Journal of Tissue Repair and Regeneration · JTRR
Instructions for authors
What to prepare, how to prepare it, and how to send it. Requirements that apply to every submission are set out in full below; where a requirement depends on the study design, the guideline that governs it is named.
Before you begin
Two things are worth settling before you write the cover letter.
Whether the work fits. The aims and scope sets out what belongs in this journal. In the cover letter, explain the contribution to tissue repair or regeneration and its biological, methodological, translational, or clinical relevance, as applicable. One kind of relevance is enough; the journal does not require a manuscript to be mechanistic, clinical and novel at once.
Whether everyone is ready. Confirm that each author meets the authorship criteria in the editorial policies, has seen and approved the version being submitted, and agrees to the data-availability plan. Identify the corresponding author, give a working email address, and collect ORCID iDs where authors have them.
Manuscript formats
JTRR considers the manuscript formats supported by its current publishing framework, where the submission is substantively relevant to tissue repair or regeneration. The journal's published record to date consists of research articles and a case report.
If you are preparing a format other than a full research article — a review, a short communication, a methods paper, a data descriptor, a case report, a commentary or an editorial — write to the editorial office before you submit, with a one-paragraph outline. The editorial office will confirm whether the format is accepted and what it requires. Asking first is quicker than reformatting afterward.
Word, abstract, reference, figure and table limits vary by format, and the editorial office confirms the ones that apply when it confirms the format.
Manuscript structure
These apply to every submission, whatever the format.
- Title page, supplied as a separate file
- Title, running title, every author's full name, affiliation and ORCID iD, and the corresponding author's email address. Keeping it separate lets the same manuscript go to double-blind review without being rebuilt.
- Abstract
- A standalone summary that states the question, what was done, and what was found, without citations or undefined abbreviations. Use a structured abstract where the study design calls for one, and follow the structure the relevant reporting guideline specifies.
- Keywords
- Four to six keywords, chosen so that a reader searching the field would find the work.
- Main text
- Clear section headings, consistent terminology, abbreviations defined at first use, and SI units. Report the primary outcome measures and the statistical approach, including the test used, the software and version, and how missing data were handled.
- References
- Complete and accurate for every citation, with a DOI where one exists. Cite datasets and preprints using their persistent identifiers. Use the house reference style: list the first three authors, then et al.
- Nomenclature
- Standard gene, protein, cell-line and species nomenclature, with cell lines identified by their RRID or supplier and catalog number.
- Line numbers
- Continuous line numbering and page numbers make reviewer comments precise, and are recommended for the review copy.
Figures, tables and supplementary files
- Figure files
- Supplied at publication resolution in TIFF, EPS or high-quality PNG, with scale bars on micrographs and all panels labeled.
- Figure legends
- Self-contained: what is shown, the model or sample, n, and what any error bars represent.
- Tables
- Numbered consecutively, with a concise title and every symbol and abbreviation defined in a footnote.
- Image integrity
- Adjustments apply to the whole image and never obscure, remove, introduce or enhance a feature. Grouping from different gels, fields or exposures is marked. Keep the original unprocessed files.
- Supplementary files
- Extended methods, datasets and videos are welcome, each cited at the point in the main text where it is relevant.
- Third-party material
- For reused material, comply with the applicable license and credit requirements, and obtain permission where the existing license or an applicable exception does not authorize the intended reuse.
Reporting guidelines
Follow the guideline that matches the study design and attach the completed checklist as a supplementary file. ARRIVE for animal studies, CONSORT for clinical trials, STROBE for observational studies, PRISMA for systematic reviews, and MIQE for quantitative PCR.
Describe procedures in enough detail for another group to repeat them, and report deviations from the approved protocol where they occurred.
Ethics, consent and trial registration
Human studies name the approving research ethics committee or institutional review board and the approval reference, follow the Declaration of Helsinki, and report that informed consent was obtained. Where a person is identifiable in any part of the submission, written consent to publish is obtained and the manuscript says so.
Animal studies name the approving animal care and use committee, state the welfare guidelines followed, and report housing conditions and humane endpoints. Gene-therapy and cell-therapy work documents its biosafety approvals.
Clinical trial registration
Interventional clinical trials must be registered in an accepted public trial registry at or before the first participant provides consent for enrollment. The registry name, registration number, and registration date must be reported in the manuscript.
Data, code and materials
Every empirical research manuscript must include a data-availability statement.
Say where the data underlying the findings can be found and on what conditions. Deposit in a discipline or institutional repository where you can, and cite the accession or DOI in the references. Where data cannot be shared openly, give the access route and the reason for the restriction.
Share analysis scripts where that is feasible, noting software versions and the computing environment. Give key reagent identifiers and supplier details so that materials can be obtained. Well-documented null results are welcome.
Authorship and declarations
- Authorship
- Every author meets all four criteria set out in the editorial policies. Contributors who do not meet all four are named in the acknowledgments with their contribution described. Changes to the author list after submission need the written agreement of every author.
- Contributions
- A statement describing what each author did.
- Funding
- Every funding source and grant number, and the role the funder played in design, conduct, analysis, reporting or the decision to publish. A statement is required even where no specific funding was received.
- Competing interests
- Financial and non-financial interests a reader could reasonably consider relevant. A declaration is supplied whether or not an interest exists.
- Use of AI
- Disclose any use of generative AI in preparing the manuscript, naming the tool and what it was used for. AI tools are not listed as authors, and the authors remain accountable for the whole of the work.
Preparing for double-blind review
Single-blind by default; double-blind review is available on request. If you request double-blind review, prepare the reviewer copy accordingly.
For double-blind review, remove author names, affiliations, acknowledgments, funding details, institution names, and other identifying information from the reviewer manuscript. Provide identifying information separately in the title-page file or submission form.
Check the file properties of the reviewer copy as well as its text: author metadata saved by a word processor travels with the file.
How to submit
Three routes are open. Authors must use only one submission route for the same manuscript.
- Primary route — ManuscriptZone
- oap.manuscriptzone.net is the full submission system, with an account, file management and tracking through review.
- Alternative route — manuscript submission form
- The manuscript submission form is a short form that reaches the same editorial queue, and opens with this journal already selected.
- Assisted route — editorial office
- Send the manuscript to [email protected] and editorial staff will place it for you.
The one-route rule prevents the same manuscript entering the queue twice. It does not make any of the three routes preferable to the others.
After submission
All submissions undergo initial editorial screening. Manuscripts that meet the journal's scope and minimum requirements proceed to independent peer review. Manuscripts that proceed to external peer review are normally evaluated by at least two independent subject-matter experts.
A revision is returned with a point-by-point response to each reviewer comment and a marked copy showing what changed. Proofs are for correcting errors introduced in production and for factual corrections; substantive rewriting at proof stage is handled as a revision instead.
After publication, errors that affect the record are corrected in the open through a citable notice. Write to the editorial office if you identify one in your own article.
Submission checklist
A complete submission has each of these.
- Cover letter explaining the contribution to tissue repair or regeneration
- Title page as a separate file, with affiliations and ORCID iDs
- Main manuscript, with line and page numbers
- Abstract and four to six keywords
- Figures at publication resolution, with self-contained legends
- Tables with titles and defined abbreviations
- Completed reporting checklist for the study design
- Data-availability statement
- Ethics approval and consent statements, where applicable
- Trial registration details, for interventional trials
- Funding statement and competing-interest declarations
- Author contribution statement
- AI-use disclosure, where applicable
- Permissions for any third-party material