Instructions for authors

01 · Contents

Before you begin

• 02Article types and length
• 03Manuscript structure
• 04Title page, abstract and keywords
• 05File formats and typography
• 06Tables, figures and supplementary files
• 07References
• 08Statistics and reporting guidelines
• 09Ethics, consent and privacy statements
• 10Declarations
• 11Submitting the manuscript
• 12After a decision
• 13Submission checklist

02 · Article types

Article types and length

03 · Structure

Manuscript structure

• Introduction. The relevant prior knowledge, the specific gap the study addresses, and the objectives or hypotheses tested. Enough background for a reader from an adjacent discipline; not a literature review.
• Methods. Design, setting, recruitment and eligibility, exposures or interventions, outcome measures and their definitions, laboratory procedures with assay and platform named, sample-size justification, and the statistical analysis — in enough detail for a qualified investigator to repeat the work.
• Results. Participant flow, baseline characteristics, then primary outcomes followed by secondary outcomes. Present each finding once, in the text or in a table or a figure, not in all three.
• Discussion. Interpretation against the existing evidence, comparison with prior studies of the same question, limitations and their effect on the conclusions, the clinical or public-health implications, and the specific research the work now makes possible. No new data.
• Conclusion. What the study supports, stated no more strongly than the design allows.
• Back matter. Declarations, acknowledgments, references, then tables, then figure legends.

04 · Front matter

Title page, abstract and keywords

Title

Up to 150 characters, describing the study without abbreviations other than universally recognized ones. Name the design where it aids retrieval.

Running head

Up to 50 characters.

Authors

Full names in the order they are to be published, each with the institutional affiliation held when the work was done and an ORCID iD where the author has one.

Corresponding author

Name, postal address, email address and ORCID iD.

Structured abstract — original research

Up to 250 words under Background, Methods, Results and Conclusions. State the question, the design, the primary numerical findings with confidence intervals, and a conclusion the data support. No references, no undefined abbreviations, nothing absent from the manuscript.

Unstructured abstract — brief communications and technical notes

Up to 150 words, summarizing what was done and what was found.

Unstructured abstract — narrative reviews

Up to 250 words.

Structured abstract — systematic reviews and meta-analyses

Up to 250 words, following PRISMA for abstracts.

Unstructured abstract — case reports and case series

Up to 150 words.

Editorials, commentaries and letters

No abstract is required unless specified when the contribution is commissioned or agreed with the editorial office.

Keywords

Five to eight, using Medical Subject Headings terms where they exist, covering the infection, the method, the population and the outcome.

Peer review

Single-blind by default; double-blind review is available on request. Manuscripts that proceed to external peer review are normally evaluated by at least two independent subject-matter experts.

For double-blind review

For double-blind review, remove author names, affiliations, acknowledgments, funding details, institution names, and other identifying information from the reviewer manuscript. Provide identifying information separately in the title-page file or submission form.

05 · Files

File formats and typography

• Manuscript file. Microsoft Word.
• Type. Times New Roman, Arial or Calibri at 12 point.
• Spacing. Double-spaced throughout, including references, tables and legends.
• Numbering. Pages numbered consecutively from the title page, with continuous line numbering so reviewers can cite a line.
• Language. English, in either American or British conventions, applied consistently throughout the manuscript.
• Units. SI units, with conventional units in parentheses where clinical practice uses them.
• Abbreviations. Defined at first use in the abstract and again at first use in the main text.
• Pathogen and drug names. Species names in italics at first use in full; generic drug names, with a proprietary name only where the formulation matters.

06 · Display items

Tables, figures and supplementary files

• Tables. Built with the word processor's table function, one per page after the reference list, numbered in Arabic numerals in the order they are cited. Each carries a title that lets the table be read without the text, and a legend defining every abbreviation, statistic and symbol.
• Figures. Supplied as separate files in TIFF, JPEG, PNG or EPS at a minimum of 300 dots per inch, numbered in citation order. Each legend explains the panels, symbols and statistics shown, so the figure can be read on its own.
• How many. There is no fixed general numerical cap on tables or figures for any accepted article type. Include only those needed to support the work. Cite every display item in the text, in order, and avoid duplication of material already given in the text.
• Clinical images. Identifiable images require written consent for publication covering the specific image. Do not rely on cropping or masking alone to de-identify.
• Reused material. Written permission is required for any figure or table reproduced from another source, and the source is cited in the legend.
• Supplementary files. Extended methods, additional tables, datasets or video, submitted as separate clearly named files and cited at the relevant point in the text. They are peer reviewed with the manuscript and are held to the same standard.

07 · References

References

• Journal article. Author AA, Author BB, Author CC. Title of the article. Journal Abbrev. 2025;12(3):145–58. doi:10.0000/example
• Book. Author AA. Title of the Book. 3rd ed. City: Publisher; 2024.
• Book chapter. Author AA. Title of the chapter. In: Editor BB, editor. Title of the Book. City: Publisher; 2024. p. 91–110.
• Web page. Organization Name. Title of the page [Internet]. 2026 [cited 2026 Sep 10]. Available from: https://example.org/page
• Dataset. Author AA. Title of the dataset [dataset]. Repository Name; 2025. doi:10.0000/dataset
• Preprint. Author AA, Author BB. Title of the preprint [preprint]. medRxiv; 2026. doi:10.0000/preprint
• Trial registration. Registry Name. Title of the trial. Identifier NCT00000000. Registered 2025 Jan 14. Available from: https://example.org/NCT00000000

08 · Analysis

Statistics and reporting guidelines

09 · Ethics

Ethics, consent and privacy statements

• Approval. Name the approving committee and give the protocol reference number, or explain the exemption or waiver granted under the applicable requirements.
• Consent to participate. State whether informed consent was obtained and how it was documented, including arrangements for participants who could not consent for themselves.
• Consent to publish. Written consent is required for any identifiable case material, including clinical photographs, and must cover the specific details submitted.
• Privacy and de-identification. Authors must minimize the risk of identification, including through combinations of indirect details. Withhold or generalize small cell counts, narrow date ranges, single-site descriptors and uncommon combinations of characteristics that together could identify a participant.
• Trial registration. Interventional clinical trials must be registered in an accepted public trial registry at or before the first participant provides consent for enrollment. The registry name, registration number, and registration date must be reported in the manuscript.
• Animal research. Report animal care and use committee approval, and follow the ARRIVE guidelines, naming species, strain, housing, anesthesia and analgesia protocols and humane endpoints.

10 · Declarations

Declarations

Competing interests

All financial and non-financial competing interests, for every author. Where there are none, say so.

Funding

Every source, with grant numbers, and any role the funder played in design, analysis or preparation of the manuscript.

Author contributions

What each author did, sufficient to show that each meets the ICMJE authorship criteria.

Data availability

Every empirical research manuscript must include a data-availability statement. Name the repository and identifier, or state the restriction and the conditions under which the data can be obtained.

Generative AI

Disclose any use of generative AI in preparing the manuscript. An AI tool cannot be an author, and the authors remain responsible for everything submitted.

Preprint

Disclose a posted preprint in the cover letter with its DOI. Posting a preprint has no effect on consideration.

11 · Submission

Submitting the manuscript

• Primary route — ManuscriptZone

  The publisher's submission system, which tracks the manuscript through review and carries the correspondence. Open ManuscriptZone

• Alternative route — simple submission form

  A single-page form for a straightforward submission. Open the form with IJSTD selected

• Assisted route — the editorial office

  Where neither route is workable, write to [email protected] and the editorial office will submit on your behalf.

12 · After a decision

Revision, acceptance and production

• Revision. Return a revised manuscript with the changes marked, and a point-by-point response to each reviewer comment saying what was changed and where, or why it was not.
• Acceptance. The article processing charge for the article type falls due on acceptance and is invoiced by the publisher. It has no bearing on the decision, which has already been made.
• Proofs. Check the proof for errors of fact, spelling of names and affiliations, and the accuracy of figures and tables. Substantive rewriting at proof stage is not possible.
• Metadata. Author names, affiliations, ORCID iDs and funding information are deposited with Crossref as they appear in the accepted manuscript, so verify them at proof stage: they are what discovery services and citation trackers will carry.
• Publication. The article is published open access under CC BY 4.0 with a permanent Crossref DOI under the prefix 10.14302, added to the issue that is open, and deposited to Portico for preservation.

13 · Checklist

Submission checklist

• Article type selected, and the manuscript within its word limit
• Title within 150 characters; running head within 50
• Abstract of the required form and length
• Five to eight keywords
• Double-spaced, 12 point, with continuous line numbering
• Tables after the references; figures as separate files at 300 dpi or better
• Every table and figure cited in the text, in order
• References in Vancouver numeric style with DOIs
• Ethics approval, consent and privacy statements in the Methods
• Trial registration details, where applicable
• Completed reporting checklist attached
• Competing interests, funding, contributions and data-availability statements
• Permissions obtained for any reused material
• Identifying information removed, if double-blind review is requested
• Cover letter to the editorial office
• One submission route only

14 · Routes

Where to go next

• Aims and scopeEvery research domain with a worked example, and the boundary.
• Editorial policiesReview, ethics, integrity, corrections and retractions.
• Article processing chargesCharges by article type, and the withdrawal policy.
• Call for papersThe research the journal is inviting now.
• Current issueThe most recent research the journal has published.
• Submit a manuscriptThree routes to one editorial office.