Author Guidelines

A Word About Author’s Responsibilities

Originality

Authors are required to sign and upload or email the Author’s Declaration and Copyright License form. Although the editors and reviewers make every effort to assess the validity of material accepted for publication, the ultimate responsibility for accuracy, originality, and unbiased presentation rests with the author(s). The corresponding author ensures that all authors meet the expected criteria.

Authorship

Anyone listed as an author is expected to have substantially participated in both preparing the manuscript and approving the version submitted for publication. “Substantial participation” is defined as a contribution to one or more of the following: conception and design of the study, data acquisition, data analysis, drafting of the manuscript, revising the manuscript.

Carefully select the order in which authors will appear; this order will not be changed after submission and the journal will not arbitrate conflicts related to authorship. This policy includes adding or removing authors.

Acknowledgments

Note that contributions such as obtaining funding; administrative, technical, or material support; or general supervision are not in themselves qualification for authorship. Neither is writing assistance. Please list such contributors in an acknowledgments section at the end of the manuscript.

Conflicts of Interest

Conflicts of interest undermine the credibility of the authors and the journal. Each author is must sign an Author’s Disclosures form affirming that the preparation of the manuscript—and any research discussed in the manuscript—conforms to the highest ethical standards unhampered by funding arrangements relating to the manuscript and/or any research discussed.

• Complete form electronically: each author can download it and fill it out using Adobe Acrobat or Reader.
• Alternatively, print the form, complete it, scan the signed document, and convert it to a PDF file.
• The corresponding author should obtain each coauthor’s signed form via e-mail and upload all forms as supplementary files during article submission or email them to the Journal Manager.

Manuscripts will not be reviewed until any and all forms are received.

Obvious conflicts of interest include but are not limited to employment, consulting relationships, stock ownership, honoraria, travel aid, speaker fees, and paid expert testimony. This disclosure extends to any possible conflicts of interest, so please report anything that gives the appearance of impropriety. Consider whether any author serves on a paid advisory board, receives patents and/or royalties for the work being discussed, or receives grant support.

Conflict-of-interest statements may accompany the article when it is published if in the editors’ opinion they conclude it is necessary for judging the manuscript. Disclosures will appear near the beginning of each published article.

Informed Consent

Authors are responsible for protecting anonymity of patients. If any accompanying tabular, graphic, or photographic illustrations identify patients or research subjects, please remove their names. If written consent has been obtained for personal identifiers to appear, submit it with the manuscript.

If the manuscript refers to any experimental investigation with human subjects, human-derived materials, or human medical records, the corresponding author must affirm that it adhered to guidelines for experimental investigation under the appropriate Institutional Review Board (IRB) and that informed consent for the research was obtained from the patients or subjects. Alternatively, the corresponding author can state that the IRB waived the need for approval. If waived, the study and data accumulation must be in conformity with all country or state laws and the tenets of the World Medical Association’s Declaration of Helsinki. U.S. authors must stipulate that the study is in accordance with HIPAA regulations.

Do not use patients’ names, initials, dates, or hospital numbers, especially in illustrative material. Informed consent for research requires that the subjects agreed to participate after explanation of the nature and possible consequences of the study. This consent is distinct from the informed consent obtained before performing a test or procedure on a patient for clinical purposes.

If animals are used in the protocol or the study, the corresponding author should affirm that animal care protocol was followed, name the institution that sponsored the study, and identify relevant IRB approval. Biomedical research involving animals must conform to generally accepted principles of animal maintenance and care, such as those of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology.