Author Guidelines

Journal Information
Authorship
Publication Fees
Article Types
Prepare Submisson Files
Submit Your Manuscript
Revision
Ethical Issues
Peer Review Process
Open Access and Copyright
Data Availability
Article Retraction
Appeals and Complaints
Contact us

JOURNAL INFORMATION

Advanced Research in Obstetrics and Gynecology (AROG) is a peer-reviewed open access journal that publishes a broad range of scientific works (original articles, reviews, case reports,  brief communications, commentaries, editorials, and letters to the Editor) on all aspects of obstetrics and gynecology. AROG's abbreviated title is "Adv Res Obstet Gynaecol". E-ISSN: 2980-3217.

All manuscripts submitted to AROG are rigorously evaluated via a double-blind peer review process. The manuscripts should be original, unpublished, and not in consideration for publication elsewhere at the time of submission.

The subject matter of all manuscripts must be within the scope of the journal. Manuscripts that are not suitable for the journal will be rejected even if they are of high scientific quality. For detailed information on the aims and scope of AROG, please refer to Aims & Scope.

The journal is published twice yearly.

AUTHORSHIP
Authorship should be limited to those who have made a significant contribution to the article. All those who have made significant contributions should be listed as co-authors. Significant contributions include:
- significant contributions to the conception, design, execution, data acquisition, or interpretation of the study;
- drafting the manuscript or revising it critically for important intellectual content

The corresponding author should verify that all co-authors have approved the final version of the manuscript and agreed to its submission for publication. Those who contributed to the work but do not meet the criteria for authorship should be listed in the Acknowledgements.

The definitive list of all authors must be provided when submitting the manuscript. Please ensure that the authorship information on the manuscript (the title page) matches the information you entered in the journal's submission system. Please note that if there is any inconsistency (for example, in the order of the co-authors), the information on the title page will be taken into account.

Changes in Authorship
Adding and/or removing authors, and/or changes in corresponding author, and/or changes in the order of co-authors are generally not permitted, but in some cases, and with a valid reason, it may be allowed. Please note that changes in authorship are only permissible during the review process. No changes are allowed after the manuscript has been accepted.
You will need to get approval for any changes by contacting the journal's Editor-in-Chief with your change request and a clear and valid reason for the change. This request must come from all the authors, including the person you are adding or removing. Please use the Authorship Change Form for any change request.

PUBLICATION FEES
There is no submission fee or Article Processing Cost (APC) for this journal. AROG is free for both readers and authors.

ARTICLE TYPES
AROG publishes different types of articles: original articles, reviews, case reports,  brief communications, commentaries, editorials, and letters to the Editor.

Original Research Articles
Original research articles present new and significant contributions into the areas related to obstetrics and gynecology. An original article should include following sections: Abstract and keywords, introduction, materials and methods, results, discussion, acknowledgments (if any), and references. The word limit is 3000 words (excluding abstract, references, tables and figures).

Review Articles
Review articles should provide a critical assessment of current scientific literature on an important and topical issue related to obstetrics and gynecology. The word limit is 3500 words (excluding abstract and references). There may be different types of review articles such as narrative reviews, systematic reviews or meta-analysis. There is no strict rule for sections and subheadings. Appropriate methodology should have been followed.

Case Reports
Case reports present a case or case series with significant new insights that enhances our knowledge of the clinical aspects of obstetrics and gynecology. The case reports should include following sections: Abstract, introduction, case presentation, discussion, acknowledgments (if any), and references. The word limit is 2000 words (excluding abstract and references).

Brief Communications
Brief communications are concise presentations that provide original and significant material for rapid dissemination. They may present the preliminary results of a research or an experimental practice. The word limit is 1500 words (excluding abstract and references). Brief communications should contain following sections: Abstract and keywords, introduction, materials and methods, results, discussion, acknowledgments (if any), and references.

Commentaries
Commentaries are short communications covering a contemporary issue, concept or controvercy relevant to the AROG's scope. The word limit is 1800 words (excluding abstract and references). An unstructured abstract up to 150 words is required. Subheadings are optional.

Editorials
Editorials present opinions and news related to AROG’s editorial management and policy, or the articles published in the Journal. They are written by Editorial Board members or guest editors. The word limit is 1500 words. Editorials should not contain abstract and keywords. Sections and subheadings are optional. Authors are not required to submit cover letter.

Letters to the Editor
Letters to the Editor are short papers that discuss one or more article published recently in AROG. The word limit is 800 words. They should not include abstract and section headings. Authors are not required to submit cover letter.

PREPARE SUBMISSON FILES

The following files are mandatory for all submissions to AROG: title page, cover letter, conflicts of interest statement, and main manuscript.     

Title Page
Since AROG applies a double-blind peer review process, the title page should be submitted as a separate Microsoft Word document. The title page should contain (a) the article category, (b) the title, (c) the full names of the authors in correct order, (d) the author’s affiliations, (e) the author’s emails, (f) the author’s ORCID numbers and (g) corresponding information of the author to whom correspondence about the manuscript and proofs should be sent. Please use the Title Page Template (download the template), and provide all of the required information.

Please include a brief informative title (maximum 25 words). Abbreviations should be avoided. The title should reflect the content of the article as much as possible. Please do not use misleading, provocative, alarming or offensive titles. We also do not recommend using titles in the form of questions. Include, where possible, a few of your article's keywords in the title.

Cover Letter
The cover letter should be submitted as a separate Microsoft Word document, and provide the following information:
a)
The title of manuscript.
b) A brief description of the novelty and importance of the study. 
c) A statement that the manuscript has not been published elsewhere and is not currently under submission elsewhere.
d) A statement indicating that all authors have read the submitted manuscript, and approve the submission and order of authors. 
e) Funding information: Author(s) must declare all sources of funding received for the research submitted to the journal. This information must include the name of granting agencies and grant numbers.

Conflicts of Interest Statement
Conflicts of Interest Statement should be submitted as a separate file. All authors must disclose any financial, personal, professional or other substantive conflicting or competing interests that may be construed to influence the results or interpretation of the study. A conflict of interest occurs when an individual’s objectivity is potentially compromised by a financial gain, professional advancement, personal relationship or any other interest. All sources of financial support must be disclosed. Disclosure represents a commitment to transparency, helps to maintain trust in the scientific process, and does not necessarily indicate a bias.

The corresponding author must collect the conflict of interest disclosure from all authors, and declare them by using Conflicts of Interest Form (download the form). Additionally, the corresponding author must include a summary statement in the manuscript in a separate section “Conflicts of Interest” placed just before the reference list. If no conflicts exist, please use this statement: “The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare”.

Main Manuscript Format and Style
The main manuscript should include following sections: Abstract and keywords, introduction, materials and methods, results, discussion, acknowledgments (if any), references, tables (if any), figure legends (if any), and appendix (if any). Some types of articles, such as case reports, commentaries and letters, may require different formats. Please see Article Types above.
General format
The main manuscript (including table and figure legends, and references) should be typed double-spaced using 12 pt font size and 1 inch margins.
All pages should be numbered.
Do not use footnotes in the manuscript.
See Article Types section above for manuscript word limits.
The manuscript should be in Microsoft Word or OpenOffice document file format. 
The manuscript file should not contain any information that could reveal the identities of the authors or their institutions.
Language
Manuscripts should be written in clear and concise English.  Slang, medical jargon, and obscure abbreviations should be avoided. Please have your manuscript proofread by a native speaker or professional language expert before submitting it.
References Style
AROG uses AMA reference style. All manuscripts should be prepared in accordance with the form and style outlined in the American Medical Association (AMA) Manual of Style (11th Edition). For an open-access guide to AMA reference style, see https://mym.cdn.usa.edu/WritingCenter/AMA_References_11th.pdf
Abstract
For Original Research Articles, Case Reports and Brief Communications, please include a structured abstract. The abstract should not exceed 300 words for Original Research Articles, and 150 words for Case Reports and Brief Communications. Please include an unstructured abstract not exceeding 300 words for Reviews Articles, and 150 words for Commentaries. No abstract are required for Editorials and Letters to Editor.
Abstracts for Original Research Articles and Brief Communications should be organized according to the following headings: Objective, Materials and Methods, Results, Conclusions. For Case Reports, it should be as follow: Objective, Case, Conclusions. No reference should be made in the Abstract.
Keywords
Between 4-7 relevant keywords are required for the following article types: Original Research Articles, Case Reports and Brief Communications, and Review Articles. No keywords are required for Editorials and Letters to Editor.
We strongly recommend that keywords should be taken from the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) list of Index Medicus.
Acknowledgments
Acknowledgments (of people, grants, funding, etc.) should be placed in a separate section before the reference list. Authors must obtain permission to include the names of all individuals included in the Acknowledgements section.
Tables
Tables must be numbered using Arabic numerals consecutively in the order of their citation in the text. Please provide a short descriptive title. They must be placed within the text at the appropriate points. Tables should be prepared in accordance with the form and style outlined in the AMA Reference Style (11th Ed.). For an open access guide, see: Formatting Tables and Figures According to AMA
Figures
Figures must be submitted as separate picture files (in PNG, JPG or TIFF format) and be of reproduction-ready quality. Number the figures in the order of their citation in the text, and provide an informative figure caption. Figure captions must be placed in the main manuscript after the References. All symbols and abbreviations should be defined in the figure captions. Please strictly observe confidentiality and anonymity of the study participants, and obscure patient identifications in the figures.
Reproduction of Copyright Material
It is the responsibility of the author(s) to obtain written permission for a figure, illustration, or table that has been published in copyrighted sources. If you have used such material, please provide the letter of permission from the copyright holder. Otherwise, such material must be removed from the manuscript.

SUBMIT YOUR MANUSCRIPT
Authors are requested to submit their manuscripts using the journal’s online submission system. Authors must register with the journal prior to submission. The online submission system will guide authors through the submission process. Submission by email is not accepted. For technical help with the submission system, please contact editor@arogjournal.org

REVISION
After peer-review, AROG’s editors make the final decision based on the reviewers’ recommendations from among several possibilities: Accept in present form, accept or reconsider after revisions, or reject. If the revisions are required, authors will be asked to resubmit the revised manuscript within a certain period of time. This period of time, which varies according to the nature of required revision, will be specified in the e-mail sent to author(s) by the Editor. The manuscript should be revised and resubmitted in due time. Otherwise, it may be considered as a new submission.

Authors should submit two different versions of the revised manuscript: marked-up copy and clean copy. A marked-up copy of manuscript highlights changes in the revised manuscript. The best way to show these changes is the “Track Changes” option in Microsoft Word. Or, the revised parts of the manuscript may be highlighted in red color. The clean copy is the version with all the changes made but without the changes highlighted or tracked.

Authors should also submit a “response to reviewers letter” that specifies how they addressed each comment the reviewers made. The “response to reviewers letter” should be in Microsoft Word or OpenOffice format.

To submit your revised manuscript, you will need to log in your AROG’s account and select the article in your submissions page. Please be particularly careful not to upload the revised manuscript as a new submission. Upload the submission files in the revisions section of the article under consideration. To upload the files, click on ‘Upload file.’ A new window will open allowing you to upload your file(s). For an open access guide on how submit a revised manuscript in Open Journal System that AROG uses, please see here.

ETHICAL ISSUES
AROG follows strict ethical standards for publication to ensure high-quality scientific publications and public trust in research findings. The publication ethics policy is based mainly on the Code of Conduct and Best-Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors published by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals published by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE). For more and detailed information, please refer to AROG’s Publication Ethics Policy.

Studies involving humans and animals
Manuscripts reporting studies involving human subjects, human material or human data should include a statement declaring that the investigations have been performed in accordance with the Helsinki Declaration. An ethical approval from a local or national ethics committee must be obtained before undertaking the study. A statement reporting clearly the approval’s details (providing date of approval, registration number, and name of the ethics committee) must be included in the manuscript. Authors must also include a statement confirming that informed consent was obtained from human subjects. Confidentiality and anonymity must be strictly observed to protect the privacy of participants. 

All animal experiments should be carried out in accordance with the ARRIVE guidelines. An ethical approval should be obtained from an appropriate ethics committee, and the approval’s details should be included in the manuscript.

Plagiarism and Data Fabrication
The manuscript should be an original work. Authors must appropriately cite the sources of other works, words, ideas, or figures used in the manuscript. Text copied from another source must be appropriately quoted and cited.

Plagiarism, one of the biggest threats to scholarly publication quality and academic integrity, is forbidden in AROG. Plagiarism may take different forms, such as showing someone else’s work as one’s own, copying or paraphrasing parts of other studies without proper attribution, or using research data collected or produced by others without permission and proper attribution.

All manuscripts submitted to AROG are routinely screened for plagiarism. AROG’s editors use Turnitin to check each manuscript for plagiarism and text duplication. If editors suspect plagiarism during the peer review process, they shall follow the guidelines set by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). If plagiarism is confirmed, the manuscript will be rejected.

Practices such as fabricating or manipulating data, manipulating images and other visual objects, and deliberately selecting analysis tools or methods to support a particular conclusion constitute unethical behavior and are strictly forbidden in AROG. Authors must present an accurate account of the work performed, especially regarding data collection, analysis, and interpretation. Underlying data must be represented accurately in the manuscript. The study should contain sufficient detail and references to permit others to replicate the work. Fraudulent or knowingly inaccurate statements constitute unethical behavior and are unacceptable.

PEER REVIEW PROCESS
The papers published by AROG are selected via a rigorous and double-blind peer review process. Submitted manuscripts are first reviewed by the editorial staff, who may decide to reject them or send them to two external peer reviewers. The process is double-blind. Based on the reviewers’ decisions and remarks, the Editor-in-Chief or the Guest Editor of a Special Issue make the final decision.

If revisions are required, authors will be asked to resubmit the revised manuscript within a certain period of time. In the case of major revisions, the revised version of the manuscript will be returned to the reviewers and re-evaluated.

After acceptance for publication, proofs of the paper will be prepared and sent to the corresponding author via the journal’s online system. The corresponding author must revise the proofs and return the corrected proofs to the Editor within one week.

For more information on the review process, please refer to our Peer Review Policy.

OPEN ACCESS AND COPYRIGHT
AROG is an open journal and provides immediate open access to all its published content. The content is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license (CC BY 4.0). Users are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, reuse, or link to full-text articles without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author.

Authors are allowed to self-archive their articles on institutional or other specialized repositories, their personal websites, and social networking sites such as ResearchGate and Academia.edu.

For detailed information, please refer to our Open Access and Copyright Policy.  

DATA AVAILABILITY
We encourage authors to make the research data on which their paper is based available either by depositing the data into a public repository or uploading the data and files as supplementary materials with the submission. The Registry of Research Data Repositories is available at www.re3data.org. Authors who have deposited their datasets into a public repository should state this in their Cover Letter. As a data availability statement could reveal the identity of the author(s), we recommend that this information be removed from the anonymized version of the manuscript.

ARTICLE RETRACTION
Published articles in AROG should remain extant and intact. However, under exceptional circumstances involving plagiarism, data fabrication, and redundant publication or involuntary data errors, articles may need to be retracted, removed, or replaced in order to protect the integrity of the literature. The need for a retraction will be determined by the Editor-in-Chief but may be initiated, in cases of flawed data or conclusions, at the request of the author(s).

To retract an article, a notice of retraction will be published. This notice of retraction will:
- include the title and author(s) of the article, the reason for the retraction, and who is retracting the article;
- be published online and be linked to the online version of the article.

APPEALS AND COMPLAINTS

Appeals
Authors have the right to appeal a decision regarding their submission to AROG if they believe the decision was unfair. To appeal a decision, submit a letter detailing the nature of the appeal and indicating why the decision is viewed as unfair.

The Editor-in-Chief will review all relevant documentation relating to the submission, may consult the relevant Associate Editor or reviewers, and may appoint a new reviewer to evaluate the submission before making a decision. The decision of the Editor-in-Chief is final.

Complaints
For complaints relating to the policies and procedures of AROG or the conduct of editorial staff, please email the details of the complaint to the Editor-in-Chief. All complaints directed through the correct channels will be acknowledged and the resolution will be conveyed to the complainant. Complaints will be resolved as quickly as possible.

CONTACT US
Please feel free to contact us for further information.