Article Types
Original Articles
Original articles should present novel work that makes a significant impact within the aims and scope of the journal and provides an important advancement in the reader’s knowledge or understanding. Original Articles may be recommended to be resubmitted as Short Communications at the discretion of the Editors. Detailed information regarding original articles’s submission can be found at Instructions for Authors.
Clinical Trials
The International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) defines a clinical trial as “any research project that prospectively assigns human subjects to intervention or comparison groups to study the cause-and-effect relationship between a medical intervention and a health outcome. Studies designed for other purposes, such as to study pharmacokinetics or major toxicity (e.g., phase 1 trials), are exempt.” All clinical trials submitted to Microbiota in Health and Disease must be registered to the WHO International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (ICTRP) or ClinicalTrials.gov.
For definitions and further information, please see ICMJE Recommendations (“The Uniform Requirements”) found in ICMJE’s Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals.
When submitting your manuscript, please include the unique trial number and the name of the registry (e.g., ClinicalTrials.gov or ISRCTN) at the end of the abstract and in your cover letter.
Review Articles
Microbiota in Health and Disease publishes substantive reviews on current topics and recent advances in the scientific literature.
The key elements of a literature review include the following points:
- Define and clearly state the scope and purpose of your review: clearly identify the topic and the research question you aim to address.
- Search for relevant literature and document your strategy research: use academic databases and journals to find sources suitable for your topic. Review a number of texts that specifically address your topic and critically assess the quality and relevance of the sources.
- Organize the literature and structure your review: provide an unstructured Abstract of no more than 250 words and draft the main text for presenting your research as follows: INTRODUCTION, MAIN TEXT with subheadings, and CONCLUSIONS. The main article should be no more than 4,000 words, including references, figures, and tables. The review should contain no more than 8 figures or tables.
- Summarize the main findings and write conclusions: discuss the significance of the findings and, eventually, the strengths and limitations of your review.
Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses
Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis should include a structured abstract (OBJECTIVE; MATERIALS AND METHODS; RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS) of no more than 300 words. The main article should not exceed 5,000 words and should include references, figures, and tables. The review should contain at least 2 and no more than 8 figures or tables.
Authors should follow the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions as methodology guidance for conducting and reporting.
To perform a high-quality analysis, the Authors are requested to follow some specific guidelines:
- Authors have to conduct an initial search to assess the available literature and verify the importance of the review.
- Authors have to clearly define the objectives and the research question (check the PICO format as a guide).
- Authors have to establish pre-defined eligibility criteria for studies (e.g., inclusion and exclusion criteria, etc.).
- Authors have to clearly describe the methods used for locating, selecting, extracting, and synthesizing data.
- The methodology should be accurate and reproducible and must indicate which databases were searched.
- Authors have to conduct a systematic search that aims at identifying all relevant studies on the topic analyzed. The study selection process, including how disagreements about study inclusion was handled, should be accurately described.
- Authors have to assess the validity of the findings of the included studies (e.g., risk of bias).
- The extracted data should be synthesized using qualitative approaches (narrative synthesis) or quantitative techniques (meta-analysis).
- Authors have to comprehensively summarize the results and answer the research question.
Reporting Guidelines and Protocol Registration
According to the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), to conduct and present details of the methodology of a systematic review or meta-analysis, the Authors must follow the guidelines of the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA). For transparency, authors must include a completed PRISMA checklist (or a similar reporting checklist, if applicable) in the text or as supplementary material at time of submission.
Authors are strongly encouraged to register the systematic reviews in a relevant repository (i.e, PROSPERO or INPLASY) to reduce bias in the conduct of research and to increase transparency. The registration number must be inserted in the text when submitting the manuscript.
Abstract Books and Conference Proceedings
Conference proceedings consist of a collection of abstracts and/or posters that were presented at an association’s conference. These articles provide opportunities for researchers to present their research and gain insights from other researchers and colleagues in their field.
The journal does not accept abstracts for work that has already been fully published elsewhere. Abstracts submitted must fully comply with the journal’s policies and guidelines.
All contents of the abstract book will be published in English and must contain:
- The title, authors’ names and affiliations, and a list of keywords.
The abstract should not exceed 250 words and should be organized as follows: Objectives, Materials or Patients and Methods, Results, and Conclusions. The study registration numbers (i.e., for clinical trials registration, PROSPERO for systematic reviews, etc.) must be included at the end of the abstract. - Final statements, including conflict of interest, acknowledgments, informed consent, authors’ contribution, funding, ethics statement, ORCID ID, should be included – when applicable.
- The authors’ index is also mandatory at the end of the text.
Books of Abstracts are eligible for submission if they undergo scrutiny and peer-review by a scientific committee to assess their relevance and appeal to the audience before being accepted for the conference. Nevertheless, the final decision about publication in this journal rests with the Editor in Chief, who reserves the right to reassess the abstracts and make the ultimate decision. Conference scenes and/or proceedings are subject to standard peer-review.
Case Reports
Case Reports will also be considered for publication only if of particular interest. In particular, we consider for publication Case Reports reporting unusual clinical conditions, unreported diseases, rare side effects of therapy, and so on. The abstract should be no longer than 100-200 words and should highlight all your key points concisely. It should be structured as follows: INTRODUCTION or BACKGROUND; CASE REPORT; CONCLUSIONS.
Case Reports have to include a final section for the informed consent. Permission or written consent should be obtained to draft the manuscript. The consent can be obtained by the patient or parents in case the patient is a minor. Fore more information, please, visit:
Brief Report
Brief Reports will also be considered for publication only if of particular interest and relevance to the journal.
The brief reports should be structured as follows:
- 800-word maximum, excluding references;
- No abstract is required;
- Maximum 2 Tables/Figures;
- Maximum 10 references.
Editorials
Editorials are short articles that provide an insight into issues of topical importance to the journal’s target audience or researchers. The articles should provide an expert perspective on a topic of recent interest. This contribution is usually solicited by the Editors. If unsolicited, the authors are advised to contact the Editor-in-Chief (submission.microbiota@verduci.it) with an outline of the proposed editorial and CV of the authors.
Research Letters
Research letters are short, concise reports of original research or findings, often designed to communicate important developments or preliminary results quickly to the academic community. Microbiota in Health and Disease publishes research letters only if of particular interest. They undergo peer-review as normal articles. They should not exceed 1,000 words and should not contain any Abstract. They can contain up to 4 figures and 10 references.
Letters to the Editor
Letters to the Editor consist of comments on an article previously published in the journal. The inclusion of Letters to the Editor in the journal is at the discretion of the Editor-in-Chief, and they undergo peer-review. All Letters to the Editor will be subsequently sent to the author of the original article, who will have 60 days to provide a Reply to be published alongside the Letter.
Reporting Standards
Microbiota in Health and Disease promotes transparent reporting of biomedical and biological research. Authors are, therefore, encouraged to follow the reporting guidelines provided by the EQUATOR Network when preparing their manuscripts.
Guidelines have been developed and should be followed for different study designs: