1. Before Submission

Before submitting a manuscript, authors must:

1. Confirm that the manuscript falls within the journal’s aims and scope.
2. Confirm that the manuscript is original, has not been published in substantially the same form, and is not under consideration by another journal.
3. Ensure that all listed authors meet the authorship criteria and that no eligible contributor has been omitted.
4. Obtain approval of the submitted version and author order from every author.
5. Prepare a separate title page and a fully anonymized main manuscript.
6. Obtain ethical approval, informed consent, animal ethics approval, regulatory authorization, or a documented exemption, as applicable.
7. Register eligible clinical trials prospectively and provide the registration number.
8. Prepare the appropriate reporting-guideline checklist and flow diagram.
9. Disclose funding, competing interests, data availability, related manuscripts, prior dissemination, and the use of generative artificial intelligence.
10. Obtain written permission for copyrighted material and written consent for identifiable participant information.
11. Verify all references against the original sources and check whether any cited article has been corrected or retracted.
12. Ensure that all tables, figures, supplementary files, numerical values, and statistical results are accurate and consistent.

2. Article Types and Limits

Word limits exclude the abstract, references, tables, figure legends, declarations, acknowledgments, and supplementary materials. The editor may permit justified exceptions.

3. Submission Process and Required Files

Manuscripts must be submitted through the journal’s online submission system:

Submit a Manuscript

The corresponding author is responsible for the completeness and accuracy of the submission, the author list and order, communication with the journal, circulation of editorial correspondence, and approval of the final proof.

Upload the following files:

• Cover letter: manuscript title, article type, importance of the work, originality statement, approval by all authors, ethics and registration details, related manuscripts, previous dissemination, funding, competing interests, and AI disclosure.
• Separate title page: complete author and affiliation information, correspondence details, contributions, funding, competing interests, acknowledgments, data availability, and other declarations.
• Anonymized main manuscript: title, abstract, keywords, main text, anonymized declarations, references, tables, and figure legends.
• Supporting documents: authorship form, ethics approval or exemption, trial registration, reporting checklist, flow diagram, publication consent, copyright permissions, figures, and supplementary material.

The author names, affiliations, title, abstract, keywords, ORCID identifiers, and other metadata entered in OJS must match the submitted title page.

4. General Manuscript Format

• Submit manuscripts in Microsoft Word format (.doc or .docx).
• Use A4 page size, approximately 2.5 cm margins, Times New Roman 12-point font, and double-line spacing.
• Number pages consecutively and add continuous line numbering.
• Use clear headings and subheadings and left-aligned text.
• Use British or American English consistently.
• Use International System of Units and generic drug names wherever possible.
• Define abbreviations at first use in the abstract, main text, tables, and figures. Avoid unnecessary abbreviations in the title.
• Italicize genus and species names and follow accepted international nomenclature for genes, proteins, microorganisms, and chemical compounds.
• Use non-proprietary terminology. If equipment, software, reagents, or commercial products are essential, provide the manufacturer, city, and country where appropriate.

5. Separate Title Page and Anonymization

The title page must contain:

1. Full manuscript title and a short running title.
2. Article type.
3. Full names, highest relevant qualifications, affiliations, and ORCID identifiers of all authors.
4. Department, institution, city, province or state, and country for each affiliation.
5. Name, institutional email address, postal address, and telephone number of the corresponding author.
6. Main-text word count and numbers of tables, figures, supplementary files, and references.
7. Authors’ contributions, funding, competing interests, acknowledgments, data availability, previous dissemination, and AI disclosure.

The anonymized manuscript must not contain:

• Author names, initials, affiliations, email addresses, or ORCID identifiers.
• Acknowledgments or statements that identify the authors.
• Author information in file properties.

Scientifically necessary information should not be removed if doing so would make the report inaccurate. Identifying institutional information may be temporarily replaced with “institution blinded for peer review” and restored after acceptance.

6. Title, Abstract and Keywords

Title: The title should be concise, accurate, informative, and specific. It should identify the principal population, exposure, intervention, outcome, and study design where appropriate. Avoid unexplained abbreviations, unnecessary phrases, sensational wording, unsupported conclusions, and unverified claims such as “first-ever.”

Abstract: Original articles, systematic reviews, meta-analyses, diagnostic studies, and other research reports must include a structured abstract of up to 250 words using Background, Objective, Methods, Results, and Conclusion. Case reports should use Background, Case Presentation, and Conclusion.

The abstract should report the study design, setting, study period, sample size, principal methods, primary outcome, main numerical findings, effect estimates, confidence intervals, and exact P values where appropriate. It must not contain information, conclusions, or results that are absent from the main manuscript. Trial registration should be stated at the end of the abstract when applicable.

Keywords: Provide three to six keywords. Use Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) where suitable and select terms that accurately represent the subject, population, methods, and outcomes.

7. Original Article Structure

Original articles should be arranged as: Abstract, Keywords, Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion, Conclusion, Declarations, and References.

Introduction

The Introduction should explain the scientific or clinical background, summarize the most relevant current evidence, identify the specific knowledge gap, and state why the study was necessary. It should be focused and should not become a full literature review.

The final paragraph must state the study objective, research question, or hypothesis clearly. Do not report the study results or conclusions in the Introduction.

Methods

The Methods section must provide sufficient detail to evaluate the validity of the work and permit replication where appropriate. Include:

• Study design, setting, study period, and recruitment sites.
• Target population, sampling method, recruitment procedure, and inclusion and exclusion criteria.
• Sample-size calculation, assumptions, expected effect, power, confidence level, and allowance for missing data where applicable.
• Definitions of exposures, interventions, outcomes, diagnostic criteria, variables, and time points.
• Data-collection procedures, questionnaires, instruments, validity, reliability, calibration, and quality control.
• Randomization, allocation concealment, blinding, comparator groups, and intervention details where applicable.
• Laboratory methods, equipment, reagents, manufacturers, reference ranges, and specimen handling where applicable.
• Management of missing data, withdrawals, protocol deviations, and excluded observations.
• Complete statistical analysis, including software and version.
• Ethics approval, informed consent, confidentiality measures, and clinical-trial or protocol registration.

Established methods may be summarized with an appropriate citation. New or modified methods must be described in detail. Distinguish prespecified analyses from exploratory or post hoc analyses.

Results

Present results in the same order as the objectives and Methods. The Results section should include participant flow, numbers assessed and excluded with reasons, baseline characteristics, primary and secondary outcomes, follow-up, missing data, adverse events, and relevant subgroup or sensitivity analyses.

Report actual numerical findings with appropriate denominators, percentages, measures of central tendency and dispersion, effect estimates, confidence intervals, and exact P values. State the number of observations included in each analysis where it differs from the total sample.

Do not selectively omit negative or non-significant findings. Avoid repeating all table values in the text and avoid interpretation that belongs in the Discussion.

Discussion

Begin with a concise statement of the principal findings in relation to the study objective. Explain the meaning of the findings and compare them critically with relevant local and international evidence.

Discuss plausible mechanisms, alternative explanations, clinical or biological relevance, strengths, limitations, potential bias, imprecision, confounding, and generalizability. Distinguish statistical significance from clinical importance.

Do not repeat the Introduction or Results, introduce new data, overstate certainty, claim causation from an observational design, or make recommendations unsupported by the evidence.

Conclusion

The Conclusion should answer the study objective directly and be supported by the reported findings. It should be brief, avoid new information, and remain consistent with the design, sample, limitations, and strength of evidence.

8. Other Article Types

Systematic reviews and meta-analyses: Include a reproducible search strategy, databases and information sources, final search date, eligibility criteria, screening and extraction methods, risk-of-bias assessment, synthesis methods, heterogeneity, certainty of evidence where appropriate, PRISMA flow diagram, completed PRISMA checklist, and protocol registration or an explanation for its absence.

Narrative reviews: Provide a balanced and critical synthesis. State the purpose, scope, broad search approach, period covered, basis for selecting evidence, major areas of agreement or controversy, and limitations of the evidence.

Case reports and case series: Follow CARE and report patient information, clinical findings, timeline, diagnostic assessment, treatment, follow-up, outcomes, and written consent for publication.

Study protocols: Clinical-trial protocols should follow SPIRIT and systematic-review protocols should follow PRISMA-P. Include registration, protocol version and date, current study status, objectives, methods, outcomes, sample size, statistical plan, ethics, and dissemination.

Letters and commentaries: Must be focused, evidence-based, respectful, appropriately referenced, and free from unsupported allegations or personal criticism.

9. Reporting Guidelines

Authors must follow the current reporting guideline appropriate to the study design and upload the completed checklist and flow diagram where applicable.

Submission of a checklist does not replace complete reporting in the manuscript.

10. Statistical Reporting

State the statistical software and version, sample-size calculation, primary outcome, statistical tests, assessment of assumptions, handling of missing data, management of confounding, repeated measurements, multiple comparisons, sensitivity analyses, and significance threshold.

Report absolute numbers with percentages, appropriate measures of central tendency and dispersion, effect sizes, confidence intervals, exact P values, and the number of observations included in each analysis. P values may be reported to three decimal places; values below 0.001 may be written as P < 0.001.

Do not interpret results only by whether P is above or below 0.05. Statistical significance, clinical importance, precision, design, and risk of bias should be considered together. The journal may request statistical review, code, output, protocols, or anonymized data.

11. Tables, Figures and Supplementary Files

Tables: Create editable tables using the Word table function. Number them consecutively, cite them in order, provide concise titles, use clear headings, define abbreviations in footnotes, identify statistical measures and tests, and avoid duplicating information in the text or figures. Tables must not be submitted as screenshots.

Figures: Number figures consecutively, cite them in order, provide complete legends, define symbols and abbreviations, include scale bars where required, remove identifiers, and obtain publication consent when identification is possible. Submit figures as separate files.

Acceptable formats include TIFF, JPEG, PNG, EPS, and PDF. Selective enhancement, removal, movement, duplication, or introduction of image features is prohibited. Legitimate cropping, grouping, or splicing must be clearly indicated and explained. Original unprocessed files may be requested.

Supplementary files: Additional methods, tables, figures, questionnaires, checklists, protocols, data dictionaries, datasets, statistical code, appendices, audio, or video may be submitted. Each file must be cited in the manuscript and may be peer reviewed.

12. References: Vancouver Style

DMLS uses the Vancouver numbered reference style. References must be numbered in the order of first citation and cited in square brackets: [1], [2,3], [4–7], or [2,5,8–10]. The same number must be used whenever a source is cited again.

List references in numerical order and include only cited sources. Use the official journal title abbreviations shown in the National Library of Medicine Catalog. Do not create informal abbreviations or use full journal titles when an official NLM abbreviation is available.

List all authors when there are six or fewer. When there are seven or more, list the first six followed by et al. Include the year, volume, issue where required, page range or article number, and DOI where available. Verify every citation against the original publication.

Fabricated, irrelevant, unverifiable, retracted without disclosure, coercive, or manipulated citations are prohibited. Relevant local and regional research should be cited when scientifically appropriate, not merely to satisfy a citation quota.

13. Research Ethics and Registration

Human research: Research involving human participants, medical records, identifiable information, tissues, or specimens must have prior approval from an appropriate ethics committee or institutional review board. State the committee name, approval number, approval date, and consent procedure. Research must comply with the Declaration of Helsinki and applicable institutional and national requirements.

Informed consent and privacy: Obtain valid informed consent where required. Any waiver must be approved and explained. Written consent for publication is required when a participant could reasonably be identified from images, videos, pedigrees, quotations, rare features, or detailed case information.

Animal research: Animal studies require prior approval and must comply with applicable regulations and ARRIVE 2.0. Report species, strain, sex, age, source, housing, anesthesia, analgesia, humane endpoints, euthanasia, sample-size determination, randomization, blinding, exclusions, and adverse events.

Clinical trials: Trials must be registered prospectively in ClinicalTrials.gov or a primary registry in the WHO International Clinical Trials Registry Platform network at or before first participant enrollment. State the registry and number in the abstract, Methods, and declarations. Ethics approval does not replace trial registration.

Protocol registration: Systematic reviews and other eligible studies should be registered prospectively where an appropriate registry exists. Explain important deviations from the registered protocol.

14. Authorship and Contributions

Authorship requires fulfilment of all four ICMJE criteria:

1. Substantial contribution to the conception or design of the work, or acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data.
2. Drafting the manuscript or revising it critically for important intellectual content.
3. Final approval of the version to be published.
4. Agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work.

Funding acquisition, routine data collection, general supervision, administrative support, language editing, technical assistance, seniority, or departmental leadership alone do not justify authorship. Contributors who do not meet all criteria should be acknowledged with permission.

Describe contributions using the CRediT taxonomy where possible. The corresponding author is responsible for the accuracy of the author list and declarations.

Requests to add, remove, or reorder authors after submission must include a detailed reason and written agreement from all authors. Changes after acceptance are allowed only in exceptional circumstances and may require a published correction.

15. Required Declarations

Place the following declarations after the Conclusion and before the References, where applicable:

• Ethics Approval and Consent to Participate: approving body, approval number, approval date, and consent procedure.
• Consent for Publication: whether written consent was obtained for identifiable information.
• Trial Registration: registry name, registration number, and registration date.
• Data Availability: what data are available, where they are stored, access conditions, and reasons for restrictions.
• Competing Interests: all financial and non-financial interests, or “The authors declare that they have no competing interests.”
• Funding: funder, grant number, recipient, and role of the funder, or “This research received no external funding.”
• Authors’ Contributions: specific contribution of each author.
• Acknowledgments: contributors who do not meet authorship criteria.
• Artificial Intelligence Disclosure: tool name, purpose, sections affected, and human verification where substantive AI use occurred.

AI systems cannot be listed as authors. Authors remain responsible for accuracy, originality, references, data integrity, confidentiality, copyright, and the final manuscript. AI must not be used to fabricate data, participants, results, references, approvals, or research images.

16. Originality, Plagiarism and Research Integrity

Developmental Medico-Life-Sciences (DMLS) follows HEC, PMDC, COPE, ICMJE, and WAME principles to uphold research and publication integrity. Submissions may be screened using similarity-detection and image-integrity tools, and decisions are based on the nature and context of overlap rather than similarity percentage alone. Plagiarism, duplicate publication, undisclosed text recycling, data or image fabrication and falsification, statistical manipulation, false ethical approval or trial registration, fabricated references, citation or peer-review manipulation, unethical authorship, paper-mill involvement, and inappropriate use of artificial intelligence are prohibited. Authors must disclose related preprints, abstracts, theses, reports, translations, secondary analyses, and substantive use of AI tools, while remaining fully responsible for the accuracy, originality, confidentiality, and integrity of their work. Suspected violations may result in investigation, suspension of review, rejection, correction, expression of concern, retraction, submission restrictions, or referral to relevant institutions or authorities following fair procedures.

17. Peer-Review Process

DMLS uses double-anonymized peer review. Manuscripts first undergo editorial assessment for scope, completeness, originality, ethics, registration, reporting quality, methodology, statistics, declarations, language, figures, and references. Manuscripts may be rejected without external review if they are outside scope, methodologically inadequate, ethically unacceptable, substantially incomplete, insufficiently original, or unlikely to meet journal standards. Manuscripts sent for external review are normally assessed by at least two independent reviewers with relevant expertise. Reviewer recommendations are advisory; the editor makes the final decision. Possible decisions are acceptance, minor revision, major revision, rejection with invitation to submit a new manuscript, or rejection. Manuscripts authored by editors, editorial-board members, publisher representatives, or journal staff will be handled independently. Editorial decisions are not influenced by fees, nationality, institutional prestige, personal relationships, or commercial interests.

18. Revised Manuscripts and Proofs

A revised submission must include a clean manuscript, a version showing changes, a point-by-point response to every comment, updated tables and figures, revised declarations, and updated reporting checklists where required. Responses should be respectful, specific, and supported by revised text or evidence. When authors disagree with a comment, they should provide a clear scientific explanation. Proofs are intended for correction of typesetting, formatting, and minor factual or typographical errors. Substantial changes to methods, results, authorship, interpretation, or conclusions are not normally permitted at proof stage and may require renewed editorial assessment.

19. Post-Publication Policies

Corrections: A correction will be published when an error affects the accuracy, interpretation, author information, data presentation, funding, competing interests, ethics information, citations, or article metadata. Substantive corrections will be citable, linked to the original article, and clearly identified.

Expressions of concern: The journal may publish an expression of concern when serious questions have been raised but an investigation is incomplete, evidence is inconclusive, or a final decision cannot yet be made.

Retraction: An article may be retracted when findings are unreliable because of major error, fabrication, or falsification; plagiarism or duplicate publication has occurred; research was unethical; data or material were used without authorization; peer review or authorship was manipulated; or a major undisclosed conflict affected interpretation. The retraction notice will explain the reason and link to the article. The original article will normally remain available but clearly marked as retracted.

Withdrawal and removal: Authors may request withdrawal before publication with a written reason and agreement from all authors. After publication, correction, retraction, or removal policies apply. Complete removal is limited to exceptional legal, privacy, defamation, or serious public-safety circumstances; a bibliographic record will normally remain.

Post-publication discussion:  Developmental Medico-Life-Sciences (DMLS) encourages constructive scholarly discussion, scientific debate, and post-publication commentary regarding published articles. The journal is committed to maintaining the accuracy and integrity of the scientific record and will consider legitimate concerns, comments, or criticisms related to published content. Where necessary, the journal may publish corrections, corrigenda, expressions of concern, or retractions in accordance with the recommendations and guidance of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). For further guidance on post-publication discussions and corrections, please refer to COPE Post-Publication Discussions and Corrections.

COPE reference: https://publicationethics.org/postpublication

20. Complaints and Editorial Appeals

Developmental Medico-Life-Sciences (DMLS) is committed to maintaining fairness, transparency, editorial independence, and ethical publishing practices. The journal welcomes legitimate complaints, concerns, and appeals related to editorial decisions, peer review processes, publication ethics, or journal management. Authors who wish to appeal an editorial decision should submit a detailed written explanation to the editorial office. All appeals and complaints will be reviewed carefully by the editorial team and, where necessary, by the Editor-in-Chief or relevant editorial committee in accordance with the principles and recommendations of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). The journal aims to handle all complaints and appeals confidentially, professionally, and within a reasonable timeframe while ensuring the integrity of the editorial and peer-review process.

21. Final Submission Checklist

22. Open Access Statement

Developmental Medico-Life-Sciences (DMLS) is a fully open-access journal that provides immediate, free, and unrestricted access to all published content without subscription or paywall barriers. All articles published in the journal are freely available to readers worldwide to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, and share in accordance with open-access publishing principles. All published articles are distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).

23. Licensing & Copyright

Creative Commons License

24. Author Rights

Authors retain copyright of their published work. Authors may reuse, distribute, archive, and reproduce their published articles in future publications, academic works, institutional repositories, teaching materials, presentations, and other scholarly communications, provided appropriate citation and acknowledgment of the original publication in DMLS are included.

25. Third-Party Materials

Any third-party materials included in published articles are subject to the same Creative Commons license unless otherwise stated in a specific credit line. For materials not covered under the Creative Commons license or for uses exceeding permitted statutory use, authors and readers must obtain permission directly from the respective copyright holder.

26. Privacy Statement

At Developmental Medico-Life Sciences (DMLS), we prioritize the privacy and protection of our users' personal data. This policy outlines how we collect, use, and safeguard your information: