AJVR Original Research
Author Instructions: Original Research
The digital edition of AJVR is the journal of record. Accepted original research articles will be published in the digital edition.
Original Research: Reports findings in the broad field of veterinary medicine. Research can be clinical, translational, retrospective, prospective, survey, cadaveric, in vitro, or ex vivo in design.
Limits
Title: ≤ 160 characters
Structured abstract: ≤ 250 words
Word count for main text: ≤ 5,000 (Includes abstract, introduction, methods, results, discussion, and acknowledgments; excludes references)
References: ≤ 50
Tables and figures: ≤ 6 in total
Formatting (applies to main text, references, and figure legends)
- 8.5 x 11-inch page size
- Double spaced (tables are single spaced)
- Left justification
- Sequential line numbering (starting with title)
- 12-point font
- 1-inch (2.5-cm) margins
Organization
Manuscript text file (in order of inclusion; uploaded as a single document)
- Title page—Includes the following:
- Manuscript title—Declarative titles are preferred (eg, "Maternal antibodies interfere with induction and persistence of vaccine-induced immune responses in young calves").
- First name, middle initial (if applicable), and last name of each author, along with each author’s professional degree and highest earned academic degree (eg, MS or PhD, MPVM) and, for authors who are diplomates of veterinary specialty organizations recognized by the AVMA’s American Board of Veterinary Specialties or similar specialty organizations recognized by other countries, diplomate status (eg, DACVS or DACVIM), although specialty (eg Large Animal) should not be included with the diplomate status. List a bachelor’s or associate’s degree only if it is the author’s only degree. Do not list other specialty board designations, certifications, or honorary degrees. Fellowship or membership designations (eg, MRCVS) and honorary degrees should not be listed. Credentials such as CVT, RVT, LVT, and RN may be listed alongside the author’s highest earned academic degree.
- List of professional affiliations of the authors at the time of the study.
- Name of the corresponding author and their email address.
- Structured abstract (≤ 250 words)—includes the following subsections:
- Objective: state your hypothesis or the purpose for the study.
- Methods:
- Animals (or sample): identify the study population, sampling method, inclusion/exclusion criteria (if applicable), setting, and study period.
- Include the type of intervention(s) and primary outcome(s) (if applicable).
- Summarize the overarching methodology of the study, including study design (experimental or observational, etc).
- Results:
- Summarize the number of participants. If applicable, report the number of animals in each group.
- For hypothesis-testing studies, report results for primary outcome(s), with estimated effect size(s) and CIs. Include summary data for adverse events.
- For descriptive or exploratory studies, provide summary estimates of clinically relevant findings and CIs (if there are quantitative measures, such as odds, risk, or hazards).
- Do not include P values.
- Conclusions:
- Focus on the main findings in the manuscript.
- Provide only conclusions of the study that are directly supported by the results.
- Give equal emphasis to positive and negative findings of scientific merit.
- Clinical Relevance:
- In 1 to 2 sentences, state how your study can be applied to clinical medicine.
- If your study did not involve clinical patients, describe its relevance to veterinary medicine.
- Body of manuscript—reported with the following sections:
- Introduction: Provide a rationale for the study and a clear statement of the purpose of the study, and a hypothesis or hypotheses. Focus on identifying the specific problem and knowledge gap the study is meant to address; often 2 or 3 paragraphs are sufficient. Please place this specific study in context rather than providing an extensive review of the disease or condition.
- Methods: Describe the study design in sufficient detail to allow others to reproduce the study. Identify products such as software programs, equipment, and drugs by their nonproprietary names or generic descriptions. If a specific product, equipment, or drug was essential to the outcome of the study, identify the proprietary name and manufacturer or supplier name (without their location) in parentheses immediately after the first use of the nonproprietary name. Avoids providing proprietary names for products commonly used and for which any manufacturer's product would be suitable.
- Statistical analysis subsection: Provide sufficient information about the variables being analyzed, the statistical tests chosen to analyze them, and the rationale for choosing specific tests. Limit parametric tests only to data that clearly display normal distributions and have sufficient sample sizes to demonstrate a normal distribution. Analyses should follow EQUATOR Reporting Guidelines.
- Results: Provide the study data in a clear, simply stated manner without discussion or conclusions. When possible, quantify findings and present them with appropriate indicators of measurement error or uncertainty, such as CIs. Avoid relying solely on statistical hypothesis testing, such as the use of P values, which fails to convey important quantitative information. If included, P values should follow the reporting of comparisons of absolute numbers or rates and measures of uncertainty (eg, 0.8%; 95% CI, −0.2% to 1.8%; P = .13).
- For observational studies, provide the numbers of observations. For randomized trials, provide the numbers randomized. Report losses to observation or follow-up. For multivariable models, report all variables included in models, model diagnostics, and overall fit of the model when available.
- Define included statistical terms, abbreviations, and symbols. Avoid nontechnical uses of technical terms in statistics (eg, correlation, normal, predictor, random, sample, significant, trend).
- Discussion: Focus on the main findings in the manuscript and acknowledge the strengths and limitations of the study; often 4 to 5 paragraphs are sufficient. All findings discussed must have been reported first in the results section. Avoid providing an extensive review of all that is known on the subject.
- Acknowledgments, Disclosures, and Funding
- Authors will be required to address these 3 statements during submission. This information does not need to be included in the manuscript document.
- Acknowledgment/s: Identify individuals who made important contributions to the study but who do not meet the criteria for authorship. If none, include the statement “None reported.”
- Disclosure/s:
- Include any conflicts of interest related to the manuscript. Include relevant financial interests (eg, ownership, employment, consultancies, honoraria, paid expert testimony, grants, patent-licensing arrangements, equity interests, and service as an officer or board member), activities, relationships, and affiliations (other than those listed on the title page of the manuscript). If none, include the statement “The authors have nothing to disclose.”
- Include the use of any artificial intelligence (AI)–assisted technology such as ChatGPT or another large language model in the writing of the manuscript or production of images. If none were used, include the statement “No AI-assisted technologies were used in the generation of this manuscript.” If an AI tool was used, the authors must be transparent in disclosing here, in the disclosures section, which AI tool was used, and how. AI tools cannot be listed as an author of a manuscript.
- Funding: Include all funding, other financial support, and material support obtained directly or indirectly from any third party in connection with information included in the manuscript or with the writing or publishing of the manuscript. If none, include the statement “The authors have nothing to disclose.”
- References: Are formatted using the current American Medical Association Manual of Style. Limit to those that are necessary. Primary references (eg, original studies) rather than secondary references (eg, textbooks and review articles) are preferred whenever possible. Please note that authors bear primary responsibility for the accuracy of all references.
- Figure legends: Provide sufficient information to allow the figures to be understood without reference to the text, including defining abbreviations used. See our detailed instructions on figures.
- Tables: Are limited to those containing data important to understanding and interpreting results of the study. Are created with the table tool in Microsoft Word, appear after the list of references and figure legends in the manuscript, and have legends that provide sufficient information to allow the tables to be understood without reference to the text, including defining abbreviations used. See our detailed instructions on tables.
Figures
- Minimum resolution of 300 dots per inch (dpi).
- Preferred file formats are .tif, .jpeg, or .png.
- Uploaded separately from manuscript file.
- See our detailed instructions on figures.
Supplementary videos: Videos or animated sequences to support and enhance a manuscript. Video or animation files supplied will be published online only. Examples of content include a clinical examination, ultrasonographic imaging or narrated figures. Narration is not required. For videos with narration, begin the video with a verbal statement of your name and the purpose of the video, disclose any conflicts of interest, and state any acknowledgments. Narration will be transcribed into a text file by the video-hosting platform using artificial intelligence and reviewed by AVMA Editors for accuracy. No action is required by the authors for this conversion.
Limits
- Minimum time length: 10 seconds.
- Maximum time length: 1 minute.
- Maximum file size: 300 MB.
Supplementary materials (uploaded separately from the manuscript file)
- Are used for additional materials that are not essential to the understanding of the article but provide an important expansion of the article contents. Examples include diet or feedstuff composition, nucleotide sequences, extended descriptions of experimental methods or statistical analyses, additional supporting data or results (eg, tables and figures), copies of survey instruments or questionnaires, and videos of procedures. Such materials will not appear in the article but will be posted on the journal's website.
- Are prepared in compliance with the general guidelines for manuscript style.
- Are subject to copyright.
- Clarity and accuracy of content and consistency with the full article are the responsibility of the authors; supplementary materials will be posted as is, without copy editing.
Manuscript submission
Manuscripts are submitted electronically at https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/avma.
- We strongly encourage a cover letter containing the following information:
- Why is this study important? (2 or 3 sentences)
- What did you find? (2or 3 sentences)
- Why is this study of wide interest? (2 or 3 sentences)
- Is the manuscript for resident credentialling or promotion?
- Suggested 6-10 reviewers with their names and email addresses.
Keywords
You will be required to provide 5 keywords at submission. Keywords increase discoverability, ranking, and visibility in search engine results, and therefore increase readership and citation of a manuscript. Include 1 or 2 of your 5 keywords in the title, in the first 2 sentences of the abstract, and throughout the article where they can be worked in naturally and in context. Keywords also help us promote your manuscript.
