Journal Author Guidesreputable journals' Instructions-for-Authors

Instructions for Authors — Annals of Laboratory Medicine

Source: http://www.annlabmed.org/content/authors/before-you-submit.html

Step 1. Before you begin

Check Our Aims and Scope

Annals of Laboratory Medicine (Ann Lab Med) is a high-quality journal in the field of laboratory medicine, publishing cutting-edge articles by focusing on translational laboratory medicine studies. The journal welcomes contributions in the field of laboratory medicine related to the etiology, diagnosis, and management of diseases that are scientific, original, ethical, and academically significant. The journal emphasizes articles that focus on the development and evaluation of novel analytical methodologies that are applicable to the clinical laboratory.

General Considerations

The manuscripts should be written in English. Brief Communications are intended for the presentation of brief observations that do not warrant full length papers, but have sufficient originality and utility to be considered for publication. The information must be presented in sufficient detail so that readers can understand and appreciate the material presented. Brief communications undergo the same review process as full-length papers and are not published sooner than the full-length papers. The manuscripts are classified according to the following 8 specific areas, and the author should state the appropriate area of interest in their manuscripts. However, the associate editor of each field may request to authors to change the area of interest and resubmit the manuscript, if necessary.

Topics

Article formats

Editorial and Publishing Policies

Ethical Considerations:For the policies on the research and publication ethics such as plagiarism/duplicate publication/research misconduct, Ann Lab Med adheres to the “Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors (https://publicationethics.org/resources/code-conduct), previously published as “Guidelines on Good Publication Practice”. Experiments using human subjects, human specimens, clinical specimens, and clinical information should be performed according to the Declaration of Helsinkihttps://www.wma.net/what-we-do/medical-ethics/declaration-of-helsinki/) and must be approved by the Research Ethics Committee or the Institutional Review Board (IRB) of the institution where the experiment was performed. Written informed consent should be obtained from all subjects, when necessary. In the case of an animal study, it should be mentioned that the experimental processes such as breeding and the use of laboratory animals were approved by the Research Ethics Committee of the institution where the experiment was performed or that these processes complied with the rules of the Research Ethics Committee of the institution or National Institutes for Health (NIH) Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals (National Research Council. 2011. Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals,https://doi.org/10.17226/12910). The authors should retain the raw data of the experiment and study for at least a year after the publication of the paper and should present these data if required by the editorial board. Clinical Trial Data Sharing Plan:As of July 1, 2018, manuscripts that report the results of clinical trials must contain a data sharing statement that indicates the following:- whether individual deidentified participant data (including data dictionaries) will be shared - what data in particular will be shared - whether additional, related documents will be available (e.g. study protocol, statistical analysis plan, etc.) - when the data will become available and for how long - by what access criteria data will be shared (including with whom, for what types of analyses, and by what mechanism) Also clinical trials that begin enrolling participants on or after January 1, 2019 must include a data sharing plan in the trial’s registration. This is an effort of adherence to the ICMJE policy and further information regarding this policy can be found at http://www.icmje.org/recommendations/browse/publishing-and-editorial-issues/clinical-trial-registration.html. Authorship:Only those who have made significant contributions to the preparation and publication of the manuscript are eligible for authorship and should take responsibility for the same. We permit only one co-first author and/or one co-corresponding author, if necessary. All authors should meet following four conditions recommended by ICMJE (http://www.icmje.org). 1) substantial contributions to conception and design, acquisition of data, or analysis and interpretation of data; AND 2) drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content; AND 3) final approval of the version to be published; AND 4) agreement 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. Each author should sign electronically the Authorship Responsibility and Copyright Transfer Agreement Form attesting that he or she fulfills the authorship criteria before or after acceptance for publication. Authors are required to identify their contributions to the work described at the title page of the manuscript. Changes to Authorship:Authors are expected to consider carefully 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 alterations, such as additions, deletions, or reordering of author names, should only occur before the manuscript's acceptance and with the approval of 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 and (b) written confirmation (e-mail, letter) from all authors that they agree with the addition, removal or rearrangement. In the case of addition or removal of authors, this includes confirmation from the author being added or removed. Only in exceptional circumstances will the Editor consider the addition, deletion or rearrangement of authors after the manuscript has been accepted. While the Editor considers the request, publication of the manuscript will be suspended. If the manuscript has already been published in an online issue, any requests approved by the Editor will result in a corrigendum. Conflict of Interest:Each author is responsible for disclosing to the Publisher all potential conflicts of interest regarding the manuscript and whether the author regards them as actual conflicts of interest. In particular, funding support (grant) information, if applicable, should be provided with both ‘funding agency’ and ‘grant number'. Corresponding author should sign electronically a statement disclosing any conflict of interest on behalf of all author(s) at the time of submission. Each author also should sign electronically a statement disclosing any conflict of interest at the journal website after acceptance of the manuscript. Personal Data and Protection:Information provided during manuscript submission progress will be used for providing services that we offer. ALM is committed to protecting personal data and privacy, and should anyone have concern over this issue, please refer to our privacy policy page. For studies using personal data and any other third-party resources (e.g. social media, webpage and etc.) should be collected and used according to each Terms and Conditions of the source also with appropriate permissions. Please remember to acknowledge those data sources clearly within your manuscript. Reporting Sex and Gender:The term sex and gender should be used in accordance with theSex and Gender Equity in Research (SAGER) guidelines.This includes the correct use of the terms sex (when reporting biological factors) and gender (when reporting identity, psychosocial, or cultural factors) and separate reporting and interpretation of the data by sex and gender. If sex and/or gender information are not reported or an exclusive population was involved (i.e., prostate cancer or ovarian cancer), this should be explained. Duplicate Publication:The manuscripts are accepted only on the understanding that they have not been published elsewhere. The manuscripts published in this journal cannot be submitted for publication elsewhere. If the author(s) wishes a duplicate or a secondary publication, for example, for the readers of a different language, the author must obtain approval from the Editor-in-Chief of both the first and second journals. Further, the conditions specified in the Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journalshttp://www.icmje.org(updated December 2017) should be met, such as insertion of a comment as a footnote in the title page of the second journal stating the primary reference and the duplicate nature of the paper. Plagiarism Policy:Not only text but any part of the manuscript, including tables and figures from another publication without permission or copyright attribution may constitute plagiarism. Please note that authors’ reuse of their previous work without attribution can be considered as self-plagiarism. NIH Office of Research Integrity publication (Roig, Miguel. "Avoiding plagiarism, self-plagiarism, and other questionable writing practices: A guide to ethical writing." (2006)) may guide authors with concerns regarding possible research misconduct. The editorial office processes submitted manuscripts through software-based plagiarism recognition before distributing to associate editors for peer-review. Any form of reproduction from copyrighted material requires obtained permission from the copyright holder in advance. Copyrighted materials include not only text but also figures, tables, illustrations, charts, and photographs. Certain materials such as public domain work or open access content may not require permission, however should be properly acknowledged to its source. Acknowledgement should be made as a foot note or a legend (e.g. "Reprinted from Ann Lab Med. Year;Vol:Page with permission" or "Revised schema from Ann Lab Med. Year;Vol:Page with permission"). To obtain permission to use copyrighted materials published by ALM, refer here for further instructions. - AI Policy:Acknowledging that the artificial intelligence (AI) presents not only opportunities but also challenges and risks in the publication of research papers,- Ann Lab Medhas introduced a policy for the use of AI by authors and peer reviewers (effective January 2026). This policy is subject to further reviews and updates in response to the rapid evolution of technological and publication environments. Regarding authorship, generative AI tools must not be listed as authors, as they cannot assume responsibility and accountability for the accuracy, integrity, and originality of published content. In the same context, the Journal does not accept manuscripts that are generated by AI or machine-learning tools. Regarding disclosure, authors must clearly declare and describe the use of AI tools when they are used as part of the study design, methodology or data analysis, or when their output has significantly contributed to any other part of the manuscript. In particular, the Journal does not permit the use of AI to generate, manipulate, or alter experimental images. Authors should document the AI tools they used (including version numbers), as appropriate, within the manuscript, including the Acknowledgements section. Disclosure is not required when AI tools are used for basic proofreading or copy-editing for readability or style. Lastly, regarding peer review, reviewers must not upload manuscripts or any parts thereof into AI systems, as any uploads into the systems may compromise the confidentiality of the work and thereby violate publication ethics. - Preprint:Authors are allowed to present their findings ahead of publication only for manuscripts that have not conducted peer review posted on recognized noncommercial community preprint servers. Authors must retain copyright for the manuscript so that it may be transferred to the Ann Lab Med if the manuscript is accepted, per the journal’s copyright policy. Authors are expected to declare any relevant preprint information of the work in their cover letter. The preprint cannot be updated while the manuscript is under review and cannot be updated if it is accepted for publication in Ann Lab Med. Once published, authors are responsible for updating their preprint records with publication reference, including the DOI and a URL link to the published version of the article on the Ann Lab Med’s website.

Prepare your manuscript

Have you prepared your manuscript in line with the Ann Lab Med submission guidelines?

“Click here to go submission guideline page”.

Step 2. Prepare your manuscript

  1. General standards
2.1 Article Type
Review (invited only) Guideline Word count Up to 5,000 words
Abstract Up to 250 words (Structured/unstructured)
Tables/Figures Up to 10
References Up to 100
Original Article Word count Up to 3,500 words
Abstract Up to 250 words (Structured)
Tables/Figures Up to 6
References Up to 40
Brief Communication Word count Up to 1,500 words
Abstract Up to 200 words (Unstructured)
Tables/Figures Up to 3
References Up to 20
Opinion Word count Up to 1,500 words
Tables/Figures Up to 2
References Up to 15
Letter to the Editor Word count Up to 750 words
Tables/Figures Up to 2
References Up to 10

** Abstract and supplemental data were not permitted in case of Opinion and Letter to the Editor.

2.2 Style and Format

Font

Use 12-point font size (Times New Roman)

Layout and spacing

Page and line numbers

Include page numbers and line numbers in the manuscript file.

Use continuous line numbers (do not restart the numbering on each page).

Number

In the case of numbers greater than 3 digits, a comma should be inserted after every third digit from right to left (e.g., 5,431, 5,675, and 1,000), but a comma should not be inserted when indicating years (e.g., 1995, 2007).

Express percentages with one decimal place throughout the entire manuscript, unless using more than two decimal places is necessary.

Statistical significance

Abbreviations

When using English abbreviations, define the abbreviation completely at first mention in the abstract, and original text. Do not use an abbreviation in the title. The terms listed at the end of the Ann Lab Med journal or its website need not be defined.

Reference style

Instrument or equipment

[Example] Coulter STKS (Coulter Electronics Inc., Hialeah, FL., USA), vancomycin (Sigma Chemical Company, St. Louis, MO, USA)

Use correct and established nomenclature wherever possible.
Units of measurement Use SI units.
Drugs Provide the Recommended International Non-Proprietary Name (rINN).
Species names Write in italics (e.g., Klebsiella pneumoniae). The name of a microorganism should be spelled out the first mention in the abstract, and original text. The names of the genus can be abbreviated subsequently (example:K. pneumoniae). However, do not abbreviate the name of the genus if 2 or more genera starting with the same letter are being referred to. Scientific names should always be italicized.
Gene symbols and variant nomenclature Human gene symbols are italicized capital letters (e.g., FBN1) and symbols for proteins are not italicized (e.g., fibrillin). Sequence variants should be described in the text and tables using both DNA and protein designations whenever appropriate. Sequence variant nomenclature must follow the current HGVS guidelines at varnomen.hgvs.org, where examples of acceptable nomenclature are provided. Human gene nomenclature should follow the standards of the HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC), seehttps://www.genenames.org/.
Allergens The systematic allergen nomenclature of the World Health Organization/International Union of Immunological Societies (WHO/IUIS) Allergen Nomenclature Sub-committee should be used for manuscripts that include the description or use of allergenic proteins. For manuscripts describing new allergens, the systematic name of the allergen should be approved by the WHO/IUIS Allergen Nomenclature Sub-Committee prior to manuscript publication. Examples of the systematic allergen nomenclature can be found at the WHO/IUIS Allergen Nomenclature site.
2.3. Cover letter
2.4. Title Page

Download our sample title, author list, and affiliations page

2.5. Abstract

| Original Article | 250 words limitSubheadings: Background, Methods, Results, and ConclusionsEach subheading should be summarized in 1 paragraph. | |---|---| | Brief Communication | 200 words limitSingle paragraph without the subheadings | | Letter to the Editor, Opinion | Abstract is not permitted |

2.6. Text

Download our template file (word)

2.7. Author(s)’ disclosure of potential conflict of interest
2.8. References

Ann Lab Med uses “Vancouver” style, as outlined in the ICMJE sample references.

| Original Article | Mention the names of the authors, title, name of the journal, year published, volume number, and the first and last page numbersList all the authors if the number of authors is less than 7, and list the first 6 authors followed by et al. if the number of authors is 7 or more.If the manuscript has only 2 authors, use “and” and not a comma between their names.Journal names are to be abbreviated in accordance with the style of Index Medicus (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed).In the case of a supplementary volume of a journal, record it in parentheses such as 75(S).All the references in other languages should be translated into English. | |---|---| | Nieman LK, Biller BM, Findling JW, Newell-Price J, Savage MO, Stewart PM, et al. The diagnosis of Cushing's syndrome: an Endocrine Society Clinical Practice Guideline. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 2008;93:1526-40. | | | Seo YJ, Oh I, Nam M, Shin S, Roh EY, Song EY. Comparison of four T-cell assays and two binding antibody assays in SARS-CoV-2 vaccinees with or without Omicron breakthrough infection. Ann Lab Med 2023;43:596-604. | | | Stanworth SJ and Shah A. How I use platelet transfusions. Blood 2022;140:1925-36. | | | Book | Mention the name of the authors, editor(s), name of the book, edition, place published, publisher, publishing company, published year, and page number.List it up to 2 authors. | | Brecher ME, ed. Technical manual. 14th ed. Bethesda: American Association of Blood Banks, 2002: 485-96. | | | Alberts B, Bray D, et al. eds. Molecular biology of the cell. 3rd ed. New York: Garland Publishing, 1994: 491-9. | | | CLSI. User verification of precision and estimation of bias; approved guideline. 3rd ed. EP15-A3. Wayne, PA: Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute, 2014. | | | Book chapter | Indicate the name of author of the chapter, title of the chapter, ‘In:’, editors, name of the book, edition, place published, publishing company, published year, and page number. | | Bylund DJ and Nakamura RM. Organ-specific autoimmune diseases. In: Henry JB, ed. Clinical diagnosis and management by laboratory methods. 20th ed. Philadelphia: WB Saunders, 2001:1000-15. | | | Website | Author, website address, uniform resource locator (URL), and the date of recent update. | | Mitelman F, Johansson B, and Mertens F (Eds.), Mitelman database of chromosome aberrations in cancer. http://cgap.nci.nih.gov/Chromosomes/Mitelman (Updated on Nov 2023). | | | Deposited article(preprint) | Kim J, Kim JW, Kim HY. Phenotypic and genotypic characterization of Listeria monocytogenes in clinical ruminant cases in Korea. bioRxiv [Preprint]. 2022.01.24.477645; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.01.24.477645 |

2.9. Tables
2.10. Figures
2.11. Supplemental Materials

Search for

Editorial Office

Indexed / Cover by

2.635JCR 2017 Impact Factor

1.916

Step 3. Ready to submit

Ready to submit
Manuscript submission checklist

Step 4. Post-submission

Editorial process/Peer review
After acceptance

Publication Charges

Review/Guideline Original Article Brief Communication Opinion Letter to the Editor
Charge ₩500,000 ₩500,000 ₩400,000 ₩300,000 ₩300,000
Color Charge ₩200,000
Video summary ₩1,100,000

Publication charges for manuscripts from international authors (Non-Korean) is exempt temporarily.

Privacy Policy

This is the privacy policy document of Annals of Laboratory Medicine. Annals of Laboratory Medicine is committed to protecting data privacy in general and advocating the data protection rights at the highest standards, continuing our efforts to maintain compliance to any applicable laws and regulations. This privacy policy will be updated when necessary along with a letter of notice when updated. Use of ‘service’ provided by Annals of Laboratory Medicine constitutes consent to our privacy policy then in effect (Updated June, 2018).

1. General information and data controllers

Annals of Laboratory Medicine (hereinafter referred as “ALM”, “we”, “our”, and “us”) process data in conjunction with its affiliated organization, the Korean Society for Laboratory Medicine (hereinafter “KSLM”). ALM provides access to journal contents and materials through our website and as ‘publisher’ offering opportunity to publish submitted research materials (hereinafter “service”) through our dedicated process of peer-review. During this service authors are required to provide personal information which its collection and processing are subject to strict regulations. Data can be transferred between Korean Society for Laboratory Medicine and ScholarOne Manuscripts™ during this process. Additionally, ALM will provide newsletters, table of contents (TOC) for upcoming issues and etc. for those who provide e-mail address through our website (http://www.annlabmed.org/main.html). Information gathered through ALM website will be process by INFOrang, also an affiliated entity providing hosting services and comprehensive assistance of journal affairs.

ALM takes provisional responsibility of data collection and its use for services. Data collected during the process of service is transmitted between ALM and ScholarOne Manuscripts™ and also between ALM and INFOrang, but not interchangeably. Any information regarded as sensitive will not be processed automatically

2. How we collect and use your personal information

To provide access to journal contents and submission of authors’ research to ALM, we collect necessary information for service. Information that we may collect are:

2.1. Personal Information provided to us Name, address, e-mail address, company name, institutional affiliation, telephone number, fax number,ORCIDID and etc. Such information shall be willingly provided and should you decline to provide these information, access to our contents and opportunity for submitting your research may be limited. For details of data collection through account creation and management for our submission system, please refer to terms of use onClarivate Analytics(https://clarivate.com/legal/terms-of-use/) or contact through email ([email protected]). 2.2. Technical Information During access toALMwebsite and its associated submission system, we may collect information about your computer and its visits to our website including IP address, referring website, geographic location, type of web browser and version, operating system, duration of visit, page views and etc. These technical informations referred ascookieslog data iii) Regarding information of under-aged individuals Our service is not intended for under-aged or minors as so deemed in whichever region they belong. We do not knowingly gather or store any personal data of minors.

3. How long we store your data and how we store your data

Data will be stored for only as long as it is necessary for providing our service. As further described below in ‘How to change your data preference”, any remaining data will be removed, transferred or rectified upon request. Data is stored with technological measures preventing misuse or unwarranted use. Access is limited to only authorized person approved for each specific purpose. You may also check for specific details of privacy policy on each of our associated data processors on separate webpage (https://clarivate.com/clarivate-analytics-scholarone-privacy-notice/).

In circumstances of being directed to third party websites (i.e. through clicking a reference link to an article), please take caution before providing any personal information as privacy policy may differ between different entities.

4. How to change your privacy preference

Should you choose to change your preference or withdraw previously given consent, you may do so through the following options:

4.1. Contacting us through e-mail ([email protected]) 4.2. Write to us at Room 1105, Asterium Seoul A Tower, 372 Hangang-daero, Yongsan-gu, Seoul 04323, Republic of Korea (Tel+82-2-795-9914or Fax +82-2-790-4760). 4.3. Or contact our affiliated data processors to change your privacy preference through their designated methods ([email protected]for ScholarOne Manuscripts™ and[email protected]for INFOrang).

5. Compliance to General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR)

As GDPR takes into effect as of 25 May 2018, we continue our efforts to maintain the highest standards for privacy policy and data processing. In addition to previous rights to your own data, you will also have the following additional rights:

5.1. The right to withdraw consent 5.2. The right of access to and rectification of your personal data 5.3. Right to erasure 5.4. Right to restriction of processing 5.5. Right to data portability 5.6. Right to object 5.7. Automated individual decision making 5.8. Right to lodge a complaint 5.9. Notification of erasure, rectification and restriction

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