Authors must use an email that they access frequently to register with STEMedicine website prior to submitting or, if already registered, can simply log in and begin the five-step process. All correspondence, including notification of the Editor’s decision and requests for revision, will be communicated via email.

Any manuscript submitted to STEMedicine must be original. The manuscript, or substantial proportion of it, must not be previously published or under consideration by any other journal/publisher. The authors should respect the principles of ethics and scientific truth in executing the study, attaining data and presenting the results. The responsibility regarding the content of the manuscript belongs exclusively to the authors.

STEMedicine conducts Crossref Similarity Check (powered by iThenticate) to examine all submitted manuscripts against plagiarism, which will then be peer-reviewed, and the reviewers’ recommendations will be conveyed to the authors in order to modify or adjust the manuscript (if necessary).

STEMedicine requires an Ethics Statement that clearly and explicitly states in submitted manuscripts:

• Human or animal rights are followed in accordance with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2008, especially in studies involving vulnerable populations;
• Ethical approval by an institutional review board for studies involving the use of animals and/or human subjects;
• Informed consent participation/publication;
• For clinical trials, registration to the clinical trial registry at the national level, and informed consent are mandatory.

Should the manuscript be approved for publication, the date of the issuing should be communicated. Rejection of the manuscript should be motivated and sent in written to the authors. The unpublished manuscripts should not be returned to the authors. The manuscripts should be signed by all the authors. All the authors should include a declaration in the text of the manuscript regarding the conflict of interests and their contribution to the paper.

Authors retain full copyright to their individual works published in STEMedicine.

Language

All manuscripts, including all sections of the manuscript, submitted to STEMedicine must be written in fluent English.

Cover letter

When submitting the manuscript, a cover letter to the editor is mandatory as the first page. The cover letter should include statements that:

• all the authors approved submission of the manuscript to STEMedicine;
• the manuscript is original and is the work of the authors;
• the novelty or the significance of results;
• three suggested reviewers that are expert in the relevant field.

Manuscript structure

• The manuscript should be divided into clearly defined section headings.
• Each heading should appear on its own separate line, in the following order: Title, Running Title, Authors, Affiliation, Abstract, Keywords, Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, Discussions, Conclusion, Acknowledgements, Conflict of Interest, Funding Body, References, and Figure Legends.

Title page

The manuscript title (including a short running title), the complete name of the authors, academic degree, their affiliations, corresponding address and the key words of the manuscript should be mentioned on the title page.

Manuscript title

• The title of the manuscript should be concise, specific to the study, comprehensible to readers outside the field, and allow sensitive and specific electronic retrieval of the article.
• Avoid abbreviations except for names of genes or proteins.
• If the paper is a randomized controlled trial or a meta-analysis, this description should be in the title.
• A short running title of approximately 40 characters including space is highly recommended.

Authors and affiliations

• Write full names in the order of first then family name.
• Family names should be written in CAPS.
• Present the authors’ affiliation addresses (where the actual work was done) below the names.
• Indicate all affiliations with a lower-case superscript number immediately after the author’s name and in front of the appropriate address.
• Provide the full postal address of each affiliation, including the country name, all authors.
• One Author must be clearly indicated as corresponding author (* as footnote on first page), whose email address must be provided, and will be used for correspondence, including notification of the Editor’s decision and requests for revision.

Abstract

• A concise and factual abstract, preferrably no more than 250 words, is required.
• Specific for research articles, the abstract should be structured in four sections clearing stating the Background, Methods, Results and Conclusion of the article submitted, although the exact wording of the structured heading is flexable.
• Abbreviations in the abstract should be defined on their first appearance.

Keywords

• Provide 3-5 keywords.
• Avoid general and plural terms and use only abbreviations firmly established in the field. These keywords will be used for indexing purposes.

Main text

• The main text is required in OpenOffice or Microsoft Word document file format. The text is single-spaced, single-column format; uses a 12-point Times New Roman font; employs italics, rather than underlining (except with URL addresses).
• Define all abbreviations at their first appearance in the text. Ensure consistency of abbreviations throughout all sections of the manuscript, including figures and tables.
• All figures and tables should not be inserted in the main text file, but be uploaded as separate files (see relevant sections below for details) and referred to within the text at the appropriate points.
• Always leave a space between units.
• For the denominations of drugs or other substances used within the studies international common denominations should be used. The devices utilized in studies should be presented under their commercial name, specifying the vendor.

Figures

• Quality of the figures has to be excellent in order to allow the accurate reproduction, and texts in figures should use Times New Roman font.
• The figures should not be inserted into the manuscript, but uploaded electronically as separate files during submission.
• Each figure should be uploaded separately, in TIF/TIFF image file format, in RGB or CMYK color mode. All figures will be published in color.
• Each figure should be accompanied with a text figure legend included in the manuscript main text file under the section “Figure Legends”.
• Figures should be numbered with Arabic numerals in ascending order of their reference in the main text. The number of the referred figure should be inserted into the text between round brackets, e.g. “(Figure 1)”, NOT “(Fig. 1)”. If needed, the brackets should contain also the bibliographical source of the figure, which should be followed by the corresponding number in bibliography.
• It is recommended to indicate the figure number (specified as above) at the top left corner of each figure file uploaded.

Tables

• Tables should not be inserted into the manuscript, but uploaded electronically as separate files during submission.
• Each table should be uploaded separately, in OpenOffice or Microsoft Word document file format. All tables will be published in black and white.
• Each table should be accompanied with a concise title and a foot note with necessary explanations (E.g.: abbreviations).
• Tables should be numbered with Arabic numerals in ascending order of their reference in the main text. The number of the referred table should be inserted into the text between round brackets (E.g.: Table 1). If needed, the brackets should contain also the bibliographical source of the table, which should be followed by the corresponding number in bibliography.

Acknowledgments

• People who contributed to the work, but do not fit the criteria for authors should be listed in the Acknowledgments, along with their contributions. Viewed our Authorship page for more details.
• Authors must also ensure that anyone named in the acknowledgments agrees to being so named.

Conflict of Interest

• All authors are requested to disclose any actual or potential conflict of interest including any financial, personal or other relationships with other people or organizations within three years of beginning the submitted work that could inappropriately influence, or be perceived to influence, their work.
• Please add a paragraph for ‘Conflict of interest’, after ‘Acknowledgments’ in the end of text.
• If there are no conflicts, please write: Authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest.

Funding Body

Describe sources of funding that have supported the work and/or publication of the manuscript.

References

• Make sure that every reference cited in the text is also present in the reference list (and vice versa).
• Styles of in-text citation and reference list should follow the Endnote “Vancouver” style.
• Unpublished results and personal communications are not recommended in the reference list, but may be mentioned in the text.