| Scope of the Journal and Editorial Policies Scope Medical Hypotheses and Research (MHR) publishes original research papers dealing with any specialty area of the biomedical science. MHR particularly welcomes novel hypothesis/theory-based biomedical research papers that are usually more difficult to be accepted for publication in other leading scientific journals. MHR also publishes review papers that provide an updated overview of the recent advances in a particular area of biomedical research. In addition, MHR publishes hypotheses or theories that provide a novel interpretative overview of recent significant new findings. An ideal hypothesis/theory paper for MHR should have the following characteristics: (1) it is accurate scientifically, (2) it describes a hypothesis that is both novel and relevant in the context of the available scientific knowledge, and (3) it is experimentally verifiable. Editorial Policies All manuscripts submitted to MHR must be submitted solely to this journal and may not have been published in another publication of any type. Manuscripts submitted under multiple authorship are reviewed on the assumption that all listed authors concur in the submission and that the final version of the manuscript has been seen and approved by all authors. All manuscripts submitted to MHR are reviewed critically. The editor, with assistance of the editorial board members and outside referees, will make a decision on a manuscript for acceptance, revision, or declination based on the scientific merit and technical quality of the studies reported. All editorial board members and referees who review a manuscript will remain anonymous to the authors. Authors may request disqualification of a few potential reviewers. Only those individuals who would represent a direct conflict of interest should be excluded. Requests to disqualify reviewers will be honored at the discretion of the Editor or the editorial board member who handles the review. Humane use of experimental animals All animal experimentation described in the submitted manuscript must be conducted in accord with accepted standards of humane animal care, as outlined in the Ethical Guidelines. Ethical principles for medical research involving human subjects All studies that involve human subjects must abide by the rules of the appropriate Internal Review Board and the tenets of the (recently revised) Helsinki protocol (http://www.wma.net/e/policy/b3.htm). Furthermore, all published studies that involve human subjects should not mention subjects' identifying information (e.g., initials) unless the information is essential for scientific purposes and the patient (or parent or guardian) gives written informed consent for publication. See the "Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals" at http://www.icmje.org/index.html for additional information on this subject. Guidelines for stem cell research Research with embryonic stem cells should adhere to the guidelines established by the National Academy of Sciences, as published in the National Academy Press, at http://nap.edu/books/0309096537/html. |