Guide for Authors

Welcome to the electronic manuscript submission website for EYE . The instructions below are structured so you can quickly and easily answer the following questions:

1. Is my manuscript suitable for EYE ? (Scope + Editorial Policy)
2. How do I format my manuscript for EYE ? (Format of Papers)
3. How do I submit my manuscript to EYE ? (Submission of Papers)

EYE is published monthly by Nature Publishing Group and is abstracted or indexed in:

• Journal Citation Reports
• Science Citation Index
• Current Contents Clinical Medicine
• Index Medicus/MEDLINE

SCOPE

The primary aim of Eye, as the official journal of the Royal College of Ophthalmologists, is to provide the practicing ophthalmologist with information on the latest and most relevant clinical and laboratory-based research. Whilst principally aimed at the practicing clinician, Eye contains material of interest to a wider readership including optometrists, orthoptists, other health care professionals and research workers in all aspects of the field of visual science. Eye encourages the submission of original articles covering all aspects of ophthalmology including:

• external eye disease
• oculo-plastic surgery
• orbital and lacrimal disease
• ocular surface and corneal disorders
• paediatric ophthalmology and strabismus
• glaucoma
• medical and surgical retina
• neuro-ophthalmology
• cataract and refractive surgery
• ocular oncology
• ophthalmic pathology
• ophthalmic genetics

EDITOR

Andrew J Lotery, MD FRCOphth, Clinical Neurosciences Division, Southampton General Hospital, Southampton, UK (a.j.lotery@soton.ac.uk)

Editorial Policy

Terms of submission
Manuscripts are considered with the understanding that they have not been published previously in print or electronic format and are not under consideration by another publication or electronic medium. Material presented in papers at meetings of the Royal College of Ophthalmologists and the Cambridge Ophthalmological Symposium may not be published elsewhere without the written permission of the Editor of Eye. Each person listed as an author is expected to have participated in the study to a significant extent, and the corresponding author is responsible for ensuring that the article has been seen and approved by all of the other authors. Although the Editor and referees make every effort to ensure the validity of published manuscripts, the final responsibility rests with the authors, not with Eye, its Editor, the Royal College of Ophthalmologists or Nature Publishing Group.

Disclosure/Conflict of interest
In the interests of transparency and to help readers form their own judgments of potential bias, authors should declare any competing financial interests in relation to the work described in their cover letter and in the conflict of interest section of their manuscript. In cases where the authors declare a competing financial interest, a statement to that effect is published as part of the article. If no such conflict exists, the statement will simply read that the authors have nothing to disclose.

For the purposes of this statement, competing interests are defined as those of a financial nature that, through their potential influence on behavior or content, or from perception of such potential influences, could undermine the objectivity, integrity or perceived value of a publication. They can include any of the following:

• Funding: Research support (including salaries, equipment, supplies, reimbursement for attending symposia, and other expenses) by organizations that may gain or lose financially through this publication. The role of the funding body in the design of the study, collection and analysis of data and decision to publish should be stated.
• Employment: Recent (while engaged in the research project), present or anticipated employment by any organization that may gain or lose financially through this publication.
• Personal financial interests: Stocks or shares in companies that may gain or lose financially through publication; consultation fees or other forms of remuneration from organizations that may gain or lose financially; patents or patent applications whose value may be affected by publication.

It is difficult to specify a threshold at which a financial interest becomes significant, but note that many US universities require faculty members to disclose interests exceeding $10,000 or 5% equity in a company. Any such figure is arbitrary, so we offer as one possible practical alternative guideline: "Declare all interests that could embarrass you were they to become publicly known after your work was published." We do not consider diversified mutual funds or investment trusts to constitute a competing financial interest.

The statement must contain an explicit and unambiguous statement describing any potential conflict of interest, or lack thereof, for any of the authors as it relates to the subject of the report. Examples include “Dr. Smith receives compensation as a consultant for XYZ Company,” “Dr. Jones and Dr. Smith have financial holdings in ABC Company,” or “Dr. Jones owns a patent on the diagnostic device described in this report.” These statements acknowledging or denying conflicts of interest must be included in the manuscript under the heading ‘Conflict of Interest’. The ‘Conflict of Interest’ disclosure appears in the cover letter, in the manuscript submission process and before the “References” section in the manuscript.

Following the conflict of interest heading, there must be a listing for each author, detailing the professional services relevant to the submission. Neither the precise amount received from each entity nor the aggregate income from these sources needs to be provided. Professional services include any activities for which the individual is, has been, or will be compensated with cash, royalties, fees, stock or stock options in exchange for work performed, advice or counsel provided, or for other services related to the author’s professional knowledge and skills. This would include, but not necessarily be limited to, the identification of organizations from which the author received contracts or in which he or she holds an equity stake if professional services were provided in conjunction with the transaction.

Examples of declarations are:

Conflict of interest.
The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Conflict of interest.
Dr Caron's work has been funded by the NIH. He has received compensation as a member of the scientific advisory board of Acadia Pharmaceutical and owns stock in the company. He also has consulted for Lundbeck and received compensation. Dr Rothman and Dr Jensen declare no potential conflict of interest.

Criteria for acceptance

1. Eye encourages the submission of original clinical research articles or laboratory research articles (with clinical relevance), of interest to the journal’s wide readership described above. This category includes prospective randomized or non-randomized trials, case control studies, cross sectional studies, and cohort studies. Case series and case reports are less encouraged, and will only be accepted if they add something new to the field (not simply new cases of an established condition). Correspondence articles should offer unique case reports, unusual disease association, treatment induced complications or other compelling facts.
   
2. We are continuing to solicit ideas for review articles from potential authors but will only consider them for publication if prior approval was obtained from the Editor. Once submitted, review articles will undergo the same rigorous peer review process as original research articles.
   
3. Authors who violate ethical issues such as duplications and plagiarism will face disciplinary action.
   
4. There is currently no appeal process in operation.

A brief summary of the required content of each manuscript is outlined below – please also refer to the Format of Papers section for further details:

Abstracts should summarize the essential features of the paper in a logical and concise sequence (Aims/Purpose, Methods, Results, Discussion); Methods should provide enough detail for others to repeat the study; Results should be clear and concise; Discussions need not be a review of the literature but should focus on the interpretation and significance of the findings with concise objective comments that describe their relation to other work in the area.

FORMAT OF PAPERS

Manuscripts that do not adhere to the following instructions will be returned to the corresponding author for technical revision before undergoing peer review:

Article types
The types of manuscript accepted by Eye are: 1) Original Articles (clinical or laboratory studies); 2) Correspondence; 3) Case Series; 4) Review Articles; 5) Editorials; 6) Controversy

1. Original Articles are reports of current clinical research (Clinical Studies) or laboratory research with clinical relevance (Laboratory Studies):
   Word limit: 3,500 words maximum excluding abstract, references, figures and tables
   Abstract: Structured abstract of 250 words maximum
   Display items: No more than 5 display items (e.g. figures, tables) should accompany the manuscript

2. Correspondence
   Word limit: 350 words maximum excluding references and title
   Abstract: No abstract required for this manuscript type
   References: 5 references maximum
   Correspondence articles should describe unique case reports, unusual disease association, treatment induced complications or other compelling facts.

3. Case Series
   Word limit: Word limit: 750 words maximum excluding title, abstract, legends and references
   Abstract: Structured abstract of 200 words maximum
   References: 12 maximum
   Display items: No more than 3 display items should accompany the manuscript.
   Case series must contain a minimum of three case reports and a maximum of 10 case reports focusing on the same area of study. Each case report should refer to one patient. Single case reports should be submitted as correspondence (see above).

4. Review Articles (only by invitation of the Editor)
   Word limit: 8000 words maximum excluding abstract, references, tables and figures
   Abstract: Unstructured abstract of 250 words maximum
   Methodology: search terms and databases used to research the review should be clearly listed after the abstract.
   References: 100 references maximum.
   Reviews are comprehensive analyses of specific topics that are solicited by the Editor. Proposals for reviews may be submitted; however, authors should only send an outline of the proposed paper for initial consideration. All review articles will undergo peer review prior to acceptance.

5. Editorials (only by invitation of the Editor)
   Word limit: 1000 words maximum excluding references and title
   Abstract: No abstract required for this manuscript type
   References: 25 references maximum
   Proposals for Editorials may be submitted; however, authors should only send an outline of the proposed paper for initial consideration).

6. Controversy (only by invitation of the Editor)
   Word limit: 1000 words maximum excluding references and title
   Abstract: No abstract required for this manuscript type
   References: 25 references maximum
   

Preparation of manuscripts

General Format
All manuscripts must be submitted online. Manuscripts must be typed in English and double-spaced on A4-sized paper (210 x 297 mm; 8.3 x 11.7 inches), with a margin of at least 3 cm. Double-line spaces should be included between paragraphs; first lines should not be indented. All text including figures, legends, tables and references must be typed on one side of the page only. All manuscript pages must be numbered,and all lines in the text must be numbered (when using Microsoft Word, select file>page setup>line numbers>continuous). The article must be saved in its original application (e.g. Microsoft Word for Windows) and all figures and tables must be saved as separate files from the text.

Title Page
In addition to the title and authors' names this should carry: (a) the departments and institutions to which the work should be attributed; (b) the full name, postal address, telephone and fax numbers, and e-mail address of the main author for correspondence; (c) suggestions for a short running title of no more than 80 characters (including spaces) and (d) acknowledgement of any proprietary interests or research funding. If the work has previously been presented at a meeting, this should be stated.

Abstract
Articles must be prepared with a structured abstract designed to summarize the essential features of the paper in a logical and concise sequence under the following headings: Aims or Purpose, Methods, Results and Conclusions. Brief details of any statistical methods used should be included in the Methods paragraph. Avoid the use of abbreviations and references.

Keywords
Provide three–six keywords (preferably from the medical subject heading list of Index Medicus) to assist cross-indexing and web searches after online publication.

Text

When preparing the text, please use the following headings:

• Introduction
• Materials and Methods (including Statement of Ethics where applicable)
• Results
• Discussion
• Acknowledgements
• References

Introduction. The introduction should be succinct and provide only the necessary background information, rather than a comprehensive review of the specific field. It should not contain subheadings.

Material and Methods. This section should contain sufficient detail so that all experimental procedures can be repeated by others, in conjunction with cited references. Authors should provide the name of the manufacturer and their location for any specifically named medical equipment and instruments, and all drugs should be identified by their pharmaceutical names, and not by the trade name.

Statement of Ethics. Where a manuscript concerns animal experimentation or the use of human volunteers, the authors should include a statement at the end of the Materials and Methods stating: “I/we certify that all applicable institutional and governmental regulations concerning the ethical use of human volunteers/animals were followed during this research” (delete inappropriate words).

Results and Discussion. The Results section should briefly present the experimental data in text, tables or figures. The data in tables and figures should not also be described extensively in the text. The Discussion should focus on the interpretation and significance of the findings with concise objective comments that describe their relation to other work in the area, It should not repeat information in the Results.

Acknowledgements. A note of the acknowledgements is appropriate recognition for contributors who may not be listed as authors, as well as for noting financial or research funding streams.

References. The accuracy of the references is the authors' responsibility. References should be listed in order of appearance (Vancouver style). In the text, number the references in order of appearance using superscript Arabic numerals for citations. The reference list (starting on a separate page) should contain the references in the order in which they are cited in the text. Only published works (as well as manuscripts that are already accepted for publication) which are referred to in the text should be listed in the reference list. The reference list must not contain any unpublished observations, personal communications, etc. Kindly cite such sources solely within the text (in parentheses), not in the reference list.

For each reference quote name and initials of author(s), title of paper, abbreviated title of journal, year of publication, volume number and first and last page numbers. If a book is quoted, the publisher, place and year of publication should be included. References with fewer than six authors should list all names; for more than six authors, list the first six names followed by et al. Journal titles are abbreviated according to Index Medicus. The following examples demonstrate correct reference style:

Article: Eide N, Refsum SB, Bakke S. Primary malignant melanoma of the lacrimal sac. Acta Ophthalmol (Copenh) 1993; 71: 273–276.

Book: Henderson JW. Orbital tumours, 3rd ed. Raven Press: New York; 1994.

Chapter in a book: Cilbard JP. Dry eye disorders. In: Albert DM, Jakobiec FA (eds). Principles and practice of ophthalmology. WB Saunders: Philadelphia; 1994. pp 257–276.

Figures. Figures and images should be labelled sequentially, numbered and cited in the text. Figure legends should be printed, double spaced, on a separate sheet titled ‘Titles and legends to figures’. Figures should be referred to specifically in the text of the paper but should not be embedded within the text. The use of three-dimensional histograms is strongly discouraged when the addition of the third dimension gives no extra information. Colour figures can be submitted but the authors will be expected to contribute towards the cost of publication. A quote will be supplied upon acceptance of your paper.

Tables. These should be labelled sequentially as Table 1, Table 2, etc. Each table should be typed on a separate page, numbered and titled, and cited in the text. Reference to table footnotes should be made by means of Arabic numerals. Tables should not duplicate the content of the text. They should consist of at least two columns; columns should always have headings. Authors should ensure that the data in the tables are consistent with those cited in the relevant places in the text, totals add up correctly, and percentages have been calculated correctly. Unlike figures or images, tables may be embedded into the word processing software if necessary, or supplied as separate electronic files.

Summary Box. Authors of Clinical Studies, Case Series and Laboratory Studies will be asked to include additional summary information on the submission form*. This is divided into two parts; firstly, 'What was known before'; and secondly, 'What this study adds'. There should be two or three bullet points for each heading, with one or two short sentences for each bullet point. The objective of this is to provide the reader with a brief, quick and focused summary of your work in the perspective of other data. *Please note this summary information will not be requested for Reviews or Correspondence.

FUTHER GUIDELINES

Statistics
The authors are requested to pay particular attention to the use of appropriate statistics throughout the text. A detailed description of all statistical methods should be included in the Methods section. The Journal encourages authors to seek expert statistical advice prior to submitting any manuscript that has a statistical content.

Units and abbreviations The work should be reported in SI units.The work should be reported in SI units. Abbreviations should be used sparingly and must be given in full at first mention (e.g. Intraocular lens (IOL)

Copyright permissions Written permission from the copyright holder must be obtained to reproduce material from other sources. This follows for tables, figures, quotes, illustrations and other materials taken from previously published works. The copyright holder: (a) for a table, illustration or text that has been published previously is the original publisher; (b) for unpublished photographs is the photographer; (c) for unpublished photographs taken during the course of employment is the photographer’s employer. Acknowledgement to the copyright holder must be included in the appropriate place; for example, the figure caption or table footnote

ARTWORK GUIDELNES
Detailed guidelines for submitting artwork can be found by downloading the guidelines PDF. Using the guidelines, please submit production quality artwork with your initial online submission. If you have followed the guidelines, we will not require the artwork to be resubmitted following the peer-review process, if your paper is accepted for publication.

Colour on the web
Authors who wish their articles to have FREE colour figures on the web (only available in the HTML (full text) version of manuscripts) must supply separate files in the following format. These files should be submitted as supplementary information and authors are asked to mention they would like colour figures on the web in their submission letter.

For Single Images:

Width	500 pixels (authors should select "constrain proportions", or equivalent instructions, to allow the application to set the correct height automatically.)
Resolution	125 dpi (dots per inch)
Format	JPEG for photographs GIF for line drawings or charts
Filenaming	Please save image with .jpg or .gif extension to ensure it can be read by all platforms and graphics packages.

For Multi-part Images :

Width	900 pixels (authors should select "constrain proportions", or equivalent instructions, to allow the application to set the correct height automatically.)
Resolution	125 dpi (dots per inch)
Format	JPEG for photographs GIF for line drawings or charts
Filenaming	Please save image with .jpg or .gif extension to ensure it can be read by all platforms and graphics packages.

Authors may be asked to pay the full colour fee for figures that are not submitted in the format described above.

The colour charges for Eye (print and PDF online version) are as follows:

House Style

As the electronic submission will provide the basic material for typesetting, it is important that papers are prepared in the general editorial style of the journal.

1. See the artwork guidelines for information on labeling of figures
2. Do not make rules thinner than 1pt (0.36mm)
3. Use a coarse hatching pattern rather than shading for tints in graphs
4. Color should be distinct when being used as an identifying tool
5. Use Si units throughout
6. Spaces, not commas should be used to separate thousands
7. Abbreviations should be proceded by the words for which they stand in the first instance of use
8. Text should be double spacing with a wide margin
9. At first mention of a manufacturer the town, (state if USA) and country should be provided

File Formats:

File formats for manuscript files, figures and tables that are acceptable for our electronic manuscript submission process are given on the online forms. Further advice on file types is also available from the Tips webpage. Please follow our artwork guidelines for submitting figures, and use a common word-processing package (such as Microsoft Word) for the text. Either embed tables converted into images at the end of your Word document, or as a separate file in which ever program you used to generate them. If you submit raw data, this can be done in Excel, or tab/comma delimited format.

Saving files with Microsoft Office 2007

Microsoft Office 2007 saves files in an XML format by default (file extensions .docx, .pptx and xlsx). Files saved in this format cannot be accepted for publication.

Save Word documents using the file extension .doc

• Select the Office Button in the upper left corner of the Word 2007 Window and choose "Save As"
• Select "Word 97-2003 Document"
• Enter a file name and select "Save"

These instructions also apply for the new versions of Excel and PowerPoint.

Equations in Word must be created using Equation Editor 3.0

Equations created using the new equation editor in Word 2007 and saved as a "Word 97-2003 Document" (.doc) are converted to graphics and can no longer be edited. To insert or change an equation with the previous equation editor:

• Select "Object" on the "Text" section of the "Insert" tab
• In the drop-down menu - select "Equation Editor 3.0"

Do not use the "Equation" button in the "Symbols" section of the "Insert" tab.

Non-Native Speakers of English

Researchers who are not native speakers of English who submit manuscripts to international journals often receive negative comments from referees or editors about the English-language usage in their manuscripts, and these problems can contribute to a decision to reject a paper. To help reduce the possibility of such problems, we strongly encourage such authors to take at least one of the following steps:

Adobe Acrobat

We recommend that for accessing the PDF files, best results are achieved if you have access to Adobe Acrobat Reader (4.0 or above). Should you require installation of this FREE program, please download from the link here and follow the on-screen instructions. (We recommend that on completion of installation, you amend one of the default settings. Select: File - Preferences - General, and UNCHECK Web Browser Integration. This will open PDF files in Acrobat Reader itself rather than in your browser. The amendment will not affect any functionality of either Acrobat Reader or your browser software.)

Please refrain from submitting your manuscript by e-mail attachment. If the site replicates your details on screen, then your paper has been successfully submitted.

Once you have submitted your files and the conversion is in progress, you may log off the Internet and come back later to check and approve the conversion. This process can take up to 5 - 10 minutes before the PDF, created in the conversion process, is ready for approval. Please remember that your manuscript will not be submitted until you have approved the converted files.

Getting Help

If you need additional help, you can click on the help signs spread throughout the system. A help dialogue will pop up with context sensitive help. Should further assistance be required, then please contact eye@eyeoffice.co.uk.

Manuscript Status

After you approve your manuscript it is submitted and you will receive an acknowledgement email. You can check the status of your manuscript at any time in the review process by:

1. Accessing the system with your password or link sent to you in the acknowledgement email
2. Clicking on the link represented by your manuscript tracking number and abbreviated title.
3. Clicking on the "Check Status" link at the bottom of the displayed page.

Licence to Publish
The corresponding author must complete and sign the Licence to Publish form upon acceptance of the manuscript and return it to the editorial office. Failure to do so will result in delays to the publication of your paper. A copy of the Licence to Publish form can be found at http://mts-eye.nature.com/letters/eye_copyright.pdf

The Royal College of Ophthalmologists (RCO) does not require authors of original research papers to assign copyright of their published contributions. Authors grant RCO an exclusive licence to publish, in return for which they can re-use their papers in their future printed work. Authors are encouraged to submit their version of the accepted, peer-reviewed manuscript to their funding body's archive, their institution's repositories, and their personal web sites, six months after publication. This policy complements the policies of the US National Institutes of Health, the Wellcome Trust and other research funding bodies around the world.

Advance Online Publication
All original articles are published ahead of print on Advance Online Publication. This will be the final version of the manuscript and will subsequently appear, unchanged, in print.

Proofs
An e-mail will be sent to the corresponding author with a URL link from where proofs can be collected. Proofs must be returned within 48 hours of receipt. Failure to do so may result in a delay to publication. Extensive corrections cannot be made at this stage.

Offprints Offprints may be ordered using the order form available for download with the proofs. Later orders submitted after the journal is printed are subject to increased reprint prices.

Business Matters

To find out who to contact for business correspondence and enquiries such as advertising, subscriptions, permissions, papers in production or publishing a supplement, please visit our publisher’s contacts page.

Alternatively, you can write to: EYE , Nature Publishing Group, The Macmillan Building, 4 Crinan Street, London, N1 9XW, UK.

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