Guide for Authors
Official publication of the American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus
The
Journal of AAPOS publishes original articles, including clinical
and laboratory investigations, case reports, surgical techniques, descriptions of instrumentation, current concept reviews/workshops,
editorials, and letters to the editor. Preference will be given to manuscripts that address issues relevant to pediatric ophthalmology
and strabismus: anatomy, embryology, and development of the eye or eye muscles; ocular manifestations of pediatric systemic disease;
eye movement disorders in children and adults; development of the visual system; epidemiology; ocular genetics; and any other ocular
disorders in children. The Journal maintains a clinical focus, with basic science research applicable to clinical practice also encouraged.
Authors wishing to submit review articles, workshops, or editorials should first contact the editor-in-chief. Authors do not need to
be members of the American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus (AAPOS), and manuscripts written by AAPOS members are
not given preferential consideration.
Only manuscripts submitted solely to the Journal are considered. Text or data previously published
in a similar form or extensively reported in "tabloid" ophthalmologic publications may be unacceptable. Questions pertaining to a manuscript
or concerning prior publication should be directed to the editor-in-chief before the manuscript is submitted. Inquiries may be sent to
the managing editor at
ME@jaapos.org, or
Journal of AAPOS, Farley 019.1, Children's Hospital Boston, 300 Longwood
Avenue, Boston, MA 02115 (email preferred; material submitted by mail will not be returned.)
MANUSCRIPT
SUBMISSION: OVERVIEW
All new manuscripts must be submitted in digital form through the
Journal of AAPOS
online submission and review Web site (
http://ees.elsevier.com/jaapos/ ). Authors are encouraged to include the names of
potential reviewers for their manuscript, with email addresses or other contact information, if known.
Submission items include (as
separate files), in the following order:
- Cover letter (for specific content of which, see below, "Authors' Responsibility")
- Response to reviews (revised manuscripts only)
- Title page (as a separate file for initial review: integrated into
manuscript with reviews)
- Manuscript (including abstract, text, references, and figure legends)
- Highlighted version
(changes tracked) of manuscript (revised manuscripts only)
- Tables
- Figures
- Video or e-supplements
Each page of the manuscript must include continuous line numbers in the margin. Files should be labeled with appropriate
and descriptive file names (e.g., Text.doc, Fig1.eps, Table3.doc). Upload text, tables, and graphics as separate files. A ".zip" file
combining all files may also be used. Do not import figures or tables into the text document, and do not upload your text as a PDF file.
For initial review, a "masked" manuscript is required. Manuscript files, tables, figures, and electronic media should not contain the
author's identities in the contents, header/footer, or file names.
Revised manuscripts must be accompanied by a separate file (distinct
from the cover letter) with point-by-point responses to reviewers' comments. This corrections addendum must include a numbered list of
reviewers' comments (e.g., 1.1, 2.1, 2.2), keyed to page and line numbers in the revised manuscript. If you have chosen not to make a
suggested revision, you must explain your reasoning.
Revised manuscripts must also be submitted in two versions: a "clean" version,
without highlighting or marginal callouts, and a second, "highlighted" version, with changes tracked and keyed to the list of reviewers'
comments in the corrections addendum. If the original manuscript contained masked areas identifying your name(s), institution(s), or
the geographic location of the study, insert the proper identifications in this version.
The publisher and editors regret that they
are not able to consider submissions that do not follow these procedures. Authors who are unable to provide electronic files or have
other circumstances that prevent online submission may contact the editorial office prior to submission to discuss alternate options.
THE REVIEW PROCESS
The corresponding author will be notified upon receipt
of each manuscript. Two referees—either editorial board members or experts in the field—will review manuscripts and make
recommendations on suitability for publication. The referees are masked to the identity of the authors. Likewise, the Journal does not
reveal referees' identities but does send pertinent comments to the author. The author will be notified of the editorial board's decision
after the review. If a manuscript is returned to the author for revision, the revised version should be received by the Journal within
2 months. Otherwise, it will be considered a new submission.
If an article is accepted for publication in the Journal, the author
will receive a copyright transferal form, which must be completed and returned to the publisher before the article can be typeset. Before
publication, the publisher will email edited proofs to the author for examination and approval, along with a price schedule and an order
form for reprints. Once the manuscript is typeset and finalized for appearance in print, it will be published online and made available
on the Journal Web site for subscribers.
Should possible scientific misconduct or dishonesty in research submitted for review by
the Journal be suspected or alleged, the Journal reserves the right to forward any submitted manuscript to the sponsoring or funding
institution or other appropriate authority for investigation. The Journal recognizes the responsibility to ensure that the question is
appropriately pursued but does not undertake the actual investigation or make determinations of misconduct.
AUTHORS'
RESPONSIBILITY
Cover letters should indicate the name, address, phone and fax numbers, and email address of the
corresponding author. Authors must confirm that the manuscript, or parts of it, have not been and will not be submitted elsewhere for
publication. Additionally, authors must certify that all coauthors have read the final manuscript within their respective areas of expertise
and participated sufficiently in the study to take responsibility for it and accept its conclusions.
Any possible financial conflicts
of interest and all sources of financial support, public and private—stating agency name and city, company name and city, fellowship
name, and grant number, as appropriate—must be disclosed on the manuscript title page and in the cover letter.
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Conflict
of Interest. Authors must disclose any conflict of interest or potential conflict of interest, which may be considered to exist
where the actions or activities of authors or third parties may involve obtaining an improper personal gain or advantage from publication
of the article in question. Any conflict or potential conflict must be reported to the editor-in-chief of the Journal, who must be supplied
with a proprietary interest statement. Each author is expected to disclose any type of financial interest that is related to the subject
matter of the manuscript. Authors should disclose any individual or family investments, stock or business ownership exceeding 1% of a
company's worth, consulting, retainers, patents, or other commercial interests. The involvement in the marketing of any product, drug,
instrument or piece of equipment discussed in the manuscript that could cause, or be perceived to be, a conflict of interest should also
be disclosed. Such disclosure will not affect the review of the manuscript.
Cover letters must also include word counts
(or, for revisions, updated word counts) for the entire manuscript and for the abstract alone. The word count for the entire manuscript
includes the words in the abstract, body of the text, tables, references, acknowledgments, and legends.
Authors should list illustrations
or tables previously published and submit a letter of permission for reproduction rights. If any person's identity can be determined
from a photo submitted with the manuscript, the author must include written permission to publish the photograph. In general, photographs
of an individual's eyes that are cropped to show the portion of the face between the eyebrows and the tip of the nose do not require
permission to publish. Photographs that are cropped to show a larger area of the face do require permission. Articles appear in both
the print and online versions of the Journal, and wording of the letter should specify permission in all forms and media. Failure to
obtain electronic permission rights may result in the images not appearing in the online version.
Declarations regarding IRB-HIPAA
compliance should appear within the body of the paper. HIPAA should be spelled out e.g., this study was approved by the Institutional
Review Board of [name of institution] and conformed to the requirements of the United States Health Insurance Portability and Privacy
Act.
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Informed Consent. For reports or studies, excluding Short Reports, involving human subjects, a statement must
appear early in the Methods section regarding Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval or waiver and when and from whom informed consent
was obtained. For North American authors, the statement should indicate the name of the approving committee or body. For studies and
reports from the United States, a declaration of compliance with HIPAA regulations should also be included. For studies from other areas,
approval by an IRB is strongly encouraged. If IRB approval outside of North America is not available, the authors should confirm that
the study and data collection conformed to all local laws and were compliant with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki (JAMA
2000;284:3043-3045; http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/284/23/3043 ). Patients' names, initials, hospital or university
numbers, dates and other potentially identifying information should not appear in the manuscript. For studies involving animals, where
appropriate, approval by IRB or an equivalent body should be indicated in the Methods section.
TECHNICAL
PREPARATION OF MANUSCRIPT
In general, manuscripts should follow
AMA Manual of Style (9th ed.) guidelines;
technical terminology should reflect
Dorland's Illustrated Medical Dictionary (30th ed.). Spelling must conform to U.S. English.
Word processing software can assist with this task; in MS Word, for example, choose Tools, then Language, and Set Language: select English
(U.S.). See also the Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals (
http://www.icmje.org/ ). A supplemental
style sheet pertaining to this Journal is available on request from the managing editor (
ME@jaapos.org).
Limit
the use of abbreviations to those that are commonly understood without explanation (e.g., mm Hg). Do not abbreviate a syndrome or term
merely because it appears frequently in the manuscript. Pharmaceuticals should be referred to by the generic name. When brand names of
equipment or other products are specified, the manufacturer and city and state of manufacture must be included in parentheses following
first mention. Patients should be referred to by case number rather than by name or initials.
To mask author identity from
reviewers, references to the author(s), institution(s), or geographic location(s) by name or initial should be masked from the manuscript
until after initial peer review. If authors refer to their own previously published work, they may forgo masking that material. In such
cases, authors should identify the issue in question in the cover letter. The editorial office can make a decision about whether or not
to mask the material.
To enable the publisher to use your text files, please follow these instructions carefully. Do not justify
the right margin or use centering tabs for text or headers. Be sure to key the letter O, the number 0, the letter l, and the number 1
correctly. Use only one space after colons or periods. Use the default hyphenation of your word processor. Use two hyphens for long dashes.
Key in the reference list at the end of the text. Software designed to create references that is used as an adjunct to word processing
software (e.g., Endnote) may be used, but do not use your word processor's footnote or endnote feature to create such references. When
preparing tables, use the table format or use only tabs, not spaces, to align columns. Text to be italicized or set in boldface in print
may be keyboarded thus (italics may also be indicated by underlining). Do not input special typesetting codes. The publisher will handle
all design considerations for typefaces and page layout. Finally, before submitting your manuscript, please confirm that spelling conforms
to U.S. English. Word processing software can often assist with this task. For MS Word, choose Tools > Language > Set Language,
selecting "English (U.S.)".
Illustrations. Submit images in JPEG, TIFF, or EPS format. For guidelines on acceptable formats,
see
http://www.elsevier.com/artwork . Note that while color illustrations or photographs are encouraged and will be published
at no extra charge in the online version of the journal, it is the author's responsibility to carry the added expense of publishing in
color in the print version of the Journal. Prices are available on request from Mosby, Inc . Inquiries may be sent to
ME@jaapos.org.
Depending on the priority (assigned by the reviewers) for publishing the illustrations in color, funds may be available from the Journal
office to offset some of the cost of color printing. For current funding information, please contact the Journal office. Authors wishing
to publish color photographs should state so in their cover letter. Please refer to the section on Authors' Responsibility regarding
permission to publish photographs. If an illustration from an article is selected for the cover, it will be published in color at no
charge to the authors.
Graphics software such as Photoshop and Illustrator is preferred over presentation software such as PowerPoint,
CorelDraw, or Harvard Graphics for the creation of art. Titles should be included in the figure legend and not in the figure. Color images
must be CMYK or RGB, at 300 DPI. Grayscale images should be at least 300 DPI. Combinations of gray scale and line art should be at least
600 DPI. Line art (black and white or color) should be at least 1000 DPI.
Supplemental material for online publication: JAAPOS
allows publication of additional tables, figures, or text (e.g., methodology, explanations of analysis, spreadsheets with detailed subject
data) in the electronic versions of published manuscripts. This material will not be included in print versions, but a reference to its
being available online will appear in print versions. Supplemental material is subject to peer review but, once accepted, will be published
"as is," without additional editing or formatting. Any supplemental material must be submitted as an "e-component" supplement when the
manuscript is first submitted for publication. Authors should indicate in the submitted manuscript that this material is additional information,
to be published electronically. The electronic version should not be used as a repository for redundant or unnecessary data.
ORGANIZATION
OF MANUSCRIPT
Manuscripts (except short reports—see below) should be arranged in the following order when
appropriate: title page, abstract, introduction, methods and materials or subjects and methods, report of cases, results, discussion,
acknowledgments, references, legends for figures, and tables.
Title page. The title page should include the following elements:
- Title of the manuscript
- Each author's name and two highest academic degrees only
- Author affiliations
- Corresponding author
- Institution at which the study was conducted
- Word count for entire manuscript, including
abstract
- Word count for abstract alone
The word count for the entire manuscript should include the words in
the abstract, body of the manuscript, acknowledgments, legends, and references. It should not include the words on the title page itself.
The corresponding author's address, telephone number, fax number, and email address should be listed. Authors wishing to receive email
communication from readers may have their email addresses printed with the published manuscript. Authors should indicate on the title
page whether material was presented at the AAPOS annual meeting, or any other national meeting. Any author's financial conflict of interest
regarding the subject matter in the manuscript should be disclosed on the title page.
Abstract. The abstract must be in
the "structured" format and less than 250 words in length. Where appropriate, abstract headings should read: background or purpose; methods;
results; and conclusions. See Ann Intern Med 1997;126:36-47 (
http://www.annals.org/cgi/content/full/126/1/36 ) for more
information on structured abstracts. Short reports should not have an abstract but should have an introductory paragraph (in boldface)
that summarizes the article. (See section on Short Reports.)
Text. The text should include the following sections, when
appropriate, for the material:
- Introduction
- Methods and materials (or subjects and methods)
- Report of
cases
- Results
- Discussion
Authors should make every effort to present Major Articles as concisely
as possible. The Introduction generally need not exceed 2 paragraphs. Methods that require extensive detail may be supplemented with
e-components. Discussions should focus on interpretation of the most salient features of the results. A Summary section should not appear
at the end of the manuscript. If the total word count of your Major Article exceeds 4,000 words (excluding tables and figures) please
contact the editor-in-chief (
ME@jaapos.org) prior to submission.
Each page of the manuscript must include continuous
line numbers in the margin. In MS Word, go to File, the Page Setup. Click on Layout, then in lower left corner, Line Numbers. Check Add
line numbering, select Continuous in the lower left corner. Click OK.
Acknowledgments. Acknowledgments must be listed separately
to facilitate masking. Limit acknowledgments to individuals who do not qualify for authorship, but who provided extensive help, without
which the study could not have been conducted. Examples include those individuals who provided statistical help, essential equipment
or laboratory help, or who translated references. The Journal does not acknowledge individuals who participated in the management of
patients in the study as a part of their regular job.
Literature Search
. When
making a statement such as "this is, to our knowledge, the
first/only report of...," or providing a review of the published literature
in a field, authors must demonstrate that they have conducted a
comprehensive and systematic review of the literature. Methods of
literature
search and criteria for including/excluding articles much be
stated directly in the manuscript in these cases. This paragraph, which
should be placed at the end of the manuscript, before the reference list,
under the heading "Literature Search," should state the databases
and
search terms used, years covered, and additional sources. (e.g., articles
cited in the reference lists of other articles). It should
also indicate how
the foreign literature was treated. Other databases such as Exerpta
Medica/EMBASE (1947-present), Ophthalmic Literature
(1947-1988),
and Zentralblatt für die gesamte Ophthalmologie und ihre Grenzgebiete
may include key articles that are not cited in
MEDLINE.
References. References should be numbered consecutively in the manuscript in the order in which they are cited.
For model citations, authors may consult the Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedicl Journals (Ann Intern Med 1997:
126:36-47; http://www.annals.org/cgi/content/full/126/1/36), noting, however, that the Journal deviates in some respects from formats
recommended there as well as in the current edition of AMA Manual of Style.
For publications by more than six authors, list only
the first three, followed by "et al." Titles of books and journals are capitalized but not italicized. Journal titles are abbreviated
as in Cumulated Index Medicus. Do not include issue number or month of publication for continuously paginated journals.
In citations
of Web pages and the like, include the following information: Author or name of organization responsible for site. Web page title or
organizational name. Date. Web site name. URL. Accessed [date], if pertinent.
Unpublished data, informal communications, meeting abstracts
and the like should be cited parenthetically in the text as concisely as possible rather than in the reference list: include first author,
journal abbreviation, volume, and item identifier. For personal communications, the author must provide the Journal's editorial office
with a written statement from the cited correspondent granting permission to quote and/or publish privately communicated information.
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Articles
Gupta SR, Cogen MS, Metz TH Jr. Congenital osteoma cutis of the lateral canthus. Epub ahead
of print May 29, 2009. J AAPOS.
Hussin HM, Spry PGD, Majid MA, Gouws P. Reliability and validity of the partial coherence interferometry
for measurement of ocular axial length in children. Epub Aug 12, 2005. Eye 2006; 20:1021-4.
Lubchenco LO, Papadapoulos M, Butterfield
LJ, et al. Long-term follow-up studies of prematurely born infants: Relationship of handicaps to nursery routines. J. Pediatr 1972:
80(Suppl 2); 501-8.
Saunders RA. When and how to strengthen the superior oblique muscle. J AAPOS. In press.
Books
Parks MM. Ocular motility and strabismus. Hagerstown (MD): Harper & Row; 1975:99.
Phillips SJ, Wisnant JP, Norman IJ, et al.
Hypertension and stroke. In: Laragh JH, Brenner BM, eds. Hypertension: Pathophysiology, Diagnosis, and Management. Vol 2. 2nd ed. Albany,
NY: Raven Press; 1995:465-78.
Contributions in books
Jampolsky A. Adjustable eyelid and eyebrow suspension for
blepharoptosis. In: Wesley RE, editor. Techniques in ophthalmic plastic surgery. New York: John Wiley & Sons; 1986. p. 304.
Internet
sources
American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus and the American Academy of Ophthalmology, Amblyopia
is a medical condition. 2006.
http://www.aapos.org/associations/571/files/amblyopia_policy_statement.pdf. Accessed July 1, 2009.
Unpublished material
(Huiskamp EA, et al. IOVS 2008;49: E-Abstract 5566)
Legends for figures.
All figures should be numbered in the order in which they are referred to in the text. The Legends for Figures should be a brief description
that allows the figure to be fully understood. Material that is in the Legends for Figures should not be repeated in the text.
Tables.
Table numbers should appear at the top of each table in the order in which they are referenced in the manuscript, along with a short
descriptive title. Abbreviations that are not commonly understood terms should be explained in a legend. Material that is in the tables
should not be repeated in the text. Large tables documenting extensive clinical details are discouraged; authors are encouraged to analyze
and summarize these data in a more concise format. Each table must be submitted as a separate file.
PRESENTATION
OF DATA
Correlation coefficient. When interpreting correlation coefficients, avoid using the terms "significant
correlation" or "correlated significantly." A correlation coefficient is concerned with the strength of the relationship between two
variables?not merely whether the correlation observed differs significantly from zero. (It is possible, given enough data points, to
have a "significant" correlation coefficient of 0.1, which represents a very weak relationship between variables, where one variable
influences the other by less than 1%.) Authors are encouraged, rather than using
p-values, to calculate and present 95% confidence
intervals on the observed and reported correlations and to comment on the strength of the correlation as, for example, "strong," "moderate,"
or "weak."
Mean visual acuity. When calculating the mean visual acuity, it is not correct to determine the mathematical
average of the decimal equivalent of Snellen acuity. In general, it is important to convert to LogMAR acuity prior to statistical manipulations;
it is then possible to convert back to Snellen equivalents after the calculations have been performed. For more information consult the
following article: Holladay JT. Visual acuity measurements.
J Cataract Refract Surg 2004;30:287-90 (
http://www.ascrs.org/publications/jcrs/guestfeb04.html
).
Safe and effective. In the U.S. context, the term
safe and effective has a
specific meaning, having been adopted
by the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration to indicate that a device or drug has met that agency's
standards and may be sold and marketed
in the United States.
(For details, consult Albrecht J and Bigby M. The meaning of "safe
and effective." J Am Acad Dermatol 2003;48:144-7.)
Published case
reports and case series generally cannot establish either safety or effectiveness
and the term is thus rarely appropriate.
Authors may of
course use either term in, say, discussions of complication rates, noting
how effectively a procedure met specified goals;
furthermore,
they may compare this procedure to the complication and effectiveness
rates of others. Likewise, statements concerning the
relative
safety of a procedure in particular contexts may be appropriate.
However, general statements concerning a procedure's
"safety" or
"effectiveness," while perhaps desirable for rhetorical effect, are in
fact meaningless and should be avoided.
VIDEO
Authors are encouraged to submit video clips that will augment the material in the manuscript for online publication. Authors who
wish to do this should state so in their cover letter. Video clips may be uploaded using the "e-component" file category. All submitted
video will be subject to peer review.
SHORT REPORTS
This section contains
case reports, surgical techniques, description of instrumentation, or small studies of limited scope. Manuscripts for the Short Reports
section should be in the following form: title page, text, references (no more than 10), legends for figures. Short reports should not
have an abstract. In its place there should be a single introductory paragraph in boldface that consists of a brief (up to 200 words)
summary of the manuscript. This paragraph may contain references and should not be in the "structured" format. The contents of this paragraph
should not be duplicated in the manuscript. Manuscripts submitted as Short Reports should not exceed 1200 words of text and may have
up to five illustrations. Each illustration beyond three reduces the text limit by 200 words. Unless otherwise stated, the general requirements
for manuscripts outlined above apply to Short Reports.
Case reports should always have the following structure: (1) age of patient;
(2) where presented; (3) main complaint; (4) present illness; (5) relevant medical history/review of systems/family history, if any;
(6) examination, labs/special studies, or pertinent missing labs; (7) clinical course. Ophthalmological examination results should present
data in the following order: (1) visual acuity in each eye, (2) pertinent findings, (3) pertinent negative findings.
REVIEWS
/ WORKSHOPS
Reviews and Workshops are typically submitted by invitation. Prospective authors with an idea for a
Review or Workshop should contact the editor-in-chief prior to submission. Reviews are comprehensive summaries of the literature that
present all sides of an issue. Workshops are nearly as comprehensive as Reviews but emphasize practical approaches reflecting the individual
preferences of the authors, and include specific recommendations regarding the diagnosis and treatment of highlighted conditions. Reviews
and Workshops must conform to the guidelines provided for Major Articles.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Correspondence regarding articles that have been published in the Journal should be submitted within 8 weeks of that publication.
Letters to the Editor will be considered for publication by the editorial board and may be subject to editing. If a Letter to the Editor
is regarding a previous publication in the Journal, the author of that article will be given an opportunity to reply. The letter and
response may be published exclusively on the Journal Web site.
EDITORIALS
Editorials are typically submitted by invitation; however, prospective authors with an idea for an Editorial should contact the editor-in-chief
prior to submission. Editorials should be limited to fewer than 600 words and five references.
OBITUARIES
/ NEWS ITEMS
The Journal does not publish notices or other items regarding meetings, honors, or named lectures.
These items may be submitted to the AAPOS newsletter, or presented within purchased advertising space. Obituaries relevant to the Journal
readership will be considered. Obituaries should be in narrative form and fewer than 100 words.
EYE
ON THE ARTS / FIRST PERSON / CLINICAL PEARLS
The Journal publishes short materials that highlight the human side
of
medicine. These features are printed within available white space at the
end of major articles and may be sent directly to the editor-in-chief
(
ME@jaapos.org) for consideration.
The "Eye on the Arts" feature excerpts passages from novels, poems,
or other
published works of art that reflect the eyes or the visual
system. These excerpts may be submitted directly to the managing
editor as
PDF files. Include the marked passage, the book cover, and
publication information. "Eye on the Arts" contributors are anonymous.
The
"First Person" feature provides clinicians with an opportunity to
share the wealth of emotion that occurs in daily interactions with
patients.
Contributions might include a humorous comment made by a child or
parent, or an event that has touched the life of a family
and a physician.
In the "Clinical Pearls" feature, clinicians share their practical tricks
and shortcuts for examination, diagnosis,
and treatment. A figure may
be included. "First Person" and "Clinical Pearls" contributions should
be no more than 200 words. Contributors
are acknowledged unless the
author requests anonymity.
Updated August 2009
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