Tokyo Women's Medical University Journal

Instructions to Authors

Table of Contents

  1. Aims and Scope
  2. Article Types
    2.1. Original Article
    2.2. Review Article
    2.3. Case Report
    2.4. Letter to the Editor
  3. Manuscript Preparation
    3.1. General Formatting
    　　3.1.1. Title Page
    　　3.1.2. Abstracts and Keywords
    　　3.1.3. Main Text
    　　3.1.4. References
    3.2. Units of Measurement
    3.3. Abbreviations
    3.4. Names of Drugs, Devices, and Other Products
    3.5. Figures and Tables
    　　3.5.1. Figure Legends
    　　3.5.2. Figures
    　　3.5.3. Tables and Footnotes
  4. Clinical Trials
  5. Reporting Guidelines
  6. Data Sharing
  7. Online Manuscript Submission
  8. Submission Fee
  9. Peer Review Process
    9.1. Revised Manuscript
    9.2. Editors and Journal Staff as Authors
  10. Editorial Policy and Publication Ethics
    10.1. Overview
    10.2. Authorship/Contributorship
    10.3. Preprints
    10.4. Exclusive Submission
    10.5. Confidentiality
    10.6. Redundant or Duplicate Publication
    10.7. Conflicts of Interest and Sources of Funding
    10.8. Research Ethics
    10.9. Misconduct and Breach of Publication Ethics
  11. Proofing and Revision after Acceptance
  12. Copyright
  13. Publication Fee
 

1. Aims and Scope

Tokyo Women's Medical University Journal (TWMUJ) is the official journal of the Society of Tokyo Women's Medical University. This is a peer-reviewed and fully open access journal and publishes Original Articles, Review Articles, Case Reports, and Letters to the Editor. TWMUJ is an international journal and welcomes submission of manuscripts from researchers around the world. By publishing high-quality research, TWMUJ aims to contribute to the improvement of medical standards globally. TWMUJ accepts articles related to medical science and medical care, including clinical and basic medical science as well as public health and nursing science. All articles receive a full and extensive peer review performed by recognized experts from a particular research field. The journal is published annually. Furthermore, TWMUJ 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).

2. Article Types

TWMUJ receives and publishes research categorized into different article types. Once you have determined the correct Article Type, it is imperative that you read the Manuscript Preparation guidelines before submitting your manuscript:

  1. Original Article
    Original Articles are scientific reports with new findings of the original experimental or clinical research.
  2. Review Article
    Review Articles are summaries of specific research areas or themes with information accessible to the general members. Review Articles are usually invited by the Editorial Board.
  3. Case Report
    Case Reports present the details and observation of novel and rare medical or clinical cases.
  4. Letter to the Editor
    Letters to the Editor are brief, constructive commentaries that can be submitted in response to an article recently published in the journal.

3. Manuscript Preparation

Information provided here on manuscript preparation and formatting is partly based on the "Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals," as published by the ICMJE. For any information 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. Authors must submit permission letters from the copyright owner(s) when submitting their manuscript. Further, a full credit line should be added to the copyrighted material in the manuscript.

If authors are non-native English speakers, the manuscript must be edited by a native English speaker prior to submission, preferably one with a specialized knowledge of medical editing. Authors must submit a certificate of proofreading when submitting their manuscript.

Authors must complete and upload the Declaration of Copyright Transfer to the submission system.

Manuscripts that are written by students and interns must be co-authored, and approved, by their supervisor.

Manuscripts that do not follow the instructions below WILL BE RETURNED to the corresponding author for technical revisions before undergoing peer review.

Required forms:

3.1 General Formatting

All articles should be written in English using the font Times New Roman (size 12) and should be correctly formatted according to the guidelines outlined below. All texts should be double-spaced. Line and page numbers on each page are required, making it easier for reviewers to provide comments.

The manuscript should be organized as follows:

  • Title Page
  • Abstract and Keywords
  • Main Text
  • References
  • Figure Legends
  • Figures
  • Tables and Footnotes
3.1.1 Title Page

The title page should be prepared separately from the main document. This must include the following information:

  • Article type
  • Title of the manuscript (no abbreviations except for gene names or those in common use. The first letter of each word should be capitalized)
  • Full names of all authors
  • Institutional affiliations of all authors, indicated by numbers (not symbols), including the city and country, corresponding author's name, address, and e-mail address
  • Word count (for the main text only)
  • Number of figures and tables
  • Sources of Funding: Sources of financial support that require acknowledgment
  • Conflicts of Interest
  • Author Contributions: Please visit the ICMJE website for more information on authorship
  • Acknowledgments (other than the sources of financial support)
  • Ethical Approval: Approval code issued by the institutional review board (IRB) and the name of the institution(s) that granted the approval
3.1.2 Abstracts and Keywords

Manuscript should include an abstract of no more than 200 words; this will include the following headings, depending on the article type:

  • Original Article: Structured Abstract (Background, Methods, Results, Conclusion)
  • Review Article: Unstructured Abstract
  • Case Report: Unstructured Abstract
  • Letter to the Editor: Abstract is not necessary.

The abstract, regardless of the Article Type, should contain at least one to five keywords. This must also be precise, clear, and fully comprehensible on its own. The abstract of clinical trials must include the registration number and name of the registration database (for further details, see Clinical Trials section).

3.1.3 Main Text

For each Article Type, authors must organize their content using the following formats:

Original Article:
Headings: Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion, Conclusion
Word Limit: 3,000 words
Number of Tables and Figures: No more than 10
Number of References: No more than 20

Review Article:
Word Limit: 3,000 words
Number of Tables and Figures: No more than 10
Number of References: No more than 50

Case Report:
Headings: Introduction, Case Presentation, Discussion, Conclusion
Word Limit: 1,500 words
Number of Tables and Figures: No more than 5
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 5

Subheadings are numbered in the order of 1. → 1) → (1).

Article Type Abstract Main Text Tables/
Figures		 References
Style Words Headings Words
Original Article Structured 200 Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion, Conclusion 3,000 10 20
Review Article Unstructured 200 - 3,000 10 50
Case Report Unstructured 200 Introduction, Case Presentation, Discussion, Conclusion 1,500 5 10
Letter to the Editor Not necessary - 400 1 5
3.1.4 References

Authors are deemed responsible for the accuracy of their references. The References section should follow immediately after the conclusion of the main text under the heading "References." Authors must cite references in the main text in the order of their appearance, showing the citations as superscripts (e.g., show in superscript1). Three or more consecutive citations should be indicated as a range using a hyphen, e.g., "3-5." If there are more than three authors, name only the first three authors and then use "et al."

Examples:
Journal article

  1. Davin S, Lapin B, Mijatovic D, et al. Comparative effectiveness of an interdisciplinary pain program for chronic low back pain, compared to physical therapy alone. Spine. 2019;44(24):1715-22.

Journal article in a language other than English

  1. Enomoto R, Yamada Y, Hasegawa H, et al. Initial symptoms of airway lesions in neonatal intensive care unit. J Tokyo Wom Med Univ. 2020;90(4):79-83. Japanese.

Preprint

  1. Fukui A, Osaki H, Ueta Y, et al. Layer-specific sensory processing impairment in the primary somatosensory cortex after motor cortex infarction. bioRxiv 778167 [Preprint]. 2019 [posted 2019 Sep 23; cited 2022 Feb 15]. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1101/778167.

Homepage

  1. Complementary/Integrative Medicine [Internet]. Houston: University of Texas, M. D. Anderson Cancer Center; c2007 [cited 2007 Feb 21]. Available from: http://www.mdanderson.org/departments/CIMER/.

Entire book

  1. Jenkins PF. Making sense of the chest x-ray: a hands-on guide. New York: Oxford University Press; 2005. 194 p.

Book chapter

  1. 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 following the standard form as they appear in the NLM Catalog. If the journals are not found in the NLM Catalog, use the ISSN List of Title Word for standard abbreviations of journal names. If you are uncertain, please use instead the full journal name.

For reference styles that pertain to other media formats or further details, please refer to Citing Medicine, published by the National Library of Medicine (USA).

3.2 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 in millimeters of mercury. All measurements should follow the International System of Units (SI). Except for ℃ and %, one space must be inserted between each number and unit.
Use a capital letter "L" for liter in the units of measurements in the Main Text, Figures, and Tables (e.g., g/dL, mg/dL, IU/L, and mEq/L).

3.3 Abbreviations

Do not include abbreviations in the title except for gene names or commonly used abbreviations. Define abbreviations at their first appearance in the main text and in each Figure and Table and use the abbreviations consistently thereafter.

3.4 Names of Drugs, Devices, and Other Products

Do not use specific brand names of drugs, devices, and other products and services, unless essential for discussion. Otherwise, please use descriptive name.

3.5 Figures and Tables

Figures and Tables should be numbered using Arabic numerals (e.g., Figure 1, Figure 2, Table 1, Table 2); further, they must be cited in the text in bold in the order they are cited.
If any copyrighted or previously published materials, edited or otherwise, are used in the manuscript, it is the author's responsibility to obtain the permission from the copyright owner(s) prior to making a submission. Also, 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). Authors must submit permission letters from the copyright owner(s) when submitting the manuscript.

3.5.1 Figure Legends

Legends must be prepared for all Figures presented in the manuscript and should be understandable without reference to the text. Authors must list Figure Legends on a separate page after the References section.

3.5.2 Figures

All illustrations (line drawings and photographs) are classified as figures. Figures should be submitted in the following digital format: JPEG (.jpg), or Tagged Image Format (.tif).

Figures supplied within the main manuscript Word document (.doc/.docx) or previously copy-and-pasted in PowerPoint (.ppt/.pptx) are not acceptable due to their low resolution. These 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 and should include the scale (bar) in images captured using 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.

3.5.3 Tables and Footnotes

Tables are required to be in Word document (.doc/.docx) or PowerPoint (.ppt/.pptx). Do not use MS Excel or comparable spreadsheet software. Table captions should be understandable without reference to the text. Column headings should be kept as brief as possible and indicate units. Footnotes should be labeled (a), (b), (c), etc. and typed on the same page as the table they refer to. Tables must be configured in a horizontal layout only.

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 first patient is enrolled. ICMJE has defined clinical trials as any research project that prospectively assigns people or a group of people to an intervention, with or without concurrent comparison or control groups, in order to study the cause-and-effect relationship between a health-related intervention and a health outcome. 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.

TWMUJ requires all clinical trials to be registered with databases that are accessible to the public at no charge, 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 an evidence of registration. The name of the registration database must also be provided. For details regarding the required minimal registration dataset, please go to the ICMJE site at http://www.icmje.org/recommendations/browse/publishing-and-editorial-issues/clinical-trial-registration.html

The journal accepts registration from the following list of registries as well as others listed at ICMJE site:

In terms of 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. Further, the recommended trial flow diagram should be presented as a figure.

5. Reporting Guidelines

A number of reporting guidelines have already been developed for different study designs. Authors are encouraged to follow published standard reporting guidelines for the study discipline.

To determine the guideline appropriate for your study, please see https://www.equator-network.org

When completing any Reporting Guideline checklist, it is essential that you consider checking your manuscript to ensure your article addresses all relevant reporting criteria issues delineated in the appropriate reporting checklist. Reporting guidelines are identified as a guide in improving the reporting standard of your manuscript. Further, the objective is not to solely complete the reporting checklist, but to use this checklist itself in writing your manuscript. Taking the time to ensure that your manuscript meets these basic reporting needs will significantly improve your manuscript, while also potentially increasing its chances for eventual publication.

6. Data Sharing

TWMUJ encourages the authors of manuscript, for example, of 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, and analytic code.

As required by ICMJE, all manuscripts reporting the results of a clinical trial must include a data sharing statement, with a provided link to its 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 be submitted electronically via the journal's ScholarOne system only:
https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/twmuj.

Simply log on to ScholarOne Manuscripts and follow the onscreen instructions for all submissions. You will need to register before your first submission to TWMUJ. If you have any technical problems or questions related to the electronic submission process or uploading of your files, please contact our Support Desk. For other inquiries, please contact the Editorial Office: ScholarOne Manuscripts Support Desk (Japan)
Phone: +81-3-3910-4517, E-mail: s1-support@kyorin.co.jp

All files must be submitted in the following order: (1) Title Page, (2) Abstracts and Keywords, (3) Main Text, (4) Figure Legends, (5) Figures (≥300 dpi), and (6) Tables. The total size of the uploaded files should be within 20 MB. Upon submission, the manuscript will be automatically checked for plagiarism, and it can be sent back to the corresponding author if the plagiarism rate is determined to be 30 % or higher. TWMUJ 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 https://www.ithenticate.com/.

Notification of manuscript submission will be made via e-mail for all authors listed in the manuscript.

Online Submission

8. Submission Fee

Starting 0:00 AM, January 1, 2021 (Japan time), a submission fee of 100 USD/10,000 JPY is applicable to manuscripts submitted to TWMUJ. Letters to the Editor and invited articles are exempt from this fee.

The payment instructions will be sent to the corresponding author via e-mail after the first technical screening by the Editorial Office.

Your manuscript will be put "on-hold" until the Editorial Office receives your payment.

The submission fee is NON-REFUNDABLE.

9. Peer Review Process

Peer review is defined as a critically important process in evaluating any manuscript submitted to TWMUJ. Every article dispatched for full peer review will receive a comprehensive, fair, and unbiased critical assessment. All submitted manuscripts will be reviewed, initially, by the Editor-in-Chief of TWMUJ to evaluate eligibility for publication. The Editor-in-Chief will then assess the importance and originality of the research, suitability and interest to the journal's readership, 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 peer review period is about three weeks. Academic dissertations are reviewed by three reviewers.

TWMUJ employs a single-blind review process. This means that the identities of the peer reviewers will remain anonymous, but the authors' identities are known to the reviewers. The editors of TWMUJ will review the peer review comments and make all decisions on the manuscript publication, which include acceptance, major or minor revisions, and rejection.

TWMUJ adheres to the Committee on Publication Ethics' Ethical Guidelines for Peer Reviewers. As per these guidelines, 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 related to the manuscript to a third party. The guidelines for the reviewers are available here.

The decision letters along with the comments by the editors and reviewers will be sent to the corresponding author via e-mail.

9.1 Revised Manuscript

It is expected that any manuscripts receiving a revision decision will be fully amended according to the comments of both the reviewers and the editors. Authors must also include a detailed point-by-point response letter. Authors should also submit the revised manuscript within the following period:

  • Manuscripts evaluated as Minor Revision: 20 days from the date of prior decision
  • Manuscripts evaluated as Major Revision: 30 days from the date of prior decision
  • Invited paper: 30 days from the date of prior decision

Revisions must be approved by all authors prior to the submission of the revised manuscript.

9.2 Editors and Journal Staff as Authors

Manuscripts submitted by editors, Editorial Board 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 and have 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, has been designed to blind a person in other roles (editor/reviewer) from any paper he/she has authored. The manuscript submitted by editors, Editorial Board, and journal staff of TWMUJ should include a statement that declares their personal conflict of interest with the journal.

10. Editorial Policy and Publication Ethics

10.1 Overview

TWMUJ observes the highest standards in journal publication. The journal supports and adheres to the guidelines and best practices including Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals (http://www.icmje.org/icmje-recommendations.pdf) by the 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)).

10.2 Authorship/Contributorship

All 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 of data; and
  2. Drafting the work or revising it critically for important intellectual content; and
  3. Final approval of the version to be published; and
  4. Agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved

Contributors who fail to meet all these four criteria should not be listed as authors. Guest or honorary authorship is strictly prohibited.

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 "Acknowledgments" on the title page. Examples of activities that do not qualify a contributor for authorship are as follows: acquisition of funding, general supervision of a research group, general administrative support and writing assistance, technical editing, language editing, and proofreading.

Authors should discuss, determine, and (if they exist) settle any disagreements regarding the order of authorship before submitting their manuscript. Final author order must be established by the end of the revision phase of the peer review process. Any authorship changes such as order, addition, and deletion of authors between the initial manuscript submission and the final decision should be discussed and approved by all authors. Any request for such 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 manuscript has been accepted for publication.

10.3 Preprints

Preprints are scientific manuscripts posted on a public server prior to the peer review process.

TWMUJ accepts the submission of preprints follows the conditions below:

  • The preprint posted on a publicly available preprint server.
  • The authors hold the copyright of the paper.
  • When authors submit a manuscript, they must provide information about the preprint, including the digital object identifier (DOI).
  • TWMUJ does not allow authors to post either revised manuscripts responding to peer review comments or the accepted final version to a preprint server.

After the paper was published, the authors must link to the final published paper on the preprints.

10.4 Exclusive Submission

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 been previously published; it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere; and its publication has been approved by all co-authors. The editors make all decisions on the acceptance of the peer-reviewed manuscripts. However, posting a manuscript on a publicly available preprint server is exempt from this policy.

10.5 Confidentiality

All manuscript details, author information, reviewer identities, comments to the editors and the authors, and the content of the decision letter are considered privileged information and thus will never be disclosed to third parties.

10.6 Redundant or Duplicate Publication

TWMUJ does not consider the archiving of manuscripts to publicly available preprint servers before submission to the TWMUJ to be redundant or duplicate publication.

Articles that are being considered for publication in another journal including advanced publications such as "in-press" or "ePub ahead of print" articles in any language might be regarded as redundant or duplicate publication.

Thus, 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 and referenced 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. For studies that have been presented at a scientific meeting, "Acknowledgments" should include a sentence, such as "A part of this study has been presented at the XXth Annual Meeting of XXXXX (Month Year, City)."

Editorial actions should be expected if redundant or duplicate publication is attempted or occurs without such notification. Editorial actions may include the following: immediate rejection of the submitted manuscript, retraction of published work, published notice of violation, and revocation of publishing privileges.

For deemed acceptable secondary publication, TWMUJ accepts secondary publications of only those that have meet the criteria and conditions described in the ICMJE Recommendations.

10.7 Conflicts of Interest and Sources of Funding

As per the ICMJE Recommendations, a conflict of interest (COI) is determined to exist "when professional judgment concerning a primary interest (such as patients' welfare or the validity of research) may be influenced by a secondary 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 may have 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 ownership
  • Patent/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 the heading "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."

If the manuscript has been accepted for publication, the disclosures will be published as they appear in this section. If there are no COIs, the authors should state on the title page the following: "The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest."

All sources of funding from entities such as government or non-profit organizations, which are relevant to the study, 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 [name of 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 have been included.
10.8 Research Ethics
  1. Clinical research included in articles that report on human subjects or materials of human origin must comply 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 and the 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 observe and follow the principles outlined in the Declaration of Helsinki.
  2. Articles reporting on data from animal testing must indicate in the "Materials and Methods" section the approval of the testing design by the affiliated institution's Animal Care and Use Committee.
  3. Authors of articles reporting on new DNA sequences must furnish that data to the GenBank, including the accession number for it in the article.
  4. For any studies involving human subjects, it should be stated clearly in the main text that written consent has been obtained from all patients (or parent or legal guardian) to publish the information, including their photographs.
  5. 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, in any manner, presented anywhere in the manuscript, including the Figures and Tables unless the information is essential for scientific purposes and the patient (or parent or legal guardian). All pictures should focus on the affected areas only.
10.9 Misconduct and Breach of Publication Ethics
  • All members of the Editorial Board of TWMUJ promote and abide by the COPE International Standards for responsible research publication for authors, reviewers, and editors in terms of dealing with allegations of misconduct. Please see our Ethical Polices for the information.
  • All manuscripts submitted to TWMUJ must represent the authors' original work and not duplicate any other previously published work in any language. The authors must understand, and guarantee, that the same manuscript is not simultaneously submitted to, or not under consideration in, another journal.
  • All authors are deemed 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.
  • Authors certify that the single research or dataset is not intentionally divided into several parts to increase the number of submission or publication with TWMUJ 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 Board according to the guidelines recommended by COPE. If the allegation raises any valid concerns after the investigation, the author will be contacted to address the issue. The Editor-in-Chief may decide to publish an "Expression of Concern" if suspicion has been raised after the publication of the article. 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 misconduct, formal notice to the author's institution, and a formal embargo on future contribution to TWMUJ.

11. Proofing and Revision after Acceptance

After the manuscript has been accepted for publication, a Certificate of Publication will be issued. Also, accepted manuscripts for publication will be proofed by the Editorial Office. Portions of the manuscript requiring corrections will be noted with comments, indicating that the material must be rewritten. Galley proofs will be available to the authors for corrections of 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 Board of TWMUJ. Authors are expected to perform the proofing, as instructed by the Editorial Office. Upon completion of proofing, authors should immediately e-mail the revised proof to the Editorial Office.

Those manuscripts which were published as advance publication between December 16 of the previous year and December 15 of the current year will be published in the annual issue published in December.

After publication, further changes, or corrections, can only be made in the form of an erratum, which will be hyperlinked to the original article.

12. Copyright

Copyright to articles and their contents published in TWMUJ belong to the Society of Tokyo Women's Medical University. However, TWMUJ applies the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) to all works published by the journal from January 1, 2019. Anyone may download, reuse, copy, reprint, distribute, or modify articles published in the journal, if they cite the original authors and source. No permission is required from the publisher, authors, and the Society of Tokyo Women's Medical University. The license can be found on the first page of the published PDF of the article. Authors must submit Declaration of Copyright Transfer when submitting the manuscripts.

13. Publication Fee

Payment of publication fees (as a contribution to the costs of production) will be charged to the authors. The fees, excluding tax, are as follows: 50 USD/5,000 JPY per page; 10 USD/1,000 JPY per figure; 20 USD/2,000 JPY per table; and PDF production fee of 4 USD/400 JPY per page. The page charge is waived for Original Articles and Review Articles of up to four pages and for Case Reports of up to two pages. The page charge is waived for Original Articles and Review Articles of up to four pages and for Case Reports of up to two pages.
The Editorial Office will send an invoice after authors confirm the galley proofs. The manuscript will then be published, in advance publication, only after the payment has been received.

For inquiries:
Tokyo Women's Medical University Journal Editorial Office
E-mail: E-mail

Instructions to Authors

(Updated August 1, 2022)

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