The Journal of Orthopaedic Surgery (formerly the Journal of the Western Pacific Orthopaedic Association) is the official publication of the Asia Pacific Orthopaedic Association (formerly the Western Pacific Orthopaedic Association). It is a peer-reviewed journal and is indexed in MEDLINE/Index Medicus and EMBASE/Excepta Medica.

The Journal of Orthopaedic Surgery publishes original articles and review articles for the dissemination of new and valuable information to orthopaedic surgeons everywhere, particularly to those in the Asia Pacific regions. The Journal welcomes original scientific contributions irrespective of ethnic, political, or geographical affiliations. Accepted articles become the permanent property of the Journal and may not be published elsewhere except with the written permission of the Editor.

All papers submitted will be blinded of authors' names and origins and peer-reviewed by Editorial Board members. Authors are requested to ensure that they comply with the following checklist and format when submitting papers.

 

CHECKLIST

1. Cover letter to:

The Editor
Journal of Orthopaedic Surgery
c/o Room 901, 9/F, 99 Wong Chuk Hang Road
Aberdeen
Hong Kong

The letter should indicate the e-mail address, telephone and fax number of the author responsible for correspondence.

2. Copies:

One hard copy of the manuscript complete with illustrations and one electronic copy of the typed manuscript, in Word format.

3. Letter of transmittal:

The letter is to be signed by all authors, with the title of the article and the date of signing, and containing the following paragraph: 'In consideration of the Journal of Orthopaedic Surgery reviewing and editing my (our) submission, the author(s) undersigned hereby transfer(s), assign(s) or otherwise convey(s) all copyright ownership to the Journal of Orthopaedic Surgery, and represent(s) that he/she (they) own(s) all rights in the material submitted. The author(s) further represent(s) that the article is original, that it is not under consideration by another journal, and that it has not been previously published. This assignment is to take effect only if the work is published in the Journal.'

Please click here to download a sample of the letter of transmittal .

 

FORMAT OF MANUSCRIPTS

  • Manuscripts must be typed and printed in English, double-spaced, and typed on one side of A4 (21 cm x 30 cm) size paper. Margins should be set at 2.5 cm and left-hand justified only. All pages should be numbered.
  • Numbers: Spell out the numbers 'one' to 'ten' if beginning a sentence and the number 'one' at all times except in mathematical expression. Otherwise Arabic numerals should be used throughout. For example: 23 patients were followed up for 5 years. Nine patients returned to work in one month, whereas another 9 took 2 months.
  • Measurements: Use SI metric units.
  • Follow-up: In reporting results of surgery follow-up of less than one year is usually unacceptable.

    The manuscript should include the following sections:

  1. Title page:
    (a) Title of the paper which should be short and succinct
    (b) Name(s) of author(s)
    (c) The institution where the work was done
    (d) The authors' appointments
    (e) The name and address of the corresponding author where reprints should be sent
    (f) A short running head of no more than 40 characters
  2. Abstract
    (a) It should not be more than 150 words for unstructured abstract (in review articles and case reports) and no more than 250 words for structured abstract with sections like purpose, methods, results, conclusion (in original articles)
    (b) It should be factual and succinct
    (c) For basic science papers the last sentence of the abstract should describe the clinical relevance of the study.
  3. Key words
    At the end of the abstract, authors should provide no more than 10 key words for information retrieval. Key words should be taken from     Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) from Index Medicus.
  4. Main text
    The main text should be written in clear and simple English and divided into sections. In general the sequence should be as follows:
    (a) Brief introduction
    (b) Material and methods
    (c) Results
    (d) Discussion (it should avoid repeating preceding information)
    (e) Conclusion
  5. Acknowledgements (if any)
  6. References (refer to below for details)
  7. Tables
  8. Legends for figures
  9. Figures
    Number of figures should not be more than 16. Each photograph must be numbered and correctly oriented to show the topside. Avoid heavy pencil marks. Histological slides should mention the magnification and the stain. Lettering in diagrams must be legible after reduction. Coloured illustrations may be accepted if essential, but the authors will bear the cost of printing. All reproduced material must have the written permission of the owner (publisher), and such permission must be stated in the legend.

 

REFERENCES

Number references in the order they appear in the text; do not alphabetize. References should follow the Vancouver style and should appear in the text, tables, and legends as Arabic numerals in superscript. Journal titles should be abbreviated in accordance with Index Medicus.

Authors are responsible for the accuracy of references and must verify them against the original documents. List the first 6 authors followed by 'et al.' For examples:

Journals:

Johnston RC, Fitzgerald RH Jr, Harrish WH, Poss R, Muller ME, Sledge CB. Clinical and radiographic evaluation of total hip replacement. A standard system of terminology for reporting results. J Bone Joint Surg 1990;72:161-8.

Ashkenazi A, Pai RC, Fong S, Leung S, Lawrence DA, Marsters SA, et al. Safety of antitumor activity of recombinant soluble Apo2 ligand. J Clin Invest 1999;104:155-62.

Medical Research Council Working Party on Tuberculosis of the Spine. A 10-year assessment of a controlled trial comparing debridement and anterior spinal fusion in the management of tuberculosis of the spine in patients on standard chemotherapy in Hong Kong. J Bone Joint Surg Br 1982;64:393-8.

Books:

Charnley J. Low friction arthroplasty of the hip: theory and practice. Berlin: Springer-Verlag; 1979:20-5.

Hodgson AR. Infectious disease of the spine. In: Rothman RH, Simeone FA, editors. The spine. Vol II, 2nd ed. Philadelphia: WB Saunders; 1975:567-98.

For details in citing references, please visit our website at http://www.josonline.org.

 

PROOFS AND REPRINTS

The corresponding author will receive page proofs for final checking Authors may order reprints from the publisher at the time of printing. Orders submitted after the issue is printed are subject to considerably higher prices.