WAME Manuscript Submission Checklist

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WAME has developed a Manuscript Submission Checklist, below and attached, as a template for medical journal editors to use for manuscript submissions to their journals. Editors are welcome to adapt the checklist for their own journals but should indicate that the checklist was adapted. For example, some journals want the authors to confirm that they have listed everyone who has contributed significantly to the work in the Acknowledgment section, or whether authors have obtained permission from patients to publish potentially identifiable information. They may consider adapting the WAME Submission Checklist by adding these or other questions. The Checklist may be used as a form to be completed and returned along with the manuscript submission, or as a series of online questions incorporated into the manuscript submission system. We welcome feedback from journals that have implemented the checklist. 

Individual author forms. In addition to the Submission Checklist below, WAME recommends that editors require individual authors to complete authorship/contributorship forms (see ICMJE Defining the Roles of Authors and Contributors and WAME’s Authorship Policy), conflict of interest/competing interest forms (see ICMJE Disclosure of Interest form and WAME Conflicts of Interest Policy), and a statement required for at least one author to sign, attesting that the author “had full access to all of the data in the study and takes responsibility for the integrity of the data and the accuracy of the data analysis.”

The author contributions and competing interests, and the author(s) that assume/s responsibility for the study, should be included in the manuscript. WAME also encourages journals to include authors’ ORCID IDs.

Background and how to use the WAME Manuscript Submission Checklist

The Manuscript Submission Checklist helps editors to (1) identify prior publication (including preprints) or submission, including acceptable or unacceptable duplicate or redundant publication or submission; (2) obtain information on funding and sponsorship to assess potential conflicts of interest in the research and/or submitted manuscript; (3) verify that the named authors meet their journal's authorship criteria and all individuals meeting authorship criteria are listed as authors, to expose potential ghost, guest, or gift authors; (4) identify specific uses of artificial intelligence (AI) tools to increase transparency about how the tools were used and whether authors safeguarded against known issues with AI tools; (5) request information on clinical trial/prospective study registration, which may help prevent publication bias and identify changes in primary outcome measures after a study has begun; (6) confirm that the research was approved by an independent local, regional or national human ethics review body or animal ethics committee (or reasons why this is not required) and whether written or oral informed consent was obtained; (7) Identify if the study protocol has been reviewed and posted or published, or is available or has been posted online elsewhere (which may help improve the quality of the study and help to identify any changes to the methodology and analysis in the study as submitted); (8)​​ ​​​​​request a data access statement to increase research transparency and obtain access to data if questions arise later; and (9) encourage the use of research reporting tools (e.g., from EQUATOR) and checklists to improve complete reporting of the study and help editors and reviewers identify missing elements. Authors of non-research manuscripts complete questions 1 through 4. After completing the Manuscript Checklist, the corresponding author is asked to attest and sign that the information provided is correct and complete (item 10).

The following Table describes how to evaluate the corresponding author’s responses in the Manuscript Checklist and what information should be included in the published manuscript. Links to ICMJE and WAME recommendations are also provided.

Table. WAME Manuscript Submission Checklist: Manuscript question summaries, how the editor should evaluate authors' answers, and information to include in the manuscript

Manuscript question summary and related resources

How the editor should evaluate authors' answers

Information to include in manuscript

1. Has the manuscript been posted as a preprint or previously published (in this form or in another form with significant similarity or overlap)? Include theses/dissertations that are publicly available. Provide link, citation, and/ or other specifics (See ICMJE for discussion of overlapping publications and submissions). Is the manuscript under consideration elsewhere?

If the manuscript has been previously published, is overlapping publication acceptable in this instance? Preprints and theses/ dissertations are usually considered acceptable. If a preprint has been posted, have reviews been submitted? If so, the editor may wish to review them. A submission with unacceptable overlap should not be published (see ICMJE for discussion of overlapping publications). If the manuscript has been submitted elsewhere, why are there multiple submissions? An editor likely would not want to consider a manuscript already under consideration elsewhere (see ICMJE policy on duplicate submissions).

The preprint link or citation to the previous publication(s) should be cited in the reference list or Acknowledgment. Acceptable duplicate publication should be described and cited.

2. Did your research and/or authors have funding or sponsorship? Provide specifics as described below (see ICMJE for reporting recommendations).

If research had no funding, how was it conducted? Could the funding or sponsorship pose a conflict of interest for the research and/or manuscript reporting? Did the funder or sponsor have a role in the manuscript? If yes, consider the implications when evaluating the manuscript for the journal.

Funding and/or sponsorship information should be provided in the manuscript.

3. All of the named authors meet the journal's criteria for authorship, and all individuals who meet the criteria for authorship are named as authors (yes or no).

This question addresses ghost, guest, and gift authors. If the answer is “no”, more information is needed before the manuscript can be considered further. By attesting to the author list and contributions, the corresponding author assumes more direct responsibility for accuracy of the author information.

If the answer is “yes”, the article information may state that the corresponding author attests that all of the named authors meet the journal's criteria for authorship, and all individuals who meet the criteria for authorship are named as authors.

4. Was an artificial intelligence (AI)/large language model-based system used for any portion of the research or the manuscript? (see WAME and ICMJE recommendations)

If yes, the questions that follow are important to review to determine whether the authors adhered to recommendations, particularly if AI was used to generate content or used in the research itself.

The specific points described in part “e” of the response to this item should be included in the manuscript.

5. If the study is a clinical trial, has it been registered in a clinical trial database listed in https://www.who.int/clinical-trials-registry-platform? (see ICMJE for requirements and rationale)

If a clinical trial has not been registered, why not? Some journals do not consider unregistered trials. If the trial was registered after enrollment of the first patient, the methodology and outcome measures could have been altered after the study began.

The clinical trial database and registry number should be listed in the Abstract and Methods.

 

6. Has the study been approved by an independent local, regional or national human ethics review body and/or animal ethics committee? If yes, who was the body or committee? Did human participants provide written or oral consent?

 

 

If the answer is yes, is the review body appropriate? If no, are you satisfied with the reason(s) given by the authors? Was human research conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki? Was animal research conducted in accordance with ARRIVE [Animal Research: Reporting of In Vivo Experiments] guidelines?

Editors may ask to review the ethics committee documents. Did human participants provide written or oral consent, and were they compensated in any way? If oral, why wasn't written consent obtained?

Approval by a human and/or animal ethics committee should be clearly stated in the Methods. The approval body should be named. If the study was not approved by an ethics committee, the reason should be explained and the editor may need to explain why the study is being published. Whether human participants provided written or oral consent, and any compensation, should be specified.

 

7. Has the study protocol been posted or published? (see ICMJE recommendations regarding protocol review). Are differences between the protocol and the manuscript explained in the manuscript?

 

Prior posting or publication of a protocol enhances study transparency. If the protocol has been posted or published, does the submitted manuscript match what was posted or published? Was the protocol peer reviewed? If the protocol is not public, the editor may request it, although it may have been modified during the study. If differences are explained in the manuscript, could the changes have undermined the scientific validity of the study (e.g., changing outcome measures after the study began)? If differences are not explained in the manuscript, they should be.    

The posted or published protocol should be cited in the Methods and any differences between the protocol and the Methods explained.

8. Are the data underlying the study available for access? (required for clinical trials by ICMJE; ICMJE also provides specific information that should be included)

At a minimum, authors should state that they will provide the data underlying the study if asked by the journal. If the data are available, are they freely available or available on request? Who must be contacted? Authors often do not respond to requests for data and journals should have a policy to handle such situations. If the authors indicate that data are not available the journal should find out why and if not satisfactory the editor may reject the manuscript.

Data access information should be published as a statement at the end of the manuscript

9. Was a research reporting tool used (e.g., CONSORT from EQUATOR) during the study and/or drafting of the manuscript? (see recommendations from ICMJE)

If yes, was the correct tool used for the study design? Was the checklist completed and does the information appear in the manuscript? If not used, does the journal require the tool to be used and/or can the editor request it be used?

The reporting tool used should be described in the Methods; the completed checklist should be provided to the peer reviewers

10. I, the corresponding author, attest that the information provided above is correct and complete.

The corresponding author is asked to take personal responsibility for the information provided.

No additional manuscript information is necessary.

 

 

 

WAME Manuscript Checklist

See WAME explanatory document at https://wame.org/manuscript-submission-checklist

1. Prior publication. Has the manuscript been previously published (in this form or in another form with significant similarity or overlap)? There are situations where these may be acceptable; for example, most journals do not consider preprints or thesis/ dissertations as prior publications. (See ICMJE for discussion of overlapping publications.) Is the manuscript under consideration elsewhere?  (See ICMJE for discussion of duplicate submission.) Check all that apply. 

¨ No

¨ Yes, previous publication: provide link, citation, and/ or other specifics

_______________________________________

¨ Yes, under consideration elsewhere: provide specifics

_____________________________________________

2. Funding/Sponsorship. (See ICMJE for reporting recommendations.)

a. Did your research and/or authors have funding or sponsorship?

¨ No

¨ Yes: provide specific grant numbers, initials of authors who received each award, full names of commercial companies or others that funded the study or authors, initials of authors who received salary or other funding from commercial companies or others, and sponsors’ website URLs: ______________________________________________________________

b. Did any funders or sponsors have a role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript?

¨ No

¨ Yes: specify below what role they had:

_____________________________________________________________

c. The Funding section of the manuscript includes all of the information you provided above

¨ Yes

¨ No. Explain why not below:

_________________________________________________________________

3. Authorship. All of the named authors meet the journal's criteria for authorship, and all individuals who meet the criteria for authorship are named as authors. (See WAME Authorship statement for more information.)

¨ Yes

¨ No. Explain below:

____________________________________________________________________

4. Use of artificial intelligence/large language models. Was an artificial intelligence (AI)-based system used for any portion of the work? (See WAME and ICMJE recommendations.)

¨ No

¨ Yes: Complete the following information:

a. Which AI-based systems were used? ________________________

b. Which portions of the work included AI input? Indicate each and for what specifically AI was used, including use of AI for research; editorial work (writing, editing, translation), referencing, design (making tables, figures, graphs and photos); and search, classifying, analyzing, or doing bibliographic studies. __________________________________________________________

c. Did authors review and revise the AI-generated outputs and text?

¨ No

¨ Yes: what changes were made to the outputs? ________________________________________________

d. Were all the statements and references compiled by the AI-based system independently verified for accuracy?

¨ Yes

¨ No

e. The following information is included in the manuscript:

¨ The abstract (if applicable) summarizes what portions included AI input

¨ For a research manuscript: the Methods describe the ways in which AI was used in the study, including:

  • queries that were used and the specific date(s) on which the queries were asked
  • the AI-system used to answer the questions
  • the parts of the research and/or manuscript affected, including research components, text, Tables, Figures, appendix/supplement, etc.
  • If AI was used in studies involving humans, how AI use was disclosed to participants and how privacy/anonymity was preserved

¨ For a non-research manuscript: the manuscript includes:

  • queries that were used and the specific date(s) on which the queries were asked
  • the AI-system used to answer the questions
  • the parts of the manuscript affected, including text, Tables, Figures, appendix/supplement, etc.

¨ Yes

¨ No. Provide the information here or in an attachment: _________________________________________________________________

Authors of non-research manuscripts, go to the end of the form to complete Item 10.

Research Manuscripts

5. Trial registration. Has the study been registered in a clinical trial database listed in https://www.who.int/clinical-trials-registry-platform? (See ICMJE for requirements and rationale.)

¨ Yes: provide database and trial registration number________________

¨ No. Explain below:

____________________________________________________________________

6. Research Ethics. (See also the Declaration of Helsinki and the ARRIVE [Animal Research: Reporting of In Vivo Experiments] guidelines.)

a. Has the research been approved by an independent local, regional or national review body and/or animal ethics committee?

¨ Yes. Provide the name of the committee and the institution: ____________________________________________________________

¨ No. Explain why not: ____________________________________________________________

b. Did human participants provide written or oral consent?

¨ Yes, written consent

¨ Yes, oral consent. Explain why consent was oral rather than written: ______________________________________________________________

¨ No consent was obtained. Explain why not: ______________________________________________________________

¨ Animal research only

7. Study protocol (See ICMJE recommendations regarding protocol review.)

a. Has the study protocol been posted or published?

¨ Yes: provide citation and link: _______________________________

¨ No. Please provide the study protocol as an attachment.

b. Are differences between the protocol and the manuscript explained in the manuscript?

¨ Yes

¨ No. Explain the differences here or in an attachment: ______________________________________________________________

8. Data access. (Required for clinical trials by ICMJE; ICMJE also provides the specific information that should be included in manuscripts.)

a. Will the authors provide to the journal any data and software code supporting the work that the journal requests?

¨ Yes

¨ No. Explain why not:

_________________________________________________________________

b. Are the data underlying the study available for access?

¨ Yes, data are publicly available: provide access information and URL

_______________________________________________________

¨ Yes, data are available on request: who will provide access on request and under what conditions?

________________________________________________________

¨ No. Explain why not:

________________________________________________________

9. Research reporting. Was a research reporting tool used (e.g., CONSORT from EQUATOR) during the study and/or drafting of the manuscript? (See recommendations from ICMJE.)

¨ Yes: specify the research reporting tool used and provide completed checklist with the submission

________________________________________________________

¨ No

10. I, the corresponding author, attest that the information provided above is correct and complete.

Corresponding author signature: ______________________________________________________________________

 

WAME (2023), Creative Commons CC BY 4.0