1. What do we publish?

• 1.1 Aims & Scope

Before submitting your manuscript to Journal of Neonatology, please ensure you have read the Aims & Scope.

• 1.2 Article types

1. Original Articles (approx. 3000 words excluding abstract, tables, figures and references; abstract word limit is 250 words and 3–5 keywords)

2. Review Articles (approx. 3000 words excluding abstract, tables, figures and references; abstract word limit is 250 words and 3–5 keywords)

3. Case Reports (approx. 2000 words)

2. Editorial Policies

2.1 Peer review policy

Journal of Neonatology adheres to a rigorous double-blind reviewing policy in which the identity of both the reviewer and author are always concealed from both parties.

2.2 Authorship

Papers should only be submitted for consideration once consent is given by all contributing authors. Those submitting papers should carefully check that all those whose work contributed to the paper are acknowledged as contributing authors.

The list of authors should include all those who can legitimately claim authorship. This is all those who:

1. Made a substantial contribution to the concept and design, acquisition of data or analysis and interpretation of data,
2. Drafted the article or revised it critically for important intellectual content,
3. Approved the version to be published.

Authors should meet the conditions of all of the points above. Each author should have participated sufficiently in the work to take public responsibility for appropriate portions of the content.

When a large, multicenter group has conducted the work, the group should identify the individuals who accept direct responsibility for the manuscript. These individuals should fully meet the criteria for authorship.

Acquisition of funding, collection of data, or general supervision of the research group alone does not constitute authorship, although all contributors who do not meet the criteria for authorship should be listed in the Acknowledgments section. Please refer to the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) authorship guidelines for more information on authorship.

2.3 Acknowledgments

All contributors who do not meet the criteria for authorship should be listed in an Acknowledgements section. Examples of those who might be acknowledged include a person who provided purely technical help, or a department chair who provided only general support.

2.3.1 Writing assistance

Individuals who provided writing assistance, e.g. from a specialist communications company, do not qualify as authors and so should be included in the Acknowledgements section. Authors must disclose any writing assistance – including the individual’s name, company and level of input – and identify the entity that paid for this assistance”).

It is not necessary to disclose use of language polishing services.

Please supply any personal acknowledgments separately to the main text to facilitate anonymous peer review.

2.4 Funding

Journal of Neonatology requires all authors to acknowledge their funding in a consistent fashion under a separate heading. This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors, should be stated.

2.5 Declaration of conflicting interests

It is the policy of Journal of Neonatology to require a declaration of conflicting interests from all authors enabling a statement to be carried within the paginated pages of all published articles.

Please ensure that a ‘Declaration of Conflicting Interests’ statement is included at the end of your manuscript, after any acknowledgments and prior to the references. If no conflict exists, please state that ‘The Author(s) declare(s) that there is no conflict of interest’.

For guidance on conflict of interest statements, please see the ICMJE recommendations

2.6 Research ethics and patient consent

Medical research involving human subjects must be conducted according to the World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki

Submitted manuscripts should conform to the ICMJE Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals, and all papers reporting animal and/or human studies must state in the methods section that the relevant Ethics Committee or Institutional Review Board provided (or waived) approval. Please ensure that you have provided the full name and institution of the review committee, in addition to the approval number.

For research articles, authors are also required to state in the methods section whether participants provided informed consent and whether the consent was written or verbal.

Information on informed consent to report individual cases or case series should be included in the manuscript text. A statement is required regarding whether written informed consent for patient information and images to be published was provided by the patient(s) or a legally authorized representative.

Please also refer to the ICMJE Recommendations for the Protection of Research Participants

2.7 Reporting guidelines

The relevant EQUATOR Network reporting guidelines should be followed depending on the type of study. For example, all randomized controlled trials submitted for publication should include a completed Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT) flow chart as a cited figure, and a completed CONSORT checklist as a supplementary file.

Other resources can be found at NLM’s Research Reporting Guidelines and Initiatives

2.8 Data

We acknowledges the importance of research data availability as an integral part of the research and verification process for academic journal articles.

Journal of Neonatology requests all authors submitting any primary data used in their research articles [“alongside their article submissions” or “if the articles are accepted”] to be published in the online version of the journal, or provide detailed information in their articles on how the data can be obtained. This information should include links to third-party data repositories or detailed contact information for third-party data sources. Data available only on an author-maintained website will need to be loaded onto either the journal’s platform or a third-party platform to ensure continuing accessibility. Examples of data types include but are not limited to statistical data files, replication code, text files, audio files, images, videos, appendices, and additional charts and graphs necessary to understand the original research. [The editor(s) may consider limited embargoes on proprietary data.] The editor(s) [can/will] also grant exceptions for data that cannot legally or ethically be released. All data submitted should comply with Institutional or Ethical Review Board requirements and applicable government regulations. For further information, please contact the editorial office at [email address].

3. Publishing Policies

3.1 Publication ethics

We encourage authors to refer to the Committee on Publication Ethics’ International Standards for Authors and view the Publication Ethics page on the SAGE Author Gateway

3.1.1 Plagiarism

Journal of Neonatology take issues of copyright infringement, plagiarism, or other breaches of best practice in publication very seriously. We seek to protect the rights of our authors and we always investigate claims of plagiarism or misuse of articles published in the journal. Equally, we seek to protect the reputation of the journal against malpractice. Submitted articles may be checked using duplication-checking software. Where an article, for example, is found to have plagiarized other work or included third-party copyright material without permission or with insufficient acknowledgment, or where authorship of the article is contested, we reserve the right to take action including, but not limited to: publishing an erratum or corrigendum (correction); retracting the article; taking up the matter with the head of department or dean of the author’s institution and/or relevant academic bodies or societies; or taking appropriate legal action.

3.1.2 Prior publication

If material has been previously published it is not generally acceptable for publication in the journal. However, there are certain circumstances where previously published material can be considered for publication.

4. Preparing your manuscript for submission

4.1 Formatting

The preferred format for your manuscript is Word.

4.2 Artwork, figures and other graphics

For guidance on the preparation of illustrations, pictures and graphs in electronic format.

Figures supplied in colour will appear in colour online regardless of whether or not these illustrations are reproduced in colour in the printed version.

4.3 Supplementary material

This journal is able to host additional materials online (e.g. datasets, podcasts, videos, images etc) alongside the full-text of the article.

4.4 Reference style

Journal of Neonatology adheres to the AMA reference style. Please review the guidelines on AMA to ensure your manuscript conforms to this reference style.

If you use EndNote to manage references, you can download the AMA output file here.

IMPORTANT NOTE: To encourage a faster production process of your article, you are requested to closely adhere to the AMA reference style. Otherwise, it will entail a long process of solving copyeditor’s queries and may directly affect the publication time of your article. In case of any questions, please contact the journal editor at nnfjournaleditor@gmail.com

Several points to keep in mind:

1. For each text citation there must be a corresponding citation in the reference list and for each reference list citation there must be a corresponding text citation.
2. Cite references in consecutive order using superscript Arabic numbers. Use commas to separate multiple citation numbers in text. Corresponding references should be listed in numeric order at the end of the document. Unpublished works and personal communications (oral, written, and electronic) should be cited parenthetically (and not on the reference list). For eg, As reported previously, 1,3-8,19 …
3. Page numbers are required for direct quotations.
4. For >6 authors in the reference list, use first 3 authors followed by et al.
5. Appendices should be lettered to distinguish from numbered tables and figures. Include a descriptive title for each appendix (e.g., “Appendix A. Variable Names and Definitions”). Cross-check text for accuracy against appendices.
6. Avoid using abbreviations in the title and subtitle, unless space considerations require an exception or unless the title or subtitle includes the name of a group that is best known by its acronym. In both cases, the abbreviation should be expanded in the abstract and at first appearance in the text.
7. Footnotes should be avoided in text, but are allowed on the title page. They are placed in the following order: author affiliations, death of an author, information about members of a group, corresponding author contact information.

5. Submitting your manuscript

5.1 Information required for completing your submission

You will be asked to provide contact details and academic affiliations for all co-authors via the submission system and identify who is to be the corresponding author. These details must match what appears on your manuscript. At this stage please ensure you have included all the required statements and declarations and uploaded any additional supplementary files (including reporting guidelines where relevant).

5.2 Permissions

Please also ensure that you have obtained any necessary permission from copyright holders for reproducing any illustrations, tables, figures or lengthy quotations previously published elsewhere.

6. On acceptance and publication

6.1 Authors updates

Editor will keep you informed as to your article’s progress throughout the production process. Proofs will be sent by PDF to the corresponding author and should be returned promptly. Authors are reminded to check their proofs carefully to confirm that all author information, including names, affiliations, sequence and contact details are correct, and that Funding and Conflict of Interest statements, if any, are accurate. Please note that if there are any changes to the author list at this stage all authors will be required to complete and sign a form authorising the change.

6.2 Access to your published article

We provides authors with online access to their final article.

6.3 Promoting your article

Publication is not the end of the process! You can help disseminate your paper and ensure it is as widely read and cited as possible.

7. Further information

Any correspondence, queries or additional requests for information on the manuscript submission process should be sent to the EMAIL: nnfjournaleditor@gmail.com