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Author Guidelines

These Author Guidelinescomply with the recommendations of the Higher Attestation Commission (VAK) of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation and the international associations: Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), Council of Science Editors (CSE),  International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), European Medical Writers Association (EMWA),  World Association of Medical Editors (WAME), World Medical Association (WMA) and  Enhancing the Quality and Transparency of Health Research (EQUATOR), Association of Science Editors and Publishers (ANRI).

Kuban Scientific Medical Bulletin publishes original and review articles in the fields of medicine and biology, clinical and preventive medicine, as well as clinical cases. The selection criteria involve the theoretical and practical relevance of the reported results.

 GENERAL REQUIREMENTS

1. Editorial criteria

1.1. All submissions should be formatted according to the Journal’s requirements.

1.2. All manuscripts should report novel findings, which have not been previously published. All submitted manuscripts are checked for inappropriate borrowings using the Antiplagiat system.

2. Publication Charges

2.1. Publication in the journal is free of charge (see Author Fees)

2.2. The authors of the published article are not paid royalties. Author’s copies are not provided.

The Journal offers the authors a subscription to the print version of the journal or to the issue where their article was published.  

3. Manuscript Submission

The manuscript and cover documents are submitted viaour online submission system at "Submit Article" following prior registration:

• The manuscript (article type, manuscript body with figures and tables and all metadata, including Ethics Compliance, Acknowledgements, Reference list) in MS Word. The file should be named by the first author’s surname (Ivanov. Text).
• Cover documents in PDF format (Ivanov. Contribution of authors; Ivanov. Figure 1).

 Cover documents include:

1) cover letter (Appendix 1);

2) author consent to publish in Kuban Scientific Medical Bulletin (Appendix 2);

3) author consent to personal data processing (Appendix 3);

4) information about the authors (Appendix 4, Clause 6 of General Requirements);

5) author contribution statement (Appendix 5, Clause 7 of General Requirements);

6) conflict of interest statement (Appendix 6, Clause 8 of General Requirements);

7) Ethics Committee approval (if applicable): Appendices 7, 8, 9 (see Clause 2.1.10 of Special Requirements);

8) informed consent for the publication and description of aclinical case and photographic materials (if applicable);

9) electronic graphic images (graphs, block diagrams, etc.) and tables in editable Power Point and Excel format;

10) photographs, drawings and other images should be submitted in electronic form in JPEG format, with a definition of at least 600 dpi and a size of at least 85x65 mm.

4. Journal and Author Communication

4.1. Corresponding author

A corresponding author is the person who handles the submission and correspondence process.  Corresponding author stake responsibility for preparing and submitting all cover documents, responding timely to any editorial queries, ensuring that all co-authors have reviewed and approved the final version of the manuscript. The corresponding author should be available after publication to respond to critical comments and any editorial requests.

The co-author who uploads a manuscript via online system is automatically considered as the corresponding author.

4.2. All submissions undergo preliminary inspection for compliance with the Journal’s formal requirements, including thematic subject, metadata formatting, cover documents and absence of inappropriate borrowings. If discrepancies are identified, the authors are requested to revise or add the missing information. The Editorial Board has the right to reject the submission due to its insufficient scientific level. If the manuscript complies with the Journal’s requirements, the Editorial Board forwards the manuscript for double-blind peer review.

4.3. Each manuscript is forwarded to at least two reviewers. A third reviewer may be involved in case of differing opinions. Manuscripts containing statistical data are reviewed by an expert in medical statistics to check the appropriateness and accuracy of the statistical methods used and the results obtained.

4.4. Following the peer-review procedure, the Editorial Board makes the final decision on the publication of the manuscript.

4.5. Kuban Scientific Medical Bulletin may invite recognized researchers to prepare an article on a particular topic, e.g., the development of novel medical technologies. Such manuscripts undergo a standard peer review procedure. However, such articles are considered in priority order and may be translated into English at the expense of Kuban Scientific Medical Bulletin.

4.6. The Editors have the right to carry out proofreading of the article. All co-authors should agree with the final version of the manuscript prior to its publication.

4.7. The reviewers’ comments are forwarded to the author(s) to introduce the necessary revisions or refute the criticism (seethe Peer Review section).

4.8. The average number of rejected manuscripts in the Journal is 56%.

5. Language

Manuscripts from any country written in Russian and/or English are accepted for consideration. Articles published in English are accompanied by metadata in Russian, which can be prepared by the authors or by the Editors.

6. Information about the Authors (Appendix 4; Example) contains the following information: 1) name, patronymic or second name, surname; 2) academic degree and title (if any); 3) position; 4) affiliation (place of work); 5) ORCID; 6) e-mail. The authors may register their ORCID at https://orcid.org/.

7. Authorship

7.1. Kuban Scientific Medical Bulletin uses the authorship criteria formulated by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE). Individuals who do not meet all the required criteria should be listed in the “Acknowledgments” section.

7.2. Information about the contribution of each co-author should be provided separately (Appendix 5; Example).

8. Conflict of interest

8.1. The authors should declare any conflict of interest using the questionnaire (Appendix 6; Example).

8.2. All potential conflicts of interest, which may affect the reported results or conclusions, should be disclosed.

8.3. Manuscripts where competing interests are declared will not necessarily be rejected and will be considered fairly.

8.4. When a conflict of interest is suspected, the Editorial Board applies the algorithms approved by The Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

9. Anti-plagiarism policy

9.1. The Authors should ensure that the data presented in the article are original and that all cited sources are properly acknowledged.

9.2. The Editorial Board recommends that the authors evaluate their text prior to submission using https://www.antiplagiat.ru (for texts written in Russian) and http://www.plagiarism.org (for texts written in English).

9.3. Borrowed fragments cannot be used without indicating the original source. Plagiarism in all forms is unethical and unacceptable.

9.4. The Editorial Board checks all the submissions for plagiarism.

9.5. The Editorial Board acts in accordance with the recommendations of the International Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

10. Refuting editorial decisions

In the case of an author disagreeing with the comments of the reviewer, his or her reasoned statement will be considered by the Editorial Board. The manuscripts previously rejected due to the need of significant changes or additional data collection may be submitted again. The authors of such articles may seek the Editors’ advice.

11. Detected plagiarism, fabrication or falsification of data

In case of detected unfair behaviour on the part of the author, plagiarism, fabrication or falsification of data, the Editors are guided by the rules of COPE. Research misconduct implies any actions, including improper handling of study objects or deliberate manipulation of scientific information, that do not comply with accepted ethical and scientific standards. However, honest mistakes or honest discrepancies in the research design and its implementation, as well as interpretation of the obtained results, cannot be considered as misconduct.

12. Error correction and retraction

Insignificant errors that do not distort the research results can be corrected by replacing the pdf-file of the article with the revised file and publishing a correction notice on the Journal’s website.

The significant errors, research misconduct and plagiarism identified after the publication of an article  lead to its retraction (withdrawal from press). Retraction may be initiated by the Editorial Board, Author(s), their organization or individuals involved.

The publication that has undergone retraction remains on the Journal's website as part of the PDF version of the corresponding Journal issue. A note “RETRACTED” is inserted in the article metadata. An identical mark is placed in the table of contents of the corresponding Journal issue, as well as in the databases in which the Journal is indexed.

SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS

The authors are requested to use checklists and schemes developed by international organizations in the field of health (EQUATOR, Enhancing the Quality and Transparency of Health Research).

(!) Articles that do not meet the requirements of the Editorial Board are not accepted for consideration.

(!) In case the authors have questions concerning the article structure or formatting, the Editorial Team is ready to provide consultative assistance.

Randomized Studies – CONSORT recommendations (Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials). List of the required manuscript sections of the randomized trial.

Nonrandomized Comparative Studies –TREND recommendations (Transparent Reporting of Evaluations with Nonrandomized Designs). List of the required manuscript sections.

Observational Studies (cohort, case-control, crossover) – STROBE recommendations (Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology). List of the required manuscript sections. When preparing a manuscript based on the results of genetic association studies, take into account the STREGA recommendations.

Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses – PRISMA recommendations (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses). List of the required manuscript sections; a flowchart for conducting a systematic search.

Clinical Cases – CARE (Case Report) and SCARE  (Surgical Case Report) recommendations. List of the required manuscript sections. Use the editorial template when preparing your manuscript.

Diagnostic Studies – STARD recommendations (Standards for Reporting of Diagnostic Accuracy). List of the required manuscript sections; a flowchart for conducting a diagnostic study.

Animal Clinical Studies – ARRIVE recommendations (Animal Research: Reporting in Vivo Experiments). List of the required manuscript sections.

Predictive Studies – TRIPOD recommendations (The Transparent Reporting of a multivariable prediction model for Individual Prognosis or Diagnosis). 

Qualitative Research – SRQR recommendations (Standards for Reporting Qualitative Research).

Economic Evaluation of Medical Interventions – CHEERS recommendations (Consolidated Health Economic Evaluation Reporting Standards). 

Kuban Scientific Medical Bulletin supports the registration of clinical trials at https://www.clinical trials.gov/.

1. Formatting requirements

1.1. A4 format, portrait orientation, and width alignment. Font: Times New Roman, 14 pt, black. Spacing and indents: line spacing in the text – 1.15; line spacing in captions to tables and illustrations, in notes – 1.0; spacing before and after a paragraph – no; first line indent – 1.25 cm; margins: top and bottom – 2.0 cm, left – 3.0 cm, right – 1.5 cm from all sides. Page numbering: in the lower right corner.

1.2. Size of the manuscript body (excluding metadata, references, figures, tables):

Review Article, Meta-Analysis – at least 3000 words, no less than 45 cited sources.

Original Scientific Article – from 3000 to 6000 words, from 20 to 40 cited sources.

Clinical Cases – no more than 5000 words, no less than 12 cited sources.

Short Communication – no more than 5000 words, no less than 15 cited sources.

The number of cited sources can exceed the above numbers

1.3. Highlighting by underlining is not allowed. Boldface is used for subheadings; italics – for emphasis. Units of measurement are given in the International System of Units (SI). All terms used in the manuscript should strictly comply with the current nomenclatures (anatomical, histological, etc.).Clinical and diagnostic terms should be unified taking into account the latest revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD).

Inherited or family diseases should be brought in accordance with the international classification of inherited conditions in humans, Mendelian Inheritance in Men (http://ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Omim).

When describing medicinal products, at their first mention, the active substance (international non-proprietary name), commercial name, manufacturer, country of manufacture should be indicated.

Enzymes should be spelled following the Enzyme Nomenclature standard.

Latin names of microorganisms are given in accordance with the modern classification, in italics. At the first mention in the text, the name of the microorganism is given with the full indication of the genus and species, for example, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Streptomyces lividans. When mentioned again, the generic name is reduced to one letter –E. coli, S. aureus, S. lividans.

The names of the genetic elements are given in the three-letter designation of the Latin alphabet in lowercase letters, in italics (tet), and the products encoded by the corresponding genetic elements in uppercase letters (TET).

The type of instruments, experimental installations should be given in the original language (in quotation marks), indicating the country of manufacture (in brackets).

1.4. All abbreviations should be deciphered at the first mention and used consistently afterwards.

2. Manuscript structure

The manuscript should include: 1) metadata; 2) main text; 3) reference list; 4) information about the authors.

2.1. Metadata

The metadata is presented in Russian and in English (for texts written in Russian) and in English and in Russian (for texts written in English) :

2.1.1. Article type (original, review, clinical case, etc.); section (Clinical Medicine, Preventive Medicine, Medical and Biological Sciences); universal decimal classification (UDC).

2.1.2. Article title

• Written in bold capital letters.
• Short and informative; geographic references should be avoided; abbreviations should not be used, as well as trade (commercial) names of drugs, medical equipment, diagnostic equipment, diagnostic tests, etc.

2.1.3. Author(s)

• The name, patronymic (second name) and the surname (Anton V. Slepakov).
• All co-authors should meet the authorship criteria (see Clause 7 in the General Requirements section).

2.1.4. Affiliation

• Authors’ affiliation includes the official name of the organization and full postal address (including city, postal code and country). It is required to indicate all relevant places of work.
• In the name of the organization, all significant words (except for articles, conjunctions and prepositions) are capitalized.
• In case of several affiliations, the authors’ names are followed with uppercase numeric indices that indicated each organization. When all authors are affiliated with one organization, the name of the organization is not repeated.

2.1.5. Abstract

• The abstract performs the function of an expanded title and informs readers about the conducted research.
• The abstract is structured according to the IMRAD format.
• The recommended volume is 250–300 words.
• The abstract should not contain new terms, abbreviations and references to literature.

2.1.6. Keywords

• Keywords reflect the main statements, findings, results and terminology.
• The keyword list includes 5–10 words and phrases arranged in the order of their importance. No full stop is used at the end of the keyword list.
• When choosing a list of keywords, use commonly used and special terms together with special terms, avoid phrases containing quotes and commas, avoid uncommon abbreviations
• Use the US National Library of Medicine thesaurus – Medical Subject Headings – MeSH.

2.1.7. For citation

This section gives a reference to your article, which is formatted at the final publication stage.

2.1.8. Funding source

All funding sources are acknowledged (funds, commercial or government organizations, individuals, etc.).

2.1.9. Conflict of interest

This section is mandatory and is aimed at disclosing any conflicts of interest (see Clause 8 in the "General Requirements" section).

2.1.11. Compliance with ethical standards

When describing preclinical and clinical studies, the Ethics of Scientific Publications section should be followed.

1) When describing the results of a human study, authors should provide a statement (Appendix 7; Example) confirming the approval of the study given by the Ethics Committee of the organization (including its name and location, protocol number and date of the committee meeting), compliance with the Declaration of Helsinki and (or) other recognized standards, as well as the fact that the written informed voluntary consent to participate in the study was obtained from patients (or their representatives when applicable).

2) Patients have the right to privacy. Personal information, including photographs or genealogy, patient’s name and initials, or medical records and hospital numbers, should not be included in the materials. If such information is required for scientific purposes, the written informed consent of the patient (or parent or guardian, as applicable) is required for publication in print and/or electronic form. When submitting materials to the journal section "Clinical Cases", the authors should be noted in the manuscript and provide a statement (Appendix 8; Example) on obtaining informed voluntary consent.

3) When describing the results of research on animals in the article, the authors should include the respective information in the text and provide the statement (Appendix 9; Example) on the compliance of the maintenance and use of laboratory animals in the research with international, national rules or rules for the ethical treatment of animals of the institution the work was performed in (indicating the name of the relevant organization, its location, the number of the protocol of approval of the study by the ethics committee and the date of the committee meeting).

Ethical standards for animal studies are presented in the Consensus Guidelines on Animal Ethics and Welfare developed by the International Association of Veterinary Journal Editors.

4) When considering a manuscript, the Editors have the right to request a copy of the decision of the supervisory board (ethical committee) of the organization to allow research on animals, humans and (or) copies of the informed consent of patients.

Ethical Compliance (Examples)

2.1.12. Author contributions

The contribution of the co-authors should be specified according to the authorship criteria (see Clause 7 in the "General Requirements" section)

2.1.13. Acknowledgments

The authors can express their gratitude to people and organizations that contributed to the preparation and publication of the article .

2.1.14. Corresponding author (author responsible for interaction with the editors)

The full name, patronymic, surname, e-mail, phone number of the Author responsible for communication with the Editors during the publication process are indicated (see Clause 4.1. in the "General Requirements" section)

3. Main text

Original research papers should be structured in accordance with the IMRAD format (Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion).

Introduction. The volume of this section should not exceed 20% of the volume of the main text. This section formulates the main research questions, stating their relevance in the context of previous research. The research aim should be clearly defined.

Methods. The research methodology is described in detail to allow for data reproducibility. All quantitative data should be statistically analysed. Statistical procedures and the software used should be specified. When using modified statistical methods, a reference to the original source is required. Manuscripts containing statistical data are additionally reviewed for the relevance and accuracy of statistical methods and statistical interpretation of the results.

Results. The data obtained are presented in the form of text, tables or figures. Tables and figures should be described in the text. This part of the manuscript normally contains logical subsections.

Discussion. The section discusses the data obtained in comparison with previous works in this area.

Conclusion. The section summarizes the research results, highlighting novel and significant aspects.

Please note that different types of manuscripts are structured according to the guidelines of international health organizations (see above).

4. Information about the Authors

Information about the authors is provided according to Clause 6 in the "General requirements" section.

5. Tables and Figures (graphs, diagrams, photographs, radiographs, schemes, etc.)

5.1. Tables should be placed in the text of the article, numbered according to their mention and contain a capture.

5.2. Tables should not contain empty columns. If not all the studied characteristics are measured in all patients or experimental animals of the group, the table should indicate the number of observations for each characteristic.

5.3. The data presented in tables should not be repeated in the text or figures. All figures should be statistically processed. Tables should clearly indicate the dimension of the indicators and the form of data presentation (M ± m; M ± SD; Me; Mo; percentiles, etc.). All numbers, totals and percentages in the tables should be carefully verified and also correspond to their mention in the text. If necessary, explanatory notes are provided below the table.

5.4. Abbreviations should be listed alphabetically in the footnote below the table.

5.5. Illustrations should be designated as figures, placed in the text of the article, numbered in the order of mention in the text, have a caption) and notes. They should not repeat the content of the tables.

5.6. It is recommended to indicate the confidence interval or standard deviation on graphs and charts. On the graphs, there should be labels and markings of axes, indication of units of measurement.

5.7. Micrographs should be marked with the scale of the inner scale. For photographs of slides, you should also indicate the scale of the internal scale and the method of staining.

5.8. Figures should contain all the designations, including arrows, numbers, pointers, etc. All symbols, arrows and inscriptions in illustrations should contrast with the background.

5.9. Figure captions should be of sufficient size to be legible when compressed for publication. The optimal size is 14 pt.

5.10. It is unacceptable to combine several images into one figure ("a", "b", "c", etc.) with a mandatory description of what is depicted on them within the framework of the general caption.

5.11. All symbols used (arrows, circles, etc.) should be explained. All abbreviations used should be deciphered in alphabetical order at the end of the general caption below.

5.12. In figure captions, the name of the figure is given first, and then all numbers and letters are explained.

5.13. The images taken before and after the intervention should be captured at the same brightness, in the same direction and under the same colour illumination.

5.14. If there is only one figure and / or one table in the article, the words "figure" and / or "table" are not abbreviated or numbered when referring to them.

5.15. Table and figure captions are given in Russian and English (the editors provide assistance to non-Russian authors).

5.16. Tables and figures are not only placed in the main text, but also uploaded as separate files as part of cover documents (see Clause 3 in the “General Requirements” section).

6. Footnotes

Footnotes are numbered in Arabic numerals and placed page by page. Non-indexed sources are placed in the footnotes: Orders, GOSTs, Health Regulations, Clinical Recommendations, Regulations, Resolutions, Sanitary and Epidemiological Rules, Norms, Federal Laws, Statistical Reports.

REFERENCE LIST FORMATTING

References are formatted according to the Vancouver style and the recommendations of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), NLM (National Library of Medicine) for the publication of a scientific article in medical journals (see detailed in NLM "Citation Medicine", second edition). This style can be installed on PC following the link.

1. The author(s) of the article is responsible for the accuracy of the cited literature sources, including those translated into English. All references used in the manuscript should be presented in the bibliography (and vice versa). Links should be verified, the output should be checked on the official website of magazines and / or publishers. Errors in citing sources are the reason for returning the manuscript to the authors for revision.

2. The references are numbered in the order of their appearance in the text, not in alphabetical order. In-text references are given in square brackets in Arabic numerals. Example: [1]; [1, 2]; [1–4].

3. When citing individual authors in the text, their initials and surnames are given, along with the year of publication. In case there are co-authors, the first author is indicated. Example: S.A. David et al. (2022); M.A. Ivanov et al. (2021)

4. Only peer-reviewed sources should be included in the list of references, preferably published over the past 5–7 years. Such sources should comprise at least 70%, including journals indexed in the Web of Science, Scopus, Science Index databases.

Self-citation is only acceptable when highly necessary (references to own works with authorship of any of the co-authors should not exceed 10% of the entire reference list). Links to unpublished manuscripts and works in print are not allowed. It is not recommended to include dissertations, dissertation abstracts, abstracts and articles from collections of scientific papers and conference materials and other materials with little accessibility for their search and verification of information in the list of cited literature.

Documents (Orders, GOSTs, Medical and Sanitary Rules, Methodological Instructions, Regulations, Resolutions, Sanitary and Epidemiological Rules, Norms, Federal Laws) should be indicated not in the lists of references, but by footnotes in the text.

5. In the Reference list, non-English language sources are provided both in the original language (e.g., Russian) and in English.

For non-English language sources, please transliterate not only the bibliographic description of the cited source, but also the journal title.

6. Each cited source should include all the authors.

7. Journal titles are not abbreviated as a rule. However, some journals included into the MedLine database (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/nlmcatalog/journals) may be abbreviated.

8. DOI (Digital Object Identifier) should be identified for all sources (if applicable). To check for the DOI of an article, visit http://search.crossref.org/ or https://www.citethisforme.com.

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 that do not adhere to these guidelines.

1. The manuscript has not been previously published and is not being considered for publication elsewhere.

2. All co-authors have approved the final version of the manuscript and have agreed to its submission for publication.

3. All cited sources have been properly acknowledged.

4. The manuscript meets the stylistic and bibliographic requirements described in the Author Guidelines.

Copyright Notice

Authors, whose articles are accepted for publication in this journal, agree to the following:

1. The authors retain the copyright for the work and grant the journal the right to first publish the work under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which allows others to redistribute the work, with the obligatory retention of links to the authors of the original work and the original publication in this journal.
2. The authors reserve the right to enter into separate contractual agreements regarding the non-exclusive distribution of the version of the work published here (for example, placing it in the institution's repository, publishing it in a book), with reference to its original publication in this journal.
3. Authors have the right to post their work on the Internet (for example, in an institute repository or personal site) before and during the review process by this journal, as this may lead to productive discussion and more links to this work (see The Effect of Open Access).

Privacy Statement

The names and e-mail addresses entered on the site of this journal will be used solely for the purposes indicated by this journal and will not be used for any other purpose or provided to other individuals and organizations.