Submission Guidelines

CONTENTS

1. Scope and applicability
2. General submission policy
3. Submission platform
4. Pre-submission checklist
5. Cover letter
6. Authorship, contributions, and author identifiers
7. Article types and formal limits
8. Language and writing style
9. Manuscript preparation: general requirements
10. Title page
11. Abstract and keywords
12. Main text structure
13. Acknowledgments and funding statement
14. Ethical declarations
15. Clinical trial and study registration
16. Data Availability Statement
17. Artificial intelligence use disclosure
18. Conflict of interest declaration
19. Preprint disclosure
20. References
21. Tables
22. Figures and digital artwork
23. Supplementary materials and video files
24. Submission procedure
25. Revision procedure
26. After acceptance: production and proofs
27. Cross-references within the EGO Editorial Policy Framework
28. Normative references

 

1. SCOPE AND APPLICABILITY

These Submission Guidelines (hereinafter: Guidelines) define the formal, technical, and ethical requirements applicable to all manuscripts submitted for consideration to European Gynecology and Obstetrics (hereinafter: Journal).

The Guidelines apply to all authors of manuscripts submitted to the Journal, regardless of article type, nationality, institutional affiliation, or career stage. Compliance with these Guidelines is a prerequisite for entry into the editorial workflow. Manuscripts that do not meet the formal requirements set out herein will be returned to the corresponding author without editorial assessment.

These Guidelines should be read in conjunction with the Journal's full Editorial Policy Framework, which governs authorship, peer review, publication ethics, data availability, use of artificial intelligence, conflicts of interest, copyright and licensing, and all other aspects of the editorial process. Cross-references to individual policies are provided in Section 27.

These Guidelines are maintained by the Editorial Office of the Journal and reviewed annually. The current version supersedes all prior versions of the Author Instructions or Submission Guidelines issued by or on behalf of the Journal.

2. GENERAL SUBMISSION POLICY

The Journal publishes original work across all areas of gynecology, obstetrics, and women's health, including basic science, pathophysiology, clinical medicine, therapeutics, surgery, prevention, epidemiology, social medicine, and ethical and legal dimensions of women's health.

Submission of a manuscript to the Journal constitutes the corresponding author's representation, on behalf of all co-authors, that:

• (a) the work is original and has not been published in whole or in significant part in any peer-reviewed publication, and is not currently under consideration elsewhere (disclosure of preprint versions is governed by Section 19);
• (b) all authors meet the authorship criteria set out in the Authorship Policy and in the ICMJE Recommendations;
• (c) all authors have read, approved, and consented to submission of the manuscript in its current form;
• (d) all ethical, regulatory, and disclosure requirements described in these Guidelines and in the Journal's Editorial Policy Framework have been fulfilled;
• (e) the corresponding author has the authority to act on behalf of all co-authors in all matters relating to the submission, peer review, revision, and publication of the manuscript.

The Journal operates a zero-charge model. No submission fee, article processing charge (APC), page charge, or color charge is levied on authors at any stage of the editorial or production process. Full details are set out in the Author Fees and Publication Charges Policy.

3. SUBMISSION PLATFORM

All manuscripts must be submitted exclusively through the Journal's online submission system hosted at the Journal's official website (egojournal.eu). Submissions by email, postal mail, or any other channel are not accepted.

Authors are required to register for an account on the platform before submitting. Registration is free of charge. The corresponding author is responsible for managing all correspondence with the Editorial Office through the submission system.

The submission system supports the following file formats for manuscript upload: .docx, .doc, .rtf (main manuscript); .pdf (supplementary materials only; see note below for figures); .tif, .tiff, .eps (artwork files for production). Individual file size limits are indicated within the submission system interface.

Note on figure formats during peer review: figures may be submitted as PDFs to facilitate reviewer assessment. However, upon acceptance, authors will be required to supply all figures in TIFF or EPS format at the resolutions specified in Section 22.2. PDF is not an accepted format for production figures.

4. PRE-SUBMISSION CHECKLIST

Before submitting, authors must verify that all items listed below are met. The submission system requires confirmation of each item before final submission.

Manuscript and file preparation:

• Main manuscript file: anonymized for peer review (no author names, affiliations, funding sources, or acknowledgments in the main file)
• Separate title page: uploaded as a distinct file (see Section 10)
• Abstract and keywords: included in the main manuscript file (see Section 11)
• All figures: saved as separate high-resolution files, not embedded in the main manuscript (see Section 22)
• All tables: included at the end of the main manuscript file
• Supplementary materials: uploaded as separate files if applicable (see Section 23)

Declarations and forms:

• Cover letter: completed and uploaded (see Section 5)
• Authorship contribution statement (CRediT taxonomy): completed for all authors (see Section 6)
• ICMJE Conflict of Interest disclosure form: completed and submitted for each author (see Section 18)
• Ethical approval declaration: included in the main manuscript and in the cover letter (see Section 14)
• Data Availability Statement: included in the main manuscript (see Section 16)
• Artificial intelligence use disclosure: included in the cover letter and, where applicable, in the main manuscript (see Section 17)
• Preprint disclosure: included in the cover letter if a preprint version exists (see Section 19)

Reporting guidelines:

• Applicable EQUATOR reporting checklist uploaded (see Section 12.3)

Formal requirements:

• Article type selected and formal limits verified (see Section 7)
• Manuscript language verified (see Section 8)
• References formatted in Vancouver/ICMJE style (see Section 20)

Recommended (not a blocking requirement for submission):

• ORCID iDs: all authors are strongly encouraged to enter their ORCID iD in the OJS submission system (see Section 6.3); provision of an ORCID iD does not affect the editorial decision and is not a mandatory condition of submission

5. COVER LETTER

A cover letter must be submitted via the OJS submission system as a separate file at the time of submission. The cover letter is addressed to the Editor-in-Chief and is not subject to anonymization; it is visible to the Editorial Office and to the Editor-in-Chief but is not transmitted to peer reviewers.

The cover letter must include the following mandatory elements:

(a) Manuscript identification: the full title and article type of the submitted manuscript.

(b) Statement of originality: confirmation that the manuscript has not been published in whole or in significant part in any peer-reviewed journal, conference proceedings, or book chapter, and is not currently under consideration by any other publication.

(c) Author approval: confirmation that all authors have read and approved the final version of the manuscript and consent to its submission to the Journal.

(d) ICMJE authorship: confirmation that all listed authors meet all 4 criteria for authorship as defined by the ICMJE Recommendations (2024), and that no person who meets all 4 criteria has been omitted from the author list.

(e) Preprint disclosure: if a preprint version of the manuscript has been deposited on a preprint server, the corresponding author must state the server name, the DOI of the preprint, and whether the preprint version differs from the submitted manuscript. If no preprint exists, a statement to this effect is required.

(f) Artificial intelligence use: a brief statement confirming whether AI tools were used in the preparation of the manuscript or of the cover letter itself (including drafting, editing, translation, image generation, data analysis, or literature search), specifying which tools were used and for what purpose. If no AI tools were used at any stage, a declaration to this effect is required. Detailed requirements are set out in the Artificial Intelligence Policy (Section 5).

(g) Ethical approval: confirmation that the study was approved by the relevant institutional review board (IRB) or ethics committee, with the full name of the approving body and the reference number of the approval. Where a formal ethics review was not required, the reason must be stated.

(h) Clinical trial registration: for manuscripts reporting interventional clinical trials, the registry name and registration number must be stated. Confirmation that registration preceded enrolment of the first participant is required.

(i) Data availability: confirmation of the data availability status and, where applicable, the repository in which the research data have been deposited, together with the persistent identifier. Full requirements are set out in the Data Availability and Sharing Policy.

(j) Conflict of interest: a brief declaration confirming that the ICMJE Conflict of Interest disclosure form has been completed and submitted by each author.

(k) Suggested and excluded reviewers (optional but recommended): the corresponding author may suggest up to 3 potential peer reviewers (name, institutional affiliation, and email address) and may request the exclusion of up to 3 specific individuals, accompanied by mandatory justification (for example: known conflict of interest, competition on scientific priority, or documented controversy). Such suggestions do not bind the Editorial Office but will be considered. These provisions are consistent with the Peer Review Policy (Section 5).

(l) Additional information: any information the corresponding author considers relevant to the editorial assessment of the manuscript, including prior rejection from other journals with peer review reports (submission of prior reviews is encouraged and may facilitate the process).

6. AUTHORSHIP, CONTRIBUTIONS, AND AUTHOR IDENTIFIERS

6.1  Authorship criteria

Authorship of manuscripts submitted to the Journal is governed by the Authorship Policy, which is consistent with the ICMJE Recommendations (2024). To qualify as an author, an individual must have:

• (1) made a substantial contribution to the conception or design of the work, or to the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data;
• (2) drafted the manuscript or revised it critically for important intellectual content;
• (3) approved the final version to be submitted for publication;
• (4) agreed to be accountable for all aspects of the work, including the accuracy and integrity of any part of the work.

All 4 criteria must be met concurrently. Meeting only some criteria is insufficient for authorship. Individuals who contributed to the work but do not meet all 4 criteria should be acknowledged in the Acknowledgments section (see Section 13).

The Journal imposes no limit on the number of authors. Where a very large number of authors is listed for reasons other than a recognized multicentre or consortium arrangement, the Editorial Office may request clarification.

6.2  CRediT taxonomy

For all article types subject to peer review, authors must provide a Contributor Roles Taxonomy (CRediT) statement in the OJS submission form, specifying the contribution of each named author using one or more of the 14 standardised roles: Conceptualisation; Data curation; Formal analysis; Funding acquisition; Investigation; Methodology; Project administration; Resources; Software; Supervision; Validation; Visualisation; Writing - original draft; Writing - review and editing.

The CRediT statement is published as part of the article metadata. Guidance is available at credit.niso.org.

6.3  ORCID iDs

All authors are strongly encouraged to register for an ORCID iD (orcid.org) and to enter their ORCID iD in the OJS submission system at the time of submission. ORCID iDs are published with the article upon acceptance. The provision of an ORCID iD does not affect the editorial decision.

6.4  ROR identifiers

Authors are encouraged to provide the Research Organization Registry (ROR) identifier (ror.org) for their primary institutional affiliation in the submission system. ROR identifiers improve metadata quality and discoverability.

6.5  Corresponding author

A single corresponding author must be designated at the time of submission. The corresponding author is responsible for all editorial correspondence from submission through to publication and post-publication. The corresponding author's name, institutional affiliation, postal address, and email address are published with the article.

6.6  Equal contribution

Where 2 or more authors have contributed equally to the work, this may be declared in the author contribution statement using the formula: "[Name A] and [Name B] contributed equally to this work." Equal contribution declarations do not alter the authorship criteria.

6.7  Group authorship

Where a manuscript is submitted on behalf of a named group or consortium, the group name must appear in the author list. All members of the group who satisfy all 4 ICMJE authorship criteria must be listed, either as named authors or in a designated group members section, with individual contributions specified. Additional requirements are set out in the Authorship Policy (Section 16).

7. ARTICLE TYPES AND FORMAL LIMITS

The Journal accepts the following article types. Word counts refer to the body text only, excluding the abstract, references, figure legends, and table content. Limits are maxima and not targets.

Article Type	Abstract	Body Text* (max)	Fig + Tab (max)	Videos (max)	Ref (max)	Peer Reviewed
Original Article	Structured, 300 words	3,000	6	4	50	Yes
Systematic Review	Structured, 300 words	4,000	8	4	80	Yes
Meta-analysis	Structured, 300 words	4,000	8	4	80	Yes
Narrative / Short Review	Structured, 300 words	2,500	5	4	50	Yes
Protocol	Structured, 300 words	4,000	6	2	60	Yes
Case Report	Structured, 200 words	2,000	4	4	40	Yes
Guideline / Consensus	Structured, 300 words	No limit	8	4	No limit	Yes
Position Paper	Structured, 300 words	No limit	6	4	No limit	Yes
Statement	Structured, 300 words	No limit	6	4	No limit	Yes
Data Note	Unstructured, 150 words	1,500	4	2	20	Yes
Commentary	Unstructured, 150 words	1,500	1	0	20	Yes (expedited)
Letter to the Editor	None	500	1	0	10	Editorial review
Editorial	None	No limit	2	0	20	By invitation
Opinion / Opinion Corner	None	No limit	1	0	20	By invitation

† Abstract structure: the table above indicates maximum word counts and abstract type (structured or unstructured). The specific headings required for each structured abstract type vary by article type. See Section 11.1 for the complete specification of required headings and level-of-evidence statements. In the event of any discrepancy between the table above and Section 11, Section 11 prevails.

Original Article: reports the results of primary empirical research. Structured abstract required (Background, Objectives, Methods, Results, Conclusions). A statement of the level of evidence (clinical studies) or clinical relevance (basic science) must be included at the end of the abstract.

Systematic Review / Meta-analysis: must be registered in PROSPERO or an equivalent prospective register before data extraction begins. The registration number must be reported in the abstract and Methods section. PRISMA 2020 checklist is mandatory.

Narrative / Short Review: a focused narrative or scoping review on a defined topic. Not required to follow systematic review methodology. The terms "Narrative Review" and "Short Review" are used interchangeably within this category, consistent with Peer Review Policy (Section 4).

Protocol: describes a planned or ongoing study, including design, objectives, methods, and analysis plan. SPIRIT 2013 checklist is strongly recommended.

Case Report: reports novel clinical observations. CARE checklist mandatory. Patient consent documentation must be provided at submission (see Section 14.3).

Guideline / Consensus: formal clinical practice guideline or consensus document. Where produced by or on behalf of a professional society, the society's name and formal endorsement must be stated.

Position Paper / Statement: reflects the position of the Journal's Editorial Board or a professional organization on a defined topic.

Data Note: describes a dataset deposited in a public repository, without presenting new analyses. The dataset DOI must be provided.

Commentary: a substantive academic comment on a topic of current relevance. If responding to a published article, the DOI of the article being discussed must be provided.

Letter to the Editor: a brief response to a recently published article or a topic of immediate clinical relevance. Letters responding to a published article must be submitted within 60 calendar days of online publication. Subject to editorial review only; however, letters with substantial scientific content may be subject to expedited external peer review at the Editor-in-Chief's discretion, in accordance with Peer Review Policy (Section 4). The Journal's policy on post-publication letters is set out in the Post-Publication Discussions Policy (to be published at egojournal.eu).

Editorial / Opinion / Opinion Corner: published by invitation only, unless otherwise indicated in a specific call for contributions. "Opinion" and "Opinion Corner" are treated as equivalent article subtypes within this category, consistent with the Peer Review Policy (Section 4).

8. LANGUAGE AND WRITING STYLE

8.1  Language

All manuscripts must be written in English. Both British and American spelling conventions are acceptable, provided that one convention is applied consistently throughout the manuscript, including the abstract, figure legends, tables, and supplementary materials. Authors whose first language is not English are strongly encouraged to have their manuscript reviewed for language quality before submission.

8.2  Writing style

Authors should write in a clear, precise, and objective scientific register. The use of jargon, unnecessary abbreviations, and passive constructions that obscure meaning should be avoided. The active voice is preferred where appropriate.

Abbreviations must be defined in full at first use in the abstract and again at first use in the main text. Abbreviations should not be introduced unless they appear at least 3 times in the manuscript. Drug names: generic (International Nonproprietary Names, INN) names must be used. Brand names may be cited in parentheses at first mention, together with the manufacturer's name and primary location.

Units of measurement: all quantities must be expressed in Système International (SI) units. Non-metric equivalents may be provided in parentheses where clarity is improved.

8.3  Formatting

Manuscripts must be submitted in the following format: double-spaced, 12-point font, with margins of at least 2.5 cm on all sides. Line numbering must be activated to facilitate reviewer comments. Pages must be numbered consecutively.

Figures must not be embedded in the main manuscript file (see Section 22). Tables should appear at the end of the manuscript file, after the references and figure legends (see Section 21).

9. MANUSCRIPT PREPARATION: GENERAL REQUIREMENTS

Manuscripts must be prepared using word-processing software and submitted in .docx, .doc, or .rtf format. PDF format is not accepted for the main manuscript file.

The main manuscript file submitted for peer review must be fully anonymized. It must not contain any information that could identify the authors, including author names, institutional affiliations, funding acknowledgments, or self-identifying citations. Identifying information belongs exclusively on the title page, which is uploaded as a separate file (see Section 10).

Authors should avoid designing or formatting the manuscript for a specific visual layout. The Journal's production team will apply the Journal's house style upon acceptance. Excessive manual formatting should be removed before submission.

10. TITLE PAGE

The title page is uploaded as a separate file and is not subject to anonymization. It must contain the following elements:

(a) Article title: the full title of the manuscript. The title should be concise, specific, and informative, avoiding abbreviations and non-standard terminology. A running title of no more than 60 characters (including spaces) must also be provided.

(b) Article type: the article type selected from the list in Section 7.

(c) Authors: the full name of each author, in the order of appearance in the published article. For each author: highest academic degree(s); departmental and institutional affiliation; city; country; ORCID iD (if available).

(d) Corresponding author: name, full institutional postal address, and email address.

(e) Funding: sources of financial support for the work (see Section 13.2). If the work received no external funding, a statement to this effect is required.

(f) Acknowledgments: recognition of individuals who contributed to the work but do not meet the criteria for authorship (see Section 13.1).

(g) Word count: total word count of the body text (excluding abstract, references, figure legends, and table content).

(h) Number of figures and tables: the total number of figures and the total number of tables submitted.

Note: the Data Availability Statement is required as a standalone section in the main manuscript file (see Section 16) and must be declared in the cover letter (see Section 5(i)). It is not required on the title page.

11. ABSTRACT AND KEYWORDS

11.1  Abstract

Abstracts must be included in the main manuscript file. The abstract must not contain references, non-standard abbreviations, or footnotes.

Structured abstracts (required for Original Articles, Systematic Reviews, Meta-analyses, Narrative / Short Reviews, Protocols, Case Reports, Guidelines/Consensus, Position Papers, and Statements) must be organized under the following headings: Background; Objectives (or Purpose); Methods; Results; Conclusions. For Original Articles reporting human studies, the abstract must conclude with a statement of the level of evidence. For basic science studies, the clinical relevance must be stated.

Unstructured abstracts (permitted for Data Notes and Commentaries): a single paragraph of no more than 150 words.

No abstract is required for Letters to the Editor, Editorials, or Opinions/Opinion Corner.

11.2  Keywords

A minimum of 4 and a maximum of 8 keywords must be provided for all article types that require an abstract. Keywords should be drawn from Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) where possible. Keywords should not replicate terms already present in the article title.

12. MAIN TEXT STRUCTURE

12.1  IMRAD structure

Original Articles must follow the IMRAD structure: Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion. A separate Conclusions subsection is permitted within or immediately following the Discussion.

Introduction: should state the scientific or clinical problem addressed, the current state of knowledge, and the specific objectives of the study. It should not summarise the results.

Methods: must be described in sufficient detail to permit independent replication. Statistical methods must be described with reference to the software used, the version number, and the specific tests applied. Power calculations and sample size justifications must be reported.

Results: should present the data in a logical sequence. All numerical results must be accompanied by appropriate measures of variability or precision (standard deviation, confidence intervals) and the results of statistical tests, including exact p-values (p < 0.001 is acceptable as the lower limit of exact reporting).

Discussion: should interpret the results in the context of existing literature, address the limitations of the study explicitly, and identify directions for future research.

12.2  Structure of other article types

• Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses: must follow the PRISMA 2020 structure and include a PRISMA flow diagram.
• Case Reports: must include Introduction, Case Presentation, Discussion, and Conclusions. Patient details must comply with Section 14.3.
• Protocols: should follow the SPIRIT 2013 framework.
• Narrative / Short Reviews, Position Papers, Statements, Guidelines/Consensus: section headings at the authors' discretion, subject to Editorial Office approval.
• Data Notes: Introduction, Data Description, Technical Validation, and (Re)Use Notes.
• Commentaries, Letters to the Editor, Editorials, Opinions/Opinion Corner: free structure, with clearly demarcated paragraphs.

12.3  Reporting guidelines

Authors must identify the study design of their manuscript and upload the corresponding EQUATOR reporting checklist as a supplementary file at the time of submission. The checklist must be completed in full, with page numbers indicating where each item is addressed in the manuscript.

Study Design	Reporting Guideline	Requirement
Randomized controlled trial	CONSORT 2010 / CONSORT 2025	Mandatory
Observational study (cohort, case-control, cross-sectional)	STROBE	Mandatory
Systematic review/meta-analysis	PRISMA 2020	Mandatory
Case report	CARE	Mandatory
Diagnostic/prognostic accuracy study	STARD 2015	Mandatory
Animal research	ARRIVE 2.0	Mandatory
Study protocol	SPIRIT 2013	Strongly recommended
Qualitative research	COREQ or SRQR	Strongly recommended
Sex/gender analysis	SAGER	Strongly recommended
Economic evaluation	CHEERS 2022	Strongly recommended

All reporting guidelines and checklists are freely available from the EQUATOR Network (equator-network.org). Where no established reporting guideline exists for the study design, authors should state this in the Methods section.

Note on CONSORT versions: both CONSORT 2010 and CONSORT 2025 (published January 2025) are currently accepted by the Journal. Authors are encouraged to use CONSORT 2025 for new submissions; CONSORT 2010 remains acceptable for manuscripts that were in preparation before the publication of the 2025 update. When in doubt, authors should indicate in the cover letter which version has been used.

13. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS AND FUNDING STATEMENT

13.1  Acknowledgements

Individuals who contributed to the work but do not meet all 4 ICMJE authorship criteria should be acknowledged in a dedicated Acknowledgments section on the title page. The nature of each individual's contribution must be specified. The use of professional medical writers or editors must be disclosed in the Acknowledgments, including the name of the individual and their institutional or organizational affiliation, consistent with the Authorship Policy (Section 21).

13.2  Funding statement

All sources of financial support for the work must be disclosed in a Funding Statement on the title page, including grant numbers and the names of funding agencies. The funding statement must identify any funder's role in the study design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, and writing of the manuscript. If the funder had no such role, this must be stated.

If the work received no external funding, the following statement must be used: "This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors."

14. ETHICAL DECLARATIONS

14.1  Ethics committee approval

All research involving human participants, human biological material, or identifiable human data must have received formal approval from an institutional review board (IRB) or research ethics committee (REC) before the study was initiated. The approval must be reported in the Methods section with the full name of the approving body, the unique reference number of the approval, and the date of approval.

Where a formal ethics review was not required under applicable national law or institutional regulations, the reason for the exemption must be stated explicitly in the Methods section. Studies conducted without ethics approval, for which no valid exemption exists, will not be considered for publication, consistent with the Research Ethics Policy and the Declaration of Helsinki (2024). The standard wording template for the ethics declaration is set out in the Research Ethics Policy (Section 6.5) and must be used verbatim, with the relevant placeholders completed.

14.2  Informed consent

All studies involving human participants must report whether informed consent was obtained and, if so, in what form (written or verbal with documentation). Where verbal consent was obtained, the reason for not obtaining written consent must be stated. Studies reporting human data collected without individual informed consent must state the legal or regulatory basis for the exemption and the ethics committee decision permitting the waiver.

14.3  Patient privacy and case reports

For manuscripts reporting data from individual patients (including case reports and studies with identifiable patient data), authors must:

• confirm that the patient (or their legal guardian) has provided written informed consent for publication of the case details, including clinical images, photographs, and laboratory data;
• upload the consent form as a supplementary file for editorial review (the form will not be published);
• Where consent cannot be obtained (e.g., the patient is deceased or untraceable), the editorial decision will be made in accordance with the Research Ethics Policy (Section 9).

Clinical images must not allow patient identification unless consent for the use of identifiable images has been explicitly obtained and documented.

14.4  Animal research

Research involving non-human animals must have been conducted in accordance with applicable national and institutional guidelines. Formal approval from the relevant institutional animal care and use committee (IACUC) or equivalent body must be reported in the Methods section. The ARRIVE 2.0 reporting guideline is mandatory.

15. CLINICAL TRIAL AND STUDY REGISTRATION

15.1  Clinical trial registration

All interventional clinical trials must be registered in a publicly accessible clinical trial registry before enrolment of the first participant. Retrospective registration is not accepted. Eligible registries include: ClinicalTrials.gov; EU Clinical Trials Register (EUCTR); WHO International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (ICTRP); ISRCTN registry.

The registry name and the unique trial registration number must be reported in the abstract (at the end of the abstract) and in the Methods section. Manuscripts reporting clinical trials that are not prospectively registered will not be considered for publication.

15.2  Other study registrations

Systematic reviews and meta-analyses must be registered in PROSPERO (crd.york.ac.uk/prospero) or in an equivalent prospective register before data extraction begins. The registration number must be reported in the abstract and in the Methods section. For observational studies and other study designs for which prospective registration is emerging as best practice, the Editorial Office encourages registration and disclosure of the registration number at submission.

16. DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT

A Data Availability Statement (DAS) is mandatory for all article types subject to peer review, except for Editorials, Opinions/Opinion Corner, and Letters to the Editor; authors of these article types should complete standard template 5.7 of the DASP v1.2 ("not applicable"). The DAS must appear as a standalone section immediately before the References section, under the heading "Data Availability Statement." The DAS may not be embedded in the Methods section, Acknowledgments, or any other section of the manuscript.

The DAS must describe whether and how the data supporting the results reported in the manuscript are available, and where applicable must provide the persistent identifier (preferably a DOI) of the dataset in a public repository.

Authors must select and use one of the 7 standard templates specified in the Data Availability and Sharing Policy (DASP v1.2). Where access conditions apply (e.g., for patient-level data or legally restricted data), the DAS must specify the access mechanism and the conditions under which data can be obtained.

For manuscripts reporting interventional clinical trials, the DAS must also address individual participant data (IPD) in accordance with the ICMJE requirements.

The full requirements, repository recommendations, and approved template statements are set out in the Data Availability and Sharing Policy.

17. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE USE DISCLOSURE

Authors must disclose all uses of artificial intelligence (AI) tools in the preparation of the submitted manuscript, including but not limited to: text drafting, editing, translation, summarisation, image generation, data analysis, code generation, and literature searching.

The disclosure must appear in two locations:

(a) Cover letter: a brief statement describing the AI tools used, the specific purposes for which they were used, and the sections of the manuscript to which they were applied. This includes any use of AI tools in preparing the cover letter itself, the abstract, keywords, or suggested reviewer information (AIP v1.2, Section 5). If no AI tools were used, a declaration to this effect is required.

(b) Main manuscript: where AI tools were used, a dedicated statement must be included in the Methods section (for tools used in data analysis or processing) or in the Acknowledgments section of the main manuscript file (for tools used in writing, editing, or translation), using the format: "[Tool name, version, developer]. This tool was used for [purpose]. The authors take full responsibility for the accuracy and integrity of all content." This placement is consistent with the Artificial Intelligence Policy (Section 6).

AI tools may not be listed as authors and may not be cited as sources. The use of AI tools does not diminish the authors' responsibility for the accuracy, originality, and integrity of the submitted work. The full requirements are set out in the Artificial Intelligence Policy.

18. CONFLICT OF INTEREST DECLARATION

All authors are required to disclose any financial or non-financial interests that could influence - or be perceived to influence - the conduct, analysis, interpretation, or reporting of the submitted work.

Each author must complete the ICMJE Conflict of Interest disclosure form (available at icmje.org/disclosure-of-interest/) and submit it via the OJS system at the time of submission. If the manuscript is accepted, completed forms will be published as supplementary material.

A Conflict of Interest statement must appear in the main manuscript file using one of the following formulations:

• "The authors declare no conflict of interest in relation to the subject matter of this manuscript."
• "[Author name(s)] declare(s) the following conflict(s) of interest: [description]."

Financial interests subject to disclosure include: employment, consultancies, honoraria, grants and research funding, patents, stock ownership, and any other financial relationship with organizations that have an interest in the subject matter of the manuscript, from the preceding 3 years from the month of submission. The full definition of disclosable interests is set out in the Conflict of Interest Policy.

19. PREPRINT DISCLOSURE

The Journal adopts a positive position on preprints. Authors are encouraged to deposit preprint versions of their manuscripts on recognized preprint servers (including medRxiv, bioRxiv, and Research Square) before, during, or after submission to the Journal. A preprint deposit does not constitute prior publication and does not disqualify a manuscript from consideration.

Where a preprint version exists at the time of submission, the corresponding author must disclose the following in the cover letter: the name of the preprint server; the DOI of the preprint; and whether the preprint version is identical to the submitted manuscript or differs from it.

Authors are required to update the preprint record with a link to the published article (Version of Record, VoR) upon acceptance, citing the DOI of the published article. The full requirements are set out in the Preprint Policy.

20. REFERENCES

20.1  Reference style

The Journal uses the Vancouver/ICMJE reference style. References must be numbered consecutively in the order in which they are first cited in the text. In-text citations are indicated by Arabic numerals in superscript, placed after the relevant statement and before any punctuation marks.

DOI numbers must be provided for all references where available, formatted as https://doi.org/10.xxxxx. References must use NLM journal title abbreviations (available at ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/nlmcatalog/journals). References to unpublished data or personal communications must not appear in the reference list; they may be mentioned in the text in parentheses.

20.2  Author listing in references

List all authors up to and including 6. For articles with more than 6 authors, list the first 3 followed by "et al."

20.3  Reference formats

Journal article: Surname AB, Surname CD, Surname EF, et al. Title of article. J Abbrev. Year;volume(issue):pages. https://doi.org/10.xxxxx

Book chapter: Surname AB. Chapter title. In: Editor CD, editor. Book Title. City: Publisher; Year. p. xxx-xxx.

Book: Surname AB. Book Title. Nth ed. City: Publisher; Year.

Online resource: Organization Name. Title [Internet]. City: Publisher; Year [cited YYYY Mon DD]. Available from: https://www.example.org/path

Dataset: Surname AB, Surname CD. Dataset title [dataset]. Repository Name; Year. https://doi.org/10.xxxxx

20.4  Reference management

Authors are encouraged to use reference management software (Zotero, Mendeley, EndNote, or equivalent) to prepare and verify the reference list. Authors are responsible for the accuracy and completeness of all references. Unnecessary self-citation and citation of grey literature without justification should be avoided.

21. TABLES

Tables must be prepared using the table function of word-processing software (not as embedded images). Each table must be submitted as part of the main manuscript file, placed after the figure legends.

Each table must have: a sequential number (Table 1, Table 2, etc.) in the order of first citation in the text; a concise descriptive title above the table; footnotes below the table (indicated by superscript lowercase letters in alphabetical order) for abbreviations and explanatory notes.

Data presented in tables must not be repeated in the body text beyond essential summary statements. Tables should not duplicate data presented in figures. For tables reproduced or adapted from previously published sources, written permission from the copyright holder must be obtained before submission, and a credit line must appear as the first footnote of the table.

22. FIGURES AND DIGITAL ARTWORK

22.1  General requirements

All figures must be submitted as separate files; they must not be embedded in the main manuscript file. Figures must be cited sequentially in the text in the order of first appearance. Figure legends must be provided at the end of the main manuscript file, after the references, as a numbered list.

The technical specifications set out in this section constitute standard digital imaging requirements for peer-reviewed scientific publishing. They do not imply any additional cost to authors: all widely used scientific imaging and graphics applications - including open-source tools such as FIJI/ImageJ and Inkscape - support export in the required formats and at the required resolutions. Authors experiencing difficulty meeting these specifications are encouraged to contact the Editorial Office before submission.

22.2  File formats and resolution

• Photographs and halftone (greyscale or color) artwork: TIFF format at a minimum of 300 dpi at final print size.
• Line art (graphs, flowcharts, diagrams): TIFF or EPS format at a minimum of 1,200 dpi.
• Combination figures (line art with halftone): TIFF format at a minimum of 600 dpi.

JPEG format is not accepted for production figures. JPEG compression introduces lossy artifacts that degrade image quality to below acceptable print standards. If JPEG files are submitted during the peer-review stage, authors will be required to provide TIFF or EPS replacements before acceptance. Figures created in Microsoft Word, Excel, or PowerPoint are not accepted.

22.3  Color artwork

All color artwork must be saved in CMYK color space (not RGB). The Journal publishes color figures at no charge to authors. Authors are responsible for verifying that no critical information is lost when figures are converted to greyscale.

22.4  Figure size

Figures should be prepared at the intended final print size: approximately 8.5 cm (single column) or 17.5 cm (double column) in width. Figures submitted at a smaller-than-final size will require enlargement, which reduces image quality.

22.5  Art labels and annotations

Labels, arrows, and other annotations must be large enough to remain legible when figures are reduced to their final print size. White annotations on dark backgrounds; black annotations on light backgrounds. A single, consistent font (preferred: Arial or Helvetica) should be used, with a minimum size of 8 pt at the final print size.

22.6  Figures from published sources

Figures reproduced or adapted from previously published sources require written permission from the copyright holder before submission. A credit line must appear at the end of the relevant figure legend.

22.7  Clinical images and patient photographs

Clinical images, photographs, or videos that could identify a patient may be submitted only with written informed consent for publication. A statement confirming consent must appear in the figure legend. Consent documentation must be uploaded as a supplementary file for editorial review and will not be published.

23. SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIALS AND VIDEO FILES

23.1  Supplementary materials

Supplementary materials (datasets, extended methods, additional figures, tables, checklists, code) must be submitted via the OJS submission system as separate files, labeled sequentially (e.g., Supplementary Figure 1, Supplementary Table 1). Each supplementary item must be cited in the main manuscript at the point of relevance.

Supplementary materials are subject to peer review together with the main manuscript and are published as permanent attachments to the article online.

23.2  Video files

Video files may be submitted as supplementary materials. Accepted formats: .avi, .mov, and .mp4. Each video must not exceed 4 minutes in duration. The total size of all video files associated with a single submission must not exceed 1 GB.

A written legend of no more than 40 words per video must be provided in the main manuscript file, listed sequentially (Video 1, Video 2, etc.) in the order of first citation. Voice-over narration, where included, must be in clear, standard English.

24. SUBMISSION PROCEDURE

24.1  Initiating a submission

Corresponding authors must complete all steps of the OJS submission wizard. Partial submissions (where the "Submit" button has not been clicked) are not received by the Editorial Office. The system automatically generates a confirmation email upon successful submission, along with a unique manuscript identifier.

The OJS submission wizard proceeds through the following sequential steps:

• Step 1 - Article type selection: select the appropriate type from Section 7.
• Step 2 - File upload: upload all required files (anonymized main manuscript, separate title page, figure files, supplementary files, cover letter, ICMJE COI form(s), and EQUATOR checklist).
• Step 3 - Metadata entry: enter the full article title, abstract, keywords, author details (including ORCID iDs and ROR identifiers), and CRediT contributor roles.
• Step 4 - Confirmations: complete the submission declarations confirming compliance with all Journal policies.
• Step 5 - Review and submit: review the submission summary and click "Submit" to complete the process.

24.2  Pre-screening and formal check

Upon receipt, the Editorial Office conducts a formal check within 2 working days. The check verifies that all required files have been submitted, that the manuscript meets the formal requirements of these Guidelines, that authorship declarations are complete, and that ethical documentation is in order.

Manuscripts that do not pass the formal check are returned to the corresponding author with a detailed list of deficiencies. Resubmission of the corrected manuscript resets the submission date. Manuscripts that pass the formal check proceed to plagiarism and similarity screening, as described in the Peer Review Policy (Phase 2).

24.3  Withdrawal of submissions

A submission may be withdrawn at any stage before acceptance by notifying the Editorial Office. Upon acceptance, the license to publish granted under the Copyright and Licensing Policy (Section 4) takes effect, and authors no longer hold an unconditional right of withdrawal. A request to withdraw an accepted manuscript requires formal written notification stating the grounds in detail, accompanied by the written consent of all co-authors. The Editor-in-Chief assesses it in accordance with Section 23 of the Corrections and Retractions Policy. Once an article has been published Online First in accordance with Section 26.3 of these Guidelines, it constitutes a published article, and its removal from the scholarly record is governed exclusively by the retraction and removal provisions of the Corrections and Retractions Policy.

25. REVISION PROCEDURE

25.1  Revision requests

Where the Editor-in-Chief requests a revision, the corresponding author will be notified via the OJS system. The notification will specify whether the revision is major (requiring substantial additional work) or minor (requiring limited corrections or clarifications). It will include the peer reviewers' reports and, where applicable, additional comments from the handling editor.

25.2  Revision submission deadlines

• Major revision: 60 calendar days from the date of the revision request.
• Minor revision: 30 calendar days from the date of the revision request.

These deadlines are consistent with the Journal's standard editorial practice. Any specific revision timelines established or updated in future revisions of the Peer Review Policy will prevail over the above in the event of conflict.

Extensions may be requested via the OJS system before the deadline expires. The Editorial Office will assess extension requests on a case-by-case basis.

25.3  Revision documentation

The revised submission must include:

• (a) the revised manuscript file (anonymized), with all changes made visible either through tracked changes or a line-by-line summary table;
• (b) a detailed response letter, in which the corresponding author addresses each point raised by the peer reviewers and the editor, specifying the changes made or providing a reasoned justification for any revisions not implemented.

The Editorial Office reserves the right to return revision packages that do not include a complete response letter.

26. AFTER ACCEPTANCE: PRODUCTION AND PROOFS

26.1  Acceptance and production

Upon acceptance, the corresponding author will receive a formal acceptance notification via the OJS system. The manuscript will be transferred to the production team for copyediting, typesetting, and metadata preparation. The production team may contact the corresponding author to resolve typographical, grammatical, or formatting queries. Authors should respond within 2 working days.

26.2  Page proofs

Page proofs will be sent to the corresponding author in PDF format. The purpose of the proof review is to verify the accuracy of typesetting, not to introduce new content or make substantive revisions. Appropriate corrections at proof stage include: typographical errors; factual errors in author details, reference lists, or figure legends; errors introduced during production.

Authors should return corrected proofs within 48 hours of receipt. Substantial editorial changes at proof stage require written justification to the Editorial Office and may be treated as a post-acceptance amendment subject to the Corrections, Retractions and Expressions of Concern Policy.

26.3  Online First publication

Every article accepted for publication is published Online First. Once copyediting, typesetting, and proof correction have been completed, the final version of the article, that is to say the Version of Record, is published in the Online First section of the Journal website as soon as it is ready, in advance of its assignment to a numbered issue. Online First publication is the ordinary and systematic route for every accepted article. It is not an optional service and is not exempt at the authors' request. The only exceptions, which arise from the nature of the content and never from a request by the authors, are the editorial opening of a given issue and articles belonging to a special collection for which the Editor-in-Chief has determined a simultaneous release.

The article published Online First is the definitive, copyedited and typeset version. It carries no provisional status and no statement indicating a non-final version. It is immediately citable, published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License with no embargo, and its metadata are deposited with CrossRef and the Journal indexing and preservation services from that date. The date of Online First publication constitutes the date of first online publication of the article for all purposes arising under the Journal editorial policy framework.

A Digital Object Identifier is assigned to each article at the moment of acceptance and is communicated to the corresponding author in the acceptance notification. The identifier is independent of the volume, issue, and page range subsequently assigned to the article, and it becomes resolvable upon Online First publication. Detailed provisions are set out in the Indexing and Abstracting Policy (Section 5.1).

Upon assignment to a numbered issue, the article retains the same Digital Object Identifier and the same stable URL. Only the bibliographic metadata are completed, with the addition of volume, issue, and page range, and the corresponding Crossref record is updated. No second identifier is assigned at any stage. This completion of metadata does not constitute a modification of the Version of Record and does not require a corrective notice under the Corrections and Retractions Policy (Section 10).

Until assignment to a numbered issue, the article should be cited by its Digital Object Identifier with the indication Online First. Following assignment to an issue, the citation is completed with volume, issue, and page range. Citations made during the Online First period remain valid because the identifier and landing page address are unchanged.

26.4  Open access publication

All articles are published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0). Authors retain copyright in their work. No embargo applies. Articles are published online immediately upon production completion, through Online First publication in accordance with Section 26.3. A Digital Object Identifier is assigned to each article at the moment of acceptance and becomes resolvable upon Online First publication. Full details of the open access model and copyright arrangements are set out in the Open Access Policy and the Copyright and Licensing Policy.

       28. CROSS-REFERENCES WITHIN THE EGO EDITORIAL POLICY FRAMEWORK

These Submission Guidelines must be read in conjunction with the following policies, which collectively constitute the EGO Editorial Policy Framework. All policies are available on the Journal's website (egojournal.eu).

Policy	Relevant Sections
Authorship Policy	Sections 6, 13
Peer Review Policy	Sections 24, 25
Publication Ethics Policy	All sections
Research Ethics Policy	Sections 14, 15
Corrections and Retractions Policy	Sections 23, 24.3, 26.2, 26.3
Conflict of Interest Policy	Section 18
Open Access Policy	Section 26.4
Copyright and Licensing Policy	Section 26.4
Preprint Policy	Section 19
Data Availability and Sharing Policy	Section 16
Artificial Intelligence Policy	Section 17
Author Fees and Publication Charges Policy	Section 2
Statistical Reporting and Reproducibility Policy	Section 12.3 (EQUATOR)
Privacy and Data Protection Policy	Sections 14, 16
Indexing and Abstracting Policy	Sections 26.3, 26.4

     27. NORMATIVE REFERENCES

These Guidelines have been drafted with reference to the following international standards and frameworks:

• ICMJE Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals (updated 2024): icmje.org
• COPE Core Practices (2023): publicationethics.org
• DOAJ Guide to Applying v2.6 (2024): doaj.org
• Declaration of Helsinki (2024): wma.net
• EQUATOR Network reporting guidelines: equator-network.org
• CONSORT 2010 Statement / CONSORT 2025 Statement: equator-network.org/reporting-guidelines/consort
• PRISMA 2020 Statement: prisma-statement.org
• CARE Case Report Guidelines: care-statement.org
• STROBE Statement: strobe-statement.org
• STARD 2015: equator-network.org
• ARRIVE 2.0: arriveguidelines.org
• SPIRIT 2013: spirit-statement.org
• SAGER Guidelines: genderbasicresearch.org
• CRediT Taxonomy (NISO RP-47-2022): credit.niso.org
• ORCID: orcid.org
• Research Organization Registry (ROR): ror.org
• Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0): creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• GDPR (Regulation (EU) 2016/679)
• Vancouver/ICMJE reference style (NLM): nlm.nih.gov