Author Guidelines

The International Journal of Prenatal & Life Sciences accepts manuscripts for consideration with the understanding that they represent original material not previously published (except in abstract form) or submitted for publication elsewhere. All authors of a paper are asked to fill in the submission form and declare that they agree with the text of the paper, the publication in the journal and the transfer of the copyright to the publishers. When authors submit their papers, they also declare that:
(a) there was no source of financial support (if any, it should be stated),
(b) there were no conflicting interests concerning the material submitted,
(c) the protocol of the research project has been approved by the Ethics Committee of the Hospital or the Institution within the work was undertaken according to the ethical standards laid down in the Declaration of Helsinki (1995) as revised in Edinburgh (2000), and
(d) the participants gave their informed consent prior to their inclusion in the submitted work.

PEER REVIEW POLICY
The acceptance criteria for all papers are the quality and originality of the research and its significance to the journal readership. All papers submitted are first screened by the Editor or members of the Editorial Board for suitability and quality. If suitable, papers are, then, reviewed by two reviewers, expert in the field. Reviewers are blinded as to the contributors of each paper. The reviewers remain anonymous for contributors.
The comments of the reviewers along with proposed revisions or corrections are sent to the authors. The authors are informed of the final decision of the Editorial Board after the procedure of review is over. The names of the reviewers for the past year appear in a list in the first issue of the next year. The Editorial Board reserve the right to modify typescripts to eliminate ambiguity and repetition and improve communication between authors and readers. 

PUBLICATION ETHICS
The International Journal of Prenatal & Life Sciences follows closely the industry associations, such as the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), that set standards and provide guidelines for best practices in order to meet these requirements. Key expectations of editors, peer-reviewers and authors are presented below. 

Editors’ responsibilities
1.  Have complete responsibility and authority to reject/accept an article
2. Can only accept a paper when reasonably certain have complete responsibility and authority to reject/accept an article
3. Can only accept a paper when reasonably certain
4. Preserves anonymity of reviewers
5. Promotes publication of correction or retraction when errors are found
6. Certify that they have no conflict of interest with respect to articles they reject/accept

The editor’s role is: 
1. To act in a balanced, objective and fair way while carrying out their expected duties, without discrimination on grounds of gender, sexual orientation, religious or political beliefs, ethnic or geographical origin of the authors.  
2. To handle submissions for sponsored supplements or special issues in the same way as other submissions, so that articles are considered and accepted solely on their academic merit and without commercial influence.  
3. To adopt and follow reasonable procedures in the event of complaints of an ethical or conflict nature, in accordance with the policies and procedures of the Society where appropriate. To give authors a reasonable opportunity to respond to any complaints. All complaints should be investigated no matter when the original publication was approved. Documentation associated with any such complaints should be retained.

Reviewers’ responsibilities
Reviewers guarantee that:
1. their judgments concerning the reviewing article are objective
2. they have no conflict of interest with respect to the research, the authors and/or the research funders
3. they have relevant published work
4. reviewed articles are treated confidentially

Reviewers' role is: 
1. To contribute to the decision-making process, and to assist in improving the quality of the published paper by reviewing the manuscript objectively, in a timely manner.
2. To maintain the confidentiality of any information supplied by the editor or author. To not retain or copy the manuscript.  
3. To alert the editor to any published or submitted content that is substantially similar to that under review.  
4. To be aware of any potential conflicts of interest (financial, institutional, collaborative or other relationships between the reviewer and author) and to alert the editor to these, if necessary withdrawing their services for that manuscript.

AUTHOR'S RESPONSIBILITIES
By signing Authorship statement authors agree:  
1. To maintain accurate records of data associated with their submitted manuscript, and to supply or provide access to these data, on reasonable request. Where appropriate and where allowed by employer, funding body and others who might have an interest, to deposit data in a suitable repository or storage location, for sharing and further use by others.  
2. To confirm/assert that the manuscript as submitted is not under consideration or accepted for publication elsewhere. Where portions of the content overlap with published or submitted content, to acknowledge and cite those sources. Additionally, to provide the editor with a copy of any submitted manuscript that might contain overlapping or closely related content.  
3. To confirm that all the work in the submitted manuscript is original and to acknowledge and cite content reproduced from other sources. To obtain permission to reproduce any content from other sources.
4. That any studies involving human or animal subjects conform to national, local and institutional laws and requirements (e.g. WMA Declaration of Helsinki, NIH Policy on Use of laboratory Animals, EU Directive on Use of Animals) and confirm that approval has been sought and obtained where appropriate. Authors should obtain express permission from human subjects and respect their privacy.  
5. To declare any potential conflicts of interest (e.g. where the author has a competing interest (real or apparent) that could be considered or viewed as exerting an undue influence on his or her duties at any stage during the publication process).  
6. To notify promptly the journal editor or publisher if a significant error in their publication is identified. To cooperate with the editor and publisher to publish an erratum, addendum, corrigendum notice, or to retract the paper, where this is deemed necessary.  

PROCEDURES FOR DEALING WITH UNETHICAL BEHAVIOUR INCLUDING PLAGIARISM  
Identification of unethical behavior/plagiarism  
1. Misconduct and unethical behavior including playarism may be identified and brought to the attention of the editor and publisher at any time, by anyone.  2. Misconduct and unethical behaviour may include, but need not be limited to, examples as outlined above.  
3. Whoever informs the editor or publisher of such conduct should provide sufficient information and evidence in order for an investigation to be initiated. All allegations should be taken seriously and treated in the same way, until a successful decision or conclusion is reached.  
Investigation  
1. An initial decision should be taken by the editor, who should consult with or seek advice from the editorial board, if appropriate.
2. Evidence should be gathered, while avoiding spreading any allegations beyond those who need to know.  

ARTICLE TYPES  
1. Editorials: Short articles in both English and Greek language covering topics of particular importance, written by members of the Editorial Board by members of the International Advisory Board and/or by invited authors 
2. Review articles: Should be written by one or more authors. 
3. Research papers: These papers must be based on a research protocol. They could fall into any Research type known
4. Brief communications: This section includes short research articles intended to present exciting findings that will have a major impact in the fields of Prenatal & Life Sciences
5. Special articles: Invited articles concerning topics of special interest 
6. Case reports: This section includes interesting case reports and descriptions of cases where new diagnostic or/and therapeutic methods have been applied 
7. General articles: These articles may reflect opinions on the theory and practice of Prenatal & Life Sciences, on philosophical or ethical issues raised in the fields of interest. Their aim is to expand the scope of thinking and acting in the Academic world as well as in the Communities of Practice or among decision-makers 
8. Letters to the editor: Brief letters (maximum 400 words) will be considered for publication. These may include comments or criticisms of articles published in the journal, comments on current topics of importance in the field of Prenatal & Life Sciences or preliminary research reports 
9. Book/ Film review: Presentation and critical review of selected books/films is carried out by the editorial board or by persons invited by it 
10. Abstracts: All articles should be accompanied by abstracts, in English, about 300-500 words each. Translation of the abstracts in Greek will be provided by the Editorial team
(Note: The indicated number of words acts as a guide. When it is appropriate for the best understanding of the knowledge presented, the author is free to extend the length of the submitted paper)

 MANUSCRIPT SUBMISSION
 Papers either in English or in Greek are considered for publication and should follow the submission procedure online.  
The submitted manuscripts should be accompanied by the ''Submission form'' accurately filled in. Manuscripts should be in word docx files, double-spaced on one side of the paper with a margin of at least 3.5 cm. On the right upper corner of the first page a characterization on the article should appear (e.g., Brief Communication, Research Article etc). 

MANUSCRIPT SUBMISSION FILES (FOR DOUBLE-BLIND REVIEW
As this is a peer-review, double-blind journal, PLEASE MAKE SURE that you submit 2 different files:
1. The Title file (include the title of the manuscript, the kind of paper it is, the authors' names and their affiliations, and the contact complete details of the corresponding author,including tel number and email_ see also below)
2. The blinded Manuscript. This is the main body of your article with the title only. Remember that there must be no identification clue as to the identity of the authors. That means that you need to check the whole manuscript for any references that could reveal your identity or any word that could give such a clue. 
You can use the word Author(s) or Anonymous to refer to previously published work of yours or citations and remove any figures or data that contain affiliation related identifiers and remove any references to funding sources. Do NOT include any aknowledgements at the submission phase. Name your submitted files in a way that the anonymity is maintained. For more information about how you can create a blinded manuscript you can have on the submission form_how you can secure double-blind.
 
MANUSCRIPT PREPARATION 
All pages must be numbered, starting with the title page.  
Title page: It indicates the title (which should not exceed 12 words), the names and surnames of the authors, affiliations,  the Institute, Hospital, University, etc. where the work was conducted and the address, telephone number and e-mail of the author who will be responsible for the correspondence. In the same page appreciation for those who have contributed to the presented work can also be included.  
Abstract: The second page must include an informative abstract (300-500 words) as well as 4-6 key words.  
Main part: Must be divided in sections (e.g., for the Research Papers: Introduction, Material and method, Results, Discussion). Results appearing in the tables should not be reported again in detail in the text.  
References: They must be identified in the text by arabic numbers (in brackets) and must be numbered in the order in which they are first mentioned in the text (Vancouver system), e.g. Birley¹ found that... but Alford² disagreed. Cite the names of all authors. The list of references should include only those publications which are cited in the text. References should not exceed 100 in the Review articles and the Special articles, 50 in the General articles, 15 in the Brief Communications and in Case reports, and 8 in the Editorials and the Letters to the Editor.  
The following paradigms illustrate the various reference categories:  
1. Birley JLT, Adear P, Singer D, Rosenberg M. Electro-gastrographic studies in elderly patients. Gastroenterology 1980, 79:311-314 (Journal Article)
2. Alford J, Nemiah J. Peptic ulcer in childhood. In: Sodeman WA (ed) Pathologic Physiology. Saunders, Philadelphia, 1970:457-472 (Chapter in Book)
3. Kinden A. Stress and emotion. Springer, Berlin, 1990 (Book)
4. Larsen E, Elliot B. Fatigue in major depression. Psychiatriki 2007, (Suppl 1):S143-S144 (Journal Supplement)
5. Silverstone A, Leman H, Stark J. Attempted suicide by drug overdose. Paper presented at 2nd Congress on Suicide behaviour, 4-6 May 2002, Rome, Abstracts Book, pp 212-213 (Conference Presentation - Abstract Book)
6. Henry A, Andrews B. Critical issues for parents with mental illness.Y. Centre for Mental Health Services 2001 (Cited 2 June 2005) Available from www.mentalorg/publications (Website) 
Tables: They must appear in the text where they should appear. They must be numbered in the order in which they are mentioned on the text, with arabic numbers (Table 1). A descriptive concise title should be included. Avoid vertical lines.  
Figures & Images: They must be professionally prepared in high resolution and in JPEG format. They must be numbered with arabic numbers (Figure 1 or Image 1 or Photo 1) in the order in which they appear in the text.
Symbols and abbreviations: Spell out all abbreviations (other than those for units of measure) the first time they are used. 
HIGHLIGHTS: Please include the most significant message of your manuscript (not to exceed 2 lines)
COMMENTS From the Editor will be sent to the first author of each submitted work as indicated in the submission form (correspondence details). 

DISSERTATIONS
PhD dissertations or MSC dissertations are welcome for submission. We encourage Early Stage Researchers to keep up their contribution to the Growth of Pranatal & Life Sciences.

MONOGRAPHS or ACADEMIC BOOKS can be submitted for publication