Kurume Medical Journal: Submission Guideline
1. General
The Kurume Medical Journal (Kurume Med J)
publishes articles in the field of medical and relatedsciences. Contributions are accepted from researchersand practitioners in Japan and abroad. Submitted
manuscripts should be original research, not previously
published, and should be written in English. Types ofarticles are 1) Original contribution, 2) Case report, 3)
Study Protocol, 4) Methodology paper, 5) Shortcommunication and 6) Technical note. Review articles
are also invited. KMJ is an open access journal, andarticles published in KMJ are fully indexed in PubMedand J-stage.
KMJ will not tolerate misconduct including, but notlimited to, data fabrication or falsification including
deceptive manipulation of images and plagiarism.
2. Copyright
Submission of a manuscript to the Kurume Medical
Journal implies that, when accepted for publication, theauthors agree to transfer the copyright to the Kurume
Medical Journal. KMJ allows others to download thematerial and share it (either whole or parts of it) withothers without any permission as long as they credit theoriginal source and indicate if changes were made.
However, commercial use of the published manuscript isprohibited. The original source should also be includedin the reference list, if any.
3. Ethics
For experiments on human subjects and patients,
evidence must be provided in the paper that theexperiments were performed only after the investigators
had obtained the voluntary consent of the subjects. A full
explanation of the experiments must be made to thesubjects before their consent is requested. Authors
should adhere to the latest version of Declaration ofHelsinki. Approval in writing is also required for theperformance of such experiments from the Chairpersonor the Ethics Committee of the University, ResearchInstitute or Hospital.
Animal experiments must be performed with theleast possible pain or discomfort to the animals.
Accordingly, a full description of anesthetic proceduresmust be provided in the paper, including measures taken
to maintain a satisfactory level of pain avoidance bothduring and after the experimental procedure. Muscle

relaxants and paralytic agents are not of themselves
anesthetics, and they should always be used in
combination with drugs known to produce adequate
analgesia. Experimental animals must be maintained
according to recognized standards to safeguard theirwelfare. This includes proper housing and food, as well
as sanitary conditions. In this respect, investigators
must be aware of the legal requirements in Japan foranimal husbandry. They are also obliged to follow theguiding principles of their local Ethics Committee.
4. Preparation of Manuscript
Authors are requested to follow the following
instructions carefully so as not to delay review andhandling of manuscripts.
Manuscripts are submitted through EditorialManager®, a Web-based manuscript tracking system〔URL https://www.editorialmanager.com/kmj/〕. Thissystem allows authors to add a new manuscript or checkthe status of a submitted manuscript, while shortening
the time needed for processing manuscripts in theEditorial Office and through peer review.
A cover letter should include a statement regarding
prior publication, concurrent consideration forpublication, and contact information.
5. Organization of Manuscript: Original Article
All manuscript must be organized according to thefollowing format: 1) Title; complete title, noabbreviations, 2) Authors; first and last names withdepartments and addresses of their institutions, 3)
Corresponding author; designating one author ascorresponding author and provide his/her complete
address, telephone and fax numbers, and e-mail address,4) Abstract; not more than 200 words, 5) Keywords; 5-8words, 6) Running title; not more than 10 words, 7) Text;
consist of Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results,Discussion and Conclusion, 8) Conflict of Interest; anyfinancial relationship with pharmaceutical company,
biotechnology manufacture or any other commercial
entity that has an interest in the subject matter ormaterials discussed in themanuscript, 9)Acknowledgements and Notice; grant support etc., 10)
References, 11) Tables, 12) Figures, and 13) Figurelegends.

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Kurume Medical Journal: Submission Guideline
6. Case Report
The text of Case Report should contain Introduction,
Case Presentation, and Discussion in sequence. Case
reports should provide new information and clinicalimpact that enhance our knowledge on the diseases andprocess, such as a novel syndrome or a geneticallyconfirmed rare case, or should report unusual clinical or
pathophysiological features that promote further study
on a large scale. Information linked to patients'
identification must be carefully masked. Case reports aregenerally shorter than Original Articles in lengths. Pleaserefer to the general instruction for reference style andother manuscript requirements.
7. Study Protocol
Study protocol articles can be for proposed or
ongoing prospective clinical research, and should
provide a detailed account of the hypothesis, rationale,methodology, time frame and expected outcomes of thestudy. Study protocols are generally shorter than OriginalArticles in lengths. Please refer to the general instruction
for reference style and other manuscript requirements.
8. Methodology Paper
Methodology papers should focus on novel technicalor methodological advances that significantly advance afield of research that is of interest to the broad readershipof KMJ. Methodology papers are generally shorter than
Original Articles in lengths. Please refer to the general
instruction for reference style and other manuscript
requirements.
9. Short Communication
Short communication articles are reports of novel
findings of particular importance and/or current interest.
The manuscript should be no more than 1,000 words andup to 4 pages of final printing including tables andfigures. Key words (5-8) should be provided before thetext, and summary of the results are unnecessary. The
manuscript should not be partitioned into section, such
as Introduction, Methods and Results, and haveminimum number of references. The total number oftables and figures should not exceed 4. Please refer to thegeneral instruction for reference style and othermanuscript requirements.

10. Technical Note
A technical note provides a brief description of a
specific development, technique or procedure, or it may
describe a modification of an existing technique,procedure or device applicable to medicine withpractical value in clinical diagnosis or management. The
main criteria for publication will be the novelty ofconcepts involved, the validity of the technique and its
potential for clinical applications. Technical notes are
generally shorter than Original Articles in lengths. Pleaserefer to the general instruction for reference style andother manuscript requirements.
11. Review Article
Review articles generally summarize the existing
literature on a topic in an attempt to explain the current
state of understanding on the topic. There is no fixedformats; however, if the work has previously beenpresented at a meeting, this should be stated in the article.
12. Submission
Once you reach the Editorial Manager® home page,log on to the system by creating an account or entering
through your existing account.
Editorial Manager® will easily guide authors
through the manuscript submission process. Required
information pertaining to the manuscript includes thename, e-mail address, and name of institutions for the
first author and all contributing authors; title of themanuscript; short title (not exceeding 40 characters
including spaces); abstract (about 250 words); funding
sources and key words (5-8). The title must explicitlyrepresent the content of the manuscript. Subtitles are notrecommended.
13. Abbreviations
A list of abbreviations should be provided inalphabetic order. A sample list is shown below.
Examples:Abbreviations: BHIS, supplemented brain heart-infusion
medium; HO, heme oxygenase; IRP, iron regulatory
protein; nt, nucleotide(s).
14. Figures and Tables
Figures and Tables should be prepared separatelyfrom the main text. Each table should have a short title,and tables should be numbered in the order in which they
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Kurume Medical Journal: Submission Guideline
are cited in the text.
Each figure should have a legend containing
sufficient information to make the figure intelligible
without reference to the text. Figures should besubmitted in TIFF, EPS, JPEG, or PowerPoint formats.
A minimum resolution of 300 dpi is required, and it isrecommended that authors supply their artwork in theRGB spectrum. Histograms should be presented in a
simple, two-dimensional format, with no backgroundgrid.
15. References
References should be limited only to those having
direct relevance to the subject of the paper. In the text,
references should be cited by number in parentheses, inthe order of appearance.
In the literature reference list, references should beentered as follows: reference number, names and initials
of authors, full title of article, name of journal, year ofpublication, volume number and page numbers. The
titles of journals must be abbreviated according to theVancouver style. The form of citation of authors
contributing a chapter to books should be similar to thatfor journals.
Examples:
1. Katsuki Y, Herman JP, and Yanagisawa K. The lateralline organ of sharks as a chemoreceptor. Adv Biophys
1970; 1:1-51.
2. Tanaka T, Yamada K, Suzuki A, Nishimura R, Koga I
et al. Excitatory amino acid antagonists depress
transmission in hippocampal projections to the lateral
septum. Brain Res 1986; 382:437-440.
3. Tokizane T. Studies on the paradoxical phase of sleepin the cat. In: Progress in Brain Research, ed. Tokizane Tand Schade JP, Elsevier, Amsterdam, Vol21B, pp230268, 1965.
4. U.S. positions on selected issues at the third
negotiating session of the Framework Convention onTobacco Control. Washington, D.C.: Committee on
Government Reform, 2002. (Accessed March 4, 2002, at
http://www.house.gov/reform/min/inves_tobacco/index_accord. htm.)
Unpublished materials or personal communications,
if needed, should be included in parenthesis in the text.
It is strongly recommended that authors carefully

examine each reference by direct confirmation oforiginal publications.
16. Review System
Manuscripts submitted will be assigned to an Editor
on the Editorial Board and then sent for evaluation to two
referees recommended by the Editor. The Journal always
attempts to minimize the potential for conflict of interestin the review of manuscripts. Therefore, authors may
request that specific individuals with a possible conflictof interest not be involved in reviewing their manuscript.
Authors may suggest the names and addresses ofpotential reviewers. The Editors will be guided but notnecessarily bound by these suggestions.
Authors will receive a message from the Editor-inChief stating whether or not their manuscript isacceptable. Revised manuscripts and correspondence
concerning manuscripts must be received by the datedesignated by the Editor-in Chief. Revised manuscripts
received after that date will be considered as newly
submitted papers unless there is a justifiable reason forthe delay.
The accepted manuscripts may be sent to an Editorial
Advisor for correction of English grammar and syntax,depending on the Editor's judgment before final
acceptance; such manuscript correction will be at theauthor's expense. Manuscripts, if accepted, will be
published only after agreement by the author(s) to pay
the costs of publication including page charges.
The Editorial Board uses the following guidelines inmaking editorial decisions. To inform prospective
authors of our criteria, the guidelines are listed below,
but please note that these are only guidelines: 1) the
manuscript is original and it contributes to science withsignificant novelty, 2) the English must be clear andunderstandable, 3) the title and the abstract areinformative, 4) the description of the methods and/or theexperimental work is adequate, 5) the number and thequality of the figures and the tables are suitable.
Numbers and physical quantities are written with theproper number of significant digits and units, 6) thereferences cover recent and past activities in the field,
and include papers reported in various relevant journals,7) the conclusions sound convincing, and 8) themanuscript includes the necessary statements relating tocontributorship, competing interests, data sharing andethical approval.
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Kurume Medical Journal: Submission Guideline
In general, the Kurume Medical Journal will not
publish papers that are: 1) merely confirmatory or
descriptive as to the presence of a well-known process intissues or organisms not previously studied, 2) not novel
enough, 3) too preliminary or incomplete, and 4) too
specialized in areas outside the scope of the Kurume
Medical Journal.
17. Galley Proofs
Galley proofs of accepted manuscripts will be sent tothe authors for their correction. Alterations in galley
proofs, other than the correction of print errors, are notpermitted, except when the Editor agrees that addition ofa brief note in the proofs is essential.
Galley proofs corrected by authors should bereturned by the designated date, otherwise, the Editor
reserves the right of proofreading. Color plates and otherspecial illustrations will be reproduced at the author’s
expense at cost prices. The list of these cost prices will
be sent to the author after the final decision. If themanuscript is rejected, all the materials will be returnedto the author.
18. Reprints
Reprints are available when ordered with the returnof the galley proofs. The minimum number of reprints
available for order is 30, and the approximate cost for 30
copies is ￥5,000 for black/white copies. Color charges
will be applied for individual pages.
19. Contact Information
The Kurume Medical Journal is published by theKurume University School of Medicine. Manuscripts
should be submitted through online system by accessing
https://www.editorialmanager.com/kmj.
Correspondence should be addressed to:KMJ Editorial Office
Kurume University School of Medicine
67 Asahi-machi, Kurume-city
Fukuoka 830-0011 Japan
E-mail: kmjedit@kurume-u.ac.jp

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