The Journal of Acupuncture and Meridian Studies (JAMS) is a bimonthly, peer-reviewed and open access journal. JAMS aims to disseminate evidence-based scientific findings on acupuncture and meridian to researchers, clinicians, and engineers in the complementary and alternative medicine, and other health-related fields. We publish scientific and technological studies on the biomedical, clinical, humanities, and social science aspects of acupuncture and related medical practice. For detailed subfields of the classification, please visit the Aims and Scope page (https://www.journal-jams.org/content/about/aims_and_scope.html#n).
Articles on general health science and other modalities, such as anthroposophy, ayurveda, bioelectromagnetic therapy, chiropractic, herbology (herbal medicine), homeopathy, neural therapy, and meditation, are also eligible for consideration if the articles are related to acupuncture and meridian.
The journal is indexed in MedLine/PubMed/Index Medicus, Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI), SCOPUS, ScienceDirect, EMBASE, CINAHL Plus, Google Scholar, DOAJ, Korea Citation Index (KCI), SHERPA/RoMEO, EZB, and Research Bible. Its abbreviated title is 'J Acupunct Meridian Stud'. This journal was supported by the Korean Federation of Science and Technology Societies Grant funded by the Korean Government (Ministry of Education).
JAMS is an open-access journal: JAMS is supported by Medical Association of Pharmacopuncture Institute for article publishing cost. Currently, there is no publication fee for this journal. All articles published by Journal of Acupuncture and Meridian Studies are made freely and permanently accessible online immediately upon publication, without registration barriers.
The Editorial Board requires authors to follow the Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals (URMs); current URMs are available at http://www.icmje.org. It also adheres completely to the Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing (joint statement by COPE, DOAJ, WAME, and OASPA; http://doaj.org/bestpractice) if otherwise not described below.

1.1. Original Articles

1.1.1. Research Reports

Research reports are expected to present major advances and important new findings in basic and clinical studies on acupuncture and meridian.

Research reports should be prepared according to proper reporting guidelines available through the EQUATOR² Network (http://www.equator-network.org) or other official sources. E.g., Studies involving acupuncture should follow STRICTA³ guideline and the STRICTA checklist should be submitted together with the manuscript. Clinical studies such as randomized clinical trial (RCT), parallel design double-blind trial, crossover trial, equivalence and noninferiority trial, cluster trial, and nonrandomized controlled trials should follow CONSORT⁴ reporting guideline, and the CONSORT checklist should be submitted. Trial protocol should follow SPIRIT. Meta-analysis should follow PRISMA⁵ or MOOSE⁶. Cohort study, case-control study, cross-sectional study, and case series should follow STROBE⁷ (For other study types not addressed herein, follow AMA style).

• Format: Title and article information, Abstract, Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion, Conclusions, References, Tables and Figures, Acknowledgements, and online-only Supplementary contents.
• Abstract
  * Basic and clinical studies: 5 sections – Importance, Objective, Methods, Results, and Conclusions and Relevance
  * Clinical trials: 8 sections – Importance; Objective; Design, Setting and Participants; Interventions(s) or Exposure(s) ; Main Outcomes and Measures; Results; Conclusions and Relevance; and Trial Registration. If no intervention was performed, that heading may be omitted.
  * Meta-analyses: 8 sections - Importance, Objective, Data Resources, Study Selection, Data Extraction and Synthesis, Main Outcome(s) and Measure(s), Results, Conclusions and Relevance.
• Reporting guideline: select the proper one from the EQUATOR Network
• Maximum allowance: 300 words for the abstract of basic studies and 350 words for the abstract of clinical studies; 4,000 words for main text excluding abstract, references, and figure legends; 50 references; 6 tables and/or figures.

1.1.2. Brief Reports

These are short peer-reviewed papers presenting novel results from small studies or preliminary studies or research. General format and requirements are the same as those for Research Reports in the section 1.1.1. except the maximum allowance.

• Reporting guidelines: select relevant one from the EQUATOR network
• Maximum allowance: 250 words for Abstract; 2,000 words for main text excluding Abstract, References, and figure legends; 20 references; 3 tables and/or figures.

1.1.3. Case Reports

These are short peer-reviewed papers that include the following: 1) Presentations, diagnoses, and/or handling of new and developing diseases; 2) New link between diseases or symptoms; 3) An unexpected event seen while monitoring or treating a patient; 4) Unexpected or uncommon manifestations of a disease; and 5) Unreported or atypical side effects involving acupuncture and related treatment modality. Other general format and requirements are the same as those for Research Reports in the section 1.1.1.

• Format: Abstract, Introduction, Case presentation, Discussion, and Conclusions. Others are the same as those in the 1.1.1. Research Report.
• Abstract: 3 sections - Importance, Case presentation, and Conclusions and Relevance
• Reporting guidelines: Case Reports – CARE⁸
• Maximum allowance: 250 words for Abstract; 2,000 words for main text excluding Abstract, References, and figure legends; 20 references; 3 tables and/or figures.

1.1.4. Clinical Study Protocols

Clinical Study Protocols should report planned or ongoing research studies. Protocols should (1) clearly state a hypothesis or study question, (2) show that the methods adequately answer the research question and that the data were appropriately analyzed, (3) convince the reader that the results are valid and credible, and (4) place the implications of the research in context and show that the study limitations do not preclude interpretation of the results. Other general format and requirements are the same as those for Research Reports in the section 1.1.1.

• Format: Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion. Others are the same as those in the 1.1.1. Research Report.
• Abstract: 7 sections – Importance; Objective; Design, Setting, and Population; Exposures; Main Outcomes and Measures; Results; and Conclusions and Relevance.
• Reporting guidelines: Clinical Study Protocols – SPIRIT
• Maximum allowance: 350 words for Abstract; 4,000 words for the main text excluding Abstract, References, and Figure/Table Legends; 50 references; 6 tables and/or figures.

1.2. Reviews

Review articles identify, synthesize, and summarize the available evidence and information about a specific topic in the field of acupuncture and meridian studies and highlight unresolved questions and future directions. Other general format and requirements are the same as those for Research Reports in the section 1.1.1.

• Format
  * Systemic reviews: Abstract, Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion, and Conclusions.
  * Narrative reviews: Abstract, Introduction, Methods, Observations, Discussion, and Conclusions.
• Abstract
  * Systemic reviews: 5 sections - Importance, Objective, Evidence Review, Findings, and Conclusions and Relevance.
  * Narrative Reviews: 3 sections - Importance, Observations, and Conclusions and Relevance.
• Reporting guidelines: Systematic review – PRISMA-A⁹, PRISMA-P¹⁰
• Maximum allowance: 350 words for Abstract of systematic reviews and 300 words for Abstract of narrative reviews; 6,000 words for the main text excluding Abstract, References, and Figure/Table Legends; 100 references; 8 tables and/or figures.

1.3. Special Articles

1.3.1. Issues and Challenges

Issues and Challenges describe new and important challenges and issues or present a mature analysis of a challenge and issue with general applicability in the fields of acupuncture and meridian studies. It is expected that such manuscripts will provoke analysis and examination within the community of acupuncture and meridian studies.

• Format: Title and article information, Abstract (unstructured), Main text with subheadings, Conclusions, References, Tables and Figures, Acknowledgements, and online-only Supplementary contents.
• Maximum allowance: 250 words for Abstract; 6,000 words; 50 references; and 8 figures or tables.

1.3.2. Guidelines and Recommendations

These articles are to introduce consensual or official statements of various organizations of basic and clinical acupuncture and meridian research. The numbers of words, references, figures, and tables in the main body are not limited. These articles are normally solicited by the editors, but an unsolicited submission will be considered. The manuscript will undergo the same peer-review process as that for research articles.

• Format: Title and article information, Abstract (unstructured), Main text with subheadings, References, Tables and Figures, Acknowledgements, and online-only Supplementary contents.
• Maximum allowance: 250 words for Abstract.

1.4. Opinion Articles

1.4.1. Perspective Articles

These articles present novel views and insights on topics of current interest in basic and clinical acupuncture and meridian research. Examples of potential manuscripts for publication as a perspective are a discussion of controversial issues, a summary update of a series of presentations at a scientific meeting, clinical perspectives on the diagnosis or treatment of a particular disease, or other similar topics in acupuncture and meridian research.

• Format: Title and article information, Abstract (unstructured), Main text with subheadings, Conclusions, References, Tables and Figures, Acknowledgements, and online-only Supplementary contents.
• Maximum allowance: 250 words for Abstract; 2,000 words; 15 references; and 3 figures and/or tables.

1.4.2. Editorial

Editorials are commentaries by the editors and other experts on the issues related to the mission of the JAMS as well as of general interest to our readers. Editorials also include commentaries on selected JAMS papers chosen by the editors to be highlighted. The latter may cover the followings: 1) key conclusions, 2) context with the current state-of-the-art, 3) controversial issues, 4) strengths and weaknesses, and 5) questions remaining to be addressed.

• Maximum allowance: 1,000 words in the main text, 10 references, and two tables and/or figures

1.4.3. Letters to the Editor

These are letters about readers’ opinions or issues of concern on previously published articles in the journal. Receipt of letters will not be acknowledged nor are authors generally consulted before publication. The accepted letters are subject to editing for clarity and space.

• Maximum allowance: 500 words.

• ¹ These guidelines are mostly based on the AMA Manual of Style by JAMA Network, 11th edition. 2020.
• ² Enhancing the QUAlity and Transparency Of health Research
• ³ STandards for Reporting Interventions in Clinical Trials of Acupuncture (Acupunct Med 2010 Jun; 28(2):83-93)
• ⁴ CONsolidated Standards Of Reporting Trials
• ⁵ Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses
• ⁶ Meta-Analysis Of Observational Studies in Epidemiology
• ⁷ STrengthening the Reporting of OBservational studies in Epidemiology
• ⁸ CAse REport
• ⁹ PRISMA for Acupuncture (PRISMA [prisma-statement.org])
• ¹⁰ PRISMA for systematic review protocols (PRISMA [prisma-statement.org])

Authors are requested to submit their manuscripts through the Editorial Manager, available at https://www.editorialmanager.com/JAAMS. For any further inquiries relating to manuscript submission, please contact the Editorial Office (journalams@gmail.com).
Our online submission system guides you stepwise through the process of entering your article details and uploading your files. The system converts your article files to a single PDF file used in the peer-review process.
All correspondence, including notification of the Editor’s decision and requests for revision, is sent by e-mail.

Important Information

• Articles should be in Microsoft Word format (*.doc or *.docx). Authors may use automatic page numbering with double-line space. Tables should be single-spaced.
• Put main body, references, tables, and figures in one file. Each table and figure should be on a new page and have an appropriate title and legend to ensure the non-specialist can understand the contents without referring to the other part of the manuscript.
• Figures that are line drawing or photographs must be submitted separately in high-resolution EPS, TIFF, JPEG, or PPT format. Please ensure that files are supplied at the correct resolution of a minimum of 300 dpi and editable by the publishing office.
• Figures with originality or of which the author owns the copyright should only be used. Or else, the source of the figure must be specified.

3.1. Ethics in Publishing All of the manuscripts should be prepared based on strict observation of research and publication ethics guidelines recommended by the Council of Science Editors (http://www.councilscienceeditors.org).

3.2. Ethical Approval of Studies All studies involving human subjects or human data must be reviewed and approved by a responsible Institutional Review Board (IRB). Animal experiments also should be reviewed by an appropriate committee (IACUC) for the care and use of animals. Also, studies with pathogens requiring a high degree of biosafety should pass a review by a relevant committee (IBC). The approval should be described in the Methods section. For those investigators who do not have formal ethics review committees, the principles outlined in the Declaration of Helsinki should be followed (World Medical Association. Declaration of Helsinki: ethical principles for medical research involving human subjects. Available at: https://www.wma.net/policies-post/wma-declaration-of-helsinkiethical-principles-for-medical-research-involving-human-subjects/). The editor of JAMS may request the submission of copies of informed consent from human subjects in clinical studies or IRB approval documents. The JAMS will follow the guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE, http://publicationethics.org/) for settlement of any misconduct.

3.3. Identification of Patients in Descriptions, Photographs, and Pedigrees A signed statement of informed consent to publish (in print and online) patient descriptions, photographs, and pedigrees should be obtained from all subjects (parents or legal guardians for minors) who can be identified (including by the subjects themselves) in such written descriptions, photographs or pedigrees. Such persons should be shown in the manuscript before its submission. Omitting data or making data less specific to deidentify patients are acceptable but changing any such data are not acceptable.

3.4. Conflict of Interest The corresponding author of an article is asked to inform the Editor of the authors’ potential conflicts of interest that may possibly influence the research or interpretation of data. A potential conflict of interest should be disclosed in a ‘Disclosure’ statement, and in the cover letter even when the authors are confident that their judgments have not been influenced during the study or in preparing the manuscript. Such conflicts may include financial support or private connections to pharmaceutical companies, political pressure from interest groups, or academic problems. The submitted Disclosure format shall follow that of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) Uniform Disclosure Form for Potential Conflicts of Interest (http://www.icmje.org/about-icmje/faqs/conflict-of-interest-disclosure-forms/). The Editor will decide whether the information on the conflict should be included in the published paper. In particular, all sources of funding for a study should be explicitly stated.
The JAMS asks referees to let the Editor know of any conflict of interest before undertaking a review of a given manuscript.
All authors are requested to disclose any actual or potential conflict of interest including any financial, personal or other relationships with other people or organizations within three years of beginning the submitted work that could inappropriately influence, or be perceived to influence, their work.

3.5. Submission Declaration Submission of an article implies that the work described has not been published previously (except in the form of an abstract or as part of a published lecture or academic thesis or as an electronic preprint, see http://www.journal-jams.org/content/policy/data_sharing_policy.html), that it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere, that its publication is approved by all authors and tacitly or explicitly by the responsible authorities where the work was carried out, and that, if accepted, it will not be published elsewhere including electronically in the same form, in English or in any other language, without the written consent of the copyright holder.

3.6. Authorship The Corresponding author must submit a completed Author Consent Form (Copyright Transfer Agreement form) to the JAMS editorial office with manuscripts. All authors must sign the Author Consent Form. The JAMS follows the recommendations for authorship of the ICMJE (www.icmje.org/icmje-recommendations.pdf).
The ‘Uniform Requirements’ of the ICMJE presents authorship recommendations as follows. “Authorship credit should be based on 1) substantial contributions to conception and design, acquisition of data, or analysis and interpretation of data; and 2) drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content; and 3) final approval of the version to be published; and 4) agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that the questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.” The authors should meet these 4 conditions. All individuals who meet the first criterion should have the opportunity to participate in the review, drafting, and final approval of the manuscript.
The contribution of each author must be stated according to the CRediT (Contrubutor Roles Taxonomy) Taxonomy of author roles (casrai.org/credit/) and presented on the title page. If a person does not meet the above four criteria, they may be mentioned as a contributor to the manuscript’s acknowledgments section.

Examples of author contributions
Conceptualization: name; Data curation: name; Formal analysis: name; Funding acquisition: name; Investigation: name; Methodology: name; Project administration: name; Resources: name; Software: name; Supervision: name; Validation: name; Visualization: name; Writing - original draft: name; Writing - review & editing: name.

The Editor assumes that all author(s) listed in a manuscript have agreed with the following JAMS policies on manuscript submission: 1) The manuscript submitted to the JAMS must be previously unpublished and not be under consideration for publication elsewhere; 2) the identities of referees will not be revealed under any circumstances; and 3) if an author(s) should be added or deleted after submission of manuscript, it is the responsibility of the corresponding author to ensure that all the authors involved are aware of and agree to the change in authorship. JAMS has no responsibility for such changes.

3.7. Changes to Authorship Authors are expected to consider carefully the list and order of authors before submitting their manuscript and provide the definitive list of authors at the time of the original submission. Any addition, deletion or rearrangement of author names in the authorship list should be made only before the manuscript has been accepted and only if approved by the journal Editor. To request such a change, the Editor must receive the following from the corresponding author: (a) the reason for the change in the author list and (b) written confirmation (e-mail, letter) from all authors that they agree with the addition, removal or rearrangement. In the case of the addition or removal of authors, this includes confirmation from the author being added or removed. Only in exceptional circumstances will the Editor consider the addition, deletion or rearrangement of authors after the manuscript has been accepted. While the Editor considers the request, the publication of the manuscript will be suspended. If the manuscript has already been published in an online issue, any requests approved by the Editor will result in a corrigendum.

3.8. Copyright All published papers become the permanent property of the Medical Association of Pharmacopuncture Institute. Copyrights of all published materials are owned by the Medical Association of Pharmacopuncture Institute. Permission must be obtained from the Medical Association of Pharmacopuncture Institute for any commercial use of materials. Every author should sign the copyright transfer agreement forms.

3.9. Open Access Every peer-reviewed research article appearing in this journal will be published open access. This means that the article is universally and freely accessible via the internet in perpetuity, in an easily readable format immediately after publication. The author does not have any publication charges for open access. The Medical Association of Pharmacopuncture Institute will pay to make the article open access. A CC user license manages the reuse of the article. All articles will be published under the following license: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs (CC BY-NC-ND): For non-commercial purposes, lets others distribute and copy the article, and to include in a collective work (such as an anthology), as long as they credit the author(s) and provided they do not alter or modify the article.

3.10. Role of the Funding Source You are requested to identify who provided financial support for the conduct of the research and/or preparation of the article and to briefly describe the role of the sponsor(s), if any, in study design; in the collection, analysis and interpretation of data; in the writing of the report; and in the decision to submit the article for publication. If the funding source(s) had no such involvement, then this should be stated.

4.1. Manuscript Structure The structures of various articles are described in the Section 1.1. Each section of the manuscript should begin on a new page. Pages should be numbered consecutively and organized as follows.

4.2. Cover Letter The corresponding author should highlight the key points and originality of the article in few sentences and provide written assurance that neither the submitted materials nor portions thereof have been published previously or are under consideration for publication elsewhere. When more than one related manuscript has been published or is under consideration for publication by this or other journals, authors are required to declare this in their letter and to enclose copies of those publications for editorial perusal.
Authors may recommend experts in the field of the manuscript’s content as potential reviewers. The suggested reviewers may not be working at the same institution and, preferably, not in the same country as the corresponding author(s).

4.3. Title Page The title page should contain the following information:

• Category of paper
• Article title: The article title should not exceed two lines in print. This equates to 100 characters (including spaces) for articles (recommended words: 12~16 words). The article title does not normally include numbers, acronyms, abbreviations or punctuation. It should include sufficient detail for indexing purposes but be general enough for readers outside the field to appreciate what the paper is about.
• Names (spelled out in full) of all authors** with their ORCID IDs, and the institutions with which they are affiliated. The name of each author should be written with the family name last, e.g., Charles Darwin.
• Short running title not exceeding 50 characters
• Corresponding author details: name, academic degree, e-mail address
• Contribution of each author and funding sources should be included as footnotes on the title page.
• Declaration of any source of financial support.

4.4. Abstracts and Keywords The abstract should effectively present the contents of the manuscript (see Section 3.1.1). In principle, acronyms and informal abbreviations should be avoided, but, if needed, they should be kept to an absolute minimum with proper identifications. 4-6 relevant keywords should be listed at the end of the abstract page. For the selection of keywords, refer to Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) service of PubMed (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/mesh) or that of the US National Library of Medicine (https://meshb.nlm.nih.gov/search).

4.5. Main Text For the main text format of various article. Please, refer the Section 1.1 and Chapter 1, 2 and 19 of the AMA Manual of Style by JAMA Network (11th edition, 2020).

4.5.1. Abbreviations
Where a term/definition will be continually referred to, it must be written in full when it first appears in the text, followed by the subsequent abbreviation in brackets. Thereafter, the abbreviation may be used. The use of abbreviations should be kept to a minimum.

4.5.2. Ethical Approval
All manuscripts should be prepared according to the research and publication ethics guidelines recommended (see Section 3.2) and present the approval numbers and the authority in the Methods section.

For studies of humans, including case reports, also state whether informed consent was obtained from the study participants. The Editor may request submission of copies of IRB, IACUC, or IBC approval documents and copies of informed consent from human subjects in clinical studies.

Research involving humans: All studies involving human subjects or human data must be reviewed and approved by a responsible Institutional Review Board (IRB). The IRB approval number should be provided (e.g. Approval No. 2019013). In addition, informed consent must be obtained from all subjects at the time they are enrolled. Authors should follow the principles embodied in the Declaration of Helsinki (https://www.wma.net/policies-post/wma-declaration-of-helsinki-ethical-principles-for-medical-research-involving-human-subjects/) for all investigations involving human materials.

Identification of Patients in Descriptions, Photographs, and Pedigrees: Omitting data or making data less specific to de-identify patients is acceptable but changing any such data is not acceptable.

Research using animals: For animal experimentation, the procedures used and the care of animals should be approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) of one of the authors’ institution(s), and the approval number should be provided (e.g. Approval No. 2019011). We encourage authors to adhere to animal research reporting standards, for example, the ARRIVE reporting guidelines (https://www.nc3rs.org.uk/arrive-guidelines) for reporting study design and statistical analysis; experimental procedures; experimental animals, and housing and husbandry practices. For studies using client-owned animals, authors should demonstrate a high standard (best practice) of veterinary care that includes obtaining informed client consent. The Editor retains the right to reject manuscripts on the basis of ethical or animal welfare concerns.

Research using pathogens: Studies with pathogens requiring a high degree of biosafety should pass the review of a relevant committee (i.e., an Institutional Biosafety Committee; IBC).

Use of terms on sex: We recommend authors ensure the correct use of the term sex when reporting biological factors, and, unless inappropriate, report the sex of experimental animals or cells, and describe the methods used to determine sex. If the study involved a sex-excluded population (i.e. only one sex), authors should justify the reason for that choice, except in obvious cases (e.g., prostate cancer). Authors should indicate how they determined animal breed and justify the relevance of the breed choice.

4.5.3. Units
International System of Units (SI) must be used, with the exception of blood pressure values which are to be reported in mmHg. Please use the metric system for the expression of length, area, mass, and volume. Temperatures are to be given in degrees Celsius.

4.5.4. Drug names
Use the Recommended International Non-proprietary Name for medicinal substances, unless the specific trade name of a drug is directly relevant to the discussion.

4.5.5. Acupuncture Nomenclature and Traditional Medicine Terminologies
Refer to the Standard Acupuncture Nomenclature (https://www.kmcric.com/database/acupoint) and WHO International Standard Terminologies on Traditional Medicine in the Western Pacific Region (https://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/206952) published by the World Health Organization Regional Office for the Western Pacific (e.g. GV20 is correct, while GV-20, Gv20, DU20, DU-20, or Baihui are all incorrect.).

4.5.6. Controlled Trials of Acupuncture in Clinical Studies
Use the preferred reporting criteria based on the Guidelines for Clinical Research in Acupuncture (https://apps.who.int/medicinedocs/en/d/Jh2948e/)

4.5.7. Significant Digits and Statistical Significances
For manuscripts that report statistics, the JAMS recommends authors to refer the following guidelines on the statistical analysis and its presentation. Please, see the Results in the Section 1.1 for significant digits and rounding of numbers. In case there was consultation with statisticians, authors may provide evidence of statistical consultation (or at least expertise) by either the inclusion of a statistician/epidemiologist among the authors or in the acknowledgments.

4.5.8. Acknowledgments
General acknowledgments for consultations, statistical analysis, etc., should be listed at the end of the text, including the names of the individuals involved. All financial and material support for the research and the work should be clearly and completely identified. Ensure that any conflicts of interest are explicitly declared.

4.6. References • References should be assembled on a separate sheet and should be limited to those cited in the text.
• Each reference citation within the main body of the text should be an Arabic numeral enclosed in square brackets on the same line as the text, not a superscript.
• References must be numbered consecutively in the order of appearance in the text, and listed in numerical order in the reference list: do not alphabetize.
• References cited in tables or figure legends should be included in sequence at the point where the table or figure is first mentioned in the main text.
• Abstracts should not be cited unless the abstract is the only available reference to an important concept.
• Do not cite uncompleted work or work that has not yet been accepted for publication as references.
• References should include the complete title of the article and the last names and initials of all the authors up to 6. If there are 7 or more authors, include the last names and initials of the first 6 authors only, followed by "et al".
• Abbreviations for journal titles should conform to those used in MEDLINE.
• If citing a website, please provide the author information, article title, website address and the date you accessed the information.
• Reference to an article that is in press must state the journal name and, if possible, the year and volume.

Authors are responsible for the accuracy and completeness of their references and for correct text citation.

Examples are given below. Other types of references not described below should follow Citing and Referencing: AMA Manual of Style 11th edition (2020, JAMA Network).

Journal articles:
1. Streitberger K, Steppan J, Maier C, Hill H, Backs J, Plaschke K. Effects of verum acupuncture compared to placebo acupuncture on quantitative EEG and heart rate variability in healthy volunteers. J Altern Complement Med 2008;14:505-13.
2. Yeh GY, Ryan MA, Phillips RS, Audette JF. Doctor training and practice of acupuncture: results of a survey. J Eval Clin Pract 2008;14:439-45.
3. Chien CM, Cheng JL, Chang WT, Tien MH, Tsao CM, Chang YH, et al. Polysaccharides of Ganoderma lucidum alter cell immunophenotypic expression and enhance CD56+ NK-cell cytotoxicity in cord blood. Bioorg Med Chem 2004;12:5603-9.

Book:
Robinson AJ, Snyder-Mackler L. Clinical Electrophysiology: Electrotherapy and Electrophysiologic Testing, 3rd ed. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2007.

Book chapter:
Baldry P. Acupuncture treatment of fibromyalgia and myofascial pain. In: Chaitow L, ed. Fibromyalgia Syndrome: A Practitioner’s Guide to Treatment, 2nd ed. Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone, 2003:113-27.

Conference proceedings:
Pacak K, Aguilera G, Sabban E, Kvetnansky R, eds. Stress: Current Neuroendocrine and Genetic Approaches. 8th Symposium on Catecholamines and Other Neurotransmitters in Stress, June 28- July 3, 2003, Smolenice Castle, Slovakia. New York: New York Academy of Sciences, 2004.

Website:
National Cancer Institute. Acupuncture (PDQ). Available at: https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/treatment/cam/hp/acupuncture-pdq [Date accessed: July 21, 2008]

4.7. Tables Tables can summarize, organize, and condense complex or detailed data, and therefore are routinely used to present study results. Tables with their title and footnotes should be understandable without undue reference to the text.
ITables should supplement, not duplicate, the text. They should be numbered consecutively using Arabic numerals in the order of their citation in the text. In the tables for the studies that have independent and dependent variables, the independent variables conventionally are displayed in the left-hand column, the independent variables in the columns to the right.
Tables should be typed single-spaced on separate pages in as simple a form as possible, with a short descriptive title typed directly above and with essential footnotes below. Information requiring explanatory footnotes should be denoted using these symbols (in order of appearance): *, †, ‡, §, ?, ¶, #, **, ††, ‡‡. Abbreviations used in the table must be defined in the footnotes. If you include data from another source, whether published or unpublished, you must acknowledge the original source. The recommended fonts for the table are Arial and Helvetica.

4.8. Figures Figures may be used to clarify or explain methods, to present evidence and quantitative results, to highlight trends and associations or relationships among data, to clarify complex concepts, or to illustrate items or procedures.
Figures should be accurate, clear, and concise. As with tables, the figures with their title and legend should be understandable without undue reference to the text.
The number of figures should be restricted to the minimum necessary to support the textual material. Figures should be labeled in Arabic numerals in the order of their citation in the text. All symbols and abbreviations should be defined in the legend. Figure legends should indicate the anatomic area and/or pathologic condition shown. Patient identification should be obscured. All lettering should be done professionally and should be in proportion to the drawing, graph or photograph. For photomicrographs, include the type of specimen, original magnification, and stain. Each figure should be submitted separately in high-resolution EPS, TIFF, JPEG, or PPT format. Please ensure that files are supplied at the correct resolution of a minimum of 300 dpi. The files are to be named according to the figure number and format, e.g. Fig1.tif.
Figures with originality or of which the author owns the copyright should only be used. Or else, the source of the figure must be specified. The recommended fonts for the figure label are Arial and Helvetica.

5.1. Supplementary Material Supplementary material can support and enhance your scientific research. Supplementary files offer the author additional possibilities to publish supporting applications, high-resolution images, background datasets, sound clips and more. Please note that such items are published online exactly as they are submitted; there is no typesetting involved (supplementary data supplied as an Excel file or as a PowerPoint slide will appear as such online). Please submit the material together with the article and supply a concise and descriptive caption for each file. If you wish to make any changes to supplementary data during any stage of the process, then please make sure to provide an updated file, and do not annotate any corrections on a previous version. Please also make sure to switch off the ‘Track Changes’ option in any Microsoft Office files as these will appear in the published supplementary file(s).

5.2. Editorial and Peer Review Process 5.2.1. Manuscript handling
As a general rule, the receipt of a manuscript will be acknowledged by e-mail within 2 weeks of submission, and authors will be provided with a manuscript number for future correspondence. If such an acknowledgment is not received in a reasonable period of time, the author should contact the Editorial Office.
Manuscripts are reviewed by the Editorial Office to ensure that the submission contains all parts. The Editorial Office will not accept a submission if the author has not supplied all parts of the manuscript as outlined in this document.
Manuscripts are then forwarded to the Editor-in-Chief, who makes an initial assessment of the manuscript. If the manuscript does not appear to be of sufficient merit or is not appropriate for the journal, then the manuscript will be rejected.
Manuscripts that appear meritorious and appropriate for the journal are reviewed by at least two Editorial Board members or consultants assigned by the Editor-in-Chief. Authors should, at the time of manuscript submission, also submit a list of up to five suggested reviewers whom they wish to review their manuscript. Authors will usually be notified within 10 weeks by e-mail of whether the submitted article is accepted for publication, rejected, or subject to revision before acceptance. However, do note that delays are sometimes unavoidable.
The publisher of the Journal of Acupuncture and Meridian Studies, Inforang/Medrang, is a member of the CrossCheck plagiarism detection initiative. In cases of suspected plagiarism CrossCheck is available to the editors of Journal of Acupuncture and Meridian Studies to detect instances of overlapping and similar text in submitted manuscripts. CrossCheck is a multi-publisher initiative allowing screening of published and submitted content for originality.

5.2.2. Peer review
JAMS operates a double-blind review process. All information on the reviewers is confidential and so is that of the contributing authors. Authors’ names and affiliations are removed during peer review.
All contributions will be initially assessed by the editor for suitability for the journal. Papers deemed suitable are then sent to a minimum of two independent expert reviewers to assess the scientific quality of the paper.
The invited reviewers should response to the offer of review within 14 days. Recommended decisions can vary from “Accept,” “Major revision,” “Minor revision,” or “Reject.” Reviewers should submit their decisions on the journal’s electronic manuscript system. Emails from reviewers and authors are considered as digital signatures.
Upon the review decision, the paper may return back to the corresponding author. Each comment by the reviewers should be addressed one point by one point. The corresponding author should clearly indicate what alterations have been made using underline or highlight. The revised version should be uploaded online.
The Editor is responsible for the final decision regarding acceptance or rejection of articles. There may be additional requests to improve the quality and to avoid potential weak points prior to publication. If necessary, certificates issued by professional English language editing company or English proofreading by language experts may be requested to the authors.

5.2.3. Corrections
Corrections including erratum and corrigendum provide a means of correcting errors in a published article. Erratum and corrigendum should be sent directly to the Editor-in-Chief and are treated in the same manner as a formally published paper. An erratum is to notify the errors accused during the production of the journal article, including errors of omission such as failure to make factual proof corrections requested by authors within the deadline provided by the journal and within journal policy. A corrigendum is a notification of a significant error made by the authors of the article. All corrigenda are normally approved by the editors of the journal.

Table 3. Author’s checklist □ Compliance to the Reporting Guideline(s) appropriate for the manuscript, and uploading the related checklist(s).
□ The proper sequence of title page, abstract and keywords, main text, acknowledgments, references, tables, and figures & figure legends (in a detailed manner).
□ All pages should be numbered consecutively starting with the title page.
□ Title page with article category, article title, authors' full name(s) (family name in bold) and affiliation(s), address for corresponding author (including e-mail address), running title (less than 50 characters), author contributions, ORCID IDs, and footnotes for funding sources if any.
□ Abstract in a structured format for research articles and in an unstructured format for the others. Up to 6 keywords.
□ References are listed in a proper format and are numbered in the order they appear in the text. Check that all references listed in the references section are cited in the text and vice versa.
□ All tables and figures are cited in the text.
□ A title for each table and figure (a brief phrase no longer than 15 words) is included, and a self-explanatory legend in detail is provided.
□ Fonts for the table and the figure label are Arial and Helvetica.
□ Figures as separate files, in EPS, TIFF, JPEG, or PPT format.
□ Cover letter stating the article’s scientific significance, the exclusive submission of the manuscript to the JAMS, and indicating the conflicts of interest of all listed authors, if any.
□ Manuscript in Microsoft Word (*.doc or *.docx) format. Double-spaced typing with 12-point font.
□ The text begins on a separate page and includes Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion.
□ Each author has read the manuscript and agrees with the submission.
□ English proofreading by language specialist.

※ This checklist should be uploaded as a file when submitting articles to JAMS

7.1. Use of the Digital Object Identifier The Digital Object Identifier (DOI) may be used to cite and link to electronic documents. The DOI consists of a unique alpha-numeric character string that is assigned to a document by the publisher upon the initial electronic publication. The assigned DOI never changes. Therefore, it is an ideal medium for citing a document, particularly 'Articles in press' because they have not yet received their full bibliographic information. Example of a correctly given DOI (in URL format; here an article in the journal Journal of Acupuncture and Meridian Studies): https://doi.org/10.51507/j.jams.2021.14.2.50. When you use a DOI to create links to documents on the web, the DOIs are guaranteed never to change.

7.2. Gallery Proofs The author(s) will receive the final version of the manuscript as a PDF file. Upon receipt, within 48 hours, the editorial office (or printing office) must be notified of any errors found in the file. Any errors found after this time are the responsibility of the author(s) and will have to be corrected as an erratum.

7.3. Author Fees Neither page charge, article processing charge (also known as a publication fee) for accepted articles nor submission fee will be applied. It is the platinum open access journal.