Manuscript Preparation

Prepare manuscripts in clear English using an editable document format. Use continuous page and line numbering and define abbreviations at first use.

Title page

Provide the article title, author names, affiliations, ORCID iDs where available, corresponding-author contact information, acknowledgements, funding, conflicts of interest and author contributions. Upload the title page separately.

Anonymized manuscript

Remove author names, affiliations, acknowledgements and identifying references to the authors' institution. Check document properties and file names for identifying information.

Research articles

Use a structure appropriate to the study, normally including title, abstract, 4–8 keywords, introduction, materials and methods, results, discussion, conclusions, declarations and references. Describe methods and analysis in enough detail for evaluation and reproducibility.

Tables, figures and references

Number tables and figures in the order cited. Provide clear titles or legends, define abbreviations and report units consistently. References must be accurate, complete and presented consistently. Authors are responsible for verifying every citation.

Reporting guidelines

Use the reporting guideline appropriate to the work, such as ARRIVE for in vivo animal research, REFLECT for livestock trials, STROBE-Vet for observational veterinary studies, CONSORT for randomized trials, PRISMA for systematic reviews or CARE for case reports.

Declarations

Include ethics approval, consent, conflicts of interest, funding, author contributions, data availability and AI-use disclosures. Missing declarations may prevent editorial assessment.