Instructions to Authors

• How We Publish
• Peer Review Process
• Publication and Research Ethics
• Publishing Agreements and Charges
• After Publication
• Manuscript Submission Guide
  • Article Types
    • Original Research
    • Review Article
    • Systematic Review/Meta-Analysis
    • Case Report
    • Commentary
    • Letter and Reply to Letter
    • Expert Opinion
  • Manuscript preparation instructions
• Contact Us

How We Publish

Obesity and Endocrinology is a peer-reviewed fully open access journal publishing 2 issues per year online. All papers published in the Journal are made freely available online under open access publishing agreements, with applicable charges. Please refer to the open access section below.

Once a paper is accepted and the publishing agreement is signed, the Journal will publish the Accepted Manuscript version of the paper (before copyediting and review of the final proof) within one week on the Advance Articles page. Substantial changes to the published Accepted Manuscript may require a correction notice. The Accepted Manuscript will be removed from Advance Access when the Version of Record of the paper (after copyediting and proof review process) is published into the currently open issue. 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

Obesity and Endocrinology is the inter-disciplinary open access online journal for high-quality clinical and translational research and reviews on all aspects of obesity, both in respect to the complexity of obesity as an endocrine disease, and its biology, diagnostics, treatment and relationship with other endocrine and non-endocrine diseases. The journal will also incorporate the interplay between the microbiome and the exposome as well as the sociological, political, and global implications of this complex area.

Submitting to the Journal

Obesity and Endocrinology welcomes cutting-edge studies and research that advances understanding and treatment of obesity. We encourage submissions that challenge conventional wisdom, propose novel hypotheses, and provide fresh insights to be at the forefront. We appreciate your interest in submitting your manuscript to Obesity and Endocrinology and look forward to the opportunity to consider it. Learn more about the benefits of publishing in the Journal here.

Obesity and Endocrinology is an official publication of the European Society of Endocrinology (ESE). To publish the Journal, European Society of Endocrinology partners with Oxford University Press (OUP), a not-for-profit publisher and a department of the University of Oxford. Learn more about how publishing with OUP reinvests in the scholarly community on the OUP Authoring page.

After preparing your manuscript according to the guidance in the Manuscript preparation section, you can submit your work through the Journal’s online submission site. If you have not used our submission site before, you will need to create an account. Additional help and instructions are available on the submissions site as you go through the submission process. More information is available on the ScholarOne Manuscripts FAQ and help page. Please contact us with any questions about submitting your manuscript.

Peer Review Process

The Journal operates single-anonymised 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 assessment by the Journal’s Editor-in-Chief, it will then be passed to a handling editor, who will oversee peer review and recommend a final decision. The Editor-in-Chief makes the final decision on the submitted manuscript.

Editors and reviewers must not handle manuscripts if they have a conflict of interest with an author or the content. Editors make every effort to avoid potential conflicts of interest in the assignment of other editors and peer reviewers. For more information, please see the section on Disclosure of potential conflicts of interest. During the peer review phase, a manuscript is typically sent to two reviewers.

The Journal will not consider author-suggested reviewers.

Statistical methods should be rigorous, and reporting of statistical findings should be accurate and complete. Editors may request an expert statistical review of any submission containing statistical analysis.

For full details about the peer review process, see Fair editing and peer review or OUP author information.

Manuscript transfer

Receiving transfers

The Journal accepts original submissions as well as transfers from the European Journal of Endocrinology (EJE). Reviewer reports may be included in the transfer with reviewer consent. Transferred manuscripts may be sent out for additional peer review, and a decision will be made on the manuscript based on the feedback from all consenting reviewers and the judgment of the editorial team of EJE.

Sending transfers

In some cases, the editorial team of the Journal may offer authors the option of transferring their manuscript to other ESE journals. If the offer is accepted, the manuscript files and any reviewer reports from consenting reviewers will be sent to the receiving journal. The editorial team of receiving journal may choose to seek additional peer review. A decision will be made on the manuscript based on the feedback from all reviewers and the judgment of the receiving journal editorial team.

Screening for misconduct

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

Identity/activity detection

The Journal may use 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 iD profile.

Appeals and complaints

Authors may appeal an editorial decision. To do so, please contact the editorial office ([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 the manuscript in the interim.

To register a complaint regarding non-editorial decisions, the Journal’s policies and procedures, editors, or staff, please contact us. Complaints will be taken seriously and will be carried forward following COPE guidelines and processes and/or sanctions will be enacted if deemed appropriate.

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. For a detailed definition of authorship, please see the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) definitions of authors and contributors.

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 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 office ([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 authors intend to use Read and Publish funding to publish a manuscript under an open access licence, 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 iD

Submitting authors are required to provide an ORCID iD (Open Researcher and Contributor ID) at submission.

All 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 authors do not already have an ORCID iD, they 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 authors have registered with ORCID, they can associate their ORCID iD with their submission system account by going to their account details, entering their ORCID iD, and validating their details. Learn more about ORCID and how to link it to an author account. 

CRediT

The Journal uses the contributor roles taxonomy (CRediT), which allows authors to describe the contributor roles in a standardised, transparent, and accurate way. Authors should choose from the contributor roles outlined on the CRediT website and supply this information upon submission. Authors 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 the manuscript as non-author contributors with their contributions clearly described. Following manuscript submission, any changes to contributor roles require the approval of the editor.

Group Authorship

Groups (also known as corporate, organization, or collective names) who meet authorship criteria should be included in the main author list. Every individual in the group should fully meet the criteria for authorship. At least one individual must be designated on behalf of the group as the primary point of contact during the peer-review and production processes, as well as for correspondence following publication. You may list this individual separately in the main author list if desired. A complete list of the individual members of the group must be included in the manuscript under the Author Contributions heading.

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 on the title page. 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.

The corresponding author must submit a completed and signed International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) disclosure of potential conflicts of interest (COI) form for each author at initial submission. A form must be submitted even if there are no interests to disclose, in which case the disclosure form and manuscript should state “none declared.” In addition, the manuscript must include a concise and accurate summary of any conflicts of interest declared in the ICMJE forms.

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 Editor-in-Chief immediately.

Editors and Editorial Board members

At initial submission, the corresponding author must declare if the Editor-in-Chief, an Editor, or an Editorial Board Member of the Journal is an author of or contributor to the manuscript. Another Editor without a conflict of interest will oversee the peer review and decision-making process. If accepted, a statement will be published in the paper describing how the manuscript was handled.

Previously published material

Authors should only submit a manuscript(s) to the Journal if:

• It is original work by the author and their 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. Authors 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.

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

Preprints

Authors 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 a published paper’s DOI. For full details on allowed channels and updating a preprint, please see our Author self-archiving policy.

Reusing copyrighted material

Authors must obtain permission for any material used within a manuscript for which they 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 the paper in Obesity and Endocrinology
• 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 authors have chosen to publish under an open access licence 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 licence 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 the 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 “behaviours 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.

Human subjects

When reporting on human subjects, authors should indicate whether the procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the Helsinki Declaration, which were developed by the World Medical Association. For non-interventional studies, where ethical approval is not required or where a study has been granted an exemption by an ethics committee, this should be stated within the manuscript with a full explanation. Otherwise, manuscripts must include a statement in the Methods section that the research was performed after approval by a local ethics committee, institutional review board and/or local licencing committee, or that such approval was not required. The name of the authorising body and any reference/permit numbers (where available) should also be stated there. Please be prepared to provide further information to the editorial office upon request.

Human subjects must give written informed consent, or if they are minors or incapacitated, such consent must be obtained from their parents or guardians. Consent forms should cover not only study participation but also the publication of the data collected. Also, any patient or provider information should be anonymised to the extent possible; names and ID numbers should not be used in the text and must be removed from any images (X-rays, photographs, etc.). Please note blanking out an individual’s eyes in a photograph is not an effective way to conceal their identity. In studies where verbal, rather than written, informed consent was obtained, this must be explained and stated within the manuscript. If informed consent is not required or where a study has been granted an exemption, this must be included in the Methods section along with the name of the authorising body. The Journal does not routinely collect consent forms, but authors should be prepared to provide written consent forms signed by the participants or other appropriate documentation to the editorial office upon request. For further guidance and examples, please refer to COPE’s guidance on consent.

Clinical trials

Clinical trials should be registered before enrollment of the first subject in accordance with the criteria outlined by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE). When reporting primary or secondary analyses from a clinical trial, follow these criteria:

• Provide the trial registration number at the end of the Abstract.
• When the trial acronym is first used in the manuscript, provide the registration number and a link to the trial registration, which should be cited as a reference.
• If an author’s data has been deposited in a public repository and/or are being used in a secondary analysis, please state at the end of the Abstract the unique, persistent data set identifier, and repository name and number.
• When submitting the manuscript, authors must disclose any protocol alterations and all posting of results of the submitted work or closely related work in registries.
• In reporting randomized clinical trials, authors must comply with published CONSORT guidelines.
• Complete the recommended checklist and be prepared to provide it to the editorial office upon request.
• Present the recommended trial flow diagram as a figure in the manuscript or as supplementary material.
• If a manuscript reports on a randomized Phase II/III trial, authors must provide a brief description of the statistical plan of the original study that includes the primary and secondary endpoints, power calculation, and sample size.

Where available, registration numbers should be provided not only for the trial authors are reporting but also for any other trial mentioned in the manuscript. When the trial acronym is first used in the manuscript, provide the registration number and a link to the trial registration, which should be cited as a reference. 

Animal subjects

Studies involving animals require approval from the relevant institutional ethics committee or institutional animal use and care committee, and the research must be conducted in accordance with applicable national and international guidelines. All such manuscripts must include a statement in the Methods section providing details of the name of the committee(s) that approved the study, as well as the permit or animal licence numbers where available. Where a study has been granted an exemption, this must be stated in the Methods section along with the name of the authorising body. Please be prepared to provide further information to the editorial office upon request.

ARRIVE guidelines

Authors are encouraged to consult the ARRIVE guidelines recommended by the National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3R).

Euthanasia or anaesthesia methods

Where applicable, any euthanasia or anesthesia methods must be carried out in accordance with applicable veterinary guidelines. These methods must be described in detail in the manuscript.

Laboratory animals

Manuscripts describing research involving laboratory-based animals must include details on housing, husbandry, and steps taken to reduce suffering. In studies where experimental animals were euthanised, details must be provided on humane endpoints. Details on the planned behavioral observations or physiological measurements used to determine the humane endpoint must be described. Authors are advised to consult the NC3Rs guide on Humane Endpoints and the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) Guidelines for the Humane Slaughter of Animals.

C4DISC partnership

The Journal and OUP aim to create a community that fosters diversity, equity, and inclusion. As part of our commitment to these principles, OUP is a proud partner of the Coalition for Diversity & Inclusion in Scholarly Communications (C4DISC). C4DISC works with organisations and individuals within the scholarly communications landscape to foster equity, inclusion, diversity, and accessibility across the publishing industry and its published outputs.

The Journal is proud to adopt the Joint Statement of Principles of C4DISC.

Accessibility

Written, visual, and audio content in the 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. Whenever possible, data should be presented in the main manuscript or additional supporting files 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. 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.

Choosing where to archive your data

Authors are highly encouraged to select a repository that issues DOIs as this helps to facilitate persistent linking to the dataset from the research article. You may refer to online resources such as FAIRsharing.org and re3data.org for lists of data repositories, including information on certification status and services offered.

We suggest you consider these options when choosing your repository:

• Code Ocean (for data and code)
• Dryad Digital Repository
• Figshare
• Harvard Dataverse
• Open Science Framework
• Zenodo

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 the 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 the work on a publicly accessible website or repository. Under certain circumstances, authors may self-archive versions of the work on their own webpages, on institutional webpages, and in other repositories. For information about the Journal's policy, and to learn which version(s) of the 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 licence) and charges carefully.

Publishing agreements

After a manuscript is accepted, authors will be asked to sign a licence to publish through our licencing and payment portal, SciPris. The Journal is fully open access, meaning all papers in the Journal are published under an open access licence. The corresponding author will need to arrange payment of an open access charge to publish in the Journal. This charge allows all published papers to be immediately and freely available to all readers immediately upon online publication. Editorial decisions occur prior to this step and are not influenced by payment or ability to pay.

Papers can be published under the following licence types:

• Creative Commons Attribution licence (CC BY)
• Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial licence (CC BY-NC)

Please see the OUP guidance on Licences, 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 authors are unsure whether they are required to publish open access, they should clarify any such requirements with their funder or institution before selecting a licence. 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 licences and charges. Authors must pay the open access charge or request to use an institutional agreement to pay the open access charge through our licencing and payment portal, SciPris.

• Non-Member Charges for CC BY OA: €2,750
• Non-Member Charges for CC BY-NC OA: €2,750

Waiver policy

Corresponding authors based in countries and regions that are part of the developing countries initiative receive a full waiver of their open access charge. For further details, please see our open access waiver policy.

Colour charges

The Journal does not charge for colour.

Page charges

The Journal does not have page charges.

Member discounts

Corresponding authors who are members of the European Society of Endocrinology (ESE) are eligible for a 50% discount on publication charges. Please provide the member identifier when prompted at the time of manuscript submission.

Open access charge discount:

• Member Charges for CC BY OA: €1,375
• Member Charges for CC BY-NC OA: €1,375

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 Guide

Article types

This journal publishes several different article types:

Original Research—maximum word count: 3,500

Submissions with a word count of up to 8,000 words may be considered at the discretion of the Editor-in-Chief.

Authors are encouraged to follow the relevant reporting guidelines available at https://www.equator-network.org/. The EQUATOR network provides a database of reporting guidelines, aiming to improve the reliability of published health research literature by promoting transparent and accurate reporting.

Authors are encouraged to refer to the checklists provided for the following study designs:

• RECORD or STROBE reporting guidelines for observational studies
• STARD reporting guidelines for diagnostic/prognostic studies
• CONSORT for randomised clinical trials (clinical trials should also be registered at https://clinicaltrials.gov or an appropriate comparable platform, and this should be reported in the Methods section)
• STREGA for genetic association studies.

Each piece should include:

• A separate title page—maximum of 85 characters for title
• Structured Abstract—maximum word count: 250
  • Must use headings: Objective (giving the context of the study), Design, Methods, Results, and Conclusions
  • Avoid abbreviations and references in this section
• Optional Graphical Abstract
• Significance Statement—maximum word count: 120
  • Please provide a significance statement which conveys the main message of the paper, its novelty and its importance to the understanding and management of endocrine disease. The statement should describe your work at a level that would enable a broad audience to understand the significance of the article’s findings.
• Key words—minimum of 4, maximum of 6
• May include tables and figures—up to a combined maximum of 5
• Must include the following back matter sections:
  • Acknowledgements
  • Author contributions (with CReDiT information)
  • Conflicts of interest
  • Funding
  • Data availability
• References—maximum of 35
  • Must be provided in numerical order as cited in the text (AMA style)

Each submission must contain the following sections and use these terms as the section headers:

• Introduction: The introduction should set the study in context by briefly reviewing relevant knowledge of the subject; follow this with a concise statement of the objectives of the study.
• Materials and methods: Provide sufficient information for other workers to repeat the study. If well-established methods are used give a reference to the technique and provide full details of any modifications.
  • Include the source of chemicals, reagents and hormones and give the manufacturer’s name and location (town, country) in parentheses.
  • Give the generic name, dose and route of administration for drugs.
  • Specify the composition of buffers, solutions and culture media.
  • Use SI symbols, give concentrations in mol/L and define the term % as w/v or v/v for all solutions. For international units use IU (U should be used for enzyme activity).
  • Specify the type of equipment (microscopes/objective lenses, cameras, detectors) used to obtain images.
  • Specify any image acquisition software used and give a description of specialized techniques requiring large amounts of processing, such as confocal, deconvolution, 3D reconstructions, or surface and volume rendering.
• Results: The results should read as a narrative leading the reader through the experiments and investigations performed. Referencing and mention of other studies is permitted in the Results section where necessary or helpful.
• Discussion: Should not simply re-state results but should put them in the broader context and highlight the importance and novelty of the work in its concluding section.

Review Article—maximum word count: 3,500

Review Articles are normally by invitation and undergo peer review by experts in the field as for other article types. Authors intending to submit unsolicited reviews should send an outline of the proposed article to the editorial office.

Submissions with a word count of up to 8,000 words may be considered at the discretion of the Editor-in-Chief.

Original summary diagrams and illustrations of proposed models (in colour where appropriate) are encouraged. Line drawings may be redrawn. Boxes can be used to separate detailed explanations and background information from the main part of the text.

The Journal publishes Review Articles under the following categories:

• Endocrinology in obesity
• Mechanisms and basic science
• Translational science
• Prevention and risk factors
• Diagnosis
• Management and Treatment
• Obesity related endocrinopathies and cardiometabolic diseases
• Obesity and Cancer
• Obesity and neuropsychiatric disorders
• Obesity and Pregnancy
• Obesity across the life course

The format of Review Articles is more fluid, but each piece should include:

• A separate title page—maximum of 85 characters for title
• Structured Abstract—maximum word count: 250
  • Must use headings: Objective (giving the context of the study), Design, Methods, Results, and Conclusions
  • Avoid abbreviations and references in this section
• Optional Graphical Abstract
• Significance Statement—maximum word count: 120
  • Please provide a significance statement which conveys the main message of the paper, its novelty and its importance to the understanding and management of endocrine disease. The statement should describe your work at a level that would enable a broad audience to understand the significance of the article’s findings.
• Key words—minimum of 4, maximum of 6
• May include tables and figures—up to a combined maximum of 5
• Must include the following back matter sections:
  • Acknowledgements
  • Author contributions (with CReDiT information)
  • Conflicts of interest
  • Funding
  • Data availability
• References—maximum of 100
  • Must be provided in numerical order as cited in the text (AMA style)

Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis—maximum word count: 3,500

Systematic Reviews aim to systematically review and summarize existing literature for a specific topic in a transparent way. A Systematic Review may or may not include a Meta-Analysis.

Submissions with a word count of up to 8,000 words may be considered at the discretion of the Editor-in-Chief.

Authors are encouraged to follow the relevant reporting guidelines available at https://www.equator-network.org/. The EQUATOR network provides a database of reporting guidelines, aiming to improve the reliability of published health research literature by promoting transparent and accurate reporting.

Authors are encouraged to refer to the checklists provided for the following study designs:

• RECORD or STROBE reporting guidelines for observational studies
• STARD reporting guidelines for diagnostic/prognostic studies
• CONSORT for randomised clinical trials (clinical trials should also be registered at https://clinicaltrials.gov or an appropriate comparable platform, and this should be reported in the Methods section)
• STREGA for genetic association studies.

Each piece should include:

• A separate title page—maximum of 85 characters for title
• Structured Abstract—maximum word count: 250
  • Must use headings: Objective (giving the context of the study), Design, Methods, Results, and Conclusions
  • Avoid abbreviations and references in this section
• Optional Graphical Abstract
• Significance Statement—maximum word count: 120
  • Please provide a significance statement which conveys the main message of the paper, its novelty and its importance to the understanding and management of endocrine disease. The statement should describe your work at a level that would enable a broad audience to understand the significance of the article’s findings.
• Key words—minimum of 4, maximum of 6
• May include tables and figures—up to a combined maximum of 5
• Must include the following back matter sections:
  • Acknowledgements
  • Author contributions (with CReDiT information)
  • Conflicts of interest
  • Funding
  • Data availability
• References—maximum of 100
  • Must be provided in numerical order as cited in the text (AMA style)

Each submission must contain the following sections and use these terms as the section headers:

• Introduction: The introduction should set the study in context by briefly reviewing relevant knowledge of the subject; follow this with a concise statement of the objectives of the study.
• Materials and methods: Provide the PROSPERO Registration number. Provide sufficient and transparent information for the following elements:
  • Eligibility criteria for inclusion
  • Databases searched
  • Data extraction process
  • Risk of bias assessment
  • Statistical analysis
• Results: Provide the following elements:
  • A flow-chart of study’s inclusion
  • Short description of included studies
  • Risk of bias assessment
    • Meta-analyses (if performed)
  • Additional statistical analyses (test for heterogeneity, small sample bias, sensitivity analyses, etc)
• Discussion: Should not simply re-state results but should put them in the broader context and highlight the importance and novelty of the work in its concluding section.

Case Report—maximum word count: 1,500

Case Reports present exceptional novel insights into the pathophysiology, genetics or management of obesity.

Each piece should include:

• A separate title page—maximum of 85 characters for title
• Unstructured Abstract—maximum word count: 150
  • Should provide a description of methods and findings without subheadings
  • Avoid abbreviations and references in this section
• Significance Statement—maximum word count: 120
  • Please provide a significance statement which conveys the main message of the paper, its novelty and its importance to the understanding and management of obesity disease. The statement should describe your work at a level that would enable a broad audience to understand the significance of the article’s findings.
• Key words—minimum of 4, maximum of 6
• May include tables and figures—maximum of 3 figures or tables
• Must include the following back matter sections:
  • Acknowledgements
  • Author contributions (with CReDiT information)
  • Conflicts of interest
  • Funding
  • Data availability
• References—maximum of 10
  • Must be provided in numerical order as cited in the text (AMA style)

The structure of this piece should include:

• Introduction: The introduction should set the study in context by briefly reviewing relevant knowledge of the subject; follow this with a concise statement of the objectives of the study.
• Materials and methods: Provide sufficient information for others to repeat the study. If well-established methods are used, give a reference to the technique and provide full details of any modifications.
• Results: The results should read as a narrative leading the reader through the experiments and investigations performed. Referencing and mention of other studies is permitted in the Results section where necessary or helpful.
• Discussion: Should not simply re-state results but should put them in the broader context and highlight the importance and novelty of the work in its concluding section.

Commentary—maximum word count: 1,200

Commentaries are either commissioned by the editors or submitted after prior agreement with the editors. Commentaries provide comment on an article recently published in the Journal, highlighting the significance of the findings from the perspective of an author who was not part of the paper that is being commented upon.

Each piece should include:

• A separate title page—maximum of 85 characters for title
• Abstract: not required
• Significance Statement—maximum word count: 120
  • Please provide a significance statement which conveys the main message of the paper, its novelty and its importance to the understanding and management of obesity disease. The statement should describe your work at a level that would enable a broad audience to understand the significance of the article’s findings.
• Key words—minimum of 4, maximum of 6
• May include tables and figures—maximum of 1 figure or table
• Must include the following back matter sections:
  • Acknowledgements
  • Author contributions (with CReDiT information)
  • Conflicts of interest
  • Funding
  • Data availability
• References—maximum of 15
  • Must be provided in numerical order as cited in the text (AMA style)

Letter and Reply to Letter—maximum word count: 800

The Journal welcomes Letters from readers offering relevant comments and providing objective and scholarly criticism of recently published articles in the Journal. Contributions should be constructive, professional, and polite. The Journal will only consider submissions pertaining to papers published in the past year. After the initial Letter and Reply to Letter, no further submissions on the same topic will be considered.

At the discretion of the editors, Letters being considered for publication may be sent to the authors of the original article to give them the opportunity to submit a Reply to a Letter. If an author does not submit a Reply to a Letter, the Journal may publish a statement indicating this to readers. To enable readers to evaluate the arguments presented, initial Letters and Replies to Letters are linked to the original article, are typically published online simultaneously, and may be published together in the same issue.

Submitted Letters will undergo an initial assessment by the editors, at which point they may be rejected, sent for revision, or accepted. At the discretion of the editors, Letters may be sent for peer review or may be considered without external peer review. Letters on the same topic or in response to the same article may be grouped, sent to the corresponding author of the original article for reply, and published at the same time. Authors of Letters and Replies to Letters may be asked to complete authorship forms, disclose conflicts of interest, and sign publishing agreements (if accepted), as with any manuscript submitted or published in the Journal. The Journal may request revisions to Letters and Replies to Letters for content, length, clarity, grammar, style, and format.

Each piece should include:

• A separate title page—maximum of 85 characters for title
• Abstract: not required
• Significance Statement—maximum word count: 120
  • Please provide a significance statement which conveys the main message of the paper, its novelty and its importance to the understanding and management of obesity disease. The statement should describe your work at a level that would enable a broad audience to understand the significance of the article’s findings.
• Key words—minimum of 4, maximum of 6
• Must include the following back matter sections:
  • Acknowledgements
  • Author contributions (with CReDiT information)
  • Conflicts of interest
  • Funding
  • Data availability
• References—maximum of 5
  • Must be provided in numerical order as cited in the text (AMA style)

Expert Opinion—maximum word count: 1,200

Expert Opinions are either commissioned by the editors or submitted after prior agreement with the editors.

Each piece should include:

• A separate title page—maximum of 85 characters for title
• Abstract: not required
• Significance Statement—maximum word count: 120
  • Please provide a significance statement which conveys the main message of the paper, its novelty and its importance to the understanding and management of obesity disease. The statement should describe your work at a level that would enable a broad audience to understand the significance of the article’s findings.
• Key words—minimum of 4, maximum of 6
• May include tables and figures—maximum of 1 figure or table
• Must include the following back matter sections:
  • Acknowledgements
  • Author contributions (with CReDiT information)
  • Conflicts of interest
  • Funding
  • Data availability
• References—maximum of 15
  • Must be provided in numerical order as cited in the text (AMA style)

Manuscript preparation instructions

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

Pre-submission language editing

Authors may wish to use a language-editing service before submitting to ensure that editors and reviewers understand the 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. Authors are under no obligation to take up this offer. Language editing is optional and does not guarantee that the manuscript will be accepted. Edited manuscripts will undergo the regular review process of the Journal.

Cover letter

Authors may include a cover letter with their piece.

The cover letter must include:

• Acknowledgments section
• Conflicts of Interest section
• Study Funding information section (if applicable)
• Author contribution (CRediT) section
• Data availability section (if applicable)

Title page

Please include the following:

• The title of the paper (max of 85 characters)
• All full author names, author degrees, and affiliations (including division/department, institute, city, state abbreviation/region, postal/zip code, and country)
• Mailing address (including division/department, institute, full road/street address, city, state abbreviation/region, postal/zip code, and country) and email address of one corresponding author
• Acknowledgments section (if applicable)
• Conflicts of Interest section (if applicable)
• Study Funding information section (if applicable)
• Author contribution (CRediT) section
• Data availability section (if applicable)

Abstracts

Text abstracts must be written in English and must not contain reference citations or abbreviations.

Abstracts for Original Research, Review Articles and Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Articles should be structured (using the headings of Objective, Design, Methods, Results, and Conclusions) and should have a maximum word count of 250.

Abstracts for Case Reports should be unstructured (providing a description of methods and findings without subheadings) and have a maximum word count of 150.

No abstract required for Commentaries, Letters, or Replies to Letters and Expert Opinion.

Graphical abstracts

Authors of Original Research, Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Articles and Review Articles are encouraged to submit a graphical abstract as part of the article, in addition to the text abstract. The graphical abstract should clearly summarise the focus and findings of the article and will be published as part of the article online and in the PDF. The graphical 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. graphical_abstract.tiff. See this page for guidance on appropriate file format and resolution for graphics.

Acknowledgments

Acknowledgments should be clearly labeled and included under a separate subheading at the end of the manuscript.

Study funding

Authors must fully declare all funding information relevant to the study, including specific grant numbers, under a separate subheading at the end of the manuscript. 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.

Style

The journal follows AMA style. Please refer to these requirements when preparing the manuscript. More information on the style guide is available here. UK spelling should be used throughout, except in quotations and in references.

Abbreviations

Please define nonstandard abbreviations at the first occurrence.

Human genotype–phenotype association studies

The journal has adopted the recommendations made by the NCI-NHGRI Working Group on Replication in Association Studies (Nature 447 (7145) 655-660), and authors should adhere to these criteria as listed below.

These criteria are intended for studies of genotype–phenotype associations assessed by genome-wide or candidate-gene approaches:

• Statistical analyses demonstrating the level of statistical significance of a finding should be published or at least available so that others can attempt to reproduce the reported results
• Explicit information should be provided about the study’s power to detect a range of effects
• The study should be epidemiologically sound, with careful accounting for potential biases in selection of subjects, characterization of phenotypes, comparability of environmental exposures (when possible) and underlying population structure in cases and controls
• Phenotypes should be assessed according to standard definitions provided in the report
• Associations should be consistent (within the range of expected statistical fluctuation) and reported for the same phenotypes across study subgroups or across similar phenotypes in the entire study group
• Significance should not depend on altering the quality control methods beyond standard approaches that could change inclusion or exclusion of large numbers of samples or loci
• Measures to assess the quality of genotype data should include results of known study sample duplicates or publicly available samples
• The results for concordance between duplicate samples (if applicable) as well as completion and call rates per SNP and per subject should be disclosed, along with rates of missing data
• A subset of notable SNPs should be evaluated with a second technology that verifies the same result with excellent concordance, because no technology is error-free
• Associations with nearby SNPs in strong linkage disequilibrium with the putatively associated SNP should be reported (and should be similar)
• The results of replication studies of previous findings should be reported even if the results are not significant
• Testing for differences in underlying population structure in case and control groups should be performed and reported
• Appropriate correction for multiple comparisons across all statistical tests examined should be reported. Comparison to genome-wide thresholds should be described. Similarly, for Bayesian approaches, the choice of prior probabilities should be described

Gene and protein nomenclature

Wherever possible, manuscripts must be prepared in accordance with approved gene nomenclature.

• In gene and protein symbols, substitute Greek letters with the corresponding roman letter, eg TGFBR2 not TGFβR2
• Avoid hyphens unless they are part of the approved symbol, eg IGF1 not IGF-1
• Use Arabic rather than Roman numerals, eg BMPR2 not BMPRII

Follow species-specific formatting standards as follows:

Humans, non-human primates and domestic species

• Gene symbols should be in italics with all letters capitalised, eg SOX2
• Protein designations should be the same as the gene symbols but not italicised, eg SOX2
• Please use symbols approved by the HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)

Mice and rats

• Gene symbols should be in italics with only the first letter capitalised, eg Sox2
• Protein designations should be the same as the gene symbols except that all letters should be capitalised and in roman (ie not italicised), eg SOX2
• Please use symbols approved by the International Committee on Standardized Genetic Nomenclature for Mice and the Rat Genome and Nomenclature Committee, which can be queried at the MGI website

Statistical analysis

It is the author’s responsibility to document that the results are reproducible and that the differences found are not due to random variation. No absolute rules can be applied but, in general, quantitative data should be from no fewer than three replicate experiments. Appropriate statistical methods should be used to test the significance of differences in results. The term ‘significant’ should not be used unless statistical analysis was performed, and the probability value used to identify significance (eg P < 0.05) should be specified.

When several t-tests are employed, authors should be aware that nominal probability levels no longer apply. Accordingly, the multiple t-test, multiple range test, or similar techniques to permit simultaneous comparisons should be employed. Also, in lieu of using several t-tests, it is often more appropriate to utilize an analysis of variance (ANOVA) to permit pooling of data, increase the number of degrees of freedom, and improve reliability of results. Authors should use appropriate nonparametric tests when the data depart substantially from a normal distribution.

In presenting results of linear regression analyses, it is desirable to show 95% confidence limits. When data points are fitted with lines, specify the method used for fitting (graphical, least squares, computer program). If differences in slopes and/or axis intercepts are claimed for plotted lines, these should be supported by statistical analysis.

Give sufficient details of the experimental design and analysis so that the reader can assess their adequacy and validity for testing the hypotheses of interest.  In particular:

• Describe the numbers of experimental units used and the way in which they have been allocated to treatments
• Justify the omission of any observations from the analysis
• Describe methods of analysis precisely and state any necessary assumptions, as these may affect the conclusions that can be drawn from the experiment 

Tables

Authors must number all tables (e.g., table 1, table 2, table 3) and reference them within the text in chronological order. Tables should be concise and supplied in an editable format (such as Microsoft Word), and not embedded as an image file. Authors must place all tables at the end of the main text. Avoid excessive formatting such as the use of colour and shading (which are not replicated in the published web version) and the use of tabbed spacing to indicate alignment. Ensure that any formatting or superscript symbols such as asterisks are explained in the table footnote. Provide units in column or row headers, rather than in the table body.

Figures

Figures should be submitted in one of the following file formats: .jpeg, .jpg, .png, .tiff, .pdf, or .eps. Images prepared as .bmp, .gif, or .doc/.docx files will not be accepted. Authors must include figure titles, legends, and captions within the manuscript file; they should not be included in the image files.

Figure files should be named simply to match their citation (e.g., fig1.tiff, fig2.eps). Authors must submit each figure as a single individual image file. Submit all panels of a multi-panel figure as one single figure file. Each panel should be labelled with a single capital letter (e.g., A, B, C, D – no brackets or periods) in the upper-left corner of each panel. Please also ensure that authors have permission to re-use or adapt any third-party image materials.

Images of maps, charts, graphs, shapes, and diagrams are best rendered digitally as geometric forms called vector graphics. Vector images use mathematical relationships between points and the lines connecting them to describe an image. Because these file types do not use pixels, resolution does not apply to vector images. Save vector images as .eps, or .pdf files and embed the fonts.

Images of photographs, paintings, or scans can be provided as raster images. Raster images should be saved as uncompressed .tiff files to avoid quality loss; .jpg/.png file formats are acceptable for raster images but may result in a lower resolution. The resolution of raster files is measured by the number of dots or pixels in a given area, referred to as “dpi” or “ppi.”

• Minimum resolution required for colour half-tones: 300dpi
• Minimum resolution for grayscale half-tones: 600dpi
• Minimum resolution for combination half-tones and line art: 600-900dpi
• Minimum resolution for monochrome line art (complex or finely drawn): 1200dpi

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

Digital image integrity

No specific feature within an image may be enhanced, obscured, moved, removed, or introduced. The groupings of images from different parts of the same gel, or from different gels, fields or exposures must be made explicit by the arrangement of the figure (eg using dividing lines) and in the text of the figure legend. Adjustments of brightness, contrast, or colour balance are acceptable if and as long as they do not obscure or eliminate any information present in the original. Nonlinear adjustments (eg changes to gamma settings) must be disclosed in the figure legend. Adjustments should be applied to the entire image. Threshold manipulation, expansion or contraction of signal ranges and the altering of high signals should be avoided.

Microscopy images

Microscope images should be made available to referees in images that are at least 300 dpi at the size which they will be published. 'Pseudo-colouring' and nonlinear adjustment (for example 'gamma changes') are only allowed if unavoidable and must be disclosed.

Digital image guidelines

Recognizing that the inappropriate use of computer software for digital image analysis and processing can raise concerns, the journal has produced the following requirements for the representation of research data:

• No specific feature within an image may be enhanced, obscured, moved, removed, or introduced
• Adjustments of brightness, contrast, or colour balance are acceptable if and as long as they do not obscure or eliminate any information present in the original. Any such adjustments should be applied to the entire image
• Threshold manipulation, expansion or contraction of signal ranges and the altering of high signals should be avoided
• The legend to a digital image should state if and what digital modifications were applied

The following guidelines apply to digital images that that result from gel electrophoresis and blotting procedures: 

• Band intensity should be quantified from several independent experiments. If only a "typical" experiment is shown in the figure, authors should be prepared to provide unprocessed images of gels or blots at the request of the Editor-in-Chief.
• Extensively cropped images are not acceptable. Images can be cropped to enhance clarity of presentation, but should always contain at least two markers (one with a smaller, one with a larger molecular size than the band of interest) with their molecular sizes indicated.
• Producing spliced images by combining lanes from gels or blots from different experimental runs should be avoided. A lane containing markers should be on the same gel for each run. If spliced images are presented, the vertical lanes obtained from gels or blots from different experimental runs should be clearly demarcated with lines.
• As the validity of immunoblots relies heavily on antibody specificity, an appropriate control (tissue from knockout mice or protein knockdown in cell lines) must be included, or alternatively a reference should be given in the methods section referring to such a control (Saper 2009; Burry 2011).
• The reuse of images of loading controls from other experiments or previous publications is unacceptable.

LaTeX

Information on LaTeX files and formatting is available. For authors preparing their manuscripts using LaTeX, Overleaf RASTI LaTeX class files are available; these simulate the appearance of the journal page. Authors are encouraged to use these, although papers prepared using other class files can also be accepted.

References

Authors are responsible for the accuracy of their reference information. All references cited in the text must be included in the reference list and vice versa. However, if a reference consists of only a web address do not include it in the reference list but cite it in the text, giving the date the page was accessed. References should be provided in numerical order as cited in the text (AMA style). Style files for the AMA reference manager are available here.

Supplementary material

Authors 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. Supplemental methods, results, tables and figures should be submitted as a single file, wherever possible, and labelled 'Supplemental File for Review' upon submission.

• 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).
• 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.

Online capabilities

Teaser text

Authors of Original Research, Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Articles and Review article types are required to submit teaser text as part of the article, in addition to the main text abstract. The teaser text should be a brief promotional text intended to entice the reader to click through to the article and will be published as part of the article online. The teaser text should be submitted for peer review as part of the main manuscript file, under the heading ‘Teaser text’, before the article’s main text. The teaser text should be no longer than 200 words. As with a main abstract, avoid citations and define any abbreviations. 

Lay summaries

Authors of Original Research, Reviews, Systematic Review/Meta-Analysis and Case Reports are encouraged to submit a lay summary as part of the article, in addition to the main text abstract. The lay summary should clearly summarise the focus and findings of the article for non-expert readers and will be published as part of the article online and in the PDF. The lay summary should be submitted for peer review as part of the main manuscript file, under the heading ‘Lay summary’, before the article’s main text. The lay summary should be no longer than 200 words. As with a main abstract, avoid citations and define any abbreviations. 

Featured images

Authors of Original Research, Reviews, and Systematic Review/Meta-Analysis articles are encouraged to submit a featured image, also known as a teaser image or TOC image, as part of the article. The featured image may be a figure selected from the article or an image not included in the article itself. It is presented under the article title in the online Table of Contents (or Advance Article listing) to entice the reader to click through to the article. The featured image can be submitted 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. featured_image.tiff. See this page for guidance on appropriate file format and resolution for graphics. The author should indicate in the submission system which image (if any) should be presented as the featured image for their article.

Video abstracts

Authors of Original Research, Reviews, and Systematic Review/Meta-Analysis articles are encouraged to submit a video abstract as part of the article, in addition to the text abstract. The video abstract should clearly summarise 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

Obesity and Endocrinology supports Open Science Badges to acknowledge open science practices. These badges are offered as incentives to share data and materials and preregister research, and signal to the reader that the content has been made available in a persistent location. These badges will feature in the published article. When submitting a manuscript, authors should indicate the desired badge, and include a completed Open Science Badge application form and eligibility will be confirmed upon acceptance.

The four badges are as follows:

• Open Materials Badge: This will be granted to authors who deposit research materials needed to reproduce the reported procedure and analysis in an Open Access repository; for example, the Open Science Framework (for other repositories please consult the Registry of Research Data Repositories). 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 will be awarded to 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 for Open Data Badges can be found here, and a link to the deposited data should be included in the paper.
• Preregistered Badge: This is awarded for having a preregistered design. A preregistered design includes: (1) Description of the research design and study materials including planned sample size, (2) Description of motivating research question or hypothesis, (3) Description of the outcome variable(s), and (4) Description of the predictor variables including controls, covariates, independent variables (conditions). When possible, the study materials themselves are included in the preregistration. More information on Preregistered Badges can be found here. 
• Preregistered Plus Analysis Plan Badge: This is awarded for having a preregistered research design (described above) and an analysis plan for the research and reporting results according to that plan. An analysis plan includes specification of the variables and the analyses that will be conducted. More information on Preregistered Plus Analysis Plan Badges can be found here.

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

Contact Us

For questions regarding submission and review, including appeals, authors can reach the editorial office by email at [email protected].

After a paper has been sent to production, authors can contact [email protected] for questions regarding the production process or publication. Please see the Changes to Published Papers section if authors need to request a substantive correction to a published paper.