Did you know the Kidney360 editorial team will consider un-formatted manuscripts? Learn more.
Table of Guidelines and Limitations
The following table lists the maximum counts for the various components of submissions. Failure to adhere to the guideline limits listed in this table may result in a submission being returned for modification and delay the review process. For a list of possible publication charges please see Article Processing Charges.
*All listed authors must meet authorship criteria and limits may be instituted on a case by case basis at the Editor’s discretion
Manuscript Preparation
Manuscripts must be typed in English and double-spaced with page numbers. The Kidney360 editorial team will consider initial submissions that are not formatted according to the journal’s specifications for the following manuscript types: Original Investigations and Brief Communications. For these manuscript types, as with all submissions, a complete list of authors names and affiliations must be included on the title page and entered in the online submission portal.
Click on the links below to go directly to each section.
Title Page
All article types are required to have a title page that should include:
- manuscript title
- all authors’ full names (first name, middle initial, last name)
- highest academic degrees and affiliations
- name, address, and telephone number, e-mail address of the corresponding author
- word count for the abstract and the word count for the text, excluding references, figures, and tables
The title of the manuscript should be non-declarative and descriptive of the work, should be 15 words or fewer, and could include a sub-title to describe the study type (such as “randomized controlled trial”, or “systematic review and meta-analysis”). In addition, please include a running head of 7 words or less. Restrict use of abbreviations to terms that are common in nephrology (such as CKD, AKI, ESRD, and eGFR) and used frequently throughout the manuscript. Define each abbreviation at first use in the manuscript text and in each Table and Figure for which it is used (if needed).
Manuscript Order
Original Investigation articles
- Key Points
- Abstract
- Introduction
- Materials and Methods
- Results
- Discussion
- Disclosures
- Funding
- Acknowledgments
- Author Contributions
- References
- Tables (all cited) with appropriate descriptive titles
- Figures and legends (all cited)
- Supplemental Material PDF (optional)
Cover Letter
A cover letter is optional and is intended for communication directly with the Editors. It may be used to provide pertinent information for the Editors or to explain unusual circumstances of a submission, such as similarity to and differences from other work published or previously submitted. See "Duplicate Submission/Redudant Publication" for additional information.
Key Points
Original Investigation, Brief Communication, and Innovative Technology and Methodology articles should include 2 to 3 key points. These short, bulleted statements should identify the most relevant outcomes of the paper and provide a synopsis encapsulating the significance of the research and its implications for readers. For basic science research, we encourage authors to utilize key points to highlight clinical relevance.
Key points should be written clearly and succinctly. Avoid using scientific jargon whenever possible. Each key point should be no more than 140 characters, including spaces. Key points are required upon manuscript submission, immediately preceding the Abstract in both the submission form metadata and the text document.
Abstract
Original Investigations must include a structured abstract consisting of four paragraphs labeled as follows:
- Background
- Methods
- Results
- Conclusions
The use of abbreviations is strongly discouraged. Any abbreviations used must be defined in the abstract. The species used must be identified. Restrict conclusions to those directly supported by study data. Innovative Technology and Methodology, Basic Science for the Clinician, and Review Articles require an unstructured abstract. No other article types require abstracts.
Visual Abstracts
The Kidney360 Editorial Team will create a Visual Abstract for all accepted Original Investigation articles. They will develop the Visual Abstract to fit with the approved Kidney360 style and format. Authors will have the opportunity to review, and edit as necessary, the Visual Abstract prior to publication. Kidney360 may use the Visual Abstract in any Tweets and in any other appropriate materials.
Materials and Methods
Our Editors consider the Methods section a critical element in the manuscript. The information provided in the Methods section should be readable and complete enough to give the reader a fundamental understanding of what studies were performed and the core principles of the methodology. Additional technical information about methods may be included in the Supplemental material, but reference to Supplemental material should not be needed to understand the core experimental steps and principles.
The Methods section is not included in the word limits. It should include, as appropriate, oversight of animal or human studies, the population studied, animals used, cell lines and/or the data resources used, the experimental design(s), outcome measures, and measurement methods. Authors are encouraged to ensure that the description of the study design, analytic approach and presentation of results meets the standards for publication by reviewing the relevant checklist, prior to submission, available through Author Resources.
Please also see our ASN Journal Policies page for additional details about what may need to be included in your Methods section.
Disclosures
ASN journals have adopted the ASN Conflict of Interest and Disclosure Policy. Instructions on how authors must submit their updated disclosures to the submission system are available in “Author Resources” on each journal’s website. Instructions are also automatically emailed to each author at the appropriate time following submission. An ASN Journal Disclosure Form must be completed for each manuscript. The form must be submitted by each author and it must include the unique Manuscript ID and Manuscript Title for the submitted article.
ASN journals are committed to ensuring the integrity of its scientific, educational, and research activities. ASN’s conflict of interest policy requires disclosure of any financial or other interest (commitment) that might be construed as resulting in an actual, potential, or perceived conflict. Authors of submissions to CJASN, JASN, or Kidney360, are required to disclose any financial relationship or commitment for the previous 36 months held by the author and any spouse/partner of the author. The form must be submitted even if an author has no disclosures to report.
Failure to comply and/or to accurately and completely report the potential financial conflicts of interest could lead to the following:
- Prior to publication, article rejection, or
- Post-publication, sanctions ranging from, but not limited to, issuing a correction, reporting the inaccurate information to the authors’ institution, banning authors from submitting work to ASN journals for varying lengths of time, and/or retraction of the published work.
Funding
Authors should report all funding sources that were used to support the submitted work. If applicable, grant names and numbers must be provided. Information for funders who have supplied funds outside of the submitted work should be placed in the Disclosures section and not in the Funding section.
Acknowledgments
Information in the “Acknowledgments” section of the manuscript may include any/all the following:
- Personal thanks for technical assistance, advice; performance of special tests; use of laboratory facilities; manuscript preparation, including editorial or clerical assistance from individual persons (e.g., individuals who helped type or proofread the manuscript); critical review of the manuscript;
- Brief dedications;
- Previous presentation information;
- Author degree candidacy and relationship of the submitted work to the degree;
- References to sources of material related to the research;
- Role of sponsors, government agencies, or employers in the research presented; and
- Disclaimers (“The content of this publication does not reflect the views or policies of …”).
Author Contributions
ASN journals have adopted the criteria recommended by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) in the current update of the Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals: Authorship credit should be based on
- substantial contributions to conception and design, or acquisition of data, or analysis and interpretation of data;
- drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content;
- final approval of the version to be published; and
- agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work pre- and post-publication.
The full text of the Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals is available here.
For author contributors, ASN journals have adopted this statement from the Annals of Internal Medicine: “When used, professional writing assistance must be acknowledged. If those assisting with the writing do not meet criteria for authorship their contributions should be noted in the acknowledgments.” This information is available at https://www.acpjournals.org/journal/aim/authors#preparing-manuscripts-for-submission.
References
Limit references to 50 per Original Investigation article. List all authors for each article cited. Journal names should be abbreviated according to the BIOSIS list of serials. ASN journals do not allow abstracts to be cited as references. The editors recommend downloading the latest style list for the reference program you are using (e.g., EndNote). Additional reference information is available upon request.
Journal articles and books:
- Holden RM, Harman GJ, Wang M, Holland D, Day AJ: Major bleeding in hemodialysis patients. Clin J Am Soc Nephrol 3: 105–110, 2008
- Patton MQ: Qualitative Research & Evaluation Methods, C 3rd Ed., Los Angeles, CA, Sage Publications, 2002
Figures
Figures must be cited in the text, in numerical order, using Arabic numerals. Figures of quality sufficient for accurate peer review may be included in the main manuscript file for initial submission. If your manuscript is accepted, the Editorial Office will require you to upload your individual figures in one of the following formats: EPS, Al, TlFF, PDF, or Microsoft Office. Please be sure to use high resolution and maximum quality compression settings if creating PDFs. Please see “Digital Art Guidelines" for details on figure preparation.
Tables
Tables must be cited in the text and should be numbered using Arabic numerals in the order first cited. Tables should be included in the article file that is uploaded for submission. Each table should appear on a separate page of the manuscript file, beginning immediately after the references. The table number and title should be included above the table, with the title providing sufficient context to interpret the data presented. Additional information, including all abbreviations used, conversion factors for international units, and any clarifications required to understand reported statistics, should be included in notes below each table. In general, a format for tables that permits portrait rather than landscape presentation is preferred, since this facilitates on-line viewing of the pdf version of the paper.
Supplemental Material
Authors may submit supplemental material to accompany their article for online publication. This limited material should be important but not essential to the understanding and interpretation of the article. The supplemental material should be original, not previously published, and non-repetitive of the material in the article.
The supplemental material should begin with a table of contents listing all elements included. The Table of Contents for the supplemental material should also be listed in the manuscript following the Acknowledgments and Financial Disclosures. Upload all supplemental material (except for spread-sheet documents and video files) as a single indexed PDF file.
For studies that report several experimental series, inclusion of a supplemental table summarizing key features of all experimental series is strongly encouraged. The table should list the series, animals used, the intervention, the sample size, outcome measures, whether there was experimenter or observer blinding and figure and table numbers for results.
Supplemental material will be made available to editors and peer reviewers during the review process but is not subjected to the same scrutiny as the main manuscript. If the manuscript is accepted for publication and the editors deem the supplemental material appropriate for online publication, it will be posted online at the time of final publication of the article.
Supplemental material will not be edited or formatted by journal staff; thus, authors are responsible for the accuracy and presentation of all such material. Supplemental material will not be made available to the authors at the proof stage. Questions regarding relevancy of supplemental material may be emailed to vramsey@Kidney360.org.