Journal of Orthodontics

Journal of Orthodontics Instructions for Authors

Key points:

• Please follow the appropriate reporting guidelines when writing your article, e.g. EQUATOR, CONSORT, PRISMA. For more information, see 1.2 below.
• The Journal follows SAGE Harvard referencing. For more information, see 1.3 below.
• The Journal has a maximum figure limit of 8. For more about figures, see 1.3 below.
• All multi-authored original articles require a contributor statement written at the end of the manuscript, before the references. For more information, see 2.2.1 below.
• The Journal is a double-anonymous journal, meaning that the names of authors and reviewers are not shared with one another. Please ensure that your manuscript does not include names, institutions or anything else that easily reveal the authors’ identities.

1. What do we publish?

1.1 Aims & Scope

Journal of Orthodontics is the official journal of the British Orthodontic Society. It is an international, peer reviewed journal with global circulation.

Aim: to publish high quality, evidence-based, clinically orientated or clinically relevant original research that will underpin evidence based orthodontic care.

We welcome reports on prospective research into different treatment methods and techniques, systematic reviews, meta-analyses and studies stimulating interest in new developments.

1.2 Article types

The relevant EQUATOR Network reporting guidelines should be followed depending on the type of study. For example, all randomised controlled trials submitted for publication should include a completed CONSORT flow chart as a cited figure and the completed CONSORT checklist should be uploaded with your submission as a supplementary file. Systematic reviews and meta-analyses should include the completed PRISMA flow chart as a cited figure and the completed PRISMA checklist should be uploaded with your submission as a supplementary file. The EQUATOR wizard can help you identify the appropriate guideline. 

Other resources can be found at NLM’s Research Reporting Guidelines and Initiatives.

Case Reports (1-2 cases) or Case series (fewer than 10 cases of a similar presentation or intervention)

Please see the CARE Case report guidelines for structure and content of the report.

Case reports should include a structured abstract in accordance with the CARE 2013 abstract sub-sections: i.e. Introduction; Patient concerns; Clinical findings; Primary diagnoses; Interventions; Outcomes; Conclusion.

Case material should be presented under the following headings: Abstract; Introduction; Patient information; Clinical findings; Timeline; Diagnostic assessment; e.g. Extra-oral Assessment, Intra-oral assessment, Radiographic (and any other special investigations) assessment, Diagnosis, Aetiology; Intervention(s) (e.g. Aims of treatment, Treatment plan and rationale, Treatment progress); Follow-up and outcome; Prognosis; Discussion; Patient perspective; Informed consent statement.

For some cases the SCARE (surgical case report) or PROCESS (surgical case series) guidelines may be more appropriate.

NB: Some case reports highlighting unusual events may require a different structure, therefore some flexibility in structure is allowed, however please make clear to the Editor in your covering letter why this report requires a different structure.

Randomised Controlled Trials (RCTs)

These papers are encouraged and should be reported in accordance with the CONSORT (Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials) statement using the appropriate extension for orthodontic RCTs. Reports of RCTs should include a completed CONSORT checklist and flowchart of participants in the trial. Please also refer to this article, which helps researchers apply the CONSORT statement specifically for trials submitted to orthodontic journals (Pandis et al, 2015).

Please structure your paper using the headings, sub-headings and content suggested by the relevant checklist. This will ensure that you provide enough information for editors, peer reviewers, readers and researchers including them in systematic reviews, to see how the trial was performed and to judge whether the findings are likely to be reliable.

Authors should review the CONSORT Statement at http://www.consort-statement.org/consort-statement/.

Systematic Reviews (including meta-analyses)

These papers are encouraged and should be accompanied by a structured abstract under the following headings: Objectives; Data sources; Data selection; Data extraction; Data synthesis; Conclusions.

Please report systematic reviews in accordance with the PRISMA (PREFERRED Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) and the appropriate extension. Systematic Reviews should include a completed PRISMA Flowchart and checklist – see http://www.prisma-statement.org/.

Cutting Edge articles

Articles in this section should provide the reader with a contemporary view on a new product, practice, technique or aspect of orthodontic practice. It is suggested that the following sections are used:

Introduction:
 This should describe why this product or practice is relevant to contemporary orthodontics and provide a brief overview of directly relevant literature in the area.

Description of current product, technique or practice: The product, technique or practice should be concisely and clearly described, using either photographs or diagrams if possible. The potential advantages, as well as disadvantages, should be discussed. If appropriate contact details of manufacturers and costs (in UK sterling) should be provided. If website addresses are provided the date of the last time they were accessed by the author(s) should be included. If relevant, comparisons to other similar products, techniques or practice should be provided.

Tables: these may be useful, but should be kept simple and concise, (see Juggins, KJ Orthod 2006; 33(1): 62-66). Tables covering multiple, consecutive pages are not acceptable.

Discussion: The potential impact on future clinical practice and research should be discussed if relevant.

Conclusions: A brief bullet-point summary should be provided as part of the conclusion.

Clinical Pearls
Pearls are simple clinical or management techniques that can easily be implemented by busy orthodontic practices. Specific guidelines include:

• The text should be no longer than 2,000 words.
• The technique should be explained in clear, step-by-step language.
• The images should be keyed to the text using letters (A, B, C, etc.); no captions are used.
• The title should summarise the technique in as few words as possible.

Clinical Pearls are published with video abstracts that summarise the technique. Video abstracts should be uploaded to YouTube, and then shared with the Journal’s editorial team at journaloforthodontics@sagepub.co.uk. For guidelines on video abstracts, please scroll below to 6.4.

1.3 Formatting guidelines

Please refer to EQUATOR Network for the relevant reporting guidelines and use the suggested headings, sub-headings and content guide, within the checklist or article, to structure your paper.

All authors submitting to medicine, biomedicine, health sciences, allied and public health journals should conform to the Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals, prepared by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE).

Word Count

Articles should not be longer than 3,500 words. Please include a word count with your paper.

Article structure

The paper should be compiled in the following order: Title page; Abstract; Keywords; Main text including: Introduction, Materials / Participants / Patients (as appropriate) and Methods, Results, Discussion; Conclusion(s); Acknowledgments; Contributor (CRediT) statement; Declaration of interest statement; Funding; References; Table(s) with caption(s) (on individual pages); Figures; figure captions (as a list); Appendices (as appropriate).

Reference style

Journal of Orthodontics adheres to the SAGE Harvard reference style. View the SAGE Harvard guidelines to ensure your manuscript conforms to this reference style.

If you use EndNote to manage references, you can download the SAGE Harvard EndNote output file.

Abstract format

Abstracts should be no more than 300 words and comply with the relevant reporting guidelines for the article type. See more information about the EQUATOR network in section 1.2 above.

For scientific articles, the abstract should be structured into the following headings: Objective; Design; Setting; Participants (if applicable); Methods; Results; Conclusions.

For case reports / series, please follow the CARE guidelines and structure to include headings of Introduction; Patient concerns; Clinical findings; Primary diagnoses; Interventions; Outcomes; Conclusion(s). For other clinical articles, the abstract does not need to be structured.

For systematic reviews, the abstract should be structured into the following headings: Objectives; Data sources; Data selection; Data extraction; Data synthesis; Results, Conclusions.

Figures

Written informed consent is required for publication of clinical images. Authors should provide the Journal with a written statement that attests that they have received and archived written patient consent. Download the Journal’s consent form here.

There is a maximum figure limit of 8. If you have more than this, you may be able to nest some of your figures into one, i.e. collaging 4 images into 1 image and label them well.

All figures should be submitted as separate files. They should not be included or embedded in the manuscript. E.g. if you have 5 figures, then please upload 5 separate files.

Tables

All tables should be uploaded separately. These should not be embedded within the text of the manuscript.

1.3 Writing your paper

The SAGE Author Gateway has some general advice on How to get published, plus links to further resources. SAGE Author Services also offers authors a variety of ways to improve and enhance their article including English language editing, plagiarism detection, and video abstract and infographic preparation.

The Journal and our publisher, Sage is committed to promoting equity, and we believe that using inclusive language is a simple and powerful way to ensure the communities we serve feel welcomed, respected, safe, and able to fully engage with the publishing process and our published content. Inclusive language considerations are especially important when discussing topics like age, appearance, disability, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, race, religion, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, emigration status, and weight. Please refer to this guide that recommends preferred terminology on these topics.

1.3.1 Make your article discoverable

When writing up your paper, think about how you can make it discoverable. The title, keywords and abstract are key to ensuring readers find your article through search engines such as Google. For information and guidance on how best to title your article, write your abstract and select your keywords, have a look at this page on the Gateway: How to Help Readers Find Your Article Online.

2. Editorial Policies

2.1 Peer review policy

Journal of Orthodontics adheres to a rigorous double-anonymous reviewing policy in which the identity of both the reviewer and author are always concealed from both parties.

2.2 Authorship

Papers should only be submitted for consideration once consent is given by all contributing authors. Submitting authors should carefully check that all those whose work contributed to the paper are acknowledged as contributing authors.

The list of authors should include all those who can legitimately claim authorship. This is all those who:

1. Made a substantial contribution to the concept or design of the work; or acquisition, analysis or interpretation of data,
2. Drafted the article or revised it critically for important intellectual content,
3. Approved the version to be published, 
4. Each author should have participated sufficiently in the work to take public responsibility for appropriate portions of the content.

Authors should meet the conditions of all of the points above. When a large, multicentre group has conducted the work, the group should identify the individuals who accept direct responsibility for the manuscript. These individuals should fully meet the criteria for authorship.

Acquisition of funding, collection of data, or general supervision of the research group alone does not constitute authorship, although all contributors who do not meet the criteria for authorship should be listed in the Acknowledgments section.

Please refer to the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) authorship guidelines for more information on authorship and CRediT statement.

2.2.1 Contributor Statement

For multi-authored papers a 'Contributor Statement’, outlining what each party contributed to the authorship of the paper, should be included in your submission. For more information, please see CRediT statement. Ways of contributing can include but are not limited by: Conceiving and designing the study; Obtaining funding and/or ethics approval; Collecting the data; Analysing the data; Interpreting the data; Writing the article in whole or in part; Revising the article. Authors should be identified by their initials. An example is shown below.

SA conceived the study; SA and RB designed the study and wrote the protocol. RB obtained funding and ethical approval. PC, SA and OD collected the data. PC and ND analysed the data. PC and SA interpreted the data. PC wrote the first draft; all authors edited the manuscript and approved the final version of the manuscript.

2.3 Acknowledgements

All contributors who do not meet the criteria for authorship should be listed in an Acknowledgements section. Examples of those who might be acknowledged include a person who collected some of the data e.g. OD above, provided purely technical help e.g. ND above, or a department chair who provided only general support.

Please supply any personal acknowledgements separately to the main text to facilitate anonymous peer review.

2.3.1 Third party submissions

Where an individual, who is not listed as an author, submits a manuscript on behalf of the author(s), a statement must be included in the Acknowledgements section of the manuscript and in the accompanying cover letter. The statements must:

• Disclose this type of editorial assistance – including the individual’s name, company and level of input
• Identify any entities that paid for this assistance
• Confirm that the listed authors have authorised the submission of their manuscript via third party and approved any statements or declarations, e.g. conflicting interests, funding, etc.

Where appropriate, SAGE reserves the right to deny consideration to manuscripts submitted by a third party rather than by the authors themselves.

2.3.2 Writing assistance

Individuals who provided writing assistance, e.g. from a specialist communications company, do not qualify as authors and so should be included in the Acknowledgements section.

Authors must disclose any writing assistance – including the individual’s name, company and level of input and identify the entity that paid for this assistance. It is not necessary to disclose use of language polishing services.

2.4 Funding

Journal of Orthodontics requires all authors to acknowledge their funding in a consistent fashion under a separate heading.

Please visit the Funding Acknowledgements page on the SAGE Journal Author Gateway to confirm the format of the acknowledgment text in the event of funding, or state that: This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

2.5 Declaration of Conflicting Interests

It is the policy of Journal of Orthodontics to require a declaration of conflicting interests from all authors enabling a statement to be carried within the paginated pages of all published articles.

Please ensure that a ‘Declaration of Conflicting Interests’ statement is included at the end of your manuscript, after any acknowledgements and prior to the references. If no conflict exists, please state that ‘The Author(s) declare(s) that there is no conflict of interest’. For guidance on conflict of interest statements, please see the ICMJE recommendations here.

2.6 Research ethics and patient consent

Medical research involving human subjects must be conducted according to the World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki.

Submitted manuscripts should conform to the ICMJE Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals, and all papers reporting animal and/or human studies must state in the methods section that the relevant Ethics Committee or Institutional Review Board provided (or waived) approval. Please ensure that you have provided the full name and institution of the review committee, in addition to the approval number.

For research articles, authors are also required to state in the methods section whether participants provided informed consent and whether the consent was written or verbal. Please refer to any person(s), willingly taking part in a study, as ‘participants’.

Information on informed consent to report individual cases or case series should be included in the manuscript text. A statement is required regarding whether written informed consent for patient information and images to be published was provided by the patient(s) or a legally authorized representative. Download the Journal’s consent form here.

Please also refer to the ICMJE Recommendations for the Protection of Research Participants.

2.7 Clinical trials

Journal of Orthodontics conforms to the ICMJE requirement that clinical trials are registered in a WHO-approved public trials registry at or before the time of first patient enrolment as a condition of consideration for publication. The trial registry name and URL, and registration number must be included at the end of the abstract.

2.8 Data

SAGE acknowledges the importance of research data availability as an integral part of the research and verification process for academic journal articles.

Journal of Orthodontics requests all authors submitting any primary data used in their research articles, alongside their article submissions, to be published in the online version of the Journal, or provide detailed information in their articles on how the data can be obtained. This information should include links to third-party data repositories or detailed contact information for third-party data sources. Data available only on an author-maintained website will need to be loaded onto either the Journal’s platform or a third-party platform to ensure continuing accessibility. Examples of data types include but are not limited to statistical data files, replication code, text files, audio files, images, videos, appendices, and additional charts and graphs necessary to understand the original research. The editor can also grant exceptions for data that cannot legally or ethically be released. All data submitted should comply with Institutional or Ethical Review Board requirements and applicable government regulations. For further information, please contact the editorial office at Journaloforthodontics@sagepub.co.uk.

3. Publishing Policies

3.1 Publication ethics

SAGE is committed to upholding the integrity of the academic record. We encourage authors to refer to the Committee on Publication Ethics’ International Standards for Authors and view the Publication Ethics page on the SAGE Author Gateway.

3.1.1 Plagiarism

Journal of Orthodontics and SAGE take issues of copyright infringement, plagiarism or other breaches of best practice in publication very seriously. We seek to protect the rights of our authors and we always investigate claims of plagiarism or misuse of published articles. Equally, we seek to protect the reputation of the Journal against malpractice. Submitted articles will be checked with duplication-checking software. Where an article, for example, is found to have plagiarised other work or included third-party copyright material without permission or with insufficient acknowledgement, or where the authorship of the article is contested, we reserve the right to take action including, but not limited to: publishing an erratum or corrigendum (correction); retracting the article; taking up the matter with the head of department or dean of the author's institution and/or relevant academic bodies or societies; or taking appropriate legal action.

3.1.2 Prior publication

If material has been previously published it is not generally acceptable for publication in a SAGE journal. However, there are certain circumstances where previously published material can be considered for publication. Please refer to the guidance on the SAGE Author Gateway or if in doubt, contact journaloforthodontics@sagepub.co.uk.

3.2 Contributor's publishing agreement

Before publication, SAGE requires the author as the rights holder to sign a Journal Contributor’s Publishing Agreement. SAGE’s Journal Contributor’s Publishing Agreement is an exclusive licence agreement which means that the author retains copyright in the work but grants SAGE the sole and exclusive right and licence to publish for the full legal term of copyright. Exceptions may exist where an assignment of copyright is required or preferred by a proprietor other than SAGE. In this case copyright in the work will be assigned from the author to the society. For more information please visit the SAGE Author Gateway.

3.3 Open access and author archiving

Journal of Orthodontics offers optional open access publishing via the SAGE Choice programme. For more information on Open Access publishing options at SAGE please visit SAGE Open Access. We also have many Open Access agreements in place with institutions from around the world. Please visit Open Access Agreements to see if you can get your Open Access fee covered.

For information on funding body compliance, and depositing your article in repositories, please visit SAGE’s Author Archiving and Re-Use Guidelines and Publishing Policies.

4. Preparing your manuscript for submission

4.1 Formatting

The preferred format for your manuscript is Word. LaTeX files are also accepted. Word and (La)Tex templates are available on the Manuscript Submission Guidelines page of our Author Gateway.

4.2 Artwork, figures and other graphics

For guidance on the preparation of illustrations, pictures and graphs in electronic format, please visit SAGE’s Manuscript Submission Guidelines.

Combination Images should be used wherever possible and should be supplied separately in the preferred file formats: PDF, EPS, PowerPoint, Illustrator, InDesign.

Figures supplied in colour will appear in colour online and in the print issue. There is no charge for reproducing figures in colour in the printed version.

4.3 Video

Journal of Orthodontics encourages authors to include archival quality video files alongside their research papers. Such material should enhance the contents of a paper, both in clarity and in added value.

For more information about the format requirements for videos, please review our Author Gateway instructions for supplemental material. For detailed information pertaining to copyright and permissions requirements, view the Video Permission and Fair Use Quick Guide. For videos with identifiable subjects, subjects will need to sign the Audio-Visual Likeness Release form. It is the author’s responsibility to submit signed release forms, if necessary, for each video.
Tips for good videos:

• Good video must visualise data and results in a way that could not be accomplished by figures embedded in the paper 
• Voice overs or explanatory text, rather than stand-alone frames or captions, are much more effective
• Video of a PowerPoint style presentation is not acceptable

4.4 Supplementary material

This journal is able to host additional materials online (e.g. datasets, podcasts, videos, images etc) alongside the full-text of the article. For more information please refer to our guidelines on submitting supplementary files.

4.5 English language editing services

Authors seeking assistance with English language editing, translation, or figure and manuscript formatting to fit the journal’s specifications should consider using SAGE Language Services. Visit SAGE Language Services on our Journal Author Gateway for further information.

5. Submitting your manuscript

Journal of Orthodontics is hosted on SAGE Track, a web based online submission and peer review system powered by ScholarOne™ Manuscripts. Visit https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/joo to login and submit your article online.

IMPORTANT: Please check whether you already have an account in the system before trying to create a new one. If you have reviewed or authored for the journal in the past year it is likely that you will have had an account created.  For further guidance on submitting your manuscript online please visit ScholarOne Online Help.

5.1 ORCID

As part of our commitment to ensuring an ethical, transparent and fair peer review process SAGE is a supporting member of ORCID, the Open Researcher and Contributor ID. ORCID provides a unique and persistent digital identifier that distinguishes researchers from every other researcher, even those who share the same name, and, through integration in key research workflows such as manuscript and grant submission, supports automated linkages between researchers and their professional activities, ensuring that their work is recognised.

The collection of ORCID iDs from corresponding authors is now part of the submission process of this journal. If you already have an ORCID iD you will be asked to associate that to your submission during the online submission process. We also strongly encourage all co-authors to link their ORCID ID to their accounts in our online peer review platforms. It takes seconds to do: click the link when prompted, sign into your ORCID account and our systems are automatically updated. Your ORCID iD will become part of your accepted publication’s metadata, making your work attributable to you and only you. Your ORCID iD is published with your article so that fellow researchers reading your work can link to your ORCID profile and from there link to your other publications.

If you do not already have an ORCID iD please follow this link to create one or visit our ORCID homepage to learn more.

5.2 Information required for completing your submission

You will be asked to provide contact details and academic affiliations for all co-authors via the submission system and identify who is to be the corresponding author. These details must match what appears on your manuscript. The affiliation listed in the manuscript should be the institution where the research was conducted. If an author has moved to a new institution since completing the research, the new affiliation can be included in a manuscript note at the end of the paper. At this stage please ensure you have included all the required statements and declarations and uploaded any additional supplementary files (including reporting guidelines where relevant).

5.3 Permissions

Please also ensure that you have obtained any necessary permission from copyright holders for reproducing any illustrations, tables, figures or lengthy quotations previously published elsewhere. For further information including guidance on fair dealing for criticism and review, please see the Copyright and Permissions page on the SAGE Author Gateway.

6. On acceptance and publication

6.1 SAGE Production

Your SAGE Production Editor will keep you informed as to your article’s progress throughout the production process. Proofs will be sent by PDF to the corresponding author and should be returned promptly.  Authors are reminded to check their proofs carefully to confirm that all author information, including names, affiliations, sequence and contact details are correct, and that Funding and Conflict of Interest statements, if any, are accurate.

6.2 Online First publication

Online First allows final articles (completed and approved articles awaiting assignment to a future issue) to be published online prior to their inclusion in a journal issue, which significantly reduces the lead time between submission and publication. Visit the SAGE Journals help page for more details, including how to cite Online First articles.

6.3 Access to your published article

SAGE provides authors with online access to their final article.

6.4 Promoting your article

Publication is not the end of the process! You can help disseminate your paper and ensure it is as widely read and cited as possible. The SAGE Author Gateway has numerous resources to help you promote your work. Visit the Promote Your Article page on the Gateway for tips and advice.

To help promote your article, we suggest that you consider creating a video abstract, which summarises your article for audiences within and beyond the orthodontics field. Video abstracts should be uploaded to YouTube, and then shared with the journal’s editorial team at journaloforthodontics@sagepub.co.uk. Videos should follow these guidelines:

• 2:30 minutes or less
• Landscape format, 16:9 aspect ratio
• Frame rate: 24-30fps. At least 1080p recording resolution
• Upload your video to YouTube (you can choose if you make that video public, or just available if someone has the link)
• Ensure that the video is transcribed. You can turn on YouTube's automatic transcribing, which can then be edited.

For some tips and advice on creating a video abstract, please see SAGE’s video abstract guidelines.

7. Further information

Any correspondence, queries or additional requests for information on the manuscript submission process should be sent to the Journal of Orthodontics editorial office as follows:

Christo Hall, Editorial Assistant
Journaloforthodontics@sagepub.co.uk