Scientific Journal of Dermatology and Venereology (SJDV) — e-ISSN 3025-6208 · Published by Phlox Institute: Indonesian Medical Research Organization. SJDV is an international, open-access, peer-reviewed journal publishing original scholarship in dermatology, venereology, and aesthetic medicine. By submitting to SJDV, authors agree to comply with these Author Guidelines and with the journal's Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement.

1. Scope

SJDV publishes work spanning clinical and experimental dermatology, sexually transmitted infections and genital dermatoses, dermatopathology, dermatologic surgery, cosmetic and aesthetic dermatology, dermato-oncology, paediatric dermatology, and related basic and translational science. Submissions must fall within this scope and make a clear contribution to knowledge or practice in the field.

2. Article Types

SJDV considers the following categories of manuscript. There is no restriction on the length of the manuscript or on the number of tables and figures for any article type; authors should nonetheless aim for clarity and avoid unnecessary repetition.

• Original Articles — reports of original clinical, epidemiological, or laboratory research, structured as Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion (IMRAD). Original article template
• Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses — reviews conducted and reported in accordance with the PRISMA statement, with a registered or clearly stated protocol and an explicit, reproducible search strategy. SLR/MA template
• Case Reports and Case Series — reports of instructive or unusual cases, prepared in accordance with the CARE guidelines, and accompanied by signed patient consent for publication.  Case report template
• Brief Communications / Short Reports — concise reports of preliminary findings or focused observations. Short report template
• Clinical Images in Dermatology and Venereology — high-quality, instructive clinical, dermoscopic, or histopathological images with a concise teaching commentary. Clinical image template
• Letters to the Editor — scholarly correspondence on articles published in the journal or on matters relevant to the field. Letters to editor template

Important: SJDV does not consider narrative (non-systematic) literature reviews. Review articles are accepted only as systematic reviews, with or without meta-analysis, conducted and reported according to PRISMA. Narrative or unstructured reviews will be returned without external review.

A downloadable manuscript template is provided for each article type. Authors are strongly encouraged to prepare their submission using the template that matches their article type, as it specifies the required structure and the article-specific abstract format.

3. Language and General Format

• Manuscripts must be written in clear, grammatically correct academic English (British or American spelling may be used, but must be applied consistently throughout).
• Submit the manuscript as an editable text file (Microsoft Word, .docx). The main text should be in a standard 12-point font, double-spaced, with continuous line and page numbering.
• Use SI units throughout. Define all abbreviations at first mention. Refer to drugs and other substances by their international non-proprietary (generic) names.
• There is no word limit for the manuscript and no limit on the number of tables or figures.

4. Manuscript Structure

Title Page (separate file)

The title page is uploaded separately from the main manuscript and must contain: the full title of the article; the full name of each author with their institutional affiliation; the name, postal address, e-mail address, and telephone number of the corresponding author; the ORCID iD of each author; a running title; word count; and the numbers of tables and figures. Information that could identify the authors must appear only on this page.

Blinded Main Manuscript

Because SJDV operates double-blind peer review, the main manuscript file must not contain author names, affiliations, acknowledgements, funding details, or any other information that could reveal the authors' identity. Self-citations should be phrased neutrally.

Abstract and Keywords

The abstract format depends on the article type (the corresponding template specifies the exact headings), preferably no more than 250 words: Original Articles — structured as Background, Methods, Results, Conclusion; Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses — structured as Background, Objectives, Methods, Results, Conclusions, and stating the PROSPERO registration number; Case Reports and Case Series — structured as Introduction, Case Presentation, Conclusion; Brief Communications / Short Reports — a single unstructured abstract of no more than 150 words; Clinical Images — no abstract (a brief case summary of up to 100 words is included in the body instead); Letters to the Editor and Editorials — no abstract. Provide three to six keywords, preferably drawn from the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) vocabulary, except for Clinical Images, Letters, and Editorials.

Main Text

Original Articles follow the IMRAD structure. The Methods section must describe the study design, setting, participants, ethical approval, and statistical analysis in sufficient detail to allow replication. Case Reports follow the CARE structure (Introduction, Case Presentation, Discussion, Conclusion). Systematic Reviews follow the PRISMA structure and must include a flow diagram.

References

References follow the Vancouver (ICMJE) style: numbered consecutively in the order in which they are first cited in the text, with in-text citation numbers formatted as superscript Arabic numerals (for example, ¹ or ^2,3). Journal titles are abbreviated according to the NLM Catalog. Include the DOI for every reference where one is available. For each reference, list the first three authors followed by “et al.” where there are more than three authors. At least 80% of the references should be primary research (original) articles; most should have been published within the last ten years, and preference is given to reputable, internationally indexed journals. Authors are responsible for the accuracy and verifiability of every reference; all citations must correspond to genuine, retrievable sources. The fabrication of references, or the use of unverified references generated by artificial-intelligence tools, is a serious breach of publication ethics and will result in rejection.

Tables and Figures

Tables and figures must be placed within the main text, embedded close to the point at which they are first mentioned, rather than grouped at the end of the manuscript. Each table and figure is numbered in the order of citation and accompanied by a concise legend positioned directly above the table or below the figure. There is no limit on their number. Figures should be of sufficient resolution for print and online reproduction (line art at a minimum of 600 dpi; photographs and clinical images at a minimum of 300 dpi); on acceptance, the editorial office may request the original high-resolution figure files for production. For any clinical photograph or image from which a patient could be identified, signed consent for publication is required (see Section 5), and identifying features should be masked unless the patient has specifically consented otherwise.

5. Ethics and Required Declarations

All submissions must comply with the journal's Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement, which is aligned with the Core Practices of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), the Recommendations of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), and the principles of the World Association of Medical Editors (WAME). The following are required, as applicable:

• Ethical approval: Research involving human participants must have been approved by an appropriate research ethics committee or Institutional Review Board, must comply with the Declaration of Helsinki, and must state the approval number in the Methods section. Written informed consent must have been obtained from participants.
• Patient consent for identifiable material: For any manuscript containing identifiable patient information or images (including clinical photographs of the face, eyes, distinctive lesions, or anogenital regions), a signed SJDV Patient Consent for Publication form must be uploaded at submission. Particular care is taken with sensitive or potentially stigmatising diagnoses, including sexually transmitted infections.
• Animal research: Studies involving animals must comply with applicable institutional and national guidelines, be reported in accordance with the ARRIVE guidelines, and state the ethics approval number.
• Clinical trial registration: Clinical trials must have been prospectively registered in a recognised public registry; the registration number must appear in the abstract.
• Authorship: All authors must meet the four ICMJE authorship criteria. An author-contribution statement, using the CRediT taxonomy, must be included.
• Conflicts of interest and funding: All conflicts of interest and all sources of funding must be disclosed. A completed SJDV Author Declaration, Authorship, and Conflict-of-Interest Statement must be uploaded at submission.
• Use of artificial intelligence: Any use of generative AI tools in preparing the manuscript must be disclosed in the methods or acknowledgements, specifying the tool and its use. AI tools cannot be listed as authors.
• Data availability: A data-availability statement must be included, consistent with patient privacy and applicable law.
• Reporting guidelines: Manuscripts must conform to the relevant reporting guideline — CONSORT (trials), STROBE (observational studies), PRISMA (systematic reviews), or CARE (case reports).
• Originality and plagiarism: Submissions must be original, not under consideration elsewhere, and free of plagiarism. All manuscripts are screened with similarity-detection software.

6. Files Required at Submission

• Cover letter.
• Title page (with all identifying information).
• Blinded main manuscript (including abstract, references, table and figure legends).
• Main manuscript with all tables and figures embedded within the text near first mention (original high-resolution figure files may be requested on acceptance).
• Completed SJDV Author Declaration, Authorship, and Conflict-of-Interest Statement.
• Signed SJDV Patient Consent for Publication form (where any identifiable patient material is included).
• Copy of the ethics committee / IRB approval (for studies involving humans or animals).

7. Submission and Peer Review

All manuscripts must be submitted through the journal's online submission system. There is no submission fee. Submissions are first assessed by the editorial office for scope, completeness, and compliance with these guidelines and with the journal's ethical requirements; manuscripts that fall outside the scope (including narrative literature reviews) or that lack the required declarations may be returned without external review. Manuscripts that pass initial assessment undergo double-blind peer review by at least two independent expert reviewers. Editorial decisions are based solely on academic merit, the validity and significance of the work, ethical compliance, and the results of peer review, and are entirely independent of the authors' ability to pay any charge.

8. Copyright and Licensing

Authors retain the copyright of their work. On acceptance, authors grant SJDV the right of first publication, with the article simultaneously licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution–NonCommercial–ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) licence. This permits others to share and adapt the work for non-commercial purposes, provided the original work is properly cited and any derivative work is distributed under the same licence.

9. Article Processing Charge (APC)

SJDV is an open-access journal. There is no submission fee. An Article Processing Charge is levied only after a manuscript has been accepted for publication following peer review. The APC supports the costs of editorial processing, copyediting, layout, DOI registration, and long-term digital preservation. Editorial decisions are based solely on academic merit, ethical compliance, peer-review results, and journal suitability, and are never influenced by an author's ability to pay.

Standard charges

• Authors affiliated with institutions in Indonesia: IDR 2,500,000.
• Authors affiliated with institutions outside Indonesia: the standard APC is USD 225, subject to the regional adjustments below.

Regional adjustments for international authors

• Global South Support Countries (Tier A), including Least Developed Countries and low-income countries: 50% discount on the standard APC, in support of equitable access to scholarly publishing.
• ASEAN member states: 25% discount on the standard APC, as part of the journal's regional academic-collaboration support policy.
• Authors who are not affiliated with Tier A countries and are not from ASEAN member states: the standard APC of USD 225 applies.

Mixed-country authorship

For manuscripts with authors from more than one country, the applicable APC tier is determined by the country of the corresponding author's institutional affiliation at the time of submission. Where there is more than one corresponding author, the tier follows the country of the primary corresponding author listed in the submission system.

Payment and conditional acceptance

After a manuscript has completed peer review and been accepted, the journal issues a Conditional Acceptance Notification together with the APC invoice. The official Letter of Acceptance (LoA) is issued only after the APC payment has been completed and confirmed by the editorial office. Authors must complete payment within three (3) calendar days of the invoice date. If payment is not completed within this period and no prior written agreement has been approved by the editorial office, the manuscript may be considered withdrawn for non-payment, and the journal reserves the right to discontinue further editorial, copyediting, layout, DOI registration, and publication processes. Where an author repeatedly fails to complete payment after conditional acceptance without valid justification, the case may be recorded for internal administrative purposes, and future submissions from the same corresponding author may require confirmation of APC payment before any formal acceptance document is issued.

Country lists

ASEAN member states

No.	Country	No.	Country	No.	Country
1	Brunei Darussalam	5	Myanmar	9	Timor-Leste
2	Cambodia	6	Philippines	10	Viet Nam
3	Lao PDR	7	Singapore
4	Malaysia	8	Thailand

Global South Support Countries (Tier A)

No.	Country	No.	Country	No.	Country
1	Afghanistan	16	Guinea	31	Rwanda
2	Angola	17	Guinea-Bissau	32	Senegal
3	Bangladesh	18	Haiti	33	Sierra Leone
4	Benin	19	Iran	34	Solomon Islands
5	Burkina Faso	20	Kiribati	35	Somalia
6	Burundi	21	Lesotho	36	South Sudan
7	Central African Republic	22	Liberia	37	Sudan
8	Chad	23	Madagascar	38	Tanzania
9	Comoros	24	Malawi	39	Togo
10	Democratic People's Republic of Korea	25	Mali	40	Tuvalu
11	Democratic Republic of the Congo	26	Mauritania	41	Uganda
12	Djibouti	27	Mozambique	42	Ukraine
13	Eritrea	28	Nepal	43	Yemen
14	Ethiopia	29	Niger	44	Zambia
15	Gambia	30	Palestine

10. Contact

Correspondence regarding submissions or these guidelines may be addressed to the editorial office at editor.sjdv@gmail.com.