Authors should provide the required declarations on the title page. Some statements are required for every manuscript, while the ethics and informed consent statement is required where applicable.

Authors' Contributions

An Authors' Contributions Statement using the CRediT (Contributor Roles Taxonomy) is required for every manuscript.

The available roles are:

Conceptualization
Data curation
Formal analysis
Funding acquisition
Investigation
Methodology
Project administration
Resources
Software
Supervision
Validation
Visualization
Writing – original draft
Writing – review & editing

Example:
Authors' Contributions: Conceptualization, A.B. and C.D.; Methodology, A.B.; Investigation, A.B. and E.F.; Formal analysis, C.D.; Writing – original draft, A.B.; Writing – review & editing, C.D. and E.F.; Supervision, C.D.

Further requirements concerning authorship and contributorship are provided in the Ethics Policy .

Ethics and Informed Consent Statement

For research involving human participants, human data, or human biological material, authors must report both the status of ethical review and, where applicable, the status of informed consent.

Where ethical approval and informed consent were obtained:

Ethics and Informed Consent Statement: The study was approved by the [full name of ethics committee or review body] (approval no. XXX, date). Written informed consent was obtained from all participants.

Where formal ethical approval was not required:

Ethics and Informed Consent Statement: Formal ethics committee approval was not required for this study under [applicable institutional or legal framework]. Participants received information about the study and provided consent by completing and submitting the anonymous survey.

Where ethical review or informed consent was waived, exempted, or otherwise not applicable, this should be clearly stated and, where appropriate, briefly justified.

Where identifiable participant information, images, or case descriptions are included, authors must also confirm that appropriate consent for publication was obtained.

Further requirements concerning research ethics and informed consent are provided in the Ethics Policy .

Funding Statement

A Funding Statement is required for every manuscript.

Where funding was received:

Funding Statement: This research was funded by [funder], grant number [XXX].

Where no specific funding was received:

Funding Statement: The authors received no specific funding for this work.

The Funding Statement should accurately reflect all financial support for the reported work and should be consistent with the Authors' Contributions Statement.

Conflict of Interest Statement

A Conflict of Interest Statement is required for every manuscript.

Where no conflicts exist:

Conflict of Interest Statement: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Where a conflict exists, it should be described clearly and specifically.

Further requirements concerning conflicts of interest are provided in the Ethics Policy .

Artificial Intelligence Use Statement

An Artificial Intelligence Use Statement is required for every manuscript, including manuscripts in which no generative AI was used.

Where no generative AI was used:

Artificial Intelligence Use Statement: No generative AI was used in the research or preparation of this manuscript.

Where generative AI was used:

Artificial Intelligence Use Statement: The authors used [tool] for [purpose]. All AI-assisted content was reviewed and verified by the authors.

If generative AI was used as part of the research methodology, its use must also be described in sufficient detail in the Methods section.

Further requirements are provided in the AI Policy .

Placement of declarations

The declarations described above should be included on the title page and should not normally be included in the blinded manuscript.

Where information concerning ethical review or informed consent is necessary for scientific evaluation, relevant non-identifying information may also be included in the Methods section of the blinded manuscript.