For Authors
Authorship
Defining Authorship
All authors must have contributed significantly to the research. A letter of transmittal, to be addressed to the Editor in Chief, must accompany the manuscript, indicating that all authors participated in the research and reviewed and agreed with the article's content. To be qualified as an Author, the following criteria must be met.
- Significant contributions to the work's conception or design; or acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work
- Participation in drafting the work or critically revising it for important intellectual content
- Final approval of the version to be published; and
- Agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions about the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.
All authors listed in a manuscript should meet these criteria, and all who do should be identified as authors in the manuscript. Individuals who do not meet these criteria for authorship should be acknowledged in the article's Acknowledgement section.
Contributions of Authors
Contributions from authors should be included and structured following the CRediT taxonomy.
Guideline for Authors
Authors should visit the prospective journal page for a comprehensive guideline for the authors.
Changes in Authorship
Authors must decide on the order of authorship. Any changes to authorship, such as order, addition, or deletion, should be approved by all authors and communicated in writing to the journal's editor before the acceptance of the manuscript. Any changes to authorship after the acceptance of the manuscript will only be considered in exceptional circumstances by the editor.
Acknowledgments
Significant contributions to the manuscript that do not meet the definition of authorship must be acknowledged. Individuals who do not meet the criteria for authorship but made significant contributions to the research reported in this manuscript (e.g., data collection or analysis, writing or editing assistance) should be acknowledged in the manuscript with their full names, affiliations, and specific contributions. Authors must obtain permission from all individuals listed in the Acknowledgements section before including their names.
Author's Contact Information
For each manuscript, authors should designate a corresponding author. During the submission, review, and publication processes, the corresponding author will be the primary point of contact with the editorial team and publisher. If the manuscript is accepted, the corresponding author will review an edited manuscript and proof, handle all post-publication communications, and be identified in the published article as the corresponding author.
The corresponding author is also accountable for ensuring that acknowledgments, funding, conflicts of interest, and other disclosures and authorship information are complete and accurate.
Conflict of Interest
All authors must disclose any commercial associations or other arrangements (e.g., financial compensation received, patient-licensing arrangements, the potential for profit, consultancy, stock ownership, etc.) that may pose a conflict of interest in connection with the article. This information will be made available to the editor and reviewers and included in the published paper's disclosure section.
Funding
Under the funding heading, all financial and material support for the research should be clearly and completely identified in the manuscript. Information on the funding source (including grant identification number) should be included in the manuscript text.
Human and Animal Experimental Ethics
Methods
The Methods section of the manuscript must include a description of the process for obtaining informed consent from participants for studies involving human subjects.
Ethics Review Board approval
All studies involving human subjects must be conducted ethically, meet the legal requirements of the study country, and be approved by an ethics review board. Authors are responsible for obtaining certificates of ethics approval and must certify that approval was obtained as part of the submission process. Editors may request documentation of the ethics review board's formal review and recommendations.
Consent of an Informed Patient
The Fountain Journals respects the right to privacy. Unless necessary for scientific purposes, any identifying characteristics or information that might reveal a patient's identity, such as names, initials, or hospital numbers, should not be published in written descriptions, photographs, x-rays, MRIs, charts, and pedigrees. Suppose human subjects are involved, and personal information is required for scientific purposes, authors must state that all patients and/or participants provided informed consent and that the protocol was approved by an ethics review board when submitting manuscripts. For articles containing detailed information about a patient, written informed consent from the patient (or parent, guardian, legal representative, or estate) is required. Authors should inform these patients if any potentially identifiable material or information is made available after publication. Patient consent should be documented and archived with the authors, and confirmation that informed consent was obtained will be requested upon submission of the manuscript.
Animal Studies
When using animals in research, Fountain Journals expects authors to follow ARRIVE guidelines and treat animals humanely, as well as national or institutional guidelines for animal care and use.
Randomized Controlled Trials
Fountain Journals requires randomized controlled trial reports to follow CONSORT guidelines and be registered in a clinical trials registry.
Policy on Data Sharing
When ethically possible, the Fountain Journals encourages authors to share and make available to readers all data and other artifacts on which the paper's conclusions are based. When applicable, authors should include a data accessibility statement in their paper, as well as a link to the appropriate public repository.
