The International Journal of Organ Transplantation Medicine (IJOTM) is a quarterly peer-reviewed English-language journal that publishes high-quality basic sciences and clinical research on transplantation.

The scope of the journal includes organ and tissue donation, procurement and preservation; surgical techniques, innovations, and novelties in all aspects of transplantation; genomics and immunobiology; immunosuppressive drugs and pharmacology relevant to transplantation; graft survival and prevention of graft dysfunction and failure; clinical trials and population analyses in the field of transplantation; transplant complications; cell and tissue transplantation; infection; post-transplant malignancies; sociological and ethical issues and xenotransplantation.

This quarterly medical journal is the official Publication of Iranian Society for Organ Transplantation and Avicenna Organ Transplantation Institute.

Indexed in PubMed Central; Clarivate Analytics (formerly ISI) Web of Science: Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI); Scopus; EMBASE/Excerpta Medica; EBSCO; CINAHL; ISC; Ulrichs Global Serials Directory; DOAJ; and Index Medicus for the EMR.

The Journal has a distinguished international editorial board with extensive clinical, academic or research qualifications. This is to ensure that the journal maintains high scientific standards as well as diverse coverage of transplantation fields.

The journal seeks to disseminate the latest information widely to all individual in kidney, liver, heart, lung, pancreas, intestine, stem cell, bone-marrow and other types of cell transplantation.

The journal encompasses all areas of transplantation techniques such as surgical, laboratory, radiology and etc. In addition, the journal publishes focused review on topics relevant to transplantations as well as timely editorial board comment on controversial issues.

The articles might be submitted to IJOTM via e-mail or online using a unique submission system at www.ijotm.com. The guideline for preparation and submission of an article is available at www.ijotm.com. The submitted manuscripts will be peer reviewed.

Accepted articles will be published in print and online, which will accessible free at www.ijotm.com. The Journal does not require any article processing or page charges. The aim of International Journal of Organ Transplantation Medicine is to publish original articles of the highest quality on clinical experience and basic research in transplantation of cell, tissue and organs. The journal is directed at scientists and clinicians in transplantation but also at those in other fields who wish to follow transplantation.

Peer Review Process

The IJOTM uses a double-blind peer review system. The Editor will assign the management of the peer review process to a member of the Editorial Board who is familiar with the subject area. The designated editor will then select two to three reviewers based on their expertise in the subject area of the manuscript. If the manuscript involves complex data or statistical methods, it is also sent to a statistical advisor. Reviewers’ comments are then summarized and sent to the corresponding author to take the necessary actions and responses. The revised manuscript will then be evaluated by the hanging committee members, the final decision of whom are sent to the corresponding author. If the manuscript is accepted, it will be copy edited, and a galley proof will be sent to the corresponding author for the final correction and approval.

Open Access Policy

This journal provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge.

Archiving

This journal utilizes the LOCKSS system to create a distributed archiving system among participating libraries and permits those libraries to create permanent archives of the journal for purposes of preservation and restoration.

Article Processing Charges Policy & Article Submission Charges Policy

The IJOTM has no article submission or peer review processing charges.

Screening for Plagiarism Policy

Authors are not allowed to utilize verbatim text of previously published papers or manuscripts submitted elsewhere. COPE’s flowcharts and guidelines are approached in cases in which plagiarism is detected.

Publication Ethics

Publication and authorship

• A statement should be included in the title page indicating any financial support the authors had received.
• The authors are not allowed to utilize verbatim text of previously published papers or manuscripts submitted elsewhere.
• Authors should sign an Assignment Form stating that the article is an original work, has not been published before and is not being considered for publication elsewhere in its final form either in printed or electronic form. The same research must not be published in more than one journal.

Author’s responsibilities

• Authors should actively participate in the peer review process and provide suitable responses to the comments raised by peer reviewers on time.
• All authors must have significantly contributed to the research and fullfil the authorship criteria.
• Authors must state that all data in the article are real and authentic.
• All authors are obliged to provide retractions or corrections of mistakes.
• Copyright: If a manuscript contains any previous published image or text, it is the responsibility of the author to obtain authorization from copyright holders. The author is required to obtain and submit the written original permission letters for all copyrighted material used in his/her manuscripts.

Peer review/responsibility for the reviewers

• Judgments should be objective.
• Reviewers should have no conflict of interest with respect to the research, the authors and/or the research funders.
• Reviewers should point out relevant published work which is not yet cited.
• Reviewed articles should be treated confidentially.
• Reviewers are only advisors to the Editor, the one who makes the final decision on the manuscript.
• Reviewers should provide constructive comments to improve the quality of the article.

Editorial responsibilities

• The Editor has complete responsibility and authority to reject/accept a manuscript.
• The Editor should have no conflict of interest with respect to manuscripts he rejects/accepts.
• When errors are found in a manuscript, the Editor promotes publication of corrections or retractions.
• The anonymity of reviewers is preserved.

Issues on Publishing Ethics

• COPE’s flowcharts and guidelines are approached upon confronting any ethical misconduct.
• The IJOTM uses the COPE flowchart for retraction of a published article.
• All patients and participants of the research should be thoroughly informed of the objectives of the study and any possible side-effects of the drugs and interventions. Written informed consent from the participants or their legal guardians is necessary for any such studies. The Journal reserves the right to request the related documents.
• The Editor-in-Chief is always willing to publish corrections and clarifications.

Plagiarism

• Use of verbatim texts from other sources without attribution is prohibited. The content of all manuscripts submitted must be the original work of authors and must not be plagiarized from other articles. COPE’s flowcharts and guidelines are approached in case plagiarism is detected.

Data falsification/fabrication

• Falsification is the practice of omitting or altering research materials, data, or processes so that the results of the research are no longer accurately reflected. Fabrication is the practice of inventing data or results and reporting them in the research. Both of these misconducts are fraudulent and seriously alter the integrity of research. Therefore, articles must be written based on original data and use of falsified or fabricated data is strongly prohibited.

Image manipulation

• The IJOTM encourages authors to send their original images. All digital images in manuscripts accepted for publication will be checked for inappropriate manipulation. No specific feature within an image may be enhanced, obscured, moved, removed, or introduced. Adjustments of brightness, contrast, or color balance are acceptable as long as they are applied to the entire image and do not misrepresent any information present in the original, including the background. The editors will request the original data from the authors to compare the manipulated figures in cases suspected of inappropriate manipulation.

Aim and Scope

The International Journal of Organ Transplantation Medicine (IJOTM) is a quarterly peer-reviewed English-language journal that publishes high-quality basic sciences and clinical research on transplantation.

The scope of the journal includes organ and tissue donation, procurement and preservation; surgical techniques, innovations, and novelties in all aspects of transplantation; genomics and immunobiology; immunosuppressive drugs and pharmacology relevant to transplantation; graft survival and prevention of graft dysfunction and failure; clinical trials and population analyses in the field of transplantation; transplant complications; cell and tissue transplantation; infection; post-transplant malignancies; sociological and ethical issues and xenotransplantation.

Types of papers accepted for publication

IJOTM accepts full-length original manuscripts dealing with basic and clinical research in organ transplantation. It also publishes short communications and case reports.

Short communications should be prepared in the same way as full-length articles. The Editorial Board will decide which manuscripts may be published as a short communication.

Review articles are usually invited. Authors interested in submitting a review should contact the Editorial Office prior to manuscript preparation and submission.

Letter to the Editor is also welcomed. Letters may not have more than three authors, five references and should not exceed 400 words.

Each manuscripts is considered on the understanding that it is an original contribution, and that it has not been and will not be submitted elsewhere in any language while under consideration for publication in IJOTM. The Journal also assumes that each person listed as an author will take responsibility for the contents of the manuscript. The Journal also expects authors to abide by the human and animal rights, to obtain approval for the conduction of the study from an ethics committee, and to take informed consent from patients participating in the research. Moreover, the Journal expects the authors to declare any conflicts of interest that might affect the quality of the data or report.

Manuscript Submission

Manuscripts may be submitted through our Journal Web site online system. Manuscripts should be in correct English. They should be organized in the following order: Title Page, Abstract,
Text, Acknowledgments, References, Figure legends, and Tables. All pages should be numbered consecutively, starting with the
Title Page as page 1. All figures must be submitted electronically, in files separate from the main text. Only illustrations that increase the understanding of the text should be submitted. The Editor reserves the right to limit the number of illustrations. It is the responsibility of the authors to obtain the consent from the patient or patient’s legal guardian to publish any photographs in which the patient is identified. IJOTM accepts electronic files with a resolution of at least 300 dpi, preferably in JPG, GIF, TIF, or PCX. Graphs should be preferably developed in Microsoft Excel. If the Journal needs to redraw the figures, it reserves the right to request the raw data from the authors. Color figures are welcomed and should be in CMYK color mode. Information appearing on radiographs, scans, or other documents identifying the patient must be deleted before the figures are submitted.

Title page should contain the Title (preferably not more than 15 words), authors’ full names (first name, middle initials and last name), departments and institutions to which the authors are affiliated, a running title, word count from the Introduction to the Acknowledgments, number of Tables and Figures, statement of conflict of interest, sources of financial support
(grants, equipment, drugs, etc.), and the address of the corresponding author (mailing address, telephone and fax numbers, and e-mail address).

Abstract page must contain the abstract accompanied
by 3–5 keywords selected from the MeSH, and a word count for the abstract. For short communications and full-length articles, the abstract should be structured into Background, Objective, Methods, Results and Conclusion. These sections should briefly describe respectively, the problem being addressed in the study, the research question, the way the study was performed, the most important findings and their significance. The Abstract should be no longer than 250 words.

Text pages include the Introduction, Materials and Methods (or Patients and Methods), Results, Discussion and Acknowledgments.
All pages should be numbered consecutively.

All abbreviations must be defined at their first use, even those that were previously defined in the Abstract.

Introduction should contain a brief review of the relevant published literature related to the paper, the rationale for doing the study, the research question or hypothesis that stimulated
the work, and a statement of the purpose of the work.

Materials and Methods section should contain sufficient detail to enable others to duplicate the study. Previously reported procedures may be cited, but new modifications should be
described in detail.

Results should be presented in a logical sequence in the text, Tables, and Figures. The main and most important findings should come first. They should be presented by only one means, e.g., text or Table or Figure.

Discussion should compare the results with previous publications, interpret them, and describe their significance and implications for clinical practice or further research. The limitations and conclusions of the study should also be addressed.

Acknowledgments: Contributors who do not meet the criteria for authorship should be listed here. Financial and material support should also be acknowledged.

References in the text, Tables and legends should be numbered by Arabic numerals in square brackets. The list of References should begin on a separate page and should be numbered consecutively in the order in which they are mentioned in the text. Only published works and manuscripts that have been accepted for publication should be listed in the References. Manuscripts in preparation, unpublished observations and personal communications should be referred to in parentheses in the text and should not be numbered or included in the reference list. Provide the names of all authors when there are four or fewer; if there are five authors or more, list only the first three, followed by “et al.” Journal titles must be abbreviated according to the style used in Index Medicus.

Examples of some reference formats are as follows:

Articles in periodicals:

Mackness MI, Mackness B, Durrington PN, et al. Paraoxonase and coronary heart disease. Curr Opin Lipidol 1998;9:319-24

Section in Book:

Phillips SJ, Whisnant JP. Hypertension and stroke. In: Laragh JH, Brenner BM, editors. Hypertension: pathophysiology, diagnosis, and management. 2nd ed. New York: Raven Press;1995. p.465-78.

A Book:

Norman IJ, Redfern SJ, editors. Mental health care for elderly people. New York: Churchill Livingstone;1996.

Articles in electronic form:

Morse SS. Factors in the emergence of infectious diseases. Available from: http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/EID/eid.htm. (Accessed January 10, 2010)

Tables: Type each Table double-spaced throughout (including column headings, footnotes and data) without vertical lines, on a separate page. Number the Tables in Arabic numerals in the sequence in which they appear in the text. Each Table should have a concise and informative title which allows it to be understood without reference to the text. Make sure that each Table is cited in the text.

Figure legends: Each figure should have a legend. Type figure legends double-spaced at the end of the manuscript, starting on a separate page. Clearly indicate the figure number (in Arabic numerals) for each legend. When symbols, arrows, numbers or letters are used to identify parts of the figures, identify and explain each one in the legend. Such marks
should be appeared in a color with enough contrast with their background to be identified easily. Mention the magnification and the staining method for photomicrographs.

Submission Preparation Checklist

As part of the submission process, authors are required to check off their submission’s compliance with all of the following items, and submissions may be returned to authors that do not adhere to these guidelines.

1. The manuscript is not under review by other journals, has not been published in nor accepted for publication by other journals, nor has substantial overlaps with published reports.
2. The manuscript files are in MS Word and the graphs in MS Excel. The photos have high resolution (300 dpi or more) and are in JPEG, TIFF or GIF format. Color photos are in CMYK mode.
3. The text adheres to the stylistic and bibliographic requirements outlined in the Author Guidelines, which is found in About the Journal.
4. Any funding source, financial support, and conflict of interests are mentioned in the first page of the manuscript.

Copyright Notice

Accepted manuscripts become the permanent property of IJOTM and may not be reproduced in any way, in whole or in part, without the written permission of the Editor. The IJOTM reserves the right to edit/modify the accepted manuscripts or publish them under any category more appropriate for the Journal.

Privacy Statement

The names and email addresses entered in this journal site will be used exclusively for the stated purposes of this journal and will not be made available for any other purpose or to any other party.

About this Publishing System

This journal uses Open Journal Systems 2.4.8.3, which is open source journal management and publishing software developed, supported, and freely distributed by the Public Knowledge Project under the GNU General Public License.