Instructions for authors | European Respiratory Society (2024)

The European Respiratory Journal, the official journal of the European Respiratory Society, publishes 12 issues in two volumes per year in English.

All submissions to the ERJ are handled via the ScholarOne Manuscripts platform, which provides detailed instructions of how to follow the submission process. If you experience problems or require any further assistance, please contact the submission helpline direct on +44 114 2672864 or contact Sarah Cleveland,ScholarOne Peer Review Coordinator.

Manuscript Preparation

• The European Respiratory Society'smanuscript preparation guidelines(new tab) provide guidance on document formatting and file preparation, and can be foundon a separate page. They should be read in conjunction with the journal-specific information below.
• "My paper, my way": Extensive reformatting of manuscripts prior to submission to journals takes a lot of time, and can waste a significant amount of time if manuscripts are subsequently rejected and need to submitted to another journal.
  As part of our commitment to supporting authors, the ERJ is therefore adopting a “my paper, my way” approach to initial submissions.For the first submission of your research paper or review to the ERJ,we will not enforce strict formatting or word limit guidelines. Instead, the paper will be evaluated as submitted, and papers which are potentially acceptable and undergo revision can be reformatted at the revision stage.
  Manuscripts should be submitted in a format which is suitable for peer review and there remains a mandatory requirement to include a section disclosing potential conflicts of interest.

Presentation of manuscripts should be consistent with the Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals, as recommended by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE).

All manuscripts must be submitted electronically using the online submission at ScholarOne Manuscripts. Detailed instructions of how to submit are available on the website itself and the process is self explanatory. However, if you do experience problems, please contact the submission helpline direct on +44 114 2672864 or contact Sarah Cleveland, ScholarOne Peer Review Coordinator.

European Respiratory Journal manuscripts should be prepared in accordance with the manuscript preparation guidelines for ERS research publications. These cover manuscript content as well as ethical, authorship and conflict of interest considerations.

Before entering the ERJ ScholarOne online submission area, please read and carefully follow the manuscript preparation guidelines and the information below.

Brief requirements for articles are summarised in the following table. Further details can be found in the manuscript preparation guidelines.

The number of figures and tables in the above summary refers to the total number of both; for example, letters can have either one figure or one table, not one of each.The “Reviews” category applies to all reviews, including narrative reviews, series articles, back to basics and state of the art reviews.Viewpoints, Methods and Advances papers will be published in our editorial section.

Peer review

On submission of your manuscript, you will be notified by e-mail on receipt of the submitted online draft and provided with a manuscript number for future reference.

Each manuscript will be reviewed by the chief editor and associate editors. Because the European Respiratory Journal receives many times more submissions thanit can publish, manuscripts that are not regarded as sufficiently original or high in priority may be rejected after review by the editors. We will aim to communicate such a decision to you quickly so you can consider other publication routes for your work.

If your manuscript has been peer reviewed elsewhere prior to submission to the ERJand you have addressed the reviewers' comments, please make this known in a cover letter and summarise the relevant changes for the editors, as this may aid in fast-tracking review of your manuscript.

Manuscripts not rejected at the initial stage will be subjected to single-anonymised peer review by external reviewers and statistical advisors. "Single-anonymised" means that the reviewers will know authors' identities, but authors will not know the reviewers' identities. After your manuscript has been reviewed, you may be requested to make changes to your manuscript arising from reviewer comments. When submitting your revised manuscript, two copies must be provided: one clean copy of the revised manuscript, and one copy in which all of the text added as a result of reviewer comments is highlighted in red.

The reviewers and associate editors will recommend their decisions to the chief editor, who will then be responsible for the final decision to accept or reject a manuscript.

If your manuscript is rejected after peer review, and you wish to appeal the decision, please e-mail a letter of rebuttal to: ERJEditors@ersnet.org

In the appeal letter, you should clearly state your name, the title of your manuscript and the manuscript number. Furthermore, it will help us to handle your appeal if you can provide specific point-by-point responses to any comments made by the editors and reviewers in support of their original decision. We will respond to all appeals as soon as possible, but of course in some cases it may take some time to make a final decision. The decision of the chief editor is final and only one appeal will be considered per manuscript.

What we expect from submissions to the ERJ

The following information should allow authors to evaluate whether their work is likely to be of interest to the ERJ.

Randomised controlled trials

We encourage the submission of high quality randomised controlled trials. In accordance with ICMJE guidance, ERJ will only publish randomised controlled trials that were prospectively registered in a WHO compliant clinical trial registry. Prospectively registered is defined as the trial information being available publicly prior to the first patient being enrolled. Trials must be reported according to CONSORT guidelines. A completed CONSORT checklist should be included with the submission.A data sharing statement should be included with all clinical trial submissions indicating whether the authors wish to make primary data available to other research groups.

We encourage authors to consider submitting manuscripts focused on the protocol of major randomised controlled trials and observational studies to our sister journal, ERJ Open Research.

Observational and cohort studies

Epidemiological studies should be conducted and reported according to STROBE guidelines. A completed STROBE checklist should be included with the submission. Registration on a WHO compliant registry is encouraged for prospective observational studies but is not mandatory.

Priority will be given to observational research with novel findings that have been replicated in independent cohorts. Specific study types will usually require replication, e.g. genetic association studies and prognostic or diagnostic scoring systems. In general, the ERJ will not publish new diagnostic or prognostic scoring systems without evidence of independent validation. For causal inference studies authors are asked to follow published guidance on control of confounding and reporting provided by the respiratory journal editors group.

Systematic reviews and meta-analyses

Systematic reviews and meta-analyses should be registered on the PROSPERO database.

Systematic reviews and meta-analyses will only be considered for publication if they provide additional information to the literature beyond information available from the source studies. Reporting should follow PRISMA guidelines. Meta-analysis of observational data should follow MOOSE guidelines.A completed PRISMA or MOOSE checklist should be included with the submission.

Prediction models

Studies reporting the development, validationor revision ofa prediction model, whether for diagnostic or prognostic purposes, should follow TRIPOD guidelines. A copy of the relevant TRIPOD checklist should be included with the submission.

Biomarker studies

As above for observational studies, novel biomarker associations will usually require independent validation. Where biomarkers have been correlated with multiple clinical outcomes, or multiple biomarkers measured in a single study, adjustment for multiple statistical testing is mandatory.

Basic and translational science

The ERJ is committed to publishing excellent studies into the mechanism of disease which may include studies without direct or immediate clinical relevance. For studies that do not involve patient samples or experimental models of disease (e.g. in vitro mechanistic studies only) the authors should make clear in the cover letter to the editor why the manuscript is suited to the ERJ rather than more specialised mechanistic science journals. Please note that in vitro studies using only a single immortalised or tumour cell line are unlikely to be considered for publication in the ERJ.

Review and series articles

High quality reviews should seek to inform and educate reviewers and should stimulate debate around clinical and scientific topics. The literature review should be up to date. Systematic review methods are encouraged but are not mandatory. Note that systematic reviews that include quantitative data analysis, i.e. meta-analysis.

Review articles in the ERJ are typically highly read and highly cited. As such, they should represent the state of the art in their specific field. The ERJ welcomes unsolicited review articles but also commissions reviews across the breadth of respiratory medicine. As such, only the highest quality articles will be accepted. Submitted papers should not overlap substantially with any recently published reviews on similar topics. The use of imaginative figures is strongly encouraged, as is the use of a central figure to summarise key concepts or conclusions of the review.

When submitting an unsolicited review, the authors are recommended to explain in the cover letter why they consider themselves especially suited to write the review, and include references to a maximum of five of their own recent and relevant publications supporting their specific expertise in the area of the review.

The current review series are:

• State of the Art
  Concise reviews on the latest in pulmonary and critical care medicine and translational science from leading experts
• Back to Basics
  Accessible reviews aiming to discuss the cutting edge of respiratory basic science in a way that is suitable for clinicians and researchers in other fields

ERJ Methods

ERJ Methods isa series of concise articles designed to introduce readers to novel, complex or highly specialised methodologies, technologies or techniques in respiratory medicine. Examples include clinical, imaging, biomarker or statistical techniques. The objective of these articles should be to educate non-experts and allow them to better interpret research being published in the ERJ and elsewhere.

Authors of ERJ Methods articles are asked to answer three simple questions:

• How does it work?
• What is the current state of the art in respiratory medicine using this technology/method?
• How is it likely to be used in future?

Articles should be no more than 1500 words and a single summary figure is strongly encouraged. Unsolicited manuscripts are welcome.

ERJ Advances

ERJ Advances are short reviews which provide an overview of the most recent developments and key new concepts within a specific field. ERJ Advances submissions should not exceed 1500 words, and a single summary figure is strongly encouraged. Unsolicited manuscripts are welcome.

ERJ Viewpoints

The ERJ Viewpoint format comprises a focused mini-review and concise editorial commentary on a specific emerging topic in respiratory medicine. Viewpoint editorials should not exceed 2000 words, contain no more than 2 figures or tables, and should not have an abstract. No supplementary files for publication should be included.Unsolicited manuscripts are welcome.

Imaging papers in the ERJ

The ERJ welcomes submission of high quality imaging papers that report new findings with a clear impact for clinical practice and for the wider respiratory community. Examples may include reports of novel techniques or technologies that are likely to have significant clinical impact, or that shed light on pressing clinical problems. Imaging papers discussing new diseases of high importance will also be considered.

Fast-track publication

For exceptional articles, reports of large randomised controlled trials or areas of major scientific or public health interest we will aim to fast-track manuscripts with review within 72 hours and first decision within 1 week of submission. If you believe your article requires fast-track review please mention this in the cover letter of your manuscript along with a detailed justification of why the article should be fast-tracked. Please note that the final decision will be made by the chief editors/section editors.

If your article has been externally peer reviewed elsewhere prior to submission to the ERJ and you have addressed the reviewers' comments, please make this known in a cover letter and summarise the relevant changes for the editors, to aid in fast-tracking review of your manuscript.

Copyright

Submission of the manuscript implies that if and when it is accepted for publication, all authors will grant to ERS a worldwide and exclusive licence to produce, publish, sell, distribute and make available, and to further sub-licence their article in print, digital and other media formats, including abstracts and supplementary material. This enables ERS to ensure maximum international copyright protection against infringement, and to disseminate your article, and the relevant publication, to the widest possible readership. If you choose to publish your article open access under a Creative Commons licence, elements of that licence may override the exclusivity of this grant. Material published in the European Respiratory Journal may not be stored in any electronic format, or be reproduced photographically, except with the prior written permission of the publisher.

In the event that the paper is accepted for publication, all authors will be contacted and asked to complete an online form granting ERS a licence to publish the work. All authors must complete this online form before the paper can be published.

Further to the grant of publishing rights to the ERS, authors can opt to make their article open access, and are permitted to self-archive their manuscripts after the journal’s embargo period has elapsed.

Full details regarding open access, public archiving and funder mandates can be found in the following section.

For information on ERS author copyright please see https://www.ersjournals.com/authors/copyright-and-reuse.

For permissions and reuse please seehttps://www.ersjournals.com/reuse/permission

Open Access

Open access is available for all article types except Editorials.

Publishing with one of our open access options allowsauthors to ensure that their final published contribution is made available for anyone to access online, immediately on publication. This option is an important part of our response to the changing expectations of authors, readers and funding bodies who support research and scholarly communication. Open access in the ERJis compliant with the publisher requirements for open access publication set out by Wellcome.

Costs

Standard option. The standard open access service costs EUR 2310 (EUR 2425 for articles submitted from 1 April 2024). Articles will be published under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial (CC BY-NC) 4.0 copyright licence (creativecommons.org).

Mandated option. A number of funding bodies now mandate that open access articles be published under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) 4.0 copyright licence (creativecommons.org). ERS makes this service available to authors whose funding body requires it, at a cost of EUR 3465 (EUR 3640 for articles submitted from 1 April 2024). To qualify, the funder must be among those listed at erj.ersjournals.com/authors/cc-by-funders

If a payment is required, this will be managed via our partner, CCC Rightslink.You will receive an email upon acceptance of your article with instructions. Authors may pay the article charge themselves or provide billing details of funders who have agreed to pay on their behalf. If the person or organisation paying the fee is based in the UK, VAT may be payable. Pre-payment in full is required to activate open access. If ERS does not receive payment of the fee, the article will not be published open access.

Transformative deals

Since 2020, ERS has entered into“transformative deals” with institutions and groups of institutions to publish articles from eligible institutions or countries open access at no extra charge.For more information visit the Transformative deals page: https://www.ersjournals.com/ers-transformative-deals

What happens to an open access paper?

You should submit your paper according to the journal’s instructions for authors and guidance on preparation of manuscripts. Only after your paper is accepted for publication will you be able to request that your paper is published open access; your choice to pay for this open access service will not affect the peer-review process, and payment of an open access fee will not secure preferential treatment.

Open accessis available immediately upon online publication (i.e. in ERJ Early Viewif your article meets the criteria for inclusion in the Early View section) through to final publication. All open access articles will be identified by means of an icon in the table of contents and search results.

In addition, open accessarticles will carry the following notice:

©the authors 20XX. This article isopen access and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution [Non-commercial] Licence 4.0.

ERSwill deposit the full text of your article in PubMed Central (PMC) upon final publication.

Terms and conditions for ERJ open access papers

Open access articles published with the standard CC BY-NC licence have no restriction on their use, distribution and reproduction in any medium provided it is for non-commercial purposes, and that the original work is properly cited. If a paper is not reproduced in its entirety but only in part, or as a derivative work, this must be clearly stated.

Use of open access articles published with a standard CC BY-NC licence for commercial, promotional or marketing purposes requires further explicit permission from ERS (permissions@ersnet.org) and may be subject to a fee. Commercial purposes include:

• copying or downloading articles, for further redistribution, sale or licensing;
• copying, downloading or posting by a site or service that incorporates advertising with such content;
• the inclusion or incorporation of article content in other works or services that are then available for sale or licensing, for a fee;
• use of article content by for-profit organisations for promotional purposes;
• use for the purposes of monetary reward by means of sale, resale, licence, loan, transfer or other form of commercial exploitation such as marketing products.

Open access articles published with the mandated CC BY licence have no restriction on their use, distribution and reproduction in any medium provided that the original work is properly cited.

Print reprints and eprints of open accessarticles can be purchased from permissions@ersnet.org

Refund policy

If you decide to publish your article with one of our open access licences and pay the article processing charge outlined above, you will be eligible for a refund if:

1. We publish your article with an incorrect licence, and we fail to correct and republish the article within 1 month of you having informed us of the error; or
2. We fail to deposit your article to PMC within 2 months of final publication of the article on our own website.

In the event that an article is retracted, we will not refund any fees.

“Green” open access and author archiving

Authors who do not wish to pay for theirarticle to be published open access in the ERJ will still have their manuscripts made free to access via the ERJ online archive following the journal’s 18-month embargo period. Authors also have licence to make their manuscripts available in an institutional (or similar) repository for public archiving, 12 months after final publication, provided the following requirements are met:

1. The peer-reviewed, author-submitted version that was accepted for publication is used (before copy-editing and publication). This is often referred to as the "author accepted manuscript".
2. A permanent link is provided to the version of the article published in the ERJ, through the doi.org platform. For example, if your manuscript has the DOI 10.1183/13993003.06543-2018, then the link you provide must be https://doi.org/10.1183/13993003.06543-2018
3. The repository on which the manuscript is deposited is not used for systematic distribution or commercial sales purposes.
4. The following required archiving statement appears on the title page of the archived manuscript: “This is an author-submitted, peer-reviewed version of a manuscript that has been accepted for publication in the European Respiratory Journal, prior to copy-editing, formatting and typesetting. This version of the manuscript may not be duplicated or reproduced without prior permission from the European Respiratory Society. The publisher is not responsible or liable for any errors or omissions in this version of the manuscript or in any version derived from it by any other parties. The final, copy-edited, published article, which is the version of record, is available without a subscription 18 months after the date of issue publication.”

For manuscripts with Europe PMC funding (https://europepmc.org/Funders/), theauthor retains the right to provide a copy of the final, peer-reviewed author-supplied manuscript (before copy-editing and publication) for public archiving in compliance with the requirements of the funder, i.e. 6 months after final publication for authors with funding from Europe PubMed Central Funders Group members.

For articles with Coalition S or UKRIfunding (https://www.coalition-s.org/organisations/), the author retains the right to archive the "author accepted manuscript" (before copy-editing and publication) under a CC-BY licence without embargo.

If your research body or employer mandates an access or archiving model that is not addressed above, please contact journals@ersnet.org

In memoria

The European Respiratory Society no longer supports publication of "in memorium" articles or obituaries in its journals. The current ERS policy on publication of obituaries can be found on the ERS website:click here.

After your paper is accepted: getting the most out of your publication

After your manuscript is accepted for publication in the European Respiratory Journal, it will be passed to the ERS publications office for copyediting and typesetting.A member of the publications office staff will contact you regarding copyright assignment; original research articles, research letters, review articles and task force reports will be eligible for publication immediately after copyright transfer is complete as "Early View" articles in their accepted form. After our initial production processes are complete, we will send a proof of the article to the corresponding author, along with any queries that have arisen during our production processes. When the proofs have been checked and approved, the article will be published in its final form in the next available issue of the ERJ.

Once published online, selected papers will be promoted by the ERS communications department, through press releases, ERS marketing channels or social media. If your own institution is carrying out press activity around your paper, please let us know.

If you have further ideas and would like help promoting your work, please contact the editorial office:journals@ersnet.org

Corrections

If you find that an article published in the journal requires correction, please contact journals@ersnet.org. Please note that the ERJ will only issue correction articles at the editors' discretion, for substantial errors affecting the publication record, and to make corrections to the scientific content and message of the original material.

For the Chinese version click here

European Respiratory Journal instructions for authors last updated 15 February 2024