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Instructions for authors

Before preparing the manuscript, the authors should read the instructions below carefully. They should also consult the ICMJE recommendations which can be found on the website of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors, because our editorial policies and procedures are generally based on these recommendations.

Last update: February 1, 2024

General information

The Journal of Smooth Muscle Research publishes papers reporting original scientific and clinical research in the field of smooth muscle studies. The journal publishes full papers and reviews.

This is an open access online journal and no hard copies are printed. The authors, however, can order the offprints of their articles by completing the offprints order form provided with the proof.

All received manuscripts are subject to peer review by at least two referees appointed by the editor. When the editor recommends revisions, the authors must submit a revised version within 3 months after receiving the review results. Otherwise the submission will be treated as having been retracted by the authors.

Editorial policy on use of artificial intelligence

The use of automated assistive writing technologies and tools (commonly referred to as artificial intelligence, generative artificial intelligence, or machine learning tools) is permitted provided that their use is documented and that authors assume responsibility for the content. Authors are responsible for the accuracy, validity, and originality of computer-generated content.

This journal does not permit the use of generative AI or AI-assisted tools to create or alter figures, images and artwork in submitted manuscripts.

Per ICMJE Authorship Criteria, automated assistive writing technologies do not qualify for authorship as they are unable to provide approval or consent for submission. Per ICMJE recommendations for writing assistance, these tools should be listed in the Acknowledgements; if involved in the research design, the tools should be documented in the Methods. For additional information, see the World Association of Medical Editor recommendations.

Editorial policy on preprint publication

This journal accepts articles previously published on preprint servers, provided that the link to the preprint version is provided during the submission process.

Authors may also post the submitted version of a manuscript to a preprint server at any time throughout the submission process. Authors are requested to update any pre-publication versions with a link to the final published article.

When the submitted article is accepted and published in this journal, the preprint should link to the published version.

This journal does not allow the citation of preprints as references.

Manuscript submission

Submission of a manuscript is subject to the following restrictions:

  1. The submission has not been previously published (except as a conference abstract or as a component of a lecture or academic thesis), nor is it before another journal for consideration.
  2. All authors and responsible authorities of Institutes where the work was undertaken have approved publication of this research.

The publisher will not be legally responsible in case of compensation claims.


Permissions and use of previously published materials

All copyrighted materials in the manuscript must be accompanied by the written permission from the copyright holders unless they are free to be reused. The written permission may be an original document file or a scanned original letter. All other materials will be assumed to be the authors' original ones which have never been published previously.


Online submission

Authors should submit their manuscripts online through Open Journal System. Once registered, the authors can log in and submit their manuscripts. Please consult the section of authoring in OJS-3-user-guide for details. If the authors encounter any problem while submitting their manuscripts, send an e-mail to the editor.

E-mail address of the Editorial Office
Dr. Katsuya Hirano
Editorial Office, The Journal of Smooth Muscle Research
E-mail address: editorReplace to @jssmr.jp
(Replace Replace to @ to "@".)

General instruction

Manuscripts should be written in English and be submitted in double-spaced Microsoft Word file format (.doc or .docx).

For details, consult The NCBI Style Guide (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK988/).

Title page

The title page should include:

  1. The type of the article; either "Original" or "Review"
  2. A concise and informative title
  3. The names of the authors
  4. A running title not exceeding 80 characters including spaces
  5. The affiliations and addresses of the authors
  6. The e-mail address, telephone and fax numbers of the corresponding author
  7. The number of figures and tables

Abstract

Provide an abstract preferably not exceeding 250 words presented in a concise form and including the purpose, methods, results and conclusion of the research described in the paper. The abstract should not contain any undefined abbreviations or unspecified references.

Keywords: Provide a list of key words (no more than 5) suitable for indexing.

Text
Text formatting
  1. Text of the full paper may be usually divided into following four sections: (1) Introduction, (2) Methods, (3) Results and (4) Discussion.
  2. Double-space all portions of the manuscript including the title page, abstract, text, acknowledgments, references, individual tables and legends.
  3. Use a normal, plain font (e.g., 10.5-point Times Roman) for text.
  4. Do not use double-byte characters such as Japanese fonts in the text and also in the file names.
  5. Use the automatic page numbering function to number the pages beginning with the title page.
  6. Use tab stops or other commands for indents, not the space bar.
Abbreviations

Abbreviations should be defined at first mention and used consistently thereafter. This rule applies to both the abstract and the main body separately.

Standard abbreviations
  • hour, minute, second= h, min, sec
  • microliter, milliliter, deciliter, liter= μl, ml, dl, l
  • microgram, milligram, gram, kilogram = μg, mg, g, kg
  • millimeter, centimeter, meter, kilometer= mm, cm, m, km
  • mole= mol
  • parts per million= ppm
  • degree celsius= °C
  • Kelvin= K
  • degree, minute, second (angle)= °, ', "
  • standard deviation, standard error of the mean= S.D., S.E.M.
  • The SI system of units and index notation should be used, e.g., ml s-1 rather than ml/s.
  • Common Latin abbreviations (such as, et al., e.g., i.e., vs., etc.) are not italicized, but use italics for "in vitro", "in vivo", etc.
  • Statistic variables are italicized, such as P for probability test, t test, U test; R for regression coefficient, r for correlation coefficient; n for total number.
Footnotes

Footnotes should be used sparingly. Text footnotes should be numbered consecutively throughout and should be assembled on a separate page.

Acknowledgments

Acknowledgments should be located before the reference list as a separate section. Sources of chemicals not available commercially should be noted in this section. Personnel should be informed that they are to be acknowledged.

Terminology

Genus and species names should be in italics. The common names of animals should not be capitalized. Generic names of drugs are preferred; if trade names are used, the generic name should be given at first mention. Use the standard mathematical notation for formulae, symbols etc.

References

Please note that this journal does not allow the citation of preprints as references.

Reference list

Reference citations in the text should be identified by numbers in parentheses in the order of their appearance.

The list of references should only include works that are cited in the text and that have been published or accepted for publication. Personal communications and unpublished works should only be mentioned in the text.

The first six authors should be listed, followed by et al. if there are more than six. In the article title, capitalize only the first word of a title, proper nouns, proper adjectives and acronyms.　Translate non-English titles into English and place it in square brackets. The titles of journals should be abbreviated according to the style used in the list of Journals Indexed in U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM) catalog, posted by the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) Web site (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/nlmcatalog/journals).

For details, consult the following article: Patrias K, author; Wendling D, editor. Citing Medicine: The NLM Style Guide for Authors, Editors and Publishers [Internet]. 2nd edition. Bethesda (MD): National Library of Medicine (US); 2007-. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK7256/. Some examples follow (entries written in red are optional but recommended):

Journal article
  1. Josephson IR, Guia A, Lakatta EG, Lederer WJ, Stern MD. Ca2+-dependent components of inactivation of unitary cardiac L-type Ca2+ channels. J Physiol. 2010 Jan 1;588 (1):213-23. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2821560/. Published ahead of print 2009 Nov 16; doi:10.1113/jphysiol.2009.178343. Available from: https://physoc.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1113/jphysiol.2009.178343.
    [Do not repeat page numbers unless they are followed by a letter. For example: G213-G218 becomes G213-8, but 124A-126A is correct.]
  2. Burnstock G., Holman ME, Kuriyama H. Facilitation of transmission from autonomic nerve to smooth muscle of guinea-pig vas deferens. J Physiol. 1965;172(1):31-49. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1368901/.
Article by doi
  1. Puri S, O'Brian MR. The hmuQ and hmuD genes from Bradyrhizobium japonicum encode heme-degrading enzymes. J Bacteriol [Internet]. 2006 Sep 4[cited 2007 Jan 8];188(18):6476-82. Available from: https://jb.asm.org/cgi/content/full/188/18/6476?view=long&pmid=16952937 doi: 10.1128/JB.00737-06.
Book
  1. Belitz HD, Grosh W, Schieberle P. Food chemistry. 3rd ed. Burghagen MM, Grosh W, editors. Berlin: Springer; 2004. 1070p.
Book chapter
  1. Linkens DA. Gastrointestinal Motility in Health and Disease．Lancaster: MTP Press; 1978. Methods of analyzing rhythmic electrical potentials in the gastrointestinal tract; p. 235-241.
  2. Speroff L, Fritz MA. Clinical gynecologic endocrinology and infertility. 7th ed. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2005. Chapter 29, Endometriosis; p. 1103-33.

Tables

Whenever possible, authors are encouraged to submit figures rather than tables. Use the table function, not spreadsheets, to make tables. Statistical summary tables should be submitted, when possible, rather than tables with many lines of individual values.

Tables should be numbered consecutively with Arabic numerals. Insert a note in the text to indicate the placement (e.g., “Table1 about here”). Each table should have a brief title; explanatory notes should be in the legend, not in the title.

Short or abbreviated column heads should be used and explained if necessary in the legend. Statistical measures of variations, SD, SEM, etc., must be identified. Table footnotes should be listed in order of their appearance and identified by standard symbols: *, †, ‡, § for four or fewer; for five or more, consecutive superscript lowercase letters should be used (e.g., a, b, c, etc.).

Figures
Graphic File Formats

EPS and TIFF are the industry-standard file formats required for publication. The next-best format is PDF. PDF files must be generated from the original figure at a high-quality setting from the originating application.

Avoid, when possible, using MS PowerPoint to prepare the figures. JPEG, GIF, BMP, PNG, Excel and Word files, etc. are not recommended (but not unacceptable) formats.

Provide a separate file for every figure.

Font Size

Figure panels should be clearly labeled with boldface uppercase letters (A, B, C, etc.). Use Arial, Helvetica, Times or Times New Roman and Symbol only, if possible. Choose one font and use it consistently throughout figures. Do not include titles or captions into the illustrations.

Resolution

Resolution requirements only apply to pixel-based (raster) images (i.e., TIFF, JPEG, BMP), not apply to vector-based images (i.e., EPS, PDF). In the pixel-based images, the print publication-quality resolution should be chosen.

Numbering

All figures are to be numbered using Arabic numerals. Figures should always be cited in the text in consecutive numerical order. Insert a note in the text to indicate placement (e.g., “Fig. 1 about here”).

Figure captions

Every figure must have a descriptive figure caption, to describe to the reader in sentence form the relevant details of the figure, to place it in the proper context of the manuscript. These textual figure captions must be listed in order in the manuscript, following the reference list.

Ethical standards

All animal and human research must have an explicit statement confirming that appropriate ethical clearance licenses as provided by the specific relevant Institutional Committee(s) were obtained for the research. Where relevant, a statement must be included that informed consent was provided by all human subjects. Details that could identify subjects must be omitted.

Submissions that do not fulfil these obligations may be rejected according to the discretion of the Editors. Authors will be held responsible for false statements.

Conflict of interest

Authors must indicate whether or not they have a financial relationship with the organization that sponsored the research. This note should be added in a separate section before the reference list.

If no conflict exists, authors should state: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

In addition to that, provide the ICMJE Conflict of Interest forms, completed by all authors. Please submit forms for the number of authors. If the downloaded form is not fillable, click the "View" tab and select the edit mode.

Data Availability

All data supporting the findings of the study should be available by either depositing the data to the public data repository, providing the data as supplementary information, or making the data available from the authors upon reasonable request.

Data availability statement should be mentioned in a separate section before the reference list and describe how the data supporting the results reported in your article can be accessed. Data availability statements can take one of the following forms:

  • The data are available in the [Name] repository, hyperlinks and persistent identifiers (e.g. DOI or accession number) for the data where available. Note that the data deposited to the public data repository should be publicized by the expected date of publication of the relevant article.
  • The data are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
  • All data are included in this published article [and its supplementary information files].
  • The data are not publicly available due to [REASON WHY DATA ARE NOT PUBLIC] but are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
  • The data are available from [third party name] but restrictions may apply to the availability of the data. Data are however available from the authors upon reasonable request and with permission of [third party name].
  • Not applicable. If your manuscript does not contain any data, please state 'Not applicable' in this section.

J-STAGE Data, a data repository developed and managed by the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST), is a recommended data repository of the Journal. Authors who intend to deposit the data to J-STAGE data, please first contact the editorial office, then the URL will be issued for you to upload the data. Once you uploaded the data, you may not access the data. The uploaded data are subjected to review by at least two editorial board members of the Journal for the adequacy of publicization. The accepted data are publicized as open access under the terms of the latest version of CC BY-NC defined by the Creative Commons Attribution License. The copyright of the data publicized on J-STAGE is transferred to the Publisher, the Editorial Office of The Japan Society of Smooth Muscle Research. Please refer to the following website for the detail of J-STAGE Data.

After acceptance

Copyright transfer

The copyright of the article published in the Journal is transferred to the Publisher, the Editorial Office of The Japan Society of Smooth Muscle Research upon acceptance of the manuscript. The publisher has the copyright of all articles published in the Journal.

Although the publisher has the copyright, reuse of the contents is free. Please read "Reuse of the contents" section below.


Galley proof reading

The purpose of the galley proof is to check for typesetting or conversion errors and the completeness and accuracy of the text, tables and figures. Substantial changes in content, e.g., new results, corrected values, title and authorship, are not allowed without the approval of the Editor. After online publication, further changes can only be made in the form of an Erratum.

Charges

There are no submission or page charges for this journal. Color illustrations are also free of charge.

Offprint services

The Offprint Order Form will be sent with the galley proof. The price of offprint depends on the number of pages. Approximate price of offprint (without cover) is 16,000 JPY/50 copies. If the article has color figures, there is some additional press charge. But remember once the paper is published, anyone can download the full paper in the PDF format free of charge.

Reuse of the contents

All articles are distributed under the terms of the latest version of CC BY-NC defined by the Creative Commons Attribution License, which is allowing others to download the material and share it (either whole or parts of it) with others without any permission as long as they credit the original source and indicate if modifications were made, but they can't use the material commercially. The original source should also be included in the reference list, if any. For commercial use of a whole paper, contact Japan Academic Association For Copyright Clearance. For commercial use of the part of a paper, contact the Press Office.

Official English Editor

Dr. Brian Quinn

Japan Medical Communication (JMC)

E-mail: info＠japan-mc.co.jp

URL: https://www.japan-mc.co.jp/

Note: The authors, who are requested for English editing during review process, may obtain a discount for English editing from JMC. Please contact the Editorial Office for the details, if you wish to have assistance from JMC. Authors are highly recommended to have English editing before submission.


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