Journal of Obesity & Metabolic Syndrome (J Obes Metab Syndr; herein abbreviated JOMES) is a peer-reviewed research journal published by the Korean Society for the Study of Obesity in order to present relevant academic research and the newest medical information on obesity. JOMES is published quarterly on March 30th, June 30th, September 30th, and December 30th.
The articles of JOMES include research papers on basic and clinical medicine of obesity and obesity-related diseases, as well as the specific applications of biochemistry, physiology, genetics, and metabolic study. Nutritional, psychological, and epidemiological aspects are also included in the scope of JOMES. The types of articles published include original article, review, short communication, editorial, and letter to the editor.
Manuscripts for submission to JOMES should be prepared according to the following instructions: JOMES follows the Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals (http://www.icmje.org/icmje-recommendations.pdf) from the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE).

JOMES adheres to the guidelines and best practices published by professional organizations, including the ICMJE Recommendations and the Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing (joint statement by the Committee on Publication Ethics, COPE; the Directory of Open Access Journals, DOAJ; the World Association of Medical Editors, WAME; and the Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association, OASPA; https://doaj.org/bestpractice). Furthermore, all processes of handling research and publication misconduct shall follow the applicable COPE flowchart (https://publicationethics.org/resources/flowcharts). JOMES requests that all authors comply with research and publication ethics policies.

• Conflicts of interest statement
  A conflict of interest exists when a person's interpretation of data or presentation of information could be influenced by a personal or financial relationship with other people or organizations. Authors must disclose any financial competing interests. Authors should also reveal any nonfinancial competing interests that may cause them embarrassment were they to become public after publication of the manuscript. Authors are required to complete a declaration of competing interests. All competing interests that are declared will be listed at the end of published articles.
• Statement of informed consent and institutional review board approval
  Clinical research should be conducted in accordance with the World Medical Association’s Declaration of Helsinki (https://www.wma.net/policies-post/wma-declaration-of-helsinki-ethical-principles-for-medical-research-involving-human-subjects).
  Clinical studies that do not meet the Helsinki Declaration will not be considered for publication.
  For clinical studies with human subjects, there should be a certificate, agreement, or approval by the Institutional Review Board (IRB) of the author's affiliated institution. In the process of submitting the manuscript, the IRB number should be listed. If necessary, the editor or reviewers may request copies of these documents to resolve questions about IRB approval and study conduct. If a study has been granted an exemption from requiring ethics approval, this should be also be detailed in the manuscript (including the reasons for the exemption, and the name of the ethics committee that granted the exemption). For humans, identifiable information, such as patients' names, initials, hospital numbers, dates of birth, or other protected health care information, should not be disclosed. Copies of written informed consent forms should be kept for studies on human subjects. This information should be specified in the Methods section of the manuscript. For animal subjects, authors must state that their care was in accordance with national laws and institutional regulations. The ethical treatment of all experimental animals must be approved by an animal ethics review committee and conform to the guidelines provided by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC).
• Authorship and author responsibilities
  Authorship credit should be based on: (1) substantial contributions to the conception and design of the study, acquisition of data, and/or analysis and interpretation of data; (2) participation in drafting of the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content; (3) the provision of final approval of the version to be published; and (4) agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of it are appropriately investigated and resolved. Every author should meet all four of these conditions.
  The corresponding author takes primary responsibility for communication with the journal during manuscript submission, peer review, and publication and typically ensures that all of the journal's administrative requirements, such as providing details of authorship, ethics committee approval, clinical trial registration documentation, and gathering conflict of interest forms and statements, are properly completed, although these duties may be delegated to one or more coauthors. The corresponding author should be available throughout the submission and peer review process to respond to editorial queries in a timely way and should be available after publication to respond to critiques of the work and cooperate with any requests from the journal for data or additional information should questions arise after publication. Authors are responsible for the whole content of each article.
  After initial submission of a manuscript, any changes in authorship (adding author(s), deleting author(s), or rearranging the order of author(s)) must be explained in a letter to the editor from the authors concerned. This letter must be signed by all authors of the paper. JOMES does not correct authorship after acceptance for publication unless a mistake has been made by the editorial staff.
• Originality and duplicate publication
  Manuscripts that have already been published in other journals or this journal shall not be published in duplication. If an article containing similar information has already been published in other journals, a copy of the article should be submitted with the manuscript. In this case, the editorial board of JOMES will first determine whether the manuscript had already been published elsewhere and then later review it to decide if it is suitable for publication in this journal. A manuscript that has already been published in this journal may not be published in other journals without the permission of the editorial board of JOMES. Figures and tables of this journal can be used freely if the original source is verified according to the Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial License. It is mandatory for all authors to resolve any copyright issues when citing a figure or table from another journal that is not open access.
• Process for managing research and publication misconduct
  When JOMES faces suspected cases of research and publication misconduct such as duplicate publication, plagiarism, fraudulent or fabricated data, changes in authorship, undisclosed conflicts of interest, ethical problems with a submitted manuscript, a reviewer who has appropriated an author's idea or data, or a complaint against the editors, the resolution process will be as is presented in a flowchart provided by the Committee on Publication Ethics (http://publicationethics.org/resources/flowcharts). All discussion and decisions on the suspected cases are overseen by the JOMES Editorial Board.
• Editorial responsibilities
  The editorial board will continuously work to monitor/safeguard publication ethics: provide guidelines for retracting articles; maintain the integrity of the academic record; prevent business needs from compromising intellectual and ethical standards; publish corrections, clarifications, retractions, and apologies when needed; and ensure the absence of plagiarism and fraudulent data. The editorial board checks manuscripts to confirm the originality of the text through Similarity Check (Powered by iThenticate). If the value of similarity index is unexpectedly high, the manuscript will be screened more precisely for plagiarism or duplicate publication. Editors maintain the following: the responsibility and authority to reject/accept an article; have no conflicts of interest with respect to the articles they reject/accept; accept a paper when reasonably certain of its appropriateness; promote the publication of a correction or retraction when errors are found; and preserve the anonymity of reviewers.
  All manuscripts from editors, employees, or members of the editorial board are processed same to other unsolicited manuscripts. During the review process, submitters will not engage in the decision process. Editors will not handle their own manuscripts although they are commissioned ones.
  If a manuscript written by any of the editorial board members is submitted to the journal, he or she should not be involved in any of the process of peer-review. This should be clarified in ‘Conflicts of Interest’ section as follows:
  “(Name) has been the editorial board member of the Journal of Obesity & Metabolic Syndrome. However, he/she was not involved in peer reviewer selection, evaluation, or decision process of this article. No other potential conflicts of interest relevant to this article were reported.”
• Clinical data-sharing policy
  JOMES recommends that all submitted manuscripts that report the results of clinical trials adhere to Data Sharing Statements for Clinical Trials: A Requirement of the the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (https://doi.org/10.3346/jkms.2017.32.7.1051; http://www.icmje.org/recommendations).
• Clinical trials registry
  We strongly recommend, as a condition of consideration for publication, that a study be registered in a public trials registry. Trials must be registered at or before the onset of patient enrollment. This policy applies to any clinical trial starting enrollment after January 1, 2006. For trials that began enrollment before this date, we request that registration be done by April 1, 2006, before considering the trial for publication. We define a clinical trial as any research project that prospectively assigns human subjects to intervention or comparison groups to study the cause-and-effect relationship between a medical intervention and a health outcome. Studies designed for other purposes, such as studies on pharmacokinetics or major toxicity (e.g., phase 1 trials), are exempt.
  
  Registries include: (1) the registry sponsored by the United States National Library of Medicine (NLM) (https://www.clinicaltrials.gov); (2) the International Standard Randomized Controlled Trial Number Registry (http://www.controlled-trials.com); (3) the European Clinical Trials Database (https://eudract.ema.europa.eu); and (4) the Clinical Research Information Service-Republic of Korea (https://cris.nih.go.kr/cris). For specific study designs, such as randomized controlled studies, studies of diagnostic accuracy, meta-analyses, observational studies, and non-randomized studies, authors are encouraged to also consult the reporting guidelines relevant to their specific research design. Good sources of reporting guidelines are the EQUATOR Network (https://www.equator-network.org/) and the NLM (https://www.nlm.nih.gov/services/research_report_guide.html).
• Sex and gender consideration
  We encourage our authors to follow the ‘Sex and Gender Equity in Research – SAGER – guidelines (https://researchintegrityjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s41073-016-0007-6) and to include sex and gender considerations where relevant. Authors should use the terms sex (biological attribute) and gender (shaped by social and cultural circumstances) carefully in order to avoid confusing both terms. Article titles and/or abstracts should indicate clearly what sex(es) the study applies to. Authors should also describe in the background, whether sex and/or gender differences may be expected; report how sex and/or gender were accounted for in the design of the study; provide disaggregated data by sex and/or gender, where appropriate; and discuss respective results. If the study was done in only one sex, we highly recommend authors describe the reasons for the study in a single sex, except in obvious cases (e.g., prostate cancer). If a sex and/or gender analysis was not conducted, the rationale should be given in the Discussion. We suggest that our authors consult the full guidelines before submission.
  
  Definition of Sex and Gender [taken from Office of Research in Women’s Health, NIH (https://orwh.od.nih.gov/sex-gender)].
  Sex: refers to biological differences between females and males, including chromosomes, sex organs, and endogenous hormonal profiles.
  Gender: refers to socially constructed and enacted roles and behaviors which occur in a historical and cultural context and vary across societies and over time.
  
  Applications of the guidelines
  These guidelines apply to studies involving humans, vertebrate animal and cell lines.

• General rules
  • (1) Reporting guidelines have been developed for different study designs; examples include CONSORT (http://www.consort-statement.org) for randomized trials, STROBE for observational studies (https://strobe-statement.org/), PRISMA for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (http://www.prisma-statement.org/), and STARD for studies of diagnostic accuracy (http://www.stard-statement.org/). JOMES requests that authors follow these guidelines according to their respective study design.
  • (2) All the manuscripts should be submitted via the online manuscript-submission system of JOMES (https://www.jomes.org/submission); all reviewing and editing is also performed via this system. Any questions or responses regarding the review process or other related matters can be seen online at the Internet site mentioned above, and contact is available through email, phone call, fax, or mail (email: journal@jomes.org, tel: +82-2-364-0886, fax: +82-2-364-0883). The Author Checklist and Copyright Transfer Form can be found in the online manuscript-submission system of JOMES.
  • (3) The language or terms in the manuscript should be English. Generic names of drugs should be used if the study is not based on a specific product.
  • (4) The original spellings should be used for proper nouns (name of a person, name of a location, etc.). For units of measurement such as length, height, mass, and volume, the metric system is used, with decimals. Laboratory measurements should be reported in SI units (International System of Units). In some cases, non-SI units (conventional units) can also be used in a versatile manner. However, the usage of units should be consistent.
  • (5) The overuse of abbreviations is prohibited, and the use of abbreviations should be minimized. If abbreviations are used, they should be defined and written in full at the first mention in the text and in each table and figure. Abbreviations can be used if they are a standard unit of measure.
  • (6) The manuscript should be prepared as a computer file (.doc or .docx). Standard rules for description of superscripts and word spacing should be applied. The manuscript should be double-spaced. All lines should be numbered throughout the entire manuscript, and the entire document should be paginated.
  • (7) All authors are encouraged to provide their Open Researcher and Contributor ID (ORCID) numbers. Additional information about ORCID is available at https://orcid.org/.
  • (8) Case reports are not encouraged and will not be accepted anymore. If they represent an outstanding contribution to the etiology, pathogenesis, or treatment of obesity, the submission as Letters to the editor could be possible.
• Original article
  Original articles typically include randomized trials, meta-analysis, intervention studies, cohort studies, case-control studies, epidemiologic investigations, other observational studies.
  • Article Structure
    Each article’s structure should adhere to the following order:
    ① Cover letter, ② Title page, ③ Abstract and keywords, ④ Introduction, ⑤ Methods, ⑥ Results, ⑦ Discussion, ⑧ Conflicts of Interest, ⑨ Acknowledgments, ⑩ Author contributions, ⑪ References, ⑫ Tables, and ⑬ Figures and Figure legends.
  • Title Page
    The title page should include all of the following items:
    ① Title of the article; ② Names of all authors; ③ Affiliations of all authors; ④ Affiliation address, telephone number, fax number, e-mail address, and ORCID ID of the corresponding author; and ⑤ Running title (less than 50 characters).
    The title of the article should be written with the minimum number of words with which the content of the article can be summarized. “A Study on~” or “A Review on~” should not be used as part of a title.
    If the number of authors is two or more, the names should be listed in the order of contribution to the research and article preparation and separated by commas. If the affiliations of the authors are different, the names should be listed in the order of contribution to the research and article preparation and separated by commas. For authors whose affiliations are different from that of the first author, a superscript Arabic numeral should be added to the name of the author and matched to the relevant affiliation.
    The name of the corresponding author should be marked with an asterisk (“*”). The corresponding author is responsible for revision of the article during the review process. The names of authors in English are written in the order of “(first name) (last name).”
  • Abstract and Keywords
    The abstract should include the research background, methods, results, and conclusion, in order. Method part should include the information on (1) the specific study type (eg, randomized clinical trial, cohort, cross-sectional, case-control, case series, survey, meta-analysis, bibliometric analysis), (2) the study setting (eg, multicenter, population-based, primary care or referral center(s), etc.), and (3) the numbers of study participants if applicable. It should deliver the main idea of the article and must not exceed 250 words. At the bottom of the abstract, three to seven keywords should be added. Words listed in the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) by Index Medicus are preferred.
  • Main Text
    The main text should consist of Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion sections.
    
    
    • (1) The Introduction describes the purpose of the research and explains why the article is important. The background of the study and the relevant principles are summarized, but the references should be limited to those that are directly related to the study. Related topics should not be extensively listed, as in a review. The Introduction should not include the results or conclusions of the study.
    • (2) The Methods section presents the research methods. The patients, experimental animals, or control groups involved in the study should be clearly described. The research methods should be presented in sufficient detail such that another researcher may duplicate the study. In particular, the methods used to diagnose subjects’ diseases or conditions and to control for observer bias should be explained. For equipment and reagents, the product name should be given, along with the manufacturer in parentheses. A reference may be provided for well-known methods, including methods for statistical analysis. If a method that is not yet well-known is used, or if a conventional method has been modified in the article, the relevant information should be briefly introduced in addition to providing a reference, and the rationale and pros and cons of the method should be supplied. Information regarding the acquisition of approval or consent of the IRB should be included. Ensure correct use of the terms sex (when reporting biological factors) and gender (identity, psychosocial or cultural factors), and, unless inappropriate, report the sex and/or gender of study participants, the sex of animals or cells, and describe the methods used to determine sex and gender.
    • (3) The statistical method used should be described in detail so that the results in the article can be verified. If possible, the research findings should be quantified, and the indices that represent the measurement error or uncertainty (such as significance intervals) should be provided. Failure to present significant quantitative information, depending only on the statistical hypothesis test results, should be avoided, as in the case of providing only the P-value. If the research data is based on samples, a statistical verification process should be performed in order to generalize the results. If the study is a complete enumeration survey or a case study, statistical verification is not necessary. When stating the research results in the main text, the mean, ratio, or correlation coefficient should be specifically expressed so that the differences among the groups and the magnitude and direction of correlation among the variables can be known. The statistical results should be described using specialized statistical terms (ex. “random,” “normal,” “significant,” and “sample”). The statistical computer software used should be specified.
    • (4) In the Results section, the results or findings should be described in a logical order, with tables and figures matched with the main text. Do not repeat in the main text all the data included in the tables and figures, but do describe the main points.
    • (5) In the Discussion section, important or novel findings in the results should be highlighted and conclusions made accordingly. Do not repeat statements that have already been made in Introduction and Results. The potential applicability and scope of application, as well as limitations in the interpretation of the results, may be described. Additionally, other relevant reports may be compared and discussed and then correlated with the purpose and conclusions of the study. Avoid making any conclusion that is not based on the study data or any baseless assertion. A new hypothesis may be suggested on the basis of the acquired data, and an appropriate method to verify the hypothesis should be included. When mentioning results that have not been shown in Results, they should be described as “data not shown.”
  • Conflicts of Interest
    Any potential conflicts of interest relevant to the manuscript should be described. If the authors have no relevant conflicts of interest to disclose, this should be indicated.
    
    Examples of declarations are:
    • Conflicts of interest
    The authors declare no conflict of interest.
    • Conflicts of interest
    Dr. Caron's work has been funded by the NIH. He has received compensation as a member of the scientific advisory board of Acadia Pharmaceutical and owns stock in the company. He also has consulted for Lundbeck and received compensation. Dr. Rothman and Dr. Jensen declare no potential conflicts of interest.
  • Acknowledgments
    The acknowledgments are located after the main text and before the reference list. All persons who have made substantial contributions but who do not meet the criteria for authorship are acknowledged here. All sources of funding (with the funding number) applicable to the study should be explicitly stated here. Each author must individually declare all sources of funding received for the research submitted to the journal. This information includes the name of granting agencies, grant numbers, and a description of each funder’s role. If the funder has played no role in the research, this must be stated as well.
  • Author contributions
    All authors must meet at least one of the seven core contributions by CRediT (conceptualization, methodology, software, validation, formal analysis, investigation, data curation), as well as at least one of the writing contributions (original draft preparation, review and editing). List how each author was involved with the manuscript (e.g., study concept and design; acquisition of data; analysis and interpretation of data; drafting of the manuscript; critical revision of the manuscript for important intellectual content; statistical analysis; obtained funding; administrative, technical, or material support; study supervision) in the main text.
    
    An example of Author Contributions is as follows: Study concept and design: MHC; acquisition of data: MHC; analysis and interpretation of data: JH; drafting of the manuscript: MHC, JH, and YIA; critical revision of the manuscript: MHC, JH, and YIA; statistical analysis: MHC, JH, and YIA; obtained funding: MHC; administrative, technical, or material support: MHC; and study supervision: MHC.
  • References
    • (1) References in the Main Text
      References should be numbered with superscripts consecutively in the order they first appear in the main text. The references in the main text should be denoted as follows: References in the main text should be marked by writing the reference number as a superscript Arabic numeral. If there are multiple numbers at once, the numbers are separated by commas. When consecutive reference numbers are used, “–” should be added between the first number and the last number. The superscript should be placed at the end of the author’s name if the name of an author of a study is mentioned. Otherwise, the superscript should be placed at the end of the final word of the relevant statement. When multiple authors are expressed as “Name et al.,” the superscript should be added at the end of “et al.”
    • (2) References in the References List
      All of the authors’ names should be listed if the number of authors of the reference is six or less. If the number of authors of the reference is seven or more, list the initial six authors and then abbreviate the rest of the authors with “et al.” The English names of journals should be based on the abbreviations in Index Medicus. An abstract may not be used as a reference; if this is unavoidable, the author should make a note that only the abstract has been referenced. If an article that has been approved but not yet published is referred to, it should be listed as “in press.” If an article that has been submitted but not yet accepted for publication needs to be referred to, the reference should be noted as “unpublished data,” and written permission should be obtained from the authors. For electronic media, only journal articles in electronic format and monographs in electronic format can be referred to, in accordance with the following examples.
    • (3) References Published in Academic Journals
      Names of authors. Title. Name of the journal Year;Volume: First–Last page. Repeated page numbers are omitted.
      * If the number of authors is six or less:
      Adelman WP, Duggan AK, Hauptman P, Joffe A. Effectiveness of a high school smoking cessation program. Pediatrics 2001;107:1–8.
      * If the number of authors is seven or more:
      Kim MK, Lee IS, Jang HW, Joung KH, Kim KS, Kim HJ, et al. Visceral fat measured by the electrical impedance analysis method is a reliable predictor of insulin resistance. Korean J Obes 2011;20:75–83.
      * If the author is an institution:
      The Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand. Clinical exercise stress testing. Safety and performance guidelines. Med J Aust 1996;164:282–4.
      * If a supplement in a volume is referred to:
      Yoon YS. The impact of birth weight on adult onset diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Korean J Obes 2011;20 Suppl 1,2:153–6.
      * If a supplement in an issue is referred to:
      Payne DK, Sullivan MD, Massie MJ. Women's psychological reactions to breast cancer. Semin Oncol 1996;23(Suppl 2):89–97.
      * Article in press:
      Leshner AI. Molecular mechanisms of cocaine addiction. N Engl J Med (in press) 1996.
      * Electronic article before print:
      Marques A, Peralta M, Naia A, Loureiro N, de Matos MG. Prevalence of adult overweight and obesity in 20 European countries, 2014. Eur J Public Health 2017 Sep 23 [Epub]. https://doi.org/10.1093/eurpub/ckx143
      * If the author is unknown:
      Cancer in South Africa [editorial]. S Afr Med J 1994;84:15.
      * If the type of article needs to be specified:
      Enzensberger W, Fischer PA. Metronome in Parkinson's disease [letter]. Lancet 1996;347:1337.
      Clement J, De Bock R. Hematological complications of hantavirus nephropathy (HVN) [abstract]. Kidney Int 1992;42:1285.
    • (4) References in Monographs
      Names of authors. Book title (: subtitle). Edition. Name of publisher; Year of publication. (p. first–last page, if a part of the book is referred to).
      * If the author is an individual person:
      Ringsven MK, Bond D. Gerontology and leadership skills for nurses. 2nd ed. Delmar Publishers; 1996.
      * If one chapter from an edited book is referred to:
      Phillips SJ, Whisnant JP. Hypertension and stroke. In: Laragh JH, Brenner BM, editors. Hypertension: pathophysiology, diagnosis, and management. 2nd ed. Raven Press; 1995. p. 465–78.
    • (5) Others
      * If a proceeding is referred to:
      Kimura J, Shibasaki H, editors. Recent advances in clinical neurophysiology. Proceedings of the 10th International Congress of EEMG and Clinical Neurophysiology; 1995 Oct 15–19; Kyoto, Japan. Elsevier; 1996.
      * If a thesis is referred to:
      Kaplan SJ. Post-hospital home health care: the elderly's access and utilization [dissertation]. Washington Univ.; 1995.
      * If a newspaper article is referred to:
      Lee G. Hospitalizations tied to ozone pollution: study estimates 50,000 admissions annually. The Washington Post 1996 Jun 21;Sect. A:3 (col. 5).
      * If a dictionary or similar literature is referred to:
      Stedman's medical dictionary. 26th ed. Williams & Wilkins; 1995. Apraxia; p. 119–20.
      * Online publications:
      Authors’ names, website title, URL and the time of the latest update.
  • Tables
    • (1) Tables should be brief and clear so as to be self-explanatory even without the information in the main text. Tables should be double-spaced, and each table should be included on a separate page for submission purposes. When an abbreviation is used in the table or when an explanation is necessary, the relevant comment should be included as a footnote at the bottom of the table. On the right side of the data for which an explanation is required, a mark should be used as a superscript (in the order of *, †, ‡, §, ||, ¶, and **). The corresponding comments for each sign should be given in the footnotes at the bottom of the table, with each comment explained in a separate line. The first letter of the first word in a footnote comment should be capitalized. The “P” in “P” should be capitalized.
    • (2) The title of a table should be included on the top left side. Tables are consecutively numbered by adding an Arabic numeral after the word “Table” and one space. A period is placed just after the number. The first letter of the first word in the title of a table should be capitalized. No period is used at the end of the title. The units used in the table are indicated inside the table, if possible, so that extra markings may be avoided outside the table. Do not capitalize the marks for units, if not necessary.
    • (3) When preparing a table, the mean and standard deviation (mean±SD) and the number of subjects should be presented, as well as the applied statistical method, in the footnote of the table. The number of responses and ratios should be presented as is done for ratios, while correlation coefficient values should be presented as is done for correlation coefficients. The first row wherein the items of the columns are written is distinguished by drawing two solid lines at the top and one solid line at the bottom. If the title takes two or more rows that should be separated, a solid line is used. Individual columns are marked by adjusting the interval without visual lines that separate each column. The first letter of the title should be capitalized.
  • Figures or Photographs
    Figures or photographs should be prepared clearly in a sufficiently large size so that they may not be affected by downsizing in the printing process. The legends for figures and photographs should be written on a separate sheet. The figure caption should provide not only the figure titles, but also a sufficient explanation of the figure. Figures are consecutively numbered by adding an Arabic number after the word “Figure” and one space. A period is placed just after the number (Fig. 1). Figure parts should be denoted by capital letters (Fig. 1A). The first letter of the first word in the title of a figure should be capitalized. A period is placed at the end of the title. The title is positioned on the bottom left side of a figure. When preparing a plot, the mean or ratio should be expressed with a bar or a polygonal line. The P-value must be presented using the standard deviation or the size of the standard error. The applied statistical test method should be specified in the footnote of the plot.
  • Online Supplementary Materials
    The article must be complete and self-explanatory without an appendix, which, if included, is posted on the journal's website and linked to the article. In addition, online supplementary files must be referenced in the main text of the manuscript at least once (e.g., "Supplementary Table, Supplementary Fig. 1").
  • Graphical Abstract
    A graphical abstract is required for review, original articles, and short communication. While authors are not required to submit a graphical abstract during the initial submission, if the manuscript is accepted, the authors must submit a draft according to the guidance of the editorial board. The graphical abstract should present the main results of the paper visually and clearly, it will be displayed in the online article, but will be not included in the PDF file.
• Editorial
  Editorials in JOMES are written following an invitation from the journal’s editorial board to a senior investigator in the relevant field. There is no limitation on the format. However, an editorial should be written in no more than 1,500 words, with the number of references limited to 15.
• Review article
  A review article submission should include the following: ① Cover letter; ② Title page; ③ Abstract and keywords; ④ Introduction, Main text, and Conclusion; ⑤ Conflicts of Interest; ⑥ Acknowledgments (if necessary); ⑦ Author contributions; ⑧ References; ⑨ Tables; ⑩ Figure legends; and ⑪ Figures. The abstract should not exceed 250 words. The number of references should not exceed 120. If not particularly specified, the instructions to the authors are the same as those for original articles. A review article is focused on a specific topic and is published by the request of the editorial board or by submission.
• Short communication
  A short communication submission should include the following: ① Cover letter; ②Title page; ③ Abstract and keywords; ④ Main text; ⑤ Conflicts of Interest; ⑥ Acknowledgments (if necessary); ⑦ Author contributions; ⑧ References; ⑨ Tables; ⑩ Figure legends; and ⑪ Figures. The total number of words should be less than 1,000 (excluding the 150-word abstract). Tables, figures, legends, the title page, acknowledgments, and references are not included in the word count. The number of references should be 20 or less, and the number of tables and figures should be one or less, for each. A short communication, which is a brief article, provides information about a selected significant analysis or discovery among the authors' own research. It is not a mini-review. If not particularly specified, the instructions to the authors are the same as those for original articles.
• Letters to the editor
  This is generally a criticism or opinion about a specific manuscript that has been published in JOMES in the past six months and should include a maximum of 1,000 words and 10 references.

JOMES will consider for publication of articles previously available as preprints. At the time of submission, authors should disclose whether the manuscript has been posted on a preprint server and should provide the specific DOI for the preprint. Authors should disclose details of preprint posting including DOI and licensing terms both in the cover letter and in the Acknowledgments. Otherwise, it may be screened from the plagiarism check program. Authors are requested to continually update any pre-publication versions; especially immediately after submission to JOMES, authors should update the record in the preprint server to avoid issues on duplicate publication. Once the preprint is published, it is the author’s responsibility to ensure that the record is updated with a publication reference, including the DOI and a URL link to the published version of the article on the journal website. It is strongly recommended that authors cite the article in JOMES instead of the preprint.

• Conformity of the submitted manuscript to the submission instructions is examined upon submission. If a manuscript does not conform to the instructions, the editorial board will ask the authors to resubmit the manuscript.
• Following the submission of a manuscript that conforms to the submission instructions, the editorial secretary reviews the topic of the manuscript and assigns it to an associate editor expert in the corresponding field. Based on the review results, the associate editor decides whether manuscripts will be able to proceed to the external review process or be rejected.
• The associate editor specializing in the field designates two reviewers for primary review of the manuscript. Review of a manuscript may be requested from reviewers specializing in the area in the list of the Korean Society for the Study of Obesity, reviewers recommended by the authors, or external experts in the area. We do not release reviewers’ identities to authors, as the policy of the journal is double-blind peer review.
• If changes are needed, it is recommended that authors should revise and amend the manuscripts. Authors of a revised manuscript must describe on a line-by-line basis how the manuscript was revised according to the instructions of the reviewers. Revisions must be received within two months from the date of the letter from the editorial board indicating that a revised manuscript would be considered for publication. If the revised manuscript is not returned within this period, the board will assume that the author has decided not to pursue publication. Based on the review results and revisions, the associate editor finally determines whether manuscripts are acceptable.
• If the review process is delayed for more than two weeks, the status of the manuscript review may be checked by text message, e-mail, or telephone call.
• Regarding acceptance policy, a manuscript that is “accepted” by both reviewers during the final review will be published. A decision of “rejection” is made if both reviewers reject the publication of the manuscript during the final review.
• If one of the reviewers rejects the manuscript during the primary review, the associate editor assigns a third reviewer to perform another primary review.
• If both of the initial reviewers or two of the three initial reviewers reject the manuscript during the first review, the associate editor transfers the final decision regarding acceptance of the manuscript to the editor-in-chief. The editor-in-chief will then make the final decision at the editorial board meeting.
• If two of the three reviewers accept and one of them rejects the manuscript during the final review, the associate editor will transfer the final decision regarding acceptance of the manuscript to the editor-in-chief. The editor-in-chief will then make the final decision at the editorial board meeting.
• Review of the statistical aspects of a manuscript is requested from a statistical review consultant and is reflected in the opinion of the reviewers.
• Review of an English language manuscript is requested from an English language review consultant during the primary review and is reflected in the final opinion. The editorial board may request the authors to oversee the final revision of English grammar in conjunction with an expert.
• At the editorial board meeting, which is held a month prior to the publication of each issue, the final list of articles to be published in the issue is determined from the articles currently accepted.
• Both accepted and rejected articles should be considered at the editorial board meeting for each issue.
• Articles receiving final approval for publication are assigned to an English language consultant for review.

Author Appeals
As the decision to reject a manuscript for publication will often involve the Editor’s judgment of priority/ importance, the authors are strongly advised to submit to another journal after getting a rejection. Authors may appeal a rejection by sending an e-mail to the Editorial Office of the journal. The appeal must provide a detailed justification, including point-by-point responses to the reviewers' and/or Editor's comments. The manuscript and related information (including the identities of the referees) will be forwarded to the Editor-in-Chief, Associate Editor, or Editorial Board member. A reject decision after the appeal process is final and cannot be reversed. Manuscripts cannot be submitted elsewhere while an appeal is being considered.

• Final version
  After a paper has been accepted for publication, the author(s) should submit the final version of the manuscript. The names and affiliations of authors should be double-checked, and if the originally submitted image files were of poor resolution, higher resolution image files should be submitted at this time. The following file formats are preferred for submission of digital files of photographic images: .tiff, .png, .eps, .pdf, or .ppt. Symbols (e.g., circles, triangles, squares), letters (e.g., words, abbreviations), and numbers should be large enough to be legible upon reduction of the image to the journal’s column widths. All symbols must be defined in the figure caption. If references, tables, or figures are moved, added, or deleted during the revision process, renumber them to reflect such changes so that all tables, references, and figures are cited in numeric order.
• Manuscript corrections
  Prior to publication, the manuscript editor will correct the manuscript to meet the standard publication format. The author(s) must respond within two working days after being contacted by the manuscript editor for revisions. If the response is delayed, the manuscript’s publication may be postponed to the next issue.
• Galley proof
  The author(s) will receive the final version of the manuscript as a .pdf file. Within two working days of receipt, the authors must notify the Editorial Office (or printing office) of any errors found in the file. Any errors found after this time are the responsibility of the author(s) and will have to be corrected as errata or corrigenda (depending on responsibility for the error).
• Errata and corrigenda
  To correct errors in published articles, the corresponding author should contact the journal’s Editorial Office with a detailed description of the proposed correction. Corrections that profoundly affect the interpretation or conclusions of the article will be reviewed by the editors. Corrections will be published as corrigenda (corrections of the author’s errors) or errata (corrections of the publisher’s errors) in a later issue of the journal.
• Page charges
  There are no author submission fees or other publication-related fees, since all costs for the publication process are supported by the publisher.
• Copyright
  The copyright of manuscripts that have been accepted for publication is transferred to the Korean Society for the Study of Obesity, and the authors of the article should sign the copyright transfer form. Copyright forms should be sent to the JOMES Editorial Office via fax (+82-2-364-0883), scanned and uploaded to the submission site, or sent via e-mail to journal@jomes.org. The Korean Society for the Study of Obesity also follows the Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial License as an open-access journal.

Revised as of June 1, 2013
Revised as of June 1, 2014
Revised as of December 1, 2014
Revised as of March 1, 2015
Revised as of November 22, 2016
Revised as of January 18, 2017
Revised as of March 9, 2017
Revised as of June 30, 2017
Revised as of June 30, 2018
Revised as of September 30, 2019
Revised as of September 30, 2020
Revised as of March 30, 2021
Revised as of July 29, 2021
Revised as of Dec 30, 2021
Revised as of January 27, 2023
Revised as of June 30, 2023