
Accepted on Mar 1st 2009
1st revised on July 1st 2010
2nd revised on Jan 1st 2017
3rd revised on Apr 1st 2019
4rd revised on May 11th 2021
5th revised on Nov 23th 2021
- CONSORT (Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials): http://www.consort-statement.org/
- STARD (Standards for Reporting of Diagnostic Accuracy): http://www.stard-statement.org/
- STROBE (Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology):
http://www.strobe-statement.org/
- PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items of Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses):
http://www.prisma-statement.org/
1) Order of sections
The manuscript should be ordered in the following sequence: title of the study only page (do not include authorsʼ names or affiliations; a second title page with these details should be prepared separately, which will not be supplied to reviewers), abstract and keywords, introduction, methods, results, discussion, acknowledgments (optional), references, legends for figures, figures, and tables. Each section should begin with a new page.
2) Length
Original articles are generally limited to 4000 words with no more than 10 tables and figures.
3) Title page
Authors should separately prepare a page that includes important information. Titles should not exceed 100 characters, including punctuation and spacing. Give full names, highest academic degrees, orcid number, institutional affiliations and position of all authors; if an authorʼs affiliation has changed since the work was done, list the new affiliation as well. Designate a corresponding author and include a complete mailing address, telephone number, fax number, and e-mail address. Specify the address to which requests for reprints should be sent. If the manuscript findings were presented at a meeting, please specify its name, the city where it was held, and the exact date on which the paper was read or the poster was presented. Also include on the title page a word count for the text only, exclusive of the title, abstract, references, tables, and figure legends. Conflict of interest: State any potential conflict of interest that could influence the authorsʼ interpretation of the data, such as financial support
from or connections to companies, political pressure from interest groups, or academically related issues.
If there are more than two authors, their names should be listed sequentially, beginning with the author who has made the greatest contribution to the article in the descending order and each authorʼs name separated by a comma. If the authorʼs affiliation is different, then separate it with a semicolon according to the authorʼs order. If the affiliation is different from the first author, the authors should be marked ʻʻ1,ʼʼ ʻʻ2,ʼʼ ʻʻ3,ʼʼ and so forth in Arabic numerals, which should appear in superscript at the top-right-hand corner of the authorʼs name and before the affiliation.
The author responsible for correcting the handed-in article should be the corresponding author and an asterisk (*) should appear in superscript at the top-right-hand corner immediately following the authorʼs name. The corresponding author along with the first author must assume responsibility for making corrections to the handed-in paper during the review process. If the name of the corresponding author is not disclosed, then the editorial committee assumes the first author to be the corresponding author. The authorʼs name in English should be written in the order ʻʻGiven name Surname.ʼʼ If the given name is separated by a space, then capitalize the first letter of each given name. The title of the manuscript should be succinct and should not be written as ʻʻResearch on…ʼʼ or ʻʻDiscussions on….ʼʼ
In the case of a special relationship among authors of manuscript such as offspring aged under 19 or spouse,
prior disclosure of the relationship between authors is required, and the reason for which the author should be
included as a author of the manuscript should be submitted.
4) Abstract
Include a structured abstract of no more than 250 words for reports of original data from clinical or basic science investigations and reviews (including meta-analyses). Abstracts should consist of 4 paragraphs labeled Background, Methods, Results, Conclusion (s). At the bottom of the abstract, authors should include keywords, as listed in MeSH(Medical Subject Headings) of the National Library of Medicine of the U.S (http://www.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/MBrowser.html).
5) Introduction section
Describe the background, principles, purpose, and importance of the study clearly. Do not include results or
conclusions.
6) Methods section
Authors should present the methods of the study precisely and describe them in detail so that other people could perform the same study with the methods applied. The name, city, and state or country of the source of equipment, tools, materials, and reagents should be stated within parentheses.
Authors are encouraged to consult ʻʻReporting Statistical Information in Medical Journal Articles (http://archpedi.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=481292).ʼʼ Describe statistical methods with enough detail to enable a knowledgeable reader with access to the original data to reproduce the reported results. When possible, quantify findings and present them with appropriate indicators of measurement error or uncertainty (such as confidence intervals). Avoid relying solely on statistical hypothesis testing, such as the use of P values, which fails to convey important quantitative information. Give details about randomization. Describe the methods for and success of any blinding of observations. Report complications of treatment. Give numbers of observations. Report losses to observation (such as dropouts from clinical trials). For multivariate models, report all variables included in the models.
Include a general description of methods in the ʻʻMethodsʼʼ section. Restrict tables and figures to those needed to explain the argument of the article and to assess its support. Use graphs as an alternative to tables with many entries; do not duplicate data in figures and tables. Avoid nontechnical uses of technical terms in statistics, such as random (which implies a randomizing device), normal, significant, correlations, and sample. Define statistical terms, abbreviations, and symbols. State the names of software packages for statistical analysis.
The Methods section should include a statement indicating that the research was approved by an independent
local, regional or national review body (e.g., institutional review board). If doubt exists whether the research was
conducted in accordance with the Helsinki Declaration, the authors must explain the rationale for their approach
and demonstrate that the local, regional or national review body explicitly approved the doubtful aspects of the
study.
7) Results section
Describe the results and findings from the study in a logical order with tables and figures. Excessive repetition of the contents of tables or figures should be avoided; summarize the data concisely.
8) Discussion section
Discuss the important or new findings from the results of the study and describe the conclusions drawn. Do not repeat materials already presented in the background or results sections. Describe the range of application of the study results, limitations, and possibility of application in further research. Also, compare the findings of the study with those of the previous related studies, and connect the study aims with its conclusion. Avoid conclusions not based on the data or allegations. Authors are encouraged to suggest new hypotheses from the obtained data.
9) Acknowledgment
List all persons who have made substantial contributions to the work reported in the manuscript (including writing and editing assistance), but who are not authors; any financial interest in the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript; any research or project support/funding; grant support. Manuscripts with statistical evaluations should include the name and affiliation of statistical reviewer(s). Authors should also obtain written permission to include the names of individuals in the Acknowledgement section.
10) References
The number of references should be less than 30 for an original article. The ways to indicate references in the text are as follows: (1) list references in consecutive numerical order (in parentheses) at the end of the cited sentence; (2) use a comma to separate multiple reference numbers; (3) and use ʻʻ-ʼʼ between the first and last reference numbers
in case of using 3 or more consecutive reference numbers.
List all authors and/or editors up to 6; if more than 6, list the first 6 and then ʻʻet alʼʼ. Use the abbreviations of
journal names used in the National Library of Medicine (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?db=journals).
References accepted in a journal, but not yet published should be expressed as ʻʻin pressʼʼ or ʻʻforthcomingʼʼ. For references under review in a journal, indicate ʻʻunpublished observationʼʼ with ʻʻauthor namesʼʼ in parenthesis in the text after obtaining permission from the author.
(1) Journal articles
Author(s). Title. Journal name year;volume:start page-last page.
- 6 or less authors
Doll R, Peto R, Boreham J, Sutherland I. Mortality from cancer in relation to smoking: 50 years observations
on British doctors. Br J Cancer. 2005;92:426-9.
- 7 or more authors
Kim DS, Kim YS, Jung KS, Chang JH, Lim CM, Lee JH, et al. Prevalence of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary
Disease in Korea. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2005;172:842-7.
- Online publication
Yu WM, Hawley TS, Hawley RG, Qu CK. Immortalization of yolk sac-derived precursor cells. Blood
2002;100:3828-31. Epub 2002 Jul 5.
- In press
Leshner AI. Molecular mechanisms of cocaine addiction. N Engl J Med. In press 2008.
(2) Books
Author(s). Title (sub-title). Edition number. City of publication: Publisher name; year.
- Ringsven MK, Bond D. Gerontology and leadership skills for nurses. 2nd ed. Albany (NY): Delmar Publishers; 1996.
- Phillips SJ, Whisnant JP. Hypertension and stroke. In: Laragh JH, Brenner BM, editors. Hypertension: pathophysiology, diagnosis, and management. 2nd ed. New York: Raven Press; 1995. p. 465-78.
(3) Dissertations
Author(s). Title. City of university: University; Year. Language.
- Song YM. The Relationship between low serum cholesterol level and cancer mortality [dissertation]. Seoul: Seoul National Univ.; 1997. Korean.
- Kaplan SJ. Post-hospital home health care: the elderly's access and utilization [dissertation]. St. Louis (MO): Washington Univ.; 1995.
(4) News papers
Author(s). Title. Newspaper name. Issue date. Language.
- Jung SY. Bimaneun mansungjilbyeong? Toechi campaign [Is obesity chronic disease? Campaign to combat obesity]. Hankyoreh. 2002 Feb 27; Sect. 8. Korean.
- Tchernobyl, 20 ans apres: le vrai impact en France. Le Monde (France Metropolitan). 2006 Apr 25; Sect.1(col.5). French.
- Harris G. FDA orders recall of intravenous pumps. New York Times (Washington Final). 2005 Jun 22; Sect. A:12 (col.1).
(5) Electronic media
Internet-based Journal Article (e-Journal)
- Kaul S, Diamond GA. Good enough: a primer on the analysis and interpretation of noninferiority trials. Ann Intern Med [Internet]. 2006; 145: 62-9 [cited 2008 Jan 4]. Available from: http://www.annals.org/cgi/reprint/145/1/62.pdf.
Internet-based Book (e-Book)
- Higgins JP, Green S, editors. Cochrane handbook for systematic reviews of interventions [Internet]. Version 4.2.6. Chichester (UK): John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.; 2006 [updated 2006 Sep]. Chapter 3, Guide to the contents of a protocol and review; [cited 2006 Nov 17]; p. 37-57. Available from: http://www.cochrane.org/resources/handbook/handbook.pdf.
Webpages or Homepages
- AMA: helping doctors help patients [Internet]. Chicago: American Medical Association; c1995-2007. [cited
2008 Feb 22]. Available from: http://www.ama-assn.org.
- familydoctor.org [Internet]. Leawood (KS): American Academy of Family Physicians; c2007 [cited 2008 Feb
20]. Available from: http://familydoctor.org.
- Fact sheet: AIDS information resources [Internet]. Bethesda (MD): National Library of Medicine (US); 2003.
May 2 [updated 2007 Feb 20; cited 2007 Mar 26]. Available from: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/pubs/factsheets/aidsinfs.html.
11) Tables
In the order of reference in the main text, provide a single space after the word ʻʻTableʼʼ followed by an Arabic numeral that ends with a period. Do not use horizontal or vertical lines within the table. Within a table, if an abbreviation is used or description may be necessary, then list them under annotation below the table. Use using the
following symbols in this sequence: *, †, ‡ , §, ll, ¶ , **, ††, etc to mark each footnote and ensure that each footnote in the table has a corresponding note (and vice versa). List abbreviations in the footnote section and explain any empty cells. For each annotation marked, capitalize the first letter of the first word. E.g., capitalize the P of the
P-value. The unit used in a table should be marked within the table as far as possible precluding the need to list outside of the table. The symbols for units should not be capitalized. In making a table, the average, standard deviation, the number of subjects, and others should be given and on the annotated part of the table, the applied statistical method should be noted. For ratio, the number of responders and the ratio, and for correlation coefficient, the value of correlation coefficient should be given, respectively. In the main text, the word table should be listed as ʻʻTable.ʼʼ
12) Figures & legends for illustrations
Figures should be numbered, using Arabic numerals, in the order in which they are cited. Upload each figure as a single image file in either uncompressed jpg or gif format over 600 dpi (dots per inch) or 3 million pixel (less than 6 megabytes). Written permission should be obtained for the use of all previously published illustrations (and copies of permission letters should be included). When illustrating a figure, use a bar or a line graph for average or proportion, and list measures using standard deviation or standard error and show their P-values. Identify the applied statistical methods at the footnote of each figure. In the case of multiple prints bearing the same number, use English letters after the numerals to indicate the correct order; for example, Fig. 1A, Fig. 2B, C.
*These instructions for authors are effective as of January 1st, 2022.