Submission Guidelines

Submission Guidelines

 

Editorial Policies

Revista Colombiana de Endocrinología, Diabetes y Metabolismo

Focus and Scope

Revista Colombiana de Endocrinología, Diabetes y Metabolismo publishes research articles, review papers, and clinical cases of interest to the scientific community and health professionals, specialists, and residents of endocrinology and other medical specialties that make use of research in this area. Some central topics of the journal include:

  • Diabetes
  • Osteoporosis
  • Obesity and nutrition
  • Dyslipidemias
  • Pediatric endocrinology
  • Gender dysphoria
  • Molecular biology and endocrinology
  • Endocrine technologies
  • Endocrinology education
  • History of endocrinology  

The journal is published continuously in digital format, with four issues published in each volume. The journal operates under the diamond open access model, with a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (BY-NC-ND) license. The Colombian Association of Endocrinology (ACE, for its acronym in Spanish) finances the journal entirely, as it does not charge submission or publication costs to authors.

Manuscripts received by the journal are peer-reviewed; therefore, it adopts a double-blind system to guarantee as much independence and scientific integrity as possible in selecting its contents. Regarding the acceptance of the manuscript submission, and as the backbone of its process management, the journal adheres to the recommendations of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) and the Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

 

Publication Process Overview

Originality and exclusiveness. Manuscripts submitted to Revista Colombiana de Endocrinología, Diabetes y Metabolismo must be original, unpublished, and not be submitted for publication in other media. Simultaneous application to other journals will be deemed a severe offense and grounds for rejecting a manuscript.

Ethics. The journal follows COPE and ICMJE guidelines. For any ethical dilemmas or malpractices identified, the procedures recommended by these organizations will be followed.

Review system. The journal operates a double-blind peer-review system to select the manuscripts it publishes; that is, it reserves the identity of both reviewers and authors to promote as much independence as possible in decision-making.

Professional edition. The approved articles will be subjected to professional editing (copy editing, design and layout, PDF proofreading, final file mark-up) and standardization processes to adapt them to all the necessary editorial conventions in various formats (PDF, HTML, XML).

Access and Creative Commons. The journal is immediate open access, with a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (BY-NC-ND) license, and works under the diamond model. It also allows self-archiving of the final version of published articles; however, we always recommend including the complete reference in the appropriate repository with the relevant article DOI.

Assignment and rights. The journal requests the assignment of rights on the articles to formalize publication. Nonetheless, the use or reproduction of articles for educational, academic, or scientific purposes is allowed, provided that complete reference will be made to the original publication.

Handling fees. The journal has neither submission nor publication cost for authors. It is funded by the ACE.

Digital preservation. The journal recognizes the importance of preserving, in the long term, its published contents and continuously advances indexing and archiving processes of its contents to keep them accessible. It also has protocols in place to ensure the security and stability of its publishing platform (OJS).

Ethics

Revista Colombiana de Endocrinología, Diabetes y Metabolismo guides its ethics and scientific policy integrity based on COPE and ICMJE recommendations.

Regarding good publishing practices and transparency criteria, the 16 COPE principles have been adopted; below is how the journal reflects these principles in its day-to-day work:

  1. Website: The journal works on an Open Journal Systems platform and includes all accurate and up-to-date information on its focus, scope, theme spectrum, editorial structure, policy, and procedures.
  2. Journal name: The journal has been consistent in its name since its inception and does not leave room for misunderstandings with other publications.
  3. Peer-review process: The journal thoroughly describes its peer-review process under the double-blind system.
  4. Ownership and management: The journal is sponsored by the ACE.
  5. Governing body: The journal has an editorial structure publicly available on its website and comprises a chief editor, associate scientific editors, and an editorial and scientific board. It also has an editorial and production coordinating area that supports journal management and technical and professional publication processes.
  6. Editorial team/Contact information: The journal includes complete information on its editorial structure, profiles, ORCID, or information on the online CV of its members.
  7. Copyright and licenses: The journal states its relationship with authors regarding the rights of approved manuscripts and the relationship with its readers through a Creative Commons license.
  8. Handling fees: The journal explicitly declares that it operates under the diamond open access model; that is, it has no submission or publication costs for its authors.
  9. Process to identify and deal with research misconduct reports: The journal states that it follows COPE flowcharts (procedures) to deal with potential ethical dilemmas or malpractice cases in research and scientific publication.
  10. Ethics in publication: The journal has an ethics policy that encourages scientific integrity, which translates into procedures to promote and verify the quality of manuscripts.
  11. Publication frequency: The frequency is mentioned in the journal’s policies.
  12. Access: The rate specifies how to access its contents. It has no subscription costs, and its access is open under a Creative Commons license.
  13. Archiving: The journal has a preservation policy and discloses it in its guidelines.
  14. Sources of income: The journal is fully funded by the ACE. Moreover, its purpose is scientific; it seeks to advance knowledge of endocrinology and the particularities of the Latin American context in the professional practice of endocrinology.
  15. Advertising: The journal has an advertising guideline, but a legal notice clarifies that none of the advertisers influences the selection or publication of the journal’s contents. The manuscript approval process is based on external peer review.
  16. Direct marketing: The journal does not carry out direct marketing strategies or is for commercial purposes; it has no interest in this regard or charges handling fees to authors. It intends to create a community of collaborators (authors, reviewers, editors) and an inclusive, diverse audience of readers within the particularities of its area of expertise and theme spectrum.

Regarding manuscript submission and following the ICMJE recommendations, authors must consider three essential aspects:

Criteria that define authorship or co-authorship:

  1. An author is a person who makes substantial contributions to conceiving or designing a manuscript or collecting, analyzing, or interpreting the data contained in a manuscript.
  2. An author takes part in writing a manuscript or critically reviewing the contents of a manuscript.
  3. An author participates in the approval of the final version of a manuscript.
  4. An author agrees with all parts of a manuscript and is responsible for their accuracy or completeness to clarify or resolve doubts.Conflict-of-interest statement:

Authors must declare any conflict of interest that could potentially affect the repercussions or interpretation of the results of their manuscript. Thus, authors must complete and submit, together with their manuscript, a conflict-of-interest statement form provided by the journal per the ICMJE guidelines.

 

Ethical implications of the research:

Authors whose research has been submitted for assessment by the ethics committee of the relevant institution or funding organization must submit this endorsement to the journal, together with the manuscript.

Likewise, the ethical implications of the research conducted must be expressly stated in the manuscript and its methods. The journal may also request additional reviews on the submitted manuscript and the described research if any ethical concern is identified by the editor-in-chief, the responsible editor, or the journal’s editorial and scientific board.

Furthermore, all those who collaborate with the journal from different roles (authors, reviewers, editors, or editorial team) are expected to act with scientific integrity and follow a scientific approach in their behavior and decisions, always seeking the transparency and generation or validation of knowledge to advance endocrinology and other areas related to the journal.

Concerning the primary roles of those participating in the journal, they are briefly outlined below.

Authors are expected not to engage in behaviors such as plagiarism, data fabrication or result manipulation, text recycling, or simultaneous application to other journals or publication media (to list some of the most frequent ethical issues). More importantly, authors who submit papers to the journal must have a genuine interest in publishing and participate continuously throughout the entire process: peer review, corrections, editorial production, and post-publication. The end quality of the work and its impact over time largely depends on the authors’ interest.

Reviewers must have a scientific, academic approach at all times when evaluating manuscripts. The journal evaluates manuscripts, not people, and the opinions must be expressed under this principle, avoiding personal attacks on authors. Reviewers should also avoid the misuse of both manuscripts and research data entrusted to them. Impersonation is also malpractice; the journal selects and convenes reviewers based on their academic training, experience, and publications, thus transferring the responsibility of reviewing a manuscript to a third party (student, resident, colleague), without consulting with the journal’s editor-in-chief, is unacceptable and should be avoided.

Editors or the editorial team must ensure that the principles of transparency and the processes and procedures of the journal are followed in the best possible way, ensuring fair treatment for all parties involved. Rather than serving as “gatekeepers” of knowledge, editors (and their team) must be authors’ “discrete collaborators.” Their intention should be that the journal is a reliable repository of knowledge of endocrinology and that each manuscript reaches a specialized reader in the best possible version.

About corrections or retractions of articles published in the journal:

Corrections. Corrections on a published article will be made if the error identified can lead to significant mistakes (an error in the affiliation of an author, ORCID, names, among others) or affects its interpretation due to an unintentional omission or error in its writing or format.

Retractions. If it is detected that an article has serious issues that affect the veracity of its results, compromise its scientific quality, or poses a grave ethical problem (plagiarism, data fabrication, manipulation, among others), the journal may retract and prevent access to the full-text manuscript, with the appropriate notice of the reasons for retraction. Such cases will be analyzed by the journal’s Editorial and Scientific Board and the editor-in-chief before reaching a final decision on a retraction.

 

Review System

Revista Colombiana de Endocrinología, Diabetes y Metabolismo operates a double-blind peer-review system through the following stages:

Document review to formalize submission. Two documents requested by the journal must be attached to papers submitted: a conflict-of-interest form, duly completed by all authors, and a letter of submission and commitment, introducing the manuscript, reaffirming its originality, and preventing simultaneous application.

Editorial review (antiplagiarism and permissions). If the documents to formalize submission to the journal are delivered, manuscripts will be checked for originality and good use of texts or content protected by copyright using antiplagiarism software.

Authors should avoid using, reproducing, or adapting figures, images, or tables from other sources without due authorization; authors should prepare their graphic material. If authors need to reproduce any figure, image, or table from another source, they must send the relevant permits to the journal on behalf of the copyright holder (person, journal, publisher, or organization). The journal will not process any permit for authors, as it is their responsibility. Failure to process these permits or submitting a manuscript that reproduces unauthorized content will be grounds for rejection.

Finally, the manuscript will be reviewed for structure. If necessary, the editor-in-chief or the responsible editor will request adjustments from authors or even discard its publication due to quality issues, irrelevance for the journal’s theme spectrum, or any ethical consideration.

Peer review. Once manuscripts pass the application formalization and editorial review stages, they will begin their peer-review process. The journal will find expert peers on the subject of each manuscript and invite them to read them thoroughly to establish their scientific quality. Possible outcomes of this peer review include:

  • Manuscript approved without changes; 2) manuscript approved with minor changes; 3) manuscript with approval conditional on major adjustments (subject to verification); 4) manuscript rejected.

If contradictory opinions are expressed —one reviewer approves, and another rejects the manuscript—, it will be submitted to review by a third party or to review and decision by the editor-in-chief or the responsible editor.

Corrections and correction verification. Request for corrections, adjustments, and clarifications from the authors of the manuscripts is entirely usual in peer review. The journal’s editor or the editorial coordinating area will establish the deadlines for correction according to complexity.

If an author cannot meet the suggested deadline for correction, the editor must be informed and receive an explanation. Repeated failure to meet the deadlines for correction will result in the rejection of the manuscript, and the author will not be able to resubmit it to the journal.

Moreover, authors who are asked for major corrections will only have a single opportunity to rectify them if the responsible editor or the reviewers consider that the article has not wholly solved its issues. Faced with a failed rectification by the authors, the case will be assigned to the editor-in-chief or the editorial and scientific board. They may terminate the process of a manuscript due to dissatisfaction with the adjustments.

Results. The journal will issue an official result twice: once the reviewers’ opinions have been consolidated and upon receiving and checking the corrections. The second result may be positive or negative, according to the quality and thoroughness of the corrections made by the authors. The final decision, then, will be this second result after verification of the adjustments.

Timing. The process of reviewing a manuscript, between submission and final decision, will take one quarter on average. According to the subject and the availability of peers, some processes may end in less time, and others may take a little longer.

In any case, the journal will try to provide a result as soon as possible for authors to be sure of its publication or submit the manuscript to another journal if rejected.

 

Manuscript Submission

Manuscript Types

The journal accepts the submission of the following types of manuscripts for publication:

Original research articles. These articles describe the results of completed studies and have the following structure:

Title, abstract and keywords, introduction, materials and methods, results, discussion, conclusions, conflict-of-interest and financing disclosure, contributor roles (CRedIT taxonomy), acknowledgments, and references.

In terms of length, these manuscripts may not exceed six thousand (6,000) words, excluding references.

Systematic reviews. Reviews are articles that address the specific literature on a topic, following a protocol, and can have a qualitative approach (without meta-analysis) or not (meta-analysis). The structure of systematic reviews is as follows:

Title, abstract and keywords, introduction, materials and methods, results, discussion, conflict-of-interest and financing disclosure, contributor roles (CRedIT taxonomy), acknowledgments, and references.

Authors are required to follow PRISMA’s instructions for preparing and writing systematic reviews (http://www.prisma-statement.org/) 

In terms of length, these manuscripts may not exceed six thousand (6,000) words, excluding references.

Narrative reviews. Narrative reviews are articles that address issues of interest, current affairs or importance for clinical practice in Endocrinology. Their structure will be as follows:

Title, abstract and keywords, introduction (in which the context is given or the importance of the subject of the review is established), contents (with free subsections, according to the authors' objective) and conclusions. Final statements should also be included with conflict of interest statement, funding statement, authors' contribution (CRedIT taxonomy, when articles are co-authored), ethical implications, acknowledgements (optional) and references.

The abstract cannot exceed 250 words, and must be structured, according to the three items that make up the text (introduction, contents, conclusions); the 250 words do not include the length of the title, structure items and keywords.

The maximum length of these manuscripts will be six thousand (6000) words, not including references.

Clinical cases. Clinical cases should seek to provide knowledge for decision-making in diagnosis, patient management, ethical dilemmas, or strengthen capacities in the clinic or professional medical practice. Cases will follow CARE’s suggested structure for clinical cases or reports (https://www.care-statement.org/checklist).

In terms of length, these manuscripts may not exceed three thousand (3,000) words, excluding references.

History of endocrinology. Manuscripts on the history of endocrinology address or revive a specific topic in the evolution of endocrinology over time. Such articles must always have this structure:

Title, abstract and keywords, introduction, content elaboration (with free sections, according to the author’s and subject’s purposes), and conclusions. It must also include conflict-of-interest and financing disclosure, contributor roles (CRedIT taxonomy, if the manuscript is co-authored), acknowledgments (optional), and references.

The maximum length of these manuscripts will be six thousand (6,000) words, excluding references.

Resident page. The journal publishes original articles, reviews, or clinical cases written by residents. The structure of such manuscripts must be in accordance with its textual typology (original, review, case).

Languages. The journal will receive manuscripts originally written in Spanish and English, and, if approved, they will be published in the appropriate language. In the case of manuscript metadata (title, abstract, and keywords), they will be presented in both languages. The author must provide the metadata in both languages with the initial submission of the manuscript.

 

Manuscript Structure

The structure of the manuscripts depends on the type to which it corresponds. However, there are some common aspects to consider when preparing all manuscripts:

Cover. Manuscripts must have a cover containing title, author information, structured abstract, keywords, as follows:

  1. The title should be concise and adequately and accurately reflect the subject of the manuscript.
  2. Author information. Authors must use their reference name (the name they usually use in their publications) and register their institutional affiliation, city, country, and email. It is also mandatory to provide an ORCID; in its absence, each author must register and include their current affiliation (Employment), degrees (Education and qualifications), and latest publications (Works). All ORCIDs must contain this minimal information. For ORCID registration, go to:

https://orcid.org/register

In the case of authors affiliated with Colombian institutions, we suggest that they process their CV registration with the Ministry of Science’s CvLAC:

https://scienti.minciencias.gov.co/cvlac/EnRecursoHumano/buscador.do

Authors who already have a CvLAC registration should check that it is updated with their current affiliation.

The manuscript must designate the corresponding author, liaisoning with the other authors and the journal throughout the publication process.

  1. Structured abstract. Abstracts should be itemized to reflect the structure of the manuscripts, according to type, and not exceed 250 words. For example, abstracts of research and review articles should have an introduction, methodology, results, discussion, conclusions. And clinical cases: introduction, objective, case presentation, discussion and conclusion.
  1. All manuscripts, including clinical cases, must have 6 to 12 keywords. They should be selected using the following health science descriptor tool (DeCS/MeSH):

https://decsfinder.bvsalud.org/dmfs

Text body. Manuscripts must follow the structure suggested for the relevant textual typology (e.g., original research articles, systematic reviews, and clinical cases).

The manuscript’s figures and tables must always be cross-referenced in the body, have a caption or title, as appropriate, and specify their source.

Citation style. The journal follows the Vancouver citation style. Please refer to the instructions in the following Vancouver style manual, Chapter 5, pages 79-98:

https://ediciones.uniandes.edu.co/Documents/manual.pdf

For manuscripts submitted in English, please review the citation cases and structure at:

https://www.nlm.nih.gov/bsd/uniform_requirements.html

Additionally, authors should verify which of the references used have a DOI (digital object identifier) ​​and include the link in each case. Submit the reference list of the manuscript on the following site to identify their DOIs:

https://apps.crossref.org/SimpleTextQuery

 

Submission

Any author interested in submitting a manuscript to Revista Colombiana de Endocrinología, Diabetes y Metabolismo must consider these four aspects:

  1. Editorial policy. Authors must read, before submitting a manuscript to the journal, its editorial policy. It is crucial to identify the main theme lines of interest for the journal, the manuscript types accepted (their structure and conditions), the ethical considerations to be taken into account, and the dynamics of the review process.
  2. Submission letter. Authors must send a submission letter presenting the manuscript and stating that it is original and has not been simultaneously submitted to another journal.
  3. Conflict-of-interest statement and ethics committee endorsement. The authors of the manuscript must fill out a conflict-of-interest statement form. If the research from which the manuscript derives was submitted for endorsement to the funding institution’s ethics committee, it must also be attached as a supporting document for application.
  4. Citation style. Manuscripts may be submitted to the journal without strictly following the journal’s citation style or with minor formatting issues. However, if the manuscript is approved by peer review, authors will have to make the necessary citation style adjustments.
  5. Manuscripts must be sent through the journal’s platform at:

http://revistaendocrino.org/index.php/rcedm/about/submissions

 Manuscripts not submitted through the platform will not be processed. However, if you experience any inconvenience with the submission, please write to revista@endocrino.org.co