The Mission of the Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine (JZWM) is to disseminate knowledge and increase the understanding of captive and freeranging wildlife health. Toward this goal, the Journal will publish manuscripts that serve to improve the husbandry, medical care and study of all zoo and wildlife species.
The Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine is the official publication of the American Association of Zoo Veterinarians (AAZV), the European Association of Zoo and Wildlife Veterinarians (EAZWV), and the American College of Zoological Medicine (ACZM); and it is supported by the European Zoo and Aquarium Association (EAZA). The Journal is considered one of the major sources of information on the veterinary aspects of zoological species and wildlife. Areas of interest include clinical medicine, surgery, anatomy, diagnostic imaging, physiology, reproduction, nutrition, parasitology, microbiology, immunology, pathology (including infectious diseases and clinical pathology), toxicology, pharmacology, anesthesiology, and epidemiology. The Editorial Board and its Operations Committee establish editorial policies. The Journal is published quarterly, is peer reviewed, indexed by the major abstracting services, and is international in scope and distribution.
ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS
Editorial Policy on the Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)
AI use is permitted in JZWM manuscripts in the following ways:
to improve English usage and grammar in the text.
to enhance literature searches relevant to the manuscript.
to create options for data presentation.
AI use is prohibited in JZWM manuscripts in the following ways:
JZWM will not accept any image generated by artificial intelligence for publication.
Manuscript content must be original, generated and written by the authors. AI cannot be used to create a manuscript.
Full manuscripts, including data, tables, and figures, cannot be uploaded to AI platforms like ChatGPT. Doing so precludes consideration for publication in JZWM.
Animal use in research
The AAZV supports the humane care and treatment of all animals. Any experimentation in which animals are subjected to painful or harmful conditions must be justified, and a statement as to an Animal Care and Use Committee's approval (including license number if applicable) should be included in the manuscript. The Editor reserves the right to reject for publication any manuscript for which ethical concerns are deemed unacceptable. Authors must be aware of and adhere to all laws, treaties and regulations applying to their work.
Authorship
Individuals should be listed as authors only if they:
1) made a substantial contribution to the conception and design of the study/work, the acquisition of the data used in the study/ work, or the analysis and interpretation of that data.
2) were involved in drafting or revising the manuscript critically for intellectual content.
3) will have an opportunity to approve subsequent revisions of the manuscript, including the version to be published.
All three conditions stated above must be met and each individual listed as an author must have participated sufficiently to take public responsibility for the work. For multi-institutional papers, the individual who headed the study should be listed as an author, along with individuals who provided substantial assistance (e.g., with pathological evaluations or statistical analyses) and any other individual who had a substantial impact on the study design or made a unique contribution to the paper.
All funding sources should be identified in the manuscript and provided in the Acknowledgment section. Authors should disclose to the Editor any potential conflict of interest, such as a consulting or financial interest in a company that is represented in the manuscript, and state such relationship in the Acknowledgment section. Authors must en sure that no contractual relations or proprietary considerations exist that would affect the publication of information in a submitted manuscript.
Regulatory Compliance
The authors are responsible for complying with all local, regional, national, and international regulations that govern the work presented in their manuscript, especially regarding sample acquisition and shipment. Where applicable, relevant permit numbers and confirmation of Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee approval should be included at the beginning of the Materials and Methods section. The Editor can request proof of compliance with regulations anytime during the peer review process.
PUBLISHING AND EDITORIAL PROTOCOLS
The Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine provides options for publishing a manuscript as either Closed Access or Gold Open Access. The fees for each type can be found at https://www.aazv.org/store/. For articles published as Closed Access, the American Association of Zoo Veterinarians holds the copyrights to all material published in the Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine. Prior to publication the corresponding author of the manuscript must submit to the Editor a signed copyright waiver. Persons who wish to reproduce information that has been published in the Journal must request written permission from the Editor. For articles published as Gold Open Access, once the final version of the manuscript has been published, the author can freely share it on any public access site or institutional repository. The Journal does not provide an option for sharing an article in a pre-print repository such as arXiv or BioRxiv.
The Journal will not accept manuscripts that have been previously published in a refereed scientific journal or proceedings. Oral presentation, use of data in in-house reports, or publication of an abstract of less than 250 words will not preclude the publication of such data in the Journal; however, note that tables and figures previously published in conference proceedings cannot be used directly.
If any copyrighted material is used in a manuscript, a release of copyright must be provided by the Individual/Organization holding the copyrighted material to the AAZV before such materials can be published.
Research reported in the Journal must be testable and repeatable by other scientists who are knowledgeable in the field. In addition, there must be due reference to previous work upon which the research depends.
Based on the input from expert reviewers, the Editor and Associate Editors judge the suitability of papers for publication in the Journal. Associate Editors, within a given field of specialization, are chosen on the basis of demonstrated expertise and high editorial competence.
Manuscript Submission and Fees
All manuscripts should be submitted via the on-line submission process. Go to www.aazv.org and click on “JZWM Manuscript submission” link.
A one-time processing fee must be paid before the manuscript is considered for peer review. The processing fee schedule can be found in the submission link. This fee is required regardless of whether the manuscript goes to peer review or is accepted for publication.
Current processing fees can be found at https://www.aazv.org/page/962
Published manuscripts will incur a per-page charge of $10 for AAZV or EAZWV members and $25 for non-members. Membership status pertains to the First Author and the Corresponding Author only.
Companion papers or papers in a numbered series should be submitted together and be clearly designated as such.
The author will be notified by email of the receipt of a paper, the manuscript number for the paper, and the Associate Editor to whom it was assigned.
To minimize delays during the pre-review, review and editing processes, authors are encouraged to submit manuscripts that satisfy the parameters of formatting, style and content set forth within these guidelines.
All manuscript submissions must include a cover letter stating the importance and relevance of the work.
THE PEER REVIEW PROCESS
The Editor receives manuscript submissions and checks them for appropriateness of fit for JZWM, proper formatting and style, and quality of English usage. The author may be asked to make corrections before peer review begins. A manuscript may be rejected without peer review at this point. This decision is based on an assessment by the Editorial Board of the quality of the manuscript and its fit for JZWM. When the manuscript is deemed ready for peer review, the Editor then assigns responsibility for peer review to an Associate Editor (AE) with expertise appropriate to the manuscript. The AE selects expert reviewers (usually two) to whom the paper is sent. Once the reviewers return comments, the AE considers the reviewers' comments, assesses the manuscript in light of the comments, and sends a decision recommendation to the Editor. The Editor then reviews the final manuscript and accompanying documents and informs the corresponding author of the final decision. Reviewers remain anonymous, unless an individual reviewer indicates otherwise.
The Associate Editor returns almost all papers to the author for revision at least once, sometimes even before reviewers are assigned. Common reasons for revision include questions of fact or theory; poor organization and flow; lack of evidence to support conclusions, etc. Revisions must be returned to the assigned Associate Editor within 60 days.
Manuscript Decision Definitions
ACCEPT—the manuscript is suitable for publication. Peer review is complete. The authors may be asked to make some minor final corrections.
MINOR REVISIONS—The manuscript is scientifically sound. There are minor edits that can improve the flow, presentation and clarity of the work. If the revisions are made to the satisfaction of the editorial team, the manuscript is likely to be accepted for publication.
MAJOR REVISIONS—The manuscript has scientific flaws or significant challenges with the presentation that, if left uncorrected, will result in rejection for publication. The manuscript has a chance to be successful in peer review, but only if the significant flaws can be addressed satisfactorily. The manuscript may ultimately be rejected.
REJECT—the manuscript has been deemed unsuitable/improper fit for the Journal, or the manuscript has fatal flaws that cannot be corrected. It has been rejected for publication. Peer review ceases.
Authors who strongly contest the decision of “Reject” have the option to submit an appeal. This can be done through the Peertrack system. The appeal request will be evaluated by the Editor, the Operations Committee and the Associate Editor. A decision to deny the appeal or continue with peer review will be communicated to the author.
The AE is responsible for communication with the Corresponding Author throughout the peer review process. The Corresponding Author is responsible for sharing information with their co-authors.
Publication is contingent upon receipt by the Editor of a signed copyright waiver. The Editor will review the accepted manuscripts one final time for content and style and will ask the author to make any final edits. Prior to printing, the Author will receive page proofs (also referred to as galley proofs), the accuracy of which is the Author's responsibility. That is, the author must check the proof “word for word, number for number”. The author should also check the margins of the proofs carefully for inquiries from the copyeditor and should address these inquiries completely. Only corrections to the typesetting should be done at this stage. This is not the time to edit the manuscript. Changes must be annotated on the PDF proof using Adobe Reader and returned to the Editor within 5 days of receipt via e-mail to jzwmeditor@gmail.com. Failure to return proofs in a timely manner could result in the manuscript being held for the next available issue.
The corresponding author for the manuscript will receive a pdf version of the printed manuscript.
?The duration of the peer review process is quite variable, affected by factors such as the number of revisions needed, the availability of reviewers, the timeliness of the reviews, and the duration of revisions. Things the author can do to shorten the process include: ensuring all formatting guidelines are met; ensuring the English usage is publication quality at first submission; providing suggestions for reviewers who are experts in the field of your manuscript topic; turning around revisions in a timely manner; forming a good communication channel with your Associate Editor and checking in regularly.
MANUSCRIPT PREPARATION INSTRUCTIONS
The following guidelines must be followed in preparing a manuscript for submission to the Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine; manuscripts that are not in the appropriate style or format will be returned to the Author. The primary source of information for this document is the Council of Science Editors, Style Manual Subcommittee. 2014. Scientific style and format: the CSE manual for authors, editors, and publishers. 8th ed. Chicago (IL): Council of Science Editors. 722 p.
General Format
12-point, Times New Roman font with double-spaced lines.
8.5 × 11” page size with standard 1” margins
Left-justified text except section headings (centered).
Continuous line numbering (every 5 lines) throughout the manuscript.
Direct formatting of italics.
Italicize scientific names (always provide scientific name at first usage of common name of all species in both the abstract and the manuscript).
The first time any named drug or product is mentioned, it must be followed by parentheses including the manufacturer name, and address (city, state and zip code/country postal code, and country). Examples: detomidine (Orion, 02200 Espoo, Finland; 9 mg/kg IM), terbinafine hydrochloride (250 mg tablets, Harris Pharmaceutical, Inc., Fort Myers, Florida 33908, USA; 40 mg/kg PO, q24h for 30d). When another drug or product produced by the same manufacturer is mentioned, the address of the manufacturer is omitted.
Language and usage
The English usage must be of publication quality prior to a manuscript going for peer review. For authors who are not primary English speakers, the manuscript should be edited by a primary English-speaking scientist prior to submission.
Use the American form of English for spelling, grammar and numeric punctuation.
When referring to a specific animal, do not use human pronouns such as “he/his” and “she/her”.
Numbers beginning a sentence are spelled out.
Numbers from one to nine should be spelled, except when placed before a unit and before and after the mathematic signs (e.g., 2 mg/kg, P < 0.01, n = 2). A space is needed between the number and the unit/mathematical symbol, except for percentages (e.g., 34%).
A list of accepted abbreviations can be found at the end of this document. Outside of those listed, all acronyms should be spelled out at first use in both the abstract and again in the main manuscript.
Reporting Drug Dosing: See table at the end of this document for how to note routes and frequency of drug administration.
Guidance for Specific Manuscript Types
Normal values, non-blood
Authors are encouraged to generate substantive manuscripts that present data on multiple variables. For example, a manuscript that reports normal intraocular pressure in species x is not likely to enter peer review. However, a manuscript that reports normal intraocular pressure, tear production and retinal anatomy would be welcome in peer review. A manuscript that reports normal cardiac size in species x would not enter peer review. However, a manuscript that reports cardiac size, normal cardiac ultrasonography indices and normal ECG would be welcome.
Pathology review for species/taxa
Retrospective pathology studies for a species should be presented as “Disease processes identified in. . .”. Do not submit manuscripts that only report cause of death, as these will not go to peer review. Submit disease reviews, which summarize all pathology identified for a species/population over a period of time. Cause of death can be reported within this larger dataset.
Clinical pathology methods comparisons
Authors seeking to compare one clinical pathology technique to another (in-house vs reference laboratory, for example) should follow the guidelines established by the American Society for Veterinary Clinical Pathology. These can be found in their 2015 publication: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/vcp.12299. Compliance with this guidance should be stated and evident in the Materials and Methods section of the manuscript.
Methods validation
JZWM welcomes manuscripts that seek to validate a diagnostic assay for use in a non-domestic species. These manuscripts should contain several principles which are thoroughly discussed in the 2006 review article by Jensen and Kjelgaard-Hansen which should be reviewed prior to submission:
Jensen AL, Kjelgaard-Hansen M. Method comparison in the clinical laboratory. Vet Clin Path. 2006; 35:276–286.
They must be performed in compliance with the Standards for Reporting of Diagnostic Accuracy ( http://www.equator-network.org/reportingguidelines/stard).
The establishment of reference intervals
Please note the distinct difference between establishing reference intervals (RI) and reporting descriptive values. The establishment of reference intervals for a species mandates a specific methodology with several quality assurance steps. These guidelines, established by American Society for Veterinary Clinical Pathology Quality Assurance and Laboratory Standards (QALS) were updated in 2020 and can be found at: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/page/journal/1939165x/homepage/Qals
It is difficult to establish true reference intervals for N < 120, though criteria have been set for datasets where N is in the 20–120 range. Reference intervals can never be established if N < 20.
The ASVCP link above includes links to three documents that will facilitate meeting the requirements for presenting your reference interval or descriptive values data. The first is a checklist that should be completed during the creation of your manuscript. The second is an Excel spreadsheet template that provides automatic formatting of your reference interval tables for datasets with N > 20 and for descriptive values for datasets where N < 20. The third is an Excel spreadsheet template for the automatic formatting of reference intervals for datasets where N > 120. Note that at the top of each table you will find notes explaining which statistical methods are recommended for each dataset.
Authors are required to utilize the checklist, attempting to get as close as possible to meeting the requirements, and providing full transparency when recommended procedures could not be completed. It is common that not every item can be achieved. The Materials and Methods section of the manuscript must verify that the ASVCP QALS guidelines were followed. Utilization of the Excel table templates is not required, but is recommended.
Pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic studies
Beginning July 1, 2024, all pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic studies which utilize compounded drug product as integral to the study methodology will need to provide appropriate and adequate justification for its use. Economic consideration and prior published literature are insufficient justifications for the use of compounded product. If sufficient justification exists that the compounded product is the only study option, the manuscript must include a verified analysis of the compounded product before its administration, which demonstrates the compounded drug's concentration and confirms accurate dosing.
TITLE PAGE
All manuscripts should begin with a title page with the following format, in this order, on consecutive lines:
No headers.
Brief running title no more than 45 characters, including spaces, in all capital letters.
Manuscript title in all capital letters with no abbreviations. The title should be as brief as possible, should state the principal finding, and should include the species involved (with scientific name in italicized capitals), when applicable.
Authors' full names and credentials in the following format:
Author names are separated by commas; “and” is placed before the name of the last author.
Institutional affiliations and addresses should be in one continuous paragraph in the following format:
Author affiliations should be for the institution where they worked when the work was performed.
If an author's present address differs from the original institutional address, it should be listed at the end of the section as “Present address (name):. . .”
Finish the title page with the following: Corresponding author: name, email address. Note that the the corresponding author for peer review can be different than the corresponding author for future communication.
Abstract
See chart for maximum word allowance.
Single paragraph format.
The word “Abstract:” should be indented 5 spaces. The text of the abstract should begin immediately after the word, on the same line.
Appears at the beginning of the manuscript on its own page following the title page.
Must be completely self-explanatory and generally should include the following: reason for doing the work, including rationale or justification for the research; objectives and topics covered; a brief description of methods used, including number of subjects; results; and conclusions. The abstract also should call attention to new items, observations and numerical data. Abstracts should be informative. Expressions such as “is discussed” and “is described” should not be included.
Do not include bibliographic, figure, or table references.
Do not include equations, formulas, obscure abbreviations or acronyms.
Include the scientific name of a species when the common name is first mentioned.
Keywords: These are no longer part of JZWM manuscripts. DO NOT include keywords in your manuscript.
INTRODUCTION
The purpose of the introduction is to explain the relevance of the work to the the existing body of knowledge on this subject. For research manuscripts, indicate the justification for doing the research and the hypothesis to be tested. For Case Series and Clinical Briefs, explain the importance of the clinical information to the management of the species presented.
Cite references as needed in the introduction to justify the manuscript, but cite the majority of relevant literature in the discussion of the results.
The scientific name of a species must be included in parentheses and italics when the common name is first mentioned even if it was also done in the abstract.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Methodology should be given in sufficient detail to permit others to reproduce, and/or title the study. A clear description of original references is required for all biological, chemical, and statistical procedures. Diets, animals (species, sex, and age), surgical techniques, statistical models, etc., should be described. Commonly used statistical methods need not be described in detail, but adequate references should be provided.
RESULTS
Results should be a concise account of the important findings.
Data should be summarized in tables and figures where appropriate. The text should be used to highlight important contents of tables and figures in such a way as to allow the reader to interpret the results of the experiment. Do not use the results section to duplicate table and figure data in narrative form.
The results of statistical analysis should be consistent with and justify the interpretations and conclusions. The most common acceptable level of probability (alpha values) is P < 0.05, although P < 0.10, P < 0.01, and P < 0.001 may be used, if justified. Alternatively, actual alpha values may be used.
Give only meaningful digits. A practical rule is to round so that the change caused by rounding is less than one-tenth of the standard error.
DISCUSSION
The discussion should interpret (and not just restate) the results in the context of other published (and cited) research. It should clearly discuss the limitations of the study as well as its significance or implications of the findings.
CONCLUSIONS
In most papers, the conclusion is incorporated within the discussion. However, significant conclusions that relate to the objectives and that concisely highlight the most important findings from longer papers may be placed in a separate Conclusions section.
Acknowledgment(s):
Follows the discussion/conclusion and precedes the Literature Cited.
Contributors and funding sources can be listed.
All acronyms should be spelled out.
Acknowledgments should list the people and institutions being thanked. It should NOT include the contributions they made. In the interest of brevity, this information will be edited out prior to publication.
LITERATURE CITED
Only the most relevant and up-to-date references should be used.
Literature citations should be identified in the text and tables by a superscript number (that follows any commas, periods or semi-colons). Do not cite papers or studies in the text by the author's name. This format follows the CSE guidelines' Citation-Name system.
When a series of consecutive references (such as 3,4,5,6) are being cited as a group in one place in the text, these should be presented with hyphenated superscripts.3–6
The literature list must be formatted according to the CSE Style guide https://writing.wisc.edu/Handbook/DocCSE.html.
Citations should be listed in alphabetical order by first author's surname. When there is more than one paper by authors whose names appear in the same order in each paper, the papers are listed in chronological order. Papers with multiple authors but the same lead author are arranged together, alphabetically by second, and then by third author, and each subsequent author.
All citations must have at least one author. In some cases, that author may be the institution that published the work. “Anonymous” cannot be listed as an author.
All authors of a cited paper must be listed in the Literature Cited section. Do not use et al.
For the journal name in a reference, follow the abbreviations of journals used in the National Library for Medicine, which can be found at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK7282/box/A33351/?report=objectonly.
Citations of unpublished work, personal communications, and product inserts are discouraged. If inclusion is deemed necessary, the information should be listed in parentheses in the text and do not appear with the Literature Cited. Example: Very few elephants are able to fly (Fowler, pers. comm.). Unpublished data should be cited as (Fowler, unpubl. data).
Product inserts and user manuals should not be listed in the references cited section. A website can be included in the text in () if needed.
Articles that have been accepted for publication but have not yet been published should be listed in the Literature Cited section with the designation “(In press)” in place of the volume/issue/page.
Articles that have been submitted by not yet accepted by a journal cannot be listed as a reference. It can be added later if accepted during peer review.
All journal citations must include both volume AND issue number.
Every reference must be cited in the manuscript.
For journal references, provide the volume/ issue/page OR the doi number. Do not provide both.
Citation Examples:
Book — Single Author
Schlesinger WH. Biogeochemistry: an analysis of global change. 2nd ed. San Diego (CA): Academic Press; 1997.
Plumb DC. Butorphanol Tartrate. In: Plumb DC (ed.). Plumb's Veterinary Drug Handbook. Pocket 7th ed. Ames, IA: Wiley-Blackwell; 2011. p. 177–182.
Book chapter
Murphy HW. Dangerous animal crisis management. In: Miller RE, Fowler ME (eds.). Zoo and wild animal medicine, Volume 7, Current therapy. St. Louis (MO): Elsevier; 2012. p. 78–85.
Book — Organization as Author
Institute of Medicine (US). Science, evolution, and creationism. Washington (DC): National Academies Press. 2008.
Institution as Author
Association of Zoos and Aquariums. Elephant Animal Care Manual. 2013; p. 15–17.
Proceedings paper
Reichard TA, Ensley PK, Henrick MJ. Pheochromocytoma in a ring-tailed lemur (Lemur catta). In: Proc Am Assoc Zoo Vet; 1981. p. 44–45.
Thesis
Smith MK. Respiratory Disease in the North American Captive Bonobo Population. Master's Thesis. California State University, San Diego. 2017.
Journal Article
Smart N, Fang ZY, Marwick TH. A practical guide to exercise training for heart failure patients. J Card Fail. 2003;9(1):49–58.
or
Smart N, Fang ZY, Marwick TH. A practical guide to exercise training for heart failure patients. J Card Fail. 2003; doi.org/10.1054/jcaf.2003.2
Journal Article, non-English
Dubost G, Genest H. Le comportment social d'une colonie de maras, Dolichotis patagonum Z., dans le Par de Branfere. [The social behavior of a colony of maras, Dolichotis patagonum Z., in the Branfere Park]. Z Tierpsychol. [Mag Animl Psychol]. 1974;35:225–302.
Electronic Journal Article
Miller MW, Swanson HM, Wolfe LL, Quartarone FG, Huwer SL, Southwick CH, Lukacs PM. Lions and prions and deer demise. PLoS One [Internet]. 2018. Available from doi: 10.1371/ journal.pone.0206502
Web Site
Action Bioscience [Internet]. American Institute of Biological Sciences; c2000-2005. Available from http://www.actionbioscience.org/
Species360 (ZIMS) Expected Test Results
Species360 [Internet]. Zoological Information Management System: Expected test results. Giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca). [Cited 2018 Nov 9]. Available from https://zims.species360.org/Main. aspx
IUCN Red Lists
Cite the original reference that was used to create the red listing. For example:
Singleton I, Wich SA, Nowak M, Usher G, and Utami-Atmoko SS. Pongo abelii. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2017: e.T121097935 A123797627. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-3.RLTS.T121097935A115575085.en.
SPECIFIC MANUSCRIPT TYPES:
The allotted word count includes the body of the manuscript from the introduction to the conclusions. It does not include the abstract, references, tables or figures.
REVIEW PAPERS
These papers thoroughly review all published literature on a subject of interest to the JZWM readership.
Reviews are often solicited by the Editorial Board, but may also be submitted spon-taneously.
Their format is the same as described for other manuscripts, except that section headings will vary depending on the subject.
FULL ARTICLES
A research article will present a hypothesis-based prospective or retrospective research project of substantial consequence. A detailed Materials and Methods section and a robust reference list are required.
Non-research full articles will cover robust non-research content such as imaging atlases, guidelines, and any non-research content that would be of strong interest to the JZWM readership.
RESEARCH BRIEFS
Present concise, single-variable or observational studies
Examples include population health surveys, single dose pharmacokinetic studies, population mortality investigations, etc.
Articles will be placed in the Article vs Research Briefs category at the editor′s discretion. The decision is based primarily on the manuscript length and complexity.
CASE SERIES
Differ from full manuscripts in that they report new or unusual clinical or pathological findings in a group or series of animals (three or more)
Case Series do not have an experimental format.
Formatting is the same as described for Research manuscripts, except that a section titled “Case Reports” replaces the Materials and Methods and the Results sections.
CLINICAL BRIEFS
Clinical Briefs provide substantive clinical information. They are intended to expand the readerships' knowledge of or challenge our understanding of a disease process or to introduce a new clinical technique.
JZWM does not publish single case reports. Exceptions will be made only if the Editorial Board determines that peer review is justified based on the following criteria:
The case presents a novel diagnostic approach or technique that significantly expands the clinical repertoire for the readership.
The case presents a novel therapeutic approach, medication or technique that substantially expands the clinical repertoire for the readership.
The manuscript presents a previously unreported disease process (novel virus, novel parasite, novel pathogenic bacteria, novel metabolic derangement, virus-induced neoplasia, etc.).
The manuscript contributes significantly to an expanding body of knowledge of an emerging disease.
The evidence presented in the manuscript challenges the reader to question the accepted understanding of a disease process. i.e., adds a dimension or raises doubt on existing tenets.
The report presents clinical information on a taxon that is significantly under-represented in the literature.
The clinical case presents an infectious disease that is being reported in an unexpected, novel taxon (West Nile virus in crocodiles, for example).
ALL N = 1 and N = 2 case reports will be evaluated by the editorial board using the above criteria. The majority of these case reports will be rejected without peer review.
Authors are encouraged to contact the Editor at jzwmeditor@gmail.com to inquire about n = 1 criteria for their manuscript.
TABLES
Refer to a recent issue of the Journal for examples of table construction.
Tables must be editable by the typesetters. Use Word or Excel and be sure the file is editable.
Whenever possible, tables should be organized to fit vertically on the page (similar to text), so that the page will not have to be turned sideways to read the table.
Tables are numbered consecutively in Arabic numbers. The title, body, and footnotes should all be double spaced.
Tables can be inserted in the main manuscript file, right after the Literature Cited. It is also acceptable to upload them as individual files, if preferred. Do not do both.
Do not use vertical lines and be sure every column has a heading.
Do not present the same data in tabular and graphic form.
If an explanation is necessary, use an abbreviation in the body of the table (e.g., ND) and explain in a footnote what the abbreviation stands for (ND = not done, not determined, or not detectable).
References to footnotes in a table are by consecutive superscript lowercase letters beginning with the letter “a” independently for each table.
Standard errors of means or standard deviations (of observations) may be attached to the means by ± signs, although a separate column or row may be used. If mean separation procedures are used, the preferred statement in the footnotes is “Means in the same column (line) with different superscripts are significantly different (P < 0.05).”
All tables must be called out in the body of the manuscript, e.g., “see Table 1”.
FIGURES and VIDEOS
The on-line version of the manuscript can include nearly unlimited digital content. Therefore, authors are encouraged to enhance their manuscript with relevant videos or additional figures that add to the information being shared. A good example would be a video of a new surgical technique, a video of a clinical presentation, etc. Files can be uploaded as .mov or .mp4 file types. Each of the supplemental materials should be called out in the main manuscript file.
Figures should not appear in the main manuscript file, but the figure legends must appear in the manuscript file at the end, after the Literature Cited and Tables. This is because the figure and its legend are handled separately during the typesetting process.
Each figure should be uploaded as a high-resolution jpeg, tiff or pdf file with a resolution of at least 300 dpi. Higher is preferred.
Figure captions should be descriptive enough to be able to stand alone.
Provide figures in the format and layout in which you want them to appear in print. Color images will be printed in color, B&W will be printed in B&W.
Figures with parts a, b, c, d should be labeled and arranged as desired and uploaded as a single image.
Most figures (i.e., histopathology and electron microscopy photographs) should contain letters (a, b, etc.) and arrows denoting salient features. Letters should be placed about 1 cm from the edges of continuous tone figures.
Photomicrographs should contain the magnification (or a bar scale) and stain.
Symbols and abbreviations used in the figure should be defined in the figure caption (except for the accepted abbreviations listed below).
All figures must be called out in the main text, e.g., “Figure 1”.
The following is a list of abbreviations that may be used without expansion in abstracts, main text, figures and figure legends, appendices, tables and table titles.
2D 2-dimensional or 2 dimensions
3D 3-dimensional or 3 dimensions
ANOVA Analysis of variance
Approx Approximately
Bpm Breaths per minute or beats per minute
CBC Complete blood cell count
CFU Colony-forming unit
CI Confidence interval
CNS Central nervous system
CPR Cardiopulmonary resuscitation
CSF Cerebrospinal fluid
CT Computed tomography or computed tomographic
DICOM Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine
DNA Deoxyribonucleic acid
ECG Electrocardiogram or electrocardiographic
EDTA Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid
e.g. Latin for “for example”; exempli gratia
ELISA Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay
ETCO2 End tidal carbon dioxide partial pressure
H&E Hematoxylin and eosin
Hct Hematocrit
hpf High-power field or high-power fields
HR Heart rate
HU Hounsfield unit or Hounsfield units
i.e. Latin for “that is”; id est
kVp Kilovolt peak, tube voltage
LD50 Median lethal dose
mAs Milliampere-seconds
MRI Magnetic resonance imaging
N Sample Size
NSAID Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug
PAGE Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis
pCO2 Partial pressure of carbon dioxide
pO2 Partial pressure of oxygen
PCR Polymerase chain reaction
qPCR Quantitative PCR
RT-PCR Reverse transcriptase PCR
PCV Packed cell volume
RBC Red blood cell
RNA Ribonucleic acid
mRNA Messenger ribonucleic acid
rRNA Ribosomal ribonucleic acid
tRNA Transfer ribonucleic acid
RR Respiratory Rate
SD Standard deviation
SE Standard error
SEM Standard error of the mean
SPO2 Oxygen saturation
T Temperature
T1/2 Half-life
UV Ultraviolet
WBC White blood cell count
Routes of administration
The following routes of administration can be abbreviated on first use in the abstract, main text, tables and figures:
Intracardiac and Intracoelomic should be spelled out at first use.
Drug Dosing Intervals
Use the left column notations when reporting drug dosing frequency in the abstract, main text, tables and figures. Do not use SID, BID, TID
q8h Every 8 hours, three times per day, TID
q12h Every 12 hours, two times per day, BID
q24h Every 24 hours, once per day, SID
q48h Every 48 hours, every other day, EOD
q72h Every 72 hours, every third day
1/wk Once per week
3/wk Three times per week
PRN As needed, pro re nata
Copyright 2023 by American Association of Zoo Veterinarians
December, 2023," Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine 54(4), 884-894, (9 January 2024). https://doi.org/10.1638/1042-7260-54.4.884
