Submissions

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.

• The submission has not been previously published and is not currently being considered by another journal. If this is not the case, provide an explanation in the "Comments to Editor" field.
• The text conforms to the stylistic and bibliographic requirements outlined in the Guidelines for Authors, found in the "Guidelines" section.
• The submission file is in one of the following file formats: OpenOffice or Microsoft Word.
• The author has reviewed and adhered to the reporting guidelines appropriate for his/her study type (available on the EQUATOR network: https://www.equator-network.org) and has uploaded the corresponding checklist as an attachment during his/her submission.
• A cover letter is uploaded with the submission. Two names and contacts of proposed reviewers are included .
• The main text has been anonymized and corresponds to the complete article, including references, tables and figures. A separate title page is provided with full contact details of the authors.
• A declaration of interests was specified in the article.
• Information on the availability and sharing of the data supporting the results or analyses presented in the paper is included in the article.