Instructions to Authors

The Journal of the ASEAN Federation of Endocrine Societies (JAFES) is an open-access, peer-reviewed, English language, medical and health science journal that is published three times a year by the ASEAN Federation of Endocrine Societies (AFES). Authors may include members and non-members of the AFES.

Manuscripts are received with the understanding that the submitted manuscript represents original, exclusive and unpublished material, that it is not under simultaneous consideration for publication elsewhere, and that it will not be submitted for publication in another journal, until a decision is conveyed regarding its acceptability for publication in the JAFES. Furthermore, the submitted manuscript and supplemental materials do not infringe any copyright, violate any other intellectual property, data privacy rights of any person or entity, and have written permissions from copyright or intellectual property right owners for all copyrighted/patented works that are included in the manuscript; the study on which the manuscript is based had conformed to ethical standards and/or had been reviewed by the appropriate ethics committee; that no references or citations have been made to predatory/suspected predatory journals; and that the article had written/informed consent for publication from involved subjects.

JAFES welcomes manuscripts on all aspects of endocrinology and metabolism in the form of original articles, review articles, case reports, feature articles (clinical practice guidelines, clinical case seminars, clinical practice guidelines, book reviews, et cetera), editorials, letters to the Editor, brief communications, images in endocrinology and special announcements.

*JAFES forms are downloadable at https://asean-endocrinejournal.org/index.php/JAFES/downloadable_forms

Cover Letter

A cover letter must accompany each manuscript which should cite the title of the manuscript, the list of authors (complete names, affiliations, email address and ORCID iD), with one (1) author clearly designated as correspondent, providing his/her complete postal/mailing address (with zipcode), telephone number , e-mail address and fax number. The JAFES cover letter template must be used.

*All authors are required to obtain an ORCID iD. To register, kindly follow this link: https://orcid.org/register.

Author Form

For submissions to the JAFES to be accepted, all authors must read and sign the updated JAFES AUTHOR FORM consisting of: (1) Authorship Certification Form, that authors contributed substantially to the work, that the manuscript has been read and approved by all authors, and that the requirements for authorship have been met by each author; (2) the Author Declaration, that the article represents original material that is not being considered for publication or has not been published or accepted for publication elsewhere, that the article doe not infringe or violate any copyrights or intellectual property rights, and that no references have been made to predatory/suspected predatory journals; (3) the Author Contribution Disclosure, which lists the specific contributions of authors; (4) the Author Publishing Agreement which retains author copyright, grants publishing and distribution rights to JAFES, and allows JAFES to apply and enforce an Attribution-ShareAlike-Non-Commerical Creative Commons user license; and (5) the Conversion to Visual Abstract (optional for original articles only). The completely accomplished JAFES Author Form shall be scanned and submitted along with the manuscript. No manuscript shall be received without the JAFES Author Form.

Adherence to EQUATOR Network Guidelines

To improve and standardize reporting of findings depending on the study type, authors should ensure compliance with the following EQUATOR (Enhancing the QUAlity and Transparency of Research) Network Guidelines. These guidelines are freely available at: http://equator-network.org.

1. CONSORT (2010) Checklist for Reporting Clinical Trials 
2. CARE (2013) Checklist for Reporting Case Reports 
3. COREQ (2007) Checklist for Reporting Qualitative Research 
4. PRISMA (2009) Checklist for Reporting Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses
5. STROBE (2007) Checklist for Reporting Observational Studies
6. STARD (2015) Checklist for Reporting Diagnostic Accuracy Studies
7. CHEERS (2013) Checklist for Reporting Economic Evaluation of Health Interventions
8. SQUIRE (2015) Checklist for Quality Improvement Reporting in Healthcare
9. ARRIVE (2013) Guidelines for Reporting Animal Research

ICMJE Form for Disclosure of Potential Conflicts of Interest

In order to ensure scientific objectivity and independence, the JAFES requires ALL authors to make a full disclosure of areas of potential conflict of interest. Such disclosure will indicate whether the person and/or his/her immediate family has any financial relationship with pharmaceutical companies, medical equipment manufacturers, biomedical device manufacturers, or any companies with significant involvement in the field of health care.

Examples of disclosures include but not limited to: ownership, employment, research support (including provision of equipment or materials), involvement as speaker, consultant, or any other financial relationship or arrangement with manufacturers, companies or suppliers. With respect to any relationships identified, author(s) must provide sufficiently detailed information to permit assessment of the significance of the potential conflict of interest (for example, the amount of money involved and/or the identification of any value of goods and services).

The form is also downloadable at http://www.icmje.org/conflicts-of-interest/.

Ethics Review Approval

For Original Articles, authors are required to submit a scanned soft copy of the Ethics Review Approval of their research. For manuscripts reporting data from studies involving animals, authors are required to submit a scanned copy of the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee approval.

Informed Consent

For Case Reports, Images in Endocrinology and Clinical Case Seminars, authors are required to submit scanned soft copy of signed informed consent for publication from the involved subject/s (“Patient Consent Form”). 

Data Sharing and Availability

For purposes of transparency and scientific integrity, JAFES requires that authors provide a statement on the availability of data described in the manuscript submission.  Depending on the circumstances, one of the following data availability and sharing statements may be selected:

  • Datasets generated and analyzed are included in the published article.
  • No datasets were generated or analyzed for this study.
  • Datasets for the study are publicly available in the data repositories* listed in References.**
  • Datasets are not publicly available because participants in the study did not give written consent for their data to be shared.
  • Datasets analyzed in the study are under license and not publicly available for sharing.

If the above statements are not appropriate, the authors are asked to contact the JAFES Editorial Coordinator at jafes.editor@gmail.com.

Repositories for deposit of datasets may include institutional repositories or third-party repositories such as but not limited to:

NOTE: Deposited datasets should bear a persistent identifier (e.g., Digital Object Identifier or DOI; or accession number) and publicly available through a license (at least CC-BY 4.0).

GENERAL GUIDELINES

  1. The manuscript should be encoded using Microsoft Word, double-spaced throughout with 1¼ cm (½ inch) paragraph indentation, with 3-cm margins (1¼ inch) all around on A4 size paper. The preferred font style and size is Times New Roman 12.
  2. The manuscript should be arranged in sequence as follows:
    • Title Page
    • Abstract
    • Text
    • References
    • Tables, and
    • Figures & Illustrations.
  3. References should pertain directly to the work being reported.
  4. All the sheets of the manuscript should be labeled with the family name of the main author (all in capital letters) and page number (in Arabic Numerals) printed in the upper right corner.
  5. All manuscripts not complying with the above shall be promptly returned for correction and resubmission.

Title Page

  1. The title should be as concise as possible.
  2. Only the full names of the authors directly affiliated with the work should be included (First name, Middle initial and Last name). There are 4 criteria for authorship (ICMJE recommendations):
    • Substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work; or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work; AND
    • Drafting the work or revising it critically for important intellectual content; AND
    • Final approval of the version to be published; AND
    • Agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.
  3. The highest educational attainment or title of the authors should be included as an attachment whenever appropriate.
  4. Name and location of no more than one (1) institutional affiliation per author may be included.
  5. If the paper has been presented in a scientific forum or convention, a note should be provided indicating the name, location and date of its presentation.

Abstract

For original articles, the abstract should contain no more than 200 words with a structured format consisting of the objective/s, methodology, results and conclusion.

For feature articles, case reports, interhospital grand rounds, and brief communications, the abstract should be from 50 to 75 words and need not be structured.

Keywords

At least 3 keywords but no more than 6, preferably using terms from the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) list of Index Medicus, should be listed horizontally under the abstract for cross-indexing of the article.

Text

  1. Generally, the text should be organized consecutively as follows: Introduction, Methodology, Results and Discussion, and Conclusion (IMRAD format).
  2. All references, tables, figures and illustrations should be cited in the text, in numerical order.
  3. All abbreviations should be spelled out once (the first time they are mentioned in the text) followed by the abbreviation enclosed in parentheses. The same abbreviation may then be used subsequently instead of the long names.
  4. All measurements and weights should preferably be in System International (SI) units.
  5. If appropriate, information should be provided on institutional review board/ethics committee approval.
  6. Acknowledgements to individuals/groups of persons, or institution/s should be included at the end of the text just before the references. Grants and subsidies from government or private institutions should also be acknowledged.

References

  1. References in the text should be identified by Arabic Numerals in superscript on the same line as the preceding sentence.
  2. References should be typed double-spaced on a separate sheet. They should be numbered consecutively in the order by which they are mentioned in the text. They should not be alphabetized.
  3. All references should provide inclusive page numbers.
  4. Journal abbreviations should conform to those used in PubMed.
  5. A maximum of six authors per article can be cited; beyond that, name the first three and add “et al.”
  6. The style/punctuation approved by JAFES conforms to that recommended by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) available at http://www.icmje.org. Follow the format of the examples shown below:
    • Journal Article
      Padua FR, Paspe MG. Antinuclear antibody in the rheumatic and non-rheumatic diseases among Filipinos. Acta Med Philipp. 1990; 26(2):81-5.
    • One to Six Authors (Commentary, Online)
      Krause RM. The origin of plagues: Old and new. Science. 1992;257:1073-8. PMID: 1509258. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.257.5073.1073.
      Barry JM. The site of origin of the 1918 influenza pandemic and its public health implications. [Commentary]. J Translational Med. January 20, 2004;2(3):1-4. http://www.translational-medicine.com/content/2/1/3. Accessed November 18, 2005.
      Mokdad AH, Bowman BA, Ford ES, Vinicor F, Marks JS, Koplan JP. The continuing epidemics of obesity and diabetes in the US. JAMA. 2001;286(10):1195-1200. PMID: 11559264. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.286.10.1195.
    • More than Six Authors
      McGlynn EA, Asch SM, Adams J, et al. The quality of health care delivered to adults in the United States. N Engl J Med. June 26, 2003;348(26):2635-45. PMID: 12826639. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMsa022615.
    • Authors Representing a Group
      Moher D, Schulz KF, Altman D; for the CONSORT Group. The CONSORT statement: revised recommendations for improving the quality of reports of parallel-group randomized trials. JAMA. 2001;285(15):1987-91.PMID: 11308435. https://doi.org/jama.285.15.1987.
    • Book
      Byrne, DW. Publishing your medical research paper: What they don't teach in medical school. Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins, 1998.
    • World Wide Web
      The key and critical objectives of JAMA. http://jama.ama-assn.org/misc/aboutjama.dtl. Accessed April 4, 2007.

Tables

  1. Cite all tables consecutively in the text and number them accordingly.
  2. Create tables preferably using Microsoft Excel with one table per worksheet.
  3. Tables should not be saved as image files.
  4. The content of tables should include a table number (Arabic) and title in capital letters above the table, and explanatory notes and legends as well as definitions of abbreviations used below.
  5. Font should be Arial Narrow size 8.
  6. Each table must be self-explanatory, being a supplement rather than a duplicate of information in the text.
  7. Up to a maximum of five (5) tables are allowed.

Figures and Graphs

  1. Figures or graphs should be identified by Arabic Numeral/s with titles and explanations underneath.
  2. The numbers should correspond to the order in which the figures/graphs occur in the text. It is recommended that figures/graphs also be submitted as image files (preferably as .tif, .jpeg or .png files) of high resolution.
  3. Editable figures or graphs can also be created using Microsoft Word.
  4. Provide a title and brief caption for each figure or graph. Caption should not be longer than 15-20 words.
  5. All identifying data of the subject/s or patient/s under study such as name or case numbers, should be removed.
  6. Up to a maximum of five (5) figures and graphs are allowed.

Illustrations and Photographs

  1. Where appropriate, all illustrations/photographic images should be at least  600 DPI and submitted as image files (preferably as .jpeg or .gif files).
    1. 1 There should be minimal processing of digital images submitted with a manuscript for review to the JAFES. A certain degree of image processing (lighting, color, contrast, size, orientation, cropping, placement of identifying markers and labels) is deemed acceptable only if the final image correctly and accurately represents the original information or data. Thus, JAFES requires all unprocessed, unaltered, and raw image files to be submitted with the manuscript to facilitate evaluation and review. These shall serve also as JAFES’ records for issues that may arise after publication of the manuscript.
    2. 2 Adjustments in brightness, color balance, or contrast should be applied equally to the whole image and should not result in the exclusion, hiding, obscuring, or deletion of any information that is present in the original image, enhancement of any particular portion of the image. Manipulations such as grouping of images for comparison should be indicated with image margins or clear demarcations, and must be described in the caption. Other types of manipulation such as copying and pasting of images and passing them off as multiple figures is not acceptable. Appropriate re-orientation of the whole image, as well as, superimposition of arrows, markers, or other figures and labels is acceptable.
  2. For photomicrographs, the stain used (e.g. H & E) and magnification (e.g. X400) should be included in the description.
    1. 1 All image adjustment and processing tools/ software used should be disclosed in the methodology section of original articles or described in the caption or description if in article types without a separate section on methods.
  3. Computer-generated illustrations which are not suited for reproduction should be professionally redrawn and digitized (preferably as .tif, .jpeg or. png files) of high resolution (at least 300 dpi). Photocopies are not acceptable.
  4. All letterings for illustration should be done professionally and should be of adequate size to retain even after size reduction.
  5. Figure legends should be numbered sequentially, typed double-spaced on a separate sheet of paper. Give the meaning of all symbols and abbreviations used in the figure.
  6. Up to a maximum of five (5) illustrations/photographs are allowed.

N.B.: Tables, figures, graphs, illustrations and photographs that have been previously published in another journal or book should have appropriate copyright clearances and/or permission from the originator of the work, and the source should be appropriately cited.