Journal of Scleroderma and Related Disorders

Manuscript Submission Guidelines: Journal of Scleroderma and Related Disorders

This Journal is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics

This Journal recommends that authors follow the Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals formulated by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE).

Please read the guidelines below then visit the Journal’s submission site https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/jsrd to upload your manuscript. Please note that manuscripts not conforming to these guidelines may be returned.

Only manuscripts of sufficient quality that meet the aims and scope of Journal of Scleroderma and Related Disorders will be reviewed.

There are no fees payable to submit or publish in this Journal. Open Access options are available - see section 3.4 below.

As part of the submission process you will be required to warrant that you are submitting your original work, that you have the rights in the work, that you are submitting the work for first publication in the Journal and that it is not being considered for publication elsewhere and has not already been published elsewhere, and that you have obtained and can supply all necessary permissions for the reproduction of any copyright works not owned by you.

1. What do we publish?
   1.1 Aims & Scope
   1.2 Article types
   1.3 Writing your paper
2. Editorial policies
   2.1 Peer review policy
   2.2 Authorship
   2.3 Acknowledgements
   2.4 Funding
   2.5 Declaration of conflicting interests
   2.6 Research ethics and patient consent
   2.7 Clinical trials
   2.8 Reporting guidelines
3. Publishing policies
   3.1 Publication ethics
   3.2 Contributor's publishing agreement
   3.3 Publication charges
   3.4 Open access and author archiving
4. Preparing your manuscript
   4.1 Formatting
   4.2 Artwork, figures and other graphics
   4.3 Supplementary material
   4.4 Reference style
   4.5 English language editing services
5. Submitting your manuscript
   5.1 ORCID
   5.2 Information required for completing your submission
   5.3 Permissions
6. On acceptance and publication
   6.1 Sage Production
   6.2 Online First publication
   6.3 Access to your published article
   6.4 Promoting your article
7. Further information

 

1. What do we publish?

1.1 Aims & Scope

Before submitting your manuscript to Journal of Scleroderma and Related Disorders, please ensure you have read the Aims & Scope.

1.2 Article Types

The journal publishes high quality, original research articles on the epidemiology, natural history, pathophysiology, diagnosis, treatment and outcome of these diseases as well as reviews and thought-provoking editorials and commentaries, with the aim of becoming the leading worldwide reference journal in the field of scleroderma and related diseases.  The journals also welcomes manuscripts on clinical trial design.

For any contribution over 4,000 words a publication charge of £300 (£210 for members of affiliated societies) (plus VAT where applicable) to support the costs of dissemination will apply. Please see the section on publication charges for more information.

Original research articles

Previously unpublished manuscripts, describing clinical, pre-clinical, epidemiological investigations, clinical trials, clinical observations, and other relevant investigations that are based on sound patient series, validated analytical methods, and appropriate statistical evaluation.

Original research articles should be structured as follows: Introduction (clearly stating an objective or hypothesis), Methods (describing the study design and methods applied, including the study setting and dates, patients or participants with inclusion and exclusion criteria, and/or participation or response rates, or data sources, and how these were selected for the study), Results (describing the results of the study in context with the published literature and addressing study limitations), and Discussion (addressing relevant implications for clinical practice or health policy). A structured abstract is required.

Words: max 3000 (excluding figures and tables)
Figures/Tables: max 6
References: max 50

Clinical trial protocols

A clinical trial is defined as any research project that prospectively assigns human participants to intervention or comparison groups to study the cause-and-effect relationship between an intervention and a health outcome. Each manuscript should be divided as follows: Introduction (stating an objective or hypothesis of the protocols), Methods (describing the design and statistical methods applied, including the study setting and dates, patients or participants with inclusion and exclusion criteria), Results (including data on recruitment, etc.), and Discussion (placing the protocol in context with the published literature). A structured abstract is required, and trial registration information (name, number, and URL) must be listed in the title page.

Words: max 3000 (excluding figures and tables)
Figures/Tables: max 6
References: max 50

Reviews

Reviews are solicited by the Editors in Chief on topics that are deemed to be relevant to the audience of the Journal. Containing the current state of knowledge or practice, integrating recent advances with accepted principles and practice, or summarizing and analyzing consensus view of controversial issues in knowledge of practice. A non-structured abstract is required.

Words: max 5000 (excluding figures and tables)
Figures/Tables: max 8
References: no limit

Editorials

The purpose of the editorials is to provide the reader with a balanced overview of relevant and up to date subjects concerning the Journal's aim or future direction. A non-structured abstract is required.

Words: max 4000 (excluding figures and tables)
Figures/Tables: max 8
References: No limit

Pros and cons (invitation only)

These articles are by invitation only and are solicited by the Editors in Chief to focus the attention of the reader on controversial issues in Scleroderma. Each article (one Pros and one Cons) has the same structure: A brief introduction, Scientific Evidence (a summary of the evidence supporting the viewpoint announced in the article title), Clinical Practice Implications and Take Home Message. Only published evidence should be reviewed, not personal communications or unpublished data. The two articles are complemented by a short article with a “Debate Summary” structure provided by a recognized expert in the field, including Introduction, Weighing the Evidence and Conclusions.

Words: max 4000 (excluding figures and tables)
Figures/Tables: max 8
References: no limit

Surgical techniques

Previously unpublished short manuscripts describing new operative procedures or improvements in existing procedures or describing innovative surgical techniques. Each manuscript should be divided as follows: Introduction, Methods, Results and Conclusions. If possible, include a video demonstrating the technique described, which will be published as online-only supplementary material. A structured abstract is required.

Words: max 3000 (excluding figures and tables)
Figures/Tables: max 5
References: max 20

Congress report (invitation only)

A congress report covers scientific, medical, health policy or other healthcare related topics presented at an important scientific meeting that will be of interest to readers.

Words: max 3000 (excluding figures and tables)
Figures/Tables: max 2
References: max 10

Brief reports

This article type reports of results from original researches. They must provide conclusive findings: preliminary observations or incomplete findings cannot be considered for publication. A non-structured abstract is required.

Words: max 2000 (excluding figures and tables)
Figures/Tables: max 3
References: max 20

Case reports (Published online only)

Case reports will be accepted if they describe a previously undescribed clinical case and are of very high importance for dissemination. Case reports must be structured as follows: Introduction (explaining the importance of the case), Case Description (providing all relevant information), and Conclusions (describing the detailed outcome of the report). A structured abstract is required.

Words: max 2000 (excluding figures and tables)
Figures/Tables: max 3
References: max 10

Correspondence (Published online only)

Letters to the Editor are intended to present opinions or comments on articles published in the Journal. Letters are subject to abridgement and editing for style and content. An abstract is not required.

If you are the corresponding author of an article cited in a Letter to the Editor and receive an email invitation to comment on it, you must log in to the system, accept the invitation immediately, and then upload and submit your reply to the Editorial Office. The response must cite the title of the letter, e.g., “Response to (Title of Letter)”.

Words: max 500 (excluding figures and tables)
Figures/Tables: 1
References: max 5

Cohort Profiles

The purpose of the Cohort Profile article is to make the research community aware of the existence of large cohorts around the world, and to maximise the use of existing data by fostering collaboration, including sharing data, research questions and methods. The Cohort Profile article provides up-to-date information about large population-based cohorts with planned long-term data collection. Cohorts with a narrow clinical focus will, in general, not be considered for this series. Profiles that describe a cohort consortium should focus on the added value of the consortium rather than piecemeal descriptions of the constituent cohorts. Such profiles must include at least one publication based on the collated data from the constituent cohorts to illustrate the added value. A non-structured abstract is required.

Words: max 3000 (excluding figures and tables)
Figures/Tables: max 6
References: max 50

1.3 Writing your paper

The Sage Author Gateway has some general advice and on how to get published, plus links to further resources. Sage Author Services also offers authors a variety of ways to improve and enhance their article including English language editing, plagiarism detection, and video abstract and infographic preparation.

1.3.1 Make your article discoverable

When writing up your paper, think about how you can make it discoverable. The title, keywords and abstract are key to ensuring readers find your article through search engines such as Google. For information and guidance on how best to title your article, write your abstract and select your keywords, have a look at this page on the Gateway: How to Help Readers Find Your Article Online

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2. Editorial policies

2.1 Peer review policy

We utilise a single-anonymize peer-review system, which is considered to be self-regulating. Reviewers are aware of the names and affiliations of the authors, but the reviewer assessments provided to authors are completely anonymous. The single-anonymize peer review system is the most commonly-used method of review and most Reviewers are comfortable with this approach, as it facilitates an impartial appraisal of a manuscript.

Submitted manuscripts are reviewed by two or more referees who evaluate whether the manuscript is scientifically logical and well-constructed, focussing specifically on if it duplicates previously published work, and if there are clear grounds for it to be considered for publication. The Editors establish their decision based on these reports and, if necessary, they can discuss with members of the Editorial Board.

The Editor or members of the Editorial Board may occasionally submit their own manuscripts for possible publication in the Journal. In these cases, the peer review process will be managed by alternative members of the Board and the submitting Editor/Board member will have no involvement in the decision-making process.

Sage does not permit the use of author-suggested (recommended) reviewers at any stage of the submission process, be that through the web-based submission system or other communication. Reviewers should be experts in their fields and should be able to provide an objective assessment of the manuscript. Our policy is that reviewers should not be assigned to a paper if:

•  The reviewer is based at the same institution as any of the co-authors

•  The reviewer is based at the funding body of the paper

•  The author has recommended the reviewer

•  The reviewer has provided a personal (e.g. Gmail/Yahoo/Hotmail) email account and an institutional email account cannot be found after performing a basic Google search (name, department and institution). 

 2.2 Authorship

Papers should only be submitted for consideration once consent is given by all contributing authors. Those submitting papers should carefully check that all those whose work contributed to the paper are acknowledged as contributing authors.

The list of authors should include all those who can legitimately claim authorship. This is all those who:

1. Made a substantial contribution to the concept or design of the work; or acquisition, analysis or interpretation of data,
2. Drafted the article or revised it critically for important intellectual content,
3. Approved the version to be published,
4. Each author should have participated sufficiently in the work to take public responsibility for appropriate portions of the content.

Authors should meet the conditions of all of the points above. When a large, multicentre group has conducted the work, the group should identify the individuals who accept direct responsibility for the manuscript. These individuals should fully meet the criteria for authorship.

Acquisition of funding, collection of data, or general supervision of the research group alone does not constitute authorship, although all contributors who do not meet the criteria for authorship should be listed in the Acknowledgments section. Please refer to the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) authorship guidelines for more information on authorship.

Please note that AI chatbots, for example ChatGPT, should not be listed as authors. For more information see the policy on Use of ChatGPT and generative AI tools.

 2.3 Acknowledgements

All contributors who do not meet the criteria for authorship should be listed in an Acknowledgements section. Examples of those who might be acknowledged include a person who provided purely technical help, or a department chair who provided only general support.

Any acknowledgements should appear first at the end of your article prior to your Declaration of Conflicting Interests (if applicable), any notes and your References.

2.3.1 Third party submissions

Where an individual who is not listed as an author submits a manuscript on behalf of the author(s), a statement must be included in the Acknowledgements section of the manuscript and in the accompanying cover letter. The statements must:

• Disclose this type of editorial assistance – including the individual’s name, company and level of input
• Identify any entities that paid for this assistance
• Confirm that the listed authors have authorized the submission of their manuscript via third party and approved any statements or declarations, e.g. conflicting interests, funding, etc.

Where appropriate, Sage reserves the right to deny consideration to manuscripts submitted by a third party rather than by the authors themselves.

2.3.2 Writing assistance

Individuals who provided writing assistance, e.g. from a specialist communications company, do not qualify as authors and so should be included in the Acknowledgements section. Authors must disclose any writing assistance – including the individual’s name, company and level of input – and identify the entity that paid for this assistance. It is not necessary to disclose use of language polishing services.

2.4 Funding

Journal of Scleroderma and Related Disorders requires all authors to acknowledge their funding in a consistent fashion under a separate heading.  Please visit the Funding Acknowledgements page on the Sage Journal Author Gateway to confirm the format of the acknowledgment text in the event of funding, or state that: This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors. 

2.5 Declaration of conflicting interests

It is the policy of Journal of Scleroderma and Related Disorders to require a declaration of conflicting interests from all authors enabling a statement to be carried within the paginated pages of all published articles.

Please ensure that a ‘Declaration of Conflicting Interests’ statement is included at the end of your manuscript, after any acknowledgements and prior to the references. If no conflict exists, please state that ‘The Author(s) declare(s) that there is no conflict of interest’. For guidance on conflict of interest statements, please see the ICMJE recommendations here

2.6 Research ethics and patient consent

Medical research involving human subjects must be conducted according to the World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki

Submitted manuscripts should conform to the ICMJE Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals, and all papers reporting animal and/or human studies must state in the methods section that the relevant Ethics Committee or Institutional Review Board provided (or waived) approval. Please ensure that you have provided the full name and institution of the review committee, in addition to the approval number.

For research articles, authors are also required to state in the methods section whether participants provided informed consent and whether the consent was written or verbal.

Information on informed consent to report individual cases or case series should be included in the manuscript text. A statement is required regarding whether written informed consent for patient information and images to be published was provided by the patient(s) or a legally authorized representative.

Please also refer to the ICMJE Recommendations for the Protection of Research Participants

All research involving animals submitted for publication must be approved by an ethics committee with oversight of the facility in which the studies were conducted. . Experimental research performed on animals must comply with the NIH Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals or equivalent. A statement that research has been performed according to the NIH Guidelines must be included in the Methods section.

2.7 Clinical trials

Journal of Scleroderma and Related Disorders endorses the ICMJE requirement that clinical trials are registered in a WHO-approved public trials registry at or before the time of first patient enrolment. However, consistent with the AllTrials campaign, retrospectively registered trials will be considered if the justification for late registration is acceptable. The trial registry name and URL, and registration number must be included at the end of the abstract.

2.8 Reporting guidelines

The relevant EQUATOR Network reporting guidelines should be followed depending on the type of study. For example, all randomized controlled trials submitted for publication should include a completed CONSORT flow chart as a cited figure and the completed CONSORT checklist should be uploaded with your submission as a supplementary file. Systematic reviews and meta-analyses should include the completed PRISMA flow chart as a cited figure and the completed PRISMA checklist should be uploaded with your submission as a supplementary file. The EQUATOR wizard can help you identify the appropriate guideline.

Other resources can be found at NLM’s Research Reporting Guidelines and Initiatives

 

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3. Publishing Policies

3.1 Publication ethics

Sage is committed to upholding the integrity of the academic record. We encourage authors to refer to the Committee on Publication Ethics’ International Standards for Authors and view the Publication Ethics page on the Sage Author Gateway

3.1.1 Plagiarism

Journal of Scleroderma and Related Disorders and Sage take issues of copyright infringement, plagiarism or other breaches of best practice in publication very seriously. We seek to protect the rights of our authors and we always investigate claims of plagiarism or misuse of published articles. Equally, we seek to protect the reputation of the journal against malpractice. Submitted articles may be checked with duplication-checking software. Where an article, for example, is found to have plagiarised other work or included third-party copyright material without permission or with insufficient acknowledgement, or where the authorship of the article is contested, we reserve the right to take action including, but not limited to: publishing an erratum or corrigendum (correction); retracting the article; taking up the matter with the head of department or dean of the author's institution and/or relevant academic bodies or societies; or taking appropriate legal action.

3.1.2 Prior publication

If material has been previously published it is not generally acceptable for publication in a Sage journal. However, there are certain circumstances where previously published material can be considered for publication. Please refer to the guidance on the Sage Author Gateway or if in doubt, contact the Editor at the address given below.

3.2 Contributor's publishing agreement

Before publication, Sage requires the author as the rights holder to sign a Journal Contributor’s Publishing Agreement. Sage’s Journal Contributor’s Publishing Agreement is an exclusive licence agreement which means that the author retains copyright in the work but grants Sage the sole and exclusive right and licence to publish for the full legal term of copyright. Exceptions may exist where an assignment of copyright is required or preferred by a proprietor other than Sage. In this case copyright in the work will be assigned from the author to the society. For more information please visit the Sage Author Gateway.

3.3 Publication charges

There is no charge for publishing in Journal of Scleroderma and Related Disorders for articles or other contributions equal to or less than 4,000 words. For any contribution over 4,000 words a publication charge of £300 (£210 for members of affiliated societies) (plus VAT where applicable) to support the costs of dissemination will apply. The 4,000 word limit includes the title, abstract, keywords, main article, tables, declarations, any acknowledgments or notes, and references. 

Sage may choose to publish selected articles prior to payment; however publication of the accepted article does not constitute waiving of the charge. Sage reserves the right to refuse future submissions if there are outstanding payments due.

An invoice will be sent to your nominated billing address. Payment terms are 30 days from the invoice date. If you would like to pay by credit card please contact us at credit.control@sagepub.co.uk for further information.

3.4 Open access and author archiving

Journal of Scleroderma and Related Disorders offers optional open access publishing via the Sage Choice programme and Open Access agreements, where authors can publish open access either discounted or free of charge depending on the agreement with Sage. Find out if your institution is participating by visiting Open Access Agreements at Sage. For more information on Open Access publishing options at Sage please visit Sage Open Access. For information on funding body compliance, and depositing your article in repositories, please visit Sage’s Author Archiving and Re-Use Guidelines and Publishing Policies.

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4. Preparing your manuscript for submission

4.1 Formatting

The preferred format for your manuscript is Word. LaTeX files are also accepted. Word and (La)Tex templates are available on the Manuscript Submission Guidelines page of our Author Gateway.

4.2 Artwork, figures and other graphics

For guidance on the preparation of illustrations, pictures and graphs in electronic format, please visit Sage’s Manuscript Submission Guidelines  

Figures supplied in colour will appear in colour online regardless of whether or not these illustrations are reproduced in colour in the printed version. For specifically requested colour reproduction in print, you will receive information regarding the costs from Sage after receipt of your accepted article.

4.3 Supplementary material

This journal is able to host additional materials online (e.g. datasets, podcasts, videos, images etc) alongside the full-text of the article. For more information please refer to our guidelines on submitting supplementary files

4.4 Reference style

Journal of Scleroderma and Related Disorders adheres to the Sage Vancouver reference style. View the Sage Vancouver guidelines to ensure your manuscript conforms to this reference style.

 If you use EndNote to manage references, you can download the Sage Vancouver EndNote output file

4.5 English language editing services

Authors seeking assistance with English language editing, translation, or figure and manuscript formatting to fit the journal’s specifications should consider using Sage Language Services. Visit Sage Language Services on our Journal Author Gateway for further information.

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5. Submitting your manuscript

Journal of Scleroderma and Related Disorders is hosted on Sage track, a web based online submission and peer review system. Visit https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/jsrd to login and submit your article online.

IMPORTANT: Please check whether you already have an account in the system before trying to create a new one. If you have reviewed or authored for the journal in the past year it is likely that you will have had an account created. 

5.1 ORCID

As part of our commitment to ensuring an ethical, transparent and fair peer review process Sage is a supporting member of ORCID, the Open Researcher and Contributor ID. ORCID provides a unique and persistent digital identifier that distinguishes researchers from every other researcher, even those who share the same name, and, through integration in key research workflows such as manuscript and grant submission, supports automated linkages between researchers and their professional activities, ensuring that their work is recognized.

The collection of ORCID iDs from corresponding authors is now part of the submission process of this journal. If you already have an ORCID iD you will be asked to associate that to your submission during the online submission process. We also strongly encourage all co-authors to link their ORCID ID to their accounts in our online peer review platforms. It takes seconds to do: click the link when prompted, sign into your ORCID account and our systems are automatically updated. Your ORCID iD will become part of your accepted publication’s metadata, making your work attributable to you and only you. Your ORCID iD is published with your article so that fellow researchers reading your work can link to your ORCID profile and from there link to your other publications.

If you do not already have an ORCID iD please follow this link to create one or visit our ORCID homepage to learn more.

5.2 Information required for completing your submission

You will be asked to provide contact details and academic affiliations for all co-authors via the submission system and identify who is to be the corresponding author. These details must match what appears on your manuscript. At this stage please ensure you have included all the required statements and declarations and uploaded any additional supplementary files (including reporting guidelines where relevant).

5.3 Permissions

Please also ensure that you have obtained any necessary permission from copyright holders for reproducing any illustrations, tables, figures or lengthy quotations previously published elsewhere. For further information including guidance on fair dealing for criticism and review, please see the Copyright and Permissions page on the Sage Author Gateway

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6. On acceptance and publication

6.1 Sage Production

Your Sage Production Editor will keep you informed as to your article’s progress throughout the production process. Proofs will be sent by PDF to the corresponding author and should be returned promptly.  Authors are reminded to check their proofs carefully to confirm that all author information, including names, affiliations, sequence and contact details are correct, and that Funding and Conflict of Interest statements, if any, are accurate.

6.2 Online First publication

Online First allows final articles (completed and approved articles awaiting assignment to a future issue) to be published online prior to their inclusion in a journal issue, which significantly reduces the lead time between submission and publication. Visit the Sage Journals help page for more details, including how to cite Online First articles.

6.3 Access to your published article

Sage provides authors with online access to their final article.

6.4 Promoting your article

Publication is not the end of the process! You can help disseminate your paper and ensure it is as widely read and cited as possible. The Sage Author Gateway has numerous resources to help you promote your work. Visit the Promote Your Article page on the Gateway for tips and advice.

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7. Further information

Any correspondence, queries or additional requests for information on the manuscript submission process should be sent to Journal of Scleroderma and Related Disorders editorial office as follows: jso@sagepub.com