Guide for Authors

AUTHORS

Primary Publishing

Manuscripts submitted to JoCE must not be under consideration elsewhere or previously published. Simultaneous submission or redundant publication is not allowed.

Originality and Transparency of Sources

Submitted manuscripts must present original research. Authors are responsible for ensuring the originality of their work and must transparently cite the contributions of others. Use of copyrighted or licensed material without permission is prohibited and must be disclosed. Plagiarism of any form constitutes academic malpractice.

JoCE encourages compliance with the Social Research Association's Ethical Guidelines.

Citation Practices and Credit for Original Work

JoCE is committed to maintaining scholarly integrity through accurate attribution. Authors are expected to cite primary sources where original findings, methods, or concepts were first reported. Review articles may be cited for background or synthesis, but they should not replace references to original work. Proper citation ensures that credit is given to those who first developed the ideas or findings being discussed.

Citation Manipulation

JoCE strictly prohibits any form of citation manipulation. This policy applies to all actors involved in the publication process, including authors, editors, and reviewers. All parties must avoid practices intended to unethically inflate citation metrics.

Specifically, citation manipulation includes but is not limited to:

1. Coercing or suggesting citations that are not directly relevant to the manuscript.
2. Adding excessive self-citations without clear scholarly justification.
3. Adding citations to JoCE without appropriate academic reason.

Suspected cases will be thoroughly investigated. Proven manipulation may lead to rejection, retraction, or a ban on future submissions or collaborations. All actions will be taken in accordance with the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidelines.

Data Sharing, Reproducibility and Retention

JoCE promotes transparency and reproducibility. Authors are strongly encouraged to make their data, code, and methods openly accessible to support verification, reuse, and further research. Authors must be prepared to provide access to their data during or after publication if requested.

Authors should:

• Deposit datasets, code, or protocols in trusted repositories that provide a persistent identifier (e.g., DOI).
• (Only required for all manuscripts submitted after 30 June 2025 or published after 31 December 2025) Include a Data Availability Statement within the manuscript, specifying:
  • Whether and how the supporting data can be accessed,
  • Repository name and link (if applicable),
  • Any restrictions or conditions for access,
  • A justification if data cannot be shared (e.g., ethical, legal, proprietary reasons).

Examples:

• Data is available at [repository] via [DOI or link].
• Data supporting the findings must be made available upon reasonable request to the corresponding author, barring exceptions for legal, ethical or other reasonable grounds.

JoCE encourages long-term preservation of research data to support transparency, reproducibility, and academic integrity. Authors must retain all relevant data and research materials used in their study for a minimum of five years after publication. This applies to both published and unpublished data related to the research findings, including raw data, processed data, analysis scripts, and supporting documentation. If data retention is not possible due to legal, ethical, or institutional constraints, authors must formally request an exception from the handling editor at the time of submission. Any granted exception must be acknowledged in the manuscript.

Funding Disclosure

Authors must clearly disclose any sources of financial support received for the conduct of their research and/or the preparation of their manuscript.

The funding statement must include:

1. The name of the funding body or sponsor.
2. Any relevant grant numbers or project titles.
3. A description of the role of the funder, if applicable, in:
   1. Study design,
   2. Data collection or analysis,
   3. Manuscript preparation,
   4. Decision to submit for publication.

If the research received no external funding, authors should explicitly state this.

Reporting Standards

JoCE encourages authors to present unique and original research. Submitted manuscripts are evaluated based on their methodological rigour and novelty. Authors should ensure accurate data representation, proper referencing, attention to detail, and robust research design. Unsubstantiated claims or fallacious argumentation are considered unethical. While Research Papers and Reviews must sustain objectivity, Perspectives may reflect the author's subjective viewpoint.

Preprint Policy

JoCE encourages authors to share their work as preprints prior to or during submission.

Authors may:

1. Post their manuscript on reputable preprint servers (e.g., arXiv, SSRN, OSF).
2. Reference the preprint in their submission cover letter.
3. Include a link to the preprint in the published version if accepted.

Preprints are not considered prior publication, but authors must ensure that:

1. The preprint version is transparently cited if relevant.
2. There is no substantial difference in authorship or content unless justified.

Authors are responsible for updating preprint records to reflect acceptance or publication in JoCE.

Authorship of the Paper

Authorship should be granted to individuals who contributed substantially to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the manuscript. Others who contributed less substantially should be listed as co-authors or acknowledged appropriately. The corresponding author is responsible for ensuring all contributors approve the final manuscript and agree to its submission. All listed authors must take collective responsibility for the content.

Any authorship disputes should be resolved before submission. Changes to the author list after submission are only allowed under exceptional circumstances and must be approved by the editor.

Author Contributions (CRediT Taxonomy)

JoCE requires authors to specify the individual contributions of each co-author using the CRediT (Contributor Roles Taxonomy) framework.

Authors should indicate who was responsible for roles such as:

• Conceptualization
• Data curation
• Formal analysis
• Funding acquisition
• Investigation
• Methodology
• Project administration
• Resources
• Software
• Supervision
• Validation
• Visualization
• Writing – original draft
• Writing – review & editing

Each author may be credited with multiple roles, and all listed contributors must approve the author contributions statement.

This statement should appear in the manuscript before the references or in a designated section during submission.

Changes to Authorship

JoCE expects that all authors listed on a manuscript have agreed upon the author list and order at the time of submission. As such, changes to authorship are discouraged after submission and are only permitted under exceptional circumstances.

Requests to add, remove, or rearrange authors must meet the following conditions:

1. The corresponding author must submit the request in writing, explaining the reason for the change.
2. The request must include written confirmation from all listed authors, including any being added or removed, stating that they agree with the change.
3. If the manuscript has already been accepted, JoCE may pause publication while authorship issues are resolved.

The editorial team will evaluate each request on a case-by-case basis. Unapproved or undeclared changes to authorship may lead to manuscript rejection or retraction after publication.

Acknowledgements

Authors should acknowledge any individuals or organisations that contributed to the research but do not meet the criteria for authorship.

This may include:

1. Assistance with research design, data collection, or analysis.
2. Help with language editing, proofreading, or technical support.
3. Institutional or logistical support that was essential to completing the work.

Acknowledgements should be included in a dedicated section before the references. Authors must ensure that all individuals named have given their explicit permission to be acknowledged.

Financial support should be disclosed in the Funding Disclosure section, not in the acknowledgements.

Declaration of Generative AI Use in Writing

Authors must clearly disclose any use of generative AI or AI-assisted tools during manuscript preparation. This includes tools used for drafting, editing, summarising, or translating text.

Key guidelines:

1. AI tools must not be listed as authors. Authorship implies responsibility, which cannot be attributed to non-human tools.
2. AI may only be used to assist with language improvement or clarity, and must not replace original scholarly input.
3. Authors are fully accountable for the integrity, accuracy, and originality of any AI-assisted content.

If generative AI was used during manuscript preparation, authors must clearly state this in the manuscript. The declaration should specify which tool was used, how it was used, and why it was used. This information should be included in a dedicated section near the end of the manuscript (e.g., before the references).

Use of generative AI for content creation without disclosure will be treated as academic malpractice, equivalent to plagiarism. The journal may employ plagiarism and AI detection software, but does not disclose which tool is used. Authors sanctioned due to plagiarism or undisclosed use of AI may appeal their case by contacting [email protected] in accordance with JoCE’s appeals procedures.

Use of AI in Figures, Images, and Visuals

JoCE does not permit the use of generative AI or AI-assisted tools to create, modify, or enhance figures, images, or other visual content in submitted manuscripts.

Permitted use:

• Standard editing (e.g., brightness, contrast, color balance) is acceptable as long as it does not obscure, misrepresent, or remove original information.
• AI-generated images are only permitted if they are part of the research methodology itself (e.g., in AI-related studies), and this must be transparently described in the Methods section.

Prohibited use:

• Use of AI to generate visual abstracts, illustrations, or graphs unless fully described, justified, and approved during submission.
• Use of AI tools like DALL·E, Midjourney, or similar without disclosure.

All visual content must be the authors’ original work, properly credited, or used with permission from third parties. Undisclosed use of AI in visuals may result in rejection or retraction.

Image Integrity

All visual content must accurately reflect the original data and must not be manipulated in a way that could mislead readers.

Authors must ensure that:

• No feature is added, enhanced, obscured, moved, or removed from an image.
• Adjustments (e.g., brightness, contrast, or color balance) are permissible only if they apply to the entire image and do not distort or misrepresent the original data.
• Any image splicing or composition must be clearly indicated and explained in the figure legend.

Image manipulation that violates these principles may be treated as academic misconduct. JoCE reserves the right to request original, unprocessed image data during peer review or post-publication.

Declaration of Competing Interests

All authors must disclose any financial, institutional, or personal relationships that could be perceived to influence the content of the submitted work.

Examples include:

• Employment, consultancies, stock ownership, or patent applications
• Grants, honoraria, paid expert testimony, or advisory roles
• Institutional affiliations or collaborations relevant to the research

This declaration is required from every author, even if no competing interests exist. Authors with nothing to declare must state that they have no competing interests to declare.

Should there be any editorial conflict of interest, such as submissions involving editors, colleagues, or institutions with a close association to the journal, this must be disclosed as early as possible, ideally prior to submission. Such manuscripts will be handled independently and subject to the journal’s standard editorial and peer review procedures without exception.

Failure to disclose relevant conflicts may result in rejection, correction, or retraction.

Confidentiality

Authors must not disclose any confidential information obtained during the research or publishing process without explicit permission from the original source.

Inclusive Language

JoCE is committed to respectful and equitable scholarship. JoCE expects authors to use language that is inclusive, free from bias, and considerate of all individuals regardless of background.

Authors should:

1. Avoid language that implies superiority based on gender, race, ethnicity, age, disability, sexual orientation, religion, or national origin.
2. Use gender-neutral terms where possible (e.g., "they" instead of "he/she", or plural forms like "researchers" instead of "the researcher").
3. Refer to personal attributes only when relevant to the research.
4. Avoid stereotypes, slang, or culturally dominant assumptions.

Manuscripts that do not meet these standards may be returned for revision prior to peer review.

Sex and Gender-Based Analysis

Where research involves human participants, animals, or cells, authors are encouraged to incorporate sex and gender-based analysis (SGBA) into their study design and reporting, where relevant.

Authors should:

1. Clearly define how sex (biological attributes) and/or gender (social roles and identities) were considered in the research process.
2. Report any sex or gender differences found in the results or explain why such analysis was not applicable.
3. Acknowledge limitations related to sex and gender generalizability, where appropriate.

JoCE encourages the use of established guidelines such as the Sex and Gender Equity in Research (SAGER) guidelines to ensure responsible reporting.

Human and Animal Research Ethics

JoCE requires authors to follow established ethical standards for studies involving humans, animals, or human-derived materials.

Studies Involving Humans

• Research must be conducted in accordance with the World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki.
• Adhere to the ICMJE recommendations for ethical conduct, reporting, and publication.
• Use accurate sex and gender terminology in line with WHO guidance, and consider diversity in age, sex, and ethnicity in study design and reporting.

Manuscripts must include a formal Ethics Statement that confirms:

• Compliance with institutional and legal standards,
• Approval by an appropriate ethics committee or review board (including name, approval number, and date),
• That the privacy and confidentiality of participants were protected,
• That informed consent was obtained from all participants.

JoCE will not accept manuscripts containing data derived from unethically obtained human organs or tissues, including from executed prisoners or prisoners of conscience. In line with the WHO Guiding Principles on Human Cell, Tissue and Organ Transplantation and the Global Rights Compliance "Do No Harm" guidance, authors must:

• Provide documentation confirming that tissues were obtained ethically and transparently.
• Declare that autonomous consent was obtained, free of coercion.

JoCE reserves the right to request further documentation to verify ethical compliance and may reject or retract manuscripts that fail to meet these standards.

Studies Involving Animals

• All animal research must comply with applicable national and international regulations (e.g., EU Directive 2010/63/EU, UK Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986).
• Receive approval from an appropriate institutional ethics committee or oversight body.
• Be described transparently, including welfare considerations and steps taken to reduce harm.

Manuscripts lacking proper ethical documentation will not be accepted.

Hazards and Safety

Authors must clearly disclose any potential hazards associated with the materials, equipment, or procedures used in their research. This includes, but is not limited to:

• Use of toxic chemicals, pathogens, or radioactive materials
• High-risk procedures or technical processes
• Environmental or biological safety concerns

Authors are responsible for ensuring that all work was conducted in compliance with relevant health, safety, and environmental regulations and that appropriate precautions were taken. Where applicable, the manuscript should include a description of the risks and how they were mitigated.

Clinical Research Transparency

For studies involving human participants in clinical, biomedical, or healthcare contexts, JoCE requires the highest standards of transparency and ethical compliance.

Authors must ensure that:

• Clinical research is conducted in accordance with the CONSORT guidelines (or equivalent standards).
• Clinical trials are prospectively registered in a recognized public trial registry (e.g., EU Clinical Trials Register).
• Informed consent is obtained from all participants or their legally authorized representatives.

If identifiable patient information, images, or case details are used, authors must confirm that:

• Written consent for publication was obtained,
• Consent forms are retained by the author(s),
• Identifying details have been omitted or anonymized unless explicitly consented to.

JoCE reserves the right to request documentation confirming compliance with these requirements.

Jurisdictional Claims and Maps

JoCE maintains a neutral stance on all territorial, political, or jurisdictional claims made by authors in their manuscripts.

Authors must ensure that:

• Maps and affiliations reflect only the area studied or institution involved, without implying endorsement of any territorial claim.
• Institutional names are written in full or use standardized abbreviations that can be independently verified.

When including maps:

• Authors should limit illustrations to the study area only.
• Maps must not display broader regions beyond what is relevant to the research.
• A disclaimer should be included where appropriate:
  “Map boundaries are for illustrative purposes only and do not imply endorsement of any territorial claim.”

Editors may request revisions to maps or affiliations that may appear politically sensitive or ambiguous.

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