Instructions for Authors
1. General Information
Open Veterinary Journal (OVJ) is an international, peer-reviewed, fully open-access journal publishing scientifically rigorous research across veterinary science and animal health.
The journal considers Original Research Articles, Review Articles, Short Communications, Case Reports, and Letters to the Editor, subject to the journal's aims and scope, editorial policies, ethical requirements, and peer-review procedures.
Authors are responsible for ensuring that manuscripts are scientifically sound, accurately reported, ethically conducted, original, and prepared in accordance with these Instructions for Authors.
2. Submission of Manuscripts
Manuscripts must be submitted online through the OVJ Online Journal Management System:
Authors should follow the instructions provided by the online submission system and upload all required files and information.
The OVJ Manuscript Submission Form is provided during the online submission process and must be completed and signed by all authors. The completed form should be scanned and uploaded as part of the submission.
The corresponding author is responsible for:
submitting the manuscript and all required documents;
ensuring that all authors have reviewed and approved the submitted version;
providing complete and accurate author information;
ensuring that all authors agree to the authorship and contributorship information;
communicating with the journal throughout the editorial process; and
coordinating responses to editorial and reviewer comments.
3. Submission Requirements and Author Declarations
Submission of a manuscript to OVJ constitutes confirmation that:
The manuscript has not been published previously, except where prior dissemination is explicitly permitted and appropriately disclosed, such as an eligible preprint, thesis, or repository version.
The manuscript is not simultaneously under consideration for publication in another journal.
All listed authors have made appropriate contributions to the work, meet the journal's authorship requirements, and have approved the submitted manuscript.
The corresponding author has obtained the agreement of all authors to submit the manuscript to OVJ.
The manuscript is original and does not contain plagiarized, fabricated, falsified, or improperly reused material.
All necessary permissions have been obtained for copyrighted or third-party material where required.
All required ethical approvals, permits, informed consents, and other regulatory authorizations have been obtained before the research was conducted, where applicable.
The research complies with applicable institutional, national, and international ethical and regulatory requirements.
All relevant conflicts of interest have been disclosed.
All sources of funding and the role of funders, where applicable, have been disclosed.
The Data Availability Statement accurately describes the availability or restrictions relating to the data supporting the study.
Any material use of artificial intelligence or AI-assisted technologies has been disclosed in accordance with the journal's AI Policy.
The manuscript has been prepared in accordance with these Instructions for Authors and the journal's applicable editorial and publication ethics policies.
4. Article Processing Charge
Open Veterinary Journal is fully open access. Readers can access published articles without subscription or access fees.
An Article Processing Charge (APC) of £450 (GBP) applies to manuscripts accepted for publication following successful editorial assessment and peer review.
The APC supports editorial and publishing activities, including manuscript processing, copyediting, typesetting, PDF and XML/JATS production, online journal management, website hosting, digital preservation, and other publishing operations.
The APC is charged only after acceptance and has no influence on editorial decisions, peer-review outcomes, or the scientific evaluation of manuscripts.
Payment of an APC does not guarantee acceptance or publication.
5. Peer Review and Editorial Decision-Making
All submitted manuscripts undergo an initial editorial assessment to determine whether they:
fall within the journal's scope;
meet basic scientific and methodological standards;
satisfy ethical and research-integrity requirements;
meet the journal's submission requirements;
demonstrate sufficient originality and relevance; and
are suitable for peer review.
Manuscripts considered suitable for review are normally evaluated through double-blind peer review by qualified and independent reviewers.
Editorial decisions may include:
Accept;
Minor Revision;
Major Revision; or
Reject.
Where revisions are requested, the revised manuscript may be returned to the original reviewers or evaluated by the editors, depending on the nature of the revisions.
The final decision rests with the responsible editor in accordance with the journal's editorial policies. OVJ does not guarantee acceptance or a specific review or publication timeframe.
6. Research Integrity and Plagiarism Screening
All manuscripts are screened for plagiarism, excessive text similarity, duplicate publication, and other research-integrity concerns using iThenticate.
A similarity score alone does not establish plagiarism. Editors assess the nature, extent, location, context, and source of overlapping material.
Manuscripts may also be evaluated for concerns relating to:
plagiarism and inappropriate text reuse;
duplicate or redundant publication;
fabrication or falsification;
inappropriate image or data manipulation;
citation manipulation;
authorship disputes;
undisclosed conflicts of interest;
inappropriate use or disclosure of AI-generated content; and
other forms of publication malpractice.
Concerns identified before or after publication are handled in accordance with the journal's Publication Ethics and Publication Malpractice Policy and, where appropriate, its Correction, Retraction, and Post-Publication Policy.
7. Use of Artificial Intelligence
Authors may use AI-assisted tools for appropriate purposes such as language improvement, grammar correction, translation, manuscript organization, coding, data visualization, or other legitimate research-support activities.
However:
AI tools cannot be listed as authors or coauthors.
Authors remain fully responsible for all content submitted to the journal.
AI-generated information must be independently verified for accuracy.
AI must not be used to fabricate or falsify data, results, references, images, or other scientific evidence.
Authors must not use AI in a manner that infringes copyright, confidentiality, privacy, or other intellectual property rights.
Material use of AI in preparing or analyzing a manuscript should be disclosed in accordance with the OVJ Artificial Intelligence (AI) Policy.
The scientific interpretation, conclusions, and intellectual responsibility for the work must remain with the human authors.
OVJ may use AI-assisted screening tools, including AI Content Detector powered by Winston, as one component of its editorial screening process. Such tools are screening indicators only and are not considered conclusive evidence of inappropriate AI use.
8. Ethical Approval and Animal Welfare
Research involving live animals must comply with applicable ethical, welfare, institutional, and legal requirements.
Where required, manuscripts must provide an explicit statement identifying:
the name of the approving ethics committee or institutional body;
the approval or reference number;
the date of approval, where available; and
relevant applicable guidelines, regulations, or legislation.
Authors must demonstrate that appropriate measures were taken to minimize pain, suffering, distress, and discomfort.
Animal research should incorporate the principles of the 3Rs—Replacement, Reduction, and Refinement—where applicable.
The manuscript should provide sufficient information regarding animal housing, handling, anesthesia, analgesia, humane endpoints, euthanasia, and other welfare-related procedures where relevant to the study.
Studies involving client-owned animals should obtain appropriate owner or legal representative consent where required.
Wildlife and field studies must comply with applicable permits, conservation requirements, and animal-welfare regulations.
If formal ethical approval was not required, authors should clearly explain the basis for that determination in the manuscript.
OVJ may request documentary evidence of ethical approval, permits, or consent. Manuscripts that do not demonstrate appropriate ethical and welfare standards may be rejected.
Further requirements are provided in the journal's Protection of Research Participants and Animal Welfare Policy and Informed Consent and Ethical Consent Policy.
9. Human Participants and Informed Consent
Research involving human participants must comply with applicable ethical and regulatory requirements.
Where required, manuscripts must identify the relevant ethics committee or institutional review board, approval/reference number, and date of approval.
Appropriate informed consent must be obtained where required. For case reports and clinical material containing potentially identifiable information, images, videos, or other personal information, authors must obtain appropriate consent for publication unless a valid ethical or legal basis for an exception applies.
Authors must protect participant privacy and confidentiality and should not include unnecessary identifying information.
Any waiver or exception to informed consent must be appropriately authorized and explained in the manuscript.
10. Manuscript Language and General Formatting
Manuscripts must be submitted in English.
Unless otherwise specified for a particular article type:
Use 12-point Times New Roman font.
Double-space the entire manuscript, including references.
Number all pages consecutively beginning with the title page.
Use continuous line numbering throughout the manuscript.
Use clear headings and subheadings.
Use standard scientific terminology and internationally recognized units and abbreviations.
Define abbreviations at first use and avoid unnecessary abbreviations.
11. Title Page
The title page should be uploaded separately from the blinded manuscript and should include:
Full title of the manuscript.
Full names of all authors.
Institutional affiliations and postal addresses.
Superscript numbers linking authors to their affiliations.
The name and complete contact details of the corresponding author.
E-mail address of the corresponding author.
Telephone number where required.
OVJ accepts one corresponding author only for each submitted manuscript.
The title should accurately and concisely describe the content of the manuscript and should avoid unnecessary abbreviations.
Because OVJ uses double-blind peer review, author names, affiliations, acknowledgments, and other identifying information should not appear in the blinded manuscript where their removal is necessary to preserve reviewer anonymity.
12. Abstract and Keywords
The abstract should clearly communicate the purpose, methods, principal findings, and conclusions of the study.
The abstract should not exceed 350 words.
Authors should provide 3–5 keywords, preferably arranged in alphabetical order.
Original Research Articles and Short Communications
The abstract should be structured under the following headings:
Background
Aim
Methods
Results
Conclusion
Case Reports
The abstract should be structured under:
Background
Case Description
Conclusion
Review Articles
Review article abstracts should normally be presented as one unstructured paragraph and should not exceed 350 words unless otherwise agreed by the editorial office.
13. Organization of Manuscripts
Original Research Article
Original Research Articles should normally be organized as follows:
Title Page
Abstract
Keywords
Introduction
Materials and Methods
Results
Discussion
Conclusion
Acknowledgments
Funding
Authors' Contributions
Conflict of Interest
Data Availability
References
Tables and Figures
The structure may be modified where scientifically appropriate for specialized study designs.
Short Communication
Short Communications should normally include:
Title Page
Abstract
Keywords
Introduction
Materials and Methods
Results and Discussion
Conclusion
Acknowledgments
Funding
Authors' Contributions
Conflict of Interest
Data Availability
References
Tables and Figures
Review Article
Review Articles should normally include:
Title Page
Abstract
Keywords
Introduction
Main text with appropriate headings and subheadings
Conclusion
Acknowledgments
Funding
Authors' Contributions
Conflict of Interest
Data Availability
References
Tables and Figures
The organization of the main text may vary according to the nature of the review.
Systematic reviews and meta-analyses should follow appropriate reporting guidelines relevant to their design.
Case Report
Case Reports should normally include:
Title Page
Abstract
Keywords
Introduction
Case Details
Discussion
Conclusion
Acknowledgments
Funding
Authors' Contributions
Conflict of Interest
Data Availability
References
Tables and Figures
Appropriate consent for publication must be obtained where required.
14. Introduction
The Introduction should:
clearly explain the scientific or clinical problem;
provide sufficient background;
identify the rationale or knowledge gap;
state the objective or research question; and
use appropriate and current references.
The Introduction should be concise and should avoid presenting detailed results or conclusions from the current study.
15. Materials and Methods
The Materials and Methods section must provide sufficient information to allow the work to be understood, evaluated, and, where reasonably possible, reproduced.
Authors should provide:
study design;
study population or experimental material;
inclusion and exclusion criteria where applicable;
sampling procedures and sample size;
experimental or clinical procedures;
equipment and materials;
statistical methods;
relevant software and versions;
ethical approvals and consent;
relevant registration information, where applicable; and
sufficient methodological details for reproducibility.
Previously published methods may be cited, but important modifications must be described clearly.
For commercial products, reagents, equipment, or software, provide the manufacturer's or supplier's name and location where relevant.
16. Ethical Approval Statement
Where applicable, the ethical approval statement should appear at the end of the Materials and Methods section.
The statement should identify the relevant ethics committee or institutional body and approval/reference number.
If ethical approval was not required, the authors should provide an appropriate explanation.
17. Results
The Results section should present the findings clearly, logically, and objectively.
Results should be reported accurately and should correspond to the methods and analyses described in the manuscript.
Interpretation, speculation, and extensive comparison with previous studies should generally be reserved for the Discussion.
Tables and figures should not unnecessarily duplicate information already presented in the text.
18. Discussion
The Discussion should interpret the principal findings in relation to the study objectives and existing scientific literature.
Authors should:
explain the significance of the findings;
compare findings with relevant previous research;
discuss possible explanations for similarities or differences;
identify important strengths and limitations;
avoid unsupported speculation; and
explain the implications of the findings where appropriate.
The main conclusion should be clearly stated at the end of the manuscript or in a separate Conclusion section, according to the article type.
19. Conclusion
The Conclusion should provide a concise statement of the principal findings and their significance.
Conclusions must be supported by the results presented in the manuscript and should not introduce unsupported claims or information that was not investigated.
20. Acknowledgments
Acknowledgments should be brief and should recognize individuals or organizations that contributed to the work but do not meet authorship criteria.
Funding sources should be reported separately under the Funding heading.
21. Authors' Contributions
The contributions of all authors must be described clearly.
The corresponding author is responsible for ensuring that the contribution statement accurately reflects each author's actual contribution and that all authors have reviewed and approved the statement.
Authorship should reflect genuine intellectual or scholarly contributions to the work and should comply with the journal's authorship and contributorship requirements.
22. Funding
Authors must disclose all sources of financial support for the research and/or publication.
The Funding statement should identify:
the funding organization;
grant or award number, where applicable; and
the role of the funder in study design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, manuscript preparation, or the decision to submit for publication, where applicable.
If the research received no specific funding, authors may state:
“This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.”
23. Conflict of Interest
All authors must disclose actual, potential, or perceived conflicts of interest that could influence or appear to influence the research or its interpretation.
Conflicts may include financial and non-financial relationships such as employment, consultancy, funding, honoraria, patents, royalties, personal or professional relationships, institutional affiliations, or academic competition.
If no conflict exists, authors should state:
“The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.”
Further information is provided in the OVJ Conflict of Interest Policy.
24. Data Availability
Manuscripts reporting newly generated or analyzed data must include a Data Availability Statement.
The statement should explain where and how the data supporting the reported findings can be accessed, or why access is restricted.
Examples include:
Publicly available data:
“The data supporting the findings of this study are available in [repository name] at [DOI/accession number].”
Data contained within the article:
“All data supporting the findings of this study are available within the manuscript and/or its supplementary materials.”
Restricted data:
“The data supporting the findings of this study are not publicly available due to [specific reason] but may be available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request, subject to applicable restrictions.”
Third-party data:
“The data supporting the findings of this study are available from [source], but restrictions apply because the data were obtained under license and cannot be publicly redistributed.”
Authors should follow the OVJ Data Sharing and Data Availability Policy.
25. Tables
Tables should:
be numbered consecutively according to their first citation in the text;
have a concise and informative title;
be cited in the manuscript;
be understandable without unnecessary reference to the main text; and
avoid unnecessary duplication of information presented elsewhere.
Tables should normally be placed at the end of the manuscript following the References, with each table presented on a separate page where applicable.
If a table continues onto another page, its title should be repeated and identified as “(continued)” or “(cont.)”.
26. Figures
Figures, graphs, charts, photographs, and illustrations must be of sufficient quality for publication.
Figures should:
be numbered consecutively according to their first citation;
be cited in the text;
be uploaded separately through the submission system;
have clear and informative legends; and
include sufficient information for interpretation without unnecessary reference to the main text.
Authors are responsible for ensuring that figures do not infringe third-party copyright.
Any substantial manipulation or alteration of scientific images must comply with the journal's research-integrity requirements and must be appropriately disclosed where applicable.
27. Abbreviations, Units, and Nomenclature
Authors should use internationally recognized units and scientific conventions.
Abbreviations should be defined at first use and should not be used unnecessarily.
Scientific names of organisms should be presented according to accepted taxonomic conventions and formatted consistently.
28. References
References should be accurate, relevant, and directly support the statements for which they are cited.
OVJ uses an author–date citation style.
Examples of in-text citation include:
Ahmed (2000)
Wang et al. (2003)
(Sparrow, 2010)
(Skinner and Laidlaw, 2004)
(Chege, 1998; Chukwura, 1987a,b; Tijani, 1993, 1995)
(Kaiser et al., 2001)
When a cited work has more than two authors, the first author's surname followed by “et al.” should be used in the text.
Where an author has multiple publications in the same year, lower-case letters (a, b, etc.) should be used to distinguish the works.
The reference list should be arranged alphabetically by the surname of the first author.
Reference entries should normally include:
Author(s)
Year of publication
Article or chapter title
Journal or book title
Volume
Page range or article number
DOI, where available
Examples
Journal Article
Chin, J.C., Dai, Y. and Watts, J.E. 1995. Antibody response against Pseudomonas aeruginosa membrane proteins in experimentally infected sheep. Vet. Microbiol. 43, 21–32.
Book
Durbin, R., Eddy, S.R., Krogh, A. and Mitchison, G. 1999. Biological Sequence Analysis: Probabilistic Models of Proteins and Nucleic Acids. Cambridge University Press.
Book Chapter
Leach, J. 1993. Impacts of the zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha) on water quality and fish spawning reefs of western Lake Erie. In: Zebra Mussels: Biology, Impacts and Control, Eds., Nalepa, T. and Schloesser, D., Lewis Publishers, Ann Arbor, MI, pp. 381–397.
Conference Proceedings
Stock, A. 2004. Signal transduction in bacteria. In: Proceedings of the 2004 Markey Scholars Conference, pp. 80–89.
Thesis
Strunk, J.L. 1991. The extraction of mercury from sediment and the geochemical partitioning of mercury in sediments from Lake Superior, M.S. thesis, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI.
Work accepted for publication but not yet published may be identified as “in press” where appropriate.
Unpublished data and personal communications should not normally be included in the reference list and should be identified appropriately in the text where their use is necessary.
Authors are responsible for the accuracy and completeness of all references.
29. Self-Citation and Citation Practices
Self-citations must be scientifically justified and relevant to the manuscript.
Authors should not add references solely to increase citation counts, journal metrics, author metrics, or the visibility of particular individuals or journals.
Excessive, irrelevant, or inappropriate self-citation may be questioned during editorial assessment or peer review.
Citation manipulation is considered an unacceptable publication practice.
30. Letters to the Editor
Letters to the Editor that provide substantive comments, observations, questions, or constructive criticism concerning material published in OVJ are welcomed.
Letters may:
comment on previously published work;
identify methodological or interpretive issues;
provide alternative perspectives;
raise scientifically relevant questions; or
contribute useful information to ongoing scholarly discussion.
Where appropriate, a Letter to the Editor may be forwarded to the authors of the original article for comment or response.
Publication of a Letter to the Editor is subject to editorial assessment, and the Editor-in-Chief or designated editor makes the final decision regarding publication.
Authors submitting Letters should provide complete contact information.
Letters should be submitted through the journal's online submission system unless the editorial office specifically instructs otherwise.
31. Supplementary Materials
Supplementary files may be submitted when they provide information that supports the article but is not essential to understanding the main manuscript.
Examples include:
additional tables;
additional figures;
supplementary datasets;
detailed protocols;
supporting methodological information; and
other relevant supporting materials.
Supplementary materials must be clearly identified, cited in the manuscript, and prepared in a format suitable for online publication.
Authors are responsible for ensuring that supplementary materials are accurate and do not contain material that infringes copyright, confidentiality, privacy, or ethical requirements.
32. Copyright and Licensing
Published articles are made available under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0) unless otherwise stated for specific content.
Authors retain copyright in accordance with the journal's applicable publishing agreement and licensing arrangements.
Third-party material may be subject to separate copyright or licensing conditions.
Authors should ensure that all permissions required for third-party material have been obtained before submission.
33. Corrections and Post-Publication Issues
Authors must notify the journal promptly if they identify a significant error or omission in their published article.
OVJ may publish corrections, retractions, expressions of concern, or other post-publication notices when necessary to maintain the accuracy and integrity of the scholarly record.
Post-publication matters are handled in accordance with the journal's Correction, Retraction, and Post-Publication Policy and Publication Ethics and Publication Malpractice Policy.
34. Appeals and Complaints
Authors may appeal an editorial decision or raise a complaint concerning the editorial or peer-review process in accordance with the journal's applicable policies.
Appeals should provide clear reasons and relevant evidence and should not simply repeat arguments already considered during the editorial process.
Editorial decisions remain independent of commercial considerations, including APC payment.
35. Digital Publication and Preservation
Accepted articles are prepared for publication using appropriate digital publishing formats, including PDF and structured XML/JATS where applicable.
Published content is assigned a DOI through Crossref and is preserved through appropriate digital preservation arrangements, including PORTICO.
Authors should ensure that the final accepted manuscript and associated publication information are accurate before publication.
36. Author Responsibility
Authors are responsible for ensuring that their manuscript:
accurately reports the research;
contains no fabricated or falsified information;
appropriately acknowledges sources;
complies with ethical requirements;
accurately identifies authors and their contributions;
discloses conflicts of interest and funding;
provides an accurate Data Availability Statement;
appropriately discloses material AI use;
complies with copyright and licensing requirements; and
follows these Instructions for Authors.
Failure to comply may result in requests for clarification or revision, rejection of the manuscript, or post-publication corrective action where appropriate.
37. Final Editorial Authority
The submission of a manuscript does not guarantee peer review, acceptance, or publication.
The journal reserves the right to decline manuscripts that are outside its scope, fail to meet scientific or ethical standards, contain significant research-integrity concerns, or do not comply with the journal's requirements.
Editorial decisions are made independently and are based on the scientific quality, originality, relevance, ethical compliance, methodological rigor, and overall suitability of the manuscript.
38. Related Journal Policies
Authors should read these Instructions for Authors together with the relevant OVJ policies, including:
Aims and Scope
Editorial Policies
Editorial and Peer-Review Process
Publication Ethics and Publication Malpractice Policy
Conflict of Interest Policy
Plagiarism Policy
Protection of Research Participants and Animal Welfare Policy
Informed Consent and Ethical Consent Policy
Data Sharing and Data Availability Policy
Artificial Intelligence (AI) Policy
Copyright Policy
Open Access Policy
License Information
Correction, Retraction, and Post-Publication Policy
Digital Archiving and Preservation Policy
Terms of Use
Printed Copies Available Upon Request
Authors may request printed copies of their published articles through an external printing service provider, Open Science Publishers LLP, India. Printed copies are available upon request and are subject to additional printing, handling, and shipping charges.
Printed-copy service provider:
Mr. Kunal Sharma
Open Science Publishers LLP, India
Phone/WhatsApp: +91 88713 43380
Email: osp.subscription@gmail.comAll costs associated with printing, handling, and delivery are the responsibility of the requesting author. Orders, payment arrangements, and delivery details should be made directly with the service provider.
The availability of printed copies is an optional author service and does not affect the open-access status of Open Veterinary Journal. All published articles remain freely accessible online in accordance with the journal's Open Access and licensing policies.
Open Science Publishers LLP is an external service provider for printed copies and is not the publisher of Open Veterinary Journal.
