Author Guidelines

The IJAAI uses the World Association of Medical Editors’ definition of editorial freedom and is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). The journal adopts COPE’s guidelines upon encounter with ethical misbehavior.

Manuscript Submission
Authors are requested to submit their manuscripts online at http://ijaai.tums.ac.ir. The system assigns a number to manuscripts and authors are requested to mention the manuscript number on all correspondence with the journal.

The Instructions to Authors of this journal are in accordance with the Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals (icmje.org).

The corresponding author and all other authors of the manuscript should sign under their own names in the cover letter before submitting the manuscript to this journal for publication. The corresponding author should enter all authors’ names, affiliations, and emails in the “Metadata” section while submitting the manuscript. The personal contact of the corresponding author or the first author of the manuscript including the work phone number as well as a cell phone (mobile) number should be written in the cover letter and/or the title page of the manuscript.

This online manuscript submission and review system offers authors the option to track the progress of the review process of manuscripts in real-time. The average turn-around time before you receive the first decision in this journal is approximately 8 weeks. In case you encounter any difficulties while submitting your manuscript online, please contact the editorial office (E-mail: ijaai@tums.ac.ir).

Manuscript Preparation
Manuscripts should be typed single-spaced with one-inch margins and Times New Roman, 12-point font size. All tables, figure legends, and references must be typewritten with single spacing. All submitted components of the manuscript are non-returnable unless a special arrangement is made in advance with the Editors. Arrange the manuscript with the following components: (1) Title page, (2) Abstract, (3) Introduction, (4) Materials/Patients and Methods,(5) Results, (6) Discussion, (7) Acknowledgements, (8) Conflict of Interest, (9) References, (10) Tables, and Figures and Figure Legends. Please place all illustrations, figures, and tables within the text at the appropriate points. It is also mandatory to upload the files of figures and tables separately as supplementary file(s) in a high-resolution (SVG or TIFF) format.

Authors should number all pages of the manuscript consecutively, beginning with the title page.

In addition, the editor requires authors to provide a cover letter in which they specifically state their written assurance of the following:

(1) The submitted paper is an original and unpublished work in which the listed authors have all made important contributions explaining the contributions in detail;

(2) The authors have not submitted the same material or portions thereof for consideration of publication in any other journal for which a decision regarding publication is pending, and no such additional submission will be made before the completion of the review process by the IJAAI;

(3) The authors must further guarantee that, once their material has been accepted for publication by the journal, they will not make a submission of the same material or portions thereof to another journal.

The editors also require that the authors be responsible for the linguistic and grammatical editing of manuscripts before submission to the journal. Only minor editing of the manuscript may be undertaken by the editor. All authors should adhere to the following instructions for the submission of manuscripts to the IJAAI.

Cover Letter
The authors should provide the assurances listed above. The authors must always make a complete statement to the editor about all previous reports and submissions that might be regarded as redundant or duplicate publications (including meeting presentations, registries, etc). If redundant or duplicate publication is attempted without notification, prompt rejection of the manuscript should be expected. In addition, authors are welcome to suggest three to five referees for their paper; however, the editors cannot guarantee the assignment of a particular reviewer to a paper. Authors can provide editors with the names of persons they feel should not be asked to review a manuscript because of potential, usually professional, conflict of interest. Any unusual circumstances surrounding the research or explanations for deviation from standard procedures or format should be explained in the cover letter.

The corresponding author and all other authors of the manuscript should sign under their own names on the cover letter. A cover letter is mandatory to be uploaded as a supplementary file during the submission; otherwise, the manuscript will be fast rejected. The authors are required to submit an ethics committee approval letter as a supplementary file and write the number of the approval letter in the cover letter and the acknowledgment section of the manuscript.

Abbreviations
When using abbreviations, write the full name of the abbreviated item followed by the abbreviation in parentheses at the point of first mention within the abstract and the body of the manuscript: e.g., "cell-mediated immunity (CMI)". Do not use abbreviations in the title of the manuscript. Abbreviations may be used in figures and tables, but such abbreviations must be explained in the figure legend or a footnote to the table unless the abbreviation is a standard unit of measurement.

Title Page
The title page should contain the following information: (1) The full title of the manuscript, not to exceed 120 characters. No abbreviations are acceptable in the full title. If the work involves the use of an experimental model, the animal species involved must be included in the title. (2) The full names of all authors. Authorship credit should be based on a) substantial contributions to the conception or design, or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work; b) drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content; and c) final approval of the version to be published; and d) agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved. Authors should meet conditions a, b, c, and d. (3) The department and institution where work was performed, as well as the affiliations of the individual authors (more than 2 affiliations are not accepted for each author). (4) Source(s) of support, indicating any grants, equipment, drugs, or all of these for the study. (5) The name and address of the author responsible for correspondence. Include the name, mailing address, telephone and fax numbers, and e-mail address. (6) A shortened version of the title that is 45 characters or less to be used as a running title. (7) Word counts for the text only, excluding abstract, acknowledgments, figures, figure legends, tables, and references. (8) The number of figures and tables should be noted on the title page.

Original Articles
Scientific articles should conform to the usual structure of abstract, introduction, materials/patients and methods, results, discussion, acknowledgments, conflict of interest, references, tables, figures, and legends. Number the pages starting with the title page. The text of original articles amounting to a maximum of 3000 words (excluding Abstract, References, Figures, and Tables) should include Title; Abstract; Introduction; Materials & Methods; Results; Discussion; Conclusion; Acknowledgement; References, Tables, and Figures (Not more than 5000 words).

Abstract
The abstract must be unstructured and limited to 250 words. Do not use footnotes or references in the body of 

the abstract. Include a brief description of the goal, materials and methods, findings, and conclusion
of the study. Abstracts of clinical trials should include items that the CONSORT group has identified as essential (http://www.consort-statement.org/?=1190).

Three to nine keywords for indexing should be given by the author(s) together with the abstract. They should be placed in alphabetical order and, when possible, adjusted to the medical subject headings (MeSH) at https://www.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/.

Introduction, Materials/Patients and Methods, Results, and Discussion
Introduction: containing the reasons for doing the work and specific purpose or research objective; Methods: sufficient information must be included to permit reproduction of experimental work. Patients and Methods are used in the clinical sciences articles and Materials and Methods are used in the basic and laboratory sciences articles; Results: data and findings of research should be given concisely; the use of tables and figures is encouraged but should not replicate the data presented in the text; Discussion:  should not repeat results.

Include within the methods, a description of the ethical guidelines that were followed for human and animal studies. If appropriate, provide citations of institutional reviews by human or animal research committees. Also, describe any hazardous procedures or chemicals involved in the studies and what precautions were taken to avoid injury to subjects or investigators. Within the Methods section, provide a brief but complete description of the statistical methods used including which tests were used for analysis of which variables. Specify the computer software used. Drugs, medication, or other materials should be listed as generic items. If brand names are used, they should be placed after the generic name in parenthesis with the manufacturer's name, city, and state or country. Restrict all comments and discussion to the Discussion section.

Acknowledgments
All contributions that do not meet authorship criteria should be listed in the acknowledgments section. Sources of financial support should be mentioned in this section if required. The organization(s) which financially and otherwise supported the research project should be acknowledged, in order of priority (if necessary). The code number of the ethics committee approval letter should be written in the acknowledgment.

Conflict of Interest
Conflict of interest should be mentioned or ruled out.

 Funding Sources

It is important that the names of the funding organizations are written in full. In this section, it is essential that the affiliation of the financial support for the study, if it exists, is stated. The Grant number of financial support should be included in this case.

References
The IJAAI has now adopted the Vancouver Reference System and all submitted manuscripts should be in this style.

Cite references in the text in order of appearance using Arabic numerals in parentheses for citations. Place the reference list at the end of the final text page. References should be listed in text citation number order and must be single-spaced. List all authors when six or fewer; when seven or more, list the first six and add “et al”. All published materials, including brief communications and letters to the editor, must be cited in the References section.

Manuscripts accepted but not yet published can also be included in the references; designate the journal followed by 'in press' (in parentheses). References to unpublished material, such as personal communications and unpublished data, must be placed within the text and not cited in the Reference section. Personal communication and unpublished data must include the individual's name, location, and month and year of communication as appropriate. Use Index Medicus abbreviations for journals that are indexed; if a journal is not indexed, use the full name. If using reference managing software such as Reference Manager, EndNote, or ProCite, choose the style for “Vancouver style” which most closely approximates our style. Please include volume, number, and page range whenever possible.

Journal Article
* Saghafi S, Pourpak Z, Glocker C, Nussbaumer F, Babamahmoodi A, Grimbacher B, et al. The Diagnosis of Hyper Immunoglobulin E Syndrome Based on Project Management. Iran J Allergy Asthma Immunol. 2015; 14(2):126-132.

Book Chapter
Kirk Osterlan C, Farhoudi A. Assessment of immunodeficiency. In: Nakamura RM, Burek CL, Cook L, Folds JD, Server JL, editors. Clinical diagnostic immunology: Protocols in quality assurance and standardization. USA: Blackwell Science Pty Ltd, 1998: 197-208.

Tables
Each table should be typewritten with single spacing and numbered in order of citation in the text with Arabic numerals. Each table should have a concise heading that makes it comprehensible without reference to the text of the article. Use horizontal lines only at the top and bottom of the table and between column headings and the body of the table. Use no vertical lines. Explain any abbreviations in a footnote to the table.

Any additional information including the tables containing any information related to the primer design should be sent as a Supplementary Table.

Figures and Figure Legends

File Format for Graphs and Diagrams: For figures that depict graphs or diagrams, authors should utilize vector-based file formats like SVG, PDF, AI, or EMF. Most statistical software applications allow for exporting in these formats, ensuring the highest quality representation.

File Format for Images: For raster or pixel-based figures, it's essential to submit these in raw, lossless formats to preserve the original data quality. Suitable formats include TIFF, ARW, and AVIF. Please refrain from using lossy formats like JPG, GIF, or PNG. The publication reserves the right to decline figures if the quality is compromised. For raster or pixel-based figures, ensure the image resolution is at least 300 DPI.

Permissions and Copyright: Ensure you have the necessary permissions to reproduce any copyrighted material. If you utilize online platforms or software, such as BioRender or similar tools, to generate figures, it is imperative to obtain the necessary copyright permissions for reproduction in the publication. Failure to provide these permissions may result in the figure being excluded or the manuscript being rejected. Always consult the software's terms of use or licensing agreement to ensure compliance.

Figure legends should be typed using single spacing with explanations for symbols, arrows, or letters used to identify parts of illustrations. Explain any abbreviations in figure legends.

Brief Communications
Brief Communications will be considered for publication on an accelerated schedule. It should have an abstract of up to 250 words, and a main body of a maximum of 2000 words including the Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion, Conclusion; Acknowledgement, References, Tables, and Figures. Maximum two figures or two tables or one figure and one table are acceptable (total no more than 3000 words). A maximum of 30 references are allowed for Brief Communications.

Review Articles
The Journal welcomes review articles covering basic or clinical allergy, asthma, and immunology that are likely to be of interest to the broad readership of the journal. For narrative review articles, at least one of the authors (especially the corresponding author) should be an expert on the subject with related articles presented in the reference section. Review articles should include a section describing the methods of selecting, extracting, and synthesizing data, which are also summarized in the abstract.

Systematic reviews and meta-analyses are also welcomed and they should follow the PRISMA (http://www.prisma-statement.org/) guideline. The protocols for systematic reviews should be submitted through the appropriate channels, ensuring adherence to the guidelines and requirements of the chosen platform. This step is crucial for maintaining transparency and credibility throughout the research process. Several platforms, such as PROSPERO, Open Science Framework (OSF), Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI), Campbell Collaboration, BMJ Open Science, and the Center for Open Science, offer avenues for submitting systematic review protocols. It is essential to carefully follow the submission guidelines provided by each platform to facilitate a clear and standardized registration process for the systematic review.

Review articles:

Case-based Reviews
Short reports of clinical interest and brief individual case reports are welcome but only accepted in a limited number.

Letters to the Editor
Letters of opinion about articles published in the IJAAI and other current topics or short reports of clinical or laboratory interest are accepted for consideration for publication. These should not exceed 1500 words and 15 references and one table and/or figure without an abstract and subheadings. The editor reserves the right to edit such letters and to use his discretion in their selection for publication.

Ethics and Consent
Authors must state that the protocol for the research project has been approved by a suitably constituted Ethics Committee of the institution within which the work was undertaken and that it conforms to the provisions of the Declaration of Helsinki in 1995 (as revised in Edinburgh 2000).

The clinicians, who conduct a clinical trial on human subjects and wish to publish the results of their investigations in this journal, should have obtained permission for their clinical trial from the Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials (IRCT) or other well-known clinical trial registries. IRCT number is mandatory for research performed in Iran.

All studied subjects should be completely informed about the procedure and informed consent should be obtained from all participants. The journal reserves the right to request the related documents. 

Disclosure of AI Assistance in Manuscript Preparation: Ensuring Transparency and Integrity in Scholarly Communication 

Revision of Manuscripts
Revisions must be submitted electronically only through the manuscript submission system at http://ijaai.tums.ac.ir (“Author version” section).

Revisions must include the responses to comments and also a marked revised manuscript. Our preferred method of showing changes is Microsoft Word's Track Changes feature. Alternatively, the added text should be underlined or highlighted, and any text that was deleted should be indicated by strikethrough formatting.

Copyright
The Agreement is made with the IJAAI. The Agreement is for the article submitted by authors for publication in the IJAAI.

To enable publishing the article in the journal, the ownership of copyright must be established. The authors should read and complete the form and upload it on the website as a supplementary file. There are explanatory notes to this Agreement, which also form part of the Agreement.

In consideration of the publication of the article in the journal, the authors warrant and undertake:

a. that the article is an original work, has not been published before, and is not being considered for publication elsewhere in its final form either in printed or electronic form.

b. that author has obtained permission from the copyright holder to reproduce in the article (in all media  including print and electronic form) material not owned by the author, and that author has acknowledged the source;

c. that this article contains no violation of any existing copyright or other third party right or any material of an obscene, indecent, or otherwise unlawful nature and that to the best of my knowledge this article does not infringe the rights of others;

d. that author will indemnify and keep indemnified the Editors, the Iranian Journal of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology against all claims and expenses (including legal costs and expenses) arising from any breach of this warranty and the other warranties on my behalf in this Agreement;

e. that in the case of a multi-authored article, the author has obtained copyright assignment from all co-authors, in writing, and authorization to enter into this Agreement on their behalf and that all co-authors have read and agreed to the above warranties;

Note: The manuscript cannot be processed for publication until the publisher has received this signed form. If the manuscript is not published by the IJAAI, this letter will not take effect.

Proofs
Proofs will be sent to the author and should be returned within 72 hours of receipt, preferably by the website. Corrections should be restricted to typesetting errors. The publisher will do everything quickly and accurately as possible. Therefore, it is important to ensure that all of your corrections are returned to us in one all-inclusive e-mail. Subsequent additional corrections will not be possible, so please ensure that your first communication is complete. The returned proof is your formal confirmation to publish the paper. The metadata of papers should be checked by the corresponding author at this stage

Fast Track Review of Papers
In the handling of all manuscripts for publication, the editors will strive to provide the most rapid turnaround possible in the review process. Authors may request a rapid review of the material felt to be of critical importance to the field. The request must state clearly why the authors believe a rapid review is warranted and must be submitted to the editors in written form at the time of manuscript submission. Manuscripts accepted by the editors for rapid review might be published in the next scheduled issue of the journal or at the editors' discretion. Manuscripts submitted for rapid communication that require extensive revision will be rejected and the authors can resubmit the articles for regular publication. The journal requests authors for an extra charge for a fast-track review of their papers. The requests can be sent by email to the editorial office.

Publication Charge
According to the new policy of IJAAI, corresponding authors are requested to pay the article processing and publication charge as mentioned on the home page of the website (for Iranian authors).

Journal Subscription
In order to subscribe for hard copies, please contact the journal office for subscription rates and processes.

Article Removal (authors’ withdrawal):
In case of any special considerations including ethical problems, the editor-in-chief might decide to withdraw a paper and in that case, the reasons for withdrawing the manuscript will be published on the journal’s website. If authors decide to remove their paper from the journal’s online database, the corresponding author should send a request signed by all authors explaining the reasons and the request for article removal. The journal will be sent a withdrawal acceptance letter to all authors.