Skip to main content

Editorial Process/Editing and Copyediting

Manuscripts that are accepted for publication undergo the Journal’s rigorous editing and copyediting process by staff editors to ensure that the article conforms to the Journal’s standards.

Articles are edited for style and sense; all data and facts are checked for consistency, sense, completeness, and accuracy. External sources are verified and corrected if needed. All references cited are checked for accuracy and, if necessary, are corrected according to the original citation. The editors verify that all references used are primary rather than secondary sources and, if necessary, will revert to the primary source. Personal experience is discouraged but allowed when it is deemed appropriate, using full disclosure and attribution.

The editors prepare the conflicts of interest statement to be published with the article based on the signed forms, using complete information for each individual author.

The editors add a “key points” box with the main points of the article, summarizing the main contributions of the article to the medical literature.

The editors ensure that the abstract is structured appropriately, the method is clear and coherent, the title matches the objectives, the results are complete, the discussion does not repeat the previous sections, all limitations are disclosed appropriately, and the conclusion reflects the actual findings/results.

The final edited version of the article is sent to the authors for review and approval of the editing and for responding to all queries from the staff editors. The authors are required to respond to all queries and resolve any inconsistencies or revise statements that were found by the editors to be inaccurate or inconsistent with the cited external source, or statements not based on the evidence. The corresponding author is responsible to get the approval of all authors to the final edited version of the article.

The authors must transfer copyright of tables and figures to the Journal, or provide written permission to reuse information already published elsewhere. Tables and Figures are checked for accuracy, clarity, and completeness of the information, using the Journal’s style with appropriate symbols and explanatory footnotes.

Additional information, such as supporting data or survey questions, are often posted online with the article so readers can verify the information and the relevance. Information requested by reviewers may also be published online if appropriate.