Asian Journal of Andrology

Editorial policy

A manuscript will be considered for publication on the understanding that all authors have agreed to its submission, and that if accepted will not be published in the same or similar form elsewhere in any language without the consent of AJA.

The editors reserve the right to reject manuscripts without review because either the content is not appropriate for the Journal or the work does not represent a sufficient advance in knowledge to gain high enough priority for publication in the Journal. Such rejections must be approved by the Editor-in-chief, and are intended to avoid unnecessary work for reviewers, as well as to provide authors the opportunity of seeking more appropriate publishing options as soon as possible.

Articles that are selected for peer review will be reviewed by two or more referees.

To avoid unnecessary delays in the review process, ensure that your manuscript is concise and conforms to the conventions and standards of AJA before submission, or it will be returned for revision.

Duplicate publication

Material submitted to AJA must be original and not have been published or submitted for publication elsewhere in any language in print or electronic media. Breaches or attempted breaches of this prohibition on duplicate publication may be considered and reported as research misconduct.

Authors submitting a manuscript to AJA should notify the Editor if part of their contribution has appeared or will appear elsewhere, or if any related material is under consideration or in press elsewhere. If an AJA submission re-uses a Figure that is published elsewhere or that is copyrighted, the author must provide AJA with documentation that the previous publisher or copyright holder has given permission for it to be re-published.

The AJA Editors consider all material in good faith, and assume that the journal has permission to publish every part of the submitted material, including illustrations.

Conflicts of interest

In the interests of transparency, and to help reviewers assess any potential bias, AJA requires authors of original research papers to declare any competing commercial interests in relation to the submitted work. (Referees are also asked to indicate any potential conflict they might have reviewing a particular paper.)

Additional information for the editors and the reviewers

Any cited manuscripts under review or accepted for publication, but not yet published elsewhere, should accompany the submission if they are relevant to its scientific assessment. Authors should also provide upon submission any kind of supplementary material that will aid the review process.

Preparation of manuscripts

In order for your work to contribute to the field of Andrology, the information obtained must be provided in a way that permits the reader to understand what was done and be able to reproduce it. To this end papers should be written in concise, plain English and contain sufficient detail to illustrate how the results were obtained.

Types of Articles

Original Articles

These are hypothesis-driven studies of high scientific quality of interest to the diverse readership of the journal. Manuscripts should include an abstract, and appropriate experimental details and convincing results to support the conclusions.

Original Articles should be of no more than 5000 words and include no more than six display items (Tables and Figures). The upper limit number for references is 50. Manuscripts should include the following sections, each starting a new page: Title, Abstract and keywords, text (Introduction, Materials and methods, Results, and Discussion), References, Tables (with captions) and Figures (with legends).

Reviews

Review Articles survey recent developments in a topical area of andrological research. They are mostly solicited by the Editorial Board, but AJA welcomes timely, unsolicited Review Articles. Authors with proposals for Reviews should present information of the proposed content to the editors for acceptance before submission. Reviews have a limit of 5000 words, including the Abstract but excluding References, Tables and Figures. The upper limit number for refernces is 150.

Systematic reviews (and meta-analyses whenever appropriate) are of interest. These select, assess and synthesize evidence relevant to well-defined questions about diagnosis, therapy and prognosis. Manuscripts reporting systematic reviews and meta-analyses should comply with PRISMA statements (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses1).

Opinions

Opinion pieces are usually invited by the Editorial Board. Unsolicited Opinion pieces may be accepted but should be approved by the Editor before submission. Opinions are stand-alone pieces and present an important and contemporary element of Andrology. They should highlight current problems with andrological care and identify potential solutions. They do not contain primary research data, although they may present ‘sociological’ data (funding trends, demographics, bibliographic data, scientific and social development, etc.). The main report is unstructured and should lead the reader from the concept to a conclusion.

They are limited to 1000 words (excluding References and Legends), two display items (Figures and Tables), 10 References but have no Abstract. In all other respects, the directions for full papers should be followed.

Experience and History

This new section is devoted to all aspects of the experience and history of medicine, health care and related sciences throughout the field of andrology, with the goal of broadening and deepening the understanding of andrology. Important people in today’s field, who have been there and experienced, witnessed or even contributed to the evolution of the remarkable creativity and revolutions that have benefitted this field, will be invited to recall their experiences and the related history at their time. Besides invitations, we also welcome submissions and proposals. The text is limited to 3000 words.

Commentaries

Commentaries, on current topics or papers published elsewhere in the issue, are solicited by the Editors; commentaries suggested by authors should not be submitted without prior approval. The editorial should include a link to the related manuscript with a phrase such as "Within this issue of Asian Journal of Andrology, Williams et al..." The Commentary should briefly review the findings, highlight good and bad points of the work, and set the place of this work within the scientific community. The most interesting Commentaries are opinionated but balanced.

The word limit is 1000 and 10 references are allowed. There should usually be a single author but up to three authors may be acceptable. The authors of the article commented upon are given the right of a brief (no more than 500 words) reply to most Commentaries.

Research Highlights

Research Highlights are published by AJA in order to provide a ‘digest’ of the best and most interesting primary research papers that are being published in the field of Andrology on all topics that relate to men’s health. These pieces are by invitation only and present short updates on any new progress in Andrology.

They should be no more than 1000 words and have a maximum of 10 references.

Clinician’s Workshop

This section will represent innovative clinical experiences and discussions of the application of new technology or techniques, in all disciplines of andrology, to a specific question relevant to the diagnosis or treatment of related clinical conditions, which do not fulfil the criteria for full research papers (e.g. short experimental reports limited by sample size or duration, novel hypotheses or commentaries). This feature covers the categories of 1) cutting-edge technology, 2) novel/modified and improved techniques or procedures and 3) outcome data derived from the use of 1 or 2.

Experimental details are not required, but a general outline of experimental methods, results and comments should be included. The text is limited to 1500 words, a maximum of three Tables and Figures (total), and up to 20 references. There should be no more than five authors. The article must begin with a brief summary of no more than 100 words.

Manuscripts should include the following sections:

* Title page

* Summary

* Technology/technique outline

* Comments

* References

* Figures (if applicable)

* Tables (if applicable)

Letters to the Editor

Letters to the Editor are considered for publication (subject to editing and abridgment), provided they do not contain material that has been submitted or published elsewhere. They do not contain an abstract or keywords, and the text need not be divided into sections. In all other respects, the directions for original articles should be followed.

The text, excluding References, Tables, Figures or Legends must not exceed 1000 words. No more than 10 references and either one Table or one Figure are allowed.

AJA considers three types of Letters to the Editor.

Case study letters, in which case studies from the clinic can be submitted.

Original research letters, in which reports of interesting preliminary or pilot study findings that do not fulfill the criteria for full research papers (e.g. short experimental reports limited by sample size or duration, novel hypotheses or commentaries) may be submitted. Experimental details are not required, but a general outline of experimental methods and results should be included.

Letters with Commentaries and Opinions, in which unsolicited opinions and commentaries on papers published in other journals, perspectives and opinions on Andrological care of unusual urgency, significance and interest, whose topics may be useful and informative to the scienti