Instructions for Authors

JAVMA

Instructions for Authors

The mission of JAVMA is to advance the practice of veterinary medicine through publishing exemplary curated and peer reviewed clinically relevant articles in accessible formats.

The JAVMA welcomes manuscripts of broad clinical relevance in the following categories: Original Research, Technical Tutorial Video, Systematic Review or Meta-Analysis, Narrative Review, Viewpoint, Case Series, Case Report, and Clinical Challenges and Did You Know. Manuscripts with clear clinical application will receive priority for publication. Letters to the Editor are also welcome. Commentaries, White Papers, Currents in One Heath, and Spotlights are solicited by invitation only.

Authors are encouraged to determine the most appropriate category for their manuscript and then prepare their manuscript following the instructions provided below for that particular category. Questions can be sent to AVMAJournals@avma.org.

The digital edition of the JAVMA is the journal of record. Accepted articles may be published both in print and online, or online alone, as decided by the editorial staff.

 

Before You Begin

Manuscript Categories

Manuscript Submission

Other Resources

 

Before You Begin

Why Publish With the JAVMA?

The Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association is a peer-reviewed journal that has been serving the veterinary and biomedical professions since 1863. The JAVMA has the highest circulation of any veterinary medical journal in the world and ranks among the most frequently cited veterinary medical journals. Because the JAVMA is one of the few general veterinary medical journals still in existence, its readership crosses the entire veterinary profession, from clinical practice to academia, research, government work, and public health.

We welcome submissions on clinical practice for all species—companion animals, equids, bovids and other farm animals, wildlife, and zoo animals. Your work will benefit from international visibility, downloads, and citations. There is no charge to publish in the JAVMA—even in color. We post your copy edited and formatted manuscript online-first ahead of a print issue, and in our new workflow, time from submission to publication is greatly reduced, while the new website makes for a much better reading experience. Our robust social media outreach platform will further support maximum dissemination of your paper. Please explore the new website at avmajournals.avma.org. We urge you to consider the JAVMA for your next article submission.

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Editorial Policies

Authorship

Individuals should be listed as authors only if they:

  • Made a substantial contribution to the conception or design of the study, acquisition of the data used in the study, or analysis and interpretation of that data, AND

  • Were involved in drafting or revising the manuscript critically for important intellectual content, AND

  • Will have the opportunity to approve the submitted and all subsequent versions, AND

  • Agree to be accountable for the validity of the data and results.

Individuals who contributed to the study but do not meet all 4 of these criteria should not be listed as authors but should be included in the Acknowledgments section. Requests to list a working group or study group in the byline will be handled on a case-by-case basis.

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Language

  • Authors are responsible for ensuring that their manuscripts are written clearly in English and formatted in accordance with these author instructions.

  • Manuscripts should be carefully reviewed prior to submission for format, clarity, spelling, and grammar.

  • A manuscript deemed by the editorial team to require extensive revisions prior to further consideration will be rejected with the option to resubmit after reformatting and/or editing has been performed.

  • The journal does not endorse any specific editing service, and provide these examples of suitable services authors that might consider include: Cactus, Bioscience Writers, American Journal Experts, and the Nature Research Editing Service. Please note when working with a professional language editing service, authors should choose full medical editing with journal formatting, rather than simply proofreading, and that changes should comply with these instructions for authors.

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Acknowledgements, Disclosures, and Funding

Authors will be required to address these three statements during submission. This information does not need to be included in the manuscript document.

  • Acknowledgement/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 was 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 the AI tool was used. 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.”

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  • Upon acceptance of the manuscript, the corresponding author will be required to complete either a Copyright Transfer Agreement, or if you choose to publish open access, which requires payment of an Article Processing Charge (APC), an Open Access Copyright License Agreement. Open-access articles will be licensed using Creative Commons CC BY-NC. CC BY is available upon request.
  • Permissions for use of Figures, Tables or other Content Owned by another party – If your manuscript contains previously published material (text, images, tables, photographs, drawings, etc.), you are responsible for obtaining permission for re-use from the original copyright holder. At the time of submission of your manuscript to our journal, please include 1) permission for re-use of figures or tables and 2) a full citation for the previous publication. We cannot publish any previously published illustration or table without written permission from the original copyright holder.

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Commercial availability, compounding, and extralabel drug use
  • If a manuscript reports results of a study that involved evaluating a pharmaceutical, biologic, or other product that is not legally available in the USA for use in that species, then a clear disclaimer is needed in the materials and methods section describing where the drug is commercially available and that the drug is neither FDA approved nor commercially available in the US.
  • If compounded products/drugs were used in a study, an explanation in the Discussion section should include why the authors chose to use compounded products and what key factors should be considered by veterinarians interested in prescribing similarly prepared products.
  • Materials and Methods section should contain a complete description of the compounded products.
  • Extralabel drug use must comply with the provisions of the Animal Medicinal Drug Use Clarification Act.
  • Examples of the types of statements that would be appropriate for the Discussion section include the following:
    • Extralabel drug use was performed with owner consent and complied with provisions of AMDUCA and 21 CFR §530.
    • Compounded products were prepared from bulk substances because [provide reason]. Veterinarians should adhere to compounding regulations and be aware that pharmacokinetic properties may differ between compounded and FDA-approved products.
    • Compounded products were prepared from FDA-approved products because [provide reason]. Veterinarians should adhere to compounding regulations and be aware that pharmacokinetic properties may differ between compounded and FDA-approved products.

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Antimicrobial stewardship
  • The AVMA journals support antimicrobial stewardship. If a manuscript reports the use of antimicrobials, authors are encouraged to clarify in the “Discussion” or “Comments” section (depending on the manuscript category) how the use of such aligns with current antimicrobial stewardship concepts or was otherwise warranted.

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Humane animal care and use

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Institutional oversight and owner consent

  • With the exception of reports of retrospective studies based solely on historical data, manuscripts describing studies that involved the use of animals, including studies that involved the use of privately owned animals (eg, animals owned by clients, staff members, students, or private entities), must include a statement that the study protocol was reviewed and approved by an appropriate oversight entity (eg, an animal care and use committee or institutional review board) or was performed in compliance with institutional or other (eg, governmental or international) guidelines for research on animals.

  • Prospective studies that involved privately owned animals must also include a statement indicating that informed owner consent was obtained.

  • Research involving human subjects, including surveys of human subjects, must include a statement that the research was performed under appropriate institutional review board oversight.

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NIH Public Access Policy

The AVMA journals are in compliance with the National Institutes of Health Public Access Policy and with the open access policies of other research funders.

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Patient confidentiality and the right to privacy

  • Authors have an obligation to protect the personal privacy of patients and clients and to maintain the confidentiality of patient-client information.

  • For any manuscript containing patient information (eg, patient descriptions, photographs, or pedigrees) that would allow specific animals or their owners to be identified, the authors must obtain a signed statement of informed consent to publish the information (in print and online) from the owners. Generally, such consent should include an opportunity for the owner to read the manuscript to be submitted for publication. If necessary, nonessential identifying data can be removed, unless clinically or epidemiologically important. However, identifying data may not be altered or falsified.

  • Cropping or altering photographs to remove nonessential identifying information is acceptable, so long as the photographs are not otherwise altered. Patient identifiers may not appear in photographs.

  • Authors must also obtain informed consent to publish from any identifiable person appearing in photographs. Importantly, these guidelines also apply to any materials (eg, text, photographs, or videos) submitted for posting as supplementary materials.

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Prior publication

  • Manuscripts are considered with the understanding that they have not been published previously and will not be submitted for publication elsewhere while under consideration by the JAVMA.

  • Manuscripts submitted to the journal following or prior to presentation at a scientific meeting or publication of preliminary findings elsewhere, such as in abstract form, will be considered for publication. Publication of abstracts and posting of slides or videos of the scientific presentation in a print or online conference proceedings is acceptable.

  • Posting preprints of research manuscripts in progress or in submission on a public server is not considered prior publication and is also acceptable. Preprints are defined as research manuscripts that have not undergone formal peer review by a journal. Preprints may also be posted at any time during the review process.

  • Authors should disclose preprint posting, including DOI, URL link, and license details, at the time of manuscript submission or during the review process. Authors are requested to update any pre-publication versions with a link to the final published article.

  • Media coverage of presentations at scientific meetings will not jeopardize consideration, but direct release of results beyond what was included in the abstract through press releases or news media briefings may preclude consideration of the manuscript by this journal.

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Journal Style

The AVMA journals generally follow the guidance provided in the most recent edition of the AMA Manual of Style. More specific instructions are provided in each of the linked items listed under Manuscript Categories and Other Resources at the top of this page.

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Reporting Guidelines

Authors of Original Research or Systematic Reviews/Meta-Analyses are strongly encouraged to make use of the following guidelines when preparing manuscripts:

  • CONSORT (Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials)—for clinical trials

  • REFLECT (Reporting Guidelines for Randomized Controlled Trials for Livestock and Food Safety)—for clinical trials in livestock and food safety

  • PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items of Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses)—for systematic reviews and meta-analyses

  • STARD (Standards for the Reporting of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies)—for diagnostic test evaluation

  • STROBE (Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology)—for cross-sectional, case-control, and cohort studies

  • ARRIVE (Animal Research: Reporting of In Vivo Experiments)—for all studies involving laboratory animals

  • SRQR (Standards for Reporting Qualitative Research)—for all studies involving qualitative research

  • SAMPL (Statistical Analyses and Methods in the Published Literature)—for all studies

  • CLAIM (Checklist for Artificial Intelligence in Medical Imaging)—for studies involving AI in diagnostic imaging

Information on reporting guidelines is available through the EQUATOR (Enhancing the Quality and Transparency of Health Research) Network

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Manuscript Categories

There are several categories of manuscripts, with varying maximum word counts and other criteria. Links to specific instructions for each are given below:

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Manuscript Submission

General Information

To submit manuscripts, please visit https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/javma.

For author and pre-submission inquiries, please contact AVMAJournals@avma.org. For details on AVMA news, conferences, or other AVMA information, please visit https://avma.org.

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Submission Checklist—Ensure the Following:

  • One author has been designated as the corresponding author with contact details:
    • Email address.
    • Full postal address.
  • The manuscript has been checked for spelling and grammar.
  • Abbreviations and preferred pharmacologic and pharmacokinetics terminology, pulmonary and respiratory terminology, and radiographic projection naming are used in accordance with journal guidelines.
  • All references mentioned in the reference list are cited in the text.
  • Footnotes are not used (review the instructions on citing special materials for information on citing materials previously included as footnotes).
  • Permission has been obtained for use of copyrighted material from other sources.
  • Journal policies detailed in this guide have been reviewed.
  • All necessary files have been uploaded:
    • Manuscript
    • Keywords
    • Figures (include relevant captions), with the same figure names (eg, Figure 1) as used in the manuscript
    • Supplementary files (where applicable)
  • 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.

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Publication Platforms and Associated Fees

  • There is no fee for authors to publish their manuscripts in the JAVMA.

  • Articles published in the JAVMA are posted to the journal's website at no charge to the authors. However, access to the full text of these articles is restricted to subscribers or available on a pay-per-view basis.

  • Authors can choose to have their manuscript made freely available in open access format for all to read, download, and share. The open access fee is $1,250. For information on joining the AVMA or renewing your AVMA membership, please click here. Open access articles will be licensed under the Creative Commons CC BY-NC license.

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