Journal of Evidence-Based Practice (J Evid-Based Pract) is the official scientific journal of the Korean Society of Evidence-Based Medicine. The abbreviated title is "J Evid-Based Pract". It is published in English two times a year on the last day of March and September.
J Evid-Based Pract aims to present 1) Original evidence-based research on important issues in healthcare, 2) Methods, tools, and concepts essential for evidence-based medicine (EBM), education and practice,3) Perspectives, debates, analyses, and opinions on reliable evidence and related topics in evidence-based medicine.
The Editor assumes that all authors listed in a manuscript have agreed with the following policy of the J Evid-Based Pract on submission of manuscript. Except for the negotiated secondary publication, the manuscript submitted to the J Evid-Based Pract must be previously unpublished and not be under consideration for publication elsewhere. Under any circumstances, the identities of the referees will not be revealed. All published manuscripts become the permanent property of the Korean Society of Evidence-Based Medicine (KSEBM) and may not be published elsewhere without written permission. J Evid-Based Pract adheres completely to guidelines and best practices published by professional organizations, including Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals (http://www.icmje.org/icmje-recommendations.pdf) from ICMJE and Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing (joint statement by COPE, DOAJ, WAME, and OASPA; http://doaj.org/bestpractice) if otherwise not described below.
Manuscripts submitted to J Evid-Based Pract should present evidence-based research on important healthcare issues or contribute to the education and advancement of evidence-based medicine (EBM). Submissions must be unique, creative, and contribute meaningfully to the field. The journal accepts various types of manuscripts, including editorials, original articles, reviews, systematic review, clinical trial, clinical practice guideline, case reports, and letters to the editor.
J Evid-Based Pract publishes articles in English. Spellings should abide by American spellings. Medical terminology should be written based on the most recent edition of Dorland’s Illustrated Medical Dictionary. Accepted manuscripts are requested to be proofread by professional English editors.
In addition to members of Korean Society of Evidence-Based Medicine, any researcher throughout the world can submit a manuscript if the scope of the manuscript is appropriate. Authors are requested to submit their papers to ksebm.office@gmail.com via e-mail. Final revisions by authors should be submitted within 1 week of the request.
Data sharing is encouraged by the J Evid-Based Pract, but a Data Availability Statement will be required and published with the manuscript. Authors will be provided the following options during submission or may use a draft of their own.
A preprint can be defined as a version of a scholarly paper that precedes formal peer review and publication in a peer-reviewed scholarly journal. J Evid-Based Pract allows authors to submit a manuscript that have been posted on preprint platform to the journal. It is not treated as duplicate submission or duplicate publication. J Evid-Based Pract recommend authors to disclose it with only single DOI during the submission process. Otherwise, it may be screened from the plagiarism check program — Similarity Check (iThenticate).
Preprint submission will be processed through the usual peer-review process. In addition, the preprint's history will be tracked by additional independent editor, with an emphasis on the posting procedure and format.
If the manuscript with preprint is accepted for publication, authors are recommended to update the information at the preprint platform with a link to the published article in J Evid-Based Pract, including DOI at J Evid-Based Pract. It is strongly recommended that authors cite the article in J Evid-Based Pract instead of the preprint.
Moreover, J Evid-Based Pract does not permit referencing a preprint as a reference unless there is an exceptional circumstance that the authors can justify.
If the authors of a submitted article differ from those of the preprint, the authors must explain the change in authorship and demonstrate that it complies with ICMJE recommendations.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) programs (e.g. ChatGPT or other similar software) cannot be considered as authors of submitted manuscripts because they do not meet the requirements for authorship. For instance, they cannot understand the role of authors or take responsibility for the content of the paper. Additionally, AI cannot meet the authorship criteria set by organizations such as the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE). This includes having the ability to give final approval for publication and being accountable for the accuracy and integrity of the work.
Furthermore, AI lacks the capacity to comprehend a conflict of interest statement, and cannot legally sign such a statement. Additionally, AI does not have independent affiliation from its creators, nor can it hold copyright.
Therefore, when submitting a paper, authors should not include AI as authors but rather acknowledge the use of AI and provide transparent information about how it was used in writing the manuscript. As the field of AI is rapidly evolving, authors using AI should declare this fact and provide specific technical details about the AI model used, including its name, version, source, and the method of application in the paper. This is in line with the ICMJE recommendation of acknowledging writing assistance.
J Evid-Based Pract has no author submission fees or other publication-related charges. All publication costs are supported by the publisher. J Evid-Based Pract is a platinum open access journal that does not charge author fees.
The J Evid-Based Pract owns copyrights of all published materials. On behalf of the co-author(s), the corresponding author must complete and submit the journal’s copyright transfer agreement, which includes a section on the disclosure of potential conflicts of interest based on the recommendations of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors, “Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals”. A copy of the form is made available to the submitting author within the online manuscript submission process. It is possible to republish manuscripts if ONLY the manuscripts satisfy the condition of secondary publication of the Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals, available at: http://www.icmje.org
J Evid-Based Pract is an Open Access journal accessible for free on the Internet. Accepted peer-reviewed articles are freely available on the journal website for any user, worldwide, immediately upon publication without additional charge.
For the policies on research and publication ethics, the “Good Publication Practice Guidelines for Medical Journals” (https://www.kamje.or.kr/board/view?b_name=bo_publication&bo_id=13) or the “Ethical Guidelines on Good Publication” (http://publicationethics.org/resources/guidelines) or “Ethical Considerations in the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors” (http://www.icmje.org/recommendations) are applied.
The corresponding author is required to summarize all authors’ conflict of interest disclosures. The disclosure form shall be same with ICMJE Uniform Disclosure Form for Potential Conflicts of Interest (www.icmje.org/conflicts-of-interest). A conflict of interest may exist when an author (or the author’s institution or employer) has financial or personal relationships or affiliations that could influence (or bias) the author’s decisions, work, or manuscript. All authors should disclose their conflicts of interest, i.e., (1) financial relationships (such as employment, consultancies, stock ownership, honoraria, paid expert testimony), (2) personal relationships, (3) academic competition, and (4) intellectual passion. These conflicts of interest must be included as a footnote on the title page or in the Acknowledgements section.
All funding sources should be declared on the title page or in the Acknowledgements section at the end of the text. If an author’s disclosure of potential conflicts of interest is determined to be inaccurate or incomplete after publication, a correction will be published to rectify the originally published disclosure statement, and additional action may be taken as necessary.
If one or more editors are involved as authors, the authors should declare conflict of interest.
Ex) AAA has been an editor of the Journal of Evidence-Based Practice since 2017; however, he was not involved in the peer reviewer selection, evaluation, or decision process of this article. No other potential conflicts of interest relevant to this article were reported.
Copies of written informed consents and Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval for clinical research are recommended to be kept. The editor or reviewers may request copies of these documents to clarify potential ethical issues.
Identifying details should not be published in written descriptions, photographs, or pedigrees unless it is essential for scientific purposes and the patient (or his/her parents or guardian) provides written informed consent for publication. Additionally, informed consent should be obtained in the event that the anonymity of the patient is not assured. For example, masking the eye region of patients in photographs is not adequate to ensure anonymity. If identifying characteristics are changed to protect anonymity, authors should assure that alterations do not distort scientific meaning. When informed consent has been obtained, this should be indicated in the published article.
In the reporting of experiments that involve human subjects, it should be stated that the study was performed according to the Helsinki Declaration of 1975 (revised 2013) (Available from https://www.wma.net/policies-post/wma-declaration-of-helsinki-ethical-principles-for-medical-research-involving-human-subjects/) and approved by the Institutional Review Board (IRB) of the institution where the experiment was performed. Clinical studies that do not meet the Helsinki Declaration will not be considered for publication. Identifying details should not be published (such as name, initial of name, ID numbers, or date of birth).
In the case of an animal study, a statement should be provided indicating that the experimental processes, such as the breeding and the use of laboratory animals, were approved by the Research Ethics Committee (REC) of the institution where the experiment was performed or that they did not violate the rules of the REC of the institution or the NIH Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals (Institute of Laboratory Animal Resources, Commission on Life Sciences, National Research Council, https://www.nap.edu/catalog/5140/guide-for-thecare-and-use-oflaboratory-animals). The authors should preserve raw experimental study data for at least 1 year after the publication of the paper and should present this data if required by the Editorial Board.
All prospective studies must be registered in the primary registry before submission. J Evid-Based Pract accepts registration in any of the primary registries that participate in the World Health Organization (WHO) International Clinical Trials Portal (http://www.who.int/ictrp/en), NIH ClinicalTrials.gov (http://www.clinicaltrials.gov), or Korea Clinical Research Information Service (CRiS, http://cris.nih.go.kr).
The J Evid-Based Pract recommends that a submitted manuscript follow reporting guidelines appropriate for various study types. Good sources for reporting guidelines are the EQUATOR Network (www.equatornetwork.org) and the NLM’s Research Reporting Guidelines and Initiatives (www.nlm.nih.gov/services/research_report_guide.html).
An author is considered to be an individual who has made substantive intellectual contributions to a published study and whose authorship continues to have important academic, social, and financial implications.
Authorship credit should be based on: (1) substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work, or to the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work; (2) the drafting of the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content; (3) final approval of the version to be published; and (4) agreement on taking accountability for the accuracy or integrity of the work. Authors should meet these four criteria. and these criteria distinguish the authors from other contributors.
Correction of authorship after publication: J Evid-Based Pract does not correct authorship after publication unless a mistake has been made by the editorial staff. Authorship may be changed before publication but after submission when an authorship correction is requested by all of the authors involved with the manuscript.
When a large, multicenter group has conducted the work, the group should identify the individuals who accept direct responsibility for the manuscript. When submitting a manuscript authored by a group, the corresponding author should clearly indicate the preferred citation and identify all individual authors as well as the group name. Acquisition of funding, collection of data, or general supervision of the research group alone does not constitute authorship. Journals generally list other members of the group in the Acknowledgments section.
Plagiarism is the use of previously published material without attribution. Prior to peer review, all manuscripts are screened for plagiarism by the Editor-in-Chief using iThenticate. When plagiarism is detected at any time before publication, the J Evid-Based Pract editorial office will take appropriate action as directed by the standards set forth by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). For additional information, please visit http://www.publicationethics.org. Text copied from previously published work is interpreted using the following taxonomy:
When a duplicate publication is detected, the J Evid-Based Pract editorial office will notify the counterpart journal of this violation. Additionally, it will be notified of the authors’ affiliation, and penalties will be imposed on the authors. It is possible to republish manuscripts if they satisfy the condition of secondary publication of the Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals, available at: www.icmje.org. If the author or authors wish to obtain a duplicate or secondary publication for reasons such as publication for readers of a different language, the author(s) should obtain approval from the Editors-in-Chief of both the first and second journal.
J Evid-Based Pract recommends compliance with some or all of the following guidelines (https://www.equator-network.org).
CONSORT for reporting of randomized controlled trials (http://www.consort-statement.org)
STARD for reporting of diagnostic accuracy studies (http://www.stard-statement.org)
STROBE for reporting of observational studies in epidemiology (http://www.strobe-statement.org)
PRISMA for reporting of systematic reviews (http://www.prisma-statement.org)
MOOSE for reporting of Meta-analyses of observational studies (https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamasurgery/article-abstract/2778476)
CARE for reporting of clinical cases (https://www.care-statement.org)
AGREE for reporting clinical practice guidelines (http://www.agreetrust.org/resource-centre/agree-reporting-checklist/)
ARRIVE for reporting of animal pre-clinical studies (https://arriveguidelines.org/arrive-guidelines)
A manuscript must be written in proper and clear English. Our preferred file format is DOCX or DOC. Manuscripts should be typed double-spaced on A4-sized paper, using 12 point font in English.
Abbreviations should be avoided as much as possible. When they are used, full expression of the abbreviated words should be provided at the first use, with the abbreviation following in parentheses. Common abbreviations may be used, however, such as DNA. Abbreviations can be used if they are listed as a MeSH subject heading (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/mesh).
The manuscript should be organized in the order of title, abstract, introduction, methods, results, discussion, acknowledgments, references, tables, figures, and figure legends. Figures should be uploaded as separate files. The title of each new section should begin on a new page. The conclusion should be included in the discussion section. Number pages consecutively, beginning with the first page of the manuscript. Page numbers should be placed in the middle of the bottom of the page. For survey-based clinical studies, the original survey document does not need to be included in the body of the manuscript but may be included as a supplement in an appendix.
(1) Cover page (upload separately)
(2) Manuscript
<Exceptions>
individual contributions before this time.
Examples of authors’ contributions:
Description format
(3) Figures and Photographs
Review articles synthesize previously published material into an integrated presentation of our current understanding of a topic. Review articles should describe aspects of a topic in which scientific consensus exists, as well as aspects that remain controversial and are the subject of ongoing scientific disagreement and research. Review articles are invited only by editorial board. If authors want to submit an unsolicted review article, please contact editorial office (ksebm.office@gmail.com). Review articles should include unstructured abstracts written in English equal to or less than 250 words. The organization should be in order of abstract, introduction, text following each title, conclusion and references. Figures and tables should be provided in English. Body text should not exceed 30 A4-sized pages, and the number of figures and tables should each be less than 6. However, if necessary, the number of pages, the number of figures and tables can be added in accordance with the decision of the editorial committee.
Systematic review and meta-analysis are considered as an original article. Systematic reviews are systematic, critical assessments of literature and data sources in order to answer a specific question, and/or includes a statistical technique leading to a quantitative summary of results and examining sources of differences in results among studies, if any. The subtitle should include the phrase “A systematic review” and/or "A Meta-analysis." Organization of systematic review and meta-analysis: Same as original article, except,
A case report is almost never a suitable means to describe the efficacy of a treatment or a drug; instead, an adequately powered and well-controlled clinical trial should be performed to demonstrate such efficacy. The only context in which a case report can be used to describe efficacy is in a clinical scenario, or population, that is so unusual that a clinical trial is not feasible. Case reports of humans must state in the text that informed consent to publication was obtained from the patient or guardian. Copies of written informed consents should be kept. If necessary, the editor or reviewers may request copies of these documents. If these steps are impossible, Institutional Review Board approval should be obtained prior to submission. The rarity of a disease condition is itself not an acceptable justification for a case report. Statement describing compliance with CARE for reporting of clinical cases (https://www.care-statement.org) guideline is recommend.
Letters to the Editor should include brief constructive comments that concern previously published articles and interesting cases. Letters to the Editor should be submitted no more than 3 months after the paper has been published.
Editorials are invited by the editorial committee and should be commentaries on articles recently published in the J Evid-Based Pract, and can be described in free style.
Table. Recommended word counts and numbers of references, tables, and figures for manuscripts submitted to Journal of Evidence-Based Practice (J Evid-Based Pract) by publication type:
