Instructions for Authors

1. Manuscript Submission Overview

1.1 Types of Publications

Manuscripts submitted to Signa Vitae (SV) should neither be under consideration for publication in another journal nor previously published in another journal. We accept article types as follows:

Original Research

This is the most common type of journal manuscript. It may be called an Original Article, Research Article, or just Article, depending on the journal. The Original Research format is suitable for many different fields and different types of studies. It includes full Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion and Conclusion sections. Complete research findings where aims/hypotheses are fully addressed.

Review

This is a comprehensive overview of a specific hot topic aligned with addressing the aims and hypothesis through the literature. They are often written by leaders in a particular discipline. Reviews are often widely read (for example, by researchers looking for a full introduction to a field) and highly cited. Reviews commonly cite approximately 60 primary research articles.

Mini-Review

These are reviews of important and recent topics that are presented in a concise and well-focused manner. The number of words is limited to 5,000 words.

Systematic Review

Systematic review is a type of literature review that uses systematic methods to collect secondary data, critically appraise research studies, and synthesize findings qualitatively or quantitatively. Systematic reviews of RCTs should be based on PRISMA. For systematic reviews of observational studies MOOSE is recommended. Authors are recommended to complete the flow diagram and include it with their submission.

Short Communication

Preliminary research addressing an important area of research. These papers communicate brief reports of data from original research that editors believe will be interesting to many researchers, and that will likely stimulate further research in the field. A short communication may be called a brief communication, brief report.

Case Report

In medicine, a case report is a detailed report of the symptoms, signs, diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up of an individual patient. Case reports may contain a demographic profile of the patient, but usually describe an unusual or novel occurrence. Some case reports also contain a literature review of other reported cases. Case reports are professional narratives that provide feedback on clinical practice guidelines and offer a framework for early signals of effectiveness, adverse events, and cost. They can be shared for medical, scientific, or educational purposes.

Letter to the Editor

We welcome readers to submit formal comments on the content of articles published in Signa Vitae. Such comments should provide constructive scientific remarks. Readers may submit these comments as a Letter to the Editor, which should be concise, no more than 500 words, and we will transmit them to the author(s) of the commented-upon paper for their optional reply.

Commentary

Commentaries are short articles usually around 1000-1500 words long that draw attention to or present a criticism of a previously published article, book, or report, explaining why it interested them and how it might be illuminating for readers.

Rapid Report

Short papers falling under 5000 words but not preliminary research.

News and Views

News and Views inform readers of the latest scientific advances in Anesthesia, Intensive Care, Emergency and Pain Medicine, reported in Signa Vitae or elsewhere. Although prospective authors are welcome to make proposals, unsolicited contributions will not usually be considered. These are usually non-peer-reviewed texts. Such manuscripts should be assessed by the Editor(s) if the topic is in the area of expertise of the Editor(s); if the topic is not in area of expertise of the Editor(s), such manuscripts should be assessed by at least one independent expert reviewer or Editorial Board Member.

Editorial

These are usually non-peer-reviewed texts used to announce the launch of a new section, a new Editor-in-Chief, a Special Issue, or an invited editorial, etc. Editorial should not report primary research or secondary analysis of primary research, although must provide a Conflicts of Interest statement. Such manuscripts should be assessed by the Editor(s) if the topic is in the area of expertise of the Editor(s); if the topic is not in area of expertise of the Editor(s), such manuscripts should be assessed by at least one independent expert reviewer or Editorial Board Member.

Meeting Report

Meeting report also known as meeting abstract details the significant advances in a particular field presented and discussed at the meeting. Meeting reports aim to deliver more in-depth information about a particular topic given on a meeting. These are usually non-peer-reviewed texts. The names of the Abstracts Reviewers are usually listed on the first page of the meeting abstract.

Video Article

This submission type focuses on high-quality videos covering topics in Anesthesia, Intensive Care, Emergency Medicine, Pain Medicine, or other areas relevant to Signa Vitae. Videos should include a brief descriptive abstract of around 300 words, along with the title, author(s), affiliation(s), corresponding author information, keywords, disclosure information, and references.

1.2 Accepted File Formats

▻Microsoft Word: Authors should use the Microsoft Word (download the template) to prepare their manuscript.

▻Figures: Please save and submit figures as JPG. or TIF. files (see 2.3 for further details).

▻Supplementary Materials: These materials may be in any format, but it is recommended that authors use common, non-proprietary formats where possible (see 2.1.3 for further details).

1.3 Submission Process

Manuscripts that are ready for submission should be scientifically sound and without errors in English (including spelling, grammar, proper sentence flow, etc.).

Properly-formatted manuscripts should be submitted using the online submission & editorial system. The submitting author, who is generally the corresponding author, is responsible for the manuscript during the submission and peer-review process. The submitting author must ensure that all eligible co-authors have been included in the author list and that they have all read and approved the submitted version of the manuscript. To submit your manuscript, register and log in to the submission website.

When a manuscript is submitted, it will be pre-checked within few days regarding the suitability of the manuscript for publication in Signa Vitae. All manuscripts passed the pre-check will be sent to peer review, and the final acceptance/rejection depends on the decision of both reviewers and the relevant editor (usually the Editor-in-Chief/Editorial Board Member of a journal or the Guest Editor of a Special Issue).

2. Manuscript Preparation

2.1 General Guidelines

Read submission review Guidelines to Authors, view a properly formatted sample document ready for submission.

▻Front Matter: Title, Author information, Abstract, Keywords

▻Research Manuscript Sections: Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion, Conclusions

▻Back Matter: Acknowledgments, Author Contributions, Ethics approval and consent to participate, Funding, Conflicts of Interest, Supplementary Materials, References, Figure Legends

2.1.1 Front Matter

These sections should appear in all manuscript types.

*Title

The title of your manuscript should be concise, specific and relevant. When gene or protein names are included, the abbreviated name rather than full name should be used.

*Author information

Authors’ full first and last names must be provided. The initials of any middle names can be added. Authors affiliations should reflect where their primary contribution to the research was made. Complete address information including city, zip code, state/province, and country. Affiliations of the authors indicated by numbers (not symbols). Equal contribution is indicated by †. At least one author should be designated as corresponding author, and his/her email address and other details should be included at the end of the affiliation section. Signa Vitae encourages the listing of authors’ ORCID.

*Abstract

The Abstract should not exceed 300 words, and should be a single paragraph and should follow the style of structured abstracts, but without headings, 1) Background: Place the question addressed in a broad context and highlight the purpose of the study; 2) Methods: Describe briefly the main methods or treatments applied. Include any relevant preregistration numbers, and species and strains of any animals used. 3) Results: Summarize the article's main findings; and 4) Conclusion: Indicate the main conclusions or interpretations. The abstract should be an objective representation of the article: it must not contain results which are not presented and substantiated in the main text and should not exaggerate the main conclusions.”

*Keywords

Immediately after the abstract, provide 3-10 keywords, using avoiding general and plural terms and multiple concepts (avoid, for example, 'and', 'of').

2.1.2 Research Manuscript Sections

*Introduction

State the objectives of the work and provide an adequate background to clarify why the study was undertaken and what hypotheses were tested, avoiding a detailed literature survey or a summary of the results. The information in this section should always be referenced and must discuss the literature.

*Materials and Methods

The materials used and procedures conducted should be described with sufficient detail to allow others to replicate and build on published results. New methods and protocols should be described in detail while well-established methods can be briefly described and appropriately cited. Methods that have been published in detail elsewhere should not be described in detail and avoid unnecessary detailed descriptions of widely used techniques. SI Units should be used throughout the text. Reports of experiments involving patients and healthy volunteers must describe the steps taken to obtain consent and to maintain confidentiality. Experiments involving animals must conform to accepted ethical standards.

Tissues: Explain how these were collected, handled and stored, and where they were from.

Bacterial, strains or cells: Provide the name and supplier. Matching between controls and disease patients with regards to the above parameters.

Steps performed with commercialized kits: Provide the full name of the kit, along with the full name and location (city, province or state, and country) of the supplier, and state whether the protocol of the manufacturer was followed or explain any modifications made to the standard protocol.

Bioinformatics analyses: State the software used along with the relevant citation, unless the software is not published, in which case a website link can be provided. For microarray/RNA sequences, data downloaded from GEO or other databases, this needs to be clarified in the text, along with the corresponding accession number of the dataset.

When statistical analyses have been performed, the following information should be provided: the name of the statistical test used, the number for each analysis, the comparisons of interest, the alpha level and the actual p-value for each test (for example, the actual p-value should be expressed (p=0.04) rather than expressing a statement of inequality (p<0.05), unless p<0.001). It should be clear which statistical test was used to generate every p-value. Error bars on graphs should be clearly labeled, and it should be stated whether the number following the ± sign is a standard deviation or a standard error. The word ‘significant’ should only be used when referring to statistically significant results and should be accompanied by the relevant p-value. Significance indicators should be used on graphs and tables, and should be described in the figure or table legend, clearly indicating which groups are being compared. Describe any statistical software used to perform analyses.

*Results

Include a concise summary of the data presented in all display items (figures and tables). Excessive elaboration of data shown in display items should be avoided. Numerical data should be analyzed using appropriate statistical tests described in the Experimental Design and Statistical Analysis section. Authors must provide detailed information for each statistical test applied. If some references are needed to support the results they can be inserted in the Discussion section.

*Discussion

This should explore the significance of the results of the work, not repeat them. A combined Results and Discussion section is often appropriate. Avoid extensive citations and discussion of published literature.

*Conclusions

The main conclusions of the study may be presented in a short Conclusions section, which may stand alone or form a subsection of a Discussion or Results and Discussion section.

2.1.3 Back Matter

*Acknowledgments

Use this section to acknowledge any support given which is not covered by the author contribution or funding sections. This may include administrative and technical support, or donations in kind (e.g., materials used for experiments).

*Author contributions

An 'author' is generally considered to be someone who has made substantive intellectual contributions to a published study. According to the ICMJE guidelines, to qualify as an author one should have (i) made substantial contributions to conception and design, or acquisition of data, or analysis and interpretation of data; and (ii) been involved in drafting the manuscript or revising it critically for important intellectual content; and (iii) given final approval of the version to be published. Each author should have participated sufficiently in the work to take public responsibility for appropriate portions of the content; and (iv) 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. Acquisition of funding, collection of data or general supervision of the research group alone; does not usually justify authorship.

The individual contributions of authors to the manuscript should be specified, and initials should be used to refer to each author's contribution (e.g., GF, LH and PG designed the research study. LH performed the research. MM provided help and advice on the ELISA experiments. MH analyzed the data. LL, LC and PG wrote the manuscript. All authors contributed to editorial changes in the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript).

If any changes to the list of authors of a manuscript are necessary, please see 4.3 Authorship Change for more details.

*Ethics approval and consent to participate

Manuscripts reporting studies involving human participants, human data or human tissue must: include a statement on ethics approval and consent (even where the need for approval was waived) include the name of the ethics committee that approved the study and the committee’s reference number if appropriate. Studies involving animals must include a statement on ethics approval. More information about editorial policies.

*Funding

List funding sources. As this section contains important information and many funding bodies require inclusion of grant numbers here, please check carefully that manuscript details are accurate and use standard spelling of funding agency names at https://search.crossref.org/funding, as errors may affect your future funding.

*Conflicts of Interest

This section is required for all papers. If there are no interests to declare, please use the following wording: "The author(s) declare(s) no Conflicts of Interests." The text in this section should match the text provided in the Declaration of Interests form in the publishing agreement. More about the competing interests policies.

*Supplementary materials

Authors of accepted manuscripts may provide related supplemental data to be posted online along with the published manuscript. This may include figures, tables, or appendices but excludes large datasets. The supplementary files will also be available to the referees as part of the peer-review process. Any file format is acceptable, however, we recommend that common, non-proprietary formats are used where possible.

*Data Availability Statement

In this section, please provide details regarding where data supporting reported results can be found, including links to publicly archived datasets analyzed or generated during the study. Please refer to suggested Data Availability Statements in section “MRE Press Availability of Data and Materials”. You might choose to exclude this statement if the study did not report any data.

*References

(The proportion of references in the past three years is recommended to exceed 50%.)

Reference list is sorted numerically. The reference list should be limited to only those citations essential to the presentation. Please verify the accuracy of all references and check that all references have been cited in the text; Please list all authors’ names if the authors number less than 6; For the authors of more than 6, please list the first six authors’ names, then use "et al."; Please list the standard journal title, do not abbreviate the page number; Use the [number] for the references in the text, and place references inside parenthesis at the end of sentences throughout the text.

Sample reference citation (Download EndNote style & ZOTERO style).

(1) Journal:

① Less than 6 authors

[1] Boyden EA. A critique of the international nomenclature on bronchopulmonary segments. Diseases of the chest. 1953; 23: 266-269.

② More than 6 authors

[1] Churpek MM, Yuen TC, Park SY, McNarry AF, Goldhill DR, Boyden EA, et al. Derivation of a cardiac arrest prediction model using ward vital signs. Critical Care Medicine. 2012; 40: 2102-2108.

(2) Book:

[1] Dybvig DD, Dybvig M. Det tenkende mennesket: filosofiog vitenskapshistorie med vitenskapsteori. 2nd edn. Tapir akademisk forlag: Trondheim. 2003.

[2] Lang TA, Secic M. How to report statistics in medicine. American College of Physicians: Philadelphia. 1997.

(3) Patent:

[1] Cho ST, inventor; Hospira, Inc., assignee. Microneedles for minimally invasive drug delivery. USA: United States patent US 6,980,855. 27 December 2005.

(4) If there are non-English journals in the reference, please insert the journal language as the ending. For example:

[1] Şirin A, Öztürk R, Bezci G, Çakar G, Çoban A. Nursing students’ opinions related to selection and application of profession. Dirim Medical Journal. 2008; 83: 69–75 (In Turkish).

(5) website:

[1] American Cancer Society (ACS). Cancer facts and figures. 2017. Available at: https://www.cancer.org/content/dam/cancer-org/research/cancer-facts-and-statistics/annual-cancer-facts-and-figures/2017/cancer-facts-and-figures-2017.pdf (Accessed: 11 November 2022).

*Figure Legends

Legends should be included in the submitted manuscript as a separate section. Each figure legend should have a brief title that describes the entire figure without citing specific panels, followed by a detailed description of each panel. It is not acceptable to give only one or two lines figure legends. In writing the figure title, we encourage you to re-use the subheadings of the Results section to make the relationship clear. For any figures presenting pooled data, the measures should be defined in the figure legends (for example, "Data are represented as mean ± SEM."). Each legend should refer to any supporting items in the Supplemental Information (e.g., "See also Figure S1.").

2.1.4 Cover Letter

Summarize briefly the important points of the submitted work including a brief description of the study to be submitted, that it is an original study presenting novel work, that it has not been previously submitted to or accepted by any other journal, that is has been approved by all authors, that ethics approval and written informed consent have been obtained, and explain whether any author has a conflict of interest.

2.2 Manuscript Typeface Format

☆ Times New Roman. Font size 12. Single line spacing. Alignment Justified.

☆ The first line indents 2 characters of a new paragraph.

☆ Sub-headings and general headings should be presented in lower case letters (not capitals).

☆ Do not use page breaks in your manuscript.

☆ Divide your article into clearly defined and numbered sections. Subsections should be numbered 1.1 (then 1.1.1, 1.1.2, ...), 1.2, etc. (the abstract is not included in section numbering). Use this numbering also for internal cross-referencing: do not just refer to 'the text'. Any subsection may be given a brief heading.

Please note: editable files are required for processing in production. If your manuscript contains any non-editable files (such as PDFs) you will be required to re-submit an editable file when you submit your revised manuscript, or after editorial acceptance in case no revision is necessary.

2.3 Preparing Figures, Tables and Videos

*Figures

The editors reserve the right to request authors to provide any original, unprocessed data in the submission, review, or publication process, including after publication.

File type: JPG. or TIF. files

Color space: RGB (not CMYK).

Alpha channels: None.

Figure name: Figures are cited sequentially in the text using Arabic numerals (for example, Fig. 1). Type appearing within figures (axis labels, for example) is in Arial or a similar typeface and is of sufficient size and contrast to retain clarity if reduced in size. Avoid use of bold type in figure labels.

Letters, numbers, and symbols on figures: should be clear and consistent throughout, and large enough. Font used within the figure should be between 8 and 10 points for legibility. Label units of measure consistently with the text and legend, following AMA (American Medical Association) Style for unit abbreviations.

Image Size: Image size is measured in centimeters or inches. Create your figures at the size (width) at which they will be printed: * 8.00 cm (3.15 in) wide for a single-column figure; * 17.00 cm (6.70 in) maximum for a double-column (full page width) figure; * Maximum height 20.00 cm (7.87 in). Empty white space surrounding a figure should NOT be included when calculating image size. Images should, therefore, be cropped (cut) as close to the outside edges of the figure as possible.

Image resolution: Figures should be submitted at a high resolution ① Line Art 900 - 1200 dpi, ② Combo (Line Art + Halftone) 500 - 900 dpi, ③ Halftone 300 dpi. We do not accept 72 dpi web-quality graphics (usually jpg or gif format) in which the colors are not realistic, the text is illegible, or where the images are pixelated. It is important to stress that the objective is to obtain the highest quality images available.

Image manipulation: All images in manuscripts accepted for publication will be production delays or revocation of acceptance which inconsistent with the following guidelines: (i) Do not enhance, occlude, move, remove or introduce specific features in the image; (ii) Do not combination figures using images taken from different parts of the same gel or from different gels; (iii) Do not arise image duplication in submission, including retroflexion, color balance.

Figure Label & Panel Label:

• Use the figure label with the format: Fig. 1, Fig. 2, Fig. 3, etc.

• Use the panel label with the format: (A), (B–D), (a), (a,b), etc.

• Figure legends begin with the term Fig. in bold type, followed by the figure number, also in bold type.

• Figure parts should be clearly labeled. Letters and labels must be uniform in size and style within each figure and, when possible, between figures.

• Limit white space between figure panels and within each panel.

• Authors are strongly encouraged to limit the number of panels per figure to 6.

Figure Legends:

• Provide a short title (in the legend, not on the figure itself) and an explanation in brief but sufficient detail to make the figure intelligible without reference to the text (unless a similar explanation has been given in another figure).

• Statistical tests used should be described in each figure legend.

• Figure legends begin with the term Fig. in bold type, followed by the figure number, also in bold type.

• All symbols used (arrows, circles, etc.) must be explained.

• All abbreviations used in the figure should be identified at the end of each legend.

• If previously published figures are used, written permission from the original publisher (or copyright holder, if not the publisher) is required.

• If the figure has been previously published, cite the figure source in the legend.

In-text Citations:

• Cite figures with the format: Fig. 1A, Fig. 1B, Fig. 2, Fig. 3, etc.

• Cite figures in ascending numeric order upon first appearance in the manuscript file. In the published article, figures are inserted according to the placement of their first citation and caption in the article.

• Lettered subparts of whole figures may be cited in any order in the text if the first mention of each whole figure is in numerical order. For example, you can cite any subpart of Fig. 3 in any order (e.g., Fig. 3C before Fig. 3A), as long as Figs. 1 and 2 have already been cited.

• If an appendix appears in your article and it contains one or more figures, continue the consecutive numbering of the main text. Appendix materials should be cited as “Appendix Fig. 1, Appendix Table 1, etc.” Do not number the appendix figures, “A1, A2, A3, etc.”

• Supplementary materials should be cited as “Supplementary Fig. 1, Supplementary Table 1, etc.”

*Tables

• Please submit tables as editable text and not as images. Tables can be placed either next to the relevant text in the article, or on separate page(s) at the end.

• Each table must be a real table with columns, rows and cells.

• Do not use tab to create tables.

• Each piece of information should reside in its own cell.

• Tables must be numbered sequentially in the text and in the table title.

• Do not use any numbering style other than 1, 2, etc.

• Each table should have a short title. Any other text should be included at the bottom of the table and not in the table title.

• Please refer to any notation within the table with sequential superscripted numbers and not by any other attribute such as a, #, etc.

• Please cite references in the right column by numbers referenced in the reference section. Do not use the name of author followed by et al.

• If possible, please do not use abbreviations in tables; If abbreviations are used, please list them below the table such as IFN: interferon.

*Videos

• Accepted video file types include: .wmv, .mov, .avi, or .mp4.

• Video length should have a maximum length of 8 minutes.

• Video files should be narrated in English.

• Videos may include music, but it must be appropriately licensed by permission from the authors.

2.4 Abbreviations and Symbols

*Equations and Symbols

Manuscripts with many mathematical characters and equations should be prepared using MathType version 6.0 or higher or word-processing tools such as Word’s Equation Editor.

*Abbreviations and Units

Naming of chemicals should follow that outlined in Chemical Abstracts Service. Use standard abbreviations where possible. Use the generic name of any drug unless making claims about a specific brand or formulation. New abbreviations must be defined at first usage within the manuscript.

Symbols for physical units should be restricted to System International units (SI) should be used without definition. Generic names of drugs and pesticides are preferred; if trade names are used, the generic name should be given at first mention. The doses of the drugs should be given as unit weight/unit body weight, e.g. mmol/kg or mg/kg. Genus and species names should be in italics.

• Please use the standard mathematical notation for formulae, symbols, etc.

• Always use a leading zero (0) before decimal points: 0.5 NOT .5.

• Decimal points should use a full stop/period (.) NOT a comma (,).

• A space should be inserted before measurement units: 132 bp NOT 132bp, 5 mm NOT 5mm, 1 h NOT 1h.

• Symbols for genes should be italicized, whereas symbols for proteins are not italicized. Gene names that are written out in full are not italicized.

3. Research and Publication Ethics

3.1 Research Ethics

If your research includes human or animal subjects, you will need to include the appropriate ethics declarations in the Methods section of your manuscript. More details.

3.2 Publication Ethics Statement

Signa Vitae follows the guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals.

Publication of a scientific article represents the means through which the contribution of the scientists is recognized. Along with this recognition, the authors of a scientific article bear the responsibility to make certain that their contribution is original, reproducible, and clearly and honestly represented. It is not always possible to detect erroneous nature of a set of data during the peer-review process. Therefore, it is vital that all authors carefully review the accuracy of the data that they present.

Authors of the manuscript are obligated to:

• Refrain from plagiarism (total or partial submission of the work of others).

• Refrain from fabricating (falsifying) data.

• Refrain from dishonesty (altering or suppressing information).

• Refrain from submitting information previously published or under consideration for publication in another journal.

• Describe the work accurately.

• Provide the details necessary for the duplication of the data by other investigators.

• Include all the data even if they do not support a given hypothesis.

• Cite all the relevant contribution of other investigators and references that allow interpretation of the results.

• Include the source of all materials used.

• Make available all products that they generate such as protein, DNA, clone, cell or other types of material that they describe to other investigators. This should be done with the spirit that the data that are published can be duplicated and that other ideas can be tested.

• Abide by the rules set in the Declaration of Helsinki and Recommendation for Conduct of Clinical Research.

• Use laboratory animals for the research according to the rules and regulations of NIH and their institution.

• Use recombinant DNA for the research according to the rules and regulations of NIH and the institution.

• If errors and inaccuracies are found by the authors after publication of their paper, these issues need to be promptly communicated to the editors of this journal so that appropriate actions can be taken. Please refer to our policy regarding publication of publishing addenda and corrections.

• For more information, please see Publishing Ethics and Research Ethics and Informed Consent.

3.3 Borders and Territories

Potential disputes over borders and territories may have particular relevance for authors in describing their research or in an author or editor correspondence address, and such issues should be respected. Content decisions are an editorial matter and where there is a potential or perceived dispute or complaint, the editorial team will attempt to come to a resolution that satisfies all parties involved.

Signa Vitae stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

3.4 Citation

Articles (e.g. Opinion, Review and Commentary articles) must cite appropriate and relevant literature in support of the claims made. Excessive and inappropriate self-citation or coordinated efforts among several authors to collectively self-cite is strongly discouraged. Authors should consider the following guidelines when preparing their manuscript:

• Any statement in the manuscript that relies on external sources of information (i.e., not the authors’ own new ideas or findings or general knowledge) should use a citation.

• Authors should avoid citing derivations of original work (e.g. authors should cite the original work rather than a review article that cites an original work).

• Authors should ensure that their citations are accurate (i.e. they should ensure the citation supports the statement made in their manuscript and should not misrepresent another work by citing it if it does not support the point the authors wish to make).

• Authors should not cite sources that they have not read.

• Authors should cite sources that have undergone peer review where possible.

• Authors should not cite advertisements or advertorial material.

• Signa Vitae discourages citation manipulations to inappropriately increase the number of citations of themselves, their Friends etc.

4. Authorship

4.1 Author Contributions

An 'author' is generally considered to be someone who has made substantive intellectual contributions to a published study. According to the ICMJE guidelines, to qualify as an author one should have (i) made substantial contributions to conception and design, or acquisition of data, or analysis and interpretation of data; and (ii) been involved in drafting the manuscript or revising it critically for important intellectual content; and (iii) given final approval of the version to be published. Each author should have participated sufficiently in the work to take public responsibility for appropriate portions of the content; and (iv) 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. Acquisition of funding, collection of data or general supervision of the research group alone; does not usually justify authorship.

The individual contributions of authors to the manuscript should be specified, and initials should be used to refer to each author's contribution (e.g., GF, LH and PG designed the research study. LH performed the research. MM provided help and advice on the ELISA experiments. MH analyzed the data. LL, LC and PG wrote the manuscript. All authors contributed to editorial changes in the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript).

4.2 Acknowledgment

Acknowledgments are a place to recognize any contributions made to the paper that do not meet the criteria for authorship. This may include technical support, gifts received, or organizational assistance. There are few restrictions on content, except that those meeting authorship criteria must be listed as authors, not just acknowledged. Personal acknowledgments (e.g., family members) are acceptable, and it is recommended to add the full name for them; titles (Dr., Mr., Prof., etc.) should not be used. This section should be kept relatively short.

4.3 Authorship Change

It is the responsibility of the corresponding author to ensure that the list of authors is correct upon first submission. If any changes to the list of authors of a manuscript are necessary after the initial submission but before publication, the corresponding author must contact the journal staff and provide a clear reason for the change. If the change to the authorship list is appropriate and in keeping with the guidelines given above, the corresponding author will be asked to provide written confirmation that all other authors listed on the manuscript at that time give their consent (New authors must also confirm that they fully meet the journal authorship requirements). Signa Vitae will individually inform anyone who is added or removed from the author list.

5. Copyright/Open Access

Starting from 2020, all Signa Vitae's content is available online, and is fully browsable and searchable.

All Signa Vitae papers are published as Open Access articles under the unrestrictive CC-BY license. The copyright is retained by the author(s).

MRE Press will insert the following note in the footer of the first page of the published text:

© Year The Author(s). Published by MRE Press. This is an open access article under the CC BY 4.0 license.

6. Reviewer Recommendation

Authors can recommend three peers who could potentially be called upon to review the submitted manuscript. The editors will not necessarily approach these reviewers. Recommended reviewers should be experts in their fields and should be able to provide an objective assessment of the manuscript. Please be aware of any Conflicts of Interest when recommending reviewers. Examples of Conflicts of Interest include (but are not limited to):

• The reviewer having prior knowledge of your submission.

• The reviewer has recently collaborated with any of the authors.

• Nominees from the same institution as any of the authors are not permitted.

• Please nominate peers who you do not wish to review your manuscript (i.e., opposed reviewers).

• Please note that the Editors are not obliged to invite/reject any recommended/opposed reviewers to assess your manuscript.

Journal editors will check to make sure there are no Conflicts of Interest before contacting reviewers, and will not consider those with competing interests. Reviewers are asked to declare any Conflicts of Interest. The editorial team will respect opposed reviewer requests as long as this does not interfere with the objective and thorough assessment of the submission.

7. Conflicts of Interest

Authors, reviewers and editors must declare whether there are any competing interests with regard to the publication of a study. A competing interests exists when the authors’ interpretation of data or presentation of information may be influenced by, or may be perceived to be influenced by, their personal or financial relationship with other people or organizations, such as reimbursement for salaries, equipment or supplies, or a personal belief that may influence their objectivity and motivation, and consequently affect the data interpretation. This can include competing patents, grants, funding, employment, personal relationships and strong ethical beliefs, among other factors. Such conflicts must be declared, as they may affect the integrity or reliability of the science in the study, as well as that of otherwise unassociated studies in the same journal. Competing interests statements for public funding sources, including government agencies, charitable or academic institutions, is best to be included.

Full disclosure of the competing interests is to be made in the cover letter and manuscript at the time of submission, even if the author judges that it has not influenced the work. If no conflict exists, this must also be stated clearly in the manuscript as follows: ‘Competing interests’: ‘The authors declare that they have no competing interests’, and all authors should confirm its accuracy. If there is a conflict, please include it in a ‘Competing interests’ section. Examples of Conflicts of Interest statements include ‘The present study was supported by Jones Women’s University, grant no. 12345’, ‘XY University provided a graduate scholarship to Dr. Jones’, ‘The compound xyz was kindly provided by ABC Company, city, country’. Authors may be asked to confirm or update, or provide further details regarding such disclosure statements following acceptance of the manuscript. Further details regarding requirements for Conflicts of Interest statements are provided in ICMJE.

External peer reviewers must disclose any Conflicts of Interest that could bias their opinions of the manuscript, and they should disqualify themselves from reviewing specific manuscripts if they believe it appropriate. Should any such competing interests be declared, the journal editor will judge whether the reviewer’s comments should be recognized or will interpret the reviewer’s comments in the context of any such declaration.

8. Funded by the National Institute of Health (NIH)

National Institute of Health (NIH) requires all manuscripts accepted for publication on or after April 7, 2008 which report research, that is funded in whole or in part by the NIH, to be submitted into PubMed Central (PMC). If you are funded by NIH, we are happy to assist you in depositing the author's published version of your article in the repository PubMed Central.

9. Editorial Process and Peer-Review

MRE Press operates rigorous and transparent peer-review process and editorial process that aims to maximize quality. Peer-review is handled by researchers and scholars. More details.

10. Editorial Independence

Editorial independence dictates that decision to accept or reject a manuscript is based on the scientific merit of the article but not to any other relations for example pressure from the publisher to the journal editor. This means that Editor is independent in his/her decision and will not be under pressure of any influential body or organization.

Our editorial policy is consistent with the principles of editorial independence presented by the World Association of Medical Editors (WAME).

11. Process for in-House Submissions

Editorial staff or editors shall not be involved in processing their own academic work. In the case of editors and editorial staff as authors, the peer-review process will be managed by alternative members of the Board. Submissions will be assigned to at least two independent outside reviewers. Decisions will be made by other Editorial Board Members who have no Conflicts of Interest with the author.

Guest Editors should not hold Conflicts of Interest with authors whose work they are assessing (e.g., from the same institution or collaborate closely). In this case, the Editor-in-Chief or a suitable Editorial Board member will make the Pre-check and Final decisions for submitted papers.

The following section is required for all in-House Submissions. If there are no interests to declare, please use the following wording: “<NAME of editor> is serving as the/an/a (Editor-in-Chief/Editorial Board Member/Guest Editor) of this journal. We declare that <NAME of editor> had no involvement in the peer review of this article and has no access to information regarding its peer review. Full responsibility for the editorial process for this article was delegated to <NAME of delegated editor>”.

12. Promoting Equity, Diversity and Inclusiveness within Signa Vitae

Signa Vitae is an online publication platform of scientific communication for global researchers, and publishes original works without regard to gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, age, geographic/regional background, religion, or socio-economic status. Our Managing Editor encourages the Editor-in-Chief and Associate Editors to invite and appoint diverse experts to our journal’s Editorial Boards.

13. Special Issues & Supplements Policy

We publish Special Issues/Supplements in accordance with Supplements, Theme Issues, and Special Series by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) and Conflicts of Interest Disclosure and Journal Supplements in MEDLINE by the NLM guidance. More details.

14. Refund Policy

Article Processing Charges are only required after a manuscript is accepted for publication. The journal will not issue refunds of any kind after the manuscript's acceptance.