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Asia-Pacific Journal of Ophthalmology (APJO) Online Submission and Review System SCOPE The Asia-Pacific Journal of Ophthalmology (APJO) is
the official publication of the Asia-Pacific Academy of Ophthalmology. The APJO positions
itself as a first-class bimonthly (6 issues per year) peer-viewed e-journal
representative of ophthalmic and visual science developments in the
Asia-Pacific region. The APJO welcomes the submission of
original, previously unpublished manuscripts which describe clinical
investigations, clinical observations and clinically relevant laboratory
investigations. MANUSCRIPT SUBMISSION A submitted manuscript must be an original contribution not
previously published (except as an abstract or preliminary report), must not be
under consideration for publication elsewhere, and if accepted, must not be
published elsewhere in similar form, in any language, without the consent of
Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. Each person listed as an author is expected
to have participated in the study to a significant extent. Although the editors
and referees make every effort to ensure the validity of published manuscripts,
the final responsibility rests with the authors, not with the Journal, its
editors, or the publisher. Patient anonymity and informed consent: it is
the author’s responsibility to ensure that a patient’s anonymity be carefully
protected and to verify that any experimental investigation with human subjects
reported in the manuscript was performed with informed consent and following
all the guidelines for experimental investigation with human subjects required
by the institution(s) with which all the authors are affiliated. Authors should
mask patients’ eyes and remove patients’ names from figures unless they obtain
written consent from the patients and submit written consent with the
manuscript. Copyright: All authors must sign a copy of the
journal's “Authorship
Responsibility, Financial Disclosure, and Copyright Transfer” and submit it with the original manuscript. Conflicts of Interest: Authors must
state all possible conflicts of interest in the manuscript, including
financial, consultant, institutional and other relationships that might lead to
bias or a conflict of interest. If there is no conflict of interest, this
should also be explicitly stated as none declared. All sources of funding
should be acknowledged in the manuscript. All relevant conflicts of interest
and sources of funding should be included on the title page of the manuscript
with the heading “Conflicts of Interest and Source of Funding:”. For example: Conflicts of Interest and Source of Funding: A has received
honoraria from Company Z. B is currently receiving a grant (#12345) from
Organization Y, and is on the speaker’s bureau for Organization X – the CME
organizers for Company A. For the remaining authors none were declared. In addition, each author must complete and submit the journal’s
copyright transfer agreement, which includes a section on the disclosure of
potential conflicts of interest based on the recommendations of the
International Committee of Medical journal Editors, “Uniform Requirements for
Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals” (http://www.icmje.org/udpate.html). The form is readily available on the manuscripts
submission page http://www.editorialmanager.com/apjo/ and can be
completed and submitted electronically. Please note that authors may sign the
copyright transfer and disclosure form using a digital signature. For
additional information about creating a digital signature and electronically
signing this form, please go to http://links.lww.com/ZUAT/A106. Alteration to authorship: Any change in
authors after initial submission must be approved by all authors. This applies
to additions, deletions, change in the order of authorship or contributions
being attributed differently. Any alterations must be explained to the Editor.
The Editor may contact any of the authors and/or contributors to ascertain
whether they have agreed to any alteration. Contributions should be acknowledged: 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 provided purely technical help, writing assistance or a department
chair who provided only general support. Financial and
material support should also be acknowledged. Groups of persons who have
contributed materially to the paper but whose contributions do not justify
authorship may be listed under a heading such as “clinical investigators” or
“participating investigators”, and their function of contribution should be
described clearly – for example, “served as scientific advisors”, “critically
reviewed the study proposals”, “collected data” or “provided and cared for
study patients”. As readers may infer their endorsement of the data and
conclusions, all persons must give written permission to be acknowledged. All
acknowledgements should be listed in the cover letter and must also be included
at the end of your manuscript file. Compliance with NIH and Other Research Funding Agency
Accessibility Requirements A number of research funding agencies now require or request
authors to submit the post-print (the article after peer review and acceptance
but not the final published article) to a repository that is accessible online
by all without charge. As a service to our authors, LWW will identify to the
National library of Medicine (NLM) articles requiring deposit and will transmit
the post-print of an article based on research funded in whole or in part by
the National Institutes of Health, Wellcome Trust,
Howard Hughes Medical Institute, or other funding agencies to PubMed Central. The Copyright Transfer and Disclosure form
provides the mechanism for identifying such papers. Cancer Classification
Scheme: Authors are encouraged to use the American Joint Committee
on Cancer TNM Classification scheme when describing patients with ophthalmic
malignancies (American Joint commission on Cancer. AJCC
Cancer Staging Manual. 7th ed. Permissions: Authors must submit written permission
from the copyright owner (usually the publisher) to use direct quotations,
tables or illustrations that have appeared in copyrighted form elsewhere, along
with complete details about the source. Any permission fees that might be
required by the copyright owner are the responsibility of the authors
requesting use of the borrowed material, not the responsibility of
Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, the journal or the Editorial Office.
All manuscripts must be submitted online at
http://www.editorialmanager.com/apjo/. First-time users: Please click the
Register button on the Editorial Manager home page and enter the requested
information. Upon successful registration, you will be sent an email indicating
your user name and password. Print a copy of this information for future
reference. Note: If you have received an email from us with an assigned user ID
and password, or if you are a repeat user, do not register again. Simply log in
using the information for your existing account. Once you have an assigned ID
and password, re-registration is unnecessary, even if your role changes (that
is, author, reviewer or editor). Authors: Please click the login button from
the menu at the top of the page and log into the system as an Author. Submit
your manuscript according to the author instructions. You will be able to track
the progress of your manuscript through the system. If you experience any
problems, please contact the Managing Editor, Florence Chung, at apjo-florencechung@apaophth.org or by phone at (+852) 2762-3129. Authors without internet access, see Preparation of
Manuscript instructions below. Original Articles: All full-length articles will
receive at least two editorial peer reviews. Both clinical and basic science
articles are welcome. Authors are encouraged to limit their paper length to 18
double-spaced typewritten pages. Review Articles: All review articles
will receive at least two editorial peer reviews. Review articles on recently
hot topics are most welcome. Authors are encouraged to limit their paper length
to 26 double-spaced typewritten pages. Editorials (by invitation only): Editorials
provide a forum for interpretive, analytical or reflective opinions related to
manuscripts in the APJO or statements about clinical, scientific or
socioeconomic issues. It should be objective and dispassionate, but is likely
to provide alternative points of view and some bias. Editorials should be
limited to 1200 words with no more than 15 references. In general, the use of
figures and tables is not encouraged. It is expected that authors of the
Editorials will not have any significant financial interest in a company (or
its competitor) that makes a product discussed in the article. Funding and
financial disclosure is required in the Acknowledgment before the references.
Editorials do not have an Abstract. Perspectives: All perspectives will receive at least
two editorial peer reviews. They should contain personal viewpoints on topics
with broad interests and function like mini-editorials that review the evidence
supporting the use of a current technique, procedure, therapy, or clinical
approach. Perspectives should not be a review article. It should contain an unstructured abstract of 250 words or less.
The Perspective should be of appropriate length
and limited to 18 pages of double-spaced typewritten text, 35 references and 8
figures or equivalent tables. It is expected that authors of the Perspectives
will not have any significant financial interest in a company (or its
competitor) that makes a product discussed in the article. PREPARATION OF MANUSCRIPTS Manuscripts that do not adhere to the following instructions will
be returned to the corresponding author for technical revision before
undergoing peer review. For authors without internet access only: General format: Submit manuscripts in English in
triplicate (one original and two copies) and printed on standard 8½ x
11-inch (21 x 28-cm) paper with at least a 1-inch ( For all authors: Cover Letter: Inform the Editor-in-Chief of any
special considerations regarding your submission, including about not limited
to (1) Details of related papers published or submitted for publication, Copies
of related papers should be submitted as “Supplementary files not for review”
to help the Editor decide how to handle the matter. (2) Details of previous
reviews of the submitted article. The previous Editor’s and reviewers’ comments
should be submitted as Supplementary material along with your responses to
those comments. Editors encourage authors to submit these previous
communications – doing so may expedite the review process. Title page: Include on the title page (a) complete
manuscript title; (b) authors’ full names, highest academic degrees, and
affiliations; (c) name and address for correspondence, including fax number,
telephone number and email address; (d) address for reprints if different from that of corresponding
author; and (e) sources of support that require acknowledgement. Structured abstract and key words: Provide a
structured abstract limited to 250 words on a separate page. Do not cite
references in the abstract. Limit the use of abbreviations and acronyms. Use
the following subheads for original articles: Purpose, Design, Methods, Results
and Conclusion. List three to five keywords, Manuscripts without a structured
abstract will be returned to the author. Review articles should emphasize new developments and areas of
controversy in clinical or laboratory ophthalmology. An unstructured abstract
of no more than 250 words should be submitted on a separate page. Manuscripts describing experimental investigations or procedures
on humans must include a statement in the “Methods” section, declaring that
prior approval from an institutional review board has been granted, and that
informed consents have been obtained from each patient. Organizing Text: Number the
pages of the manuscript consecutively, beginning with the introduction as page
1. The text of an original article should not exceed 4,000 words
with up to 8 images and tables and 50 references while that of a review
articles should not exceed 6,000 words with up to 8 images and tables and 100
references. The texts should contain concise internal headings in outline format
(I, A, 1, a, etc.). Tables and figures should be cited by number. Both original and review articles are subject to peer review and
editorial approval. Editors may request authors to shorten a submitted
manuscript when, in the opinion of the Editorial Board, the content does not
justify the length. Text: Organize the manuscript into four main
headings: Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results and Discussion. Define
abbreviations at first mention in the text and in each table and figure. If a
brand name is cited, supply the manufacturer’s name and address (city and
state/country). Acknowledge all forms of support, including pharmaceutical and
industry support, in the “Acknowledgements” section. Abbreviations: While the following abbreviations are
acceptable without any further clarification needed at any point in the text
(not even first use) and they are also acceptable in titles, others are not: AIDS
acquired immune deficiency syndrome cDNA copy deoxyribonucleic acid CNS
central nervous system DNA
deoxyribonucleic acid HLA
human leukocyte antigen IM
intramuscular(ly) LASIK
laser in situ keratomileusis mRNA messenger ribonucleic acid RNA
ribonucleic acid For a list of standard abbreviations, consult the Council of
Biology Editors Style Guide (available from the Council of Science Editors,
9650 Rockville Pike, References: The authors are responsible for the
accuracy of the references. Key the references (double-spaced) at the end of
the manuscript. Cite the references in text in the order of appearance. Cite
unpublished data, such as papers submitted but not yet accepted for publication
or personal communications, in parentheses in the text. If there are more than
three authors, name only the first three authors and then use et al. Refer to
the List of Journals Indexed in Index Medicus for
abbreviations of journal names, or access the list at http://www.nlm.nih.gov/tsd/serials/lji.html. Sample references are given below: Journal article 1. Boisjoly HM, Bernard PM, Dube I,
et al. Effects of factors unrelated to tissue matching on corneal transplant
endothelial rejection. Am J Ophthalmol 1989;
107: 647-54. Book chapter 2. Skuta GL, Organ RK. Corticosteriod-induced glaucoma. In: Ritch R,
Shields MB, Krupin T, eds. The Glaucomas. Entire book 3. Gelatt KN, ed. Veterinary Ophthalmology. Software 4. Epi Info [computer program]. Version 6. Online journals 5. Friedman
SA. Preeclampsia: a review of the role of prostaglandins. Obstet Gynecol [serial
online]. January 1988; 71:22-37. Available from: BRS
Information Technologies, Database 6. CANCERNET-PDQ
[database online]. World Wide Web 7. Gostin LO. Drug use and HIV/AIDS [JAMA HIV/AIDS
web site]. June 1, 1996. Available at: http://www.ama-assn.org/special/hiv/ethics. Accessed June 16, 1997. Only papers published or in press should be included in the reference list. (Personal communications or unpublished data must be cited in parentheses in the text with the name(s) of the source(s) and the year. Authors should get permission from the source to cite unpublished data.) Figures: Digital art should be created / scanned
and saved and submitted as either TIFF (tagged image file format) or EPS
(encapsulated postscript) files. PPT (Power Point) files will also be accepted. Electronic
photographs – radiographs, CT scans, and so on – and scanned images must have a
resolution of at least 300 dpi (dots per inch). Line art must have a resolution
of at least 1200 dpi. If fonts are used in the artwork, they must be
converted to paths or outlines or they must be embedded in the files. Color
images must be created / scanned and saved and submitted as CMYK files. If you
do not have the capability to create CMYK files, please disregard this step.
Indicate in your cover letter or the Comments step that you are unable to
produce CMYK files. Cite figures consecutively in the text, and number
them in the order in which they are discussed. Detailed Figure Instructions: For a step by
step guide for submitting Digital Art, please see 5 Steps to
Creating Digital Artwork (PDF). Figure legends: Legends must be submitted for all
figures. They should be brief and specific, and they should appear on a
separate manuscript page after the references. Use scale markers in the image
for electron micrographs, and indicate the type of stain used. Legends for
previously published figures must acknowledge original source (author’s and
publisher’s written permission to reprint must be enclosed). Supplemental Digital Content (SDC): Authors may
submit SDC to LWW journals that enhance their articles’ text to be considered
for online posting via Editorial Manager. SDC may include standard media such
as text documents, graphs, audio, video, etc. On the Attach Files page of the
submission process, please select Supplemental Audio, Video or Data for your
uploaded file as the Submission Item. If an article with SDC is accepted, our
production staff will create a URL with the SDC file. The URL will be placed in
the call-out within the article. SDC files are not copy-edited by LWW staff,
they will be presented digitally as submitted. SDC Call-outs: Supplemental Digital Content must be
cited consecutively in the text of the submitted manuscript. Citations should
include the type of material submitted (Audio, Figure, Table, etc.), be clearly
labeled as “Supplemental Digital Content,” include the sequential list number,
and provide a description of the supplemental content. All descriptive text
should be included in the call-out as it will not appear elsewhere in the
article. List of Supplemental Digital Content: A listing of
Supplemental Digital Content must be submitted at the end of the manuscript
file. Include the SDC number and file type of the Supplemental Digital Content.
This text will be removed by our production staff and not be published. Example: Supplemental Digital Content 1.wmv SDC File Requirements: All acceptable
file types are permissible up to 10MBs. For audio or video files greater than
10MBs. Authors should first query the journal office for approval. For a list
of all available file types and detailed instructions, please visit http://links.lww.com/A142. Tables: Cite tables consecutively in the text
and number them in that order. Key each on a separate sheet, and include the
table title, appropriate column heads, and explanatory legends (including
definitions or any abbreviations used). Do not embed tables within the body of
the manuscript. They should be self-explanatory and should supplement, rather
than duplicate, the material in the text. Style: Pattern manuscript style after American
Medical Association Manual of Style (9th edition). Stedman’s
Medical Dictionary (27theditor) and Merriam Webster’s Collegiate
Dictionary (10th edition) should be used as standard
references. Refer to drugs and therapeutic agents by their accepted generic or
chemical names, and do not abbreviate them. Use code numbers only when a
generic name is not yet available. In that case, supply the chemical name and a
figure giving the chemical structure of the drug. Capitalize the trade names of
drugs and place them in parentheses after the generic names. To comply with
trademark law, include the name and location (city and state in the Address for manuscript submission (For authors without internet
access): Send the manuscript with a cover letter that includes the
corresponding author’s email address to the Editor-in-Chief, Dennis SC Lam, MD,
University Eye Clinic, 3/F, Hong Kong Eye Hospital, 147K Argyle Street,
Kowloon, Hong Kong, Office: (852) 2762-3129, Fax: (852) 2715-9490; Email: apjo-dennislam@apaophth.org (please see the checklist at the end of these
Instructions before mailing manuscripts). The editorial office will acknowledge
receipt of your manuscript and will give you a manuscript number for reference.
Address all inquiries regarding manuscripts not yet accepted or published to
the Journal’s editorial office. AFTER ACCEPTANCE Disk submission (for authors without internet access): Authors
must submit an electronic version of the final accepted manuscript along with a
printout of the final accepted manuscript. Electronic files should be submitted
in a standard word processing format; Microsoft Word (or Corel WordPerfect) is
preferred. Although conversions can be made from other word processing formats,
the vagaries of the conversion process may introduce errors. Do not submit
ASCII text files. Do not use automatic numbering or footnotes for references.
The Journal does not assume responsibility for errors in the conversion of
customized software, newly released software, and special characters. Authors preparing
manuscripts on Macintosh computers should not use the Fast Save option. Each
submitted disk must be clearly labeled with the name of the author, item title,
journal title, word processing program and version, and file name used. The
disk should contain only one file – the final version of the accepted
manuscript. Page proofs and corrections: Corresponding
authors will receive electronic page proofs to check the copyedited and typeset
article before publication. Portable document format (PDF) files of the typeset
pages and support documents (e.g. reprint order form ) will be sent to the corresponding author
by email. Complete instructions will be provided with the email for downloading
and printing the files and for faxing the corrected page proofs. It is the
author’s responsibility to ensure that there are no errors in the proofs.
Changes that are stylistic or are a reworking of previously accepted material
will be disallowed. The publisher reserves the right to deny any changes that
do not affect the accuracy of the content. Authors may be charged for
alterations to the proofs beyond those required to correct errors or to answer
queries. Proofs must be checked carefully and corrections faxed within 24 to 48
hours of receipt, as requested in the cover letter accompanying the page
proofs. Authors of the Asia-Pacific Journal of Ophthalmology shall incur
no publishing cost as the publishing fees are covered by the Asia-Pacific
Academy of Ophthalmology. Reprints: Authors
will receive a reprint order form and a price list with the page proofs.
Reprint requests should be faxed with the corrected proofs, if possible.
Reprints are normally shipped 6 to 8 weeks after publication of the issue in
which the item appears. Contact the Reprint Department, Lippincott Williams
& Wilkins, 351W. Publisher’s contact: Fax corrected page proofs,
reprint order form, and any other related materials to Journal Production
Editor, Asia-Pacific Journal of Ophthalmology, 215.405.3961. Color proofs should be returned to Erin Langenfeld, Journal Production Editor, Asia-Pacific Journal
of Ophthalmology, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 351W. Manuscript checklist (for authors submitting via Editorial Manager)
Manuscript checklist (for authors without internet access only)
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