Instructions for Authors

1. General Information

Thank you for considering the Herald of the National Children's Medical Center for publication of your research.

The journal is a peer-reviewed scientific medical journal covering Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health. It publishes scientifically rigorous and clinically relevant research concerning newborns, infants, children, and adolescents.

The journal accepts and publishes manuscripts in English, Russian, and Uzbek. For manuscripts submitted in Russian or Uzbek, the article title, abstract, keywords, author names, and affiliations must also be provided in English in accordance with the journal’s metadata requirements.

Authors are responsible for the scientific accuracy, clarity, language, terminology, ethical compliance, and integrity of their manuscripts.

All manuscripts must be prepared using the current official Microsoft Word or LaTeX/Overleaf template and must comply with these Instructions for Authors.

Manuscripts that do not meet the journal’s scientific, ethical, technical, or formatting requirements may be returned for correction before editorial assessment or peer review.

2. Manuscript Types and Article-Type Requirements

The journal primarily considers:

• Original Research Articles;
• Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses;
• Review Articles;
• Brief Reports;
• Clinical and Diagnostic Studies;
• Case Reports with substantial scientific, diagnostic, therapeutic, or educational value;
• other scientifically justified manuscript types consistent with the Aims and Scope and approved by the Editorial Office.

The journal does not impose a universal word limit for all manuscript types. Manuscripts should be sufficiently detailed to report the research transparently while avoiding unnecessary repetition.

The Editorial Office may request shortening, restructuring, or additional information where necessary.

Applicable reporting guidelines must be followed for each study design.

3. Originality and Exclusive Submission

The manuscript must:

• be original;
• not have been published previously in substantially identical form;
• not be under consideration by another journal;
• not contain plagiarism, fabrication, falsification, inappropriate image manipulation, duplicate publication, redundant publication, citation manipulation, or other research or publication misconduct.

Posting a manuscript as a preprint does not normally prevent submission. Any existing preprint must be disclosed at submission and its link or persistent identifier provided.

4. Online Submission

All manuscripts must be submitted through the journal’s official online submission system.

Submission only by email does not constitute formal submission unless specifically requested by the Editorial Office.

The submitting author is normally the Corresponding Author and is responsible for:

• completing all submission steps;
• entering complete and accurate metadata;
• including all eligible co-authors;
• ensuring that all authors have approved the manuscript;
• communicating with the journal during review, revision, production, and post-publication processes.

Authors must complete the journal’s Submission Checklist before finalizing submission.

5. Submission Metadata

The following information must be entered completely and accurately:

• manuscript title;
• abstract;
• keywords;
• manuscript language;
• manuscript type;
• full names of all authors in the correct order;
• department and institution;
• city, postal code, and country;
• email address of each author;
• ORCID identifier, where available;
• Corresponding Author;
• funding information;
• role of the funder or sponsor, where applicable;
• conflicts of interest;
• ethics approval information;
• informed consent information;
• consent for publication, where applicable;
• Data Availability Statement;
• Artificial Intelligence Disclosure, where applicable.

For manuscripts written in Russian or Uzbek, key bibliographic metadata must additionally be provided in English.

Submission metadata must correspond exactly to the manuscript and Title Page.

6. Files Required for Submission

Title Page

The Title Page must include:

• manuscript type;
• full article title;
• full names of all authors;
• author order;
• departments and institutions;
• city, postal code, and country;
• email address of each author;
• ORCID, where available;
• Corresponding Author and contact information;
• acknowledgements and other identifying information where applicable.

Anonymous Manuscript

The manuscript submitted for double-anonymous peer review must not contain:

• author names;
• affiliations;
• email addresses;
• ORCID identifiers;
• identifying acknowledgements;
• hidden metadata or file properties that could identify the authors.

Authors should cite their own previous publications neutrally and should not remove scientifically necessary citations.

Supplementary Files

Where applicable, authors should submit:

• reporting guideline checklists;
• flow diagrams;
• supplementary tables and figures;
• original figure files;
• datasets or repository information;
• study protocols;
• permission documents for third-party materials;
• ethics or consent documentation requested by the Editorial Office;
• other supplementary research materials.

7. Accepted File Formats

Microsoft Word

Manuscripts must use the current official Microsoft Word template and be submitted in editable .docx format.

LaTeX/Overleaf

Authors using LaTeX/Overleaf must use the journal’s official template.

The submission should include:

• main .tex file;
• bibliography files;
• required class and style files;
• figures;
• supplementary source files;
• successfully compiled PDF.

LaTeX source files should normally be supplied together in a ZIP archive.

The Editorial Office must be able to open and, where necessary, recompile the submission.

8. Double-Anonymous Peer Review

The journal uses double-anonymous peer review.

Reviewers do not receive the identities of authors, and authors do not receive the identities of reviewers.

Authors are responsible for properly anonymizing the review manuscript.

Manuscripts that pass preliminary editorial screening are normally evaluated by at least two independent reviewers with relevant expertise.

The final editorial decision is made by the Editor-in-Chief or an appropriately authorized handling editor, taking into account the scientific quality of the manuscript, reviewer reports, author responses, methodological reliability, ethical compliance, and relevance to the journal.

9. General Manuscript Preparation

Manuscripts must:

• follow the official journal template;
• be written clearly and consistently;
• use logically organized headings and subheadings;
• define abbreviations at first use;
• use editable text rather than images of text;
• present tables and figures in a clear and interpretable form;
• avoid unnecessary repetition;
• contain all required declarations before submission.

10. Title

The title should be:

• concise;
• specific;
• informative;
• scientifically accurate;
• representative of the principal subject of the manuscript.

Unnecessary abbreviations, ambiguous wording, exaggerated claims, and excessively general titles should be avoided.

11. Authors and Affiliations

Author names must be provided in a complete and consistent form.

Affiliations should normally follow:

Department, Institution, City, Postal Code, Country

At least one author must be identified as the Corresponding Author.

Valid ORCID identifiers should be provided where available.

Author names should be consistent across the manuscript, submission metadata, ORCID records, and previous publications.

Changes in authorship after submission require justification and agreement of all affected authors. Changes after acceptance are permitted only in exceptional circumstances.

12. Abstract

The abstract must not exceed 200 words.

For Original Research Articles, the abstract should reflect:

• Background;
• Methods;
• Results;
• Conclusions.

The abstract must accurately represent the manuscript and should not contain unsupported conclusions, unnecessary citations, or undefined abbreviations.

13. Keywords

Authors must provide 3–10 keywords.

Keywords should:

• accurately represent the article;
• use recognized medical and scientific terminology;
• support indexing and discoverability;
• avoid unnecessary repetition of the full title.

14. Structure of Original Research Articles

Original Research Articles should normally include:

1. Introduction
2. Methods
3. Results
4. Discussion
5. Conclusions
6. Author Contributions
7. Funding
8. Ethics Approval
9. Informed Consent
10. Consent for Publication
11. Data Availability Statement
12. Acknowledgements
13. Conflicts of Interest
14. Artificial Intelligence Disclosure, where applicable
15. References

15. Introduction

The Introduction should:

• describe the scientific and clinical context;
• identify the research problem;
• summarize relevant current evidence;
• identify the knowledge or clinical gap;
• state the objective or research question;
• explain the relevance of the study to pediatric health.

It should not contain an unnecessarily extensive literature review or results belonging to later sections.

16. Methods

The Methods section must provide sufficient information for scientific evaluation and, where applicable, reproducibility.

It should include, as appropriate:

• study design;
• study setting;
• study period;
• participant population;
• inclusion criteria;
• exclusion criteria;
• recruitment or sampling procedures;
• interventions or exposures;
• control or comparison groups;
• primary and secondary outcomes;
• measurement methods;
• laboratory or diagnostic procedures;
• sample size determination;
• statistical analysis;
• handling of missing data;
• software and version used;
• ethics approval;
• informed consent arrangements.

Established methods may be referenced, while new or substantially modified methods should be described in sufficient detail.

17. Results

Results should be presented:

• clearly;
• objectively;
• logically;
• with appropriate quantitative information.

Authors should report relevant effect estimates, measures of uncertainty, and statistical findings where appropriate.

Data should not be unnecessarily duplicated across text, tables, and figures.

Interpretation should generally be reserved for the Discussion.

18. Figures and Clinical Images

Figures must:

• be numbered consecutively;
• be cited in the text;
• have clear captions;
• remain legible at publication size.

Raster photographs should normally be at least 300 dpi, and line drawings at least 600 dpi where separate high-resolution files are required.

Clinical photographs, radiological images, pathology images, and other patient-related materials must not reveal patient identity unless valid consent for publication has been obtained.

Direct identifiers should be removed.

Images must not be manipulated in a way that creates, removes, conceals, or misrepresents scientific information.

19. Tables

Tables must:

• be editable;
• be numbered consecutively;
• be cited in the manuscript;
• have a concise title;
• use clear headings;
• define abbreviations and symbols in notes.

The same data should not be duplicated unnecessarily in both tables and figures.

20. Statistical Analysis

Statistical methods must be described with sufficient detail to allow scientific assessment.

Where applicable, authors should report:

• statistical tests used;
• sample size calculation;
• assumptions of statistical methods;
• effect estimates;
• confidence intervals;
• exact or appropriately reported P values;
• adjustment for confounding or multiple comparisons where relevant;
• handling of missing data;
• statistical software and version.

Statistical significance should not be used as a substitute for clinical significance.

21. Discussion

The Discussion should:

• interpret the main findings;
• relate them to the study objective;
• compare findings with previous evidence;
• explain similarities and differences;
• discuss clinical and scientific relevance;
• address strengths and limitations;
• avoid unsupported speculation;
• identify implications for research or clinical practice where appropriate.

22. Conclusions

Original Research Articles should contain a separate Conclusions section.

Conclusions must:

• directly reflect the reported findings;
• address the study objective;
• avoid unsupported generalization;
• avoid introducing new results;
• identify relevant scientific or clinical implications.

23. Reporting Guidelines

Authors must follow the reporting guideline appropriate to their study design.

Examples include:

• CONSORT — randomized clinical trials;
• SPIRIT — clinical trial protocols;
• STROBE — observational studies;
• PRISMA — systematic reviews and meta-analyses;
• CARE — case reports;
• STARD — diagnostic accuracy studies;
• TRIPOD — prediction model studies.

Relevant checklists and flow diagrams should be submitted when applicable.

24. Author Contributions — CRediT

For manuscripts with multiple authors, contributions should be described using the CRediT Contributor Roles Taxonomy, where applicable.

Only individuals who meet the journal’s authorship criteria may be listed as authors.

A statement may follow this format:

Conceptualization: X.X.; Methodology: X.X. and Y.Y.; Investigation: X.X.; Formal Analysis: Y.Y.; Data Curation: X.X.; Writing—Original Draft: X.X.; Writing—Review and Editing: X.X. and Y.Y.; Supervision: Z.Z.

All authors must approve the submitted manuscript.

25. Funding

All financial and material support must be disclosed.

Where applicable, authors should provide:

• full name of funder;
• grant or project number;
• role of the funder or sponsor.

Examples:

No funding:
This research received no external funding.

Funded study:
This research was funded by [FULL NAME OF FUNDER], grant number [XXX].

26. Ethics Approval

Research involving human participants, identifiable human data, or human biological materials must receive appropriate ethical review where required.

The manuscript should state:

The study was approved by [NAME OF ETHICS COMMITTEE], approval/protocol number [XXX], date [DATE].

Where review was lawfully waived:

Ethical review and approval were waived by [AUTHORITY] because [REASON].

“Not applicable” should be used only when ethical review genuinely does not apply.

The Editorial Office may request supporting documentation.

27. Children and Vulnerable Participants

Research involving children or other vulnerable participants must provide appropriate additional safeguards.

Authors must demonstrate that:

• participation was ethically justified;
• risks were minimized;
• privacy and confidentiality were protected;
• applicable parental or legal representative permission was obtained;
• child assent was obtained where appropriate to age, maturity, and capacity.

28. Parental Permission and Child Assent

Where required, permission must be obtained from a parent or legally authorized representative.

Children capable of understanding the proposed research should also be involved in the decision and provide assent appropriate to their age and capacity.

Parental permission does not automatically replace the need for child assent where assent is ethically appropriate.

29. Informed Consent

For research involving human participants, authors must state whether appropriate informed consent for participation was obtained.

Example:

Informed consent was obtained from all participants and/or their legally authorized representatives, as applicable.

Where consent was lawfully waived, the approving authority and reason must be stated.

30. Consent for Publication

Separate consent for publication is required when a participant may be identifiable from:

• photographs;
• clinical images;
• personal information;
• detailed case descriptions;
• quotations;
• genetic or other potentially identifying information.

For minors, appropriate permission must be obtained from the legally authorized representative and, where appropriate, assent from the child.

31. Clinical Trial Registration

Prospective clinical trials must be registered in an appropriate publicly accessible registry before enrollment of the first participant, where registration is required.

Authors must report:

• registry name;
• registration number;
• registration link or persistent identifier where available.

Registration information should correspond to the manuscript.

32. Data Availability Statement

Every manuscript must include a Data Availability Statement.

Examples:

Open data:
The data supporting the findings of this study are available in [REPOSITORY] at [DOI/PERSISTENT IDENTIFIER].

Available on reasonable request:
The data supporting the findings of this study are available from the Corresponding Author upon reasonable request.

Restricted data:
The data are not publicly available because of privacy, confidentiality, legal, ethical, or third-party restrictions.

No new data:
No new data were created or analysed in this study.

Patient-level data must not be made publicly available where doing so would violate confidentiality, consent, ethics approval, or applicable law.

33. Acknowledgements

Individuals or organizations that contributed to the work but do not meet authorship criteria may be acknowledged.

Persons named in the Acknowledgements should have agreed to be identified.

Acknowledgements should not be used to conceal contributions that meet authorship criteria.

34. Conflicts of Interest

Authors must disclose all financial and non-financial interests that could influence or reasonably appear to influence the research or publication.

Where none exist:

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

The role of sponsors or funders must also be disclosed where applicable.

35. Use of Artificial Intelligence Tools

Artificial intelligence tools cannot be listed as authors.

Human authors remain fully responsible for:

• accuracy;
• originality;
• citations;
• references;
• data;
• analysis;
• figures;
• conclusions;
• ethical compliance.

Substantive use of generative AI or AI-assisted tools must be disclosed in accordance with the journal’s Artificial Intelligence Policy.

Example:

During preparation of this manuscript, the authors used [TOOL AND VERSION] for [PURPOSE]. All AI-assisted content was reviewed and verified by the authors, who accept full responsibility for the final manuscript.

Routine spelling, punctuation, or basic grammar correction generally does not require disclosure where scientific content is not generated or materially altered.

Authors must not upload identifiable patient information or other confidential research data to external AI systems where doing so would violate confidentiality or data-protection requirements.

36. References

References must follow the journal’s numbered Vancouver/NLM-style format.

References should be numbered in the order of first citation and cited in square brackets:

[1], [2,3], [4–6]

Only sources cited in the manuscript should appear in the reference list.

Journal titles should use recognized NLM/ISO abbreviations where available.

DOIs should be provided where available in the form:

https://doi.org/xxxxx

Example:

Journal article:
[1] Author AA, Author BB. Title of article. Abbreviated Journal Title. 2025;12(3):123–129. https://doi.org/xxxxx.

References originally published in Cyrillic script should be transliterated into the Latin alphabet. Where appropriate, an English translation of the title may be provided in square brackets and the original language indicated.

Authors are responsible for reference accuracy.

Unjustified citation manipulation is prohibited.

37. Author Declaration and Submission Confirmation

By completing submission, the Corresponding Author confirms that:

• the manuscript is original and is not under consideration elsewhere;
• all listed authors meet authorship criteria;
• all authors approved the manuscript and author order;
• all relevant declarations are complete;
• funding and conflicts of interest have been disclosed;
• applicable ethics and consent requirements have been met;
• data availability has been disclosed;
• applicable AI use has been disclosed;
• permissions for third-party materials have been obtained;
• authors understand the journal’s copyright, licensing, Open Access, and publication-fee conditions.

The journal may record confirmation through mandatory electronic checkboxes or another documented electronic mechanism.

38. Copyright and License

Authors retain copyright in their articles.

By accepting publication, authors grant the journal and publisher a non-exclusive right of first publication and the rights necessary to publish, distribute, archive, index, preserve, and maintain the article and its metadata.

Accepted articles are published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) License.

Authors are responsible for obtaining permission for third-party material not covered by the article’s license.

39. Publication Fees

There is no manuscript submission fee and no separate peer-review fee.

The journal’s standard Article Processing Charge (APC) is:

USD 100 per accepted article.

For articles accepted during the 2026 calendar year, the APC is fully covered by the journal’s Owner and Issuing Body — National Children's Medical Center of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

Authors of articles accepted in 2026 therefore:

• do not pay the APC;
• do not need to submit a waiver application;
• do not receive an APC invoice.

No payment is requested before final acceptance.

Payment, exemption, or financial support does not influence peer review or editorial decisions.

Conditions applicable after 2026 will be published transparently on the journal website before submission and before any payment is requested.

40. Revision of Manuscripts

Where revision is requested, authors must provide:

• revised manuscript;
• clean version where requested;
• marked or tracked-changes version where requested;
• detailed point-by-point response to reviewers and editor;
• reasoned explanation where a recommendation has not been followed;
• updated supplementary materials where applicable.

Submission of a revised manuscript does not guarantee acceptance.

41. Proofs, Corrections and Post-Publication Responsibilities

After acceptance, manuscripts may undergo:

• technical editing;
• language and formatting checks;
• copyediting;
• typesetting;
• metadata verification;
• reference checking;
• preparation of final PDF and online versions.

The Corresponding Author may receive proofs for final checking.

Major changes to authorship, methods, data, results, or conclusions are not normally permitted at the proof stage without appropriate editorial review.

After publication, authors must promptly inform the Editorial Office of any significant error or ethical concern.

Corrections, Expressions of Concern, Retractions, and other post-publication actions are handled according to the journal’s Corrections, Retractions and Post-Publication Updates Policy.

42. Privacy, Contact Information and Policy Administration

Personal information submitted to the journal is used only for legitimate editorial, peer-review, publishing, indexing, DOI registration, archiving, and scholarly communication purposes in accordance with the journal’s Privacy Statement.

Questions concerning manuscript preparation or submission should be addressed to:

Editorial Office
Herald of the National Children's Medical Center
National Children's Medical Center of the Republic of Uzbekistan
294 Parkent Street, Yashnobod District
Tashkent 100207, Republic of Uzbekistan
Email: vestnik.ndmc@bmtm.uz
Website: hnchmc.uz

The current version of these Instructions published on the journal website supersedes earlier versions and may be periodically reviewed and updated.