Manuscript Preparation

The language of the journal is English. Manuscripts submitted for consideration should be in English only.

Please check your manuscript using the tool formed by the EQUATOR Network writing guidelines. You may always refer to the guidelines for various studies. Using the appropriate guidelines will improve the quality of the manuscript significantly and increase the chance of publication.

It is strongly recommended that authors familiarise themselves with the journal's policies prior to submission in order to ensure compliance with the journal's guidelines.

Manuscripts submitted for evaluation must be original and must not have been previously presented or published in any electronic or print medium. In the event that a manuscript has been presented at a conference or meeting, authors are required to provide comprehensive details regarding the event, including the name, date, and location of the organisation.

Manuscripts intended for submission to the Journal of Orthopaedics, Sports Science, and Rehabilitation must be prepared in accordance with the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals, 2022.

Maximum number of words for manuscripts*

Clinical Trials: 5000 words
Original Research Article: 4000 words
Review Article: 5000 words,
Short Communication and Technical Notes: 2000 words
Case Report: 2000 words
Commentary or Guest Editorial: 1500 words
Letter to the Editor: 500 words

*Word counts do not include the abstract and references

 

Cover Letter

The cover letter should include the following information:
What are the reasons for publishing your manuscript in the Journal of Orthopaedics, Sports Science, and Rehabilitation?
Should any issues arise pertaining to the policies of the journal, or should there be any declarations of current or potential competing interests, these should be brought to the attention of the editorial team.

Title Page

The title page should include the following information:
Please provide the full title of the manuscript. The title should be no longer than 15 words. Additionally, a short title, or running head, should be provided, comprising no more than 50 characters.
The title of the manuscript should be provided, along with the full names, affiliations, and contact information of all authors, including email addresses and ORCID IDs. The corresponding author should also be indicated. Furthermore, the word count of the main text (exclusive of the abstract and references) should be provided.

Abstract

An abstract should be submitted with all submissions except those designated as Letters to the Editor. The abstract of research articles should be structured with subheadings, which should be presented in the following order: background, methods, results, and conclusion.
In the case of clinical trials, original research articles, and review articles, the abstract should be presented as an unstructured paragraph with a word limit of 350 words.
In the case of reviews and case reports, the abstract should be presented as an unstructured paragraph, with a word limit of 250 words.
The abstract should be followed by a minimum of five keywords selected from the Medical Subject Headings list of the National Library of Medicine.

Main Text

Double line spacing is required, line and page numbering must be included, and SI units must be employed. It is of the utmost importance that all special characters are embedded in the text, as any instances of them being used as standalone entities will be lost during the conversion process to PDF. Moreover, the insertion of page breaks in the manuscript is not permitted. Please utilise the 12-point Times New Roman font.

Abbreviations should be defined on their first appearance in the text; those not accepted by international bodies should be avoided. Use only standard abbreviations. Avoid abbreviations in the title and abstract.

The principal manuscript file must comprise the following sections:
The abstract should be a concise summary of the paper's main points.
The keywords should be a list of terms that accurately describe the content of the paper.
The introduction should provide an overview of the paper's topic and context.
The methods section (including design, selection/treatment of subjects, methods of intervention and analysis of data) should describe the research approach and techniques used.
The results section should present the findings of the study.
The discussion section should interpret the results in the context of existing knowledge and highlight the paper's contributions.
The limitations of the study should be discussed.
The conclusion should summarize the paper's key findings and implications.

Acknowledgements should be included if applicable.

A declaration of conflict of interest should be provided. Any conflict of interest must be declared by the authors.

You must identify who provided financial support for the conduct of the research and/or preparation of the article and briefly describe the role of the sponsor(s). If available, the project number should be given. If the funding source(s) had no such involvement, it is recommended that this be stated.

A data availability statement should be included. For all manuscripts, information on the availability of data should be given in detail in a section entitled 'Data availability statement'.

Ethics committee approval and informed consent must be included. Ethics committee approval of research protocols is required for experimental, clinical and investigational drug studies and some case reports in accordance with international agreements (Declaration of Helsinki, revised 2013, Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals). Ethics committee approval should be uploaded when submitting an original research article. The corresponding author must provide a copy of the institutional review board (IRB) and ethics committee approval for human or animal research articles. All articles involving human subjects must include a statement that the subjects gave informed consent to participate. For case reports and clinical pictures, informed consent must be obtained from each patient and/or their families with the following statement: "The patients and/or their families have been informed that data from this case will be submitted for publication and have given their consent. Please do not use any identifying information.

The authors’ contribution statement must be included. The authors confirm their contribution to the paper as follows: study conception and design: X. Author, Y. Author; data collection: Y. Author; analysis and interpretation of results: X. Author, Y. Author. Z. Author; draft manuscript preparation: Y. Author. Z. Author. All authors reviewed the results and approved the final version of the manuscript. 

The preferred reference style in the Journal of Orthopaedics, Sports Science, and Rehabilitation should be formatted according to the American Medical Association (AMA) Manual of Style, which is the same format used by PubMed. Author(s) name(s), journal title/book title, chapter title/article title, year of publication, volume number/book chapter, and article number or page number must be included. The use of DOI is strongly encouraged. Please note that the required journal abbreviations in the references are those used by PubMed.
Please list all authors if there are six or fewer. If there are more than three authors, list the first three, followed by et al. Please number the references consecutively using square brackets before the punctuation mark [1]. Do not use superscripts.

Main Text Content

It is imperative that content refrain from making any assumptions about the beliefs or commitments of a reader. Furthermore, it must not include any information that could indicate a superiority of one individual over another on the grounds of age, gender, race, ethnicity, culture, sexual orientation, disability, or physical condition. The papers must be free from any form of bias, stereotyping or use of slang. It is preferable to use plural nouns (e.g., "clinicians, patients/clients") as a default to circumvent the use of "he," "she," and other gender-specific terms. The use of descriptors related to personal attributes, such as age, gender, race, ethnicity, culture, sexual orientation, disability, or health condition, should be avoided unless they are relevant and valid. In the context of coding terminology, it is advisable to refrain from using potentially offensive or exclusionary terms such as "master", "slave", "blacklist" and "whitelist". Instead, it would be more appropriate to utilise terms such as "primary", "secondary", "blocklist" and "allowlist". This guideline is intended to serve as a point of reference to assist users in selecting appropriate language. It should be noted that this guideline is not exhaustive or definitive.

Tables

Tables should be prepared using the tables function of the manuscript's word processor (e.g. MS Word). Tables should not duplicate information given in the text and should be given an Arabic number, e.g. (Table 3), according to their sequence in the text. References to all tables should be included in the text. Each table should have a short and self-explanatory title with explanations essential to the understanding of the table and a footnote with legends.

Figures

Figures should be numbered in the order in which they are first mentioned in the text and uploaded in that order. Multi-panel figures (those with parts A, B, C, D, etc.) should be submitted as a single composite file containing all parts of the figure.
Figures should be uploaded in the correct orientation.
Figure titles (max 15 words) and legends (max 300 words) should be included in the main manuscript, not in the figure file.
Figure keys should be included in the figure, not in the figure legend.
Each figure should be closely cropped to minimise the amount of white space surrounding the figure. Cropping figures improves the accuracy of placing the figure in combination with other elements when the accepted manuscript is prepared for publication.
Please note that it is the responsibility of the author(s) to obtain permission from the copyright holder to reproduce figures (or tables) that have already been published elsewhere. In order for all figures to be open access, authors must obtain permission from the copyright holder to include figures published elsewhere in non-open access journals. Permission should be given in the figure legend, and the original source should be included in the reference list.

Please ensure that images are in one of the following formats (please note the resolution requirements for line art, half-tone and line/half-tone combinations below)

EPS (or PDF): Vector drawings. Embed fonts or save text as 'graphics'.
TIFF (or JPG): Colour or greyscale photographs (halftones): always use a minimum of 300 dpi.
TIFF (or JPG): Bit-mapped line drawings: use at least 1000 dpi.
TIFF (or JPG): Bitmapped line/halftone (colour or greyscale) combinations: minimum 500 dpi.

Please do not submit your work if it contains

Files optimised for screen use (e.g. GIF, BMP, PICT, WPG).
Files with too low a resolution.
Graphics that are disproportionately large for the content.

Please note that individual figure files larger than 10 MB must be provided in separate source files, and the journal must be contacted for assistance prior to submission.

Each figure must have a caption that includes a brief title and description. Avoid overly descriptive figures, but explain any symbols or abbreviations used.

Submission

The online submission system will guide you through the process as you enter your article details and upload your files. Please refresh your browser if you notice a pause in any of the steps. All manuscripts should be submitted via the journal's online submission system.

After Acceptance

In order to ensure a fast publication process for your article, we ask authors to provide us with their galley proofs within two working days. Please use this proof only to check the text's typesetting, editing, completeness and accuracy, tables and figures. Significant changes to the article as accepted for publication will only be considered at this stage with the permission of the Editor. It is important that all corrections are returned to us in one communication. Please check carefully before replying, as subsequent corrections cannot be guaranteed. Proofreading is your responsibility.