Author Information
The AAOJ welcomes contributions in the following categories:
- Original Contribution: Clinical, applied, or basic science research or other content related to the clinical practice, history, or educational principles of NMM/OMM.
- Clinical Practice: Articles about practical applications for general practitioners or specialists.
- Case Reports: Unusual clinical presentations, newly recognized situations, or rarely-reported features.
- Special Communications: Items related to the art of osteopathic medical practice, such as poems, essays, vignettes, and short fiction or artwork (photography, drawing, pastels, or paintings).
- Letter to the Editor: Comments on articles published in the AAOJ or new information on clinical topics. Letters must be signed by the author(s). No letters will be published anonymously, or under pseudonyms or pen names.
- Article Reprint: Suggest an article of historical importance to reprint, with a short introduction describing its importance.
- Book Review: Reviews of publications related to osteopathic manipulative medicine and to manipulative medicine in general.
What to Expect When Submitting Your Manuscript
Before submitting your manuscript to the AAOJ, review it carefully to ensure it conforms to the AMA Manual of Style, and follow the AAOJ’s submission checklist.
The Council of Science Editors provides a list of manuscript services on their website. Manuscript services may benefit novice authors or authors whose first language is not English.
Manuscript submission website
You've submitted your manuscript. What are the next steps?
Congratulations on submitting your manuscript to the AAOJ, the official journal of the American Academy of Osteopathy. The AAOJ usually notifies authors of manuscript acceptance, revision requests, or rejection in 3-4 months after acknowledging receipt of manuscripts. The submission will be reviewed by osteopathic medicine experts in fields or topics relevant to the manuscript. Accepted articles enter the production stage and then are published.
Please note that the time from submission to article publication (including time for revisions) is typically 6-9 months.
Although tentative publication dates are provided to corresponding authors in advance as a courtesy, all dates are subject to change based on changes in priority made by the AAOJ’s editorial staff. The AAOJ is published quarterly in March, June, September, and December.
1. Quality Check
After you submit your manuscript, AAO staff conduct a quality check to ensure that all files are complete and abide by the AAOJ Checklist. If anything is missing or needs fixing, you will receive an email listing the items to be addressed.
The most frequent failure on a quality check is the authors’ names or identifying information on the manuscript file. Identifying information for the author(s) should appear only on the Cover Letter and Title Page. See Manuscript Preparation for additional details.
Once your manuscript passes this stage, it is sent to the editor-in-chief for consideration.
2. Peer Review
The peer review stage is a vital component in scholarly publishing.
All manuscripts submitted to the AAOJ are reviewed by the AAOJ’s editor-in-chief or associate editor.
If accepted for peer review, the editor-in-chief assigns peer reviewers who critically assess the manuscript and suggest revisions. The AAOJ employs a double-anonymous peer review process, which means that the author identities are concealed from the reviewers and vice versa throughout the review process. Reviewers submit their comments and decision recommendations to the editors, who make the final decision to accept or reject the manuscript.
3. Revision
After the peer review, you have the opportunity to polish your work and benefit from the experience and knowledge of top experts in the field of osteopathic manipulative medicine.
If reviewers recommend a major revision, a future resubmission of the manuscript is sent to the same reviewers for additional review. Concluding the review of the resubmission, a final decision is made to accept or reject the manuscript.
4. Production
As a means of maintaining editorial and other quality standards, all accepted manuscripts are subject to copy editing and abridgment after manuscripts undergo peer review and author revision. During the copyediting process, the AAOJ’s staff editors revise all accepted manuscripts for clarity, organization, grammar, conformity to style (see AMA Manual of Style: A Guide for Authors and Editor), and adherence to AAO-preferred terminology, nomenclature, and spelling (see Glossary of Osteopathic Terminology).
Accepted articles are edited for clarity, editorial style, and consistency. You have an opportunity to review both the edited manuscript and the digital proofs. During this stage, it is essential that you address any topics that arose during peer review or additional editor notes.
Staff editors conduct basic fact checking, including verifying referenced statements. Consequently, they may request copies of referenced materials that were not provided on submission. Failure to provide copies of referenced material upon request may result in delayed publication.
Corresponding authors are responsible for responding to peer reviewer comments and concerns and staff editor queries. Failure to respond fully to comments and concerns before manuscript acceptance, staff editor queries, or to verify statements may result in publication delay.
5. Publication
Accepted manuscripts are scheduled for publication based on:
1. Article type
2. The timeliness of the topics the manuscript addresses
3. The priority assigned by the AAOJ’s editorial board or staff
Accepted manuscripts will be assigned a digital object identifier (DOI) and indexed in Google Scholar, where they will be searchable and citable.
Authors who are considering submitting multiple manuscripts that convey the progression of a study or manuscripts that are part of a series of articles intended to be published at the same time are strongly encouraged to contact the AAOJ in advance of submitting such articles at [email protected].