HJOG is the official quarterly journal of the Hellenic Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology. Original research, reports, editorials, reviews, case reports and commentaries on obstetrics and gynecology-focused topics are welcome. All the authors are jointly responsible for the contents of the paper and sign together the Authorship Responsibility, Financial Disclosure and Acknowledgment form. The list of authors should not exceed six; otherwise the participation of those exceeding this numbers should be justified accordingly.
Submission of Papers
General Information
The official language of HJOG is English. Authors whose native language is not English should review and edit their manuscripts by a native English speaker prior to submission.
Peer review
HJOG journal uses a single anonymized review process. All studies are initially evaluated by the editor for suitability for the journal. Contributions that are found suitable are typically sent to independent expert reviewers to assess the scientific quality of the paper. The Editor is responsible for the final decision regarding acceptance or rejection of articles. The editors reserve the right to reject submitted manuscripts without peer review if the studies are not novel or important enough to merit publication in the journal.
The following should be included in the case of clinical studies:
The authors should state that the research was conducted according to the principles as have set forth by the Helsinki Declaration of 1975 (World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki: recommendations guiding physicians in biomedical research involving human subjects. JAMA 1997;277:925-6). The editors assume that a manuscript submitted by members of an institution has the approval of the requisite authority.
In the studies that involve human subjects, a statement-approval from the appropriate human ethics committee or scientific committee of the centre should be obtained prior to the onset of the study and this should be stated in the manuscript. If requested by the journal editors, the author(s) must provide copies of the appropriate documentation. In case of studies that are exempt from an Institutional Review Board Approval an explanation should be provided in the Materials and Methods section of the study.
A statement approval of the competent scientific committee of the centre in which the research work was carried out, pertaining to the protocol of the perspective studies, should be included in the cover letter as well.
In the case of the experimental studies on animals a statement should be made that the paper has adhered to the international guidelines for research involving animals, which has been recommended by the WHO, stating that “all research on animals was conducted in accordance with guidelines tendered by international law”.
Informed consent and patient details
Studies that use patient data or volunteers require ethics committee approval and informed consent, which should be documented in the paper. Appropriate consents, permissions and releases must be obtained where an author wishes to include case details or other personal information or images of patients. Written consents must be retained by the author however it is not required to submit copies to the journal.
The privacy rights of human subjects must always be observed. If the work involves the use of human subjects, the author should ensure that the work described has been carried out in accordance with The Code of Ethics of the World Medical Association (Declaration of Helsinki) for experiments involving humans. The manuscript should be in line with the Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals and aim for the inclusion of representative human populations (sex, age and ethnicity) as per those recommendations. The terms sex and gender should be used correctly.
Conflicts of interest
Disclosures of any conflicts of interest related to the subject of the study within the past 3 years should be clearly stated in the cover letter and an appropriate section that has to be placed in a separate section prior to reference list, that should specifically state the following:
Disclosure of conflicts of interest: (If none state “The author(s) report no conflicts of interest).
Funding: (If none state “No funding”)
Declaration of generative AI in scientific writing
The below guidance only refers to the writing process, and not to the use of AI tools to analyse and draw insights from data as part of the research process.
Where authors use generative artificial intelligence (AI) and AI-assisted technologies in the writing process, authors should only use these technologies to improve readability and language. Applying the technology should be done with human oversight and control, and authors should carefully review and edit the result, as AI can generate authoritative-sounding output that can be incorrect, incomplete or biased. AI and AI-assisted technologies should not be listed as an author or co-author, or be cited as an author. Authorship implies responsibilities and tasks that can only be attributed to and performed by humans. Authors should disclose in their manuscript the use of AI and AI-assisted technologies in the writing process by following the instructions below. A statement will appear in the published work. Please note that authors are ultimately responsible and accountable for the contents of the work.
Submission declaration
The authors must guarantee that the submitted work has not been published or is actively being considered for publication in another journal. Submitted manuscripts must differ substantially from previous published works. Published papers must not be published elsewhere in the same form, in English or in any other language, including electronically without the written consent of HJOG. Work that is already publicly available in a substantially similar form will not be considered for publication in HJOG and inappropriate acts (including fabrication, falsification, plagiarism, repetitive publication, obfuscation of significant research results, violating requirements for experimentation with human subjects or animals, failing to comply with authorship requirements and failing to report significant conflicts of interest) will be evaluated by the editorial board of the journal and referred to the sponsoring Institution.
Quality assurance procedures are carried out for plagiarism, duplicate publication and gifted authorship issues and for manuscripts submitted by members of the Editorial Board or the reviewers of the journal. Quality assurance procedures are also carried out for pending reviewed or revised manuscripts to ensure for correspondence failure.
Decision to retract papers that fall within these inappropriate acts will be taken from the editorial board of HJOG following evaluation of the information provided by the sponsoring Institution. In case of sponsoring from multiple Institutions, authors will be asked to identify the lead that will handle potential allegations.
Authors contributions
Authorship requirements must conform to the Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals designed by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors ((http://www.icmje.org).
Inclusion of authors is qualified when their contribution is active in at least two of the following fields: i) concept or design of the study, ii) analysis or interpretation of data, iii) drafting or revision of the manuscript. Approval of the final version of the manuscript is a pre-requisite for submission in HJOG and an appropriate statement must accompany the Cover Letter.
Changes to authorship
Authorship changes must be requested before publication of an article in an online issue. Requests for the addition, removal and re-arrangement of authors should be sent to the Submission Manager from the corresponding author with an appropriate statement which must state the reason. Agreement will be requested by all authors following evaluation of the request by the Editorial Board.
Copyright Transfer
Papers published in HJOG constitute copyright ownership of the manuscript to the Hellenic Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology (HSOG). Thus any reproduction and/or copying of submitted manuscript is allowed only after consent of the Editor of the Journal.
Procedure
The corresponding author is informed for receipt of the manuscript and number of registration. The manuscripts are initially checked whether they have been written and submitted according to the instructions of the journal (instructions to authors). Manuscripts which do not meet the requirements are returned to the corresponding author for corrections.
The final decision for acceptance of the manuscript lies on the Editorial Board that decides for approval, or return of manuscript for supplementary information, and subsequently decision for re-approval or final rejection of the manuscript. As soon as the paper is accepted and has been allotted final publication, a proof is dispatched to the authors for final checking.
Article types
- Reviews: maximum 4,000 words, 50 references, 6 tables or figures, Abstract up to 300 words.
- Original Articles: maximum 3,000 words, 30 references, 6 tables or 6 figures, Abstract up to 200 words.
- Case Reports: maximum 1,500 words, 10 references and 6 tables or figures, Abstract up to 100 words.
- Letter to the Editor: maximum 600 words, 5 references,1 table or figure.
Article structure
Divide your article into clearly defined sections. Any subsection may be given a brief heading. Each heading should appear on its own separate line.
- Introduction: State the objectives of the work and provide an adequate background, avoiding a detailed literature survey or a summary of the results.
- Material and Methods: Provide sufficient detail to allow the work to be reproduced. Methods already published should be indicated by a reference: only relevant modifications should be described. Statistical methods may be included in the Material and Methods section.
- Results: Results should be clear and concise.
- Discussion: This should explore the significance of the results of the work, not repeat them. Avoid extensive citations and discussion of published literature.
- Conclusions: The main conclusions of the study may be presented in a short conclusions section, which may stand alone, or form a subsection of the Discussion section.
Title page information
- Title: Concise and informative. Titles are often used in information-retrieval systems. Avoid abbreviations and formulae where possible.
- Author names and affiliations: Where the family name may be ambiguous (e.g., a double name), please indicate this clearly. Present the authors’ affiliation addresses (where the actual work was done) below the names. Indicate all affiliations with a lower-case superscript letter immediately after the author’s name and in front of the appropriate address. Provide the full postal address of each affiliation, including the country name and the e-mail address of each author.
- Corresponding author: Clearly indicate who will handle correspondence at all stages of refereeing and publication. Ensure that phone numbers (with country and area code) are provided in addition to the e-mail address and the complete postal address. Contact details must be kept up to date by the corresponding author.
- Abstract: A concise and factual abstract is required. An abstract is often presented separately from the article, so it must be able to stand alone. For this reason, references should be avoided. Also, non-standard or uncommon abbreviations should be avoided, but if essential they must be defined at their first mention in the abstract itself. Abstracts should be structured to include items of Introduction, Material and Methods, Results and Conclusions.
- Keywords: Immediately after the abstract, provide a maximum of 6 keywords, using American spelling and avoiding general and plural terms and multiple concepts (avoid, for example, ‘and’, ‘of’). Be spa-ring with abbreviations: only abbreviations firmly established in the field may be eligible. These keywords will be used for indexing purposes.
Abbreviations
In the main text, abbreviation should be detailed at their first mention. Ensure consistency of abbreviations throughout the article.
Acknowledgements
Collate acknowledgements in a separate section at the end of the article before the reference list. List here those individuals who provided assistance during the research.
Math formulae
Present simple formulae in the line of normal text where possible and use the solidus (/) instead of a horizontal line for small fractional terms, e.g., X/Y. In principle, variables are to be presented in italics. Number consecutively any equations that have to be displayed separately from the text (if referred to explicitly in the text).
Footnotes
Footnotes should be used sparingly. Number them consecutively throughout the article, using superscript Arabic numbers. Many word processors build footnotes into the text, and this feature may be used. Should this not be the case, indicate the position of footnotes in the text and present the footnotes themselves separately at the end of the article. Do not include footnotes in the reference list.
Table footnotes indicate each footnote in a table with a superscript lowercase letter.
Image manipulation
Whilst it is accepted that authors sometimes need to manipulate images for clarity, manipulation for purposes of deception or fraud will be seen as scientific ethical abuse and will be dealt with accordingly. For graphical images, this journal is applying the following policy: no specific feature within an image may be enhanced, obscured, moved, removed, or introduced. Adjustments of brightness, contrast, or color balance are acceptable if and as long as they do not obscure or eliminate any information present in the original.
Electronic artwork
Formats and General points
- Make sure you use Microsoft Office application (Word, PowerPoint, Excel)
- Font 12 uniformly in your manuscript.
- Double-spacing
- 3-cm margins
- Page numbers
- Ensure tables and figures are cited. Number the tables and illustrations according to their sequence in the text. Submit each table and illustration as a separate file.
- Save the images to one of the following formats (note the resolution requirements for line drawings, halftones, and line/halftone combinations given below): PDF or JPEG. Keep to a minimum of 300 dpi Vector drawings, embed all used fonts. Graphics downloaded from Web pages are NOT acceptable. Submit multi-panel figures, ie with parts labeled a,b,c,d, as one file
- Use International Systems of Units (SI) symbols and recognized abbreviations for units of measurement
- Do not punctuate abbreviations eg, et al, ie
- Spell out acronyms in the first instance in the abstract and paper
- Generic drug names are used in title, text, tables, and figures
- Suppliers of drugs, equipment, and other brand-name material are credited in parentheses (company, name, city, state, country)
- If molecular sequences are used, provide a statement that the data have been deposited in a publicly accessible database, eg, GenBank, and indicate the database accession number
- Depositing laboratory protocols on protocols.io is encouraged, where a DOI can be assigned to the protocol.
Please do not:
- Supply files that are optimized for screen use (e.g., GIF, BMP, PICT, WPG); these typically have a low number of pixels and limited set of colors;
- Supply files that are too low in resolution;
- Submit graphics that are disproportionately large for the content.
Figure legends
Figures should be numbered consecutively with Arabic numerals, in the order in which they appear in the text. Ensure that each illustration has a legend. Supply legends separately, not attached to the figure. A legend should comprise a brief title (not on the figure itself) and a description of the illustration. Keep text in the illustrations themselves to a minimum but explain all symbols and abbreviations used. Figure legends should be mentioned after the reference list.
Tables
Number tables consecutively in accordance with their appearance in the text. Avoid vertical rules. Be sparing in the use of tables and ensure that the data presented in tables do not duplicate results described elsewhere in the article. Place abbreviations immediately below the table and use superscript a, b, c… as identifiers
Supplementary data
Supplementary data should be kept to 4 typeset pages or 2,400 words. If you have more than this you should provide a link to the supplementary data on an external website, your institute’s website for example. We welcome video files either as supplementary data or as part of the actual manuscript to show operations, procedures, etc.
References
Citation in text
Please ensure that every reference cited in the text is also present in the reference list. Unpublished results and personal communications are not recommended in the reference list, but may be mentioned in the text. If these references are included in the reference list, they should follow the standard reference style of the journal and should include a substitution of the publication date with either ‘Unpublished results’ or ‘Personal communication’. Citation of a reference as ‘in press’ implies that the item has been accepted for publication
Web references
As a minimum, the full URL should be given and the date when the reference was last accessed. Any further information, if known (DOI, author names, dates, reference to a source publication, etc.), should also be given. Web references will be included in the reference list.
Reference style
Text: Indicate references by number(s) in square brackets in line with the text. For up to six authors, all should be listed; for more than six authors, only the first three should be listed followed by “et al”.
List: Number the references in the list in the order in which they appear in the text. Note shortened form for last page number, e.g., 151-9.
Reference to a journal publication: Van der Geer J, Hanraads JAJ, Lupton RA. The art of writing a scientific article. J SciCommun 2000;163:51–9.
Reference to a book: Strunk Jr W, White EB. The elements of style. 3rd ed. New York: Macmillan; 1979.
Reference to a chapter in a book: Mettam GR, Adams LB. How to prepare an electronic version of your article. In: Jones BS, Smith RZ, editors. Introduction to the electronic age, New York: E-Publishing Inc; 1999, p. 281–304.
For further details you are referred to “Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts submitted to Biomedical Journals”(J Am Med Assoc 1997;277:927-934)-(see also http://www.nlm.nih.gov/bsd/uniform_requirements.html).
Paper type definitions
Case report
In medicine, a case report is a detailed report of the symptoms, signs, diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up of an individual patient. Case reports may contain a demographic profile of the patient, but usually describe an unusual or novel occurrence. Some case reports also contain a literature review of other reported cases.
Case series
More than 1 case report. A case series (also known as a clinical series) is a medical research descriptive study that tracks patients with a known exposure given similar treatment or examines their medical records for exposure and outcome.
It can be retrospective or prospective and usually involves a smaller number of patients than more powerful case-control studies or randomized controlled trials. Case series may be consecutive or non-consecutive, depending on whether all cases presenting to the reporting authors over a period were included, or only a selection.
Commentary
Short, decisive observations and findings that generally relate to a contemporary issue, such as recent research findings, but can also include the discussion of difficulties and possible solutions in a field of research.
Editorial
An opinion piece written by the senior editorial staff or publisher. Editorials may be supposed to reflect the opinion of the journal. Guest Editorials may only be submitted when an Editor-in-Chief has approached the author to write one directly. Regular submissions cannot be made as Editorial pieces.
Erratum
Correction to an error in published paper; due to publisher’s error.
Expert opinion
Where experts in their field can promote rigorous research that makes a significant contribution to advancing knowledge.
Hypothesis
A hypothesis (plural hypotheses) is a proposed explanation for a phenomenon. For a hypothesis to be a scientific hypothesis, the scientific method requires that one can test it. Scientists generally base scientific hypotheses on previous observations that cannot satisfactorily be explained with the available scientific theories.
Letter to the editor
Letters to the Editor will be considered for publication that are pertinent to articles recently published in HJOG. Please ensure that your letter is addressed to the appropriate Editor-in-Chief of the journal concerned. All letters should be received within 30 days of the published paper appearing in journal. Word count should not exceed 500 words of text and 5 references, 1 of which should be to the recent article, and no more than 3 cited authors. The text should include the full name, academic degrees, and a single institutional affiliation for each author and the e-mail address for the corresponding author. Letters should not duplicate other material published or submitted for publication and should not include unpublished data. Letters not meeting these specifications are generally not considered for publication.
Meeting Report
Meeting report focus on developments presented at the meeting, particularly any new research discoveries. The abstract of the Meeting Report should be short and unstructured giving the name, location (city and state or country) and dates, as well as an indication of the meeting. The body of the article can have subsections with short headings. If speakers are mentioned please provide their full name, institution, city and country. There should be a maximum word count of 2500 words. A reference list should not be included. If abstracts are published from the meeting a URL should be included of where these can be found.
Original research
Reports data from original research, in which the conclusions drawn from data collected, show a major advance in understanding an important issue. Original research is the results of a study written by the researchers who did the study.
Photo Essays
A Photo Essay should focus on the visual aspects of the topic presented. The photos should be self-explanatory of very high quality. Photographs can be of clinical subjects, laboratory results (eg, slides, scans, magnetic resonance images, ultrasonograms) and therapeutic procedures. A Photo Essay should not exceed 300 words and should have no more than 10 references. The number of photographs is limited to 10, with a limit of 60 words for each legend.
Rapid communication
Same as a Short report.
Retraction
In science, a retraction of a published scientific article indicates that the original article should not have been published and that its data and conclusions should not be used as part of the foundation for future research. The most common reasons for the retraction of articles are scientific misconduct including plagiarism, serious errors, and duplicate/concurrent publishing (self-plagiarism).
Review
A review article is an article that summarizes the current state of understanding on a topic. A review article surveys and summarizes previously published studies, rather than reporting new facts or analysis.
Study protocol
A study protocol describes in detail the plan for conducting a specific clinical study and explains the purpose and function of the study as well as how to carry it out.
Submission of manuscripts
o All manuscripts should be submitted via our website
o By doing so you agree to the terms and conditions of submission
o Keep a backup and hard copies of the material submitted