Journal Author Guidesreputable journals' Instructions-for-Authors

Instructions for Authors — Journal of Clinical Investigation

Source: http://www.jci.org/kiosks/authors

Recent updates:Revised the Scientific integrity section. June 18, 2026.

Click the category name for formatting instructions; or go to ** How to submit your manuscript for the first time** (new windows).

The Journal does not consider unsolicited manuscripts in non-research categories such as Review, Viewpoint, or Commentary. For more information, contact ** editors@the-jci.org**.

Questions regarding manuscript handling and status should be addressed to ** staff@the-jci.org**. To avoid the possibility of misinterpretation and/or errors in communication, the Journal will typically communicate only with the responsible party/corresponding author. For any communication with us, reference the assigned tracking number as noted in the Journal’s acknowledgment of your submission. If you do not have this information, provide the manuscript title and responsible party/corresponding author’s name.

Questions concerning editorial policies or decisions should be addressed to the Science Editors at ** editors@the-jci.org**. Other members of the Editorial Board do not take calls or written inquiries from authors concerning decisions or other editorial matters. In general, responses are sent after evaluation of the written material and subsequent discussion by the Editorial Board.

Authors may submit inquiries to the JCI regarding manuscripts of potential suitability. Inquiries should include the manuscript abstract and a statement detailing the reasons why the manuscript might be of interest to the Journal’s readership. Decisions on such inquiries are not a substitute for peer review but are intended to provide informal guidance to authors in determining where to submit their research for full peer review.

The responsible party/corresponding author is responsible for warranting that: the data in a manuscript are original and scientifically accurate; the manuscript is not defamatory, does not invade any right of privacy, and does not infringe on any proprietary right or copyright; all authors have approved the submitted manuscript’s content and authorship order and have agreed to participate in the peer review process; the manuscript is not under consideration for publication elsewhere and will not be submitted for publication elsewhere while under review by the Journal. Any potential conflict of interest ( view policy) by any author listed on a submission must be stated on the title page. While multiple corresponding authors may be designated within a manuscript, a single responsible party/corresponding author must be identified during the submission process as the Journal’s point of contact for all communications, including decision letters and proof notifications.

[Top of page] | [Editorial policies and practices]

Dual-Journal Submission gives you the option to submit your work for consideration by both the JCI and JCI Insight. Dual-Journal Submission increases your opportunity to find the right home for your work within the JCI Family of Journals and streamlines the peer-review process.

Papers submitted to the Dual-Journal Submission track are evaluated first by the JCI editors. If the JCI sends the manuscript for review, reviewers will be asked to comment on the suitability and specify required revisions for both the JCI and JCI Insight.

If the JCI editors determine after peer review that your work is suitable for further consideration by the JCI, you will receive a decision with comments from reviewers and requirements for revision. In this case, JCI Insight will not receive your submission.

If the JCI editors determine after peer review that your work is not suitable for the JCI, your manuscript will automatically be routed to the JCI Insight editors for evaluation with the existing reviews. The JCI Insight editors will use the provided reviewer comments to quickly prepare a decision for JCI Insight.

Should the JCI editors decline to send your work for external review, the manuscript will automatically be assigned to a JCI Insight editor for an independent assessment.

If the JCI Insight editor sends the manuscript for peer review, reviewers will be asked to comment specifically on the suitability and specify revisions required for publication in JCI Insight. Decision letters will include comments from both the JCI and JCI Insight editors.

For further information, visit the Dual-Journal Submission page.

The JCI does not consider research manuscripts that have been posted to a community preprint server to be prior publications.

The Science Editors assign manuscripts to appropriate ** Associate Editors**. Papers may be rejected without external review if the Associate Editor, together with a Science Editor or the Editor in Chief, determines that the study does not significantly advance the field or the subject material is inappropriate for the JCI’s readership. When papers are sent for external review, the choice of reviewers is made by the Associate Editor and may include reviewers suggested by the authors during the submission process. Requests by authors to exclude specific potential reviewers will be honored to the greatest extent possible if a compelling reason is provided. At least two, and generally three, expert referees are asked to review the manuscript in a timely manner and to assign a priority based on content, originality, quality, relevance, and interest. Authors are informed of the final decision by email, with applicable comments from reviewers and Editors included.

Note: Manuscripts from Northwestern University are handled not by the Editorial Board at large, but instead in a separate process; in these circumstances, a Science Editor is the only Editor privy to the manuscript and, if the manuscript is sent for review, works with an outside consultant to formulate a decision.

Transfer of manuscripts from preprint servers. You may transfer a manuscript from the preprint server bioRxiv or medRxiv for submission to the Journal. For more information, see  The submission process.

Transfer of reviews from other journals. When submitting a new manuscript, authors may opt to provide reviews received from another journal along with a point-by-point response. The Editors will consider this information along with the manuscript in determining priority for the JCI. Note that if the Editors decide to send the manuscript for review, it will be assessed by additional reviewers who will also have access to the prior reviews. The Editors may request additional studies based on the JCI’s assessment of the manuscript or reject it without an opportunity to resubmit. For submission details, visit How to submit your manuscript for the first time. The option for transfer of reviews from another journal can be found in the Related section during the submission process. You will be prompted to upload the external review history for the manuscript as a single PDF that contains the following:

ASCI members. Any dues-paying ASCI member who is the responsible party/corresponding author of a first-round submission, and whose dues are current, may designate a first-round JCI submission to be guaranteed for external peer review (limit of 1 per calendar year). A member wishing to designate a submission for guaranteed review must start the submission using the “JCI family of journals” portal through the ** member’s ASCI account**. Manuscripts submitted using the guaranteed review must fit within the scope of the Journal and will be held to the same standard for publication as other manuscripts considered by the Editorial Board. Note that the guaranteed external review option may not be used for manuscripts, in the same form or after revision, that have previously been rejected by the Journal. If an option is used for a new submission that is identified as a revision of a previous manuscript, the option will be removed from the submission and become available for use on a new submission.

Reviewer rewards. Frequent reviewers are provided the opportunity to submit a new manuscript, as the responsible party/corresponding author, with a guarantee of external review. The Reviewer Reward is granted in January to reviewers who have completed on-time reviews for at least 3 separate manuscripts within the preceding 18 months. Submissions using the reward must fit within the scope of the journal and will be held to the same standard for publication as other manuscripts considered by the Editorial Board.

Please note:

Contact us at editors@the-jci.org with any questions.

The peer review process rests on the assumption that an assigned reviewer will treat all manuscripts as privileged information. A reviewer may request advice from another party, subject to the general principle of confidentiality and notification of the JCI.

Manuscripts may be accepted with no changes, provisionally accepted pending minor revisions, or rejected. For revised manuscript submissions, all authors listed in the submission site must approve the submission before the manuscript can be sent back to the Editorial Board for review. Each listed author will receive electronic notification at the email addresses provided at the time of submission. Any changes in authorship order after approval notifications have been sent will entail another round of approval by all authors before the manuscript can move forward. Removal of an author from the authorship list requires submission of written approval (email is sufficient) from the person being removed. All approvals must be completed before the submission can be finalized. See the Journal's Authorship agreement policy here.

For a rejected manuscript, if the reviewers and the Board believe that the paper, if appropriately revised, will merit a high enough priority to be published in the JCI, the authors are invited to submit a revision. All revised manuscripts are carefully reexamined. While acceptance cannot be guaranteed, the Board will make every effort to ensure that revised manuscripts are accepted presuming that the authors are able to address all reviewer criticisms and that no new studies published in the interim have compromised the paper’s novelty. If the authors of a rejected manuscript believe that a serious scientific error occurred during the review process, they may send a rebuttal explaining why the Board should reconsider the decision (see ** Contacting the JCI**). While few rebuttals are successful in reversing the original decision, they are taken seriously, and their handling can take several weeks; we receive a large number of manuscripts each week to which we must give first priority.

If authors of rejected manuscripts are subsequently able to make new advances that go far beyond the original submission, they may consider submitting a substantially revised manuscript for de novo review. The authors should refer to the prior version in their cover letter, particularly to indicate how the present version differs. The Editors will make a determination as to whether the work is substantially advanced beyond the original submission. Note that de novo submissions are considered as new papers and may be sent to the same or independent referees.

Note: JCI Insight Editors may screen any manuscript the JCI decides to reject and may invite authors to transfer manuscripts to JCI Insight for consideration.

For revised manuscript submissions, all authors listed on the submission site must approve the submission before the revised version can be sent to the Editorial Board for review. Each listed author will receive an electronic notification, at the email addresses provided at the time of submission, requesting approval. Any changes in authorship order after approval notifications have been sent will entail another round of approval by all authors before the manuscript can move forward. Removal of an author from the authorship list requires submission of written approval (email is sufficient) from the person being removed. All approvals must be completed before the submission can be finalized.

By submitting a manuscript to the JCI, the authors agree to subject it to the confidential peer review process outlined above. However, all manuscripts remain the property of the submitting author(s).

For any studies involving humans and/or animal models, the Methods section must begin with a paragraph titled “Sex as a biological variable” that details the study design as follows:

The Methods section must include a paragraph titled “Data availability” detailing how underlying data and supporting analytic code can be accessed by providing, as applicable:

If there are restrictions on accessibility or availability (e.g., for human-subject or third-party data), authors must state why data are not public and whether they can be made available from the responsible party/corresponding author or other party upon request. Authors should share deidentified or anonymized human subject data when permitted.

Large data sets. Large data sets for gene expression microarrays, high-throughput sequencing studies, and proteomics studies must be deposited in a public repository; microarray data in a MIAME-compliant public database; high-throughput sequencing data in a MINSEQE-compliant public database; and proteomics data in a MIAPE-compliant public database. Deposition of other types of large data sets in a public repository is strongly encouraged. As described above, accession numbers must be provided in the “Data availability” section.

Accession numbers are required for all revised manuscripts at the time of resubmission. Any requests for exemptions to the requirement to deposit data must be made at the time of resubmission on our submission site and approved by the Editors. Exemptions are generally limited to cases in which genomic data present patient privacy concerns. Anonymized human data should be deposited when possible. Note that deposited data must be made available/accessible as a condition of final acceptance.

As of the date of publication, authors will be required to make materials and methods used in the study available to researchers for their own use. This requirement includes antibodies, cell lines, and any newly created mutant animals or other materials necessary to replicate or advance the findings. Authors may make animals available through their institution or a publicly available repository. Authors must not impede the implementation of material transfer agreements to qualified recipients who have the necessary regulatory approvals to receive the reagents. Failure to adhere to these guidelines will be considered a violation of the authorship agreement and could result in retraction of the published article.

Researchers who encounter a persistent refusal by an author of a paper to comply with data availability or reagent sharing guidelines should contact the Editors’ office by email at ** editors@the-jci.org**.

In general, the JCI adheres to guidelines established by the US Department of Health and Human Services Office of Research Integrity. For further information, refer to the Office’s website at http://ori.hhs.gov/.

Duplicate publication and scientific fraud are rare events that have a very serious impact on the integrity of the scientific community. If the Board discovers or is presented with evidence of such problems, the Board will contact the appropriate official at the corresponding author/responsible party's institution. It is then left to the institution in question to pursue the matter appropriately. Depending upon the circumstances, the journal may choose to publish errata, corrigenda, or expressions of concern, or to retract the manuscript in its entirety. If we detect any potential manipulation of images or figures prior to publication, we will contact the authors and may request primary data for verification purposes.

When a member of the scientific community disagrees strongly with the methodology and/or conclusions of an article the JCI has published, but does not allege fraud, the JCI encourages the concerned individual to contact the authors of the article directly or to allow the natural corrective mechanisms of science to settle the issue with time.

Use of generative AI technology to generate or modify data images is strictly prohibited. Peer reviewers are not permitted to use AI technologies to write reviews. Generative AI technologies may not be listed as authors on submitted manuscripts.

Generative AI technologies used for written or visual content must be explicitly described within the Methods section of the submission. This description must specify what content is AI generated, as well as the AI platform, version used, and date of use. The Editors encourage authors to provide full details regarding the prompts provided, either in Methods or Supplemental Methods. Authors are responsible for verifying the accuracy of AI-generated content.

If samples have been randomly assigned to experimental groups or processing order, a statement specifying the randomization procedure should be included in Methods.

If investigators have been blinded to the sample group allocation during the experiment or analysis of the experimental outcome, a statement describing the level of blinding should be included in Methods.

Authors should provide sufficient details about the sample collection to distinguish between independent biological replicates and technical replicates. Biological replicates represent samples from different sources, while technical replicates represent an assay of the sample tested multiple times. The exact number of samples (n) for each figure panel representing multiple experiments must be included in the figure or its legend. For representative experiments, authors should state the number of times the experiment was performed.

The Methods section should include a description of the experimental procedures that is adequate to allow researchers in the field to reproduce the work. Authors may include additional methods in the supplemental materials as needed.

Authors should fully describe all statistical tests used during the analysis in the methods, and the statistical test used must also be reported in the relevant figure legend. We encourage authors to describe methods used to assess whether the data met the assumptions of the statistical test utilized (e.g., normal distribution). Authors should specify whether statistical tests are 1- or 2-sided. When making multiple comparisons on a single data set, authors should choose statistical tests that account for multiple groups (such as ANOVA rather than a series of t tests). The statistical analysis should also correct for repeated measures when comparing multiple measurements within subjects. A statement describing inclusion/exclusion criteria must be included in Methods if any samples were excluded from the analysis. Error bars must be defined, either in Methods or in the legends themselves; e.g., “Data represent mean ± SEM.” Variance around the mean and statistical analysis should not be presented if fewer than 3 independent samples are included.

All clinical investigation must have been conducted according to Declaration of Helsinki principles. All human studies must have been approved by the appropriate institutional review board(s), and a specific declaration of such approval must be made in a stand-alone paragraph at the end of the Methods section, including a statement indicating that written informed consent was received from participants prior to inclusion in the study. Participants should be identified by number, not by name. Manuscripts without declaration of ethical approval for experiments will not be reviewed. For photographs of patients, authors must provide a separate statement, in the Study Approval section of Methods, specifically indicating that written informed consent was received for the use of the photographs and that the record of informed consent has been retained. In general, images of faces should not be shown unless essential to the clinical message.

For studies involving demographic reporting, authors should follow the guidelines below to the fullest extent possible:

Authors are encouraged to follow the ARRIVE (Animal Research: Reporting of In Vivo Experiments) guidelines for reporting on animal studies. For animal models, the precise genotype, strain, source, number of backcrosses, sex, and age of animals studied must be provided in the manuscript. All animal studies must have been approved by the appropriate institutional review board(s), and a specific declaration of such approval must be made in a stand-alone Study Approval paragraph at the end of the Methods section.

Authors should describe the source of all cell lines utilized. Authors are also encouraged to include information regarding authentication of cell lines and testing for mycoplasma contamination.

A description of all antibodies used should be included in Methods, providing the source and catalog/clone number for commercial antibodies or a description (or reference to a description) of the generation of custom antibodies.

Authors should submit original nucleotide or amino acid sequence data to GenBank, the European Molecular Biology Library–European Bioinformatics Information (EMBL-EBI) database, DNA Databank of Japan (DDBJ), or another appropriate publicly available database in general use in the field that gives free access to researchers from the date of publication.

For any new chemical compound described, the chemical structure must be reported. Authors should also provide adequate data to support assignment of identity and purity of the compounds. For most compounds, chemical identity should be established through spectroscopic analysis. Authors should include adequate experimental and characterization data in Methods or Supplemental Methods. Methods describing the synthesis of new compounds must also be included.

For authors reporting T cell assays and NK cell assays, we recommend including Minimal Information About T Cell Assays (MIATA) in Methods, figure legends, or elsewhere as appropriate.

Authors describing new software that they have developed are encouraged to report the source code for software in the Supplemental Methods or include a statement explaining how the software can be obtained.

The Journal of Clinical Investigation and American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI) are dedicated to upholding the highest standards of integrity and ethical conduct in research, and in its evaluation and related communication. It is important that the Editors, authors, and referees conduct themselves in accordance with stringent standards and transparent policies for addressing potential conflicts of interest. Herein, we delineate what constitutes a potential conflict of interest for the JCI as it relates to Editors, authors, and referees. Those found in violation of these policies may be subject to sanctions as determined by the JCI Editors.

[Top of page] | [Conflicts of interest]

The ** Journal Editors** (Editor in Chief, Deputy Editors, Associate Editors, Executive Editor, and Science Editors) are responsible for maintaining the highest possible standards in evaluating contributions to the Journal as well as for maintaining its integrity. In the interest of establishing full transparency, Editors are obliged to disclose any and all potential conflicts of interest to the Journal. We have determined two tiers of potential conflict and corresponding actions to be taken. The Editors will report changes to their potential conflicts as they occur. An annual formal review of all disclosures will be performed in the evaluation of compliance.

If an Editor declares a first-tier potential conflict relating to item 1, 2, or 3, this information will be published on the Journal website, and the Editor will be recused from Editorial discussion and decisions related to the manuscript. An Editor will be considered to be in conflict if a manuscript is funded solely by an organization with which the Editor has a potential conflict, regardless of whether a research institution employs the authors.

The second tier of potential conflicts will necessitate only internal disclosure to the Editorial Board and Journal staff. The Editor in potential conflict will also be recused from editorial discussion and decisions related to the manuscript.

The Science Editors or other editorial staff member designated by the Editor in Chief will be responsible for recording and updating all potential conflicts. The Editor in Chief will review any Journal editorial staff potential conflicts.

Other potential issues that may arise will be evaluated by the Editor in Chief on a case-by-case basis.

Journal Editors are discouraged from serving as Editors for other primary research journals for which they would make final decisions on manuscripts. All such editorial duties must be approved by the Editor in Chief.

In order to avoid even the appearance of potential favoritism to institutional colleagues, manuscripts from Northwestern University are handled not by the Editorial Board at large, but instead in a separate process. In these circumstances, a Science Editor will be the only Editor privy to the manuscript and, if the manuscript is sent for review, will work with an outside consultant to formulate a decision.

All authors are expected to disclose all financial relationships that could undermine the objectivity, integrity, or perceived value of a publication. The Editors will keep the potential conflicts in mind while evaluating the manuscripts.

The Journal requires that all authors issue a statement disclosing all financial holdings, professional affiliations, advisory positions, board memberships, and patent holdings, as described below, even if they believe their conflict is not germane to the content of the submitted paper (these correspond to the first tier of potential conflicts defined for Editors). Such potential conflicts will be published if the manuscript is ultimately accepted. It is the responsibility of the responsible party/corresponding author to collect the list of all potential conflicts from each author and to communicate it to the Editors with the submission.

Any questions concerning these potential conflicts should be addressed to ** editors@the-jci.org**.

Referees should exclude themselves in cases where there is a potential financial, personal, or scientific conflict of interest. Referees must inform the Editors of any potential conflicts that might be perceived as relevant as early as possible following invitation to participate in the review so that the Editors may determine how to proceed. Referees must disclose to the Editors conflicts relevant to the manuscript as follows:

Allegations of scientific misconduct in JCI publications are taken very seriously and carefully reviewed by the Editors. The Journal holds high standards regarding transparency in conflicts of interest for individuals alleging misconduct just as we do for our Editors, Authors, and Reviewers. Individuals alleging misconduct may still opt to remain anonymous, however, they will be required to provide a written statement (by email or in a hard copy) regarding financial and other conflicts of interest. Declaring a conflict of interest does not invalidate an allegation; however, the Editors will consider this information as part of their review. Potential conflicts should be declared even if individuals alleging misconduct believe their conflict is not germane to the content of the published article.

Potential conflicts to be disclosed by individuals alleging misconduct:

The JCI is indexed by the following:

** Charges (in US$) assessed to authors help support publication of the journal**.

Article Processing Charges (APCs) for JCI
$5,800
$5,600
$2,500
$0

Effective with the January 4, 2022, issue, authors retain copyright on all articles, which are published with a Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0).

See Open access for detailed information.

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Copyright © 2026

ISSN: 0021-9738 (print), 1558-8238 (online)

Navigate to view complete instructions for each manuscript category.

Click here for a PDF checklist for your revised Research submission

Other accompanying files

Before submission, carefully review all supplemental and other accompanying files; they will not be checked by a copy editor. The Journal is not responsible for any errors contained in supplemental material.

Click here for a PDF checklist for your revised Clinical Research and Public Health submission

In accordance with Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals, issued by the International Committee for Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), authors must provide specific information regarding the ethical treatment of research participants, patient consent, patient privacy, protocols, authorship, and competing interests.

Click here for a PDF checklist for your revised Research Letter submission

Note: For clinical studies, where applicable, authors must provide specific information regarding the ethical treatment of research participants, patient consent, patient privacy, protocols, authorship, and competing interests. This is in accordance with Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals, issued by the International Committee for Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE).

Click here for a PDF checklist for your revised Letter to the Editor submission

[Top of page] | [Manuscript preparation]

Go to Preparing your manuscript/Research.

Go to Preparing your manuscript/Clinical Research and Public Health.

Manuscript- PDF of a __clean version__of the entire manuscript including figures, figure legends, and tables

Supplemental material- If there has been a revision since the first submission, upload a single PDF containing supplemental methods, figures and legends, modest-sized tables, etc.

Unedited blot and gel images- View Journal policy on blot/gel images.

Clinical Research and Public Health submissions ONLY- Single PDF file of completed ICMJE uniform disclosure formsfrom all authors

Go to Preparing your manuscript/Research Letter.

Go to Preparing your manuscript/Letter to the Editor.

For any communication with staff, reference the tracking number assigned by the Journal noted in the acknowledgment of your submission. If you do not have this information, reference the manuscript title and the responsible party/corresponding author’s name. Email ** staff@the-jci.org** or call 734.222.6050.

Navigate to view complete instructions for each manuscript category by clicking the appropriate link below.

[Top of page] | [Author Information Center]

Research manuscripts provide substantial new mechanistic insights into biology and disease using preclinical models as well as materials and data derived from humans. These manuscripts are complete descriptions of studies of scientific importance and broad interest to the JCI readership.

*Note: After reviewing this section, authors are strongly encouraged to read *

Ensure that each section begins on a new page.

Title page- Manuscript title

[Abstract]- Abstract of no more than 200 words stating the rationale, objectives, findings, and conclusions of the manuscript in a single paragraph without subheads - No primary data or references - Define all nonstandard abbreviations at first use

Graphical abstract (optional)

#### Main text- Introduction

[Author contributions]- Specify the contribution of each author (identified by initials) to the work. - Examples: designing research studies, conducting experiments, acquiring data, analyzing data, providing reagents, writing the manuscript - Multiple contributions may be listed for a single individual, and more than one author may be associated with a single contribution. - For manuscripts with 2 or more co–first authors, state the method used to assign the authorship order among these authors. For details,- see the related JCI Editorial

Funding support- State sources of support in the form of grants as a list, providing all necessary information; for example, name of the funder(s), grant number(s), and recipient author(s) as appropriate.

Acknowledgments- Appropriate acknowledgments, for example, of other scientists for help, advice, or gifts of drugs or animal models; formatted as a narrative paragraph.

References

[Figures]- Please include figures in your submission PDF at a resolution sufficient for clear on-screen readability. High-resolution figure files are not required at the first submission.

Tables

#### Supplemental material- Supplemental material may include figures, tables, videos, or appendices but excludes **large data sets**

Clinical Research and Public Health manuscripts report findings derived from human participants, ranging from studies with a small number of patients to large-cohort population-based studies. Manuscripts should inform our understanding of disease pathogenesis, therapeutics, diagnosis, or prevention. Reports of interest include clinical trials, observational analyses, epidemiological studies, health disparities research, outcomes research, and implementation research.

[Top of page] | [Clinical Research and Public Health manuscripts]

[Structured abstract]- Maximum 250 words - Study information summarized in the following sections: - Background.Provide context or background for the study and state the study’s primary objective or hypothesis in 1–2 sentences. - Methods.Describe the basic procedures used during the study, including selection of study participants and observational and analytical methods. Define the primary outcomes that were measured for each group of subjects. - Results.Summarize the main findings, including specific effect sizes and their statistical significance, if possible. Include (if relevant) the number of participants in each group, the primary outcome for each group, and any significant adverse events or side effects. - Conclusion.In 1–2 sentences, state the principal conclusions, emphasizing new and important aspects of the study or observations. - Trial registration.List the public registry and trial registration number, e.g., ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00950003. - Funding.List all sources.

Research Letter manuscripts are focused reports of an original preclinical or clinical research finding of exceptional interest to the JCI readership. They are limited to 1,200 words — including the title page, main text, references, and figure legend or table — and 1 display item (figure or table).

Main text- Ensure that each section begins on a new page.

Title page- Manuscript title

Body text

#### Funding support- State sources of support in the form of grants as a list, providing all necessary information; for example, name of the funder(s), grant number(s), and recipient author(s) as appropriate.

References- Limited to 6

[Figure or Table]- Please include figures in your submission PDF at a resolution sufficient for clear on-screen readability. High-resolution figure files are not required at the first submission. - See "How to prepare tables for submission" - Figure does not exceed ¾ page in size - Graphs of quantitative data - Presented in a manner that clearly shows the distribution of data and variation, as either: - Dot plots, with the average and appropriate error bars indicated; OR - Box-and-whisker plots, with values defined in the legend (bounds of the boxes, lines within the boxes, whiskers, and any outlying values)

Supplemental material- Maximum 4 display items (tables or figures)

Other accompanying files (if applicable)- Supporting data values: A single XLS file that provides all data in the manuscript and supplement represented in graphs and as mean ± standard deviation. Present values for each applicable figure panel in a separate tab in the XLS file. This document will be published if the submission is ultimately accepted for publication. For details, see How to prepare a Supporting Data Values file.

Letter to the Editor manuscripts comment on a recent JCI research article and must be of substantial impact and interest to the general readership. They are limited to 850 words — including title page, main text, references, figure legend or table — and 1 display item (figure or table). Submission must occur within 1 month of the date of the issue in which the original article was published; the authors of the JCI article are provided the opportunity to respond.

Main text

#### References- Limited to 5

[Figure or Table]- See “How to prepare figures for submission” - See "How to prepare tables for submission" - Graphs of quantitative data - Presented in a manner that clearly shows the distribution of data and variation, as either: - Dot plots, with the average and appropriate error bars indicated; OR - Box-and-whisker plots, with values defined in the legend (bounds of the boxes, lines within the boxes, whiskers, and any outlying values)

Note: There is no charge for submission to the JCI.

Instructions for revised submissions are available here.

Go to Preparing your manuscript/Research Letter.

The following websites provide access to utilities that convert a variety of file types to PDFs:

The JCI is committed to fair and ethical consideration of all articles and authors. Here, we outline the responsibilities of authors, editors, and reviewers, and provide additional ethics guidelines. The Journal takes all publishing behavior violations seriously, and suspected cases will be fully reviewed. Please contact ** editors@the-jci.org** if you have specific concerns.

Manuscripts submitted to the JCI are adjudicated by a ** Board of academic and professional editors**. Questions concerning editorial policies or decisions should be addressed to the Editors at

The Editors are responsible for maintaining the highest possible standards in evaluating contributions to the JCI, as well as for maintaining the integrity of the Journal. The Editors select manuscripts for publication solely based on the scientific merit of the work and relevance to the scope of the Journal, without regard to the authors’ race, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, religion, or institutional affiliation. The Editors treat the content of manuscripts as privileged information and will only disclose information about a submission to relevant reviewers, potential reviewers, other editorial advisers, and the publisher as necessary. Correspondence from the Editors regarding decisions and other editorial matters will be directed to the designated responsible party/corresponding author.

In the interest of establishing full transparency, Editors are obliged to disclose any and all potential conflicts of interest to the JCI. We have determined two tiers of potential conflict and corresponding actions to be taken. The Editors will report changes to their potential conflicts as they occur. An annual formal review of all disclosures will be performed as part of the evaluation of compliance.

The second tier of potential conflicts will necessitate only internal disclosure to the Editors and JCI staff. The editor in potential conflict will also be recused from editorial discussion and decisions related to the manuscript.

During the submission process, a single responsible party/corresponding author must be identified as the Journal’s point of contact for communications regarding the manuscript. This individual is responsible for warranting that: the data in a manuscript are original and scientifically accurate; the manuscript is not defamatory, does not invade any right of privacy, and does not infringe on any proprietary right or copyright; all authors have approved the submitted manuscript’s content and authorship order and have agreed to participate in the peer review process; and the manuscript is not under consideration for publication elsewhere and will not be submitted for publication elsewhere while under review by the Journal. For each author associated with a submission, any potential conflict of interest must be stated on the title page; if no authors have a conflict, the statement “The authors have declared that no conflict of interest exists” should be used. While multiple corresponding authors may be designated within a manuscript, the responsible party/corresponding author party designated on the Journal submission site will be the correspondent during the submission and evaluation processes, as well as for any postpublication communication; this includes, but is not limited to, decision letters, response to appeals, proof notifications, and data integrity concerns.

Any revisions to the list of authors (i.e., adding or removing authors or changing their order) requires submission of written approval (email is sufficient) from each author of the manuscript. For revised manuscripts, all approvals must be completed before the submission can be finalized. The JCI does not make determinations of authorship, but all authors must have significantly contributed to the research design, data generation, analysis, and/or interpretation of the findings. Submitted manuscripts must include a paragraph specifying each author’s role (“Author contributions”). For manuscripts with 2 or more co–first authors, the method used in assigning the authorship order among co–first authors must be stated in this paragraph. See the Journal's Authorship agreement policy here.

Authors are obliged to notify the editorial office about substantive errors or the possibility of malpractice discovered at any time during the evaluation of the manuscript or after acceptance or publication.

Authors should appropriately cite relevant work of others and articles that influenced the submitted work. Funding sources for the submitted research studies should be listed in the Acknowledgments section for articles in the Research category and in the Abstract for Clinical Research and Public Health submissions.

Publication fee. Authors will be assessed a publication charge if the manuscript is accepted for publication in the JCI Research and Clinical Research and Public Health and for Research Letter. The fee supports immediate free access to the manuscript upon publication and helps offset editing and production costs. There is no publication charge for the Letter to the Editor category. Requests for publication fee discounts are considered on a case-by-case basis.

All authors are expected to disclose financial relationships, consultancies, stock or equity interests, patent-licensing arrangements, or any other interest of a financial nature, whether or not directly related to the subject material of the study, since they could undermine the objectivity, integrity, or perceived value of the publication.

Such potential conflicts will be published if the manuscript is ultimately accepted. It is the responsibility of the responsible party/corresponding author to gather the list of potential conflicts from each author and to communicate the list of all potential conflicts to the Editors with the submission.

All articles published in the Research, Clinical Research and Public Health, and Review categories are peer reviewed. Newly submitted manuscripts are assigned to members of the Editorial Board, who determine whether a manuscript is sent for external review. The Editor may seek the advice of a member of the Journal’s ** Consulting Editorial Board** or other scientists with expertise in the field prior to making this initial decision. The necessary criteria for sending a manuscript for external review are that the work is technically well executed and the findings advance the field, are of clinical relevance, and are of sufficient interest for the readership. The studies should include a relevant in vivo model and/or a primary human cell or tissue model. When papers are sent for external review, the choice of reviewers is made by the Editor and may include reviewers suggested by the authors during the submission process. Requests by authors to exclude up to two specific potential reviewers will be honored to the greatest extent possible. At least two, and generally three, expert referees are asked to review the manuscript in a timely manner and to assign a priority based on content, quality, and relevance. Reviewers should also indicate whether they are aware of relevant published work that is not yet cited. Reviewers and Editors are directed to treat all manuscripts with confidentiality as described in

Submissions to the JCI may be evaluated by JCI Insight Editors to determine suitability for transfer to JCI Insight.

Dual-Journal Submission. Manuscripts submitted on the ** Dual-Journal Submission** track are first considered by the

If the JCI sends the paper for review, reviewers will be asked to comment on the suitability and required revisions for both JCI and JCI Insight. If the JCI Editors determine after peer review that the work is suitable for further consideration by JCI, the responsible party/corresponding author is informed of a decision from the JCI by email with comments from reviewers and requirements for revision. If the JCI Editors determine after peer review that the work is not suitable for the JCI, the manuscript will automatically be routed to the JCI Insight Editors for evaluation with the existing reviews. The JCI Insight Editors will use the provided reviewer comments to quickly tailor a decision for JCI Insight.

Should the JCI Editors decline to send the manuscript for external review, the manuscript will automatically be assigned to a JCI Insight Editor for an independent assessment.

If the JCI Insight Editor sends the manuscript for peer review, reviewers will be asked to comment specifically on suitability and revisions required for publication in JCI Insight. The responsible party/corresponding author will receive a decision letter by email with comments from both the JCI Editors and JCI Insight Editors.

Transfer of reviews from other journals. When submitting a new manuscript, authors may opt to provide reviews received from another journal. The Editors will consider this information along with the manuscript in determining priority for the JCI. Note that if the Editors decide to send the manuscript for review, it will be assessed by additional reviewers who will also have access to the prior reviews. The Editors may request additional studies based on the JCI’s assessment of the manuscript or reject it without an opportunity to resubmit.

ASCI members. Any dues-paying ASCI member who is a responsible party/corresponding author of a first-round submission, and whose dues are current, may designate a first-round JCI submission to be guaranteed for external peer review (limit of 1 per calendar year). A member wishing to designate a submission for guaranteed review must start the submission using the “JCI family of journals” portal through the member’s ASCI account. Manuscripts submitted using the guaranteed review must fit within the scope of the Journal and will be held to the same standard for publication as other manuscripts considered by the Editorial Board. Note that the guaranteed external review option may not be used for manuscripts, in the same form or after revision, that have previously been rejected by the Journal. If an option is used for a new submission that is identified as a revision of a previous manuscript, the option will be removed from the submission and become available for use on a new submission.

Reviewer rewards. Frequent reviewers are provided the opportunity to submit a new manuscript, as responsible party/corresponding author, with a guarantee of external review. The Reviewer Reward is granted in January to reviewers who have completed on-time reviews for at least 3 separate manuscripts within the preceding 18 months. Only one (1) reward may be used per calendar year. Submissions using the reward must fit within the scope of the Journal and will be held to the same standard for publication as other manuscripts considered by the Editorial Board. Note: ASCI members whose dues are current receive a separate benefit for guaranteed external review and may not earn Reviewer Rewards in addition.

In general, the JCI adheres to guidelines established by the US Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Research Integrity. For further information, refer to the Office’s website at http://ori.hhs.gov/.

The Journal is committed to upholding the highest standards of integrity in publications and evaluates submissions for potential misconduct violations, including data falsification and plagiarism. Images may be evaluated for duplication using automated software (Proofig). If we detect any potential manipulation of images or figures prior to publication, we will contact the authors and may request primary data for verification purposes. The Journal will not knowingly publish papers associated with misconduct or encourage misconduct in any way.

If the Editors discover or are presented with evidence of duplicate publication or scientific misconduct in published articles, they will contact the appropriate official(s) at the institution(s) from which the manuscript originated. It is then left to the institution(s) in question to pursue the matter appropriately. Depending upon the circumstances, the Journal may choose to publish errata, corrigenda, or expressions of concern, or to retract the manuscript in its entirety.

The JCI is a Gold Open Access journal in which all content is freely available to all users.

All authors associated with a manuscript submitted to the JCI are sent an email requesting authorship verification. Authors retain copyright to their work, which is published with a Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0). The ASCI retains copyright to many articles published in issues prior to January 4, 2022. Articles to which the ASCI retains copyright are freely available but may require permission for reuse; see Licensing Information for details

The JCI is indexed in the following resources:

The JCI deposits all articles in PubMed Central without embargo. Authors of articles published in the JCI do not need to submit their accepted articles separately to PubMed Central. This satisfies the NIH Public Access Policy and other similar funder requirements.

The JCI is owned, published, and managed by the ASCI, a nonprofit honor organization of physician-scientists established in 1908.

The JCI publishes two issues per month. Authors are notified of scheduled publication timing upon receipt of the article proof. Unedited accepted author manuscripts ( “In-Press Previews”) are posted shortly after acceptance, unless the author declines this option, with the fully edited manuscript published 4–8 weeks later.

Go to  Author Information Center

Note: For first submissions, the manuscript PDF should include figures at a resolution sufficient for clear on-screen readability. High-resolution figure files as described below are required only for revised manuscripts.

**This page is intended to help authors prepare the highest-quality figures for publication and applies to all manuscript categories. For details on preparing figure legends and on data reporting, **

The figure below is representative of the quality the Journal strives to achieve.

In preparing the PDF, ensure the following:

When preparing a Word or RTF document for a revised submission:

Note:

**This page is intended to help authors prepare tables according to Journal style. Note that staff may make structural and/or space-saving edits accordingly. **

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For further information, visit the Dual-Journal Submission page.

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See Open access for detailed information.

Go to  Author Information Center

When preparing a Word or RTF document for a revised submission: