Author Guidelines
Latest updates: 09.11.2020
"Russian Ophthalmological Journal” is a major Russian peer-reviewed journal for ophthalmologists and visual science specialists.
The journal accepts for publication original articles, reviews, descriptions of clinical cases, results of experimental studies, statistical reviews and presentations of epidemiological data.
Contributions are accepted from specialists and experts in the field, as well as graduate and PhD students.
The main objective of "Russian Ophthalmological Journal” is to bring to light the latest achievements in the field of ophthalmology and increase the awareness of these achievements by ophthalmology doctors and researchers. In particular, the journal welcomes articles focused on pediatric ophthalmology and interaction of ophthalmology with other branches of medicine and fundamental disciplines, including biochemistry, pathological physiology, electrophysiology, immunology, ocular biomechanics, cytology, molecular and genetic studies, etc.
The Russian Ophthalmological Journal accepts for publication the materials of regional, national and international character. The Editorial Council and the Editorial Board include distinguished scholars from Russia and foreign countries, in particular, Austria (Leopold Schmetterer), Germany (Carl Erb, Frederik Raiskup, Helmut Sachs), Poland (Damian Czepita), Switzerland (Carl P.Herbort), United Kingdom (James Wolffsohn), USA (Paul T. Finger).
"Russian Ophthalmological Journal” accepts for publication original articles, reviews, descriptions of clinical cases (for ophthalmology practitioners), results of experimental studies, statistical reviews and presentations of epidemiological data.
Contributions are accepted from specialists and experts in the field, as well as graduate and PhD students.
The submission of an article to the journal "Russian Ophthalmological Journal” implies that:
- the article has not been previously published in another journal;
- the article is not pending publication in another journal;
- all co-authors agree with the publication of the present version of the article.
Prior to submitting an article for review, please ensure that the file(s) contain(s) all the necessary information in Russian and English, the sources of information placed in the figures and tables are indicated and all citations have been correctly formatted.
The editors of "Russian Ophthalmological Journal” recommend that authors use the following checklists and charts developed by international organisations in the field of health (EQUATOR, Enhancing the Quality and Transparency of Health Research) when preparing original articles and other materials.
- When preparing articles that reflect the results of randomised clinical trials - “CONSORT 2010 checklist of information to include when reporting a randomised trial”.
- When preparing articles that reflect the results of non-experimental studies - “Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) Statement: guidelines for reporting observational studies”
- When preparing systematic reviews - “PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses)"
- When preparing descriptions of clinical cases - “CARE Guidelines: Consensus-based Clinical Case Reporting Guideline Development“
- When preparing articles reflecting the results of qualitative research - “SRQR (Standards for Reporting Qualitative Research)"
- When preparing articles reflecting the results of Predictive Research - "STARD 2015: Updated List of Essential Items for Reporting Diagnostic Accuracy Studies"
UNIFORM REQUIREMENTS FOR MANUSCRIPTS SUBMITTED TO BIOMEDICAL JOURNALS
A small group of editors of general medical journals met informally in Vancouver, British Columbia, in 1978 to establish guidelines for the format of manuscripts submitted to their journals. The group became known as the Vancouver Group. Its requirements for manuscripts, including formats for bibliographic references developed by the National Library of Medicine, were first published in 1979. The Vancouver Group expanded and evolved into the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), which meets annually; gradually it has broadened its concerns.
The committee has produced multiple editions of the Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals. Over the years, issues have arisen that go beyond manuscript preparation. Some of these issues are now covered in the Uniform Requirements; others are addressed in separate statements.
The authors are those people whom the research group have identified as the main participants in the presented work, and who have agreed to take responsibility for their work. In addition to taking responsibility for their part of the work, authors should indicate how each of the co-authors is responsible for other parts of the work.
The journal "Russian Ophthalmological Journal” accepts the following criteria of authorship:
1. Substantial contribution to the conceptualisation and design of the research, data collection or data analysis and interpretation;
2. Preparation of the article or its critical revision in terms of meaningful intellectual content;
3. Final approval of the version of the article for publication.
People who are not authors of the article should not be included in the list of authors. The names of people who are not authors, but who provided other support, should be indicated in the “Acknowledgments” section.
Download a recent PDF version of the full text of the Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals on an official site ICMJE (www.icmje.org)
Our policy is to provide a broad mix of articles with results of clinical studies and clinically relevant laboratory research, instructive case histories, literary reviews related to ophthalmology, and data on scientific events in the field.
Our priorities are to:
- Publish up-to-date advances on diagnosis, management and pathogenesis of ocular disease that will be of professional and educational value to ophthalmologists, visual science specialists, optometrists and trainees.
- Ensure that a fair, independent peer review system is in place.
- Adhere to the highest ethical standards concerning research conduct.
All manuscripts are processed, reviewed and published, if accepted, free of charge.
SUBMISSION PROCEDURES
Authors’ contributions, prepared according to rules given below, should be submitted online by electronic submission system.
ARTICLE TYPES AND WORD COUNTS
Original articles
Clinical Science: up to 2500 words, 7 images and tables, 35 references Laboratory Science: up to 2500 words, up to 8 images and tables, 35 references Editors may request authors to shorten a submitted manuscript when in the opinion of the Editorial Board, the content does not justify the length.
All types of original article should include the following:
- Title
- Keywords (up to four)
- Addresses of all authors and address of the corresponding author
- Structured abstract: (Purpose, Material and Methods, Results. Conclusions), no more than 300 words
- Materials and methods
- Results
- Discussion
- References and acknowledgements
- Legends for display items (Figures and Tables)
All original articles are subject to peer review and editorial approval.
Review articles
Review articles may address any aspect of clinical or laboratory ophthalmology. Most review articles are commissioned but uninvited reviews are also welcome. Prior discussion with the Editor is recommended. • Unstructured abstract: up to 200 words. • Word count: up to 3000 words • Tables/illustrations: up to 5 images and tables • References: up to 100 references
All review articles are subject to peer review and editorial approval.
Global issues
A global issues paper should emphasise epidemiology and public health issues especially, in underdeveloped countries.
Summary: should not exceed 200 words.
2000 words, up to 5 images and tables, 25 references.
All global issues articles are subject to peer review and editorial approval.
Innovations
Manuscripts submitted in this category should describe innovative techniques in any field of ophthalmology including ophthalmic surgery, drugs, optics, and devices. Any relevant preclinical and clinical data should be included. The chief criterion for publication will be the novelty of concepts involved and potential for clinical applications.
Summary: should not exceed 200 words.
1000 words, up to 5 images and tables, 25 references.
All innovation articles are subject to peer review and editorial approval.
Education
Manuscripts submitted in this category emphasize clinically relevant management issues that help educate by increasing awareness (how it happened), provide practical guidance for performing common procedures and eliciting clinical signs (how to do it*), practical tips for interpreting test results (how to interpret), and provide simple explanations of how ophthalmic instruments and medications work (how it works). The chief criterion for publication will be educational value of the manuscript.
1000 words, up to 2 images and tables, 15 references.
The manuscript should be divided into three parts (introduction/case report, 3 questions/answers, and discussion). The case report+ should describe exactly how it happened including any errors of judgement in management or diagnosis so that it can be a learning experience to the reader. The questions should be very specific, central to the theme of the report, and their answers form the essential educational component of the manuscript. Discussion should highlight additional related management (How it happened/ How to do it) or technical (How to interpret/How it works) aspects. A sample format can be downloaded here.
All educational articles are subject to peer review and editorial approval.
*Descriptions of new surgical procedures should be submitted under Original articles - Clinical sciences.
MANUSCRIPT FORMAT
Title page
The title page must contain the following information:
- Title of the article.
- Full name, postal address, e-mail, telephone and fax numbers of the corresponding author.
- Full names, departments, institutions, city and country of all co-authors.
- Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest: all authors should disclose in their manuscript any financial or other substantive conflict of interest that might be construed to influence the results or interpretation of their manuscript. All sources of financial support for the project should be disclosed. Examples of potential conflicts of interest which should be disclosed include employment, consultancies, stock ownership, honoraria, paid expert testimony, patent applications/registrations, and grants or other funding. Potential conflicts of interest should be disclosed at the earliest possible stage.
- Up to five keywords or phrases suitable for use in an index (it is recommended to use MeSH terms).
Text editor
The manuscript must be submitted in any current Microsoft Word version. PDF format is not accepted.
Do not use the automatic formatting features of Word processor such as endnotes, footnotes, headers, footers, boxes, etc. Please remove any hidden text. Footnotes should be introduced manually.
Manuscript Parts
Title page.
Abstract (note: references are not allowed).
Main text.
Acknowledgments, Competing interests, Funding.
Reference list.
Images must be uploaded as separate files (view further details in Figures/illustrations) All images must be cited within the main text in numerical order.
Statistics
Statistical analyses must explain the methods used. Guidelines on presenting statistics. Guidelines on RCTs: CONSORT, QUORUM, MOOSE, STARD, and Economic submissions.
Style
Abbreviations and symbols must be standard and SI units used throughout except for blood pressure and intraocular pressure values which are reported in mm Hg.
Whenever possible, drugs should be given their approved generic name. Where a proprietary (brand) name is used, it should begin with a capital letter.
Acronyms should be used sparingly and fully explained when first used.
Figures/illustrations
Ideally, submit your figures in TIFF or EPS format. We can also accept figure files of the following types: BMP, GIF, JPEG, PNG.
Resolution requirements apply (9cm across for single column, 18cm for double column):
- For B/W, the format should be either TIFF or EPS. The resolution should be in 300 DPI.
- For colour, the format should be either tiff or eps in CMYK. The resolution should be 300 DPI.
- For line-art, vector format is preferable. Otherwise, the resolution should be 1200 DPI.
- Histograms should be presented in a simple, two-dimensional format, with no background grid.
Figures are checked using automated quality control and if they are below standard you will be alerted and provided with suggestions in order to improve the quality.
All images should be mentioned in the text in numerical order and figure legends should be listed at the end of the manuscript.
Please ensure that any specific patient/hospital details are removed or blacked out. NOTE: we do NOT accept figures which use a black bar to obscure a patient’s identity.
Tables
Tables should be submitted in the same format as your article (Word) and not another format embedded into the document. They should appear where the table should be cited, cited in the main text and in numerical order. Please note: we cannot accept tables as Excel files within the manuscript.
If your table(s) is/are in Excel, copy and paste them into the manuscript file. Tables no longer/larger than 2 pages should be self-explanatory and the data they contain must not be duplicated in the text or figures.
References
Authors are responsible for the accuracy of cited references: these should be checked against the original documents before the paper is submitted. It is vital that the references are styled correctly so that they may be hyperlinked.
References must be numbered sequentially as they appear in the text. References cited in figures or tables (or in their legends and footnotes) should be numbered according to the place in the text where that table or figure is first cited.
Where more than one reference is cited, separate by a comma—for example, [1, 4, 39]. For sequences of consecutive numbers, give the first and last number of the sequence separated by a hyphen - for example, [22-25].
References must follow the [slightly modified] Vancouver style:
12 Surname AB, Surname CD. Article title. Journal abbreviation Year;Vol:Start page–end page. doi: ...
Use one space only between words up to the year and then no spaces. The journal title should be in italic and abbreviated according to the style of Medline. If the journal is not listed in Medline then it should be written out in full.
Reference samples
Journal article
13 Koziol-Mclain J, Brand D, Morgan D, et al. Measuring injury risk factors: question reliability in a statewide sample. Inj Prev 2000;6:148–50.
Chapter in book
14 Nagin D. General deterrence: a review of the empirical evidence. In: Blumstein A, Cohen J, Nagin D, eds. Deterrence and Incapacitation: Estimating the Effects of Criminal Sanctions on Crime Rates. Washington, DC: National Academy of Sciences 1978:95–139.
Book
15 Howland J. Preventing Automobile Injury: New Findings From Evaluative Research. Dover, MA: Auburn House Publishing Company 1988:163–96.
Abstract/supplement
16 Roxburgh J, Cooke RA, Deverall P, et al. Haemodynamic function of the carbomedics bileaflet prosthesis [abstract]. Br Heart J 1995;73(Suppl 2):P37.
Electronic citations
Websites are referenced with their URL and access date, and as much other information as is available. Access date is important as websites can be updated and URLs change. The "date accessed" can be later than the acceptance date of the paper, and it can be just the month accessed. See the 9th edition of the AMA Manual of Style for further examples.
Electronic journal articles
Morse SS. Factors in the emergency of infectious diseases. Emerg Infect Dis 1995 Jan-Mar;1(1). www.cdc.gov/nciod/EID/vol1no1/morse.htm (accessed 5 Jun 1998).
Electronic letters
Bloggs J. Title of letter. Journal name Online [eLetter] Date of publication. url eg: Krishnamoorthy KM, Dash PK. Novel approach to transseptal puncture. Heart Online [eLetter] 18 September 2001. http://heart.bmj.com/cgi/eletters/86/5/e11#EL1
Check your citation information using PubMed.
