- Editorial policies
- ISSN 2576-2818 (online)
- Open access · CC BY 4.0
Editorial Policies
These policies govern how the Journal of Fertility Biomarkers evaluates, publishes and corrects research. They follow the principles of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and apply to authors, reviewers and editors.
How manuscripts are evaluated
All submissions undergo initial editorial screening. Manuscripts that meet the journal's scope and minimum requirements proceed to independent peer review.
Single-blind by default; double-blind review is available on request. Manuscripts that proceed to external peer review are normally evaluated by at least two independent subject-matter experts.
Reviewers are asked to assess the soundness of the design and analysis, the validity of the measurements, the support for the conclusions, ethical compliance and reporting quality. Editors and reviewers who have a conflict of interest with a manuscript do not take part in its evaluation. Reviewers treat manuscripts as confidential.
Editorial decisions are based on scope, scientific quality, methodological rigor, ethical compliance, reporting quality, and relevance to the journal. Editorial decisions do not depend on article type, on the article processing charge, or on any fee-relief inquiry, and the order of review does not depend on payment.
Manuscripts may be posted as preprints before or during submission; the preprint server and its identifier are reported in the cover letter.
Publication and research ethics
Authorship and conflicts of interest
Authors are those who made substantial contributions to the work, approved the final version and accept accountability for it. Contributions are stated in the manuscript. Authors declare financial and non-financial interests, funding sources and the role of any funder, including any commercial interest in an assay, kit or device that is evaluated.
Originality and similarity screening
Submitted work must be original and not under consideration elsewhere. Manuscripts are screened with Crossref Similarity Check, powered by iThenticate. A similarity report is read in context by an editor and is never an automatic accept or reject threshold. Fabrication, falsification, image manipulation and plagiarism are handled according to COPE guidance.
Human participants and biological samples
Research involving human participants, gametes, embryos, tissues or other human biological samples reports ethics approval and informed consent, or a documented decision of the ethics committee on consent, where applicable. The manuscript describes how samples were obtained and, for stored samples, the terms under which they were collected. Identifying details are not published without consent, and work with embryos or gametes follows applicable national law and institutional oversight.
Animal research
Research on live animals requires approval from an institutional animal ethics committee or an equivalent body, and the manuscript describes the welfare measures used, including handling, anesthesia and euthanasia where applicable. Animal studies follow the ARRIVE reporting guidelines where applicable.
Clinical trials
Interventional clinical trials must be registered in an accepted public trial registry at or before the first participant provides consent for enrollment. The registry name, registration number, and registration date must be reported in the manuscript.
Data availability and use of AI
Data availability
Every empirical research manuscript must include a data-availability statement. Authors are encouraged to deposit data in a public repository, as described on the Data Archiving and Permissions page.
Use of AI by authors
AI tools may support language editing. They are not authors and cannot take responsibility for the work. Authors disclose any use of AI tools in the manuscript, name the tool, and remain responsible for the accuracy of the content, including text, figures and references.
Use of AI by editors and reviewers
Reviewers must obtain journal permission before using AI to assist with a review. Any permitted use must be disclosed, and confidential manuscript content must not be uploaded where confidentiality cannot be assured. Editors follow the same rule.
License, copyright and preservation
Articles are published open access under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license (CC BY 4.0), and authors retain copyright. See Copyright and License. JFB articles will be deposited in Portico for long-term preservation.
Corrections, retractions and appeals
Published articles are corrected through a correction notice when an error affects interpretation, and are retracted when findings are unreliable because of misconduct or serious error, following COPE guidance. Notices are linked to the original article.
Authors who disagree with a decision may appeal by writing to the editorial office with a point-by-point explanation. Complaints about the editorial process are handled by the editorial office with the Editorial Board.
Manuscript withdrawal
These terms apply to every manuscript submitted to the journal.
- Authors should contact the editorial office promptly and wait for written confirmation before submitting the work elsewhere.
- Manuscripts withdrawn within 3 days of submission are not subject to a withdrawal charge.
- Manuscripts withdrawn more than 3 days after submission incur a withdrawal charge equal to 30% of the journal's APC.
- Authors must receive official withdrawal confirmation before submitting the manuscript to another journal.
The article processing charge is payable only after acceptance; withdrawal after submission is subject to the journal's withdrawal policy. At the APC of USD 1,200, 30% of the APC amounts to USD 360. The same terms are in the Manuscript withdrawal section of the Article Processing Charges page.
Questions about policy
Contact the editorial office, or read the Instructions for Authors.