Submissions

MANUSCRIPT PREPARATION

All manuscripts submitted to the journal are screened by the editorial team. Manuscripts are immediately rejected if they do not follow the author guidelines, are not in line with the aims of the journal, or are well short of the standard required for publication.

 

• Authors should be aware of AJOPS' requirements for manuscript type (word count, abstract structure, number of figures and tables and references)

 

• Authors should refer to the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors' ICMJE Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals in particular their guidelines for preparing manuscripts for submission to medical journals here.

 

• Reporting guidelines have been developed for different study designs; examples include CONSORT Statement for randomised trials, STROBE for observational studies, PRISMA Statement for systematic reviews and meta-analyses, and STARD for studies of diagnostic accuracy. AJOPS encourages authors to follow these guidelines because they help authors describe the study in enough detail for it to be evaluated by editors, reviewers, readers and other researchers evaluating the medical literature. 

 

• Authors of review manuscripts are encouraged to describe the methods used for locating, selecting, extracting, and synthesizing data; this is mandatory for systematic reviews. Good sources for reporting guidelines are the EQUATOR Network and the NLM's Research Reporting Guidelines and Initiatives.  Source: ICMJE guidelines for preparing manuscripts 

 

• Other reporting guidelines that have been developed to assist authors submitting cases include PROCESS for case series and CARE case reports.

 

Human studies - ethics approval

• The name of the ethics committee and approval number must be included in the Methods section of the manuscript.

 

Clinical trials - registration and reporting

• AJOPS strongly encourages authors to register trials with the Australian and New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry
• Clinical trials should be identified in the title of the manuscript 
• Authors should include the name of the trial register and their clinical trial registration number in the Methods section of the manuscript. 

 

Randomised control trial - reporting

• Radomised controlled trials should be identified in the title of the manuscript.

 

Patient consent

A statement confirming that patient consent has been obtained for the publication of related images and data must be included at the end of the text and before the references. For privacy reasons patient consent forms should be held by the treating institution. Use the statement: 

Patients/guardians have given informed consent to the publication of images and/or data.

 

Conflict of interest

Authors must declare any conflicts of interest. This statement should follow the patient consent statement. Use the statement: 

The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

 

Funding declaration

Authors must include a statement as to whether or not they have received funding for the research, authorship and/or publication of the paper. This statement should follow the statement on conflict of interest. Use the statement: 

The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

 

 

MANUSCRIPT PARTS

Title page

Authors are asked to submit a separate title page with the following information included:

A concise, relevant and accurate title of no more than 80 characters, including spaces

Authors' names,* qualifications, affiliations and ORCID id:

• Maximum of three qualifications eg MBBS PhD FRACS
• Each author's role/participation in the authorship of the manuscript
• Joint first authors will be indicated by an * and a note stating equal contribution.
• If a submission has more than five authors, the inclusion of each name must be justified in the covering letter
• Contributors who do not qualify as authors should be mentioned under 'Acknowledgements’

Contact details for the corresponding author:

• Full name, postal addresses, email and telephone number.
• Disclosures: Include a separate disclosure for each of the following:

Patient/consent for the publication of any images and/or data relating to the patient

Conflicts of interest relating to the authors

Financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of the manuscript.

Clinical trial registration:

• Name of trial database where registered
• Registration number and date registered

Ethics approval:

• Name of review board/ethics committee
• Ethics approval number

Acknowledgements:

• Authors must acknowledge anyone who contributed to the manuscript who is not an author. Corresponding authors are responsible for obtaining permission to acknowledge individuals and should confirm this in writing by forwarding email acceptance to AJOPS.

Word count:

• Total word count including the abstract and figures and tables (equivalent to 250 words each)
• NB: References are not included in word count

Keywords:

• AJOPS has adopted the use of medical subject headings or MESH terms a controlled vocabulary of biomedical terms used in MEDLINE (PubMed, PubMed Central).
• Include 5 MESH terms for articles and 3 for cases.

Figures

All figures (illustrations and photographs) should:

• be supplied as separate files
• include the figure number in the file name
• be colour, where possible
• be high-resolution (at least 300 dpi) and saved as a .eps, .tiff or .jpg file and
• be accompanied by permission from the copyright holder where necessary

In the main body of the text, figures should be cited in consecutive order using Arabic numerals and contained in parentheses (Figure 1)

At the end of the manuscript, after the references, include a list of the figures with:

• the number and full title of each figure
• a legend for each figure with definitions of any symbols used and statistical measures of variation, such as standard deviation and error of the mean, identified.

Tables

Tables should be:

• numbered consecutively throughout the text using Arabic numerals
• be self-contained and complement, but not duplicate, information contained in the text
• be presented on a separate page at the end of the manuscript
• have columns with brief headings with units of measurement in parentheses
• captioned with definitions of any symbols used and statistical measures of variation, such as standard deviation and error of the mean, identified.

Use the following symbols, in sequence: : †, ‡, §, ||, ¶, ††, ‡‡ (*, **, *** should be reserved for P values)

References

The journal uses the Vancouver referencing style where references are:

• numbered sequentially as they occur in the text using Arabic numerals
• ordered numerically in the reference list at the end of the text
• complete with **all** author names (_et al_ is no longer used).

For in-text citations, use:

• Arabic numerals set in superscript **following** punctuation with no surrounding parentheses. For example: 'Your in-text reference marker should appear after punctuation.⁴

 

 

MANUSCRIPT FORMAT

Submissions must adhere to the following format:

• Microsoft Word file (.doc, .docx) with all identifying information removed
• double spaced text
• 12 point Times New Roman
• first level headings in bold; second level headings in italic; and third level headings underlined
• page numbers in the top right-hand corner of each page
• tables embedded at the end of the manuscript, double-spaced, with no outlines, limited to one data point to each cell with captions in italic below
• figures supplied as separate files with the figure number in the file name.

 

 

MANUSCRIPT TYPE/REQUIREMENTS

• Original articles
• Review articles
• Case reports
• Case series
• Perspectives
• Guides
• Videos
• Letters.

 

ORIGINAL ARTICLES

Full-length reports of current research in either basic or clinical science. 

Word count	Maximum 3000 words including abstract, main text, figures/tables
Abstract	Maximum 250 words; structured (include subheadings Background, Methods, Results, Conclusion) and 5 keywords based on MESH terms
Main text	Structured (include subheadings Introduction, Methods, Analysis, Discussion and Conclusion)
Figures/tables	Maximum 8; each counts as 250 words
References	No limit

 

REVIEW ARTICLES

Systematic reviews

A systematic review article offers a comprehensive analysis of a specific topic with reference to all the available literature. Systematic reviews are evidence-based, have a clearly described methodology, include meta-analysis where appropriate and provide a quantitative summary.

Narrative reviews

Narrative reviews describe and discuss broad scientific topics with reference to selected literature. They can be evidence-based but generally provide a qualitative summary of the topic.

Word count	Maximum 4800 words including abstract, main text, figures/tables
Abstract	Maximum 250 words. For systematic reviews, include subheadings (Introduction, Methods, Results, Conclusion) and five keywords based on MESH terms; Narrative reviews may have an unstructured summary and five keywords based on MESH terms. Systematic and narrative review articles should include information about the databases used for literature searches, the time period and how the information was extracted.
Figures/tables	Maximum 8; each counts as 250 words
References	No limit

 

 CASE REPORTS

Case reports describe interesting or unusual cases and provide clinical insight into patient care. The generally accepted format for a case report includes a title, introduction/background, case, discussion, conclusion and references. Case reports undergo a double-blind peer review process prior to acceptance.

Word count	Maximum 1000 words; include subheadings (Background or Introduction, Case, Discussion and Conclusion)
Abstract	Not required; include 3-5 keywords based on MESH terms.
Figures/tables	Maximum 3; these do not contribute to the word count
References	Maximum 10

 

CASE SERIES

Case series describe interesting or unusual cases involving one to five patients in similar situations and provide clinical insight into patient care, such as strategies for treatment and management where applicable. The generally accepted format for a case series includes a title, introduction/background, case, discussion, conclusions and references. Case series undergo a double-blind peer review process prior to acceptance.

Word count	Maximum 1500 words; include subheadings (Background or Introduction, Case, Discussion and Conclusion)
Abstract	Maximum 150 words, unstructured; include 3-5 keywords based on MESH terms
Figures/tables	Maximum 5; these do not contribute to the word count
References	Maximum 15

 

OTHER MANUSCRIPT TYPES

EDITORIALS

Editorials are invited by the editors-in-chief or from members of the editorial board. They present views and perspectives related to published articles, current issues or journal policy. They are concise, scholarly, insightful and thought-provoking.

Word count: Maximum 1000 words
Figures/tables: Maximum 1; this does not contribute to the word count
References: No limit

 

FEATURES

Features are commissioned by the editors-in-chief. They can be on any topic that is of interest to readers that is related to current issues or journal policy. Features are typically articles but other submission types may be commissioned at the discretion of the editors-in-chief.

Word count: Depending on the type of submission
Abstract: Depending on the type of submission
Figures/tables: Depending on the type of submission
References: No limit

 

PERSPECTIVES

Perspectives are welcome on any topic within the field of medicine/public health. These can be overview statements, personal views or studies based on surveys. Perspectives should contain a tight linear argument and be more than just a mini-review. Perspectives are evaluated by the editors-in-chief and may be subject to peer review.

Word count: 1000-1500 words
Abstract: Not required
Figures/tables: Maximum 3; these do not contribute to the word count.
References: Maximum 10

 

'HOW TO DO IT' GUIDES

'How to do it' guides are focused descriptions of key aspects of operative technique. The title should start with 'How to do a...' followed by the technique (eg 'How to Rhinoplasty'). Articles may be accompanied by supplementary material. 'How to do it' guides are evaluated by the editors-in-chief and may be subject to peer review.

Word count: 600 words
Abstract: Not required
Figures/tables: 1; this does not contribute to the word count.
References: Maximum 10

 

LETTERS

Letters are brief communications, concisely written, about content published in the journal. Letters offer a perspective or provide information pertinent to a particular topic. For letters responding to another letter, use the title format 'Response to [title of letter]' to ensure that readers can track the discussion.

Word count: 300 words
Figures/tables: 1; this does not contribute to the word count.
References: Maximum 5

 

 

MANUSCRIPT STYLE

Resources:

• International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals for preparation of manuscripts
• AMA Manual of Style 11th edition for medical, health or scientific writing and publishing with guidance on style, terminology, measurement and quantification
• Macquarie Dictionary for Australian spelling and usage
• Citing Medicine: the NLM Style Guide for Authors, Editors and Publishers, 2nd edition for references
• Journals referenced in the NCBI Databases for journal title abbreviations and also
• Caltech Library Journal Title Abbreviations

 

top

Updated 20 April 2022