (Website MetaScience Press), which was established in 2019 and created and developed at UNESP - São Paulo State University, Institute of Biosciences, Humanities and Exact Sciences (Ibilce) (AUIN - UNESP, and MetaScience Press and UNESP), São José do Rio Preto, São Paulo, Brazil.

The IJN also publishes supplements. Articles published as "supplements" are among the best academic and institutional studies that complement and/or supplement other studies on the same topic previously published. Thus, for each published edition, there is a corresponding supplementary edition. The symposium or congress/conference organizer needs to provide the topic and content of the conference to the Editorial Office, including title, location, and date of the meeting; the names and affiliations of potential guest editors; the sponsor(s) of the meeting; the sponsor(s) of the publication; and the program from the meeting, along with the names of the speakers. After that, the individual articles will undergo anonymous peer review. To be considered for publication, supplement articles must be received within 3 months of each conference.

Peer Reviewing Process

The IJN follows a double-blind peer-review process where neither the author nor the reviewer knows the other's identity.

At least three random reviewers, based on their technical and clinical expertise, are assigned by the Editor-in-Chief to each manuscript, and the decision is taken based on the comparative reviews that the manuscript receives during the review process.

After authors are notified of the reviewers' comments, the deadline for submitting the fully revised article, along with the rebuttal letter, is five (5) business days. If authors require more time to review the article, they should send an email requesting it to the editorial office ([email protected]).

Manuscripts and Abstract Format

The manuscripts must be written in English and/or Portuguese in an editable format and must have Abstracts and Keywords in English and/or Portuguese.

Original article: The text should have up to 6.500 words, not including references and tables. It should have up to 5 tables and/or figures. The number of references should not exceed 40. Their structure should contain the following:

Review article: The text should have up to 5.000 words, not including references and tables, resulting from an investigation that analyzes, systematizes, and integrates the results of published or unpublished research, to present progress and developmental trends. Their structure should contain the following:

Short article: The text should have up to 2.000 words, not including references and tables. A brief document presenting the preliminary (or partial) results of original scientific or technological research that usually requires quick diffusion. Their structure should contain the following:

Experimental Research: Full-length reports of completed basic or cadaveric research are reported following the Reporting Guidelines stated above. The manuscript must be no more than 4,000 words (excluding references) and contain the following: a structured Abstract, Introduction, Methods, Theory/Calculation, Discussion, Conclusion, Appendices, Acknowledgements, and References. Authors are encouraged to publish additional material (for instance, large tables, figures with forest plots, data from subgroup analyses, etc.) as Supplemental Digital Content.

Case report or Case Series: A document that presents the description of a specific case in English and/or Portuguese. Includes a review of the topic on similar cases. The text should have up to 1.500 words in a document, not including references and tables. Their structure should contain the following:

Letters to the editor: The text should have up to 1.000 words, not including references and tables. Critical, analytical, or interpretive positions on documents published in the journal, interesting topics, or articles published in other journals, which, in the opinion of the Editor, constitute an important contribution to the community. Their structure should contain the following:

Editorial: These discuss issues of importance to medical science that are not directly related to published material. Editorials are usually invited. Editorials should not exceed 4,000 words. Please include a title page giving all authors' names, addresses, email addresses, phone and fax numbers, as well as an Acknowledgement statement.

Correspondence: A letter to the Editor that raises issues of importance to medical sciences and is concerning an article recently published in the journal. If accepted, the letter is sent to the authors of the article, who have an opportunity to respond. Letters should not exceed 750 words. The title should reflect the content of the letter and not be titled the same as the targeted article. Please include a title page giving the author's name, address, email address, and phone number, as well as an Acknowledgement statement. Correspondence should have only one table or figure, three authors, and five references.

Special Numbers: organized after authorization by the Editor-in-Chief.

Graphical abstract

Although a graphical abstract is optional, its use is encouraged as it draws more attention to the online article. The graphical abstract should summarize the contents of the article in a concise, pictorial form designed to capture the attention of a wide readership. Graphical abstracts should be submitted as a separate file in the online submission system. Preferred file types: TIFF, JPEG, EPS, or MS Office files.

Registration of Research

Research involving human participants must comply with the current World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki (2024). Clinical trials must be registered in a publicly accessible registry before recruitment of the first participant. The registry name, registration number, and registration date must be reported in the abstract and Methods section. For other study designs, registration must be provided whenever required by applicable law, ethical review bodies, funders, or recognized reporting standards.

All authors are required to register clinical trials with the Data Providers of the World Health Organization (WHO) International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (ICTRP), available at: https://www.who.int/clinical-trials-registry-platform, or ReBEC (Brazilian Clinical Trials Registry), available at: https://ensaiosclinicos.gov.br/, or other similar data providers when approved by the national ethics committee and before selecting patients for research.

Also, all authors are required to register systematic reviews and/or meta-analyses in the PROSPERO database, available at: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/, preferably before starting the eligibility criteria application procedures, presenting the registration number in the database at the end of the summary. article and in the area of materials and methods.

Reporting Guidelines

Compliance with the relevant reporting guidelines is mandatory for submission of the following guidelines. You need to: 1. Submit a completed checklist, indicating the page numbers where compliance was achieved 2. Mention in your methods section that the research is being reported in line with the relevant guidelines, which should be named and cited.

Randomised Controlled Trials

All randomized controlled trials submitted for publication in the International Journal of Nutrology should include a completed Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT) flow chart and ensure that all elements in the CONSORT checklist are covered. A copy of the CONSORT checklist must be uploaded as supplemental material. Please refer to the CONSORT website for more information.

Systematic Reviews

Systematic reviews should be reported following the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) Guidelines (The PRISMA 2020 statement: An updated guideline for reporting systematic reviews) and must include the flow diagram as a figure and the checklist as supplemental material (https://prisma-statement.org/PRISMAStatement/Checklist.aspx). Please also upload a completed AMSTAR 2 checklist to aid the methodological quality of your article: https://amstar.ca/Amstar_Checklist.php or https://amstar.ca/docs/AMSTAR-2.pdf.

Cohort, Case-control, and Cross-sectional studies

Cohort, case-control, and cross-sectional studies must follow the STROBE Statement. Authors must upload the appropriate completed checklist as supplemental material. Surgical cohort studies may additionally follow the applicable STROCSS guidance.

Diagnostic, Quality Improvement, and Qualitative studies

Diagnostic Studies should be reported following the STARD statement criteria (Standards for the Reporting of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies) and must include the flow diagram and checklist. Please see (https://www.equator-network.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/STARD-2015-flow-diagram.pdf and https://www.equator-network.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/STARD-2015-checklist.pdf.

Quality Improvement studies should comply with the Standards for Quality Improvement Reporting Excellence (SQUIRE) criteria: SQUIRE Statement.

Qualitative studies involving interviews or focus groups require the Consolidated Criteria for Reporting Qualitative Research (COREQ) checklist.

Health Economic Evaluation

Health Economic Evaluation studies should conform to the CHEERS statement.

Tumour Marker Prognostic Study

Tumour Marker Prognostic studies should be reported following the REMARK criteria: https://www.equator-network.org/reporting-guidelines/reporting-recommendations-for-tumour-marker-prognostic-studies-remark/

Before and After Studies

Before and after studies measure particular characteristics of a population or group of individuals at the end of an event or intervention, compare them with those characteristics before the event or intervention, and then gauge the effects of the event or intervention. These studies should conform to the STROCCS statement www.strocssguideline.com.

Experimental Animal Studies

Research involving animals must have prior approval from the appropriate institutional animal ethics committee or equivalent authority. The manuscript must identify the approving body, approval or protocol number, and date of approval. Authors must report in vivo animal research in accordance with the ARRIVE Guidelines 2.0 and upload a completed ARRIVE 2.0 checklist as supplemental material. The editorial team will verify compliance with the ARRIVE Essential 10 before peer review. Manuscripts lacking approval information or an applicable checklist will be returned to the authors before review.

Qualitative Surveys

Qualitative Surveys should be reported following the following criteria:

Qualitative research should follow the SRQR Guidelines. Syntheses of qualitative research should follow ENTREQ.

Interviews and focus groups should follow COREQ.

Case Report and Case Series

All case reports should follow the CARE Guidelines, and all case series should follow the PROCESS Guidelines. A completed checklist must be uploaded as supplemental material, and the manuscript must state that the work has been reported in accordance with the applicable guideline.

Financial Support and Competing Interests

All authors must disclose financial and non-financial relationships or activities that could influence, or reasonably be perceived to influence, their work. An ICMJE Disclosure Form must be completed for each author and submitted with the manuscript. Authors must also include a conflict-of-interest statement in the manuscript, even when there is nothing to disclose.

Authors must clearly provide the following declarations:

• Ethical approval
• Patient or volunteer consent
• Sources of funding
• Author contribution
• Conflict of interest disclosure
• Research registration unique identifying number
• Guarantor

If any of the disclosures are not relevant to your manuscript, please state so underneath the heading.

CRediT

The journal requires an author-contribution statement based on the CRediT Contributor Roles Taxonomy. The corresponding author must identify the applicable contribution roles for every author. More than one role may be assigned to each author.

Ownership/Permissions

All figures submitted must be owned solely by the author(s). For Figures not meeting this requirement, authors must obtain permission for the use of the figure from the International Journal of Nutrology. Obtaining this permission is the sole responsibility of the author(s). Credit must be included in the figure legend for all figures being printed with permission.

These requirements apply to the following materials:

• Previously published materials, such as figures and adapted tables or direct quotations of more than 50 words, require permission from the copyright holder (usually the original publisher).
• Unpublished data (i.e., from a personal conversation or a manuscript in preparation) require permission from the appropriate investigator.
• Photographs revealing unmasked faces require permission from the subject(s) of the photograph. If subject- or patient-consent cannot be reached, photographs must be unidentifiable.

Product Information

Medications, materials, and devices must be identified by full non-proprietary name as well as brand name if appropriate, and the manufacturer's name. Place this information in parentheses in the text, not in a footnote.

Corrections, Expressions of Concern, and Retractions

The International Journal of Nutrology follows the COPE Core Practices and uses COPE guidance when handling corrections, expressions of concern, retractions, suspected research misconduct, duplicate publication, plagiarism, and authorship disputes. This statement describes the journal's use of COPE guidance and does not constitute a claim of COPE membership.

Correction, expression-of-concern, and retraction notices will be clearly identified, dated, included in the journal contents, and permanently linked to the original article. The journal will preserve the scholarly record and will not silently replace or alter a published article when a formal notice is required. The journal also follows the ICMJE Recommendations on Corrections and Version Control and the COPE Retraction Guidelines.

General Guidelines

• You must submit a digital copy of your manuscript. Hard-copy submissions are not accepted.
• The IJN follows a double-blind peer-review process, in which the identities of the authors and reviewers are concealed from each other.
• The anonymous manuscript contains no author names, affiliations, acknowledgments, institutional identifiers, self-identifying statements, or file metadata that could reveal the authors. A separate title page containing complete author information has been submitted.
• Keep the format of your manuscript simple and clear. We will set your manuscript according to our style - do not try to “design” the document.
• The title page and the anonymous main manuscript must be uploaded as separate editable files. The anonymous manuscript—including the abstract, keywords, main text, references, figure captions, and tables—must be double-spaced, use 12-point Arial font and 2 cm margins, and contain no information that could identify the authors or their institutions.
• Each figure should be saved as a separate file. Do not embed figures within the manuscript file. This requires special handling by MetaScience Press’s Production Department.
• Keep abbreviations to a minimum and be sure to explain all of them the first time they are used in the text.
• The manuscripts should be written in English and/or Portuguese.
• The authors should use Système International (SI) measurements. For clarity, non-metric equivalents may be included in parentheses following the SI measurements.
• Use generic names for drugs. You may cite proprietary names in parentheses along with the name and location of the manufacturer.
• Credit suppliers and manufacturers of equipment, drugs, and other brand-name material mentioned in the manuscript within parentheses, giving the company name and primary location.
• The papers will be submitted to 3 peer reviewers appointed by the Editor-in-Chief. Within the next 60 days, the authors will be informed about the acceptance of the material.
• Once accepted, articles might be subject to minor corrections following the editorial rules. Any changes in form, style, or interpretation must be authorized by the authors.
• If the manuscript is accepted for publication, an Article Processing Charge (APC) of USD 600 applies in accordance with the Article Processing Charges Policy. No APC is charged for rejected manuscripts.
• The reviewers might suggest changes before the manuscript's publication.
• In case of manuscript rejection, the corresponding author will receive a letter containing the reviewers’ comments on the manuscript.
• Keywords must be selected using the Health Sciences Descriptors (DeCS/MeSH).
• Authors are instructed to deposit research data in open-access data repositories following standards that guarantee authorship, use, and citation of data.
• The reference standard adopted in all articles is the Vancouver style. References should be cited in numerical order of appearance in the text and in brackets (without a superscript). Examples: [1,2] or [1-3], etc.

Final correction

The PDF of the accepted manuscripts will be sent to the corresponding author for approval. The final version must be sent back to the editor in two weeks. If the editor does not receive the corrected proofs in 2 weeks, the manuscript will be published, even without the final approval of the authors.

Research Ethics and Mandatory Declarations

The journal requires transparent reporting of research ethics in accordance with the World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki (2024) and the ICMJE Recommendations on the Protection of Research Participants. These requirements apply to submitted manuscripts and to the final published article.

Studies Involving Human Participants

• Authors must state the name of the responsible ethics committee or institutional review board, the approval number or identifier, and the approval date in the Methods section.
• If ethical approval was waived or the study was considered exempt, the manuscript must identify the responsible body and explain the formal basis for the waiver or exemption.
• A statement of informed consent must be provided, indicating whether consent was obtained, waived by the responsible ethics body, or not applicable, with an explanation when necessary.
• The editorial team may request approval letters, consent documentation, protocols, or confirmation from the responsible institution at any stage of evaluation or after publication.

Children, Adolescents, and Other Vulnerable Participants

Research involving children, adolescents, adults who lack decision-making capacity, institutionalized persons, economically or educationally disadvantaged participants, or other individuals in situations of vulnerability must describe the additional safeguards adopted to protect participants from coercion, undue influence, discrimination, and avoidable risk.

• For participants who are minors, authors must report permission from a parent or legal guardian and the child's or adolescent's assent whenever applicable to age, maturity, local law, and the ethics committee decision.
• Any waiver of parental or guardian permission or participant assent must have formal approval from the responsible ethics committee and must be explained in the manuscript.
• The scientific justification for including a vulnerable population and the measures adopted to minimize risk must be clearly stated.
• Studies involving vulnerable participants without sufficient ethical documentation will not proceed to peer review.

Privacy and Consent for Publication

Names, initials, hospital numbers, photographs, pedigrees, or other information that may identify a participant must not be published unless the information is scientifically essential and written consent for publication has been obtained from the participant or, when applicable, the parent or legal guardian. Removing direct identifiers does not eliminate the need for consent when a participant may still be recognizable.

Animal Research

Animal studies must report prior approval by the appropriate institutional authority, including the committee name, protocol number, and approval date, and must comply with applicable animal-welfare requirements and the ARRIVE Guidelines 2.0.

Required Statements in Published Articles

Each article must include the following statements when applicable: Ethical Approval; Informed Consent; Consent for Publication; Trial or Study Registration; Funding; Conflicts of Interest; Author Contributions; and Data Availability. When an item is not applicable, the article must state “Not applicable” and provide a brief justification whenever the reason is not self-evident.

Authorization Letter

The corresponding author should send a letter authorizing the publication, signed by all co-authors, ensuring the uniqueness of the publication, ie, the article should not be posted on other news outlets and should not be available online. Articles already published in other media should say when and where they were accepted for publication.

Standards For Article Structure

Acknowledgment

Acknowledgments to contributors may be cited at the end of the article, before references.

Funding

Indication of research funding sources (even if the articles have not been funded) may be cited at the end of the article, before references.

Format of presentation: Title Page

Title

The article title should be short, clear, and concise. When necessary, one can use a subtitle title (with a maximum of 50 characters including spaces). The title must be written in English and/or Portuguese.

Authors

The author’s full name should come just below the title, with the highest degree and affiliation of each author.

Name of Institution

The name of the institution where the work was carried out must be cited as the author’s affiliation. Regarding studies presented in meetings, conferences, or congresses, the name of the event should be cited.

Conflict of Interest Statement (if any):

All authors (including corresponding and coauthors associated with the manuscript) must make a formal statement at the time of submission indicating any potential conflict of interest that might constitute an embarrassment to any of the authors if it were not to be declared and were to emerge after publication. Such conflicts might include, but are not limited to, shareholding in or receipt of a grant or consultancy fee from a company whose product features in the submitted manuscript or which manufactures a competing product. Should the article be accepted for publication, this information will be published with the paper.

Types of conflicts include Consulting, Royalties, Research Support, Institutional Support, Ownership, Stock/Options, Speakers Bureau, and Fellowship Support. Any commercial entity whose products are described, reviewed, evaluated, or compared in the manuscript, except for those disclosed in the Acknowledgments section, is a potential conflict.

This journal follows the guidelines of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors, and an ICMJE disclosure of potential conflicts of interest (COI) form must be submitted for each author at the time of manuscript submission. Forms must be submitted even if there is no conflict of interest. It is the responsibility of the corresponding author to ensure that all authors adhere to this policy before submission.

A conflict of interest statement must also be included in the manuscript after any "Acknowledgements" and "Funding" sections and should summarize all aspects of any conflicts of interest included on the ICMJE form. If there is no conflict of interest, authors must include 'Conflict of Interest: none declared'.

Download the current ICMJE Disclosure of Interest Form. Incomplete or missing forms may delay editorial assessment and will be returned for completion.

Informed Consent

Research involving human participants must include a clear statement in the Methods section describing ethics approval and informed consent. Authors must state whether individual informed consent was obtained or formally waived by the responsible ethics committee. For minors, permission from a parent or legal guardian and participant assent must be reported whenever applicable. Separate written consent for publication is required when an individual may be identified in text, images, video, audio, or other data.

Conflicts arising from papers authored by Editorial Board Members

The journal evaluates any submissions from the members of the editorial board purely on the merit of the clinical content presented, as it does for any other article coming from authors globally. All the articles, including articles from Editorial Board members, are evaluated via a double-blind peer review process, which will ensure that the information of the author (s) is not revealed to the reviewers. In doing so, the journal ensures there is no conflict of interest or preferences, and the selection of articles is purely on their clinical content merit, thus ensuring the best ethical standards and practices of peer review are maintained.

Authorship

Authorship will be based on the criteria of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE): 1. Substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work; or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the job; AND 2. Write the work or critically review it for important intellectual content; 3. Final approval of the version to be published; 4. Agreement to be responsible for all aspects of the engagement to ensure that questions related to the accuracy or completeness of any portion of the engagement are properly investigated and resolved. In the case of collective authorship, the names of those responsible for the work will be included, followed by “and the Group ...” when all the members of the group consider themselves co-authors of the work. If you want to include the name of the group, although not all its members are considered co-authors, the formula used will be to mention the responsible authors followed by “on behalf of the Group ...” or “by the Group ...”.

In any case, the names and institutions of the group members will be included in an annex at the end of the manuscript. The authors will be noted both on the first page of the title and in the Add/Edit/Remove/Author section. Declaration that they have read and approved the manuscript and that the requirements for authorship have been met. The Journal declines any responsibility for possible conflicts derived from the authorship of the works published in the Journal.

Publishing Permissions

The authors are responsible for obtaining the appropriate permissions to partially reproduce material (text, tables, or figures) from other publications.

These permissions must be requested both from the author and from the Publishing House that has published said material.

Publishing permission is required from the institution that has funded the research. Declaration that the content of the article is original and that it has not been previously published, sent, or submitted to any other publication, in its entirety or any of its parts. The authors should be aware that not revealing that the material submitted for publication has already been totally or partially published constitutes a serious breach of scientific ethics. Likewise, authors who reproduce previously published materials in their article (text, tables, or figures) are responsible for obtaining the appropriate permissions to reproduce said materials in the journal. The authors must have obtained written authorization from both the author and the publisher that has published this material, and send a copy of it together with the article to the Journal.

Redundant or duplicate publication

The editors and the International Journal of Nutrology (IJN) combat plagiarism, double publication, and scientific misconduct with the software CrossCheck, powered by iThenticate. Your manuscript may be subject to an investigation and retraction if plagiarism is suspected.

The journal does not accept previously published material and will not consider manuscripts that are simultaneously submitted to other journals, or redundant or duplicate publications, that is, articles that substantially overlap with another already published, printed, or in the electronic media. Authors must inform in the cover letter about previous submissions or publications of the same work, in whole or in part, that may be considered redundant or duplicate publication.

These restrictions do not apply to published abstracts of communications, papers, or conferences presented at national or international scientific meetings.

Mailing Address

Repeat the name of the corresponding author and add your full address, phone, and email.

References

The reference standard adopted in all articles is the Vancouver style. References should be cited in numerical order of appearance in the text and between brackets (without superscript).

Limit to 40 references for original articles, 25 for case reports, and 150 for review articles. References should be arranged in the text in the order they are cited and presented in numerical order of appearance, between brackets, in the text (without superscript numbers). The references should be the most up-to-date in the area. References of textbooks with more than 5 years should be limited to those that are fundamental. Mention all authors up to a total of 6. If the article has more than 6 authors, cite only the first 6 followed by et al (preceded by a comma). When the quote is an article already accepted for publication, include the phrase “in process of publication,” indicating the journal and year. Unpublished results or studies presented at medical conferences are not recommended for citation.

If the reference is an organization, its name should be cited. Example: World Health Organization.

Manuscript Submission

Manuscripts must be submitted through the IJN website: https://ijn.zotarellifilhoscientificworks.com/index.php/ijn.

Use the guidelines from Instructions to Authors to prepare your submission. All correspondence should be with the Regional Editorial Offices. If a paper is accepted, the Production Office will correspond with the author via e-mail.

Submission Preparation Checklist

As part of the submission process, authors are required to check off their submission‘s compliance with all of the following items, and submissions may be returned to authors who do not adhere to these guidelines.

• The submission has not been previously published, nor is it before another journal for consideration (or an explanation has been provided in Comments to the Editor).
• The submission file is in OpenOffice, Microsoft Word, RTF, or WordPerfect document file format.
• The anonymous manuscript contains no author names, affiliations, acknowledgments, institutional identifiers, self-identifying statements, or file metadata that could reveal the authors. A separate title page containing complete author information has been submitted.
• Where available, URLs for the references have been provided.
• The anonymous main manuscript must be double-spaced, use 12-point Arial font and 2 cm margins. Figure captions and tables must be included in the manuscript, while figure files must be uploaded separately in the formats specified in the Instructions to Authors.
• The text adheres to the stylistic and bibliographic requirements outlined in the Author Guidelines, which are found in About the Journal.
• For research involving human participants, the manuscript states the ethics committee or institutional review board name, approval number or identifier, and approval date, or provides the formal basis for an exemption or waiver.
• The manuscript states whether informed consent was obtained or formally waived and, when applicable, whether consent for publication was obtained.
• For studies involving children, adolescents, or other vulnerable participants, the manuscript describes guardian permission, participant assent when applicable, and the additional safeguards adopted.
• For animal studies, the manuscript states the approving authority and protocol number and includes the completed ARRIVE 2.0 checklist as supplemental material.
• The manuscript includes the required statements on funding, conflicts of interest, author contributions, data availability, and study or trial registration when applicable.

Privacy Statement

The names and email addresses entered in this journal site will be used exclusively for the stated purposes of this journal and will not be made available for any other purpose or to any other party.

Repositories

Authors are instructed to deposit research data in open-access data repositories following standards that guarantee authorship, use, and citation of data.