Author Guidelines

A bit of information

The Mirror of Research in Veterinary Sciences and Animals (MRVSA) is an international, peer-reviewed, open access journal that publishes high-quality and original research in the fields of veterinary medicine and animal biosciences. Detailed information about the journal's focus and editorial process is provided in the Aims and Scope section. As an open access journal, MRVSA ensures that all published articles are freely and permanently available online, allowing global readers to access, share, and cite the work without restriction. The journal publishes manuscripts in English only. MRVSA accepts a range of article types, including original research articles, review articles, and book reviews.

Language

The official language of the MRVSA journal is English. Manuscripts submitted to MRVSA must be written in clear, concise, and professional English. Authors who are not proficient in English are strongly encouraged to seek language editing or professional assistance before submission. Reviewers and editors are not responsible for correcting grammatical or language errors. Poor language quality may affect the scientific clarity of the manuscript and may lead to delays in the review process or rejection.

Types of Articles

MRVSA publishes the following article types:

1. Editor Letters, Letter to the Editor.
2. Original Articles: Full-length papers presenting novel and in-depth research in medical, oral, and related bioscience fields.
3. Short Communications: Concise reports of significant findings that do not require a full-length article. Manuscripts should not exceed 3,000 words, and the total number of figures and tables should not be more than three.
4. Review Articles: Comprehensive and critical summaries of current knowledge in a specific area. These should normally be less than 10,000 words, include an unstructured abstract, and provide up-to-date references. Meta-analyses are considered review articles. Emphasis is placed on their educational and scientific value.
5. Mini Reviews: Brief and focused reviews on recent and important topics, written in a concise and structured manner. The word limit is up to 5,000 words.

Before Submission

Authors submitting to the MRVSA should ensure that their manuscripts meet the following requirements:

1. The manuscript must be original, unpublished, and not under consideration by another journal or conference.
2. The study must comply with research ethics standards. An Ethics Approval section is required for research involving humans or animals.
3. The manuscript should be written in clear, correct English and free from grammatical and spelling errors.
4. The manuscript must be prepared according to the MRVSA Manuscript Template.
5. All figures should be of high quality and uploaded as separate files.
6. References must be formatted according to the journal style and numbered in the order of citation.
7. The manuscript should be within the aims and scope of MRVSA and demonstrate adequate scientific quality.
8. Authors must follow all journal submission and formatting guidelines.

Submissions that do not meet these requirements may be returned to the authors or rejected before the peer review process.

Online Submission

Manuscripts must be submitted by one of the authors through the MRVSA Online Manuscript submission by following the on-screen instructions. Only Word file formats (.doc, .docx) are accepted, and there is no page limit. Submissions from individuals other than the listed authors will not be considered. The corresponding or submitting author is responsible for the manuscript throughout the submission and peer-review process. Authors may contact the journal office at mrvsa59@gmail.com for assistance, in case of technical difficulties with online submission.

Initial Evaluation

All submitted manuscripts are first assessed by the Mirror of Research in Veterinary Sciences and Animals (MRVSA) Editorial Office to ensure that they are complete, properly prepared, and compliant with the journal's ethical and publication standards. Each submission is screened for plagiarism using iThenticate software. Manuscripts that do not adhere to the journal's ethical policies or fail to meet basic quality requirements will be rejected without external peer review. Incomplete or incorrectly formatted manuscripts may be returned to the authors for revision prior to further consideration.

Following this preliminary check, the Editorial Office consults the Editor-in-Chief to evaluate the manuscript's relevance to the journal's scope, originality, and scientific merit. Submissions considered to have insufficient priority or impact for publication will be declined at this stage. Authors are expected to present their work in clear and grammatically correct English. The Editor reserves the right to reject manuscripts with inadequate language quality. All rejection decisions during the initial evaluation are confirmed by the Editor-in-Chief.

Submission Declaration and Verification

By submitting a manuscript to MRVSA, authors confirm that:

1. The work has not been previously published, except as an abstract, conference presentation, or academic thesis.
2. The manuscript is not under consideration for publication elsewhere.
3. All authors have approved the submission and agree to its publication.
4. The responsible authorities or institutions where the research was conducted have approved the work, where required.
5. If accepted, the article will not be published elsewhere in the same form, in any language, including electronically, without written permission from the copyright holder.

As part of the submission process, all authors must complete and sign the journal's Copyright Agreement and Author Statement Form, confirming originality, authorship responsibility, and agreement with the journal's copyright and licensing terms.

Originality Verification

All submissions to MRVSA are screened using Crossref Similarity Check powered by iThenticate to ensure originality and to detect potential plagiarism.

Article Structure

The manuscript should be combined in the following order:

1. Title page
2. Abstract, Keywords
3. Introduction
4. Material and methods (Experimental or Methodology or Patients and methods)
5. Results
6. Discussion (Results and discussion can be combined in one section)
7. Conclusion
8. Statements and Declarations
9. References

Title Page

The title page must be prepared in English and include the following:

1. Title: Brief, clear, and descriptive. Avoid references, compound numbers, or non-standard abbreviations. Centered, bold, Times New Roman, 14 pt.
2. Authors and Affiliations: Provide full names (given name, middle initial, family name), centered below the title, bold, Times New Roman, 11 pt. Use superscript lowercase letters to link authors to affiliations. Affiliations must include department, faculty/college, university, city, postal code or P.O. Box, and country. The main affiliation should be where the work was conducted. Current addresses may be added if applicable.
3. Corresponding Author: Indicate with an asterisk. Provide full contact details (telephone, fax, and email) in a footnote. Include the 16-digit ORCID if available.
4. Running Title: Provide a short running title (maximum 80 characters).

Abstract

The abstract must be self-contained and free of citations, with a maximum length of 300 words. It should clearly and concisely present: background/purpose of the study, methods used to conduct the research, key results and major findings, and main conclusions drawn from the results. Nonstandard or uncommon abbreviations must be defined at first mention. The abstract should be prepared in Times New Roman, 9-point font, regular (non-italic, non-bold) style.

Keywords

Authors are asked to provide 4 to 6 keywords, separated with semicolons, and should be typed in Times New Roman, 10-point, non-italic and non-boldface.

Introduction

The Introduction should be clear and concise, without subheadings. It must highlight the importance of the study, its scientific context, and the rationale for publication. Background information should be brief and limited to relevant literature directly related to the objectives of the work.

Material and Methods (Experimental or Methodology or Patients and Methods)

This section should provide sufficient detail to allow the study to be reproduced. It may be organized into subsections when multiple methods are used. Authors are encouraged to describe procedures clearly and concisely, ensuring all essential experimental details are included. Previously published methods should be properly cited, and only relevant modifications should be described. All materials such as chemicals, reagents, instruments, or biological strains must include complete supplier information (company name, city, and country). For statistical analysis, authors should clearly state the tests used, the level of significance (e.g., p ≤ 0.05), and any assumptions applied.

Results

The Results should be presented clearly, concisely, and in a logical sequence. Data should be described in the text and supported by tables and figures only when essential for interpretation. Avoid repetition of the same results in different formats. The findings should directly reflect the study objectives and highlight the most important outcomes.

Discussion

The Discussion should interpret the results rather than repeat them. It should explain the significance and implications of the findings, compare them with relevant previous studies, and address the strengths and limitations of the work. Authors should also suggest potential applications and future research directions.

Conclusion(s)

The Conclusion should provide a brief summary of the main findings and their importance, aligned with the study objectives. When appropriate, authors may propose new hypotheses or recommendations based on the results.

Statements and Declarations

All submitted manuscripts must include a "Statements and Declarations" section placed after the References. Manuscripts that do not contain the required statements will be considered incomplete.

References

References should be cited in the text using Arabic numerals in brackets according to the Vancouver style, in the order of appearance (e.g., [4], [7–10]). Authors' names may be mentioned in the text, but the reference number(s) must always be provided.

Figures

Figures should be included within the manuscript file and cited consecutively in the text as Fig. 1, Figs. 2–4. Only relevant and high-quality figures should be used. After acceptance, authors may be asked to submit editable source files. Images should be clear, preferably in vector or high-resolution formats (minimum 300 dpi). Figure parts should be labeled using lowercase letters (a, b, c).

Tables

Tables must be cited in numerical order and included in the manuscript. Each table should have a clear and descriptive title, and all units must be indicated in column headings. Vertical lines should be avoided, and tables should present essential data only.

Nomenclature and Units

Authors should use SI units or other internationally accepted units throughout the manuscript. Conventional units may be used in figures and tables, with appropriate conversions provided when necessary.

Statements and Declarations

Acknowledgment(s)

All acknowledgments (if any) should be included at the very end of the manuscript before the references. Anyone who made a contribution to the research or manuscript, but who is not a listed author, should be acknowledged (with their permission).

Funding

Authors must clearly disclose all sources of financial support for the work, including the full name of the funding body or agency and grant number(s), where applicable. The role of the funder or sponsor in the study design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, manuscript preparation, and publication decision should also be stated. If no specific funding was received, this should be explicitly declared.

Conflicts of Interest

All authors must disclose any financial or non-financial interests or relationships that could influence, or reasonably be perceived to influence, the submitted work. Authors should clearly declare all relevant competing interests, and if no conflicts exist, they should provide a statement confirming that they have no conflicts of interest to declare. The submitting author is responsible for ensuring that all co-authors' disclosures are included.

Author Contributions

Authors are encouraged to include a statement that specifies the contribution of every author to the research and preparation of the manuscript.

Example statement:

"All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by [full name], [full name] and [full name]. The first draft of the manuscript was written by [full name] and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript."

Data Availability

MRVSA encourages the responsible sharing of research data to enhance transparency, reproducibility, and scientific advancement, while respecting ethical, privacy, and legal requirements. Authors are expected to make their data freely available whenever possible in a manner that allows verification and reuse of research findings.

Authors must include a Data Availability Statement in all submitted manuscripts, clearly indicating where the supporting data can be accessed or explaining any restrictions. Acceptable statements include:

1. Data available in a public repository with a persistent link.
2. Data available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
3. A declaration that no datasets were generated or analyzed in the study.

Ethics Approval

Authors of research involving human or animal subjects should include a statement that confirms that the study was approved (or granted exemption) by the appropriate institutional and/or national research ethics committee (including the name of the ethics committee and reference number, if available). For research involving animals, their data or biological material, authors should supply detailed information on the ethical treatment of their animals in their submission. If a study was granted exemption or did not require ethics approval, this should also be detailed in the manuscript.

"This study was performed in line with the principles of the 3Rs. Approval was granted by the Ethics Committee of University B (Date.../No....)."

"This is an observational study. The XYZ Research Ethics Committee has confirmed that no ethical approval is required."

Proofs

It is important to ensure that all author's corrections are sent back in one communication within 48 hours. Proofreading is solely the author's responsibility. Note that the publisher may proceed with the publication of an article if no response is received. One set of page proofs (as PDF files) will be sent by e-mail to the corresponding author. Please use this proof only for checking the typesetting, editing, completeness, and correctness of the text, tables, and figures. The editor office will do their best to get articles published quickly and accurately.

Revised Manuscripts

The revised version of the manuscript should be submitted online in a manner similar to that used for the submission of the manuscript for the first time. However, there is no need to submit the "First Page" or "Covering Letter" file while submitting a revised version. When submitting a revised manuscript, contributors are requested to include the referees' comments along with point-to-point correction at the beginning of the revised file itself. In addition, they are expected to mark the changes as underlined or colored text in the article.

Peer Review

All manuscripts are subjected to peer review and are expected to meet the standards of academic excellence. If approved by the editor, submissions will be considered by peer reviewers, whose identities will remain anonymous to the authors and vice versa; identities of authors will remain anonymous to the reviewers (double-blind peer review). The decision regarding the acceptance or rejection of a manuscript is the responsibility of the editorial board and is based on the recommendations of the reviewers (peer-reviewed process).

Our Research Integrity team will occasionally seek advice outside standard peer review, for example, on submissions with serious ethical, security, biosecurity, or public implications. The editorial office may consult experts and the academic editor before deciding on appropriate actions, including but not limited to recruiting reviewers with specific expertise, assessment by additional editors, and declining to further consider a submission.

Supplementary Materials

Authors can publish online supplementary files along with their articles or book chapter. Each supplementary file should include an article title, journal name, authors' names, affiliations, and email address of the corresponding author. Supplementary files will be published as received from the authors without any conversion, editing, or reforming.

Article Processing Charge (APC)

The standard article processing charge (APC) for MRVSA is $125.000, and it is free of charge for all researchers from low-income countries. There is no submission charge. This fee covers the costs of editing, publishing, maintaining, and archiving articles, ensuring open access to the full-text versions of published papers. Waivers or discounts may be available in certain cases for Iraqi postgraduate students.