Instructions to Authors

Editorial Office

Editor-in-Chief, Al Aly, MD
ASJ Open Forum
1801 Inwood Road
Dallas, TX 75390-9132
Clinical office: 214-645-3565
Academic office: 469-884-5018
Clinic: 214-645-2353
E-mail: journal@theaestheticsociety.org

Disclaimer

Statements and opinions expressed in the articles and communications herein, including reader responses published in the Letters to the Editor section, are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the editors, the publisher, or the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS), and the editors, the publisher, and ASAPS disclaim any responsibility or liability for such materials. The editors, the publisher, and ASAPS do not guarantee, warrant, or endorse any product or service advertised in this publication, nor do they guarantee any claim made by the manufacturer of such product or service.

• #Publication Ethics
• #Experimental Ethics
• #Clinical Trials
• #Self-Archiving Policy
• #Drug Disclaimer
• #Material Disclaimer
• #Open Access
• #Manuscript Submission
• #Accepted Articles and Final Publication
• #Embargos
• #Corresponding Author Information
• #License to Publish
• #ORCID
• #Permissions
• #Article Types
• #Article Type Descriptions

Publication Ethics

Authors should observe high standards with respect to publication ethics as set out by the Commission on Publication Ethics (COPE) the World Association of Medical Editors (WAME) and International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE). Falsification or fabrication of data; plagiarism, including duplicate publication of the authors’ own work without proper citation; and misappropriation of work are all unacceptable practices. Any cases of ethical misconduct are treated very seriously and will be dealt with in accordance with COPE guidelines. The reviews of editors and peer reviewers will be considered confidential, and should not be made publicly available without the express permission of the manuscript's authors and the journal's Editor-in-Chief. Predatory publishers and journals are a serious phenomenon and one that we follow very carefully. These are publisher and journals that purport to be bonafide but in fact are not. In some instances, real journal names are copied closely to confuse authors, prompting them to submit and publish in these fake journals. We receive continuous reports about outreach from predatory publishers and suggest if questions arise, readers and authors consult this resource:

• ThinkCheckSubmit website: http://thinkchecksubmit.org/ that allows authors to confirm the legitimacy of journals and/or publishers by offering a detailed step-by-step checklist. This website is supported by: COPE, WAME, ICMJE, and OASPA and we encourage authors to follow these precautionary steps if they suspect predatory behavior.

WAME gives a useful overview of misconduct, using a slightly amended version of the US Office of Research Integrity definition of scientific misconduct and including these behaviors:

• Falsification of data: ranges from fabrication to deceptive reporting of findings and omission of conflicting data, or willful suppression and/or distortion of data.
• Plagiarism: The appropriation of the language, ideas or thoughts of another without crediting their true source and representation of them as one’s own original work.
• Improprieties of authorship: improper assignment of credit, such as excluding others, misrepresentation of the same material as original in more than one publication, inclusion of individuals as authors who have not made a definite contribution to the work published or submission of multi-authored publications without the concurrence of all authors.
• Misappropriation of the ideas of others: an important aspect of scholarly activity is the exchange of ideas among colleagues. Scholars can acquire novel ideas from others during the process of reviewing grant applications and manuscripts. However, improper use of such information can constitute fraud. Wholesale appropriation of such material constitutes misconduct.
• Violation of generally accepted research practices: serious deviation from accepted practices in proposing or carrying out research, improper manipulation of experiments to obtain biased results, deceptive statistical or analytical manipulations, or improper reporting of results.
• Material failure to comply with legislative and regulatory requirements affecting research: including but not limited to serious or substantial, repeated, willful violations of applicable local regulations and law involving the use of funds, care of animals, human subjects, investigational drugs, recombinant products, new devices, or radioactive, biological or chemical materials.
• Inappropriate behavior in relation to misconduct: this includes unfounded or knowingly false accusations of misconduct, failure to report known or suspected misconduct, withholding of information relevant to a claim or misconduct and retaliation against persons involved in the allegation or investigation.

Many journals, including ASJ Open Forum, also include redundant publication and duplicate publication, lack of declaration of competing interests and of funding/sponsorship, and other failures of transparency to be forms of misconduct.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and AI-assisted Technologies Policy

As a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), our journal strives for the highest level of quality in content and process. Recent innovations have led us to address the use of AI tools in scholarly publishing with a primary goal of transparency. The journal presently uses AI to detect plagiarism with the software iThenticate. The use of AI-driven tools such as this requires oversight by editors and editorial staff and all decisions that result from the information gained through the use of the tool are made by the editors. No editorial decisions are made by or with AI resources to ensure the sanctity of our peer review process. Editorial decisions involving misconduct and research integrity that may or may not lead to corrections, retractions, or expressions of concern are made solely by the editors with no AI involvement after careful review of each individual case.

Manuscript submissions that are in part or wholly written by artificial intelligence-generated tools will be rejected without review and deemed unacceptable for publication. AI-assisted technologies may not be listed or cited as an author. Any use of such technology must be disclosed with this statement:

“During the preparation of this work, the author(s) used (NAME TOOL/SERVICE) to (REASON). After using this tool/service, the author(s) reviewed and edited the content as needed and take full responsibility for the content of the publication.” Such technology should only be used to improve readability and language, not replace researcher tasks, data interpretation, or be used to analyze or draw scientific conclusions. This declaration doesn’t apply to the use of basic tools for checking grammar, syntax, references, etc. The editors reserve the right to question authors whose content appears to be written through an AI tool, or if such an instance is identified by reviewers during peer review.  We maintain that strict oversight by editors and editorial staff is the hallmark to ensuring a rigorous and fair peer review process meeting the highest ethical standards.

Dealing with allegations of misconduct

We take seriously all possible misconduct. If an editor has concerns that a submitted article describes something that might be considered to constitute misconduct in research, publication or professional behavior, we will discuss the case in confidence among our editorial team.

If the case cannot be resolved by discussion with the author(s) and the Editor still has concerns, the case may be reported to the appropriate authorities. If, during the course of reviewing an article, an editor is alerted to possible problems (for example, fraudulent data) in another publication, the editor should immediately alert the Editor-in-Chief here: journal@theaestheticsociety.org.

Readers that suspect misconduct in a published article are encouraged to report this to the Editor-in-Chief here: journal@theaestheticsociety.org. Cases of research publication misconduct may be referred to COPE in an anonymised format if further guidance is required.

Authorship

All authors listed on the manuscript should have contributed significantly to the design or implementation of the experiment or the analysis and interpretation of the data. All authors should have been involved in the writing of the manuscript at the draft and any revision stages and have read and approved the final version. Any other individuals who contributed to the experiment or the writing of the manuscript should be listed in the Acknowledgments section. We do not allow dual corresponding authors. Any requests to list two persons as corresponding authors within the manuscript can unfortunately not be approved; however, two authors may be listed as first co-authors. Only those who contributed materially to the writing, design, or analysis of the article should be mentioned.

Authorship Requirements. For guidelines on authorship, please refer to the Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals [PDF], formulated by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors. The cover letter should state that all authors have seen and approved the manuscript.

Originality

By submitting your manuscript to the journal, it is understood that it is an original manuscript, is unpublished work, and is not under consideration elsewhere.

Papers submitted to the journal will be screened for plagiarism using Similarity Check / iThenticate plagiarism detection tools.

Authorship and "Umbrella" Groups

Many large collaborative studies are organized under a group name that represents all the participants. All articles must have at least one named individual as author. Authors who wish to acknowledge the umbrella group from which the data originate should list the authors of the article, followed by "on behalf of the [GROUP NAME]". The members of the group should be listed individually in the acknowledgments section, and if correctly presented will ultimately be listed in Medline as ‘collaborators.'

Peer Review Process 

ASJ Open Forum publishes original submissions, as well as submissions transferred from Aesthetic Surgery Journal (ASJ). All original submissions are initially reviewed by the Editor. If selected for peer review, the manuscript will be sent to independent reviewers as part of a double blinded peer review process. A decision is made based on feedback from these reviewers and the judgement of the editorial team. 

Manuscripts rejected following double blind peer review at ASJ are encouraged to have their manuscript redirected to ASJ Open Forum with the earlier reviews, which will facilitate a faster publication process. These manuscripts may be sent out for additional double blinded peer review, and a decision will be made on the manuscript based on the feedback from all of the reviewers and the judgment of the editorial team.   

Conflict of Interest

At the point of submission, each author should reveal any financial interests or connections, regardless of whether the author feels they are directly relevant to the work submitted to the journal. This includes pertinent commercial or other sources of funding for the individual authors or for the associated departments or organizations, personal relationships, or direct academic competition.

If the manuscript is published, Conflict of Interest information, including if none was declared, will be communicated in a statement in the published paper.

Any changes made to the list of conflicts after the paper is accepted must be submitted in writing, signed by the appropriate authors (that is, the corresponding author and the author for whom the conflict exists), to the ASJ Open Forum editorial office.

Experimental Ethics

Human subjects and Institutional Review Board approval

All US-based retrospective and prospective studies involving living human patients require Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval; please name the entity/institution that granted approval in the Methods section. Please note that some retrospective studies, such as retrospective medical chart reviews, may qualify for exemption provided that the subjects cannot be identified through linked identifiers, and are not contacted or reidentified by the investigator. To qualify for this category, a researcher may access medical chart information but may not record or link these identifiers to the research data set.

See here for a full list of exceptions to IRB requirements.

Cadaver studies and animal research studies must follow the Declaration of Helsinki (DoH) and/or guiding principles; please state which principle was followed in the Methods section. All internationally based studies for which IRB approval is not available must follow the DoH and/or guiding principles; please state which principle was followed in the Methods section. In cases where IRB approval is not required (eg, international submissions for which IRB is not available), the guidelines of the Declaration of Helsinki, the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) Regulations for the Protection of Human Subjects, or the Belmont Report must be followed. Copies of these documents are available online at the following sites:

DHHS Regulations
Belmont Report
Declaration of Helsinki

Verification of informed consent for every patient is required and must be uploaded with your submission to verify consent was received. Please include the following sentence in the Methods section, “Written consent was provided, by which the patients agreed to the use and analysis of their data”. If patient data was deidentified and thus no consent was necessary, please state this as well.

See here for full details regarding IRB and research ethics requirements. Also see here for more information on ASJ’s guidelines and standards regarding IRB approval and research ethics.

Animal experiments

For manuscripts that describe animal studies, the US Public Health Service Policy on Humane Care and Use of Laboratory Animals must be followed. Prior to submitting a manuscript, authors must read and agree to the Ethics in Publishing statement posted on the Journal website. This statement reflects key principles outlined in the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors' "Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts" and the Council of Science Editors' "Editorial Policy Statement."

Clinical Trials

In accordance with the Clinical Trial Registration Statement from the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), all clinical trials published in the journal must be registered in a public trials registry at or before the onset of participant enrollment.

The registry must be accessible to the public at no charge, searchable, open to all prospective registrants, managed by a not-for-profit organization, and include all the necessary information as specified by the ICMJE. The full ICMJE policy on clinical trial registration and a list of recommended registries can be found on the ICMJE website: https://www.icmje.org/recommendations/browse/publishing-and-editorial-issues/clinical-trial-registration.html. Results posted in the same clinical trials registry in which the primary registration resides will not be considered prior publication if they are presented in the form of a brief abstract (<500 words or less) or a table.

Authors are requested to provide the exact URL and unique identification number for the trial registration at the time of submission. This information will be published in the article, and we

Self-archiving Policy

The published journal article cannot be shared publicly, for example on ResearchGate, Academia.edu, or other academic social networking sites, to ensure the sustainability of peer-reviewed research in journal publications.

OUP’s self-archiving policy sets out the ways in which OUP journal authors can self-archive versions of their work on their own webpages, on institutional webpages, and in other repositories.

For information about this journal's policy, please visit our Author Self-Archiving policy page.

Drug Disclaimer

The mention of trade names or commercial products or organizations and the inclusion of advertisements in ASJ Open Forum does not imply endorsement by the Society, the editors, the editorial board, Oxford University Press, or the organization to which the authors are affiliated. The editors and publishers have taken all reasonable precautions to verify drug names and doses, the results of experimental work, and clinical findings published in ASJ Open Forum. The ultimate responsibility for the use and dosage of drugs mentioned in ASJ Open Forum and in the interpretation of published material lies with the medical practitioner, and the editors and publishers cannot accept liability for damages arising from any errors or omissions in ASJ Open Forum. Please inform the editors of any errors.

Material Disclaimer

The opinions expressed in ASJ Open Forum are those of the authors and contributors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Society (American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery), the editors, the editorial board, the publisher (Oxford University Press), or the organization with which the authors are affiliated. Level of Evidence (LOE) categories presented in ASJ Open Forum reflect a judgment regarding the strength of the evidence that was available to our authors before publication and the relevant importance of benefits. We promote the use of evidence-based medicine in medical research and within ASJ Open Forum. The LOE for qualified articles will be reviewed by the Editor-in-Chief, the EBM Hub Co-Editors, and/or technical experts as appropriate. We use the ASPS LOE scale and classify levels as Therapeutic, Risk, or Diagnostic. We trust that our authors will confirm the accuracy of information presented to describe generally accepted practices. Other professionals in the field may have varying opinions; therefore, and because of advances in medical research we strongly suggest that readers personally verify specified treatments and drugs including manufacturers' guidance. It is the reader's responsibility to render their own professional decisions, and to appropriately advise and treat their own patients.

The ASJ Open Forum endeavors to provide accurate and up-to-date information, but we do not warrant that it is, nor do our licensors who supply certain content linked to or otherwise accessible from our content. We do not advocate or endorse the use of any drug or therapy contained within, nor does it diagnose patients. Information published is provided on an ‘ s is' basis and to the fullest extent permitted by law, the Journal and its licensors assume no responsibility for any aspect of healthcare administered with the aid of this information or any other use of this information.

Open Access

ASJ Open Forum is a fully open access journal, and all articles are published in the journal under an open access licence immediately upon publication. You will need to pay an open access charge to publish under an open access licence.

Details of the open access licences and open access charges.

Charges for Original Articles, Preliminary Reports, Reviews, and Special Topics using a CC BY or CC BY-NC license:

• Discounted charge for society members: $1,453
• Regular charge for non-society members: $2,906

Charges for Case Reports and Video Articles using a CC BY or CC BY-NC license:

• Discounted charge for society members: $727
• Regular charge for non-society members: $1,454

Charges for Letters to the Editor, Editorials, Video Commentaries, and Commentaries using a CC BY or CC BY-NC license:

• Regular charge for society members: $0
• Regular charge for non-society members: $0

Corresponding authors based in countries and regions, that are part of the developing countries initiative are eligible for a full waiver of publishing fees in our fully open access journals. For further details, please see our APC Waiver Policy.

OUP has a growing number of Read and Publish agreements with institutions and consortia which provide funding for open access publishing. This means authors from participating institutions can publish open access, and the institution may pay the charge. Find out if your institution is participating.

Please note that you may be eligible for a discount to the open access charge based on society membership. Authors may be asked to prove eligibility for the member discount.

Please note that some article types may have different rates for open access.

Manuscript Submission

Submission of a manuscript to ASJ Open Forum implies the authors of the paper understand and fully accept the policies of the journal as detailed in these Instructions to Authors. Please read these instructions carefully and follow them strictly to ensure that the review and publication of your paper is as efficient and rapid as possible. The editors reserve the right to return manuscripts that are not in accordance with these instructions.

All manuscripts submitted for possible publication, including text, tables, graphics, and supplementary materials, should be submitted online via the journal's online submission system. Original source files are preferred (not PDF files). The author should specify a category designation for the manuscript (Original Article, Review, Case Report, etc.) and choose a set of classifications from the prescribed list available online. Authors may send queries concerning the submission process, manuscript status, or Journal procedures to the Editorial Office (journal@theaestheticsociety.org). Once the submission files are uploaded, the system automatically generates an electronic (PDF) proof, which is then used for reviewing. All correspondence, including the Editor's decision and any requests for revisions, will be by e-mail.

Relationship to Aesthetic Surgery Journal

ASJ Open Forum is editorially independent from Aesthetic Surgery Journal (ASJ). If a paper is rejected by ASJ, authors are welcome to submit their manuscripts to ASJ Open Forum for publishing consideration. If a manuscript was previously submitted to ASJ and was rejected, authors submitting to ASJ Open Forum should be aware that the ASJ reviewer feedback and identities are available to editors of ASJ Open Forum. Per their discretion, the ASJ Open Forum editors will take the ASJ reviewers’ feedback into account when making their manuscript decisions. Once transferred, manuscripts will enter into an additional round of peer review from ASJ Open Forum’s reviewers. Authors may choose to request a “fresh review,” in which case the authors should state in their ASJ Open Forum cover letter that they’d like to opt to have their manuscripts reviewed by new reviewers.

Review Process

Submitted articles are first evaluated by at least two reviewers, as well as the Editor-in-Chief. These experts are queried about potential conflicts of interest, financial or otherwise, between their work and any of the work described in the manuscript they are reviewing. Reviewers may be plastic surgeons, other medical/surgical specialists, researchers/scientists, or others with special expertise in a specific research area. When necessary, articles will be additionally reviewed by a statistician. The Journal makes every effort to notify authors of the initial decision of their articles within one month of submission. Articles with particular timeliness may be fast-tracked for more rapid publication. Articles provisionally accepted for publication may be returned to the author for additions, clarifications, or alterations, in response to suggestions by the editor and reviewers, prior to final acceptance. 

Conflicts of Interest

ASJ Open Forum requires all authors to acknowledge, on the Title Page of their manuscript, all funding sources that supported their work within the past 36 months, as well as all institutional or corporate affiliations of the authors. In addition, at the time of submission of their manuscript, authors are required to disclose on the Title Page any relationships with public or private commercial or noncommercial entities, any institutional affiliations, or any personal associations that might pose a conflict of interest including any payments/stock received within the past 36 months, regardless of whether the author feels these are directly relevant to the work submitted to the journal. These include, but are not limited to, employment, consultant arrangements, stock or other equity ownership, honoraria, paid expert testimony, patent licensing arrangements, benefits to the authors’ institutions, or payments for conducting or publicizing the study. Disclosure of dollar amounts is not required. Authors should describe the role of the study sponsor, if any, in study design; collection, analysis, and interpretation of data; writing the report; and the decision to submit the report for publication, including payment of the article processing charge. If the supporting source had no such involvement, the authors should so state. Authors should disclose potential conflicts of interest to study participants and should state in the manuscript that they have done so. Disclosures made by the authors will appear on the accepted manuscript in both the print and online editions of the Journal. Corresponding author is responsible for reporting potential conflicts on behalf of all co-authors. If any concerns exist, please discuss it with the editorial team to ensure transparency.

Crossref Funding Data Registry
In order to meet your funding requirements authors are required to name their funding sources, or state if there are none, during the submission process. For further information on this process or to find out more about CHORUS, visit the CHORUS initiative.

Manuscript Preparation

Original contributions should be submitted online. The text must conform to acceptable English usage. British English will be converted to American English per AMA style. In the case of foreign authors, English translation is required; however, the Journal will accept submissions from foreign authors that may require additional editing by journal staff prior to publication. Although we are able to make minor edits, if we feel the manuscript requires extensive editing for English language, authors should obtain assistance from a copyeditor at their own expense. We are happy to make recommendations of copyeditors with whom we have worked and who are familiar with ASJ Open Forum style. If abbreviations cannot be avoided, use the expanded form when first mentioned and abbreviate thereafter. Use generic drug and equipment names (with tradenames and the manufacturer's name and location listed in parentheses afterward).

Title Page

The title page should include the full name(s) of author(s), academic degrees, titles (positions), institutional affiliations, a conflict of interest statement, and a funding information statement. Please provide the complete mailing address and email address of the author to whom correspondence should be directed. Do not include authors' names anywhere in the main text.

How to Make Your Article Title More Visible and Your Article More Discoverable

Here are a few tips that should help your article receive the broadest attention possible:

1. Your title should be keyword-laden; every word should make the title clearer to aid reader searches and discoverability.
2. Your title should be clear, concise and specific to your topic. If your article includes a guide, tutorial, or video, include that element in the title so it is not overlooked.
3. Keep your title under 60 characters, if possible. That is the amount of text that will show up in Google’s search results.
4. If possible, avoid defining specific geographic locales in titles as this makes the appeal of the research content localizes versus more global.
5. Place keywords closer to the beginning of the title. This is useful for ranking and users are more likely to click them.

Authorship

All authors listed on the manuscript should have contributed significantly to the experimental design, its implementation, or analysis and interpretation of the data. All authors should have been involved in the writing of the manuscript at draft and any revision stages, and have read and approved the final version. Any other individuals who contributed to the experiment or the writing of the manuscript should be listed in the Acknowledgment section. Excessive authorship lists (more than 15 contributors) will be evaluated by the editorial office and some authors may be moved to the Acknowledgement section if they are not full contributors. Submission with more than 10 authors will be required to explain the role/involvement of each author and their respective authorship contributions. Only those who contributed materially to the writing, design, or analysis of the article should be mentioned.

Authorship Requirements. For guidelines on authorship, please refer to the Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals, formulated by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors. The cover letter should state that all authors have seen and approved the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Only one corresponding author is permitted for each manuscript, and the person designated as the corresponding author in the submission system will receive automated messages, such as editors’ decisions and page proofs.

Affiliations

Author affiliations and corresponding author information should be limited to your current or most important affiliation, which may include academic university affiliations or private practice name. Only one affiliation per author is permissible. If more than one is received, the first will be used. Please include your title (eg, clinical professor, chair, medical student, resident/fellow, etc.). When all authors work in the same department, the affiliation will be listed as: “From the Division/Department of, University, City, State.” Doctors in private practice will be listed as: “Dr. Jones is in private practice in city, state, country.”

Abstract

Abstracts should not exceed 250 words and should appear on the first page after the title page. The abstract should be factual, not descriptive, and present the key points in the manuscript. The structure should include the following headings: Background; Objectives (including the major hypothesis tested, if any); Methods (study design, the setting, sample, and measures used to collect data); Results (major outcomes and statistical significance, if appropriate); and Conclusions (the significance of results). Note that some categories of articles (e.g, Case Reports, Reviews, Video Articles, and Special Topics) use unstructured abstracts.

References

Authors are responsible for the accuracy of their list of References. References must be cited consecutively in the text as superscript numerals and listed in numerical order at the end of the text. Reference format should conform to that set forth in American Medical Association Manual of Style, 11th ed. Journal abbreviations should conform to the style used in Cumulated Index Medicus. Each reference should include the following:

For Journals
Authors' names and initials, title of article, journal name, date, volume number, inclusive pages, and the article DOI are required. List all authors when six or fewer; when seven or more, list only three and add "et al."

References for journal articles should be formatted as follows: Author AA, Author BB, Author CC. Title of article. Abbreviated Title of Journal. Year of publication;volume(issue):page numbers. Doi.

Example: Fischer MA, Stedman MS, Lii J, et al. Primary medication non-adherence: analysis of 195,930 electronic prescriptions. J Gen Intern Med. 2010;25(4):284–290. doi: 10.1007/s11606-010-1253-9.

For Books
Author(s) or editor(s), Book title, edition number, publisher, latest copyright year.

• Drake RL, Vogl W, Mitchell AWM, Gray H. Gray's Anatomy for Students. 4th ed. Elsevier; 2020.

For Chapters in Books
Author(s), chapter title, editor(s), book title, edition number, publisher, latest copyright year, and inclusive page numbers:

• Kouchoukos NT, Wareing TH. Management of complications of aortic surgery. In: Waldhausen JA, Orringer MB, eds. Complications in Cardiothoracic Surgery. 1st ed. Mosby; 1991:224-236

Images and Illustrations

Illustrations should be submitted online along with the manuscript and should be numbered in the order of their mention in the text. Each figure should be uploaded as a large, separate .JPG file. If figures contain multiple parts (A, B, C, etc), each part should be uploaded as a separate file. Please do not add letter labels; these will be added post-acceptance by the production team. Line art (in color should be at least 1000 DPI. Typewritten or freehand lettering is unacceptable. All lettering must be done professionally and should be in proportion to the drawing, graph, or photograph. The Journal cannot accept poor quality illustrations, and all illustrations must be in color.

All images should be at least 5 inches wide. Images should be uploaded as large, separate .JPG files. Graphics software such as Photoshop and Illustrator should be used in the creation of the art. Color images must be CMYK, at least 300 DPI. Preoperative and postoperative photographs should show the patient at the same distance and angle and with the same body pose and/or facial expression. Preoperative and postoperative photographs should be taken with the same background color, lighting, film, and lens type. For facial photography, when possible, patients should be shown without makeup and jewelry, both preoperatively and postoperatively. If patients prefer not to remove makeup, both preoperative and postoperative makeup should be similar. In addition, if patients are amenable, pulling hair and bangs off the face in both preoperative and postoperative photographs illustrating facial procedures is preferred.

PLEASE NOTE: The journal only accepts long-term (6 months or longer) follow-up images. We do not accept images with blocked or blurred parts of the body, including the eyes. We also do not accept images with clothing. Any manuscript submitted that contains blocking, blurring, or clothing will be returned to the author to exchange for new images. 

Additionally, we will not accept figures that show the genitalia of minors 18 years old or younger. For images of minors where breasts are shown, they will only be accepted if they are clinically critical to understanding the procedure. The Editor in Chief will determine this with the author’s input.

We require individual signed consent forms for each patient featured in a manuscript’s figures/videos/etc. These forms should specifically grant permission for the images/videos featuring the patient to be published in the Journal and used without restriction in print and/or online promotion surrounding the article and/or Journal. All patients who appear in the images/videos must provide an original signature granting this permission. If the consent forms are not in English, authors should also provide a blank copy of the form translated into English. An example of acceptable language can be found here.

Written consent must be obtained from all patients featured in the clinical photographs and/or videos prior to publication. If a patient revokes consent of their likeness being published in the Journal, you must notify the Journal staff prior to any publication. If the author revokes consent after publication, we will be unable to accommodate the request.

Video Clip Submission

Authors are encouraged to provide informative and educational digital videos that supplement the article submitted. Such videos should be pertinent to the article and complement the submission. All video submissions must adhere to the Journal’s double blinded peer review policy. Furthermore, video submissions should satisfy the following criteria.

For ease of download, the upper size limit of a single MMC file is 100 MB; 10 MB is recommended. The video must be formatted with a screen size no smaller than 320 X 240 pixels. Resolution of 1920 x 1080 is recommended. Acceptable file extensions are: .wmv, .mp4, .avi, .mov, and .mpg. Signed photo consent forms must be included for any patients featured in the video[s].

Video File Preparations

• All videos must include either clear English-language narration (preferred) or subtitles (in English) as a guide to the viewer. For readability, subtitles should appear in regular black font (no special color or formatting).
• Videos should not reveal author names, affiliations, logos, or any other identifying information that would compromise the double blinded review process.
• Recommended frame rate: 24 fps (or 23.976 fps), 25 fps, and 30 fps (or 29.97 fps) 
• Desired aspect ratio: 4:3 (standard) or 16:9 (widescreen) 
• If compression is required to reduce file size for uploading, please use a minimum bit rate of 10,000 kbit/s – 20,000 kbit/s.

For Optimal Video Quality

• Film in landscape orientation with reproducible lens type, diffused light, and white-balanced conditions.
• Correct orientation should be provided in some form.
• Avoid excess zoom but apply when indicated.
• Coordination of optimal vantage point must be obtained to avoid typical obstructions of the camera’s main view.
• Audio can be included as part of the video, but should focused and informative.
• For acceptable formats, extensions, and other details, please contact the Editorial Office (journal@theaestheticsociety.org).

Figure Legends

The Figure Legend should be provided after the Reference List.

The following information should accompany each clinical photograph: the patient’s age and gender, the presenting complaint, the procedure the patient underwent, and the postoperative time when each photograph was taken. Where figures or tables are reproduced or adapted, proper permission should be given in the legend after the author obtains the publisher’s permission to re-use the work.

If an illustration has been previously published, the legend must give full credit to the original source. Please describe each portion of each figure in the Figure Legend (for example, A, B, C, etc.).

Tables

Tables should supplement, not duplicate, the text. They should be self-explanatory and numbered in consecutive order according to their mention in the text. A brief title should be provided for each table. If a table, or any data therein, has been published previously, full credit to the original source must be given in a footnote.

Supplementary Data

Supporting material that is not essential for inclusion in the full text of the manuscript but would nevertheless benefit the reader can be made available by the publisher as online-only content, linked to the online manuscript. The Editors reserve the right to publish appendices and other supplementary data online-only rather than in print. The material should not be essential to understanding the conclusions of the paper but should contain data that are additional or complementary and directly relevant to the article content. Such information might include more detailed methods, extended data sets and data analysis, or additional figures.

It is standard practice for appendices to be made available online-only as supplementary data. All text and figures must be provided in suitable electronic formats. All material to be considered as supplementary data must be submitted at the same time as the main manuscript for peer review. It cannot be altered or replaced after the paper has been accepted for publication, and will not be edited. Please indicate clearly all material intended as supplementary data upon submission. Also ensure that the supplementary data is referred to in the main manuscript where necessary: for example "(see Supplemental data)" or "(see Supplemental Figure 1)".

Invited Commentaries

Invited commentaries of accepted manuscripts may be requested by the editors. Manuscript preparation for a commentary is the same as that for an original contribution.

Language Editing

Language editing, if your first language is not English, to ensure that the academic content of your paper is fully understood by journal editors and reviewers is optional. Language editing does not guarantee that your manuscript will be accepted for publication. For further information on this service, please see our Language Services webpage. Several specialist language editing companies offer similar services and you can also use any of these. Authors are liable for all costs associated with such services.

Availability of Data and Materials

Where ethically feasible, ASAPS strongly encourages authors to make all data and software code on which the conclusions of the paper rely available to readers. We suggest that data be presented in the main manuscript or additional supporting files, or deposited in a public repository whenever possible. For information on general repositories for all data types, and a list of recommended repositories by subject area, please see Choosing where to archive your data.

Data Citation

ASAPS supports the Force 11 Data Citation Principles and requires that all publicly available datasets be fully referenced in the reference list with an accession number or unique identifier such as a digital object identifier (DOI). Data citations should include the minimum information recommended by DataCite:

• [dataset]* Authors, Year, Title, Publisher (repository or archive name), Identifier

*The inclusion of the [dataset] tag at the beginning of the citation helps us to correctly identify and tag the citation. This tag will be removed from the citation published in the reference list.

Preprint policy

Authors retain the right to make an Author’s Original Version (preprint) available through various channels, and this does not prevent submission to the journal. For further information see our Online Licensing, Copyright and Permissions policies. If accepted, the authors are required to update the status of any preprint, including your published paper’s DOI, as described on our Author Self-Archiving policy page.

Accepted Articles and Final Publication

Accepted Articles

Recently, we have begun publishing the accepted versions of manuscripts. This is the raw file with no copyediting or typesetting. Most articles will publish in approximately one week from the time of acceptance. Your signed license form is required to publish this rapidly. Since we are publishing raw files, you may notice that author queries remain in the accepted version and appear online. Rest assured that the final version will not include author queries, however, this is a consequence of being able to publish in one week’s time, and disseminate your work much faster than ever before. If you have any questions about ASJ Open Forum’s rapid publication, please contact: journal@theaestheticsociety.org

Final Publication

Page Proofs

Authors are sent page proofs by email. These should be checked immediately and corrections, as well as answers to any queries, returned to the publishers as an annotated PDF via the online proofing system within 2 working days (further details are supplied with the proof). It is the author's responsibility to check proofs thoroughly.

Advance Access

Advance Access articles are published online soon after they have been accepted for publication, in advance of their appearance in a printed journal. Appearance in Advance Access (in either of the models below) constitutes official publication, and the Advance Access version can be cited by a unique DOI (Digital Object Identifier). When an article appears in an issue, it is removed from the Advance Access page.

Articles posted for Advance Access have been copyedited and typeset and any corrections included. This is before they are paginated for inclusion in a specific issue of the journal. Once an article appears in an issue, both versions of the paper continue to be accessible and citable.

Embargo Information

The authors’ cover letter should state that neither the submitted paper nor any similar paper, in whole or in part, other than an abstract or preliminary communication, has been or will be submitted to or published in any other source. Once an article is accepted for publication in ASJ Open Forum, the information therein is embargoed from reporting by the print media until the journal’s issue date and embargoed from reporting by all other media until it is published.

If you are able to promote your ASJ Open Forum article through a professional media/PR/press agency, we ask that you coordinate efforts with the ASAPS PR team prior to requesting a publication embargo. This will ensure a streamlined marketing approach among all organizations involved and will yield the greatest publicity possible for your article. General questions about this policy may be directed to Phaedra Cress at phaedra@theaestheticsociety.org.

Corresponding Author Information

Please note that by submitting an article for publication you confirm that you are the corresponding/submitting author and that Oxford University Press (OUP) may retain your email address for the purpose of communicating with you about the article. You agree to notify OUP immediately if your details change. If your article is accepted for publication, OUP will contact you using the email address you have used in the registration process. Please note that OUP does not retain copies of rejected articles.

License

Upon receipt of accepted manuscripts at Oxford, authors will be invited to complete an online copyright license to publish form. Once invited, the license form should be signed within 24 hours. If we have not received confirmation of signature by the time the manuscript arrives, your manuscript may be delayed.

It is a condition of publication for all Oxford Journals that authors grant an exclusive license to Oxford University Press or the sponsoring society. This ensures that all of the necessary rights needed for publication of the article are in place including provision for any requests from third parties to reproduce content from the journals are handled efficiently and consistently by OUP, enabling the content to be as widely disseminated as possible. No article will be published unless the signed license has been received at Oxford Journals. Within a few days, a license form link will be sent by OUP Production to the corresponding author. The first line of the email will read: "Welcome to Oxford Journals!" Please note that, in order for your article to publish, it is imperative that you visit the link provided and sign your License to Publish form as soon as possible. Without your signed consent, Oxford Journals cannot publish your article. The sooner your signature is received, the sooner your work can be disseminated. Any queries about the license form should be sent as soon as possible to Rights and permissions so that any issues can be resolved quickly and to avoid any delay in publication. Any queries about the license form should be sent as soon as possible to Permissions.

As part of the terms of the license agreement, authors may use their own material in other publications written or edited by themselves, provided that the journal is acknowledged as the original place of publication by Oxford University Press. Authors retain copyright of their Articles (or their employer’s do if the employer claims copyright). For more information of Oxford Journals' copyright policy and the authors' rights under the terms of the license.

Work submitted for publication must be original, previously unpublished, and not under consideration for publication elsewhere. If previously published figures, tables, or parts of text are to be included, the copyright-holder’s permission must have been obtained prior to submission. For more information on how to obtain permissions, please consult Rights and Permissions.

ORCID

We encourage authors to provide an ORCID ID when submitting a paper.

ORCID is a global registry of author and researcher identifiers currently being established by an international collaboration of publishers, researchers, research institutions, and funders. The purpose of ORCID is to allow researchers and contributors to academic publications to create for themselves a unique, lifelong ORCID identifier. The adoption of ORCID iDs throughout the research, funding, and publishing life cycle will bring significant benefits – simplifying research workflows, resolving name ambiguity, and ensuring correct attribution of research and other activities.

Authors can sign up for an ORCID ID. The sign up process takes less than a minute, is entirely free, and only needs to be done once. Once registered, authors can link their research, funding and publication history to their ORCID record, ensuring that all relevant information about their research is accessible in one place.

Where an ORCID ID is included with a submission, it will appear alongside the author information on the published paper; readers will be able to click through to see your full ORCID record if you’ve chosen to make it publically available. You can also choose to allow the paper to be automatically added to your ORCID record (to ensure this occurs, you'll need to grant permission when emailed by Crossref).

Further information, including instructions for adding ORCID IDs when submitting via Scholar One or Editorial Manager, can be found on the ORCID webpage.

Permissions

Permission to reproduce copyright material for print and online publication in perpetuity must be cleared and if necessary, paid for by the author; this includes applications and payments to DACS, ARS, and similar licensing agencies as appropriate. Evidence in writing that such permissions have been secured from the rights-holder must be made available to the editors. It is also the author's responsibility to include acknowledgments as stipulated by the particular institutions. Please note that obtaining copyright permission could take some time. Oxford Journals can offer information and documentation to assist authors in securing print and online permissions: please see the Guidelines for Authors section. Should you require copies of this, please contact the ASJ Open Forum editorial office or the Oxford Journals Rights department.

In order to reproduce any third party material, including figures or tables, in an article authors must obtain permission from the copyright holder and be compliant with any requirements the copyright holder may have pertaining to this reuse.

When seeking to reproduce any kind of third-party material authors should request the following:

1. non-exclusive rights to reproduce the material in the specified article and journal;
2. electronic rights, preferably for use in any form or medium;
3. the right to use the material for the life of the work; and
4. world-wide English-language rights.

Further guidelines on clearing permissions can be found at the Access and Purchase Resource Centre webpage.

Authors should also include a statement indicating that permission has been obtained in the relevant legend/footnote and provide the Editorial Office with copies of any relevant paperwork.

A template permissions request letter can be found at the end of the above document.

Article Types

ASJ Open Forum publishes the following article types:

• Video Articles
• Original Articles
• Review Articles
• Preliminary Reports
• Case Reports
• Special Topics
• Video Commentaries
• Commentaries
• Editorials
• Letters to the Editor

Article Type Descriptions

All Articles

When applicable, a Level of Evidence should be included for all research containing evidence-based medicine. This is selected by the author within ScholarOne upon submission, and confirmed by the Editor-in-Chief after acceptance. An international contribution logo will be added to all articles published for whom the lead or corresponding author resides outside the United States. Articles published by authors of an international affiliate partner will receive an International Affiliate logo. All authors must declare all potential conflicts of interest and any financial support with regard to the research, authorship, or publication of the article.

Video Articles

ASJ Open Forum welcomes videos that further the knowledge and understanding of cosmetic and plastic surgery as practical supplements to the published literature. We accept Technique Videos and Video Roundtables. Video Articles require a brief abstract (250 words or less) and we encourage the submission of an accompanying transcription of the video for inclusion and publication. A publication fee applies for the submission of this article type.

Please specify which Video Article section you are submitting for in your Cover Letter. Details for Video Article submission sections are below:

Technique Videos

Technique Video articles demonstrate a practical, relevant, step-by-step guide to a specific medical technique or operation. Although most of the article will focus on the video of the method, the submission should also contain a summary of patient outcomes documented using the author’s method. The summary should include a minimum of 10 cases and up to 1,000 words, up to 15 figures and tables in total, and up to 30 references. See an example here.

Video Roundtables

Video Roundtables feature a roundtable discussion on a themed topic. Submissions should include a complementary print article of up to 200 words describing the video, and up to 10 references may be included. Additional figures and tables should not be included. See an example here. 

Original Articles

Original Article manuscripts are designed to be a full scientific report on the technique, outcomes, and complications of a specific procedure. Original Articles should include a structured abstract (Background, Objectives, Methods, Results, and Conclusions), and a separate section in the main article for each of the following: Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion, and Conclusions. Original Articles are generally up to 5,000 words and include approximately 10 figures and tables in total, and up to 50 references. A publication fee applies for the submission of this article type.

Review Articles

Review Articles provide a review of all existing academic literature on a specific topic and should cover the current “best practices” in that particular field. We prefer systematic over narrative reviews. Systematic reviews should summarize a body of evidence aiming to answer a specific clinical question about diagnostic, prognostic, or therapeutic clinical practices. Narrative reviews outside this area should focus on cutting-edge and evolving developments and how these affect the aesthetic surgeon’s practice. The main text of a review article should contain information about anatomy, evaluation, technique options (surgical/nonsurgical), outcomes, complications, and safety issues. The abstract should be unstructured. Reviews are generally up to 5,000 words and include up to 15figures and tables in total, and up to 50 references. A publication fee applies for the submission of this article type.

Preliminary Reports

Preliminary Reports are formatted in the same manner as Original Articles, but usually include a smaller patient cohort and describe a procedure or technique that has not yet been fully validated. They are generally 3,500 words and may include up to 6 figures and tables in total, and 25 references. A publication fee applies for the submission of this article type.

Case Reports

Case Reports provide focused reporting of Original Article findings. These short articles discuss the presentation, treatment course, and outcomes of a particular aesthetic procedure in one or two patients. These reports generally present findings that are new (ie, they have not yet been investigated or reported in a large series of patients) or anomalous. Case Reports should include an unstructured abstract, a thorough description of each case, and a discussion of how your findings fit into the existing literature. Case Reports generally include up to 1,500 words, up to 5 figures and tables in total, and up to 25 references. We require a 30- to 60-second video abstract with the submission of all Case Reports. A publication fee applies for the submission of this article type.

Special Topics

Special Topic articles are those that do not fit into one of ASJ Open Forum’s main sections (Breast Surgery, Facial Surgery, Oculoplastic Surgery, Body Contouring, Rhinoplasty, Cosmetic Medicine, Aesthetic Genital Plastic Surgery, and Research). As such, they follow a customized format that is appropriate to the topic, which may not lend itself to the traditional Methods/Results/Discussion/Conclusions format. Some past Special Topic articles have been written on social media in aesthetic surgery, marketing, and healthcare reform. These articles are typically invited by the editor-in-chief. The abstract should be unstructured. Special Topics generally include up to 3,000 words, up to 6 figures and tables in total, and up to 20 references. A publication fee applies for the submission of this article type.

Video Commentaries (by invitation only)

Video Commentaries should include a short written summary of approximately 200 words, as well as a transcription of the audio. The video may be up to 3 minutes in total length and must include voice narration/discussion. Video Commentaries are by invitation only. There is no publication fee for this article type.

Commentaries (by invitation only)

The editors of ASJ Open Forum may invite a topical expert to write a Commentary to accompany an article. Authors of Commentaries express their perspectives, provide clinical insight, and discuss any shortcomings seen in the study and/or opportunities for further study in the future. Commentaries generally include upto 1,500 words, 1 figure or table, and up to 10 references. There is no publication fee for this article type.

Editorials (by invitation only)

ASJ Open Forum publishes one Editorial per issue that is authored by the Editor-in-Chief, Editorial Board members, or personally invited by the Editor-in-Chief. Editorials may provide perspective on a “hot topic”; a thematic issue based on a published article; or trends and innovations in aesthetic surgery. Editorials generally include approximately 1,500 words and up to 5 references. Editorials are by invitation only but suggestions may be made for the Editor’s consideration to lauras@theaestheticsociety.org. There is no publication fee for this article type.

Letters to the Editor

Letters to the Editor allow a reader to respond to a previously published article in ASJ Open Forum. ASJ Open Forum makes every effort to publish accepted Letters to the Editor rapidly. Letters to the Editor may be up to 300 words and may include up to 5 references. We will accept Letters to the Editor based on published work up to 12 months after publication, or at the discretion of the Editor-in-Chief. There is no publication fee for this article type.

Book Reviews (by invitation only)

ASJ Open Forum invites industry experts to review newly published textbooks and set the book review in the context of the field. Book Reviews are normally solicited, but aspiring reviewers may propose writing a review to the editorial office for consideration. Book reviews are published online-only and are approximately 1,000 words or less.