Submissions

Author Guidelines

Journal Mission Statement. Image Analysis and Stereology is the official journal of the International Society for Stereology. It promotes the exchange of scientific, technical, organizational, and other information on the quantitative analysis of data having a geometrical structure, including stereology, differential geometry, image analysis, image processing, mathematical morphology, stochastic geometry, statistics, pattern recognition, and related topics. The fields of application are not restricted and range from biomedicine, material sciences, and physics to geology and geography.

Publications. The journal publishes full-length original research papers, review articles, technical notes , and short research communications. Contributions for book reviews, communications, and notes are solicited by the Editor-in-Chief. Submission of a paper to Image Analysis and Stereology is understood to imply that it has not been previously published (except in abstract form) and that it has not been submitted for publication elsewhere at the same time. Every effort will be made to notify authors about acceptance, necessary revision, or rejection within 12 weeks from the date of receipt of a manuscript. Every manuscript is reviewed by two independent referees and checked for plagiarism.

Apart from potential supplementary material, the electronic version of papers is identical to the printed version. In the case of any discrepancies, the electronic version is treated as a reference.

Sample articles:

• Original research paper (sample 1) - pure mathematical papers
• Original research paper (sample 2) - other papers
• Review article (sample)
• Technical note (sample)

Manuscript Submission. Manuscripts should be submitted electronically in PDF or Word format (first submission) and Word or LaTex format (final submission) at Online Submission.

What To Submit:

• PDF or Word file of the Manuscript prepared by the author (obligatory at first submission)
• Cover Letter (obligatory)
• Supplementary Material (optional)
• Manuscript and Figures (obligatory at the final submission of the accepted manuscript)
• Copyright Transfer Agreement (obligatory at the final submission of the accepted manuscript)

E-mail correspondence. Should you require any information regarding article submission, please feel free to contact the Editorial Office at ias@guest.arnes.si

Guidelines for Manuscript Preparation. For rapid and accurate publication manuscripts must follow exactly the guidelines described below. The manuscript should be written in MS Word or LaTeX.

LaTeX. LaTeX style guide PDF file presents the instructions for preparing manuscripts for the Stereology and Image Analysis journal in LaTeX, and serves itself as an example of a LaTeX file conforming to the described form. The complete LaTeX package is available here:

• LaTeX zip package
• LaTeX style guide PDF file

The language is English. Please be consistent. Use the same form of English (UK or American) throughout the text.

Length. Full-length research papers or full-length review articles including tables and figures with legends and references should not exceed 30 pages (30 lines per page, font size 11 pt, single column in MS Word) or 15 typeset pages if prepared in LaTeX. Short research communications, reviews, communications, or notes should not exceed 15 pages (7 typeset pages if prepared in LaTex) including tables and figures with legends.

Title. Short and to the point, not longer than 120 characters (including spaces); it should be written entirely in capital letters. A title should indicate the methodological aspects of the paper, which are of interest also for several fields of application. Include the running title with the surname of the first author with no more than 100 characters including spaces (e.g., MACKAY CE ET AL: Comparison of MRI and physical sections).

Authors. Whole name(s) and family name of each author; no academic degrees or titles. Indicate who will be responsible for correspondence, if not the first author. Complete address of each author including an e-mail address.

Abstract. Not more than 250 words, summarizing the work presented in the manuscript, in 3rd person. The abstract should be understandable to a non-specialist. 

Keywords should follow the abstract. A list of keywords (not more than 6) should be in alphabetical order. Keywords should allow an appropriate classification of the paper regarding the methodology and field of application.

Text. Sufficient details must be given to enable an interdisciplinary audience of the journal to understand the considered problem and methods. This includes a brief explanation of basic concepts, abbreviations, and symbols, and, if available, a review paper as a reference. The manuscript should be structured with the following headings: INTRODUCTION, MATERIALS AND METHODS, RESULTS, DISCUSSION, ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS, and REFERENCES. The headings should be placed on separate lines and written in capitals with no underlining. Avoid unnecessary subheadings. In the text do not underline words, do not use letters in bold type.

Methods that are of some general character should be emphasized. New methods or theoretical results should be given with appropriate reasoning or derivation. Applications of methods are welcome. Appropriate real data, simulation, or numerical results should be given to illustrate the main results.

Figures and Tables should be in a form and condition suitable for publication across a single column (8 cm) or a whole page (16 cm). The minimum font size of characters is 11. Figures and tables should be numbered consecutively in Arabic numerals (e.g., Fig. 1; Table 1) and headed with a short title. Please mark in the manuscript (i.e., insert Fig. 1 or Table 1) where Tables or Figures should be placed in the text. Each figure and table should be accompanied by a self-explanatory legend. Please note that Figures and Tables should be included in the manuscript file at first submission. At final submission (after the acceptance of the paper), all figures and tables should be uploaded as separate files, using the Supplementary files form. Ideally, all original files (manuscript, figures, and tables) should be collected in a ZIP archive and uploaded as a Supplementary file. The maximum file size for upload is 50 MB.

Figures should be sent as TIFF or JPG files for raster images (bitmaps) or PS format for vector images. TIFF files should have 600 dpi resolution for colour, greyscale images, or black and white images.

Color Prints. A limited number of colour images is free of charge.

Equations should be on separate lines, with extra spacing above and below. They should always be numbered, placing the number in brackets against the right-hand margin. If a mathematical expression is to be included as a part of a sentence try to maintain the single line spacing by use of brackets (e.g., (1-x)/(3-h)). Please, use an abbreviation (e.g., Eq. 1) when discussing an equation in a sentence.

Units. SI units should be used wherever these exist for the parameter concerned. Units should be separated from values (e.g., 5 µm, 2 mg, 1 min); exceptions are °, °C and % (e.g., 90°, 37°C, 50%).

References in the text should be given in parentheses: e.g., (Fish, 1971) when there is only one author; (Fish, 1971a,b) when an author has two references in the same year; (Fish, 1971; 1972) when an author has two references in different years; (Flesh and Fowl, 1954) when there are two authors; (Good et al., 1962) when there are more than two authors; (Flesh and Fowl, 1954; Good et al., 1962) when there is more than one reference; “as shown by Miller (1967), the ...” when author's name is part of a sentence. If the same authors have more than one publication in one year, then distinguish them, thus: 1985a, 1985b, etc. The reference list should be in alphabetical order and prepared according to the examples below:

• Macpherson IA (1973). Soft agar technique. In: Kruse PF, Patterson IMK, eds. Tissue culture methods and application. Ch. 7. New York: Academic Press, 276-81.
• Osler AG (1976). Complement: Mechanisms and functions. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall, 51-5.
• Solter NA, Wasserman SI, Austen KF (1976). Cold urticaria: release into circulation of histamine and eosinophilic chemotactic factor of anaphylaxis during cold challenge. N Engl J Med 294:687-90.
• Bengtsson S, Solheim BG (1992). Enforcement of data protection, privacy and security in medical information. In: Lun KC, Degoulet P, Piemme TE, Rienhoff O, eds. MEDINFO 92. Proceedings of the 7th World Congress on Medical Informatics, 1992 Sep 6-10; Geneva, Switzerland. Amsterdam: North-Holland, 1561-5.

"Personal communications", "unpublished observations" and "in preparation" should be given in the text and should not appear in the reference list. The internet source (URL), where referencing to the author is not applicable, should also be given in text only, e.g. (www.issia.net). 
Online documents may also appear in the reference list, e.g.:
Reinking L (2007, June). Examples of Image Analysis Using ImageJ. Retrieved may 31, 2021, from https://imagej.nih.gov/ij/docs/pdfs/examples.pdf

You can automatically format references from your EndNote citation manager using our style file:

• EndNote style file for Image Analysis & Stereology

Page Numbering. Pages in the manuscript should be numbered in Arabic numerals starting with the cover page.

Supplementary Materials are images, movies, data sets, and other files that support and augment the content of a manuscript. They are intended for publication only in the Online version of Image Analysis & Stereology. These materials should be referenced in the manuscript and then accessed via the online journal. Supplementary Materials generally fall into the following categories: Extra Tables, Extra Figures, Datasets, and Movies. 

Supplementary Materials must be submitted with the manuscript at the time of submission at Step 4 of the submission process. Supplementary Materials must be accompanied by a complete set of legends, one legend for each supplemental item. They must be referenced in the manuscript body at least once.

Cover letter This letter must be submitted in a text box in the first step of the submission process. The letter must contain the following:

1. A brief statement of the significance of the paper.
2. Information about conflict of interest: Any conflict or no conflict of interest, should be declared and described clearly and explicitly.
3. A statement that all the authors have directly participated in the planning, execution, or analysis of the study and resulting paper, and have read and approved the version submitted. Please define the contribution of each author separately – without this statement, the paper will not be processed for peer review!
4. The authors confirm that the submitted manuscript has been either written or reviewed for quality of language by a native English speaker or professionally edited. Please note that manuscripts written in poor English will be rejected without the possibility for further consideration.
   
5. Authors submitting manuscripts with any personal information of patients must also confirm in their cover letter and the text of the manuscript that they have obtained the patients’ written informed consent for print and electronic publication of the report. Do not send the signed consent to the journal, but do include a statement to that effect. This applies if any of the identifying information, including names, initials, or hospital numbers, was submitted in written descriptions, photographs, or pedigrees.
6. The contact information of four potential reviewers (names, addresses, and e-mail).

Manuscripts submitted without a cover letter will not be processed for peer review.