For Authors

General Information

Submission of an article implies that the presented work and results have not been published or submitted for publication elsewhere, and that its publication is approved by all authors. All authors are requested to disclose any actual or potential conflict of interest.

The author(s) warrant(s) that:

• The manuscript submitted is his/her/their own original work;
• All authors participated in the work in a substantial way and are prepared to take public responsibility for the work;
• All authors have seen and approved the manuscript as submitted;
• The manuscript has not been published and is not being submitted or considered for publication elsewhere;
• The text, illustrations, and any other materials included in the manuscript do not infringe upon any existing copyright or other rights of anyone.
• By submission author(s) grant(s) to the journal unlimited, worldwide, irrevocable, royalty-free right to publish, use, distribute, license, transmit, display, exhibit, record, store, translate, digitize, broadcast, reproduce and archive, in any format or medium, whether now known or hereafter developed.

Peer Review

Double-blind review system with at least two reviewers is used to evaluate manuscripts for publication. Editors have the right to reject the manuscripts without peer-review when the manuscript:

• is on a topic outside the scope of the Journal,
• lacks technical merit,
• exhibits narrow regional scope and significance,
• presents conflicting results,
• is poorly written,
• represents a case of scientific misconduct,
• when the journal is overburdened with too many submissions, editors have right to reject manuscripts without peer-review based on their perceived merit.

Editors are responsible for the final decision regarding acceptance or rejection of articles.

Changes to Authorship

Authors are expected to carefully consider the list and order of authors before submitting their manuscript and provide the definitive list of authors at the time of the original submission. Any addition, deletion, or rearrangement of author names in the authorship list should be made only before the manuscript has been accepted and only if approved by the journal Editor.

To request such a change, the Editor must receive the following from the corresponding author:

(a) the reason for the change in author list

(b) written confirmation (e-mail, letter) from all authors that they agree with the addition, removal, or rearrangement.

 

Style & Format

In the case of addition or removal of authors, this includes confirmation from the author being added or removed.

File Format        Manuscript files must be in one of the following formats; DOC, DOCX, or RTF. Microsoft Word documents should not be locked or protected.

Length  Research Papers must not exceed 20 manuscript pages, including tables and figures.

Short Papers and Technical Notes should not exceed 10 manuscript pages, including tables and figures.

Review Articles should not exceed 30 manuscript pages, including tables and figures.

Font      Use font “Calibri” size “12 points”. To add symbols to the manuscript, use the Insert → Symbol function in your word processor or paste in the appropriate Unicode character.

Headings            Manuscript sections and sub-sections are not numbered.

Layout & Spacing             Manuscript text should be 1.5 lines spaced with 25 mm margins.

Do not format text in multiple columns.

Page & Line Numbers    Include page numbers and line numbers in the manuscript file. Use continuous line numbers (do not restart the numbering on each page).

Footnotes           Footnotes are not permitted. If your manuscript contains footnotes, move the information into the main text or the reference list, depending on the content.

Language           Manuscripts must be submitted in English.

Abbreviations   Define abbreviations upon first appearance in the text.

Do not use non-standard abbreviations unless they appear at least three times in the text.

Keep abbreviations to a minimum.

Reference Style The 7th Edition of APA Citation guidelines should be used.

See reference formatting examples by clicking this link.

Equations           We recommend using MathType for display and inline equations, as it will provide the most reliable outcome. If this is not possible, Equation Editor or Microsoft's Insert→Equation function is acceptable.

Avoid using MathType, Equation Editor, or the Insert→Equation function to insert single variables (e.g., “a² + b² = c²”), Greek or other symbols (e.g., β, Δ, or ′ [prime]), or mathematical operators (e.g., x, ≥, or  ±) in running text. Wherever possible, insert single symbols as normal text with the correct Unicode (hex) values.

Do not use MathType, Equation Editor, or the Insert→Equation function for only a portion of an equation. Rather, ensure that the entire equation is included. Equations should not contain a mix of different equation tools. Avoid “hybrid” inline or display equations, in which part is text and part is MathType, or part is MathType and part is Equation Editor.

Nomenclature   Use correct and established nomenclature wherever possible.

Units of measurement   Use SI units. If you do not use these exclusively, provide the SI value in parentheses after each value.

Drugs    Provide the Recommended International Non-Proprietary Name (rINN).

Species names  Write in italics (e.g., Salmo labrax). Write out in full the genus and species, both in the title of the manuscript and at the first mention of an organism in a paper. After first mention, the first letter of the genus name followed by the full species name may be used (e.g., S. labrax).

Genes, mutations, genotypes, and alleles           Write in italics. Use the recommended name by consulting the appropriate genetic nomenclature database (e.g., HGNC for human genes; we strongly recommend using this tool to check against previously approved names). It is sometimes advisable to indicate the synonyms for the gene the first time it appears in the text. Gene prefixes such as those used for oncogenes or cellular localization should be shown in roman typeface (e.g., v-fes, c-MYC).

Submission Files

Submission files should be as follows. Instructions for each file and element appear below the list.

Title Page           Title, authors, ethical statement, funding information, author contributions, conflict of interest, and acknowledgements should be uploaded to the submission system as a seperate file at submission.

Main Document              The following elements are required, in order:

• Title of Manuscript
• Number of Pages, Tables, and Figures
• Abstract with keywords
• Introduction
• Materials and Methods
• Results
• Discussion
• Conclusions
• References
• Tables
• Figures
• Highlights

Other elements              

• Individiual Files (tables, figures, and graphical abstract).
• Supporting information files are uploaded separately.
• Copyright Release Form.

TITLE PAGE

Title

Include a full title (250 characters) and a short title (100 characters) for the manuscript. The full title must be specific, descriptive, concise, and comprehensible to readers outside the field.

Titles should be written in “Capitalize Each Word” case (conjunctions are not capitalized, and only the species names are italicized). Avoid specialist abbreviations if possible.

Author List

Enter author names on the title page of the manuscript and in the online submission system.

On the title page, write author names in the following order:

•             First name (or initials, if used)

•             Middle name (or initials, if used)

•             Last name (surname, family name)

 

Each author on the list must have an affiliation. The affiliation includes department, university, or organizational affiliation and its location, including city, state/province (if applicable), and country. At a minimum, the address must include the author’s current institution, city, and country. If an author has multiple affiliations, enter all affiliations on the title page only. In the submission system, enter only the preferred or primary affiliation. Author affiliations will be listed in the typeset PDF article in the same order that authors are listed in the submission.

ORCID links of the authors must be written.

The submitting author is automatically designated as the corresponding author in the submission system. The corresponding author is the primary contact for the journal office and the only author able to view or change the manuscript while it is under editorial consideration.

Only one corresponding author can be designated in the submission system. Whoever is designated as a corresponding author on the title page of the manuscript file will be listed as such upon publication. Include an email address and a phone number for each corresponding author listed on the title page of the manuscript.

Ethical Statement

All research involving vertebrates or cephalopods should comply with the ARRIVE guidelines, EU Directive 2010/63/EU for animal experiments, or must have approval from the authors' Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) or equivalent ethics committee(s), and must have been conducted according to applicable national and international guidelines. Approval must be received prior to beginning research.

Manuscripts reporting animal research must state in the Title Page:

• The full name of the relevant ethics committee that approved the work, and the associated permit number(s).
• Where ethical approval is not required, the manuscript should include a clear statement of this and the reason why. Provide any relevant regulations under which the study is exempt from the requirement for approval.
• Relevant details of steps taken to ameliorate animal suffering.

Example ethical statement

This study was carried out in strict accordance with the recommendations in the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals of the National Institutes of Health. The protocol was approved by the Committee on the Ethics of Animal Experiments of the Central Fisheries Research Institute (SUMAE) (Protocol Number: 27-2956). All surgery was performed under sodium pentobarbital anesthesia, and all efforts were made to minimize suffering.

The scientific and ethical responsibility of the animal experiment belongs to the author(s).

The editor has the right to reject manuscripts on suspicion of aforementioned requirements; animal welfare and/or lack of ethics committee reports.

Funding Information

This information should describe sources of funding that have supported the work. If your manuscript is published, your statement will appear in the Funding Information section of the article.

Enter this statement in the Funding Information section of the Title Page. Do not include it in your manuscript file.

The statement should include:

• Specific grant numbers.
• Initials of authors who received each award.
• Full names of commercial companies that funded the study or authors.
• Initials of authors who received salary or other funding from commercial companies.
• URLs to sponsors’ websites.

Also state whether any sponsors or funders (other than the named authors) played any role in:

• Study design.
• Data collection and analysis.
• Decision to publish.
• Preparation of the manuscript.

If they had no role in the research, include this sentence: “The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.”

If the study was unfunded, include this sentence as the Funding Information statement: “The author(s) received no specific funding for this work."

Author Contributions

The contributions of all authors must be described in the title page document.

Click here for title page template.

An author must satisfy four conditions:

• Contributed substantially to the conception and design of the study, the acquisition of data, or the analysis and interpretation.
• Drafted or provided critical revision of the article.
• Provided final approval of the version to publish.
• Agreed to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.

Authors are required to include a statement of responsibility in the manuscript, including review-type articles, that specifies the contribution of every author using the CRediT Taxonomy (see below given table for details).

Contributor Role             Role Definition

Conceptualization          Ideas: formulation or evolution of overarching research goals and aims.

Data Curation   Management activities to annotate (produce metadata), scrub data and maintain research data (including software code, where it is necessary for interpreting the data itself) for initial use and later reuse.

Formal Analysis                              Application of statistical, mathematical, computational, or other formal techniques to analyse or synthesize study data.

Funding Acquisition       Acquisition of the financial support for the project leading to this publication.

Investigation     Conducting a research and investigation process, specifically performing the experiments, or data/evidence collection.

Methodology    Development or design of methodology; creation of models.

Project Administration  Management and coordination responsibility for the research activity planning and execution.

Resources           Provision of study materials, reagents, materials, patients, laboratory samples, animals, instrumentation, computing resources, or other analysis tools.

Software             Programming, software development; designing computer programs; implementation of the computer code and supporting algorithms; testing of existing code components.

Supervision        Oversight and leadership responsibility for the research activity planning and execution, including mentorship external to the core team.

Validation          Verification, whether as a part of the activity or separate, of the overall replication/reproducibility of results/experiments and other research outputs.

Visualization      Preparation, creation and/or presentation of the published work, specifically visualization/data presentation.

Writing – Original Draft Preparation      Creation and/or presentation of the published work, specifically writing the initial draft (including substantive translation).

Writing – Review & Editing        Preparation, creation and/or presentation of the published work by those from the original research group, specifically critical review, commentary, or revision – including pre- or post-publication stages.

An author name can appear multiple times, and each author name must appear at least once.

The submitting author is responsible for providing the contributions of all authors at submission.

We expect that all authors will have reviewed, discussed, and agreed to their individual contributions before submitting the work. Contributions will be published with the article, and they should accurately reflect contributions to the work.

Example author contribution

Conceptualization: AFY, Data Curation: MDO, Formal Analysis: MDO, Funding Acquisition: IA, Investigation: MDO, Methodology: MDO, Project Administration: IA, Resources: IA, Supervision: EK, Visualization: MDO, Writing -original draft: MDO, Writing -review and editing: EL, AFY, IA, EK.

Or the other way around.

AFY: Conceptualization, Writing -review and editing; MDO: Data Curation, Formal Analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Visualization and Writing -original draft; IA: Funding Acquisition, Project Administration, Resources, Writing -review and editing; and EK: Supervision, Writing -review and editing.

Do not include contributor roles that are not applicable to your work! If there is no software developed, or no funding is acquired it’s not logical to have contributed to such roles!

Conflict of Interest

All authors must disclose any financial or non-financial, professional, or personal conflicts in relationship to an institution, organization, or another person that could inappropriately influence their work on the cover letter.

All potential competing interests must be declared in full. If the submission is related to any patents, patent applications, or products in development or for market, these details, including patent numbers and titles, must be disclosed in full.

If there is no conflict of interest, the authors should declare the following statement to the cover letter:

“The author(s) declare that they have no known competing financial or non-financial, professional, or personal conflicts that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.”

Failure to declare competing interests can result in immediate rejection of a manuscript.

This information should not be in your manuscript file; you will provide it via our submission system.

Acknowledgements

The names, degrees, and affiliations who have contributed substantially to a study but do not fulfill the criteria for authorship can be listed in the Acknowledgments section.

Author(s) are responsible for ensuring that anyone named in the Acknowledgments agrees to be named.

Do not include funding sources in the Acknowledgments or anywhere else in the manuscript file. Funding information should only be entered in the funding information section of the title page file.

MAIN DOCUMENT

Title of Manuscript

Include a full title (250 characters) for the manuscript. The full title must be specific, descriptive, concise, and comprehensible to readers outside the field.

Titles should be written in “Capitalize Each Word” case (conjunctions are not capitalized, and only the species names are italicized). Avoid specialist abbreviations if possible.

Do not include author names in the main document file or anywhere else in the manuscript file. Author names should only be entered in the author names section of the title page file and to the online submission system.

Number of Pages, Tables, and Figures

Include number of pages, tables, and figures on the first page of main document file below the title.

Abstract with Keywords

The Abstract comes after the Number of Pages, Tables and Figures in the manuscript file. The abstract text is also entered in a separate field in the submission system. 

The Abstract should:

• Describe the main objective(s) of the study.
• Explain how the study was done, including any model organisms used, without methodological detail.
• Summarize the most important results and their significance.
• Not exceed 200 words in research papers, 300 words in reviews, and 100 words in short reports and technical notes.

Abstracts should not include:

• Citations
• Abbreviations, if possible

Manuscript Sections

Provide three to five key words (not existing in the title) below the abstract.

Provide sufficient information using the journal style and formatting for the following sections in order.

• Introduction
• Materials and Methods
• Results
• Discussion
• Conclusions

References

Any and all available works can be cited in the reference list. Acceptable sources include:

• Published or accepted manuscripts.
• Manuscripts on preprint servers, providing the manuscript has a citable DOI.

Do not cite the following sources in the reference list:

• Unavailable and unpublished work, including manuscripts that have been submitted but not yet accepted (e.g., “unpublished work,” “data not shown”). Instead, include those data as supplementary material or deposit the data in a publicly available database.
• Personal communications.

References are listed at the end of the manuscript before tables and figures, in alphabetical order.

References are cited in the text according to 7th Edition of APA.

DOI links of references are indicated (if available)

Full names of journal titles are provided in the reference list (NOT abbreviated).

Tables

Cite tables in ascending numeric order upon first appearance in the manuscript file.

Place each table in your manuscript file directly after the references section. Also submit your tables in separate files to the submission system.

A brief descriptive title of the table should be placed on top of the table with a label (e.g., “Table 1.”).

Descriptions about table items (e.g., legend, footnotes, and any other text) should be placed below the table and marked with an asterisk.

Tables should be prepared in regular MS Word format (i.e., tables submitted as a figure or manually written will not be accepted). If necessary, create tables in Excel and insert them into the manuscript. Do not insert text boxes or graphics within your tables.

Tables sent in image formats or in any noneditable format will be requested to be formatted from the corresponding author leading a loss of time and a delay in publication.

Figures

Cite figures in ascending numeric order upon first appearance in the manuscript file.

Place each figure in your manuscript file directly after the tables section. Also submit your figures in separate files to the submission system.

A brief descriptive title of the figure and any other text should be placed below the figure with a label (e.g., “Figure 1.”).

Figures should have a minimum resolution of 300 dpi.

Supporting information should be submitted as separate individual files via online submission system (see article 3.2.). But a list of supporting information captions (if applicable) must be inserted at the end of the manuscript file above the highlights. Do not submit captions in a separate file.

Highlights

Highlights should be represented by three to five result-oriented points that provide readers with an at-a-glance overview of the main findings of your article.

They should represent a quick snippet of the results-short and intriguing.

Each Highlight should have no more than 90 characters, including spaces.

OTHER ELEMENTS

Individiual Files

Submit your tables and figures in separate individual files to the submission system, follow the guidelines article 2.6. and 2.7. in preperation of tables and figures.

A graphical abstract (or a featured image) must be uploaded as a seperate individual files named as “graphical abstract” via online submission system that we may use represent your article in online platforms.

A graphical abstract should ideally be high resolution, eye-catching, single or multiple panel images, providing a concise information about the work done and should ideally avoid containing added much details such as long texts.

Supporting Information Files

Please mind that a good graphical abstract is a brief statement of the overall view of the work done.

Author(s) can submit essential supporting files and multimedia files along with their manuscripts. All supporting information will be subject to peer review.

Supporting information files are published exactly as provided, and are not copyedited.

Author(s) may use almost any description as the item name for a supporting information file as long as it contains an “S” and number. For example, “S1 Appendix” and “S2 Appendix,” “S1 Table” and “S2 Table,” and so forth.

Copyright Release Form

During the submission process, authors will be directed to download and complete a Copyright Release Form which will have to be signed by all authors.

Completed, and signed Copyright Release Form must be submitted to the online submission system in pdf or jpeg format.

REVISING YOUR MANUSCRIPT

If you are submitting a revised manuscript, upload your revised submission to the submission system and include the following items:

• Response to reviewers: Address the specific points made by each reviewer. Include your responses to all the reviewers’ and editors’ comments and list the changes you have made to the manuscript. Upload this document as a “Response to reviewers” file.
• Revised manuscript (marked-up copy): Include a marked-up copy of your manuscript file showing the changes you have made since the original submission. The best way to show these changes is the “Track Changes” option in Microsoft Word. Upload this as a "Revised Article with Changes Highlighted” file.
• Revised manuscript (clean copy): Upload a clean copy of your revised manuscript that does not show your changes. Upload this as your “Revised Manuscript” file.

Tables, figures and supporting information files from your original submission will automatically transfer to your revised submission unless you choose to update and replace them.

SOCIAL MEDIA COVERAGE

Authors of accepted articles will be asked to provide up to 3 photographs and 1 video (≈60 sec.) that present the study, which will be used to share information on our social media accounts to increase paper’s publicity. If applicable, Twitter usernames of author(s) can be used to mention.

The preferable format for video clips is mp4 (max file size is up to 200 mb), and for images either JPEG, GIF or PNG (max file size per image is 5 mb, and 3 mb for animated gifs).

Please send the images and video to journal by email.

UPON ACCEPTANCE

Once the manuscript is accepted for publishing, authors will receive an e-mail notification with all necessary information on further steps in publishing process. Accepted manuscript can be tracked via the link that will be sent by email. Early View proof will be provided for corrections, before the paper is published in its final form.

Authors should indicate all corrections on the paper published as Early View as comments and email the file highlighted with comments to the journal email.

Please notice that the Journal reserves the right to reject a paper even after it has been accepted, if it becomes apparent that there are serious problems with its scientific content, or the publishing policies of journal have been violated.

AUTHOR RIGHTS

Authors of published articles (and/or their employers or institutions) have certain rights to reuse published work with prior permission.

Please click to download the Permission Request Form.