Information for Authors

Information for Authors 

Categories of Manuscripts

Category	Description	Abstract	Text (excluding abstract, references)	Tables plus Figures	References
Original Article	Provides new information based on original research. Includes prospective studies with in-depth statistical analysis, unique retrospective observations of a disease or disorder, and studies of novel applications of an interventional procedure or treatment method.	Structured with headings: Objective(s), Methods, Results, Conclusion. ≤250 words	≤3500 words	≤20	≤50
Review	Systematic reviews or meta-analyses of recent developments in a specific topic. Scoping reviews of the literature that identify area(s) for future research will also be considered. No new information is described, and no subjective opinion or personal experiences are expressed.	Structured with headings: Objective(s), Methods, Results, Conclusion. ≤250 words	≤5000 words	≤20	≤60
Perspective	Narrative review articles discussing recent developments in a specific topic. No new information is described; may include subjective opinion or personal experiences.	Unstructured ≤250 words	≤2500 words	≤20	≤60
Case Report	Brief discussion of a case with unique features not previously described. Additional cases (case series) may be added to augment the discussion. The discussion should be succinct and focus on a specific message.	Unstructured ≤250 words	≤1500 words	≤8	≤15
Photo Essay	Teaching exercise with message in the figures and legends. Emphasis is on quality of the illustrations and clinical relevance of the message.	Not required	≤1500 words	≤8	≤15
Clinical Quiz	A scenario is described followed by clinical questions. Answers and brief review of relevant literature to be provided in a separate page.	Not required	≤1500 words	≤8	≤15
Letter to the Editor	Short letter on any matter of interest to journal readers, including comments on an article that has previously appeared in the journal. The authors of the article commented on would be invited to reply.	Not required	≤250 words	≤1	≤5

 

Manuscript Submission

Manuscripts should be submitted via the Hong Kong Journal of Ophthalmology (HKJO) online submission system at https://hkjo.hk/index.php/hkjo/about/submissions.

Before submission, please ensure that you article meets the requirements detailed below.

Before Submission

General

HKJO adheres to the Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE; http://www.icmje.org), and the Core Practices of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE; https://publicationethics.org).

Submitted manuscripts must be original works that have not been published elsewhere (in whole, in part, or as a preprint) and are not under consideration by another publication.

Reporting Guidelines

To improve the quality and clarity of published articles, HKJO recommends the use of reporting guidelines in the preparation of manuscripts, such as those advocated by the EQUATOR Network (for example, CONSORT for randomized trials, or CARE for case reports).

Funding

Any sponsor(s) of the research involved, along with grant number(s) should be provided.

Conflicts of interest

All authors must provide a statement reporting any conflicts of interest. Where none exist, please state ‘The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.’ Authors may use the ICMJE Conflict of Interest form.

Ethics

All studies must be conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki.

For all research involving living humans (including studies involving human tissue, retrospective studies, and database studies), an appropriate research ethics committee must be consulted. A statement must be included in the manuscript that provides the name of the research ethics committee and approval number (or waiver).

A statement on consent must also be included, indicating how patient(s)/guardian(s) provided informed consent (eg, written or verbal), or that the requirement for patient consent was waived by the review board.

Identifying information must be removed from the manuscript; where this is impossible, for example a patient photograph, consent for publication must be provided by the patient.

For studies involving animals, appropriate ethics approval is required, and this should be stated in the manuscript.

Data availability

The authors shall make available the complete data on which the manuscript is based. A statement describing how the data can be accessed must be included in the manuscript (e.g., “The data are available from the corresponding author upon request.”). For clinical trials and other large datasets, HKJO recommends that data are deposited in a public repository and shared using a permanent identifier (such as a DOI).

Preparation of Manuscripts

In general, manuscripts should be prepared following the ‘IMRaD’ structure as recommended by the ICMJE.

Blinded Manuscript

Please provide a blinded manuscript as a single file, with figures and tables included. The title page (if any) should be provided separately. Any identifying information (eg, references to past publications, name of an author’s institution) should be masked or removed from the blinded manuscript. Manuscripts should be submitted in Word format (.doc or .docx).

Supplementary Material

Supplementary material will only be considered in exceptional circumstances. Any such material should be submitted for review with the manuscript. Accepted supplementary material will be formatted and proofread by the Journal and published online only.

Language

Manuscripts must be written in English. Please use US English spellings as per the Merriam-Webster Dictionary.

Authors

For each author, provide the full name, professional qualifications, and affiliation (where the study was conducted).

The full name, postal address, telephone and fax numbers, and email address of the corresponding author must be provided. The corresponding author, on behalf of the authors, is responsible for all contact with the Journal.

Title

The title should concisely convey the main topic of the study. Avoid obvious terms such as “a study of” or “novel”. If appropriate, please include the study design in the title (eg, ‘randomized controlled trial’, ‘systematic review’, ‘case report’). An abbreviated title of <45 characters is also required.

Abstract

An abstract of ≤250 words is required for certain articles types, including Original Articles and Reviews. Please consult the Categories of Manuscripts for details. The abstract should provide a complete summary of the article, including the aims/purpose, main methods, key results, and conclusions. Abbreviations and clinical or technical jargon should be avoided.

Key Words

Five relevant index terms should be provided, selected from the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH; www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/mesh).

Tables

Tables should be typed using the ‘Insert Table’ feature of MS Word, with one item of data per cell and minimal formatting. Large tables may be provided in MS Excel format. Tables should be numbered and concisely titled. Abbreviations should be defined in footnotes.

Figures

The number of figures should be restricted to the minimum necessary to support the textual material. Figures should be submitted in .jpg format with a resolution of 350 dpi or above. Figures should be included in the manuscript file; large image files may be submitted separately. Legends should be provided for each figure to indicate the anatomical area and pathological condition shown. All symbols and abbreviations should be defined in the legend.

References

The references should be numbered in the order in which they are first cited in the text. Each reference citation should be in superscript Arabic numerals after full-stops and commas. At the end of the article, the full list of references should be presented in Vancouver style. Include the complete title, and names and initials of all authors. Examples are shown below:

Periodicals

1. Lewis T. Paroxysmal tachycardia. Heart 1909;1:43-72. (if more than three authors, please use "et al." after the third).

Books (edited by other authors of article)

2. Furman S. Pacemaker follow-up. In Barold SS, (eds): Modern Cardiac Pacing. Mount Kisco, New York, Futura Publishing Company, 1985, pp. 889-958.

Books (identical author and editor)

3. Chung EK. Principles of Cardiac Arrhythmias. Baltimore, MD, Williams & Wilkins, 1977, pp. 97-188.

Abstracts

4. Same as periodicals and followed by "(abstract)".

Please refer to the latest ICMJE recommendations on Manuscript Preparation for further information on references and for general guidance on style: http://icmje.org/recommendations/browse/manuscript-preparation/

Acknowledgement(s)

Any individuals who contributed substantially to the study but do not qualify for inclusion as authors should be acknowledged. Written permission from acknowledged individuals is required.

After Submission

Copyright

On acceptance of an article for publication in HKJO, copyright of the article is transferred to the Journal. The Journal has a fully Open Access policy, and publishes all articles under a Creative Commons license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0). For any use other than that permitted by this license, written permission must be obtained from the Journal.

Plagiarism and fabrication

All manuscripts are assessed for plagiarism using Turnitin (https://www.turnitin.com) before being sent for peer review.

Peer review process

The HKJO follows a double-blind peer review system. After initial checks by the Editorial Office, all submissions are screened by the Editor-in-Chief. Papers that do not meet these requirements are rejected or returned to the authors for revision before peer review. New or revised papers that meet the minimum requirements of the journal are sent for peer review. All papers are reviewed by at least two independent reviewers. In the event of disagreement between the two reviewers, the paper is sent for a third review. The final decision rests with the Editor-in-Chief.

Editing

Accepted manuscripts undergo technical editing and copy-editing, so that style and language are consistent with international standards and HKJO style, and to ensure that articles can be clearly understood by our international readers. The corresponding author is sent the edited manuscript (galley proof). A few days are usually given for the authors to check the paper, respond to any queries, and to suggest changes. After acceptance, only minimal changes will be allowed; substantial changes will incur charges, and the addition of new material may require another round of peer review. Authors are responsible for all statements made in their work, including changes made by the copyeditor.

Proofs

The corresponding author is sent the final version (page proof) of the manuscript to proofread. The corresponding author is responsible for ensuring that all authors read and approve the final version of the manuscript.

Costs to Authors

There are no submission or page charges for publication in HKJO.

Sharing Your Article

Authors are encouraged to share their articles as widely as possible, to maximize readership and impact. Authors are recommended to always share articles with the DOI. This is a number beginning ‘10.12809/hkjo’ that should be shared as a URL (eg, https://doi.org/10.12809/hkjo). This will always link to the most recent version of the manuscript.

Preprints

Preprint servers, such as medRxiv and ResearchSquare, are becoming a popular way to disseminate research early. However, these papers are not peer reviewed before being made available to the public.

Author Accepted Manuscript

For selected high-priority papers, authors will receive a copy of the ‘Accepted Manuscript’. This version of the manuscript can be shared freely on personal websites and social media. The following text is recommended, using the article DOI included in the manuscript:

  This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published in Hong Kong Journal of Ophthalmology, available at [DOI].

Please do NOT publish this version of the manuscript on any public websites, such as institutional repositories or scholarly networking sites such as ResearchGate or Mendeley until after the embargo (the final publication date).

Version of Record

This is the final published version of the manuscript. This can be downloaded from the HKJO website and shared freely, including uploading to an institutional data repository. However, please be aware that certain types of re-use are restricted by the Creative Commons license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) used by HKJO. It is recommended that the article DOI is used to share.