Pre-Submission Checklist

Before submitting a manuscript to the Herald of the National Children's Medical Center, authors must confirm compliance with all applicable requirements below.

☐ Originality and Simultaneous Submission

  • The manuscript is original, has not previously been published in substantially identical form, and is not currently under consideration by another journal.
  • Any publicly available preprint has been disclosed at submission, with a link or persistent identifier where available.
  • The manuscript does not constitute duplicate, redundant, or otherwise inappropriate prior publication.

☐ Relevance to the Journal’s Aims and Scope

  • The manuscript is consistent with the journal’s aims and scope in Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health.
  • The study has direct scientific or clinical relevance to newborns, infants, children, or adolescents.
  • Studies involving only adult populations without substantive pediatric relevance are not submitted as being within the journal’s scope.
  • The appropriate manuscript type has been selected in the submission system.

☐ Official Template and File Format

  • The manuscript has been prepared using the journal’s current official Microsoft Word or LaTeX/Overleaf template.
  • Microsoft Word manuscripts are submitted in editable .docx format.
  • LaTeX/Overleaf submissions include the main .tex file, required bibliography and style files, figures and other source materials, together with a successfully compiled PDF.
  • All submitted files open correctly and are suitable for editorial processing.

☐ Title Page and Anonymized Manuscript

  • A separate title page includes:
    • manuscript type;
    • full article title;
    • full names of all authors;
    • correct author order;
    • department and institution for each author;
    • city, postal code, and country;
    • email address of each author;
    • ORCID, where available;
    • name and contact details of the corresponding author.
  • The main manuscript file intended for peer review is prepared in accordance with the journal’s double-blind peer review requirements and does not contain information that could identify the authors.
  • Author names, affiliations, email addresses, ORCID identifiers, identifying acknowledgements, and identifying file properties have been removed from the anonymized manuscript.
  • Self-citations are presented neutrally where necessary without removing relevant citations.

☐ Submission Metadata

The following information has been entered completely and accurately in the online submission system:

  • article title;
  • abstract;
  • keywords;
  • manuscript type;
  • manuscript language;
  • full names of all authors;
  • correct author order;
  • departments and institutions;
  • city, postal code, and country;
  • email addresses;
  • ORCID, where available;
  • corresponding author;
  • funding information;
  • conflicts of interest;
  • ethics approval information;
  • informed consent information;
  • consent for publication, where applicable;
  • Data Availability Statement;
  • disclosure of artificial intelligence use, where applicable.

Metadata entered in the submission system must correspond to the title page and manuscript files.

☐ Title, Abstract, and Keywords

  • The title is concise, specific, informative, and accurately reflects the content of the study.
  • Unnecessary abbreviations and ambiguous wording are avoided.
  • The abstract does not exceed 200 words.
  • For original research articles, the abstract reflects the following elements:
    • Background;
    • Methods;
    • Results;
    • Conclusions.
  • Between 3 and 10 relevant keywords are provided.

☐ Manuscript Structure

An original research article normally includes:

  1. Introduction
  2. Methods
  3. Results
  4. Discussion
  5. Conclusions
  6. Required declarations
  7. References

The structure of systematic reviews, meta-analyses, clinical studies, case reports, and other manuscript types should be appropriate to the nature of the work and comply with the current Instructions for Authors.

☐ Methods and Reproducibility

The Methods section provides sufficient information for scientific assessment and, where applicable, reproducibility, including:

  • study design;
  • study setting and study period;
  • participant characteristics;
  • inclusion and exclusion criteria;
  • sampling or recruitment procedures;
  • interventions or exposures;
  • primary and secondary outcomes;
  • measurement methods;
  • sample size determination, where applicable;
  • statistical methods;
  • handling of missing data, where applicable;
  • software and version used;
  • ethics approval information;
  • consent from participants or their legal representatives, where applicable.

☐ Reporting Guidelines

Authors have used the appropriate international reporting guideline where applicable, including:

  • 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.

The relevant checklist and/or flow diagram is provided where required by the applicable reporting guideline or the Instructions for Authors.

☐ Figures, Tables, and Supplementary Materials

  • All tables and figures are numbered consecutively and cited in the text.
  • Each figure has a clear caption and each table has a clear title.
  • Tables are provided in editable format.
  • Symbols, abbreviations, and terminology are explained where necessary.
  • Photographs, diagnostic images, and other materials do not contain identifiable patient information unless appropriate consent for publication has been obtained.
  • Required permissions have been obtained for third-party materials.
  • Supplementary files are directly relevant to the manuscript and consistent with the main text.

☐ Ethics Approval

For studies requiring ethical review, the manuscript states:

  • the name of the ethics committee or other competent body;
  • the institution;
  • approval or protocol number, where assigned;
  • approval date, where applicable.

Ethics approval must have been obtained before the study began where required by applicable standards.

“Not applicable” is used only where ethics approval is genuinely not required.

The editorial office may request supporting documentation.

☐ Children and Other Vulnerable Participants

For studies involving children or other vulnerable participants, authors have complied with appropriate additional safeguards.

Where applicable:

  • permission from a parent or legal representative was obtained;
  • the child’s assent was obtained in accordance with age and capacity to understand the research;
  • study risks were justified and minimized;
  • the child’s rights, privacy, and confidentiality were protected.

☐ Informed Consent

Appropriate informed consent for participation has been obtained for research involving human participants where required.

Where an ethics committee has lawfully waived the requirement for informed consent, this is clearly stated in the manuscript together with the appropriate justification.

☐ Consent for Publication

Where a manuscript contains potentially identifiable information, images, photographs, or details relating to an individual patient, appropriate consent for publication has been obtained.

Particular attention is required for case reports and other publications involving identifiable clinical information.

☐ Clinical Trial Registration

Prospective clinical trials are registered in a publicly accessible recognized registry before enrollment of the first participant, where registration is required.

The manuscript states:

  • the registry name;
  • registration number;
  • persistent link to the registration record, where available.

Registration information must be consistent with the information reported in the manuscript.

☐ Data Availability Statement

Every manuscript includes an appropriate Data Availability Statement.

Depending on the study, the statement identifies:

  • an open repository and persistent identifier for the data;
  • availability of data from the corresponding author upon reasonable request;
  • restrictions related to participant confidentiality, ethics, law, or third-party conditions;
  • conditions governing access to third-party data;
  • or that no new data were created or analyzed in the study.

The statement entered in the submission system must correspond to the statement in the manuscript.

☐ Required Declarations

The manuscript contains all applicable declarations concerning:

  • author contributions;
  • funding;
  • role of the funder;
  • conflicts of interest;
  • ethics approval;
  • informed consent;
  • consent for publication;
  • data availability;
  • acknowledgements;
  • use of artificial intelligence.

Where a particular declaration is genuinely not applicable, this is stated appropriately.

☐ Authorship and Author Contributions

  • All listed authors meet the journal’s authorship criteria.
  • All authors have made an appropriate contribution to the work.
  • All authors have approved the submitted version of the manuscript.
  • All authors have agreed to the author list and order.
  • All authors accept responsibility for the appropriate accuracy and integrity of the work.
  • Author contributions are disclosed using CRediT, where required by the journal.
  • Contributors who do not meet authorship criteria may be acknowledged with their permission.
  • The corresponding author confirms that all authors have approved the manuscript, declarations, and submission metadata.

☐ Conflicts of Interest and Funding

  • All financial and non-financial conflicts of interest have been disclosed.
  • All sources of research funding have been identified.
  • Where applicable, the role of the sponsor or funding organization in study design, data collection, analysis, manuscript preparation, and the decision to publish is described.
  • The absence of conflicts of interest is also explicitly stated.

☐ Artificial Intelligence

  • Artificial intelligence tools are not listed as authors.
  • Any substantive use of generative AI or other automated tools has been disclosed in accordance with the journal’s Artificial Intelligence Policy.
  • Authors have verified the accuracy, reliability, and originality of content generated or modified using such tools.
  • Authors retain full responsibility for the content of the manuscript.

☐ Research and Publication Integrity

The manuscript does not contain:

  • plagiarism;
  • fabrication;
  • falsification;
  • inappropriate manipulation of images or data;
  • duplicate or redundant publication;
  • inappropriate authorship;
  • citation manipulation;
  • peer-review manipulation;
  • other forms of research or publication misconduct.

☐ References

  • References are formatted according to the journal’s current citation style specified in the Instructions for Authors.
  • References are presented consistently and accurately.
  • Only sources actually cited in the manuscript are included.
  • DOI is provided as an active link where available.
  • Authors have verified the accuracy of bibliographic information and correspondence between citations and references.
  • Unjustified or manipulative citation practices are not permitted.

☐ Copyright and License

  • Authors retain copyright in their published article.
  • Authors grant the journal and publisher a non-exclusive right of first publication and the rights necessary for dissemination and maintenance of the published article.
  • Accepted articles are published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) License.
  • Authors are responsible for obtaining all necessary permissions for third-party materials.

☐ Publication Fees

Before submission, authors have reviewed the journal’s current publication fee/APC policy published on the official journal website.

Financial arrangements, waivers, or other payment-related matters do not influence peer review or independent editorial decisions.

☐ Resubmission After Revision

When submitting a revised manuscript, where applicable:

  • a clean revised manuscript has been uploaded;
  • a version showing changes has been provided if requested;
  • a detailed response to reviewers and the editor has been provided;
  • each reviewer comment has been addressed;
  • any recommendation not followed has been accompanied by a reasoned explanation;
  • tables, figures, data, and supplementary files have been updated where necessary;
  • the revised manuscript and response letter are consistent with each other.

☐ Final Submission Confirmation

The corresponding author confirms that:

  • all authors have reviewed and approved the submitted manuscript;
  • the author list and order have been agreed upon;
  • all data and declarations are complete and accurate;
  • submission metadata correspond to the manuscript;
  • all necessary ethical approvals and consents have been obtained;
  • requirements concerning authorship, publication ethics, data, artificial intelligence, copyright, and licensing have been met;
  • the manuscript complies with the journal’s current submission requirements.

Incomplete Submissions

Manuscripts that do not meet the journal’s mandatory requirements may be returned to the corresponding author for technical correction before editorial assessment or external peer review.

Completion of this checklist does not guarantee acceptance for publication


ISSN 2181-3353 (Online)