 Instructions for authorsThe guidelines are in accordance with the "Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals." (The complete document appears in N Engl J Med 1997;336:309-15.) (complete text)
ManuscriptsManuscripts containing original material are accepted for consideration if neither the article nor any part of its essential substance, tables, or figures has been or will be published or submitted elsewhere before appearing in the Journal. This restriction does not apply to abstracts or press reports published in connection with scientific meetings. Copies of any closely related manuscripts should be submitted to the Editor along with the manuscript that is to be considered by the Journal. The Journal discourages the submission of more than one article dealing with related aspects of the same study. Submit an original manuscript with one set of original figures and two copies of the complete manuscript. Only one copy will be returned to you. Manuscripts must be no longer than 3000 words. Please supply a word count (not including abstract or references). Use standard-sized paper, and triple-space throughout. Address all submissions to the Editor, Online-Journal of Ophthalmology, Dept.of Ophthalmology, University Erlangen-Nürnberg, D-91053 Erlangen. A covering letter signed by all authors should identify the person (with the address and telephone number) responsible for negotiations concerning the manuscript; the letter should make it clear that the final manuscript has been seen and approved by all authors and that they have taken due care to ensure the integrity of the work. At least one person's name must accompany a group name. As stated in the Uniform Requirements (see above), credit for authorship requires substantial contributions to: (a) conception and design, or analysis and interpretation of data; and (b) the drafting of the article or critical revision for important intellectual content. If more than 12 authors are listed for a multicenter trial, or more than 8 for a study from a single institution, each author must sign a statement attesting that he or she fulfills the authorship criteria of the Uniform Requirements. Acknowledgments will be limited to a column of Journal space, and those acknowledged will be listed only once. Letters to the EditorLetters to the Editor are considered for publication (subject to editing and abridgment) provided they do not contain material that has been submitted or published elsewhere. Please note the following: Your letter must be typewritten and triple-spaced. Its text, not including references, must not exceed 400 words (please include a word count). It must have no more than five references and one figure or table. It should not be signed by more than three authors. Letters referring to a recent Journal article must be received within four weeks of its publication. Please include your full address, telephone number, and fax number (if you have one). You may send us your letter by post, fax, or electronic mail. Our address: Letters to the Editor,Online-Journal of Ophthalmology, Dept.of Ophthalmology, University Erlangen-Nürnberg, D-91053 Erlangen. Our fax numbers: 09131-85-6401 Our Internet address: mi@onjoph.com We cannot acknowledge receipt of your letter, but we will notify you when we have made a decision about publication. We are unable to provide prepublication proofs. Please enclose a stamped, self-addressed envelope if you want unpublished material returned to you. Financial associations or other possible conflicts of interest must be disclosed. Submission of a letter constitutes permission for the Massachusetts Medical Society, its licensees, and its assignees to use it in the Journal's various editions (print, data base, online, and optical disk) and in anthologies, revisions, and any other form or medium. Preparation of video and audio presentationsVideo & audio presentations can be submitted as video tape (S-VHS, VHS) or on floppy disc(CD ROM) as digital video file (AVI or MOV). All videos must be final edited version in ½"quot; VHS or SVHS format or digital in AVI, MOV or MPEG format with sound in English. Using of copyrighted music is forbidden. Medical illustration should be completed to meet television aspect ratio standards. Maximum length of presentation is 10 minutes. The presentation should include a 20-30 second introducction in which all authors and affiliations are presented. All video and audio presentation shoulds include a abstract of presentation with (1) a concise but informative title, (2) authors' names, affiliations and full postal addresses, (3) name, address, telephone, fax number and e-mail address of the author handling correspondence and proofs and (4) an institutional logo or photograph of the submitting institution. Audio presentations must be final edited version in Wave (WAV), Audio Interchange File Format (AIFF), MIDI or uLaw (AU) format Case reports in Clinical OphthalmologyCase reports in Clinical Ophthalmology, a Journal feature, presents clinically important case reports, emphasizing those a doctor might encounter in an average day at the office, or the hospital. If you have original high-quality color or black-and-white photographs representing such a typical case that you would like considered for publication, send it with a descriptive legend to Editor, Online-Journal of Ophthalmology, Dept.of Ophthalmology, University Erlangen-Nürnberg, D-91053 Erlangen. For details about the size and labeling of the photographs, the requirements for the legend, and authorship, please contact Mr. Scibor at 9131-85-4462 (phone) or 9131-85-6401 (fax), or the Editor, Online-Journal of Ophthalmology, Dept.of Ophthalmology, University Erlangen-Nürnberg, D-91053 Erlangen at mi@onjoph.com. Submit the electronic case report on floppy disc and three hard copies. Enclose the illustrations or photos as standard 35mm slides as graphics on floppy disc and threehard copies (3prints) of the illustrations and photos. Case reports should be typewritten, typed on one side of the paper, with wide margins and double spacing throughout. Case reports should be in general devided in the following components: (1) History - Brief history including history of present illness, past ocular and medical history, and medications. (2) Examination - Information in this section should always include the visual acuity, external examination, pupillary function, slit lamp examination, and fundus examination. (3) Differential diagnosis - This section should include a short list of differential diagnostic possibilities based on the history and clinical examination. (4) Imaging studies (e.g. fluorescein, CT, MRI, ultrasound etc.) (5) Pathology (6) Diagnosis and discussion - This section should be a brief review of the clinical entity presented. Topics covered in the discussion should include clinical follow-up (if any), epidemiology, pathophysiology, clinical features of the condition, approach to diagnosis, and treatment. (7) References Conflict of InterestAuthors of research articles should disclose at the time of submission any financial arrangement they may have with a company whose product figures prominently in the submitted manuscript or with a company making a competing product. Such information will be held in confidence while the paper is under review and will not influence the editorial decision, but if the article is accepted for publication, the editors will usually discuss with the authors the manner in which such information is to be communicated to the reader. Because the essence of reviews and editorials is selection and interpretation of the literature, the Journal expects that authors of such articles will not have any financial interest in a company (or its competitor) that makes a product discussed in the article. Units of MeasurementAuthors should express all measurements in conventional units, with Système International (SI) units given in parentheses throughout the text. Figures and tables should use conventional units, with conversion factors given in legends or footnotes. In accordance with the Uniform Requirements, however, manuscripts containing only SI units will not be returned for that reason. Titles and Authors' NamesWith the manuscript, provide a page giving the title of the paper; titles should be concise and descriptive (not declarative). Also include a running head of fewer than 40 letter spaces; the name(s) of the author(s), including the first name(s) and no more than two graduate degrees; the name of the department and institution in which the work was done; the institutional affiliation of each author; and the name and address of the author to whom reprint requests should be addressed. Any grant support that requires acknowledgment should be mentioned on this page. AbstractsProvide on a separate page an abstract of not more than 250 words. This abstract should consist of four paragraphs, labeled Background, Methods, Results, and Conclusions. They should briefly describe, respectively, the problem being addressed in the study, how the study was performed, the salient results, and what the authors conclude from the results. Key WordsThree to 10 key words or short phrases should be added to the bottom of the abstract page; these will help us index the article and may be published with the Abstract. Use terms from the Medical Subject Headings from Index Medicus. ReferencesReferences must be triple-spaced and numbered consecutively as they are cited. References first cited in tables or figure legends must be numbered so that they will be in sequence with references cited in the text. The style of references is that of Index Medicus. List all authors when there are six or fewer; when there are seven or more, list the first three, then "et al." The following is a sample reference: 1. Lahita R, Kluger J, Drayer DE, Koffler D, Reidenberg MM. Antibodies to nuclear antigens in patients treated with procainamide or acetylprocainamide. N Engl J Med 1979;301:1382-5. Numbered references to personal communications, unpublished data, and manuscripts either "in preparation" or "submitted for publication" are unacceptable (see "Permissions"). If essential, such material may be incorporated in the appropriate place in the text. TablesDouble-space tables and provide a title for each. If an article is accepted, the Journal will arrange to deposit extensive tables of important data with the National Auxiliary Publications Service (NAPS); we will pay for the deposit and add an appropriate footnote to the text. This service makes available microfiche or photocopies of tables at moderate charges to those who request them. IllustrationsFigures should be professionally designed. Glossy photographs are requested. Symbols, lettering, and numbering should be clear and large enough to remain legible after the figure has been reduced to fit the width of a single column. The back of each figure should include the sequence number, the name of the author, and the proper orientation (e.g., "top"). Do not mount the figure on cardboard. Photomicrographs should be cropped to a width of 8 cm, and electron photomicrographs should have internal scale markers. If photographs of patients are used, either the subjects should not be identifiable or their pictures must be accompanied by written permission to use the figure. Permission forms are available from the Editor. Legends for illustrations should be triple-spaced on a separate sheet and should not appear on the illustrations. Color illustrations are encouraged. Send both transparencies and prints for this purpose. AbbreviationsExcept for units of measurement, abbreviations are discouraged. Consult Scientific Style and Format: The CBE Manual for Authors, Editors, and Publishers (Sixth edition. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1994) for lists of standard abbreviations. The first time an abbreviation appears it should be preceded by the words for which it stands. Drug NamesGeneric names should generally be used. When proprietary brands are used in research, include the brand name in parentheses in the Methods section. PermissionsMaterials taken from other sources must be accompanied by a written statement from both author and publisher giving permission to the Journal for reproduction. Obtain permission in writing from at least one author of papers still in press, unpublished data, and personal communications. Review and ActionManuscripts are examined by the editorial staff and are usually sent to outside reviewers. We encourage authors to suggest the names of possible reviewers, but we reserve the right of final selection. Only one copy of rejected manuscripts will be returned, usually within six weeks. Decisions about potentially acceptable manuscripts may take longer. For information about the status of a submitted manuscript, send e-mail to edit@onjoph.com. |