JMA Journal
Instructions for Authors
Table of Contents
1. Aims and Scope
2. Article Types
2.1. Review Article
2.2. Original Research Article
2.3. Clinical Trial
2.4. Guideline
2.5. Opinion
2.6. Short Communication
2.7. Images
2.8. Case Report
2.9. Letter to the Editor
3. Manuscript Preparation
3.1. General Formatting
3.1.1. Title Page
3.1.2. Main Document
3.2. References
3.3. Units of Measurement
3.4. Abbreviations
3.5. Names of Drugs, Devices, and Other Products
3.6. Tables and Figures
3.6.1. Formats
3.6.2. Figure Legends
4. Clinical Trials
5. Reporting Guidelines
6. Data Sharing
7. Online Manuscript Submission
8. Peer Review Process
8.1. Revised Manuscript
8.2. Editors and Journal Staff as Authors
9. Editorial Policy and Publication Ethics
9.1. Overview
9.2. Authorship/Contributorship9.3. Preprint
9.4. Exclusive Submission
9.5. Confidentiality
9.6. Redundant or Duplicate Publication
9.7. Conflicts of Interest and Sources of Funding
9.8. Research Ethics
9.9. Misconduct and Breach of Publication Ethics
10. Proofing and Revision after Acceptance
11. Copyright
12. Advertisement Policy
13. Charges

11. Aims and Scope
The JMA Journal is the official peer-reviewed and open-access scientific journal of the Japan Medical
Association and the Japanese Association of Medical Sciences. The journal publishes review articles, original
research articles, clinical trials, guidelines, opinions, short communications, images, case reports, letters to theeditor. The JMA Journal aims to develop into an international journal both in its perspective and the country oforigin of the authors it publishes. The journal’s remit, through the publication of high-quality research, is tocontribute to the global improvement of medical standards. The JMA Journal accepts articles related to medical
science and medical care including clinical and basic medical science as well as public health. The journal also
welcomes non-clinical studies such as health policy and opinion. All unsolicited articles receive a full andextensive peer review by recognized subject experts. The journal is published four times each year (January,
April, July and October). The journal requires that all manuscripts be prepared in accordance with the“Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly work in Medical Journals”
as published by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE). There is no charge to submit
to or publish in the journal.

2. Article Types
The JMA Journal publishes a variety of different article types. Once you have determined the correct Article
Type, it is imperative that you read the Manuscript Preparation guidelines before you submit your manuscript:
1. Review Article
Review Articles should provide a broad and comprehensive overview and updates on a specific field or topic
in medical science.
2. Original Research Article
Original Research Articles should present detailed studies of original research, highlighting new andcompelling findings that are impactful to other medical practitioners and researchers.
3. Clinical Trial
Clinical Trials describe a pre-planned randomized study of the safety, efficacy, or optimum dosage scheduleof one or more diagnostic, therapeutic or prophylactic technique(s), device(s) or drug(s) selected according
to predetermined criteria of eligibility and observed for predefined evidence of favorable and/or unfavorable
effects.
4. Guideline
Guidelines present recommendations intended to optimize patient care that is informed by a systematic
review of evidence and an assessment of the benefits and harms of alternative care options.
5. Opinion
Opinions should address compelling evidence-based opinions and insights important issues related to publichealth, health policy, or clinical health that appeals to the international readership of the journal. The article
should be written in a scholarly manner with an efficient use of references and evidence.
6. Short Communication
Short Communications are rapid and concise reports (less than 1,200 words) of new and significant researchfindings, or confirmatory studies (including those containing negative results) of previously publishedresearch findings.
7. Images
Pictures should provide original, high-quality images with extraordinary findings that will be useful to othermedical practitioners.

2

8. Case Report
Case Reports present the details of extremely rare medical or clinical cases that have significant educational
importance for diagnosis and treatment. Authors should be aware that the journal rarely published a casereport, unless the case presented is either the world's first reported case or extremely rare case.
9. Letter to the Editor
Letters to the Editor are brief, constructive commentaries that can be submitted in response to a recently
published article in the journal.

3. Manuscript Preparation
Information provided here on manuscript preparation and formatting is based, in part, on the “Recommendations
for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals” as published by the
ICMJE. For any information that is not mentioned in this guideline, authors should refer to the ICMJE
Recommendations.
Authors wishing to include figures, tables, or text passages that have already been published elsewhere are
required to obtain permission from the copyright owner(s) for publication in both the print and online format andto include evidence that such permission has been granted when submitting their papers.
If authors are non-native speakers of English, the manuscript must be edited by a native English speaker prior to
submission, preferably one with a specialized knowledge of medical editing.
Manuscripts that do not follow the instructions below WILL BE RETURNED to the corresponding author fortechnical revision before undergoing peer review.
3.1 General Formatting
All articles should be written in English and correctly formatted according to the guidelines outlined below. All
text should be double-spaced. Line numbers and page numbers on each page are required to make it easier for
reviewers to provide comments.
The organization of the manuscript should be in the following order:
Title Page
Abstract
Key Words
Main Text
References
Figure Legends
TablesFigures
3.1.1 Title Page
The title page should be prepared separately from the main document and must include the following
information:
Title of the manuscript
Full names of all authors
Institutional affiliations of all authors, including city and country location of an author’s institution.
Corresponding author’s name, address, telephone number and e-mail address
Word count (for the main text only)3

Number of figures and tables
Conflicts of interest
Sources of financial support that require acknowledgment
Type of contribution of the authors. Please visit the ICMJE website for more information on authorship.
Approval code issued by the institutional review board (IRB) and the name of the institution(s) that
granted the approval.
Acknowledgements*For a sample Title Page, please click here.
3.1.2 Main Document
Abstract and Key Words
Manuscript should include an abstract of no more than 300 words that includes the following headings,
depending on the article type:
Review Article:-Narrative Review: Unstructured Abstract-Systematic Review: Structured Abstract (Background, Methods, Results, Conclusions)
Original Research Article: Structured Abstract (Introduction, Methods, Results, Conclusions)
Clinical Trial: Structured Abstract (Introduction, Methods, Results, Conclusions)
Guideline: Unstructured Abstract
Opinion: Unstructured Abstract
Short Communication: Abstract is not necessary.
Images: Abstract is not necessary.
Case Report: Unstructured Abstract
Letter to the Editor: Abstract is not necessary.
The Abstract, regardless of the Article Type, should contain 3-8 key words. The Abstract of clinical trials must
include the registration number and name of the registration database. See further details on clinical trials section
below.

Main Text
For each Article Type, authors must organize and order their content using the following formats:
Review Article:
Headings:-Narrative Review: Not required-Systematic Review: Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion
Word Limit: 4,000 words
Number of Tables: No more than 10
Number of Figures: No more than 10
Number of References: No more than 75
Original Research Article:
Headings: Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion
Word Limit: 3,500 words
Number of Tables: No more than 5
Number of Figures: No more than 6
Clinical Trial:
Word Limit: 3,500 words

4

Number of Tables: No more than 5
Number of Figures: No more than 6
Guideline:
Word Limit: 4,000 words
Number of Tables: No more than 7
Number of Figures: No more than 10
Opinion:Word Limit: 1,500 words
Number of Tables: No more than 2
Number of Figures: No more than 3
Number of References: No more than 5
Short Communication:
Word Limit: 1,200 words
Number of Tables: No more than 2
Number of Figures: No more than 3
Number of References: No more than 15
Images:Word Limit: 150 words
Number of Figures: No more than 4
Number of References: No more than 5
Case Report:
Headings: Introduction, Case Report, Discussion
Word Limit: 750 words
Number of Tables: No more than 3
Number of Figures: No more than 4
Number of References: No more than 10
Letter to the Editor:
Word Limit: 400 words
Number of Tables and Figures: No more than 1
Number of References: No more than 55Article Type
Review
ArticleNarrative
Review
Systematic
Review

Abstract
Style
Words
Unstructured
300
Structured

Original Research
ArticleStructured

Clinical Trial
Guideline
Opinion
Short Communication

Structured
300
Unstructured
300
Unstructured
300
Not necessary

ImagesCase Report

Not necessary
Unstructured
300

Letter to the Editor

300

Not necessary

Main Text
Headings
Words
4,000
Introduction,
Materials
and Methods,
Results,
Discussion
Introduction,
Materials
and Methods,
Results,
Discussion
Introduction,
Case Report,
Discussion-

TablesFigures

References

10

10

75

3,500

5

6

-

3,500
4,000
1,500
1,200

5
7
2
2

6
10
3
3

5
15

150
750

0
3

4
4

5
10

400

1

5

3.2 References
The authors are responsible for the accuracy of their references. The References section should follow
immediately after the conclusion of the main text. Authors must cite references in the text in the order of theirappearance, showing the citations as superscripts (for example, show in superscript1). If there are more than
three authors, name only the first three authors and then use “et al.”Examples:Journal article
1. Guiot BH, Khoo LT, Fessler RG. A minimally invasive technique for decompression of the lumber spine.
Spine. 2002;27(4):432-8.
Journal article in a language other than English
2. Paroussis D, Papaoutsopoulou C. [Porcelain laminate veneers (HI-ERAM)]. Odontostomatol Proodos.
1990;44(6):423-6. Greek.
Online journals
3. Abood S. Quality improvement initiative in nursing homes: the ANA acts in an advisory role. Am J Nurs[Internet]. 2002 Jun [cited 2002 Aug 12];102(6):[about 1 p.]. Available from:http://www.nursingworld.org/AJN/2002/june/Wawatch.htmArticle
Entire book
4. Jenkins PF. Making sense of the chest x-ray: a hands-on guide. New York: Oxford University Press; 2005.
194 p.

6

Book chapter
5. Riffenburgh RH. Statistics in medicine. 2nd ed. Amsterdam (Netherlands): Elsevier Academic Press; 2006.
Chapter 24, Regression and correlation methods; p. 447-86.
Journal names should be abbreviated in the standard form as they appear in the NLM Catalog. If the journals are
not included in the NLM Catalog, use the ISSN List of Title Word for standard abbreviations of journal names.
If you are uncertain, please use the full journal name.
For reference styles pertaining to other media formats or further details, please refer to Citing Medicine, which
is published by the National Library of Medicine (US).
Including AI-generated material as the primary source in the reference is not allowed.
3.3 Units of Measurement
Measurements of length, height, weight, and volume should be reported in metric units (meter, kilogram, or
liter) or their decimal multiples. Temperatures should be in degrees Celsius. Blood pressures should be inmillimeters of mercury. All measurements should follow the International System of Units (SI).
Use a capital letter "L" for liter in the units of measurements in the Text, Figures, and Tables (e.g., g/dL, mg/dL,
IU/L, and mEq/L).
3.4 Abbreviations
Do not include the abbreviations in the title. Define abbreviations at their first appearance in the text and in each
Table and Figure and use the abbreviations consistently thereafter.
3.5 Names of Drugs, Devices, and Other Products
Do not use the specific brand names of drugs, devices, and other products and services, unless it is essential tothe discussion. Otherwise, please use descriptive name.
3.6 Tables and Figures
3.6.1 Formats
Figures should be submitted in the following digital format: JPEG (.jpg), or Tagged Image Format (.tiff).
Tables are required to be in MS Word (.doc/.docx) or PowerPoint (.ppt/.pptx). Do not use MS Excel orcomparable spreadsheet software.
Figures supplied within the main manuscript Word document or previously copy-and-pasted in PowerPoint are
not acceptable. This is due to their low resolution. They will not re-produce in print or online clearly.
Scanned images of line art will not be accepted – please supply in the original file format.
Tone art, or photographic images should be produced at the minimum resolution of 300 dpi. Include the scale(bar) in images captured with scanning electron microscopes.
All figure titles and legends should not be embedded in the submitted image – please supply this information
separately (such as figure legends in the main manuscript file).
All extraneous use of color must be removed from Figures and Tables. Color should only be used for didactic
purposes. All line art backgrounds must not contain any color.
Figures and Tables must be cited in the text and numbered in the order they are cited.
If any copyrighted or previously published material, edited or otherwise, are used in the manuscript, it is theauthor’s responsibility to obtain the permission from the copyright owner(s) prior to making a submission. Also,

7

the authors must cite the source and indicate the permission to use such materials in the corresponding Figure or
Table caption, as required by the copyright owner(s).
3.6.2 Figure Legends
Legends must be prepared for all Figures presented in the manuscript. Authors must list Figure Legends on a
separate page after the References section.

4. Clinical Trials
In accordance with ICMJE’s policy on trial registration, all clinical trials must be registered with a public trials
registry before the time of first patient enrollment. ICMJE defines clinical trials as any research project thatprospectively assigns people or a group of people to an intervention, with or without concurrent comparison orcontrol groups, to study the cause-and-effect relationship between a health-related intervention and a healthoutcome. Health-related interventions include, but are not limited to, those used to modify a biomedical or
health-related outcome; examples include drugs, surgical procedures, devices, behavioral treatments, educational
programs, dietary interventions, quality improvement interventions, and process-of-care changes.
The JMA Journal requires all clinical trials to be registered with databases that are accessible to the public at nocharge, open to all prospective registrants, managed by a not-for-profit organization, have a mechanism to ensure
the validity of the registration data, and are electronically searchable.
Submitted manuscripts must include the unique registration number in the abstract as evidence of registration.
The name of the registration database must also be provided. For details regarding the required minimal
registration data set, please go to the ICMJE site at https://www.icmje.org/recommendations/browse/publishingand-editorial-issues/clinical-trial-registration.html
The journal accepts registration from the following list of registries as well as others listed at ICMJE site:
Clinical Trials (http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/)
Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (http://anzctr.org.au)
ISRCTN Register (http://isrctn.org)
UMIN Clinical Trials Registry (http://www.umin.ac.jp/ctr)
In reporting randomized clinical trials, authors must comply with published CONSORT guidelines(http://www.consort-statement.org/). The recommended checklist must be completed and provided to the journal
at the time of manuscript submission. The recommended trial flow diagram should be presented as a figure.

5. Reporting Guidelines
Various reporting guidelines have been developed for different study designs. Authors are encouraged to follow
published standard reporting guidelines for the study discipline.
CONSORT for randomized clinical trials (http://www.consort-statement.org/)
CARE for case reports (http://care-statement.org/)
STROBE for observational studies (http://strobe-statement.org/)
PRISMA for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (http://prisma-statement.org/)
STARD for studies of diagnostic accuracy (http://www.equator-network.org/reportingguidelines/stard/)

8

SAGER guidelines (https://www.equator-network.org/reporting-guidelines/sager-guidelines/) for
reporting of sex and gender information
Please access https://www.equator-network.org/ to find the guideline that is appropriate for your study.
It is extremely important that when you complete any Reporting Guideline checklist that you consider amending
your manuscript to ensure your article addresses all relevant reporting criteria issues delineated in theappropriate reporting checklist. The purpose of a reporting guideline is to guide you in improving the reporting
standard of your manuscript. The objective is not to solely complete the reporting checklist, but to use thechecklist itself in the writing of your manuscript. Taking the time to ensure your manuscript meets these basic
reporting needs will greatly improve your manuscript, while also potentially enhancing its chances for eventual
publication.

6. Data Sharing
JMA Journal encourages the authors of manuscript which includes clinical trials to share their de-identified
research data including, but not limited to raw data, processed data, software, algorithms, protocols, methods,
materials, study protocol, statistical analysis plan, informed consent form, clinical study report, analytic code.
As required by ICMJE, all manuscripts that report the results of clinical trial must include a data sharing
statement with a link to the trial registration. The statement should include the following information:
Available types of data,
Available documents (study protocol, statistical analysis plan, informed consent form, clinical study
report, or analytic code)
Available dates
With whom the data are available.
Types of analyses the authors are willing to share the data
Method of requesting the data.
The statement is published alongside their paper.

7. Online Manuscript Submission
Manuscripts may only be submitted electronically via the journal’s ScholarOne system:
https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/jmaj.
All files must be submitted in the following order: 1) Title Page, 2) Main Document, 3) Tables, and Figures(≥300 dpi). The total size of the uploaded files should be within 100 MB. Upon submission, the manuscript will
be automatically checked for plagiarism, and can be sent back to the corresponding author if the plagiarism rate
is 30% or higher. The JMA Journal utilizes the iThenticate plagiarism screening service to determine both text
overlap and manuscript originality. More information on this service, and opportunities for authors to pre-screen
their work, can be found at www.ithenticate.com.
Notification of manuscript submission will be sent by e-mail to all authors listed in the manuscript.

8. Peer Review Process
Peer review is a critically important process of evaluation for any manuscript submitted to the JMA Journal.
Every article dispatched for full peer review will receive a comprehensive, fair, and unbiased critical assessment.

9All submitted manuscripts will be reviewed, initially, by the editors of the JMA Journal to evaluate eligibility for
publication. The editors will assess the importance and originality of the research, suitability and interest to thereadership of the journal, and the quality of the manuscript. Any manuscripts that satisfy our screening criteria
will generally be sent to two experts in the field of the study for peer review. The JMA Journal employs a singleanonymized review process. This means the identities of the peer reviewers remain anonymous but the authors’identities are known to the reviewers. The editors of the JMA Journal will review the peer review comments andmake all decisions on the manuscript publication, which include acceptance, major or minor revisions, andrejection.
JMA Journal adheres to Committee on Publication Ethics’ Ethical Guidelines for Peer Reviewers. Reviewers are
not allowed to contact the authors directly before, during, or after the peer review process to discuss any
information that is presented in the manuscript. Reviewers must keep the manuscripts and information obtained
strictly confidential and must not publicly discuss or disclose the contents and any other information contained
within the manuscript to a third party. The guidelines for the reviewers are available at the journal home page.
The decision letters along with the comments by the editors and reviewers will be sent to the corresponding
author via e-mail.
8.1 Revised Manuscript
It is expected that any manuscripts receiving a revision decision will be fully amended according to thecomments of both the reviewers and the editors. Authors must also include a detailed point-by-point response
letter. Authors should submit the revised manuscript within 12 weeks from the date of prior decision. Revisions
must be approved by all authors prior to submission of the revised manuscript.
8.2 Editors and Journal Staff as Authors
Manuscripts submitted by editors, Editorial Staff members, or journal staff will follow the same process as
outlined above. However, they are excluded from any editorial decision process of their own manuscript andhave neither access to that manuscript nor any information about the review process other than what is provided
in the editor’s decision letter. Additionally, ScholarOne, the journal’s online submission and peer review system
is designed to anonymize a person in other roles (editor/reviewer) from any paper he/she has authored. The
manuscript submitted by editors, Editorial Staff, and journal staff of JMA Journal should include a statement thatdeclares their personal conflict of interest with the journal.
9. Editorial Policy and Publication Ethics
9.1 Overview
The JMA Journal observes the highest standards in journal publication. The journal supports and adheres to theguidelines and best practices including Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publicationof Scholarly Work in Medical Journals (http://www.icmje.org/icmje-recommendations.pdf) by the International
Committee of Medical Journals Editors (ICMJE) and the Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in
Scholarly Publishing (a joint statement by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), the Directory of Open
Access Journals (DOAJ), the World Association for Medical Editors (WAME) and the Open Access Scholarly
Publishers Association (OASPA); (http://doaj.org/bestpractice)).
9.2 Authorship/ContributorshipAll authors listed in the manuscript must meet the following four contribution criteria as defined by the ICMJE
in their Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical
Journals.
1) Substantial contributions to the conception or design of the research or the acquisition and analysis ofdata; and2) Drafting the work or reviewing it critically for important intellectual content; and
3) Final approval of the version to be published; and

104) Agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to theaccuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.
Contributors who do not meet all four criteria above should not be listed as authors. Guest or honorary
authorship is strictly prohibited.
In consonance with the COPE’s position statement (https://publicationethics.org/cope-position-statements/aiauthor) and WAME’s recommendations (https://wame.org/page3.php?id=106), JMA Journal does not allow
Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools such as ChatGPT or Large Language Models (LLM) to be listed as authors as
those tools cannot meet the ICMJE’s criteria for authorship listed above.
The corresponding author must ensure that a manuscript is read and approved by ALL authors prior to
submission.
Those who do not qualify for authorship may be acknowledged individually or together as a group under a single
heading within the “Acknowledgements” on the title page. Examples of activities that do not qualify acontributor for authorship are: acquisition of funding; general supervision of a research group; generaladministrative support and writing assistance; technical editing; language editing, and proofreading.
An email that request the confirmation of authorship will be sent to authors after manuscripts have been
submitted. All authors are expected to respond to that message as directed by the instructions within the email.
Authors should discuss, determine and (if they exist) settle any disagreements about the order of authorship
before submitting their manuscript. Final author order must be established by the end of the revision phase of thepeer review process. Any authorship changes such as order, addition, and deletion of authors between the initialmanuscript submission and the final decision should be discussed and approved by all authors. Any request forsuch changes must be explained in the Change of Authorship Request Form, which must be signed by all authors.
Adding, deleting, or changing the author names and their order is not permitted after the acceptance of themanuscript for publication.
Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)-Assisted Tools/Technologies
In consonance with the COPE’s position statement, WAME’s recommendations, and ICMJE’s Recommendation,
JMA Journal does not allow artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted tools/technologies such as Large Language
Models (LLMs), chatbots, or image creators to be listed as author or co-author. As described in the ICMJE, those
tools cannot be responsible for the accuracy, integrity, and originality of the work, thus they do not meet the
ICMJE’s criteria for authorship listed above. The authors (humans) are fully responsible for any materials of thesubmitted work, including the use of AI-assisted tools or technologies. AI should not be cited as authors.
Authors (humans) are also responsible for plagiarism including the in text and AI-produced images. Authors
must disclose, upon submission and in the Materials and Methods (or similar section), any use of AI-assisted
tools or technologies in the writing of a manuscript, production of images or graphical elements of the paper, orin the collection and analysis of data.
9.3 PreprintJMA Journal accepts the submission of manuscripts that have been posted on a not-for-profit preprint server
such as bioRxiv and medRxiv. When submitting such manuscripts, authors should notify the editor and provide
information about preprint posting of the submitted manuscript, which include the digital object identifier (DOI)
to the preprint version of their manuscript.
9.4 Exclusive Submission

11Articles that have been previously published or are being considered for publication in another journal in any
language will not be accepted. Submission of a manuscript implies that: the work described has not beenpreviously published; it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere; its publication has been approvedby all co-authors. The editors make all decisions on the acceptance of the peer-reviewed manuscripts. However,posting a manuscript on a not-for-profit preprint server is exempt from this policy.
9.5 Confidentiality
All manuscript details, author information, reviewer identities, comments to the editors and the authors, and thecontent of the decision letter are considered privileged information and will never be disclosed to third parties.
9.6 Redundant or Duplicate Publication
JMA Journal does not consider the archiving of manuscripts to not-for-profit preprint servers before submission
to the JMA Journal to be redundant or duplicate publication.
Articles that are being considered for publication in another journal including advanced publications such as “inpress” or “E-pub ahead of print” articles in any language might be regarded as redundant or duplicate publication.
The author should notify the editor formally about all submission and the previous reports that could be regarded
as redundant or duplicate publication of the same or similar work. Any such material must be referred to andreferenced in the new work. Copies of such work should be included with the submission. Abstracts or posters
presented at scientific meetings are not considered previously published work.
Editorial actions should be expected if redundant or duplicate publication is attempted or occurs without such
notification. Editorial actions may include: immediate rejection of the submitted manuscript; retraction of
published work; published notice of violation, and revocation of publishing privileges.
For acceptable secondary publication, authors should consult the ICMJE Recommendations.
9.7 Conflicts of Interest and Sources of Funding
According to the ICMJE Recommendations, a conflict of interest (COI) exists “when professional judgment
concerning a primary interest (such as patients' welfare or the validity of research) may be influenced by asecondary interest (such as financial gain).”All authors are required to disclose any financial relations, activities, relationships and affiliations that exist, or
have existed, in the 36 months prior to submission with any commercial organizations, groups, institutions, or
any other entities that has any interest in the subject matter, materials, or process(es) discussed in the manuscript.
This includes, but is not limited to:
Research support (including research funding and provision of equipment or materials)
Honoraria (such as lecture fees)
Consulting
Employment
Promotional fees
Advisory or directing role
Stock and share ownershipPatent/licensing fees
Travel and accommodation expenses
Any other financial, institutional or personal relationships
Any possible COI related to the study presented in the manuscript must be disclosed on the title page under theheading “Conflicts of Interest” using the following examples for each author:“A (author name) received honoraria from Z (entity name); B holds an advisory role in Y;
C is an employee of Company X.”

12

If the manuscript is accepted for publication, the disclosures will be published as they appear in this section. If
there are no COIs, the authors should state “The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest” on the title
page.
All authors will receive e-mail notification to confirm and complete their COI disclosure forms (e-forms) after
manuscript submission.
All sources of funding from entities such as government or non-profit organizations, which are relevant to thestudy, should be acknowledged on the title page under the heading “Sources of Funding.”
You must use the following word format to describe any funding: “This work was supported by [nameof funder] grant number [xxx]”.
If your work did not receive funding you must use the following wording: “This research received no
specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors”.
You must ensure that the full, correct, details of your funder(s) and any relevant grant numbers areincluded.
9.8 Research Ethics
A) Clinical research included in articles that report on human subjects or materials of human origin, mustcomply with the provisions of the Declaration of Helsinki. In addition, the “Materials and Methods” section
must include a statement that the research was approved by the IRB of the authors’ affiliated institutions andthe approval code issued by the IRB and the name of the institution, which granted the approval. Those
researchers who do not have access to an ethics review committees should follow the principles outlined in
the Declaration of Helsinki.
B) Articles reporting on data from animal testing must indicate in the “Materials and Methods” section theapproval of the testing design by the affiliated institution’s Animal Care and Use Committee.
C) Authors of articles reporting on new DNA sequences must furnish that data to the GenBank and include theaccession number for it in the article.
D) For any studies involving human subjects it should be stated clearly in the text that written consent has beenobtained from all patients (or parent or legal guardian) to publish the information, including theirphotographs.
E) Any data or information such as patient names, initials, hospital patient identification codes (patient IDs),
specific dates, or any other information which may identify patients must not be presented anywhere in the
manuscript, including the Figures and Tables unless the information is essential for scientific purposes andthe patient (or parent or legal guardian). All pictures should focus on the affected areas only.
9.9 Misconduct and Breach of Publication Ethics
All members of the Editorial Staff of the JMA Journal promote and abide by the COPE International
Standards for responsible research publication for authors, reviewers and editors when dealing withallegations of misconduct. Please see our Ethical Polices for the information.
All manuscripts submitted to the JMA Journal must represent the authors’ original work and not duplicate
any other previously published work in any language. The authors must understand, and guarantee, that thesame manuscript is not simultaneously submitted to, or not under consideration in, another journal.
All authors are fully responsible for the originality and contents of their submitted manuscripts. All records
and data presented in the manuscript must be accurate, without any fabrication, manipulation, or
falsification.

13

Authors certify that the single research or dataset is not intentionally divided into several parts to increase
the number of submission or publication with the JMA Journal or other journals over time (“salami
publication”).
All information and contents, such as data, text, ideas, or theories that originate from other resources must
be credited and cited, as guided in the “References” of Manuscript Preparation section.
Any misconduct that is identified is subject to investigation by the Editorial Staff according to the guidelines
recommended by COPE. If the allegation raises any valid concerns after the investigation, the author will becontacted to address the issue. The Editors in Chief may decide to publish an “Expression of Concern” ifsuspicion is raised after the article has already been published. Should misconduct or the breach of
publication ethics be established, regardless of the level or seriousness, this may result in retraction,
publication of formal notice of the misconduct, formal notice to the author's institution, and a formal
embargo on future contribution to the JMA Journal.
10. Proofing and Revision after Acceptance
After the acceptance of a manuscript for publication, galley proofs will be available to the authors for correctionsof minor errors such as spelling errors and omitted characters or letters. Any other corrections and revisions after
the acceptance of a manuscript are not permitted unless requested by the Editorial Staff of the JMA Journal.
Authors are expected to perform the proofing, as instructed by the Support Office. Upon completion of theproofing, authors should immediately email the revised proof to the Support Office.
Our Editorial Staff may make revisions to terminologies, phrasing, and other components of the manuscript
without the consent of the author(s). Portions of the manuscript requiring corrections will be noted withcomments indicating that the material must be rewritten.
After publication, further changes, or corrections, can only be made in the form of an Erratum which will be
hyperlinked to the original article.
11. Copyright
Copyright to articles and their contents published in the JMA Journal belong to The Japan Medical Association.
However, the JMA Journal applies the Creative Commons Attribution License(https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) to all works published by the journal. Anyone may download,reuse, copy, reprint, distribute, or modify articles published in the journal, if they cite the original authors andsource. No permission is required from the publisher. The license can be found on the last page of the published
PDF of the article.
12. Advertisement Policy
The JMA Journal does not accept advertising from pharmaceutical companies, device manufacturers, or any
other commercial entities to avoid potential conflicts of interest in editorial decision-making and to avoid
advertisements by companies with potentially competing interests appearing alongside articles published in thejournal.
13. Charges
The JMA Journal is fully funded by the Japan Medical Association. There is no charge to submit to or publish in
the journal.

14

For inquiries:
JMA Journal Support Officec/o Kyorinsha Co., Ltd.
3-46-10, Nishigahara, Kita-ku, Tokyo, 114-0024, Japan
E-mail: admin@jmaj.jp

15