Guidelines and Policies
The Editorial Policies and Guidelines outlined here must be followed. If you have any questions, please contact us prior to your submission.
Editorial Policies
General policies
Submitted manuscripts must be original and should not be under simultaneous consideration by any other publication or have been previously published in any form or medium. Furthermore, if the article has already undergone any previous evaluation, the corresponding decision letter must be attached during submission, and this fact should be mentioned in the submitted Cover Letter. All authors are entirely responsible for all data, concepts and information contained in the article.
Article processing charges
This journal does not have submission charges. Animal Reproduction charges only a flat fee after the acceptance of the article. There are three different values for the Article Processing Charge (APC), as follows:
- R$ 1600,00 for non CBRA members
- R$ 800,00 for CBRA members
- US$ 650,00 for foreign authors
APC payment of accepted articles must be processed thought the following link: http://cbra.org.br/pages/pagamento/payment-select.jsp
Waiver and discounts
Authors from low-income countries and without access to grant to cover Article Processing Charges may request a waiver or discount after their manuscript is accepted for publication. Waiver and discounts must be requested through the journal contact page, and should include the accepted manuscript information and author reasons for requesting the waiver or discount.
Open access, copyright and self-archiving policies
This is an open access journal which means that all content is freely available without charge to the user or his/her institution. Users are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles, or use them for any other lawful purpose, without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author. This is in accordance with the BOAI (Budapest Open Access Initiative) definition of open access. Accepted articles will be published as Open Access and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Authors of articles published by Animal Reproduction retain copyright of their work without restrictions, licensing it under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which allows articles to be re-used and re-distributed without restriction, as long as the original work is correctly cited.
Animal Reproduction encourages Authors to self archive accepted manuscripts by posting them in personal blogs, institutional repositories and scientific social medias, as well as on their personal social medias, as long as the full citation to the journal website version is included.
Language
All manuscripts must be written in Standard American English. We recommend Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary (http://www.m-w.com/) for spelling check and the EASE Guidelines for Authors and Translators of Scientific Articles to be Published in English (http://www.ease.org.uk/publications/author-guidelines). Authors whose native language is not English are strongly advised to have their manuscripts checked by a reviewer familiar with scientific language and vocabulary, or by a specialized company, and present a certificate of English editing. Manuscripts not written in acceptable Standard English will be returned to the author before being sent to the scientific reviewers.
Peer Review Process
Animal Reproduction has a 3-stage review process:
- All submitted manuscripts undergo a technical verification for compliance with Animal Reproduction policies and manuscript preparation guidelines. Submissions that fail to comply will be un-submitted so that the authors can fix the problems and resubmit them.
- Manuscripts are then sent to the Editor-in-chief, who performs a pre-evaluation that includes originality, scope and journal fit. Rejected manuscripts will not be sent to peer-review and will be returned to the authors with the reasons for such editorial decision. The Editors strive to accomplish this first screening stage and send their decision in 70 days.
- Manuscripts accepted in this first screening will be sent for a single blind evaluation by at least two reviewers. After the ad hoc reviewers finish their evaluation, the handling Editor will return the manuscript to the authors with an accepted, rejected, or for review decision, according to the reviewers’ suggestions. Revised manuscripts submitted by the authors will be sent to the Editor-in-chief for final decision, and reviewers might be asked to perform additional evaluations.
Section Policies
Animal Reproduction does not impose a limit on the number of words and references for Original and Review articles, but editors and reviewers might make recommendations regarding text clarity and quality and excess or lack or relevance of references.
Original Articles
Articles reporting original research studies and/or data related to the subject fields covered by Animal Reproduction. 30 pages.
Original Articles are open for author submission and must not have been previously published elsewhere.
Review Articles
Review Articles of interest to the field of animal reproduction will be submitted by direct invitation of the editorial board, but authors might also submit review manuscripts. 30 pages
Short Communications
Short Communications must report or be related to new techniques involved in the biology of reproduction.
They are open for author submissions and must have a maximum of 2000 words, including the list of references, and only two panel figures and two tables.
Conference proceedings
The Journal publishes full original papers, abstracts and workshops when presented in conferences from Scholarly Societies of Animal Reproduction supported by the journal.
Authorship and Disclosures
Authorship byline
Authors must agree on the manuscript authorship making sure it accurately illustrates and includes contributors who actually and significantly contributed to the work. All those listed as authors should qualify for authorship according to the substantial contributions on the concept and design the work, data acquisition, interpretation and evaluation, and should have been actively involved during manuscript revision and approval of the final manuscript version, with substantial and intellectual involvement, specially in the results discussion.
Author contributions and responsibility
All authors must approve the final version of the manuscript and be responsible for each part of collaborative work done in its final version. In addition, each author's specific contribution according to the CRediT's standard designations available at https://www.casrai.org/credit.html, should be included in the Cover Letter as outlined in the manuscript preparation guidelines.
Changes in Authorship after Submission
Any changes in authorship during the revision process of the manuscript will only be considered by the editors if important additional experiments or relevant contributions have been made and justified. Such changes in authorship must be requested in the revised version submission letter, and they need to be described in detail, explaining their rationale.
Acknowledgments
Contributions from anyone who does not meet the authorship criteria should be listed, with permission from the contributor, in an Acknowledgments section (for example, to recognize contributions from people who provided technical support, collaboration of data, writing assistance, acquisition of funding, or a department chairperson who provided general support).
Conflict of Interest
Authors are required to include a statement disclosing any potential conflicts of interest. Animal Reproduction considers potential conflicts of interest any event of a personal, commercial, political or academic nature, whether or not involving financial compensation.
Funding disclosure statement
All financial support received must be disclosed by all authors. Use the author’s initials followed by a short description and include the funding agency’s name and grant identification number(s), in that order.
Research ethics and publication malpractice
Authors, Editors and Reviewers are expected to follow the highest level of ethics throughout research, data acquisition and processing, and manuscript writing, evaluation and publishing.
During the evaluation stages authors, reviewers and editors should report to the Editor-in-Chief whenever they observe a potential conflict of interest that may influence manuscript design or evaluation. Animal Reproduction considers potential conflicts of interest any event of a personal, commercial, political or academic nature, whether or not involving financial compensation.
Animal Reproduction Editors will take active measures regarding any ethical or misconduct concerns either during evaluation or after publication. Whenever necessary, issues will be investigated according to the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) flowcharts available at https://publicationethics.org/.
As of 2019, Animal Reproduction will actively scan submitted manuscripts using the Similarity check (https://www.crossref.org/services/similarity-check/) system provided by CrossRef.
Authors, Reviewers and Editors are encouraged to report any suspected research ethics or publication malpractice issue using the journals contact page or by directly writing to the CBRA Publications or Scientific Affairs directors.
All reports of suspected misconduct will be investigated and, when required, corrections, retractions or expressions of concern will be published.
Human and animal rights
Authors must include a statement detailing compliance with guidelines and/or ethical approval in the material and methods section of the manuscript. Editors might request authors to send a copy of the official letter of approval from the ethics committee. Authors are encouraged to conform to the Animal Research: Reporting In Vivo Experiments (ARRIVE) guidelines for reporting animal studies, available at https://www.nc3rs.org.uk/arrive-guidelines. Clinical trials are not the focus of the Journal; however, preclinical trials and use of animals in the experiments will be critically evaluated to avoid animal suffering and verifying that animal rights are being respected. In researches involving pets or whenever required, authors should collect and archive a signed informed consent form from the pet owner.
Reporting Guidelines
Authors are encouraged to follow good practices when designing and writing their work. Animal Reproduction recommends authors to seek appropriate guidelines on the type of study they are reporting and suggests the following resources, as stated on the ICMJE - International Committee of Medical Journal Editors:
- ARRIVE (Animal Research: Reporting In Vivo Experiments) for reporting animal studies,
- PRISMA for systematic reviews and meta-analyses,
- STARD for studies of diagnostic accuracy, and
- EQUATOR Network and the NLM's Research Reporting Guidelines and Initiatives for other guidelines.
Furthermore, review manuscripts should describe the methods used for locating, selecting, extracting, and synthesizing the data.
Manuscript preparation guidelines
Units of measurements
Units of measurements must be used according to the International System of Units.
Abbreviations and Symbols
Abbreviations, acronyms and Symbols should be avoided, unless widely adopted. When using acronyms or abbreviations, their meaning should be fully spelled upon their first occurrence in the text.
Cover Letter
Filename: coverletter.doc
The cover letter must be uploaded in the submission system at the appropriate step, and should include the following elements:
Manuscript presentation
A brief presentation describing the research, highlighting why the authors believe it is suited for publication in Animal Reproduction. This presentation should also mention if the manuscript has already undergone evaluation by other journals and, if so, the final decision letters and reports must be uploaded in the submission system under the “Supplemental file NOT for Review”.
Data sharing statement
The authors' statement regarding deposit and availability of raw data should indicate whether the data is available and how it can be obtained. If data cannot be made available, authors should state the reason for that.
Copyright Agreement Form
Filename: agreement.doc
As stated in our policies, the copyright remains with the authors. However, the corresponding author is required to upload the “Animal Reproduction Authorship Responsibility, Copyright and Publishing License Agreement” (available at this link) signed on behalf of all authors.
This file must be uploaded in the submission system under the “Supplemental File NOT for Review” designation.
Main Document
Filename: manuscript.doc
The main document file for the manuscript must be formatted using Microsoft Word© 2010 or more recent. Pages must be set to A4 (21.0 x 29.7) size, with 3 cm margins, using Times New Roman font size 12 without unnecessary formatting, double spaced, with numbered lines and pages. Sections and subsection titles should use the built-in Heading Styles.
The main document must be structured as described in the following sections:
1. Title page
The first page of the manuscript must include the following information.
Article type
Indicate the same article type as selected in the submission system: Basic Research Article, Biotechnology Article, Applied Research Article, or Review Article.
Running title
No more than 50 letters, including spaces.
Manuscript Title
The title should be succinct but include the study design and major findings.
Title words should be in bold, with only the first letter of the first word in uppercase.
Authorship byline
The full names of all authors are to be listed below the title. Follow each name with superscript Arabic numerals to indicate their affiliations, and include the ORCID URL of all authors in parenthesis. An asterisk (*) must be used to indicate the corresponding author.
Rex Rex A. Hess1,2 (https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2345-6789), Kay Carnes2 (https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2345-6789), Luiz Renato França3* (https://orcid.org/0000-0001-2345-6789)
⇒ Authors who do not have an ORCID must register at https://orcid.org.
Affiliations
Author affiliations should be listed below the authors’ names using the same superscript Arabic numerals used in the byline. The affiliation list must include only institutions where each author actually carried out work related to the article.
Names of Institutions should be written in their original language or English when not in Roman alphabet.
1 Full Institution Name, Department, City, State, Country
2 Nome da Instituição no seu Idioma de Origem, Department, City, State, Country
3 Full Institution Name, Department, City, State, Country
Correspondence information
The Corresponding author’s name, email and postal address should be listed after the affiliations and identified with an asterisk (*).
* Correspondence: Full Author Name, corresponding@author.email.com, full postal address.
2. Abstract
The purpose of the work must be clearly and briefly stated and include the methods and summarized conclusions. Word number limit: 300 words.
3. Keywords
Keywords should be listed after the abstract. Maximum of five keywords.
4. Introduction
This section should provide background information leading to the hypothesis tested. It should end with a very brief statement of the objectives of the work.
5. Methods
The methods should include the design of the study, type of materials involved, number of animals per group, a clear description of all methods used and/or clear references to published methods, and the type of analysis used.
Information about registration and ethics committee approval must be insert at the end of this section, including a complete description of data and location where the experiment was conducted, and required authorizations for animal or animal tissue obtained.
6. Results
Main results found should be clearly and objectively stated. This section may be broken into subsections with short, informative headings.
7. Discussion
This section may be broken into subsections with short, informative headings. The discussion should be focused on the results found. It is recommended that the main conclusions supported by the research data be stated as a last paragraph.
8. Conclusion
Main conclusions supported by the research data and discussion must be clearly and objectively stated.
9. Acknowledgments
Collaborators that do not meet the authorship criteria as stated in our policies should be mentioned in this section if they have granted their permission.
10. References
The references section must begin on a new page and follow the Vancouver style, as described ahead. All references must be cited and the correctness of all information is the author's responsibility.
11. Tables
A set of alphanumeric data that is organized in lines and columns. All tables must be included at the end of manuscript, each on a separate page. Tables must be as simple as possible, and only horizontal lines should be used at the top and bottom of the table. Table cells must never be split with diagonal lines. The table legends must precede it and start with the word “Table” followed by its number in Arabic numerals. Tables must be cited in the text as Table 1, Table 2, etc., in the order that they are included. All abbreviations or annotations should be explained in footnotes; if necessary, symbols should be used to include the explanations (*, †, ‡, §, etc.).
12. Figures and figure legends
Any illustration that contains line drawings, photographs, graphics, schemes, flowcharts, etc. should be cited as figures. Each figure should be identified and submitted in a separate high-resolution file, making sure that the smallest text is perfectly readable. The list of figure legends should begin on a new page at the end of the manuscript. Figures must be cited in the numerical order that they are listed; e.g., Fig. 1, Fig. 2, Figs. 1-2, etc.
When necessary, authors are responsible to collect appropriate authorization to use images, pictures and illustrations from other sources according to their original copyright owner and include proper citation.
References and citation style
The references section must follow the Vancouver style. A small sample of the most commonly used bibliographic references is included ahead. An extensive list with many more examples and details is available at http://www.nlm.nih.gov/bsd/uniform_requirements.html.
All references must be cited and the correctness of all information is the author's responsibility.
References must be listed first in alphabetical order, then by year using lower case letters to differentiate references of the same authors and year.
Use “in press” only when formal acceptance has been granted.
Text citations
All references must be cited using the Author-Date style as shown in the following examples:
- sole author: (Ginther, 1992) or Ginther (1992).
- two authors: (Varley and Foxcroft, 1990) or Varley and Foxcroft (1990).
- more than two authors: (Quintero et al., 2000) or Quintero et al. (2000).
- more than one paper cited: (Varley and Foxcroft, 1990; Ginther, 1992; Gastal et al., 1999a, b; Quintero et al., 2000) or Varley and Foxcroft (1990); Ginther (1992); Gastal et al. (1999a, b); Quintero et al. (2000), always cited in ascending chronological order.
Reference style sample list
For ARTICLES IN JOURNALS:
- Gastal EL, Gastal MO, Ginther OJ. Experimental assumption of dominance by a smaller follicle and associated hormonal changes in mares. Biol Reprod. 1999a;61(3):724-30. http://dx.doi.org/10.1095/biolreprod61.3.724. PMid:10456850.
- Gastal EL, Donadeu FX, Gastal MO, Ginther OJ. Echotextural changes in the follicular wall during follicle deviation in mares. Theriogenology. 1999b;52(5):803-14. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0093-691X(99)00173-9. PMid:10735121.
- Hess RA, Carnes K. The role of estrogen in testis and the male reproductive tract: a review and species comparison. Anim Reprod. 2004;1:5-30.
- Sartori R, Souza AH, Guenther JN, Caraviello DZ, Geiger LN, Schenk JL, Wiltbank MC. Fertilization rate and embryo quality in superovulated Holstein heifers artificially inseminated with X-sorted or unsorted sperm. Anim Reprod. 2004;1:86-90.
- Varley MA, Foxcroft GR. Endocrinology of lactating and weaned sow. J Reprod Fertil Suppl. 1990;40:47-61. PMid:2192052.
For BOOKS, DISSERTATIONS AND CONFERENCES:
- Basrur PK, Kochhar HS. Inherited sex abnormalities in goats. In: Youngquist RS, Threlfall WR, editors. Current therapy in large animal theriogenology. Philadelphia: WB Saunders; 1997. p. 590-4.
- Ginther OJ. Reproductive biology of the mare: basic and applied aspects. 2nd ed. Cross Plains: Equiservices Publishing; 1992. p. 105-72.
- Leal MC. Análise morfométrica e funcional do testículo e eficiência espermatogênica em Sagüis Callithrix penicillata (Primates: Callitrichidae) [dissertation]. Belo Horizonte: Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais; 2004. Portuguese.
- Quintero B, Porter M, Sharp D, Cleaver B, Diaz T. Effect of season on LH concentrations and LH pulse dynamics in mares located in the tropics. In: Abstracts of the 14th International Congress on Animal Reproduction; 2000 Jul 2-6; Stockholm, Sweden. Stockholm: ICAR; 2000. p. 290.
For ELECTRONIC DOCUMENTS:
CD-ROM:
-
Anderson SC, Poulsen KB. Anderson's electronic atlas of hematology [CD-ROM]. 2nd version. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2002. 1 CD-ROM: color, 4 3/4 in.
Journal article on the Internet:
-
Abood S. Quality improvement initiative in nursing homes: the ANA acts in an advisory role. Am J Nurs [serial on the Internet]. 2002 Jun [cited 2019 Jul 25];102(6):[about 3 p.]. Available from: https://journals.lww.com/ajnonline/Abstract/2002/06000/Quality_Improvement_Initiative_in_Nursing_Homes.31.aspx.
Monograph on the Internet:
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Foley KM, Gelband H, editors. Improving palliative care for cancer [monograph on the Internet]. Washington: National Academy Press; 2001 [cited 2019 Jul 25]. Available from: http://www.nap.edu/books/0309074029/html/.
Homepage/Web site:
-
Cancer Pain [homepage on the Internet]. New York: American Cancer Society; 2019 [cited 2019 Jul 25]. Available from: https://www.cancer.org/treatment/treatments-and-side-effects/physical-side-effects/pain.html.
Part of a homepage/Web site:
-
AMA [homepage on the Internet]. Chicago: American Medical Association; 1995-2019. What’s healthy dying? 6 steps on the path for doctors to know; 2019 Jul 22 [cited 2019 Jul 25]; [about 2 screens]. Available from: https://www.ama-assn.org/delivering-care/ethics/what-s-healthy-dying-6-steps-path-doctors-know.
Open database on the Internet:
-
Who's Certified [database on the Internet]. Alexandria (VA): American Board of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery; 2019 [cited 2019 Jul 25]. Available from: https://www.abfprs.org/certified/disclaimer.
Closed database on the Internet:
-
Jablonski S. Online Multiple Congenital Anomaly, Mental Retardation (MCA/MR) Syndromes [database on the Internet]. Bethesda (MD): National Library of Medicine; 2001 [cited 2002 Aug 12]. Available from: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/jablonski/syndrome_title.html.
Part of a database on the Internet:
-
MeSH Browser [database on the Internet]. Bethesda (MD): National Library of Medicine; 2002. Meta-analysis; unique ID: D015201; [cited 2003 Jun 10]; [about 3 screens]. Available from: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/MBrowser.html.
For NON PUBLISHED WORK:
-
It should be mentioned only in the text, and not in the list of references.
For VERBAL INFORMATION:
-
References concerning unpublished data and “personal communications” should not be cited in the reference list, but should be mentioned in the text. After the information, the author must write the expression “verbal information" or "personal communication".
Manuscript Submission
All manuscripts must be submitted using the online submission system available at https://mc04.manuscriptcentral.com/ar-scielo.
Data sharing policies
Animal Reproduction is developing its data sharing policies with the TOP (Transparency and Openness Promotion) Guidelines in mind.
As of July 2019, Animal Reproduction is encouraging authors to deposit their research data into the relevant data repository and include a citation and link to the dataset in the submitted articles. If this is not possible, authors should make a statement in the Cover Letter explaining why research data cannot be shared.
Corrections and retractions policy
Animal Reproduction fully endorses the ICMJE recommendations regarding scientific misconduct and is committed to publishing corrections when problems are detected in published information that affect the publication record and/or its scientific accuracy. Editors will follow the ICMJE recommendations and the procedures detailed by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) when suspected misconduct arises, before or after publication. CBRA Scientific Affairs and Publications Directors might be called to assist with the investigation but final decision to publish corrections, expressions of concern, or retracting published articles will be made by the Editor-in-Chief.
Authors, Reviewers and Editors are encouraged to report any suspected research ethics or publication malpractice issue using the journals contact page or by directly writing to the CBRA Publications or Scientific Affairs directors.