The Journal of Wrist Surgery: Editorial Guidelines

Aims and Scope

The Journal of Wrist Surgery (JWS) covers a range of issues relating to the orthopedic techniques of wrist and small joint arthroscopy, arthroplasty, and reconstructive surgery of the wrist and carpus, including the trapeziometacarpal and carpometacarpal joints. In addition to original peer-review articles, this periodical provides details on emerging surgical techniques, as well as case reports, reviews, and special focus sections.

Editorial policies. Statements and opinions expressed in the JWS are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the Editor or Publisher. The Editor and Publisher disclaim any responsibility or liability for such material. Neither the Editor nor the Publisher guarantees, warrants, or endorses any product or service advertised in this publication; nor do they guarantee any claims made by the manufacturer of such product or service.

Copyright. All material published in the JWS is vested in Thieme Medical Publishers, Inc. In accordance with the Copyright Act of 1976, the corresponding author of each manuscript will be required to complete a copyright assignment form on acceptance of the manuscript. When submitting a paper, the author(s) must make a full statement to the Editor about all submissions and previous reports that might be regarded as prior or duplicate publication of the same or similar work. Copies of such material should be included with the submitted paper to help the Editor decide how to deal with the matter.

Financial interest. The Conflict of Interest Statement, signed by all listed authors, is required on submission of the manuscript. This form requires disclosure from each author indicating that (a) no financial conflict of interest exists with any commercial entity whose products are described, reviewed, evaluated, or compared in the manuscript, except for that disclosed under “Acknowledgments” or (b) a potential conflict of interest exists with one or more commercial entities whose products are described, reviewed, evaluated, or compared in the manuscript.

Ethical standards. The JWS adheres to the ethical standards described by the Committee on Publication Ethics (http://publicationethics.org) and the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (http://www.icmje.org/urm_main.html). Authors are expected to adhere to these standards.

Human subjects. Articles involving research conducted in human subjects must include a statement in the Materials and Methods section indicating approval by the institutional review board and noting that informed consent, as well as any necessary HIPAA consent, was obtained from each patient. For reports of research using human subjects, provide assurance that (a) necessary and appropriate consent was obtained from each patient and (b) the study protocol conformed to the ethical guidelines of the 1975 Declaration of Helsinki as reflected in a prior approval by the appropriate institutional review committee. Identify patients by number, not by initials. Clinical trials must be registered in a public trials registry. Denote the registry and registry number. Articles emanating from a particular institution must have approval by the requisite authority.

Animal experimentation. Manuscripts reporting animal experiments must include a statement in the Materials and Methods section that animal care complied with the guidelines of the authors’ institution and the National Institutes of Health and any national law on the care and use of laboratory animals.

Permissions. Obtain and submit written permission for use from the original copyright holder for any lengthy direct quotations, tables, or illustrations taken from copyrighted material. Include the permission in the text, table footnote, or figure legend and provide complete information as to source. Photographs of identifiable persons must be accompanied by a signed release that indicates informed consent.

Units of measurement. Use Système International (SI) measurements. For clarity, nonmetric equivalents may be included in parentheses following the SI measurements.

Abbreviations and acronyms. If an abbreviation or acronym appears in the article, it should be expanded, the acronym being introduced within parentheses, at its first occurrence in the article and be used thereafter.

Drug names. Use generic names. You may cite proprietary names in parentheses along with the name and location of the manufacturer.

Language editing. Authors lacking facility with English syntax should seek editorial assistance before submitting their manuscripts. Material requiring major editorial work for clarity of meaning will be returned without review to obtain the assistance of an English-language editor before submitting a manuscript. Authors are responsible for the cost associated with using an editing service. The use of an editing service does not guarantee acceptance of the manuscript.

Style. When not otherwise specified in these Instructions to Authors or in the JWS Style Guide, refer to the guidelines specified in the latest edition of the American Medical Association’s Manual of Style (www.amamanualofstyle.com).