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Adoption May 1st 2010
Latest revision Jan 1st 2024
Laboratory Medicine Online (Lab Med Online, eISSN 2093-6338) is the official journal of the Korean Society for Laboratory Medicine, the Korean Society for Genetic Diagnostics, the Korean Society for Laboratory Hematology, the Korean Society of Diagnostic Immunology, the Korean Society of Clinical Chemistry, and the Korean Society of Clinical Microbiology, published in Korean or English. Lab Med Online has been published quarterly since Jan 1, 2011. Lab Med Online tries to present academic achievements of authors to readers as fast as possible. To accomplish this, the journal is running a policy to return the results of its first peer review to the authors within one month after submission is completed. There is no page charge or article processing charge of author side. Full-text files are available at the official website (http://www.labmedonline.org). Total or a part of the articles in this journal are abstracted in the Korean Journal Citation Report (KCI), KoreaMed, WordWideScience.org, Google Scholar, and CrossRef. This journal is supported by the Korean Federation of Science and Technololgy Societies (KOFST) Grant funded by the Korean Goverment (MEST).
GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS
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The manuscripts should be written in Korean or English. The journal publishes Original Articles, Case Reports, Brief communications, Letters, Review articles, Photo Essays, Guidelines, and Perspectives. The other form could be submitted under the approval of the editorial board. Review requested by the editorial board, Editorials, Corrections, as well as Correspondence. Case reports which had been reported four times or more in Korea or worldwide will be rejected. Brief Communications are intended for the presentation of brief observations that do not warrant full-length papers, but have sufficient originality and utility to be considered for publication. The information must be presented in sufficient detail so that readers can understand and appreciate the material presented. Brief communications undergo the same review process as full-length papers and are not published sooner than the full-length papers. Guidelines should be approved for publication only if the publication is requested by an Laboratory Medicine Online-associated academic society or a related research group. The name of the society or research group should be included in the author list. Original Articles and Case Reports are classified according to the following 8 specific areas, and the author should state the appropriate area of interest in their manuscripts. However, the executive editor of each field may request to the author to change the area of interest and resubmit the manuscript, if necessary.
Specific areas include
Diagnostic Hematology
Clinical Chemistry
Clinical Microbiology
Diagnostic Immunology
Transfusion Medicine
Diagnostic Genetics
Laboratory Informatics
General Laboratory Medicine -
Authorship: The manuscripts are accepted only on the understanding that they have not been published elsewhere. The manuscripts published in this journal cannot be submitted for publication elsewhere. If the author(s) wishes a duplicate or a secondary publication, for example, for the readers of a diffierent language, the author must obtain approval from the editors-in-chief of both the first and second journals. Further, the conditions specified in the Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals (http://www.icmje.org) should be met, such as insertion of a comment as a footnote in the title page of the second journal stating the primary reference and the duplicate nature of the paper.
Only those who have made significant contributions to the preparation and publication of the manuscript are eligible for authorship and should take responsibility for the same. Each author should sign the Authorship Responsibility and Copyright Transfer Agreement Form attesting that he or she fulfills the authorship criteria after acceptance for publication. Authors are required to identify their contributions to the work described at the title page of the manuscript. - Disclosure of conflict of interest: Each author is responsible for disclosing to the Publisher all potential conflicts of interest regarding this manuscript (including sources of support, consulting fee or honorarium, stocks, etc.). Even in case the authors have no conflicts of interest, the authors should declare it: None declared. Each author also should sign a statement disclosing any conflicts of interest after acceptance of the manuscript.
- Acknowledgements: General acknowledgements and research grant are described between disclosure of conflict of interest and references.
- Reporting Sex and Gender: The term sex and gender should be used in accordance with the Sex and Gender Equity in Research (SAGER) guidelines (https://researchintegrityjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s41073-016-0007-6). This includes the correct use of the terms sex (when reporting biological factors) and gender (when reporting identity, psychosocial, or cultural factors) and separate reporting and interpretation of the data by sex and gender. If sex and/or gender information are not reported or an exclusive population was involved (i.e., prostate cancer or ovarian cancer), this should be explained.
ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS
Experiments conducted on human subjects should be performed according to the Declaration of Helsinki (www.wma.net). Written informed consent should be obtained from all subjects. Identifying information including names, or hospital numbers should not be published in written description, or photographs. The authors must demonstrate that the Research Ethics Committee or the Institutional Review Board (IRB) of the institution where the experiment was performed approved the study, if required by the editorial board.
For any issues not addressed in these instructions, refer to the following materials.
International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICJE). Uniform requirements for manuscripts submitted to biomedical journals: Writing and Editing for Biomedical Publication http://www.icmje.org).
Furthermore, all process of dealing research and publication misconduct shall be followed by Flow chart of COPE (http://publicationethics.org/resources/flowcharts).
Misconduct in Research & Publication
Research misconduct occurs when a researcher fabricates or falsifies data, or plagiarizes information or ideas within a research report. The definition of misconduct can also extend to authorship/publication violations.
(1) Fabrication is making up data or results and recording or reporting them.
(2) Falsification is manipulating research materials, equipment, or processes, or changing or omitting data or results such that the research is not accurately represented in the research record.
(3) Plagiarism is the appropriation of another person's ideas, processes, results, or words without giving appropriate credit.
(4) Inappropriate authorship includes gift-, ghost-, and swap-author.
(5) Redundant (or duplicate) publication is publicat ion of a paper that overlaps substantially with one already published in print or electronic media.
PREPARATION OF MANUSCRIPTS
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The manuscript must be typewritten double-spaced using a 12-point font size on A4-sized paper using Microsoft (MS) Word. Manuscripts should adhere to the guidelines for length restrictions, abstract, number of references, and limits on supplementary tables according to their manuscript type, as outlined in the table below:
Type of manuscript Word limit Abstract References Supplementary
table permittedReview/Guideline No limit 250 No limit Yes Original Article 3,500 250 30 Yes Case Report 1,500 250 20 No Brief Communication 1,500 250 20 Yes Perspective 1,500 No 20 No Letter to the editor 750 No 20 No -
Manuscript file should include the following in the given order:
- 1) Cover letter: In cover letter, describe the type of manuscript, the specific area, title, institutional affiliation(s), the highest degree(s), and name of the author(s), the corresponding author’s information (complete address, telephone and facsimile numbers, and e-mail address). However, if the author is a student or a minor, who does not have a degree, submit the final affiliation, position, and year in school to the editorial board. If the authors are affiliated to different institutions, their names and affiliations should be stated the superscripts 1, 2, 3, etc starting from the first author. We permit only one co-first author and/or one co-corresponding author, if necessary. In that case, specify the reason below the information of authors. A running title should be added if the title exceeds 50 characters in English, including spaces. The number of words in abstract should be placed. The title page should contain a brief description of the novelty and importance of the work.
- 2) Title page: In title page, describe the type of manuscript, the specific area, title, and a running title.
- 3) Abstract: Abstract is not required in the case of Letters to the Editor. In case of all the other types of manuscripts, the abstract should be written in English, in 250 words or less, and include the subheadings Background, Methods, Results, and Conclusions. Each subheading should be summarized in 1 paragraph. Select 3 to 10 key words in English and insert them below the abstract. For Case Reports and Brief Communications, the abstract is limited to 250 words in a single paragraph without the subheadings. The key words are to be adjusted to the Medical Subject Heading (MeSH) of Index Medicus (http://www.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/MBrowser.html), when possible. When a reagent or instrument is described in the abstract, the author should only mention the name, company, and country, and not the manufacturing city.
- 4) Introduction: Research hypothesis and specific aim should be described briefly.
- 5) Methods: The explanation of experimental methods, devices or apparatus, and procedures should be concise and sufficient for repetition by other investigators, The approval of the institutional review board and statistical methods should be described.
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6)
Results: The results should be presented logically using text, tables, and figures.
*4)-6) can be combined in Case Reports. - 7) Discussion: The data should be interpreted concisely without repeating the content in either the introduction or the results.
- 8) Summary: Rewrite abstract in Korea without key words.
- 9) Disclosure of conflict of interest: All potential conflicts of interests should be disclosed.
- 10) Acknowledgements: General acknowledgements and research grant are described.
- 11) References: Serially number the references in the order of citation in the text with numbers in brackets. Refer only to the most pertinent literature and indicate 30 references at the most. Not more than 20 references should be inserted for Brief Communications and Case Reports.
- 12) Tables and Figures: Each table and figure should be written concisely and the content of the tables and figures should not overlap. Photographs should be clear. Submit colored and black and white photographs to print colored and black and white photographs, respectively. Files containing the figures can be uploaded via the online manuscript submission system in Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG) or Graphics Interchange Format (GIF) file formats. Tagged Image File Format (TIFF) or bitmap (BMP) files can be uploaded for the accepted manuscript. The print resolution should be 300 dots per inch (dpi) or more. For the citation of the contents of tables or figures, indicate them with Table 1 or Fig. 1. If there are more than 1 insets in the figure, each one of them should be identified alphabetically i.e. (A), (B), (C), etc. with a corresponding legend. The appropriate location of tables and figures should be marked with <Insert Table 1>, <Insert Figure 1>, etc. using the "Memo" function in MS Word.
- 13) Structure your manuscript according to the sequence of items listed above. Insert the page numbers in series at the bottom of each page in manuscript file.
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Observe the following points when preparing the contents of a manuscript.
- 1) We recommend to use the appropriate English terminology translated from Korean using either Essential Medical Terminology published by The Korean Medical Association in 2005 or “The Collection of Medical Terms, 4th edition, published by The Korean Medical Association in 2001 (http://kamje.or.kr/term) or Laboratoy medicine terminology in 2010 by Korean Society for Laboratory Medicine.
- 2) The name of a person or a place and other proper nouns should be used in the original language and Arabic numerals should be used. Weights and measures should be represented in the metric system and the units should be in the International Standard Unit (SI unit). Indicate liters with a capital L.
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3)
The name of a microorganism should be spelled out the first mention in the abstract, and original text (example: Eschericia. coli). The names of the genus can be abbreviated subsequently (example: E. coli). However, do not abbreviate the name of the genus if 2 or more genera starting with the same letter are being referred to. Scientific names should always be italicized.
[Example 1] To be italicized: Escherichia coli, Papovaviridae, Hepadnavirus, and Simplex
[Example 2] Not be italicized: streptococci, coagulase negative staphylococci, Epstein-Barr virus, hepatitis B virus, and herpes simplex virus. -
4)
The names of the genes, and not the proteins should be italicized:
BCR-ABL mutations, HER2 gene,
BCR-ABL kinase domain, HER2-positive - 5) When using English abbreviations, define the abbreviation completely at first mention in the abstract, and original text. Do not use an abbreviation in the title. The terms listed at the end of the KSLM journal or its website need not be defined.
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6)
In the case of spacing between words and parentheses or brackets, a space should be inserted when English text or a number is placed before the parentheses.
[Example 3] Heparin-induced thrombocytopenia/thrombosis (HITT) -
7)
For an instrument or equipment, mention the name of its model; manufacturer, city, (state), and country of an insturmentor equipment in parentheses. The general name of a reagent should be used. If a trade name is expressed with a general name, it should be placed after it in parentheses. When using a trade name, indicate the manufacturer, city, state, and country in parentheses. Do not use the symbols ™ or ® unless necessary. At subsequent mentions after the first, instruments and equipments can be referred to indicating only the manufacturer in parentheses.
[Example 4] Coulter STKS (Coulter Electronics Inc., Hialeah, FL., USA), vancomycin (Sigma Chemical Company, St. Louis, MO, USA) - 8) should be uppercase and italicized to indicate statistical significance.
- 9) In the case of numbers greater than 3 digits, a comma should be inserted after every third digit from right to left (e.g., 5,431, 5,675, and 1,000), but a comma should not be inserted when indicating years (e.g., 1995, 2007).
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References should be presented in the following style.
- 1) References should be presented in English. All the references in other languages should be translated into English, with the original text enclosed in parentheses.
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2)
Details and Examples
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(1)
Articles
List all the authors if the number of authors is less than 7, and list the first 6 authors followed by et al. if the number of authors is 7 or more. If the manuscript has only 2 authors, use “and” and not a comma between their names. Journal names are to be abbreviated in accordance with the style of Index Medicus (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/nlmcatalog/journals). In the case of a supplementary volume of a journal, record it in parentheses such as 15(S).
In the case of articles, mention the names of the authors, title, name of the journal, year published, volume number, and the first and last page numbers.
(Example) Choi I-S, Choi AJ, Jang JS, Park G, Jeong SH, Kim C-M, et al. Distribution of adeG, adeB, adeE, adeY, abeM, and adeJ efflux pump genes in clinical isolates of Acinetobacter species from Korea. Lab Med Online 2019;9:201-9.
(Example) Castro-Castro MJ, Candás-Estébanez B, Esteban-Salán M, Calmarza P, Arrobas-Velilla T, Romero-Román C, et al. Removing lipemia in serum/plasma samples: a multicenter study. Ann Lab Med 2018;38:518-23.
(Example) Cho SY and Hur M. Hepcidin and neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin as a biomarker for acute kidney injury linked iron metabolism. Ann Lab Med 2020;40:97-8. -
(2)
Books
While referring to books, mention the name of the authors, editor(s), name of the book, edition, place of publication, publisher, published year, and page number. List it up to 2 authors.
(Example) Rifai N, Horvath AR, et al. eds. Tietz textbook of clinical chemistry and molecular diagnostics. 6th ed. St. Louis, MO: Elsevier, 2018:266-326.
In the case of a book chapter, indicate the name of author(s) of the chapter, title of the chapter, ‘In:’, editor(s), name of the book, edition, place of publication, publisher, published year, and page number. List it up to 2 authors.
(Example) Weindel M and Bluth MH. Establishing a molecular diagnostic laboratory. In: McPherson RA and Pincus MR, eds. Henry’s clinical diagnosis and management by laboratory methods. 23rd ed. St. Louis, MO: Elsevier, 2017:1360-76. -
(3)
Website
Author, website address, uniform resource locator (URL), and the date of recent update.
If the update date is not clear, the references should include the date on which the author accessed the URL.
(Example) World Health Organization. WHO recommendations on the use of rapid testing for influenza diagnosis. https://www.who.int/influenza/resources/documents/rapid_testing/en/ (Updated on Jul 2005).
(Example) Epitope Diagnostics, Inc. Quantitative fecal calprotectin ELISA kit http://www.epitopediagnostics.com/kt849 (Last accessed on May 2019). -
(4)
Government/Organization publications
The full name of organization, title, report number, the place of publication, publisher, published year.
(Example) Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute. Interpretive criteria for identification of bacteria and fungi by targeted DNA sequencing. 2nd ed. CLSI guideline MM18. Wayne, PA: Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute, 2018.
(Example) Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute. Performance standards for antimicrobial susceptibility testing. 28th ed. CLSI supplement M100. Wayne PA: Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute, 2018.
(Example) Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency. Technical guidance for laboratory safety and health. KOSHA GUIDE G-82-2018. Ulsan: Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency, 2018.
(Example) U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Food and Drug Administrations. Bioanalytical method validation; Guidance for industry. Docket no. FDA-2013-D-1020. Silver Spring, MD: Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, Food and Drug Administrations, 2013. -
(5)
Legal sources
The title of the Act, legislated or amended Act no., legislated or amended date, URL.
(Example) Act on the management of narcotic drugs. Act no. 15939, Feb. 2, 2016. http://www.law.go.kr/lsInfoP.do?lsiSeq=205683#0000.
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(1)
Articles
- 3) AAn abstract is not permitted to be cited as a reference. For accepted articles pending publication, those should be cited and described as “in press”. However, the author should have a letter permitting the citation from the author(s). If an author would like to cite a paper that has been submitted but has not been accepted yet, it should be described as an unpublished data in the text and also should get a permit letter from the author(s). We do not recommend citing personal communications. If the author(s) cannot provide the reference paper, this reference can be requested to be deleted from the reference list even after the acceptance of the paper.
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Tables and Figures should be prepared in accordance with the following guidelines:
- 1) Number the tables and figures according to their order of citation in the text. The heading should be inserted above the tables, but the legends should be located below the figures. Periods should not be used in the headings of tables but are required at the end of figure legends.
- 2) Only the first letter and proper nouns of the headings and legends of tables and figures should be in capital letters.
- 3) Vertical and horizontal lines should be omitted as much as possible. Text in the first column of a table should be aligned to the left. Single letters should be aligned centrally from the second column. If numbers are of the same unit, the decimal point should be the datum point. If there are symbols such as “-” indicating ranges, ± and × symbols should be the datum point. Numbers with different units should be aligned to the right in all columns. If there are parentheses, the start of the parentheses and the last letter before it should be the datum point.
- 4) Only numbers can be used without parentheses or a period if it represents a case in a table. A heading representing cases should be noted as "No. case" and a heading representing the number of cases should be noted as "N".
- 5) Explanations below should be in the order of superscripts and abbreviations. There should be a linebreak between the explanations of each superscript and/or abbreviations.
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6)
The superscript should be placed on the right side of a word and should be used in the following order, ‘*, †, ‡, §, ∥, ¶, **, ††, ‡‡ etc’. The following are examples of using superscript: * not tested; † P<0.05.
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7)
All nonstandard abbreviations should be explained below. Define them as indicated in the following examples.
[Example] Abbreviations: NT, not tested and SAA, severe aplastic anemia - 8) If a figure is a microphotograph, the staining methods and the magnification should be indicated.
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9)
If a figure comprises 2 or more pictures, each should be explained either separately as “(A), explanation and (B), explanation” or together in parentheses.
[Example of Table]
Table 2. Distribution of serum FLC and kappa/lambda ratio in patients with renal dysfunctionGroups | Kappa FLC (mg/L) | Lambda FLC (mg/L) | Kappa/lambda ratio |
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Total (N=92) | 42.2 (15.9–277.0)* | 30.8 (12.8–202.0)* | 1.41 (0.66–2.90)* |
G2 (mild kidney dysfunction) (N=25) | 24.0 (15.9–108.0)* | 18.0 (12.8–164.0)* | 1.32 (0.66–1.93)* |
G3 (moderate kidney dysfunction) (N=44) | 42.4 (22.3–94.2)* | 30.2 (14.1–73.3)* | 1.40 (0.73–2.90)* |
G4 (severe kidney dysfunction) (N=14) | 84.7 (36.5–165.9)* | 51.3 (30.9–77.0)* | 1.77 (0.91–2.46)* |
G5 (kidney failure) (N=9) | 119.7 (63.3–277.0)* | 58.5 (39.9–202.0)* | 1.86 (1.21–2.55)* |
Reference interval (Katzmann et al. [10]) | 3.3–19.4‡ | 5.7–26.3‡ | 0.59 (0.26–1.65)* |
Renal reference interval (Hutchison et al. [9]) | 43.8 (3.0-251.0)* | 38.0 (1.0-251.0)* | 1.1 (0.37–3.1)* |
Abbreviation: FLC, free light chain.
SUBMISSION, PEER-REVIEW, EDITING, AND PUBLICATION OF MANUSCRIPTS
- Every manuscript should be submitted as an electronic file through the following website (http://www.labmedonline.or.kr/submission/Login.html) along with the completed “Author’s Checklist” including disclosure of conflict of interest. Each author should upload the separate files: Cover letter, title page and the manuscript file for peer-review excluding the information regarding the authors and their affiliations. Before uploading the manuscript for the first time, the authorshould create a new account for “the manuscript submission and review system for LMO”. After the acceptance, each author should sign “the Copyright Transfer Agreement and Disclosure of Conflict of Interest Form”. “Author’ s Checklist” and “the Copyright Transfer Agreement and Disclosure of Conflict of Interest Form” can be found on homepage (http://labmedonline.org). Other correspondences can be e-mailed to KSLM (e-mail: kscp1@kams.or.kr; address: A-1502 Meilleur Jongno Town, 19 Jongno, Jongno-gu, Seoul 110-888, Republic of Korea; Tel: +82-2-795-9914, Fax: +82-2-795-4760).
- The authors should indicate 3 or more suggested reviewers and non-preferred reviewers, if necessary, in the online manuscript submission system.
- Editorial assistant will request to an appropriate executive editor for the relevant area. The executive editor reviews and sends the manuscript to 3 appropriate peer-reviewers. On the basis of the comments of the peer reviewers, the executive editor determines whether the article is acceptable or not preliminarily. After the author responds to comments of all reviewers, the (revised) manuscript is sent to the editor-in-chief.
- Every author can check the status and the results of the review on the website. All requests, (revised) manuscripts, and response letters are delivered through this website. All submissions, revisions, or responses are promptly notified to the concerned authors, reviewers, or editors by e-mail.
- The executive editor or editor-in-chief can send those manuscripts that require statistical editing to a biostatistics expert before acceptance.
- If a manuscript is accepted for publication, the editor-in-chief sends an acceptance letter to the all author(s) by e-mail.
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Manuscripts are always rejected for one of the following cases:
- 1) The manuscript is rejected by 2 reviewers.
- 2) The author does not respond to the executive editor within 3 months after request for the correction. The authors will be notified of such rejection by e-mail.
- The publication of the article is mainly decided by the executive editor after considering the comments of the reviewer. The final decision and order of publication is the duty of the editor-in-chief. Any manuscript that does not observe these policies and instructions will have to be revised and supplemented, and can be withheld from publication.
- Addition or exclusion of any author will be decided by the editor-in-chief after the submission of a written request signed duly by all authors.
- Any errors discovered in the articles after publication should be submitted to the editor-in-chief in writing and be inserted in erratum.
OTHERS
- Publication charges will be due on all articles. Illustrations that require extraordinary printing processes will be charged to the authors. The corresponding author is charged a fee for digital object identifier (DOI)/CrossRef.
- The KSLM has the copyright of every submitted manuscript approved for publication in this journal.
- These instructions are based on the Vancouver Form, 5th edition. For any issues not addressed in these instructions, refer to the following material. http://www.icmje.org/news-and-editorials/updated_recommendations_dec2018.html