Author Information Author Information

Author Guidelines

  1. Journal Policy

    Dokkyo Medical Journal (DKMJ) publishes original papers in the areas of medical science and its related fields. Case reports, short communications, and review articles are also welcome.

    Manuscripts should be in English. An English check of the manuscripts by a competent and knowledgeable native speaker is recommended, if authors who feel their English language manuscript may require editing to eliminate possible grammatical or spelling errors and to conform to correct scientific English.

    By submitting manuscript, author(s) must certify in cover letter that the manuscript is not being simultaneously considered by other journals and that any portion of your current paper has not been previously published in any journal in any language by you or your collaborators except for meeting abstracts or short proceedings.

    After acceptance of an article for publication, the copyright of the article shall be exclusively assigned to the Journal. To reproduce the article in part or in any form, the author(s) must obtain permission from the Editorial Office at https://dokkyomed-igakukai.jp/dkmj/.

  2. Manuscript Categories and Length

    1. Original articles

      Full-length reports of current research in either basic or clinical science.
      Word limit: 3500 words including the abstract but excluding references, tables, and figures.
      Abstract: 250 words maximum, unstructured (no sub-headers).
      Text: Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, and Discussion.
      References: 100 maximum.
      Figures/Tables: 7 maximum.

    2. Case reports

      Case reports should provide new information that enhances our knowledge on the disease process, such as the discover of new markers, unusual clinical/clinicopathological features that promote further study on a large scale, and new information that shed light on histogenesis or other aspects of disease.
      Word limit: 1500-2000 words including the abstract but excluding references, tables, and figures.
      Abstract: 200 words maximum, unstructured (no sub-headers).
      Text: Introduction, Case presentation, and Discussion.
      References: 20 maximum.
      Figures/Tables: 5 maximum.

    3. Short Communication

      Brief communication of exceptional merit for clinical/ basic sciences may be given rapid publication.
      Word limit: 1500 words including the abstract but excluding references, tables, and figures. Abstract: 200 words maximum, unstructured (no sub-headers).
      Text: Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, and Discussion.
      References: 20 maximum.
      Figures/Tables: 5 maximum.

    4. Review Articles

      Reviews are authoritative analyses of specific topics. Their references should cover the existing literature and include recent studies. Review articles will also undergo peer review prior to acceptance.
      Word limit: 5500 words including the abstract but excluding references, tables, and figures. Abstract: 250 words maximum, unstructured (no sub-headers).
      Figures/Tables: 10 maximum.

    5. Correspondence

      Letters discussing a recently published articles, or preliminary reports of urgency, significance and interest may be submitted as Correspondence. They should contain no more than 1000 words of text, one or two figures or tables and a maximum of 10 references. Correspondence does not contain an abstract or keywords and there is no obligation to divide the text into sections. In all other respects, the directions for full papers should be followed.

  3. Manuscript Submission

    Please submit the manuscript with other items through the ScholarOne Manuscripts at https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/dkmj
    To open this online submission system, create a new account or enter the assigned User ID and Password thereafter. Then, open the Author section from the top bar and follow the indications afterward.
    For any inquiry, contact to the Editorial Office.

    Dokkyo Medical Journal Editorial Office
    Dokkyo Medical University
    880 Kitakobayashi, Mibu-machi, Shimotsuga-gun, Tochigi 321-0293, Japan
    E-mail address:

    Authors must ensure that a patient’s anonymity is carefully protected and verify that any experimental investigation with human subjects reported in the manuscript was performed with informed consent and following all the guidelines for experimental investigation with human subjects by the institution(s) with which all the authors are affiliated.
    The DKMJ is dedicated to the humane and ethical conduct of all studies involving living subjects. All clinical trials involving human subjects must be approved by the appropriate ethics committee before consideration for publication. In studies with human subjects, indicate in the Methods section whether the procedures, including obtaining informed consent, were conducted in accordance with the ethical standards of the institution in which the studies were done or in accordance with the ethical standards of the Helsinki Declaration. For experiments with animal subjects, all studies should be approved by the appropriate animal experiment committee, which has to be described on the paper. Please explain the measures taken to insure compliance with established guidelines for humane use and care of laboratory animals, citing the origin of these guidelines.
    Authors must state possible conflicts of interest in the manuscript, including financial, consultant, institutional and other relationships that might lead to bias or a conflict of interest. If there is no conflict of interest, this should be clearly stated as none declared. All sources of funding should be acknowledged in the manuscript. All relevant conflicts of interest and sources of funding should be included in the manuscript at the end of main text before the references with the heading ‘Disclosure Statement’.
    List the initials of the authors who have contributed to each of the key contributions that justify authorship: conception and design of the study; acquisition and analysis of data: drafting the manuscript or figures; or others. This information should be provided under the heading titled ‘Author Contributions’, which should appear after the ‘Disclosure Statement’ section and before ‘References’ section.

  4. Manuscript Preparation

    The required file format for text is Microsoft Word. All pages of the manuscript should be double-spaced and numbered (including references, tables, and figure legends).

    1. Title Page

      The title page must include a concise title accurately reflecting the findings of the work; full names of all authors; department, institution, and address where each author was affiliated at the time the research was performed; number of text pages, tables, and figures; a short running head (40 characters or less); grant numbers and sources of support; and name, mailing address, fax, and email address of the corresponding author.

    2. Abstract

      An abstract should be prepared on a separate page and should be intelligible to the general reader without reference to the text. The abstract should clearly summarize the background, methodology, results, and significance of the study. Abbreviations and citations should be avoided. Three to 5 key words or key phrases should be supplied below the abstract, in alphabetical order.

    3. Text

      Each type of manuscripts should contain sections as shown below.
      Original articles: Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, and Discussion.
      Case reports: Introduction, (Methods), Case Presentation, (Results), and Discussion.
      The Methods and Results sections are optional in Case reports if special examinations were performed to reach the diagnosis, and/or the scientific research was done to clarify the pathophysiology of the disease. The Result section may be included if novel findings are obtained by the scientific research in the Case report study.
      Review articles: Introduction, other optional sections, and Conclusion.
      Commonly-abbreviated terms should be spelled out in their first occurrence and then may be referenced in abbreviation through the remainder of the manuscript. The Journal requires the use of official gene and protein symbols, to facilitate standardization of scientific communication. Consult the Human Genome Organization Gene Nomenclature Committee website (https://www.genenames.org) for human gene names and symbols, the Mouse Genome Informatics Database (http://www.informatics.jax.org) for mouse gene names and symbol, and UniProt (https://www.uniprot.org) for protein names and symbols.

    4. Materials and Methods

      Authors should describe experimental and statistical methods in enough detail that other researchers can replicate results and evaluate claims. The sequences of oligonucleotides, if not previously published, should be provided. Novel DNA or protein sequences should be deposited to an appropriate database (eg, Genebank, EMBL, SWISS-PROT), with the accession numbers included in the manuscript. When providing supplier information for materials sources, company name, and location (city and country) should be provided. When describing reagents such as antibodies, cell lines, animal strains, bacteria, and viruses, authors should include the source, characteristics, dilutions, strain, species, sex, authentication, etc. as necessary for repetition of the experiments. Website references to company or commercial information are not permitted. All novel materials and the procedures to prepare them should be described in sufficient detail to allow their reproduction (eg, DNA constructs, analytical software). Materials that are approved for investigational-use only should be clearly indicated.
      Methods should state whether sample size was determined statistically prior to experimentation, whether samples were randomized (and how), whether data acquisition was blinded (particularly for subjective scoring methodologies), and what criteria were used to include/exclude data points or subjects. Experimental procedures should include the number of replicates performed and the number of samples in each experimental condition. Special care should be taken to assure that statistical methods are appropriate, with clearly defined statements of the statistical test(s) used, sample size, and measures reported (eg, mean, median, SD, SEM, confidence intervals).

    5. References

      References should be begun on a new page, be double-spaced and numbered in order of citation in the text, including citations in tables and figure legends. Authors should indicate references by number(s) in square brackets in line with the text. The actual authors can be referred to, but the reference number(s) must always be given. The first 3 authors will be listed as they appear. When more than 4 authors are listed, the first 3 should be listed followed by ‘et al’. Citations that first appear in tables, figures, or supplemental data should be numbered according to the item’s first call out in the text; a separate reference list should not be prepared for supplemental data. Citation of a reference as “in press” implies that the item has been accepted for publication. Use of the DOI is highly encouraged. References should conform to the style of the Journal Examples as follows:

      1. Lim S, Eckel RH, Koh KK: Clinical implications of current cardiovascular outcome trials with sodium glucose cotransporter-2 (SGLT2) inhibitors. Atherosclerosis 272: 33-40, 2018. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atherosclerosis.2018.03.013.
      2. Nafade V, Nash M, Huddart S, et al.: A bibliometric analysis of tuberculosis research, 2007-2016. PLoS One 13: e0199706, 2018. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0199706.
      3. Zaccardi F, Webb DR, Htike ZZ, et al.: Efficacy and safety of sodium-glucose co-transporter-2 inhibitors in type 2 diabetes mellitus: systematic review and network meta-analysis. Diabetes Obes Metab 18: 783-794, 2016. https://doi.org/10.1111/dom.12670.
      4. Mettam GR, Adams LB: How to prepare an electronic version of your article. In: Jones BS, Smith RZ, eds. Introduction to the electronic age. New York: E-Publishing Inc, pp281-304, 2009.
      5. Fujita T, Kanno S, Kobayashi S, eds. The paraneuron, 1st edn. Tokyo: Springer-Verlag, 1988.
    6. Tables

      Tables should be typed double-spaced and submitted after the main text on separate pages, as part of the manuscript. The required file format for Tables in the main text is Microsoft Word; figure file formats (including those embedded in the text) are unacceptable. Tables should be black and white text only and should not include figures or other non-typeset images. Color or gray shading is not permitted. Emphasis may be represented by bold, italics, and underlining which is then explained in a table. Nucleotide sequences should be capitalized, not lowercase. Table footnotes should use the following sequential symbols: *, †, ‡, ¶; these may be doubled up if needed. All symbols and abbreviations in the table should be defined in the footnotes.

    7. Figures

      Authors should give considerable care in preparing figures. Resolution and quality of submitted images is the responsibility of the author; as a routine, the Journal does not provide figure enhancement services. Images (such as graphs and schematics) should have a white background; color, black, or gray is generally unacceptable. Authors are encouraged to carefully consider whether bar or line graphs should be submitted in grayscale or color, paying special attention to the ability of a reader to distinguish between different data points. It is preferred that graphs be published in grayscale, unless color is necessary for reader understanding. Authors should refrain from using three-dimensional bars for single sets of data. Figures need to be sized so they will be legible in print. Figures may consist of multiple related panels (labeled A, B, C, etc) described under one figure legend. Each figure (with all of its related panels) should be arranged on a single page, with panels reading from left to right, as it should appear in final publication. Text labels in figures should use a professional looking font such as Arial; Comic Sans should be avoided. Figure labels should appear in the upper left corner as uppercase letters, refrain from using sub-labels (Aa, Ab, Ai, Aii, A1, A2, etc) or titles for each panel label; panels should be labeled chronologically from left to right. Figure panels submitted on separate pages will be arranged at the publisher’s discretion. Figures should be sized to fit one column (80 mm) or two columns (170 mm). Maximum page length is 225 mm. Figures deviating from these dimensions will be sized at the publisher’s discretion. Unwanted background material should be excluded, and edges should be straight. Scale bar measures included in images need to be legible to the reader and be replicated in the figure legend.

    8. Figure Legends

      Figure legends should be submitted in a list as part of the manuscript (separate from the figure files) and should adequately describe all descriptors: arrows, arrowheads, scale bars, insets, asterisks, boxes/circles/etc in line graphs, and any other notations. Microscopic images should have all staining methods described, and either the magnification or the measure of the scale bar in the image should also be included. Descriptive text, rather than graphics inserted into the text, should be used when possible (eg, closed circles, open boxes, etc); alternatively, a legend key should be included in the figure. Statistical significance (eg, P values) should be clearly defined by asterisks (*, **, ***) or by other sequential symbols: *, †, ‡, ¶; these may be doubled up if needed. P values should be labeled by symbol in the image, with definitions appearing only in the legend (eg, *P< 0.05, **P<0.01, *** P<0.001). Labeling of data as not significant (NS) is unnecessary. All abbreviations should also be defined.

    9. Digital Art

      Digital figure files are required for submission. DKMJ requirement for color images is RGB (Red, Green, Blue) color mode. The preferred file formats for digital figures are TIFF and JPG. Embedding images in Microsoft Word is strongly discouraged as individual image files will ultimately be required for accepted manuscripts when being sent into production. Use of PowerPoint (PPT) files and Excel (EXL) files is also discouraged.

    10. Data Supplements

      Figures and tables that are critical to the evaluation and understanding of the research presented, but which cannot be accommodated via the print medium (eg, video) will be considered part of the manuscript submission. Details of reagents (ie, oligonucleotides, antibodies) should be part of the main manuscript and not Supplemental Data. Such files will be peer reviewed and published on the Journal website if the manuscript is accepted. Inclusion of supplementary material is at the discretion of the Editors, and data may be moved to the main article at their request. Supplemental figures (PDF, TIFF, JPG, or PowerPoint files), tables (Microsoft Word or Excel files), and legend (Microsoft Word files) should be prepared as above. Supplemental material published on the Journal website is subject to the same copyright as applies to the printed article.

  5. Editorial Review

    When a manuscript is received, it is examined to determine whether its style meets the journal requirements. If it does, the manuscript is sent to two independent peer reviewers to be selected by the Editorial Committee. On the basis of their evaluation, the manuscript is either accepted, returned for revision, or rejected and returned to the author from the Editorial Office. A manuscript in need of revision will be returned to the author with specific suggestions. The author should respond to each of these suggestions with a cover letter and/or stating reasons for disregarding the suggestions if they are thought to be unacceptable.

  6. Copy Editing

    After the manuscript is accepted for publication, your accepted paper may be substantially edited by the copy-editing service. If the editorial office finds that the final version’s writing is still inadequate, your paper will be copy edited again by the copy-editing service provider that editorial office selects, and you will be charged for that service. Failure to comply with this process will result in the rejection of your paper. A copy-edited proof will be sent to corresponding author within a few weeks. Authors should review the proof and return requested corrections within 48 hours. No new insertions should be made in the text at the time of proofreading. Corrections other than the printer’s errors should be avoided.

  7. Publication Fees

    Authors must pay 50,000 Japanese yen for the first 10 printed pages as a fee for publication, except invited article. If the manuscript is 11 printed pages or more, there is an increasing charge 5,000 Japanese yen per 1 printed page. Publication charge of invited paper is free.

[Revised on January 31 , 2024]

Reuse Permission Request Form

When you want to reuse figures, tables, or articles published in the Dokkyo Medical Journal, please download a word file of "Reuse Permission Request Form", fill out each item, and send the file to Dokkyo Medical Society office. We'll send you an invoice after the application is approved. After payment confirmation, we'll issue a certificate.
The price-setting is conforming to the suggestion from Japan Academic Association for Copyright Clearance in 2018. If there are any unclear points, please make inquiries to Dokkyo Medical Society office.

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