EXPERIMENTAL ETHICS

Animal Experiments

When reporting animal experiments, authors must specify whether they adhered to the policies on the care and use of laboratory animals established by their institution, national research council, or any other relevant authority. Authors are also encouraged to consult the ARRIVE guidelines recommended by the National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement, and Reduction of Animals in Research.

Human Subjects

When reporting research involving human subjects, authors should indicate whether the procedures were in compliance with the ethical standards set forth by the Helsinki Declaration (1964, most recently amended in 2013) of the World Medical Association. Manuscripts should include a statement confirming that written consent was obtained from patients, and that any identifying information, including illustrations, has been anonymized as much as possible. Additionally, authors should specify that the study design was approved by local ethical committees or conforms to the standards currently applied in the country of origin, stating the name of the authorizing body in the manuscript.

Controls for Genetically Engineered Mice

In experiments involving genetically engineered mice, the inbred-strain background effects are a significant concern. The Editorial Board typically accepts only the following controls as appropriate: the parental wild-type inbred strain (if the engineered animals have been backcrossed onto this strain for five or more generations) or littermates. If an alternative control was used, an explanation must be provided in the cover letter to the Editor.

Material Availability

Authors are expected to make materials, data, and protocols available to scientific colleagues for validation and subsequent studies.

Deposition of Sequence and Microarray Data

Nucleotide and Protein Sequences

Nucleotide sequences must be submitted to the International Nucleotide Sequence Databases prior to manuscript acceptance, and the accession numbers must appear in the final revision of the manuscript. For more information, please see the GenBank, EMBL Nucleotide Sequence Database, and DNA Data Bank of Japan websites.

Microarray Data

Authors submitting microarray data should comply with the “Minimal Information About a Microarray Experiment” (MIAME) guidelines. Microarray data should also be submitted to GEO or ArrayExpress, and accession numbers should be provided by the time the paper is accepted.

Human Genetic Nomenclature and Notation

For human genes, use genetic notation and symbols approved by the HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee. Human gene names and loci should be written in italicized capital letters and Arabic numerals. Human protein product names are not italicized. For genetic mutations in humans, use the notation approved by the Nomenclature Working Group.

Human Single-nucleotide Polymorphisms

For human genes, newly described single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) should be submitted to an appropriate database, such as dbSNP, prior to submission of revised manuscripts. The identification numbers of previously recognized SNPs (rs numbers) or recently submitted SNPs (ss numbers) should be provided in the manuscript if the number of SNPs is small, or they should be submitted as supplemental online material if the number is large.

Microorganism Nomenclature

The RedoXplore attempts to use the latest widely accepted nomenclature. See Enzyme Nomenclature 1992: Recommendations of the Nomenclature Committee of the International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology on the Nomenclature and Classification of Enzymes (Academic Press, 1992). LSPN bacteria (https://www.bacterio.net/) provides the List of Prokaryotic Names with Standing in Nomenclature. Formal terms for virus families, genera, and species should be those approved by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses: Virus Taxonomy-The Classification and Nomenclature of Viruses: Sixth Report of the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (Springer-Verlag, 1995). This volume also includes standard abbreviations for virus species. For names and abbreviations of chemical compounds, refer to The Merck Index: An Encyclopedia of Chemicals, Drugs, and Biologicals (15th ed., Merck, 2013). The Editors appreciate the assistance of authors and readers who inform them of changes in nomenclature.

Clinical Trials

Registering Clinical Trials

For their results to be eligible for publication in the RedoXplore, all clinical trials must be registered in a publicly accessible database that is free of charge. According to the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), the RedoXplore defines a clinical trial as "any research project that prospectively assigns human subjects to intervention or concurrent comparison or control groups to study the cause-and-effect relationship between a medical intervention and a health outcome." Studies intended for other purposes, such as phase I trials designed to evaluate pharmacokinetics or major toxicities, are exempt from this requirement. Registration should take place before patient enrollment. The corresponding author must include the registry’s URL and the trial’s registration number at the end of the manuscript’s abstract. Information on acceptable registries can be found on the ICMJE website. The registry provided by the National Institutes of Health (ClinicalTrials.gov) is free, open to all investigators, and meets the RedoXplore's criteria.

Reporting Clinical Trials and Other Types of Data

Authors submitting manuscripts that describe results from randomized, controlled trials, whether in Major Articles or Brief Reports, should refer to the guidelines recommended in the revised CONSORT statement. For other types of studies, established guidelines should be followed when available. These guidelines include STARD (Standards for the Reporting of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies), STROBE (Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology), PRISMA (Transparent Reporting of Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses), MOOSE (Meta-analyses of Observational Studies), and STORMS (Strengthening the Organization and Reporting of Microbiome Studies). For more information on best practices in reporting health research studies, please visit the EQUATOR network.