MANUSCRIPT TYPES

Research in Biotechnology and Environmental Science (RBES) is pleased to publish Original Research Articles, Short Communications, Case Reports, Case Series, Reviews, and Book Reviews.

Main Format 

The first page of the manuscripts must include the title and the name(s) of the author(s) typed in Cambria (font sizes: 16pt in capitalization for the title, 11pt for the section headings in the body of the text, and 10pt the main text; single spaced in A4 format with 2cm margins). The manuscript must be saved in a .doc or.docx format. It is not allowed to have abbreviations in the article title. You can download template for preparing your manuscript.

Manuscripts should be prepared in the following order:

  1. Title Page
  2. Abstract
  3. Introduction
  4. Methods
  5. Selection and Description of Samples
  6. Technical Information
  7. Statistics
  8. Results 
  9. Discussion (can be merged with Results)
  10. Conclusion
  11. Declarations Section
  12. References
  13. Tables
  14. Illustrations (Figures)
  15. Units of Measurement
  16. Abbreviations and Symbols

 

ARTICLE SECTIONS FORMAT

Title should be a short phrase explaining the contents of the manuscript with the first letter of each word typed in upper case. The Title Page should contain the author(s)’s full names and affiliations, the name of the corresponding author along with phone and e-mail information. The current address (es) of author(s) should appear as a footnote. RBES encourages the listing of authors’ Open Researcher and Contributor Identification (ORCID).

Abstract

Abstract should be descriptive and fully self-explanatory, the subject of study should be briefly presented, the nature of the studies should be specified, relevant data should be presented, and significant observations and conclusions should be pointed out. For this reason, references should be avoided, but if essential, then cite the author(s) and year(s). Also, non-standard or uncommon abbreviations should be avoided, but if essential they must be defined at their first mention in the abstract itself. Abstracts should not exceed 350 words. It is necessary to use complete statements, active verbs, and the third person, and while writing the abstract in the past tense. It is appropriate to use regular nomenclature and avoid abbreviations. There should be no literature cited in the abstract. For Original Articles, use a structured abstract with the following headings:

Introduction: Provide a short background and clearly state the main objectives of the study.

Materials and methods: Mention the study design, the sample(s), and the employed methods of data collection.

Results: Report the main findings.

Conclusion: State the outcome in relation to the hypothesis and possible directions for future studies.

 

Following the abstract, there should be about 3 to 7 keywords that will provide indexing references. Keywords should be arranged alphabetically.

Introduction 

Introduction should provide a clear statement of the problem, the relevant literature on the subject, and the proposed approach or solution. It should be understandable to colleagues from a broad range of scientific disciplines.

A concise statement of the issue, the related literature on the subject, and the proposed method or solution should be presented in the introduction. This section should be written in an understandable way to the research community involved in a wide range of scientific disciplines.

Materials and Methods

Materials and methods should be sufficiently complete to allow the replication of experiments. However, only genuinely new procedures should be described in detail; the employed procedures in the previously conducted studies should be cited, and important changes to the published procedures should be mentioned. This section involves a clear description of the sample collection, including eligibility and exclusion criteria. It is also important to note the employed methods, methods, equipment (give the manufacturer’s name and address in parentheses), and procedures. To further the method section, authors are required to explain the statistical methods to provide the chance for the readers to judge their appropriateness and verify the reported results. For further information, you can download RBES_STATISTICAL_ANALYSIS or contact us at rbes@jvpp.com

Ethical approval for the animals' use in research should be indicated by a separate title in this section. The method section should involve the ethical approval obtained from an independent local, regional, or national review body (e.g., ethics committee, institutional review board), and the certificate number should be stated.

Results

The obtained results of the study should be presented with clarity and accuracy in logical sequence in the text, tables, and figures, giving the main or most important findings first. The result section should be written in the past tense when describing the findings in the author(s)’s experiments. Findings of previously published articles should be written in the present tense. The results should be clarified, but mostly without reference to the literature. Do not repeat all the data in the tables or figures in the text; emphasize or summarize only the most important observations. Discussion, speculation, and detailed interpretation of data should not be included in the results but should be put into the discussion section.

Discussion 

Discussion can be presented as a separate section or can be merged with the results. In any form, it should interpret the findings regarding the obtained results of the study with reference to previous studies. Do not repeat in detail data or other information given in other parts of the manuscript, such as in the Introduction or the Results sections. 

Conclusion

At the end of the paper, state the conclusions in a few sentences. Link the conclusions with the goals of the study but avoid unqualified statements and conclusions not adequately supported by the data. Avoid making statements on economic benefits and costs unless the manuscript includes the appropriate economic data and analyses.

Declarations Section

Please ensure that the following sections are included at the end of your manuscript in a Declarations section.

-Acknowledgment

-Funding

-Authors’ contribution

-Competing interest

-Availability of data and materials

-Ethical consideration

 Acknowledgment

RBES encourages the author(s) to acknowledge anyone who contributed to the study but does not meet the criteria for authorship. Authors should obtain permission to acknowledge all those mentioned in the Acknowledgements.

 Funding

This section includes the sources of support for the work, including sponsor names along with explanations of the role of those sources if any in study design; collection, analysis, and interpretation of data. Authors are expected to declare any restrictions regarding the submission of the report for publication, or a statement declaring that the supporting source had no such involvement or restrictions regarding publication. The following wording should be used if there was no funding: “This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors".

Authors’ contributions

The Uniform Requirements by the ICMJE recommends authorship as follows: “Authorship credit should be based on 1) substantial contributions to conception and design, acquisition of data, or analysis and interpretation of data; 2) drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content; and 3) final approval of the version to be published; and 4) agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved. Authors should meet conditions 1, 2, 3, and 4”. Authorship is an important aspect of research publication, and all involved authors should agree on the whole contents of the document including authorship. Contributors should be differentiated from authors as recommended by the ICMJE.

RBES does not allow authorship correction after publication unless the editorial staff makes an obvious mistake. Before publication, authorship can be changed when all authors request the authorship correction.

Competing interest

Authors are responsible for disclosing all relationships and activities that might bias or be seen to bias their work. The ICMJE has developed a Disclosure Form to facilitate and standardize the authors’ disclosures. The corresponding author of an article is required to inform the Editor of the authors’ potential conflicts of interest/competing interests possibly influencing the research or interpretation of data. Potential conflicts of interest should be disclosed in the cover letter even when the authors are confident that their judgments have not been influenced in preparing the manuscript. Such conflicts may include financial support or private connections to pharmaceutical companies, political pressure from interest groups, or academic problems. Disclosure form shall be the same as ICMJE Uniform Disclosure Form for Potential Conflicts of Interest. The Editor will decide whether the information on the conflicts should be included in the published paper.

Availability of data and materials

Authors are asked to inform the Editor of RBES about the availability of data to the community, especially if the study is financially supported by any institution, sector, or sponsor.

Ethical consideration

Authors are asked to declare that they have observed ethical issues, including plagiarism, double submission,  and data originality.

WAME Recommendations on Chatbots

Authors should note that any chatbots, such as ChatGPT do not meet ICMJE authorship. Therefore, all authors who participate in the manuscript should meet the authorship criterion, meaning that chatbots cannot be considered authors.

When using chatbots, authors are required to transparently mention the chatbot used (name, version, model, source) and method of application in the paper they are submitting (query structure, syntax), which is in line with ICMJE recommendation of acknowledging writing assistance.

Authors should take responsibility for the text produced by a chatbot in their paper. This includes the accuracy of the produced content, the absence of plagiarism, and the appropriate attribution of all sources. Authors are expected to mark the text produced by the chatbot.

References

 The RBES reference style for EndNote can be found here. All references to publications made in the text should be numbered in the order they appear at the end of the study in a list with their full bibliographical description. The citation of grey materials (e.g., mass media, abstract, personal communication) are not allowed unless they provide essential information not available from a public source.

Citations in the Text

Placement of citations: In-text citation numbers should be placed after the relevant part of a sentence before the period.

References are numbered consecutively in the order they are first mentioned. Use superscript to cite a reference number throughout the text, tables, and legends. If the same reference is used again, re-use the original number.

Tables are numbered consecutively. Supply a brief title for each table and give each column a short heading. Be sure that the table is mentioned in the text. If the data is taken from another source, include the source in the list of references at the end of the paper. Place explanatory matter in a note, not in the heading.

Example

With the growing concern regarding the unhealthy consequences of using chemical preservatives in the food industry, the attention towards natural and herbal substances has been increasing every day. Phenolic acids are recently receiving high attention because of their many promising different useful effects related to their anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties1-5. Chlorogenic acid (CGA) is one of the most available phenolic acid compounds in foods, such as coffee and tea6,7.

On the References Page

The last page of your paper is entitled References. References are single-spaced, with double-spacing between references. DOI number or the link of the article should be added to the end of each reference.

 Numbering: List all references in order by number, not alphabetically. Each reference is listed once only since the same number is used throughout the paper.

 Authors: List each author’s last name followed by a space and then initials without any periods; there is a comma and space between authors and a period at the end of the last author. If the number of authors exceeds six, give the first six followed by “et al.” For edited books, place the editors’ names in the author position and follow the last editor with a comma and the word editor (or editors). For edited books with chapters written by individual authors, list the authors of the chapter first, then the chapter title, followed by “In:”, the editors’ names, and the book title (see example 7).

  • Journal article, up to 6 personal author(s)
  1. Al-Habian A, Harikumar PE, Stocker CJ, Langlands K, and Selway JL. Histochemical and immunohistochemical evaluation of mouse skin histology: Comparison of fixation with neutral buffered formalin and alcoholic formalin. J Histotechnol. 2014 Dec; 37(4):115-24. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1179/2046023614Y.0000000050
  • Electronic journal article
  1. Poling J, Kelly L, Chan C, Fisman D, and Ulanova M. Hospital admission for community-acquired pneumonia in a First Nations population. Can J Rural Med [Internet]. 2014 Fall [cited 2015 Apr 27];19(4):135-41. Available at: http://www.srpc.ca/14fal.html by selecting PDF link in the table of contents.
  • Electronic journal article, 7 or more personal authors
  1. Aho M, Irshad B, Ackerman SJ, Lewis M, Leddy R, Pope T, et al. Correlation of sonographic features of invasive ductal mammary carcinoma with age, tumor grade, and hormone-receptor status. J Clin Ultrasound [Internet]. 2013 Jan [cited 2015 Apr 27]; 41(1):10-7. Available at: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jcu.21990/full, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/jcu.21990
  • Preprints

Preprints may be cited in the reference list of articles under consideration at RBES journal as shown below:

  1. Babichev, SA, Ries, J, and Lvovsky, AI. Quantum scissors: teleportation of single-mode optical states by means of a nonlocal single photon. Preprint at http://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/0208066; 2002.
  • Book, personal author(s)
  1. Buckingham L. Molecular diagnostics: Fundamentals, methods and clinical applications. 2nd ed. Philadelphia: F.A. Davis; c 2012.
  • Book or pamphlet, organization as both author and publisher
  1. College of Medical Radiation Technologists of Ontario. Standards of practice. Toronto: The College; 2011.
  • Book, editor(s)
  1. Kumar V, Abbas AK, and Aster JC, editors. Robbins basic pathology. 16th ed. Philadelphia: Elsevier Saunders; c2013.
  • Book, editor(s), specific chapter with individual author(s)
  1. Altobelli N. Airway management. In: Kacmarek R, Stoller JK, Heuer AJ, editors. Egan’s fundamentals of respiratory care. 10th ed. St. Louis: Saunders Mosby; c2013. p. 732-786.
  • Electronic book, personal author(s), requiring password
  1. Martin A, Harbison S, Beach K, and Cole P. An introduction to radiation protection [Internet]. 6th ed. London: Hodder Arnold; 2012 [cited 2015 May 28]. Available at: http://lrc.michener.ca:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=466903&site=ehost-live&ebv=EB&ppid=pp_iii with authorized username and password.
  • Electronic book, organization as author, freely available:
  1. OpenStax College. Anatomy & physiology [Internet]. Version 7.28. Houston: The College; 2013 Apr 25 [Updated 2015 May 27; cited 2015 May 28]. Available at: http://cnx.org/content/col11496/latest/.
  • Dictionary entry
  1. Stedman’s medical dictionary for the health professions and nursing. 7th ed. Philadelphia: Wolters Kluwer/Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; c2012. Hematoma; p. 756.
  • Entry in a print reference work
  1. Canadian Pharmacists Association. CPS 2013: Compendium of pharmaceuticals and specialties. 48th ed. Ottawa: The Association; c2013. Atropine: Systemic; p. 297-299.
  • Entry in an online reference work:
  1. Canadian Pharmacists Association. eCPS. [Internet]. Ottawa: The Association; 2015. Methimazole; [revised 2012 Mar; cited 2015 May 28]; [about 6 screens]. Available from: http://lrc.michener.ca:2048/login/ecps with authorized username and password.
  • Wiki entry
  1. Wikipedia: The free encyclopedia [Internet]. St. Petersburg (FL): Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 2001 –   Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa; [modified 2015 May 28; cited 2015 May 28]; [about 34 screens]. Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ebola_virus_epidemic_in_West_Africa
  • Newspaper article
  1. Carville O. Health ‘snooping’ cases on the rise. Toronto Star. 2015 May 27: Sect. GT:1 (col. 3).
  • Electronic newspaper article
  1. Wisniewski M. Five babies at Chicago daycare diagnosed with measles. Globe and Mail [Internet]. 2015 Feb 5 [cited 2015 Feb 6]; Life: [about 2 screens]. Available at: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/health-and-fitness/health/five-babies-at-chicago-daycare-diagnosed-with-measles-report/article22805944/.
  • Legal material (note: this is not addressed in Vancouver Style)
  1. Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, S.O. 2005, c.11 [Internet]. 2009 Dec 15 [cited 2015 May 29]. Available from: http://www.e-laws.gov.on.ca/html/statutes/english/elaws_statutes_05a11_e.htm
  • Report available on a web page
  1. Canadian Institute for Health Information. Depression among seniors in residential care [Analysis in brief on the Internet]. Ottawa: The Institute; 2010 [cited 2015 May 29]. 18 p. Available at: https://secure.cihi.ca/free_products/ccrs_depression_among_seniors_e.pdf
  • Page on a website
  1. Alzheimer Society of Canada [Internet]. Toronto: The Society; c2015. Benefits of staying active; 2013 Jan 28 [cited 2015 May 29]; [about 1 screen]. Available at: http://www.alzheimer.ca/en/kfla/Living-with-dementia/Day-to-day-living/Staying-active/Benefits-of-staying-active
  • Streaming video
  1. Allen S,  and Waerlop I. The Gait Guys talk about great toe dorsiflexion [Internet]. [place unknown]: The Gait Guys; 2014 May 11 [cited 2015 May 29]. Video: 3 min. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8O8TLtunUQ
  • Electronic image
  1. Bickle I. Swallowed foreign body [radiograph]. 2014 Jul 14 [cited 2015 May 29]. In: Radiopaedia.org [Internet]. [place unknown]: Radiopaedia.org; c2005-2015. [about 1 screen]. Available at: http://radiopaedia.org/cases/swallowed-foreign-body-1
  • Blog post (no given name, so screen name used as author)
  1. Munkee. Nuclear Munkee. [blog on the Internet]. [place unknown]: [Munkee]; [date unknown] –. In-111 pentetreotide imaging; 2013 Mar 19 [cited 2015 May 29]; [about 3 screens]. Available at: http://nuclearmunkee.blogspot.ca/2013/03/in-111-pentetreotide-imaging.html
  • Poster presentation/session presented at a meeting or conference
  1. Chasman J, and Kaplan RF. The effects of occupation on preserved cognitive functioning in dementia. Poster session presented at Excellence in clinical practice. 4th Annual Conference of the American Academy of Clinical Neuropsychology; 2006 Jun 15-17; Philadelphia, PA.

Tables

Tables should be kept to a minimum and be designed to be as simple as possible. Tables are to be typed double-spaced throughout, including headings and footnotes. Each table should be on a separate page, numbered consecutively in Arabic numerals, and supplied with a heading and a legend. Tables should be self-explanatory without reference to the text. The details of the methods used in the experiments should preferably be described in the legend instead of in the text. The same data should not be presented in both table and graph forms or repeated in the text.

Illustrations (Figures)

Figure legends should be typed in numerical order on a separate sheet. Graphics should be prepared using applications capable of generating high-resolution GIF, TIFF, JPEG, or PowerPoint before pasting into the Microsoft Word manuscript file. Use Arabic numerals to designate figures and upper-case letters for their parts (Figure 1). Begin each legend with a title and include sufficient description so that the figure is understandable without reading the text of the manuscript. Information given in legends should not be repeated in the text.

Units of Measurement

RBES requires an exact report of the measurements of length, height, weight, and volume in metric units (meter, kilogram, or liter) or their decimal multiples. Temperatures should be in degrees Celsius. Blood pressures should be in millimeters of mercury.

Nomenclature and Abbreviations 

The following abbreviations may be used without definition in RBES. Plurals do not require “s”. Chemical symbols and 3-letter abbreviations for amino acids do not need definition. Other abbreviations should be defined at first use in the summary and the main text, as well as in each table or figure in which they appear. Abbreviations should not be used in the manuscript title, running title, or to begin a paragraph or sentence. They can be used in section headings if previously defined.

The following abbreviations may be used without definition in RBES:

ADF acid detergent fiber

ADFI average daily feed intake ADG average daily gain

AME apparent metabolizable energy

AMEn nitrogen-corrected apparent metabolizable energy

ANOVA analysis of variance

AOAC Association of Official Analytical Chemists

BSA bovine serum albumin

BW body weight

°C Celsius

cDNA complementary DNA

CF crude fiber

cfu colony-forming units (following a numeral)

CI confidence interval

CP crude protein

cpm counts per minute

CV coefficient of variation d day

df degrees of freedom

DM dry matter

DNA deoxyribonucleic acid

EDTA ethylenediaminetetraacetate

EE ether extract

ELISA enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay

°F Fahrenheit

FCR feed conversion ratio

FE feed efficiency

ft foot g gram

gal gallon

G:F gain-to-feed ratio

GLM general linear model

h hour

HEPES N-(2-hydroxyethyl) piperazine-N'-2-ethanesulfonic acid

HPLC high-performance (high-pressure) liquid chromatography

ICU international chick units

Ig immunoglobulin

IL interleukin

i.m. intramuscular

  1. inch

i.p. intraperitoneal

IU international units

i.v. intravenous

kcal kilocalorie

L liter (also capitalized with any combination, e.g., mL)

lb pound

L:D hours of light:hours of darkness in a photoperiod

LSD least significant difference

m meter

μ micro

M molar

ME metabolizable energy

MEn nitrogen-corrected metabolizable energy

MHC major histocompatibility complex

mRNA messenger ribonucleic acid min minute

mo month

MS mean squares

n number of observations

NADH reduced form of NAD

NDF neutral detergent fiber

NRC National Research Council

NS not significant

PBS phosphate-buffered saline

PCR polymerase chain reaction ppm parts per million

r correlation coefficient

r2 coefficient of determination, simple

R2 coefficient of determination, multiple

RH relative humidity

RIA radioimmunoassay

RNA ribonucleic acid

rpm revolutions per minute s second

SAS Statistical Analysis System

s.c. subcutaneous

SD standard deviation

SE standard error

SEM standard error of the mean

SNP single nucleotide polymorphism

SRBC sheep red blood cells

TBA thiobarbituric acid

T cell thymic-derived cell

TME true metabolizable energy

TMEn nitrogen-corrected true metabolizable energy

TSAA total sulfur amino acids

USDA United States Department of Agriculture

UV ultraviolet

vol/vol volume to volume

  1. versus

wt/vol weight to volume

wt/wt weight to weight

wk week

yr year

Formulae, numbers, and symbols

Typewritten formulae are preferred. Subscripts and superscripts are important. Check disparities between zero (0) and the letter 0, and between one (1) and the letter I.

Describe all symbols immediately after the equation in which they are first used.

For simple fractions, use the solidus (/), e.g. 10 /38.

Equations should be presented in parentheses on the right-hand side, in tandem.

Levels of statistical significance that can be used without further explanations are *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, and ***p < 0.001

In English articles, a decimal point should be used instead of a decimal comma.

In chemical formulae, the valence of ions should be given, e.g. Ca2+ and CO32-, not as Ca++ or CO3.

Numbers up to 10 should be written in the text in words. Numbers above 1000 are recommended to be given as 10 powered x.

Greek letters should be explained in the margins with their names as follows: Αα - alpha, Ββ - beta, Γγ - gamma, Δδ - delta, Εε - epsilon, Ζζ - zeta, Ηη - eta, Θθ - theta, Ιι - iota, Κκ - kappa, Λλ - lambda, Μμ - mu, Νν - nu, Ξξ - xi, Οο - omicron, Ππ - pi, Ρρ - rho, Σσ - sigma, Ττ - tau, Υυ - ipsilon, Φφ - phi, Χχ - chi, Ψψ - psi, Ωω - omega.

SNP Nomenclature

The enhancing number of SNP researches and the improvements in chicken genome annotation need a standardized SNP nomenclature for unequivocal and correct SNP identification. Furthermore, information regarding the SNP studies should be easily accessible in databases. In addition, all relevant SNP involved in research should be listed with their unique Ref SNP (rs) or submitted SNP (ss) number (if rs number is not yet available) as indicated in the public domain NCBI dbSNP database (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/snp). If the investigated SNP does not yet have an entry in the NCBI dbSNP database, the authors of the article can submit all the necessary information to NCBI (Check http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/projects/SNP/) for depositing the SNP into this database and having a unique ss number for the SNP. In the text of the article, use of the rs/ss number of the SNP or an alternative standardized nomenclature is suggested.

 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

The RBES online submission system allows supplementary information to be submitted together with the main manuscript file and cover letter. RBES word template can assist you by modifying your page layout, text formatting, headings, title page, image placement, and citations/references such that they agree with the guidelines of the journal. If you believe your article is fully edited per journal style, please use our MS Word template before submission.

Supplementary materials may include figures, tables, methods, videos, and other materials. They are available online and linked to the original published article. Supplementary tables and figures should be labeled with a "S", e.g. "Table S1" and "Figure S1".

The maximum file size for supplementary materials is 10MB each. Please keep the files as small as possible to avoid the frustrations experienced by readers with downloading large files.

 Submission to the Journal is on the understanding that:

  1. The article has not been previously published in any other form and is not under consideration for publication elsewhere;
  2. All authors have approved the final draft of the manuscript for submission.
  3. Researchers are required to consider animal welfare (see IAVE-Author Guidelines on Animal Ethics and Welfare) and pay attention to “Guide for the Care and Use of Agricultural Animals in Research and Teaching, 4th edition, 2020”. Any negative impacts of the study on study populations (including animals or individual organisms) should be considered. In case, it is required to have the approval of an ethics committee, please include the name of the committee and the approval number in your submitted manuscript.

 

SUBMISSION

Articles submitted to RBES are managed using Open Journal Systems, also known as OJS. The manuscript and other correspondence should preferentially be submitted via our online submission system. To submit each manuscript, it is necessary to send the following files according to the instructions mentioned above: title page; anonymous manuscript file (containing title and abstract on the first page and all subsequent parts including tables and figures), cover letter, suggested reviewers, competing interest form, and figures (optional). Once the submission is complete, the system will generate a manuscript ID and send an email to the author’s contact emails.

Author(s) should note that the submission of a manuscript to RBES does not guarantee its acceptance. The suggested reviewers provided by authors during the submission process will be utilized for other articles and will not be taken into account for their own manuscript.

All manuscripts must be checked (by a native English speaker) and submitted in English for evaluation (in a totally confidential and impartial way). In case authors feel their English language manuscript may require editing to eliminate possible grammatical or spelling errors and to conform to correct scientific English may wish to use our English Language Editing Service.

REVIEW/DECISIONS/PROCESSING

Firstly, all manuscripts will be checked by iThenticate, a plagiarism-finding tool. In the next step, the manuscript is subjected to the blind reviewing model used by RBES for non-plagiarized papers. The manuscript is reviewed by three reviewers selected by the managing editor of RBES. Furthermore, a reviewer result form is filled out by the reviewer to guide authors. Possible decisions include accept as is, minor revision, major revision, or reject. Authors should submit back their revisions within 14 days in the case of minor revision, or 28 days in the case of major revision.

Authors need to submit a revision through RBES online submission system. After the article is reviewed and linguistically edited by a language editor, the corresponding author is asked to apply all suggested corrections to the final formatted proof. The authors should know that no modification is possible after this phase of the publishing process and the corresponding authors are responsible for any probable mistakes in the final publication. The authors should send the finalized proof and the declaration form to the journal for the publication of the accepted manuscript. 

PEER REVIEW POLICY

RBES operates a single-blind peer-review system. Manuscripts are initially screened by the journal's Editorial team (Editors-in-Chief, Senior Editors, and Associate Editors) and suitable manuscripts are sent to at least three independent reviewers for consideration. Decisions will be made on the recommendations of the reviewers, but final decisions lie with the Editorial team. In case the manuscript is rejected, the journal sends the necessary explanations regarding the reasons for the rejection to the author.

 

PLAGIARISM

There is a zero-tolerance policy towards plagiarism (including self-plagiarism) in RBES journal. Manuscripts are screened for plagiarism by iThenticate, a plagiarism-finding tool, before or during publication, and if found they will be rejected at any stage of processing.

 

DATE OF ISSUE

The journal is issued quarterly.

 

ARTICLE PROCESSING CHARGE

Production costs are covered by Article Processing Charges (APC) paid by the authors/institutions/funders. Articles are published free of charge until the end of 2023 in the RBES journal. There is no charge for submitting a paper to  RBES. Additionally, there are no editorial processing charges, page charges, or color charges. From January 01, 2024, the APC for the accepted articles with a maximum word count of 4,000 words will be 150 euros. Accepted articles with more than 4,000 words will be charged 240 euros. This fee covers the cost of publication and ensures that your article will be freely available.  All submitted review articles during 2024-2025 will be processed and published free of charge. 

Withdrawal fee

Withdrawing the article from RBES database at submission time, during the peer review process, and before the acceptance is free of charge. The accepted and paid manuscript can be withdrawn based on reasonable requests but the APC of the article will not be refunded.

Waiving policy

The APC will be fully waived for authors of manuscripts who are residents of a  low or lower-middle-income country listed on World Bank, provided that all authors of the manuscript must be residents of these countries in order to qualify. The APC for authors of the manuscript who are residents of middle-income will be reduced to 50% based on the World Bank Middle-Income list. Please communicate with RBES editorial office to ensure the waiver is correctly applied in this instance. Requests for waiver of APC must be submitted via a separate cover letter at the time of submission by the corresponding author and cosigned by an appropriate institutional official to verify that no institutional or grant funds are available for the payment of the fee. It is expected that waiver requests will be processed and authors will be notified within two working days. Author fees or waiver status do not affect editorial decision-making.

 

OPEN ACCESS POLICY

RBES is an open-access journal which means that all content is freely available without charge to the user or his/her institution. Users are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles, or use them for any other lawful purpose, without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author. 

 RBES is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 license

 

POST-PRODUCTION CORRECTION

Please note that no correction to a paper already published will be made by RBES. Authors are required to ensure the accuracy of the submitted manuscript, especially before the article is published online.

Authors’ corrections to Supplementary Data are made only in exceptional circumstances (for example major errors that compromise the conclusion of the study). Because the Supplementary Data is part of the original paper and hence the published record, the information cannot be updated if new data have become available or interpretations have changed.

ETHICS COMMITTEE APPROVAL

Experimental research involving animals should have been approved by the author’s institutional review board or ethics committee. This information can be mentioned in the manuscript, including the name of the board/committee that approved it. The use of animals in experiments will have observed in the Interdisciplinary Principles and Guidelines for the Use of Animals in Research, Testing, and Education by the New York Academy of Sciences, Ad Hoc Animal Research Committee. The authors should mention the methods of killing experimental animals and the type and dosage of the anesthetic agent while explaining surgical procedures.

For studies involving human participants, RBES follows the policies of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE). For such studies, authors are responsible for providing details of ethical approval for the research in the manuscript, including but not limited to the name of the approving committee (e.g., Institutional Review Board, Research Ethics Board) and the name of the institution at which approval was granted. These details, as well as the approval date and reference number, must be provided in the structured disclosures section at the end of the manuscript as well as in the body of the manuscript. Even if the activity was declared to be exempt from human subject review, that exemption and the method by which it was determined must be reported.

Authors who do not have access to a formal ethical approval process must provide information in the manuscript about the treatment of human participants. The following should be addressed:

-how risks to human participants were minimized,
-why the risks were reasonable in relation to anticipated benefits,
-how the selection of participants was equitable,
-whether adequate procedures were in place to ensure the privacy and confidentiality of participants,
-the plan used to monitor the data and safety of the subjects,
-how informed consent was sought and documented,
-if applicable, what safeguards were used to protect vulnerable populations, and
-other relevant information.
It is the responsibility of the author(s) to ensure that studies have been conducted in accordance with the latest version of the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki

Please note that the RBES editor-in-chief may decide to reject the manuscripts that avoid following the animal care guidelines.

Clinical trial transparency

RBES mandates the registration of clinical trials in a public trials registry, following the recommendations of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors. Trials must be registered either at or prior to the initiation of patient enrollment. The clinical trial registration number must be provided at the end of the article's abstract. Notably, purely observational studies, where medical intervention assignment is not within the investigator's discretion, are exempt from this registration requirement.