Instructions to Authors

[Print version] Instructions to Authors

Endocrine Journal (EJ), which is peer-reviewed and open access, is an official English-language journal issued monthly by the Japan Endocrine Society. The journal publishes Original Articles, Notes, Case Reports with Review of Literature, Reviews, and Letters to the Editor. This journal is a continuation (from 1993) of ENDOCRINOLOGIA JAPONICA, which was first published in 1954.

  1. Aims and Scope
  2. General Editorial Policy
  3. Manuscript Types
  4. Preparations of the Manuscript
  5. Proofreading
  6. Copyright
  7. Article Processing Charge (APC)
  8. Supplementary Editions
  9. Reprints

I. Aims and Scope

It is the policy of EJ to publish papers that contribute either experimentally, theoretically, or clinically to knowledge in the field of endocrinology and metabolism and to the development of endocrinology. Recognized experts from the subject of research field provide a full and extensive peer review for all articles. EJ requires that all manuscripts be prepared according to the “Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals” as published by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE).

II. General Editorial Policy

EJ observes the highest standards in journal publication. The journal supports and follows the guidelines and best practices such as Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals by the ICMJE and the Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing (a joint statement by COPE, DOAJ, WAME and OASPA).

Only unpublished original materials that describe new observations and techniques will be accepted for publication. Papers written in proper English are accepted from any country.

At the Editors’ discretion, any manuscript with an unacceptable level of unoriginal material may be rejected or retracted.

EJ welcomes submissions from clinicians and researchers in the field of endocrinology and its related fields globally. Manuscripts posted on preprint servers will be acceptable for publication. Authors who post their manuscripts on a preprint server must disclose the details of preprint posting, which include server name, URL link, and DOI, upon submission of the manuscript in the Cover Letter and after the Disclosure section of the manuscript.

After the review process (single-anonymized review process), the Editor-in-Chief decides whether to accept/reject submissions. Manuscripts will be published in order of acceptance.

III. Manuscript Types

EJ publishes various article types. Once the correct Manuscript Type has been determined, the Preparation of the Manuscript section must be read prior to manuscript submission:

Original Articles
Original Articles should be novel and original research reports.

Notes
Brief manuscripts that report data that are preliminary, negative, or confirmatory but have significant relevance should be published as Notes.

Case Reports with Review of Literature
EJ will only accept those that are greatly significant or those with original points of view, with a well-organized review of literature. In the title, “with review of literature” should be included.

Reviews
EJ publishes scholarly Reviews in all areas of experimental and clinical endocrinology in each issue. Although Reviews are solicited by the Editor-in-Chief, Proposed Reviews may be submitted independently by interested individuals.
Before submission, proposal documents must be submitted to the Editor-in-Chief (ej-submit@endo-society.or.jp) by E-Mail.
The proposal should include the following:

    1. Title (Tentative title)
    2. Main topics of the Proposed Review (each topic’s title and summary of up to 50 words) > Sample
    3. Summarized Curriculum Vitae for each author and Principal Bibliography of each author > Sample
    4. Completion date for the manuscript

After a proposal is reviewed by the Editors, the author will be notified of its status. If accepted, the author should submit the manuscript online based on the instructions regarding “IV. Preparation of the Manuscript.”

Although the organization of the Body Text is left to the authors, it must be logical and readily comprehensible to readers. A brief summary or conclusion at the end of the manuscript would be helpful to readers. A timely and authoritative review of a topic in endocrinology that is of general interest should be presented in the manuscript. In order for both endocrinologists and other scientists to gain both knowledge and perspective on the subject, authors must provide sufficient background information. Although a limited amount of new data may be included to support the author’s point of view, manuscripts that deal primarily with new findings should be submitted as Original Articles. Members of the Editorial Board and other experts in the field will review manuscripts for scientific accuracy, clarity, and balance of perspective.

Letters to the Editor
EJ will only accept Letters to the Editor that comment, review, or provide an opinion on recent EJ articles.
To be qualified for publication, these submissions must be received within six weeks after the publication of the EJ article referred and must not have been published elsewhere. EJ will not receive Case Reports as Letters to the Editor. Please note the following requirements:

    1. The letter identifies an EJ article to which the letter relates at the beginning of the body text.
    2. The body text (excluding References) of the letter must not exceed 500 words. (Please indicate a word count at the end in parentheses.)
    3. The number of authors must be five or less.
    4. The number of references must be five or less. The letter can include one figure or table.

IV. Preparation of the Manuscript

Information provided here on manuscript preparation and formatting is based, in part, on the “Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals” as published by the ICMJE. Authors should refer to the ICMJE Recommendations for any information that is not mentioned in this Instructions to Authors.
The Manuscript File (Main Document/Word File) should include all of the following items (from 1. Title to 7. References). The Table File and Figure File should be uploaded as separate individual files. The uploaded Manuscript File, Table File, and Figure File will be converted into a PDF file automatically. Authors should check the PDF file whereby the manuscript undergoes a peer review process. Prepare the Body Text using Times New Roman font (black), a font size of 12, and double spacing. To facilitate the review process, successive line numbers should be indicated on all pages.

At the initial submission of the Manuscript, each manuscript must be accompanied by a Cover Letter to the Editor-in-Chief.

The Cover Letter to the Editor-in-Chief should state the author’s wish in English that the submission be reviewed for publication in EJ; include the background of the submission, the significance of the investigative report, and a declaration of originality; and state that the manuscript has not been submitted to any other journal (except preprint servers).

When resubmitting a manuscript that has been previously submitted to EJ and decided Reject or when submitting a manuscript that is closely related to a manuscript that has been previously submitted, the manuscript ID and the background of the previous or related submission must be described in the Cover Letter.

When resubmitting a manuscript that was previously submitted to EJ and decided Reject, its author is requested to upload not only a Cover Letter to the Editor-in-Chief, which includes the Manuscript ID and History of the previously submitted manuscript, but also a Response Letter to the Editor’s and Reviewers’ comments to the previous manuscript, created per the procedure of the below 16. Revision of the manuscript and creation of a Response Letter. In the newly submitted manuscript, revised sentences and paragraphs should be highlighted in yellow.

Prior to submission, authors should check the formatting of the manuscripts by using the Submission Checklist. Manuscripts that do not follow the instructions below will be unsubmitted to the contact author for technical revision before undergoing peer review. 

1. Title
Titles should be concise, specific, informative, and clear and should emphasize the main point of the article. Abbreviations should be spelled out (e.g., type 2 diabetes (T2D)).

2. Running Head
A short form of the Title not exceeding 40 letters including spaces

3. Author
Authors must include the following information:

  • Full names of all authors with institution, city, ZIP code, and country
  • Corresponding author’s name, complete mailing address (Street No., ZIP code), telephone number, and E-Mail address

The corresponding author must ensure that a manuscript is read and approved by ALL authors before submission.

An automatic E-Mail notifying successful submission is to be sent to the corresponding author and to all co-authors for confirmation of their agreement to submission. The corresponding author is notified and requested to enter all co-authors’ names and their correct E-Mail addresses, if they fail to enter them at the initial submission or if any automatic E-Mail has returned to the Office as an undeliverable E-Mail. The Office will not receive a manuscript if there is any incorrect entry of E-Mail address data. The address should be valid.

Authorship
EJ does not allow online submission by a third party.
All authors listed in the manuscript must meet the following four contribution criteria as defined by the ICMJE in their Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals:

1) Substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data; AND
2) Drafting the work or reviewing it critically for important intellectual content; AND
3) Final approval of the version to be published; AND
4) 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.

Contributors who do not meet all four criteria above should not be listed as authors. Guest or honorary authorship is strictly prohibited.

Any contributor who has met all four criteria should be an author on the manuscript. Contributors who do not meet all four criteria must not be authors of the manuscript but may be included in the “Acknowledgements” section instead.

Authors should discuss, determine, and (if they exist) settle any disagreements regarding the order of authorship before submitting their manuscript. The final author order must be established by the end of the revision phase of the peer review process. All authors should discuss and approve any authorship changes such as order, addition, and deletion of authors between the initial manuscript submission and the final decision.

Adding, deleting, or changing the author names and their order is not permitted after the acceptance of the manuscript for publication.

4.Abstract
4.1 Text Abstract
For Original Articles, Notes, Case Reports with Review of Literature, and Reviews, an abstract of up to 250 words in one (1) paragraph should be included without sections or section heads such as Aims, Materials and Methods, Results, or Conclusions. Please refer to the latest issue of EJ on the website (http://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/browse/endocrj/). Abstract is not necessary for Letters to the Editor.

The abstract must be precise, clear, and fully comprehensible on its own. The Abstract of clinical trials must include the registration number and name of the registration database. See further details on clinical trials section below (IV. 11).

If the research includes a clinical trial/study, it must include the unique registration number in the abstract as evidence of Clinical Trials Registry (CTR) registration. The name of the registration database must also be provided. For details regarding the required minimal registration data set, please go to the ICMJE site at http://www.icmje.org/recommendations/browse/publishing-and-editorial-issues/clinical-trial-registration.html

4.2 Graphical Abstract
It is mandatory for authors to submit a Graphical Abstract in addition to the text Abstract. Graphical Abstract is a part of the article and must be referenced in the text. It should be the last Figure of the article. The focus and key results of the article should be clearly summarized in the Graphical Abstract. Authors should name the file “Graphical Abstract” and upload it with the Figure selected as File Designation.

5. Key Words
Up to five (5) keywords that represent key concepts of the paper should be provided at the end of the Abstract. Keywords are preferably words or phrases useful for bibliographic search. Abbreviations should be spelled out (e.g., type 2 diabetes (T2D)).

6. Body Text
The main text should be prepared in MS Word (.doc or .docx). For original articles, notes, case reports with review of literature, and reviews, in principle, the description of the paper should be in the following order: Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion, Acknowledgments, and Disclosure.

Statement regarding Conflict of Interest (COI)
According to the ICMJE Recommendations, COI exists “when professional judgment concerning a primary interest (such as patients’ welfare or the validity of research) may be influenced by a secondary interest (such as financial gain).”

  • A statement regarding COI and related announcements should be included in the “Disclosure” section. If there is nothing to disclose, a sentence such as “None of the authors have any potential conflicts of interest associated with this research” should be added to the “Disclosure” section.
  • COI should be reported using the COI Form 2 in the submission system. Form 2 should be converted into a PDF file and uploaded with the COI form selected as File Designation. COI Forms will be securely managed according to the procedures of the EJ Editorial Office.
  • When a member of EJ’s Editorial Board or its Editorial Office is included in the author list, it must be stated in the “Disclosure” section.

7. References
The authors are responsible for the accuracy of their references. Including AI-generated material as the primary source in the reference is not allowed. References should be arranged in numerical order in the text and listed in the same numerical order at the end of the manuscript based on the Vancouver system. In the text, references should be cited by numbers in square brackets, for example, [1, 2], [3-5]. Journal names should be appropriately abbreviated and in italics. The number of authors listed should be up to five. When listing the page numbers of the references, the first page and the last page should be written with the same number of digits (e.g., 485-492 and 1770-1781, not 485-92 and 1770-81). EndNote output style is available for download. Click here.

The following are examples:
References to journals should be listed as follows:
1. Takeuchi T, Tsutsumi O, Ikezuki Y, Kamei Y, Osuga Y, et al. (2006) Elevated serum bisphenol levels under hyperandrogenic conditions may be caused by decreased UDP-glucoronosyltransferase activity. Endocr J 53: 485-492.

When listing an article written in any language other than English, include the ascription “(In Japanese/Chinese/Korean, etc.)” at the end, listed as follows:
2. Suzuki J, Yamauchi M, Mizutani N, Shibata T, Suzuki A, et al. (2006) A case of type 2 diabetes mellitus associated with cytomegalic colitis. Tonyobyo 49: 535-539 (In Japanese).

Reference to chapters in books should be listed as follows:
3. Volpe R (2001) The immune system and its role in endocrine function. In: Becker KL (ed) Principles and Practice of Endocrinology and Metabolism (3rd). Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Philadelphia, USA: 1770-1781.

Reference to books should be listed as follows:
4. Becker KL (ed) (2001) Principles and Practice of Endocrinology and Metabolism (3rd). Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Philadelphia, USA.

Reference to abstracts from meetings should be listed as follows:
5. Takemoto T, Maegawa H, Kimura H, Kashiwagi A (2006) A newly identified RNA-binding motif protein controls transcription of SREBP-1c gene in the liver of high-fructose fed mice. Program of 66th Scientific Sessions of American Diabetes Association, A63 (Abstract).

Reference to online materials should be listed as follows:
6. (‎2020)‎ Prospects for change: localizing global ambitions to country contexts. World Health Organization. Regional Office for Europe. Copenhagen, Denmark. https://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/331887 accessed on August 3, 2020.

8. Illustrations, Photographs, Graphs, and Tables

  • Tables and figures should be uploaded as independent files separate from the Main Document file. Color figure is recommended.
  • Tables and figures should be numbered consecutively with Arabic numerals and must be cited in the text.
  • Table/figure numbers (titles and figure legends) must be indicated on each table/figure in the table header or in the blank space of the image itself.
  • Illustrations/photographs should be submitted as image files at a sufficient resolution with clear contrast.

Please refer to a current issue of EJ on the Website (http://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/browse/endocrj/) for general patterns.

When a table and/or figure is first published in a journal, book, newsletter, and so forth other than EJ is to be reproduced, it is the author’s responsibility to get permission for the reproduction from the copyright holder before submission. Permission is also necessary even when the author himself/herself is the author or creator of the original table and/or figure. Add an appropriate citation in the legend of the table and/or figure.
For example, “Reproduced with permission from ●● et al. (2021) Endocr J 99: 1-10”

Authors must submit signed consent forms for photographs of patients, whether or not the patient is identifiable. Masking the eyes does not obviate the need for obtaining signed consent forms. Pay attention to removing information identifying the patients, for example, the patient’s initials or medical chart number, date, and time, from imaging data such as CT scans.

A copy of patient’s consent form should be uploaded with the Supplementary file selected as File Designation. (cf. 17. File Upload).

9. Abbreviations, Symbols, Units, and Nomenclature
Abbreviations in the body text should only be utilized after having been initially explained. When there are numerous abbreviations used, list them in an Appendix. Commonly recognized abbreviations can be used without definition such as yr, h, sec, iv, ip, IU, mL, mM, µg, EDTA, cAMP, r, p, and SD. The abbreviations for the names of laboratory tests should be defined because they are not standardized internationally. Abbreviations for polypeptide hormones other than those listed below must be defined in each article.

ACTH Adrenocorticotropic hormone
CG Chorionic gonadotropin
CRH Corticotropin-releasing hormone
CT Calcitonin
FSH Follicle-stimulating hormone
GH Growth hormone
GnRH Gonadotropin-releasing hormone
GRH GH-releasing hormone
LH Luteinizing hormone
LHRH LH-releasing hormone (use GnRH)
MSH Melanocyte-stimulating hormone
PRL Prolactin
PTH Parathyroid hormone
SRIF GH inhibiting factor (Somatostatin)
T3 Triiodothyronine
T4 Thyroxine
TSH Thyrotropin (thyroid-stimulating hormone)
TRH TSH-releasing hormone

The metric system for weights and measures, and the 24-hour clock to express time (e.g., 0500 h or 1900 h) should be used.

Drugs should be designated by their generic names. A trade name may be employed after a drug has been identified once by its generic name or by its systemic chemical name. Systemic chemical names should conform to the usages given in the indexes of Chemical Abstracts. Nomenclature and symbols, except for polypeptide hormones, should conform to the recommendations of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) and the International Union of Biochemistry (IUB).

Potency estimates for protein and polypeptide hormones by bioassays, immunoassays, receptor assays, and so forth, must be expressed in terms of reference preparations such as International Standards and NIDDK preparations, the nature of which should be described in the Materials and Methods section. If a suitable recognized standard is not available, a full description should be given in the section for preparation and standardization of reference materials used. Commercially available reagents, assay kits, and instruments should be listed using the commercial name, supplier’s name, and location (city and country) of the main office, if important to the research.

10. Statistical Analyses
Statistical analyses of the data must be performed using appropriate methods. Simultaneous comparisons among multiple estimates should be based on the multiple t test, multiple range test, or similar techniques that permit these comparisons. Authors should use an appropriate nonparametric test of significance when the data depart substantially from a normal distribution.

For bioassays and competitive protein assays, measures of the precision of the estimates should be provided, such as the standard deviation, standard error of the mean, coefficient of variation, or 95% confidence limits.
If a statistical analysis tool was used, include the name of the statistical analysis tool, the version, and the supplier’s name.

11. Clinical Trials Registry (CTR) and Randomized Clinical Trials (RCT)
Following ICMJE’s policy on trial registration, all clinical trials must be registered with a public trials registry before the time of first patient enrollment. ICMJE defines clinical trials as any research project that prospectively assigns people or a group of people to an intervention, with or without concurrent comparison or control groups, to study the cause-and-effect relationship between a health-related intervention and a health outcome. Health-related interventions include, but are not limited to, those used to modify a biomedical or health-related outcome; examples include drugs, surgical procedures, devices, behavioral treatments, educational programs, dietary interventions, quality improvement interventions, and process-of-care changes.

EJ requires all clinical trials to be registered with databases that can be accessed by the public at no charge, open to all prospective registrants, managed by a not-for-profit organization, have a mechanism to ensure the validity of the registration data, and are electronically searchable.

If the research includes a clinical trial/study, to ensure the safety and dignity of human subjects, EJ requires that authors state the following formally in the “Materials and Methods” section of the manuscript:

1) An appropriate institutional review board (IRB) approved the experiment in the “Materials and Methods” section,

2) Submitted manuscripts must include the unique registration number in the abstract as evidence of registration (cf. IV 4. Abstract). The name of the registration database must also be provided. For details regarding the required minimal registration data set, please go to the ICMJE site at http://www.icmje.org/recommendations/browse/publishing-and-editorial-issues/clinical-trial-registration.html

 The journal accepts registration from the following list of registries as well as others listed at the ICMJE site:

Clinical trials that fall under the definition of “Specified Clinical Trials,” such as those involving non-approved drugs and medical devices or off-label drugs and those receiving research funds from a manufacturer with marketing approval for pharmaceuticals, have to be performed following the “Clinical Trials Act.”

If the trial/study was not registered to a CTR, the reason should be stated in the submission system.
If the clinical trial/study was conducted at multiple institutions, information regarding all sites should be listed in an Appendix.

12. Reporting Guidelines
Various reporting guidelines have been developed for different study designs. Authors are encouraged to follow published standard reporting guidelines for the study discipline.

Please access https://www.equator-network.org to find the guideline that is appropriate for your study.

It is extremely important that when you complete any Reporting Guideline checklist, you consider amending your manuscript to ensure your article addresses all relevant reporting criteria issues delineated in the appropriate Reporting Guideline checklist. The purpose of a reporting guideline is to guide you in improving the reporting standard of your manuscript. The objective is not to solely complete the reporting checklist but to use the checklist itself in the writing of your manuscript. Taking the time to ensure that your manuscript meets these basic reporting needs will greatly improve your manuscript while also potentially enhancing its chances for eventual publication.

13. Data Sharing
EJ encourages the authors of manuscript that includes clinical trials to share their de-identified research data including, but not limited to raw data, processed data, software, algorithms, protocols, methods, materials, study protocol, statistical analysis plan, informed consent form, clinical study report, and analytic code. 

As required by ICMJE, all manuscripts that report the results of clinical trials must include a data sharing statement with a link to the trial registration. The statement should include the following information:

  • Available types of data
  • Available documents (study protocol, statistical analysis plan, informed consent form, clinical study report, or analytic code)
  • Available dates
  • With whom the data are available
  • Types of analyses the authors are willing to share the data
  • Method of requesting the data

The statement will be published as part of the manuscript.

14. Online Manuscript Submission
EJ will receive Manuscripts submitted via the J-STAGE electronic online submission system: http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/endocrj

Simply log on to the submission system and follow the onscreen instructions for all submissions. You will need to register before your first submission to EJ. Corresponding Authors must to link ORCID iD to the account in the online submission.

Upon submission, the manuscript will be automatically checked for plagiarism and can be sent back to the contact author if the plagiarism rate is 30% or higher. By submitting a manuscript to EJ, authors agree to this screening.

15. Peer Review Process
Articles that are submitted to EJ are subject to a single-anonymized peer review process, which means that the identities of the peer reviewers remain anonymous but the authors’ identities are known to the reviewers. Peer review is a critically important process of evaluation for any manuscript submitted to EJ. Every article dispatched for full peer review will receive a comprehensive, fair, and unbiased critical assessment.

When a manuscript is submitted to the journal, it is assigned to the Editor-in-Chief, who performs initial screening. Manuscripts that do not fit the journal’s scope or are deemed unsuitable/unfit for publication are rejected without review. The remaining manuscripts are assigned to a handling Editor who assigns two reviewers to assess each manuscript. Reviewers are selected based on their expertise, reputation, and previous experience as peer reviewers. The deadline for submission of the reviewers’ reports is two weeks after each reviewer agrees to review.

Upon receipt of the two reviewers’ reports, the Editor makes the first decision on the manuscript. If the decision is to request a revision of the manuscript, authors have two months to resubmit their revised manuscript. The Editor may send revised manuscripts to peer reviewers for their feedback or may use their own judgment to assess how closely the authors have followed the Editor’s and the reviewers’ comments on the original manuscript. The revision process may be repeated until the manuscript is suitable for Accept.

The Editor then makes a recommendation to the Editor-in-Chief on the manuscript’s suitability for publication. The Editor-in-Chief is responsible for making the final decision on each manuscript.

EJ adheres to the Committee on Publication Ethics’ Ethical Guidelines for Peer Reviewers. Reviewers are not allowed to contact the authors directly before or after the peer review process to discuss any information that is presented in the manuscript. Reviewers must keep the manuscripts and information obtained strictly confidential and must not publicly discuss or disclose the contents and any other information contained within the manuscript to a third party. The Guidelines for Reviewers are available here.

The decision letters along with the comments by the editors and reviewers will be sent to the corresponding author via E-Mail.

Manuscripts submitted by Editorial Board members, or journal staff will follow the same process as outlined above. However, they are excluded from any editorial decision process of their own manuscript and have access to neither that manuscript nor any information regarding the review process other than what is provided in the editor’s decision letter. Moreover, the journal’s online submission and peer review system is designed to anonymize a person in other roles (editor/reviewer) from any paper they have authored. The manuscript submitted by Editorial Board members, and journal staff of EJ should include a statement that declares their personal conflict of interest with the journal.

16. Revision of the Manuscript and Creation of a Response Letter
If the Editor-in-Charge does not make a final decision in terms of acceptance and decides to re-examine a revised version of the manuscript, they will ask the authors to revise the manuscript via E-Mail. The E-Mail requesting a revision will contain comments from the Editor-in-Charge and Reviewers regarding the points for improvement of the manuscript.

When submitting the first revised version of the manuscript, the authors (excluding native speakers of English) should upload an English-Language Editing Certificate selecting Supplementary File as File Designation.

The authors should consider each comment and revise the manuscript. Additionally, revisions must be approved by all authors before submission of the revised manuscript.

1) The revised portions should be highlighted in yellow.
Do not use the MS Word function for tracking changes in the revision. The deletion of important or large portions of the manuscript should be explained in the Response Letter (see below).

2) A Response Letter, NOT a Cover Letter, should be created. The letter should contain the authors’ views and responses for each comment listed in the E-Mail requesting a revision, in a one comment to one response manner. Editor’s/Reviewers’ comments should be written in Response Letter.

3) When resubmitting a manuscript that was submitted to EJ previously and decided Reject, its author is requested to upload not only a Cover Letter to the Editor-in-Chief, which includes the Manuscript ID and History of the rejected manuscript, but also a Response Letter to the Editor’s and Reviewers’ comments to the rejected manuscript (cf. the above 2), along with a manuscript with highlighted in yellow revised sentences and paragraphs.

  If its author does not sincerely respond to the above, the Office will not receive any resubmission of the Rejected manuscript.

17. File Upload
When uploading the files created based on the above procedure, select as File Designation one of five designations of Main Document, Table, Figure, Response to Comments, Supplementary File, and COI.

1) The manuscript should be uploaded in the order of ①Main Document, ②Table, and ③Figure.

2) When submitting a revision, Response Letter to Editor’s and Reviewers’ comments should be uploaded as Response to Comments file and managed as File Order No.1 so that Response Letter is placed at the head of Main Document.

3) Supplementary tables and figures (excluding Video File or Big Data File, etc.) should be uploaded with table or figure (not Supplementary File) selected as File Designation.

4) Such files as Video File or Big Data File should be uploaded with Supplementary File selected as File Designation. These files are not combined into a single PDF document. They are linked on J-STAGE as Supplementary materials when they should be open to the public as a part of a manuscript based on requests from the authors.

5) Figures and tables used for explanation in Response Letter should be uploaded with Response to Comments selected as File Designation.

18. Editorial Policy and Publication Ethics

18.1 Overview
EJ observes the highest standards in journal publication. The journal supports and adheres to the guidelines and best practices including Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals by the ICMJE and the Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing (a joint statement by the COPE, the DOAJ, the WAME, and the OASPA; [https://doaj.org/apply/transparency/]).

18.2 Complaints and Appeals
Authors are entitled to appeal against a decision made by the Journal within two weeks of the initial decision. Complaints and Appeals should be addressed to the Editor-in-Chief and e-mailed to ej-submit@endo-society.or.jp with the detailed information and the clear reasons for the appeal.

Valid appeals will be forwarded to the editor who handled the manuscript, or the Editorial Board for consideration. The article is considered to be under review and authors should not submit the article to another publication until the new decision is made. The new decision made after the appeal is considered final.

18.3 Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)-Assisted Tools/Technologies
In consonance with the COPE’s position statement, WAME’s recommendations, and ICMJE’s Recommendation, EJ does not allow artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted tools/technologies such as Large Language Models (LLMs), chatbots, or image creators to be listed as author or co-author. As described in the ICMJE, those tools cannot be responsible for the accuracy, integrity, and originality of the work; thus, they do not meet the ICMJE’s criteria for authorship listed above. 

The authors (humans) are fully responsible for any materials of the submitted work, including the use of AI-assisted tools or technologies. Authors should carefully review and edit the result because AI can generate authoritative-sounding output that can be incorrect, incomplete, or biased. Authors should not list AI and AI-assisted technologies as an author or co-author, nor cite AI as an author. Authors (humans) are also responsible for plagiarism in text and AI-produced images.

Authors must disclose, upon submission and in the Materials and Methods (or similar section), any use of AI-assisted tools or technologies in the writing of a manuscript, production of images or graphical elements of the paper, or in the collection and analysis of data.

18.4 Exclusive Submission
Articles that have been previously published or are being considered for publication in another journal in any language will not be accepted. Submission of a manuscript implies that the work described has not been previously published, it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere, and its publication has been approved by all co-authors. The editors make all decisions on the acceptance of the peer-reviewed manuscripts.

18.5 Confidentiality
All manuscript details, author information, reviewer identities, comments to the editors and the authors, and the content of the decision letter are considered privileged information and will never be disclosed to third parties.

18.6 Redundant or Duplicate Publication
Articles that are being considered for publication in another journal including advanced publications such as “in-press” or “E-pub ahead of print” articles in any language might be deemed redundant or duplicate publication.

The author should notify the editor formally regarding all submissions and previous reports that could be considered redundant or duplicate publications of the same or similar work. Any such material must be referred to and referenced in the new work. Copies of such work should be included with the submission. Abstracts or posters presented at scientific meetings are not considered previously published work.

Editorial actions should be expected if redundant or duplicate publication is attempted or occurs without such notification. Editorial actions may include immediate rejection of the submitted manuscript, retraction of published work, published notice of violation, and revocation of publishing privileges.

For acceptable secondary publication, EJ accepts secondary publications of only those that meet the criteria and conditions described in the ICMJE Recommendations.

18.7 Research Ethics

A) Clinical research included in articles that report on human subjects or materials of human origin must comply with the provisions of the Declaration of Helsinki. Additionally, the “Materials and Methods” section must include a statement that the research was approved by the IRB of the authors’ affiliated institutions and the approval code issued by the IRB and the name of the institution that granted the approval. Those researchers who do not have access to an ethics review committee should follow the principles outlined in the Declaration of Helsinki.

A copy of IRB’s approval document should be uploaded with Supplementary File selected as File Designation. (cf. 17. File Upload). An English translation of IRB’s approval document should also be uploaded selecting Supplementary file as File Designation.

B) If the research includes an animal study, EJ requires that authors state that an appropriate institutional animal care and use committee (IACUC) approved the animal experiment in the “Materials and Methods” section of the manuscript. A copy of the approval document and its English translation should be uploaded with the Supplementary File selected as File Designation.

C) Authors of articles reporting on new DNA sequences must furnish that data to GenBank and include the accession number for it in the article.

D) For any studies involving human subjects, Informed Consent (IC) should be obtained from each subject or from parents or legal guardians of the minor. State when it is difficult to obtain IC, and indicate the reason in the Cover Letter.

18.8 Misconduct and Breach of Publication Ethics

* All members of the Editorial Board of EJ promote and abide by the COPE International Standards for responsible research publication for authors, reviewers, and editors when dealing with allegations of misconduct. Please see our Ethics Policies for the information.

* All manuscripts submitted to EJ must represent the authors’ original work and not duplicate any other previously published work in any language. The authors must understand, as well as guarantee, that the same manuscript is not simultaneously submitted to, or not under consideration in, another journal.

* All authors are fully responsible for the originality and contents of their submitted manuscripts. All records and data presented in the manuscript must be accurate, without any fabrication, manipulation, or falsification.

* Authors certify that the single research or dataset is not intentionally divided into several parts to increase the number of submissions or publications with EJ or other journals over time (“salami publication”).

* All information and contents, such as data, text, ideas, or theories that originate from other resources must be credited and cited, as guided in the “References” of the Manuscript Preparation section.

* Any misconduct that is identified is subject to investigation by the Editorial Board according to the guidelines recommended by COPE. If the allegation raises any valid concerns after the investigation, the author will be contacted to address the issue. The Editor-in-Chief may decide to publish an “Expression of Concern” if suspicion is raised after the article has already been published. Should misconduct or a breach of publication ethics be established, irrespective of the level or seriousness, this may result in retraction, publication of formal notice of the misconduct, formal notice to the author’s institution, and a formal embargo on future contribution to EJ.

V. Proofreading

Authors are requested to proofread before “Advance Publication” and “Latest Issue Publication” (which is released a few months after Advance Publication). When the authors intend to change important descriptions in the manuscripts such as essential amendment of contents, the authors should notify the Editorial Office beforehand with the reason for the change.

VI. Copyright

The copyright for articles that appear in EJ is held by the Japan Endocrine Society.

EJ is fully Open Access under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (CC BY-NC-ND) 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). It allows users to download, reuse, reprint, copy, and distribute articles in their original forms published in EJ for non-profit purposes and personal use with the proper credit of original authors and sources. All articles and their contents published in EJ may not be used for profit or commercial use without prior written permission from the Japan Endocrine Society.

VII. Article Processing Charge (APC)

1. For Manuscripts submitted before December 31, 2024 (Manuscript number starting with EJ24- and prior):
Authors need to pay a page charge (7,000 JPY for each page) before advance publication by bank transfer or PayPal. The Office will send Invoice after completion of proofreading for advance publication. The manuscript will be released as advance publication after the Office confirms payment.

Proposed reviews no longer than 10 printed pages will be published without a page charge. Charges for additional pages will be quoted at 7,000 JPY per printed page. Authors will receive 50 complimentary reprints of the Review.

The Editorial Office will arrange for English-language proofreading for a charge upon the Editor’s/Editor-in-Chief’s request.

After publication, corrections can only be made in the form of an Erratum at the author’s expense (7,000 JPY for each page).

2. For Manuscripts submitted after January 1, 2025 (Manuscript number starting with EJ25-): Authors need to pay APC before advance publication by bank transfer or PayPal. The Office will send Invoice after acceptance. The manuscript will be released as advance publication after the Office confirms payment.

APC is 150,000 JPY for the following manuscript types: Original Articles, Case Reports with Review of Literature, Proposed Reviews, Notes.

For Letters to the Editor, Author Corrections and Erratum, APC is 10,000 JPY for each page.

The Editorial Office will arrange for English-language proofreading for a charge upon the Editor’s/Editor-in-Chief’s request.

VIII. Supplementary Editions

EJ may occasionally publish up to a couple of supplementary editions per volume. Those who intend to publish papers in supplementary editions should contact the Office for the application procedures. The applicant should bear the entire cost for the supplementary edition if the application is approved.

IX. Reprints

EJ is published online only. The order form for reprints (color-printed reprints are available) will be sent to the authors when they are asked to proofread before “Advance Publication.”

Contact: Editorial Office of Endocrine Journal (Kyoto, Japan)
ej-submit@endo-society.or.jp