General Information

Instructions to Authors

AATEX is peer-reviewed open-access online journal in English published by the Japanese Society of
Alternative to Animal Experiments (JSAAE). Since the first issue was published in November of 1990.
From2014,
thejournal
have
been
regularly
publishedon
J-STAGE(https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/browse/aatex/-char/en). Authors are recommended to follow theInternational
Committeeof
MedicalJournalEditors(ICMJE)
Recommendations(http://www.icmje.org/recommendations/) as well as this “Instructions to Authors” in preparation of
their manuscripts.

Aim and Scope

The aim of the publication of AATEX is to gather and disseminate scientific and technologicalinformation on the development and implementation of alternatives to the use of animals for scientificpurposes based on the Three Rs. The journal publishes original Research Articles involving thedevelopment of alternatives to laboratory animals, Brief Communications documenting importantnew findings warranting expeditious publication will also be considered, as will concise interpretative
Review of relate topics of current significance. Letters to the editor will be limited to comments oncommunications already published in the Journals.
The scope of AATEX covers broad aspects of Three Rs. (1) Reduction, which refers to obtaining
comparable levels of information from fewer animals; (2) Refinement, which refers to methods foralleviating potential pain, suffering, or distress of animals used in experiments; (3) Replacement,
which refers to the use of non-animal methods whenever possible.
We are grateful to the contributors for supporting the publication of the journal, which will advancethe development of science and technology for alternative to animal experiments.

Submission of Manuscripts
Authors are invited to submit articles falling within the aims and scope previously outlines with theunderstanding that they have neither been published, nor are under consideration for publicationelsewhere, except in the form of an abstract. Published manuscripts become the sole property of theJournal and will be copyrighted. JSAAE holds the copyright of all the manuscripts of this journal.
Decisions concerning editing, revisions, acceptances, rejections will be made by the editors after thepeer review. By submitting an article to the Journal, the author (or authors) is understood to haveagreed to each of the above conditions. Manuscript should preferably be typewritten and double
spaced in acceptable English usage and syntax. Manuscripts may also be written in Japanese.
However, the title, the abstract, figure legends, the running title and the references section must bewritten in English. Manuscript (the original plus two complete copies) and correspondence concerning
manuscript review should be sent to:
Yuji Komizu, Editor-in-chief of AATEX, Sojo University
4-22-1, Ikeda, Nishi-ku, Kumamoto 860-0082, JAPAN(TEL +81-96-326-3804 FAX +81-96-323-1331), E-mail:komizu@bio.sojo-u.ac.jp

No Page Charges; 50 Offprints Free of Charge
There are no page or manuscript handling charges for articles published in AATEX. 50 offprints will
be supplied free of charge. However, all color pages are charged to author(s).

Manuscript Format
All authors must fulfil the following criteria defined by the International Committee of Medical
Journal Editors (ICMJE) as Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical
Journals: (1) substantial contributions to conception and design, acquisition of data, or analysis andinterpretation of data, (2) drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content,(3) final approval of the version to be published, and (4) agreement to be accountable for all aspectsof the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work areappropriately investigated and resolved.
All pages must be numbered, including the title page, which should carry the title of the paper, fullname of the authors, the names and address of the institutions where the work was done (with theaffiliation of each author indicated) and a short running title not exceeding 45 letters and spaces.
Japanese manuscripts must be laser-printed using readable fonts with word-processing softwares.

The inclusion of telephone, facsimile number and e-mail address will assist the processing of thecontributions. Manuscripts of original papers including Japanese manuscripts should contain thefollowing sections:a) Abstract (up to 200 words, plus 5 key words) d) Resultsg) Referencesb) Introductione) Discussionh) Tables and Figuresc) Materials and Methodsf) Acknowledgment i) Figure Legends

References

All references must be cited in the body of the text by name an date, i.e. (Smith, 1985) and analphabetical list of references at the end of the manuscripts. Japanese references must be translated
into English in order to include in the reference section. If more than two authors 1are involves, used
et al. after the first author’s name in text, but provide all the author’s names in the reference list. If
several papers by the same authors are cited for the same year, use a lowercase letter to distinguish
one from the other, i.e. (James, 1986a, 1986). Use the same designation in the reference list. Use thefollowing style in the reference list;Journal and Periodicals:
Watanabe, M., Suzuki, K., and Kodama, S. (1995) Normal human cells at confluence getheat resistance by accumulation of hsp72 in nucleus, Carcinogenesis, 16, 2373-2380.
Books:
Watanabe, M., Suzuki, K., and Kato, T. (1994) LET dependency of mutation induction at
HPRT locus in human cells irradiated with heavy ions, in Molecular Mechanisms inRadiation Mutagenesis and Carcinogenesis, ed. by K. H. Chadwick and J. Thaker, pp.177181, European Commission, Brussels.

Abbreviations and Units
Standard directionally abbreviations are generally accepted. Other abbreviations should be explainedin parentheses when the first mentioned. SI units are preferred.

Figures and Tables
Figures should be numbered consecutively (Fig. 1, Fig. 2, etc.) Plan all figures to fit the proportionsof the printed page (25.5 cm x 17 cm, B5). Line drawing should be carefully drawn in black ink on
white paper or submitted as glossy prints. Each figure should be identified on the back with theauthor’s name and the figure number. Magnification should be indicated by scale bars. Tables should
be typed-spaced on separate pages and should be numbered consecutively (Table 1, Table 2, etc.)

Accepted Manuscripts
Authors of accepted manuscripts will be asked to submit the final version of the paper on diskettes,
including text, tables and figures, to the Editorial Office. Information on file formats will be sent toauthors with the letter of acceptance.

Withdraw of Manuscripts

Authors can withdraw manuscripts, when it is assumed that avoidance of lengthening the review
process and abandonment of the revision of papers. At completion of withdrawal procedure, anotification email will be sent to Editor-in-chief.

Proofs and Reprints

Proofs will be sent to the author. Reprint order forms and scale of reprint prices will be sent to author
separately from a Printing Company under the contact with the Journal. Authors will be received 50
repairs free of charge. Additional reprints will be supplied at cost, if ordered when proofs are returned.

Conflict of Interest
A conflict of interest (COI) exists when anyone has financial or personal relationships that could
inappropriately influence a submitted manuscript. All authors are required to disclose any financial
relationships with any company or institution that might benefit from the publication of themanuscript. This disclosure must be included in the text of the manuscript under the “Conflict ofInterest” heading. If the authors have no conflict of interest they must state “The authors have nofinancial relationships to disclose.”.
Authors should consider as a guide for the financial disclosures.
1. Grant/research funding from a for-profit organization

2.
3.
4.
5.

Consulting fee/honorarium
Patent royalties/licensing fees
Employment/leadership position/advisory role
Others (travel fees, gift, etc.)

Publication Ethics

The Editors reserve the right to reject manuscripts that do not comply with the following publicationethics.
1. For a manuscript dealing with scientific investigations involving human subjects and/or humantissues including clinical investigation, the experiments should be performed in accordance withthe ethical principles for medical research outlined in the Declaration of Helsinki as modified bysubsequent revisions.
Only studies that have been performed after receiving approval from the appropriate ethics
committee of an institution will be eligible for publication. Please state clearly in the manuscriptthat the study was performed according to institutional guidelines, and the approved title of thestudy and the approval number. Confirm that subjects were properly instructed and gave writtenconsent to participate. Ensure that patient privacy and anonymity is fully protected.
2. Manuscripts describing animal experiments should be conducted in accordance with theexperimental animal guidelines of the institution as well as the appropriate government
guidelines, such as those published by the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports,
Science and Technology.
Only studies that have been performed in accordance with the appropriate guidelines and after
receiving approval from the appropriate institutional animal care and use committee will beeligible for publication. Please state clearly in the manuscript that the study was performed
according to the guidelines, and the approved title of the study and the approval number from theinstitutional animal care and use committee.

Copyright

The copyright for any article appearing in this journal will be held by the Japanese Society of
Alternative to Animal Experiments (JSAAE). The articles are published principally under the termsoftheCreative
Commons
Attribution
License,CC
BY-ND4.0(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which allows users to copy, distribute and transmit anarticle as long as the author is attributed and the work is not modified or adapted in any way.

Advertisement

AATEX does not accept advertising from any companies, manufactures, or any other entities to avoid
potential conflicts of interest in editorial decision-making.

Disclaimer

The publication of “Research Article”, “Brief Communication”, “Review” and “Letters to the editor” inAATEX does not mean that the JSAAE condones, endorses, approves, or recommends the use of any
products, services, materials, methodology, or policies stated therein. Conclusions and opinions inthese articles are those of the individual authors only and do not reflect the policies or view of theJSAAE.