Last modified August 3, 2024

Please carefully review the complete instructions for authors before submitting your manuscript to the Diabetes & Metabolism Journal. These instructions can be found at https://e-dmj.org or https://submit.e-dmj.org.

Table of Contents

• 1. ARTICLE PROCESSING CHARGES
• 2. RESEARCH AND PUBLICATION ETHICS
• 3. EDITORIAL POLICIES
• 4. MANUSCRIPT SUBMISSION
• 5. MANUSCRIPT CATEGORIES AND FORMATS
• 6. PEER REVIEW
• 7. USE OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
• 8. MANUSCRIPT PROCESSING AFTER ACCEPTANCE

The Diabetes & Metabolism Journal (International Organization for Standardization abbreviation: Diabetes Metab J; dmj) is the official publication of the Korean Diabetes Association. It is published bimonthly on the first day of January, March, May, July, September, and November. The journal’s mission is to disseminate new knowledge, contribute to the cure for diabetes mellitus, and advance diabetology by sharing the latest scientific information. Manuscripts must be written in English and prepared according to the provided guidelines. For any issues not addressed here, authors should refer to the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals (https://www.icmje.org/recommendations). The journal follows an Open-Access Journal policy, making all content freely accessible online for reading, downloading, and printing at no cost.

Contact information
Diabetes & Metabolism Journal Editorial Office
101-2104, Lotte Castle President,
109 Mapo-daero, Mapo-gu, Seoul 04146, Korea
Tel: +82-2-714-9064 / Fax: +82-2-714-9084
Email: diabetes@kams.or.kr

1. ARTICLE PROCESSING CHARGES

For articles accepted for publication in the Diabetes & Metabolism Journal, an article processing charge of $600 will apply.
Submission can proceed once the payment method has been agreed upon. The applicable fee must be paid before publication.

Starting January 1, 2025, the article processing charge will increase to $1,000 for accepted articles. Industry-sponsored articles will incur a charge of $3,000, while invited articles are exempt from any fees.

• Waiver Policy
The Diabetes & Metabolism Journal offers waivers and discounts for authors from low-income countries, as classified by the World Bank (https://datahelpdesk.worldbank.org/knowledgebase/articles/906519/) as of July in the year prior to submission. Requests for waivers should be made at the time of submission by contacting the editorial office (diabetes@kams.or.kr). To maintain editorial impartiality, editors are not informed when a waiver has been granted.

2. RESEARCH AND PUBLICATION ETHICS

The Diabetes & Metabolism Journal adheres to the guidelines and best practices set by professional organizations, including the ICMJE Recommendations, the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) Guidelines (https://publicationethics.org/resources/guidelines), and the Good Publication Practice Guideline for Medical Journals (https://www.kamje.or.kr/board/view?b_name=bo_publication&bo_id=13). Additionally, all procedures for addressing research and publication misconduct will follow the applicable COPE flowcharts (https://publicationethics.org/guidance/Flowcharts).

2.1. Authorship and Contribution

1) Author qualifications
According to ICMJE Recommendations, authors of a paper must meet the following criteria: (1) make substantial contributions to the conception and design of the study, or to the acquisition, analysis, and interpretation of data; (2) draft the article or critically revise it for significant intellectual content; (3) give final approval of the version to be published; and (4) agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work, ensuring that any questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved. All authors should meet all four criteria. The author list should include all relevant contributors and no others, providing proper credit and accountability for each researcher’s contributions.

2) Author contributions statements
Authors must include a statement at the end of the manuscript, under a section titled “Author Contributions,” specifying each author’s role and responsibilities. This requirement applies to all manuscripts, including review articles. Individuals who do not meet the four criteria mentioned above should be acknowledged in the Acknowledgments section as contributors.

3) Authorship changes
Any changes in authorship (adding, removing, or rearranging authors) after the initial manuscript submission must be accompanied by a letter to the editor, signed by all authors. The journal will not correct authorship after publication unless it is due to an editorial error.

4) Role of corresponding author
The corresponding author is primarily responsible for communication with the journal during the manuscript submission, peer review, and publication process. This includes ensuring that all administrative requirements, such as authorship details, ethics committee approval, clinical trial registration, and conflict of interest forms, are properly completed. The corresponding author should be available throughout the submission and peer review stages to respond promptly to editorial queries. After publication, they should be prepared to address critiques and cooperate with any journal requests for data or additional information related to the article.

5) Recommendations for collaborating with personal connections
Authors planning to involve minors (under 19 years old) or family members (such as spouses, children, or relatives) in their research, whether through co-authoring papers or presentations, must clearly disclose this in the cover letter. For more details, please refer to the Guidelines for Preventing Illegitimate Authorship by the National Research Foundation of Korea (https://cre.nrf.re.kr).

2.2. Disclosure of Conflict of Interest

Authors submitting to the Diabetes & Metabolism Journal must declare all competing interests related to their work. Every manuscript should include a “Conflict of Interest” section at the end, listing any financial or non-financial competing interests. Financial conflicts, such as employment, consultancies, stock ownership, honoraria, and paid expert testimony, are often the most obvious. However, conflicts can also arise from personal relationships, academic competition, and intellectual passion (https://www.icmje.org/conflicts-of-interest). If there are no competing interests, the statement should read, “No potential conflict of interest relevant to this article was reported.” For studies sponsored by third parties, authors must describe the sponsor’s role in study design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, report writing, and the decision to submit the manuscript. If the sponsor had no such involvement, this should be clearly stated. Additionally, potential conflicts of interest of editorial board members should also be disclosed in the manuscript.

2.3. Statement of Human and Animal Rights

All studies involving humans must adhere to the principles outlined in the World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki: Ethical Principles for Medical Research Involving Human Subjects (https://www.wma.net/what-we-do/medical-ethics/declaration-of-helsinki). For studies involving animal experiments, care and use of animals must comply with national laws and institutional regulations. The ethical treatment of all experimental animals should align with the guidelines provided by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee. Approval from the relevant animal ethics committee must be documented and available for submission if requested by the editors or reviewers.

2.4. Statement of Informed Consent and Institutional Review Board Approval

Research involving human subjects, material, or data must have been approved by an appropriate ethics committee. The manuscript should include a statement confirming this approval, with the name of the ethics committee and the reference number. If the study was exempt from requiring ethics approval, this should also be mentioned, including the name of the committee that granted the exemption. During the review process, the Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval document may be requested, if necessary. For all research involving human subjects, informed consent must be obtained from participants, and a statement confirming this should be included in the manuscript. Identifiable information, such as names, initials, hospital numbers, dates of birth, or other protected healthcare information, should not be disclosed.
For animal studies, the manuscript should state that the experimental procedures, including breeding and use of laboratory animals, were approved by the Research Ethics Committee (REC) of the institution where the research was conducted or that they comply with the institution’s REC guidelines or the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals. Authors are required to retain the raw experimental data for at least 1 year after publication and should be prepared to present this data if required by the editorial board.

2.5. Registration of Clinical Trial Research

Any research involving clinical trials should be registered with a primary national clinical trial registry. This includes registries, such as the Clinical Research Information Service (CRIS; https://cris.nih.go.kr), the World Health Organization Registry Network (https://www.who.int/clinical-trials-registry-platform/network/primary-registries), or ClinicalTrials. gov (https://clinicaltrials.gov), a service of the U.S. NIH. Please ensure that the clinical trial registration number is included on the manuscript’s title page.

2.6. Originality and Duplicate Publication

Submitted manuscripts must be original and not under consideration for publication in another magazine or journal. No part of the manuscript may be published elsewhere without the editorial board’s permission. Figures and tables can be reused freely if the original source is properly credited under the Creative Commons Non-Commercial License. Authors are required to resolve any copyright issues when citing figures or tables from non-open access journals. All submissions are screened for plagiarism or duplicate publication using Similarity Check (https://www.crossref.org/services/similarity-check). If such issues are found, the journal will be notified, and appropriate penalties may be imposed on the authors, with their affiliated institutions also being informed.

2.7. Secondary Publication

Manuscripts may be republished if they meet the ICMJE’s criteria for secondary publication (https://www.icmje.org/recommendations/browse/publishing-and-editorial-issues/overlapping-publications.html) as follows:

• • Authors must obtain approval from the editors of both journals (the editor handling the secondary publication must have access to the primary version).
• • The primary publication retains priority, with a publication interval agreed upon by the editors of both journals and the authors.
• • The secondary publication is intended for a different audience; an abbreviated version may suffice.
• • The secondary version must accurately reflect the data and interpretations of the primary version.
• • The secondary version must inform readers, peers, and documenting agencies that the paper has been published elsewhere, in whole or in part (e.g., “This article is based on a study first reported in the [journal title, with full reference]”), and must cite the primary reference.
• • The title of the secondary publication should indicate that it is a secondary publication (complete or abridged republication or translation) of a primary publication. Note that the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM) does not consider translations as “republications” and does not cite or index them if the original article was published in a Medline-indexed journal.

2.8. Process to Manage the Research and Publication Misconduct

The Diabetes & Metabolism Journal is a member of Similarity Check’s plagiarism detection initiative and takes all cases of publication misconduct seriously. If the editorial office identifies suspected research and publication misconduct, such as a redundant (duplicate) publication, plagiarism, data fabrication, changes in authorship, undisclosed conflicts of interest, and other ethical issues, the resolution process will follow the COPE flowcharts. Reviewers are responsible for reporting any suspected issues with a manuscript to the editor. If the investigation confirms scientific misconduct, the article will be retracted. Authors may be invited to prepare the retraction, which must be submitted with a copyright assignment statement signed by all authors. If the paper is unpublished, the editor can reject it outright. Instances of misconduct will be reported to the editorial board, and the editor may impose sanctions, notify editors of other biomedical journals, or, depending on the severity, inform the author’s institution. The journal will not hesitate to publish errata, corrigenda, clarifications, retractions, or apologies when the misconduct is confirmed.

2.9. Editorial Responsibilities

The editorial board is committed to upholding high publication ethics standards. This includes providing clear guidelines for retracting articles, preserving the integrity of academic records, prioritizing intellectual and ethical standards over commercial interests, and publishing corrections, clarifications, retractions, or apologies as needed. Editors are responsible for accepting or rejecting articles, avoiding conflicts of interest, promoting corrections or retractions when errors are identified, and preserving reviewer anonymity.

3. EDITORIAL POLICIES

3.1. Copyright

Authors must declare that the submitted work is original and does not infringe on any existing copyrights. Upon publication, all papers become the permanent property of the Korean Diabetes Association. Each author is required to sign an authorship responsibility and copyright transfer agreement, confirming their fulfillment of authorship criteria. The agreement will be confirmed via email from each author after acceptance. Additionally, authors are responsible for obtaining written permission to reproduce any material that has been previously published, in any media, including electronic formats. Copies of permission letters for any reproduced copyrighted material must be provided. Submitted materials will only be returned to the author upon specific request.

3.2. Open-Access License

The Diabetes & Metabolism Journal is an open-access journal available free of charge. Articles are distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0), which permits unrestricted noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Users may freely use, reproduce, disseminate, or display the open-access version of content from this journal for noncommercial purposes. For any commercial use of material from this journal, permission must be obtained from the Korean Diabetes Association (email: diabetes@kams.or.kr).

3.3. Article Sharing (Author Self-Archiving) Policy

Authors may share their research in various ways, including on preprint servers, social media, at conferences, and in educational materials, in accordance with our open-access policy. However, submitting the same manuscript to multiple journals is strictly prohibited.

3.4. Data Sharing Policy

The Diabetes & Metabolism Journal encourages data sharing wherever possible, unless ethical, privacy, or confidentiality concerns prevent it. Authors are encouraged to deposit their data in a publicly accessible repository and provide a link to the digital object identifier (DOI) within the manuscript. The journal adheres to the ICMJE Recommendations for data sharing statements (https://www.icmje.org/recommendations). Authors may also refer to the editorial, “Data Sharing Statements for Clinical Trials: A Requirement of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors,” published in the Journal of Korean Medical Science (https://doi.org/10.3346/jkms.2017.32.7.1051).

3.5. Archiving

The full text of articles from the Diabetes & Metabolism Journal has been archived in PubMed Central (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/journals/1508) since 2010 (starting from volume 34), the Korea Citation Index (https://www.kci.go.kr), and the National Library of Korea (https://nl.go.kr). The journal ensures the long-term availability of its contents, even if the journal ceases publication, through these archiving platforms.

3.6. Preprint Policy

A preprint is a version of a scholarly paper that has not yet undergone formal peer review or been published in a peer reviewed journal. The Diabetes & Metabolism Journal allows authors to submit preprints without it being considered duplicate submission or publication. Authors are encouraged to disclose the preprint DOI in their cover letter during submission. If not disclosed, the preprint may be flagged by plagiarism detection tools such as Similarity Check or Copy Killer. Preprint submissions will undergo the same peer review process as regular submissions. If accepted for publication, authors should update the preprint with a link to the published article in the Diabetes & Metabolism Journal, including its DOI. It is strongly recommended that authors cite the published article in the Diabetes & Metabolism Journal rather than the preprint in future submissions to other journals.

3.7. Peer Review Policy

All submissions, including invited papers, undergo peer review. The Diabetes & Metabolism Journal employs a doubleblind peer review process, ensuring that both authors and reviewers remain anonymous to each other, while the editor is aware of their identities throughout the process. Reviewers are chosen by the editorial board based on their expertise, publication history, and prior review performance. During the peer review process, reviewers communicate exclusively with the editor. An initial decision is typically made within 2 weeks of a reviewer agreeing to assess a manuscript. Information about the review process or editorial decision process is not published on the article page. Manuscripts submitted by editors, employees, or members of the editorial board are treated as the same as other unsolicited submissions. The authors of these manuscripts do not participate in the selection of reviewers or the decision-making process. Editors will not handle their submissions, even if commissioned. The conflict of interest statements should be included as follows: Conflicts of Interest: [Author name] has been an editorial board member of the Diabetes & Metabolism Journal since [Year] but has no role in the decision to publish this article. No other potential conflicts of interest relevant to this article were reported.

4. MANUSCRIPT SUBMISSION

4.1. Online Submission

All manuscripts must be submitted online through the Korean Diabetes Association’s manuscript submission system (https://submit.e-dmj.org). The entire review and editing process is conducted via this system. Authors can track the status of their manuscript, including any questions or updates related to the review process, directly on the website. Notifications regarding changes in the manuscript’s status will be sent to both the corresponding author and the first author. Detailed submission instructions are available on the website. For any issues, please contact the editorial office.

4.2. Manuscript Preparation

Before submitting a new manuscript, please complete the Author Checklist (https://e-dmj.org/file/DMJ-checklist.pdf) and ensure that all points have been addressed.
Prior to logging into the online submission system, please prepare the following documents, which will be required during electronic submission. Manuscripts must include a title page containing the following information:

• • A full disclosure to the editor regarding any submissions or previous reports that might be considered redundant publications of the same or very similar work.
• • A statement of any financial or other relationships that could lead to a conflict of interest.
• • A declaration that the manuscript has been read and approved by all the authors, that the authorship criteria outlined in this document have been met, and that each author believes that the manuscript represents honest work. For more information, please refer to the “Title page” section.

5. MANUSCRIPT CATEGORIES AND FORMATS

5.1. General Principles

1) Manuscripts should be prepared using Microsoft Word (.doc or .docx). The entire manuscript, including the title page, abstract, main text, acknowledgments, references, tables, and figure legends, should be double-spaced with a 12-point font and 3 cm margins on all sides of A4 (21×30 cm) or U.S. letter-sized paper (8½×11 in). Page numbers should be centered at the bottom of each page, starting with the title page.
2) Abbreviations should be used only when necessary for clarity. If an abbreviation is needed due to repetition, introduce it in parentheses when the term first appears. 3) Laboratory measurements should be reported in International System of Units (SI). In certain cases, non-SI (conventional) units can also be used, but consistency in unit usage is required.
4) For the specific study design, authors should follow appropriate reporting guidelines, such as CONSORT (https://www.consort-statement.org) for randomized controlled trials, STROBE (https://www.strobe-statement.org) for observational studies, PRISMA (https://www.prisma-statement.org) for systematic reviews and meta-analyses, and CARE (https://www.care-statement.org) for case reports. Additional reporting guidelines can be found at the EQUATOR Network (https://www.equator-network.org) and U.S. NLM (https://www.nlm.nih.gov/services/research_report_guide.html).

5.2. Original Articles

Manuscripts should be organized as follows: title page, abstract with keywords, main text (introduction, methods, results, and discussion), conflicts of interest, funding information, acknowledgments, references, tables, and figure legends. Original articles should not exceed 4,000 words (excluding abstract, references, and tables or figure legends), include no more than 50 references, and contain up to six tables or figures.

1) Title page
Manuscripts must include a title page with following information:

• • Title: The title should be no longer than 20 English words. Capitalize the first letter of each word. Avoid acronyms unless absolutely necessary.
• • Running title: Provide a short running title of fewer than 50 characters, including spaces.
• • Author list and affiliations: Include the full names and institutional affiliations of all authors. For multicenter studies, indicate each author’s affiliation using superscript Arabic numbers (e.g., 1, 2, 3).
• • Corresponding author: Include the name, postal code, address, and email of the corresponding author.
• • Conflicts of interest: Disclose any potential conflicts of interest. If none exist, state, “No potential conflict of interest relevant to this article was reported.”
• • Author contributions: Specify each author’s contribution to the manuscript using the Contributor Roles Taxonomy (CRediT) format (https://credit.niso.org/).
• • Open Researcher and Contributor ID (ORCID): Provide the ORCID IDs of the corresponding and first authors. Authors can obtain an ORCID ID by registering at https://orcid.org. This information should be included during submission but should not appear in the main text. After acceptance, this section will be published following the Discussion section.
• • Funding: Detail the sources of funding that supported the work and describe the role of any sponsors or funders. If they had no role, include, “The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.”
• • Acknowledgments: Mention any individuals who contributed to the study or manuscript but do not meet the criteria for authorship. If there are none, write “None.”

2) Abstract and Keyword

• • The abstract should be self-contained and comprehensible without needing to refer to the main text.
• • It should be concise (fewer than 250 words) and structured to clearly describe concisely the Background, Methods, Results, and Conclusion.
• • Include three to ten keywords at the end of the abstract, reflecting the manuscript’s content, using MeSH terms in Medline (http://www.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/MBrowser.html).
• • Provide the clinical trial registration number at the end of the abstract.

3) Main text
The main text should be organized into the following sections: Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion. Use appropriate headings and subheadings in the Methods and Results sections. References, figures, and tables must be cited numerically in the order mentioned in the text.

• • Introduction: Provide context or background for the study. Clearly state the specific purpose, research objective, or hypothesis of the study. Only cite directly relevant references and avoid including data or conclusions from the current work.
• • Methods: Present materials, methods, and study design in detail. Clearly describe the selection of participants (including controls), eligibility and exclusion criteria, and the source population. Use sex for biological factors and gender psychosocial, or cultural factors. Experimental methods should be detailed enough to allow replication by readers. Specify sources for any special chemicals or preparations (including the company name). Describe the statistical analysis and the criteria for determining significance. Include a statement regarding approval by an ethics committee, IRB, or similar review body, as well as the consent procedures, at the beginning of the Methods section.
• • Results: Present a detailed description of the study results, organized logically. When using tables, avoid redundantly describing their contents in the main text. Instead, highlight the important trends and key points.
• • Discussion: Emphasize new and significant findings. Discuss the significance and limitations of your findings, ensuring that the conclusions are directly linked to the study’s objectives. Avoid drawing conclusions that are not fully supported by the data.

4) References
Authors should provide direct references to original research sources whenever possible.

• • References should be listed in the order they are cited in the paper. Reference numbers should be placed in the middle or at the end of the corresponding sentences within the text. The reference list should appear at the end of the document, following the main text and acknowledgments (if applicable) and before any tables. Original articles are limited to 50 references. Reference numbers in the text should be in chronological order, in normal type, and in square brackets (e.g., “In the study by Won et al. [23] ...”).
• • Authors’ names must be listed by last name followed by the initials of their first and middle names. If there are more than six authors, list the first six followed by “et al.” Include inclusive page numbers. Journal titles should be abbreviated according to the style used for Medline (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/nlmcatalog/journals).
• • Journals
  
  • 1. Bae EJ, Park BH. Multiple roles of sirtuin 6 in adipose tisvi sue inflammation. Diabetes Metab J 2023;47:164-72.
  • 2. Inzucchi SE, Maggs DG, Spollett GR, Page SL, Rife FS, Walton V, et al. Efficacy and metabolic effects of metformin and troglitazone in type II diabetes mellitus. N Engl J Med 1998;338:867-72.
• • Book and Book chapter
  • 3. Eyre HJ, Lange DP, Morris LB. Informed decisions: the complete book of cancer diagnosis, treatment, and recovery. 2nd ed. American Cancer Society; 2002. p768.
  • 4. Leon S, Fritz MA. Clinical gynecologic endocrinology and infertility. 7th ed. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2005. Chapter 29, Endometriosis; p1103-33.
• • Online
  • 5. Ministry for Health, Welfare and Family Affairs. The Third Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES III). Available from: https://knhanes.cdc.go.kr (updated of July 8, 2006).
• • Preprint
  • 6. Arruda AL, Hartley A, Katsoula G, Smith GD, Morris AP, Zeggini E. Insights into the comorbidity between type 2 diabetes and osteoarthritis [Preprint]. Posted 2023 Mar 29. medRxiv 2023.03.28.23287861. https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.03.28.23287861

5) Tables

• • Tables should be double-spaced and placed on a separate page at the end of the document, with the table number, title, and legend positioned above the table.
• • Table titles should be concise, consisting of a phrase and a clause, with the first character capitalized.
• • Tables should be numbered in the order they are referenced in the main text.
• • Footnotes should be listed below the table, with descriptions following the order of acronyms and symbols. Symbols should be marked with lowercase letters (e.g.,   ^{a, b, c, d, e}) in the order they appear.
• • Avoid using unnecessary vertical lines. Horizontal lines should be minimized.
• • Tables should be easy to understand.
• • If a table has been previously published, acknowledge the original source and obtain written permission from the copyright holder for reproduction. Permission is required irrespective of authorship or publisher, except for documents in the public domain.

6) Figures

• • Figures should be submitted separately from the manuscript text. All images, including photographs, must be of high quality, with a resolution of at least 300 dpi, and provided in JPEG, EPS, TIFF, or PICT format with RTF manuscripts, or embedded within a PDF file.
• • Figures should be numbered in the order they are mentioned in the text.
• • When using multiple images under the same number, label them with letters (e.g., Fig. 1A, Fig. 1B).
• • Use color images when appropriate.
• • Photomicrographs should include internal scale markers. Provide an explanation for the scale and indicate the staining method used in photomicrographs.
• • If a figure has been previously published, acknowledge the original source and provide written permission from the copyright holder for reproduction. Permission is required irrespective of authorship or publisher, except for public domain materials.

7) Figure legends

• • Use Arabic numerals to number figures in the order they mentioned in the main text.
• • Describe all images and photographs in the legend using complete sentences rather than fragments or phrases.
• • Footnotes below the figure should follow the order of symbols first, then acronyms. Symbols should be denoted with lowercase letters in the order of their appearance, such as     ^{a, b, c, d, e}.

8) Supplemental data
Nonessential tables and figures can be included as onlineonly supplemental files. Whenever possible, these files should be combined in a single document and uploaded separately during the submission process. Each file must be referenced in the main text at least once (e.g., “Supplementary Table 1”).

9) Graphical abstract
A graphical abstract visually summarizes the key findings of a paper, presenting the topic in an engaging, easy-to-understand format to attract a wide audience. Highlights, presented as concise bullet points (up to five), convey the paper’s essential discoveries. Each bullet point should not exceed 85 characters, including spaces. Although submitting a graphical abstract and highlights is optional during the initial submission, they are required upon acceptance of the manuscript. Both the graphical abstract and highlights will appear in the online content and the article PDF file.

5.3. Reviews

Review articles may be written by invitation or submitted for consideration by the editorial board. Submitted review manuscripts will undergo the same review process as original research articles. Review articles should follow the instructions for original articles, including an abstract of no more than 200 words and keywords. References should not exceed 150.

5.4. Brief Reports

Brief reports aim to publish novel and significant findings from clinical and experimental studies that can be presented concisely. These manuscripts should include a short, unstructured abstract (up to 180 words), as well as sections for the Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion. The total manuscript length should not exceed 1,500 words, excluding references and the abstract. Brief reports may include up to 20 references and a maximum of two figures or tables.

5.5. Editorials

Editorials in the Diabetes & Metabolism Journal are written by invitation from the journal’s editorial board, extended to vii a senior investigators in the relevant field. The purpose of these editorials is to provide additional insights into original data presented in an article published in the journal. The number of references should not exceed 20.

5.6. Letters to the Editor

This includes critiques or opinions on manuscripts published in this journal in the past 6 months. Submissions should be no longer than 1,000 words, with up to 10 references and typically no more than one table or one figure. Letters will be published at the discretion of the editor-in-chief.

6. PEER REVIEW

6.1. Initial Screening

Submitted manuscripts are first reviewed by manuscript editors. If they do not meet the submission criteria, they will be returned to the authors for correction and resubmission. The priority of the manuscript will then be initially assessed by the associate editors. Before undergoing peer review, all submissions are checked for plagiarism using Similarity Check, a plagiarism-screening tool. If the similarity score is too high, the editorial board will conduct a more thorough content review.

6.2. Peer Review Process

Manuscripts deemed suitable will be reviewed by two or more experts in the relevant field to assess their scientific quality. This journal employs a double-blind review process throughout. If revisions are required, the editorial board will request that the authors amend the manuscript. Authors must provide a detailed, line-by-line response to the reviewers’ comments when submitting the revised manuscript. Revisions must be received within 2 months of the editorial board’s notification. If the revised manuscript is not submitted within this period, it will be assumed that the author has decided not to pursue publication. Based on the review and revisions, the associate editor will make the final decision on the manuscript’s acceptance. If necessary, a professional statistician will conduct a statistical review.

6.3. Complains and Appeals

1) Who can file a complaint or appeal? Submitters, authors, reviewers, and readers may file complaints and appeals in cases such as: falsification, fabrication, plagiarism, duplicate publication, authorship disputes, conflicts of interest, ethical treatment of animals, informed consent issues, bias, unfair competitive practices, copyright infringement, data theft, defamation, and legal issues. Complaints or appeals should be submitted via email (diabetes@kams.or.kr), including detailed information addressing all relevant questions.
2) Who handles complaints and appeals? The editor, editorial board, or editorial office is responsible for resolving complaints and appeals. A legal consultant or ethics editor may assist in the decision-making process.
3) Possible resolution outcomes: The consequences depend on the nature and severity of the misconduct. Resolutions will follow COPE guidelines.
If not described above, the process of handling complaints and appeals follows the guidelines of the COPE (https://publicationethics.org/appeals).

7. USE OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

7.1. Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) Technologies in Manuscript Preparation

The Diabetes & Metabolism Journal follows ICMJE guidelines regarding the use of AI manuscript preparation. Traditional and generative AI, including language models, chatbots, machine learning, or similar technologies, may be used to improve the readability and language accuracy of scientific writing. However, AI tools cannot be credited as authors.

7.2. Use of AI-Generated Images

Due to unresolved legal and ethical issues, the use of AIgenerated images and videos is restricted. Consequently, AI tools are not permitted to create artwork, including book covers, commissioned content covers, or graphical abstracts.

7.3. Disclosure of AI Technologies

Authors must disclose the use of AI technologies during manuscript submission. This includes specifying the tools used, such as the model’s name, version, and manufacturer, and explaining their role in the writing process. Authors must also confirm that there is no plagiarism in the AI-generated text or images. AI-generated content should not be cited as a primary source.

7.4. AI Use by Peer Reviewers

AI tools can produce outdated, nonsensical, biased, or incorrect information. Additionally, manuscripts may contain sensitive or proprietary information that should not be shared outside the peer review process. Therefore, peer reviewers are asked not to upload manuscripts into AI tools. The journal is exploring providing access to secure AI tools for peer reviewers. If AI tools are used in any capacity to evaluate a manuscript, reviewers must transparently declare their use in their review reports.

8. MANUSCRIPT PROCESSING AFTER ACCEPTANCE

8.1. Final Version

Once a paper is accepted for publication, the authors should submit the final version of the manuscript. Double-check the accuracy of author names and affiliations. If the original image files were low resolution, higher-resolution files should be provided at this time. Preferred formats for photographic images are TIFF and PDF. Files containing figures should be named according to the figure number (e.g., Fig. 1. tiff). Symbols (e.g., circles, triangles, or squares), letters (e.g., words or abbreviations), and numbers should be large enough to remain legible when reduced to the journal’s column width. All symbols must be defined in the figure capviii tions. If references, tables, or figures are moved, added, or deleted during the revision process, they must be renumbered accordingly to ensure all references, tables, and figures are cited in the correct in numeric order.

8.2. Manuscript Corrections

Before publication, the manuscript editor will ensure the manuscript meets the standard publication format. Authors must respond within 2 working days. Delays in response may result in the publication being postponed to the next issue.

8.3. Galley Proof

After corrections have been made, an accepted manuscript will be sent to the publisher for printing. The corresponding author may revise the proof multiple times if necessary. The author should carefully check the content, title, affiliation, capitalization, figure placements, and references for accuracy. The corresponding author is responsible for any further corrections needed after printing.

8.4. Post-Publication Discussions

Post-publication discussions can take place through letters to the editor. Readers who have concerns about any published articles can submit a letter to the editor. If any errors or mistakes are found in an article, they can be corrected through an erratum, corrigendum, or retraction.