Coordinated by the ORS Scientific Communications Committee, On the Horizon presents brief articles discussing current scientific investigations that may have future orthopaedic clinical applications.

This feature is presented quarterly in the Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. 

Procedure for submitting On the Horizon (OTH) Articles

Overview

Updated November 2020.  The procedure now first involves the ORS Responsible soliciting a title, abstract, and reference list from the target author for a short article of ~750-1200 words.  ORS Responsible will then submit a presubmission inquiry to JAAOS, and followup with the authors if JAAOS wants a full article for submission.

Notes

  • OTH articles are typically short reviews. There should be no more than 4 authors and the target length is 1200 words (750 if figures) with fewer than 50 references.
  • If anything arises the JAAOS will contact the ORS responsible who acts as a conduit between the JAAOS and the authors.
  • When submitting the final manuscript (not the presubmission), each Author needs to have completed disclosure and transfer of copyright forms (attached)
    1. I find it saves time if you send these once the authors accept to write a OTH. They can then send ORS responsible the article and the forms at the same time.
    2. In addition, the authors need to complete the additional online JAAOS disclosures.

Formatting Instructions from JAAOS for On the Horizon From the ORS

  • Length
    • The articles are 1-4 printed pages long (1200 words without figures, ~750 words max, if 2 figures) and will be published in the JAAOS Reviews section
  • Authorship
    • Maximal 4 authors following JAAOS Reviews criteria
    • Lead author/first author does not need to be an MD or DO, similar to the JAAOS Research section, there are no restrictions for the first author provided senior author is MS, MBBS, PhD, MD, or equivalent
  • Abstract
    • Desired but not required.
  • References
    • Number of references should be reasonable, e.g. 15 references for a 2-page article, up to 50 references for 4-pages article
  • Tables and figures
    • Maximum of 1-2 tables and/or figures

1. Go to the JAAOS submission site and login (use Author Login): https://www.editorialmanager.com/jaaos/default.aspx

2. Log in and select “Submit new manuscript.”

3. Use the “Manuscript Proposal Template” (see circled link below) and select “Manuscript Proposal from the drop-down menu. Title page must use template and should include corresponding author’s contact info and any financial disclosures (or state that there are none.)

4. Upload the submission by dragging and dropping the file.

5. Select “Proposal Outline and References from dropdown menu at bottom of page. Select “Proceed” from the bottom of the page.

6. Select the Section/Category for the article and then click “Proceed.”

7. Don’t worry about adding reviewers.

8. Complete author information.

9. Add comments stating that you are the ORS responsible for the OTH article.  Possible text to use: “Please note that this manuscript was solicited by the ORS in the spring of 2020, and is already complete.  As the ORS responsible, I (YOUR NAME) am submitting the presubmission review on behalf of the authors.”

10. Expand each section using the “+” button (Title, Abstract) to add the relevant information. Then select “Build PDF for Approval”

  • The system will automatically include you as an author—for now (the presubmission inquiry) just include yourself as the author. 
  • If you have an abstract, it must be less than 200 words.
  • Approve the submission after checking the PDF.

11. The presubmission inquiry will take 1-2 weeks to complete. When it is completed you will first receive an email stating that the proposal has been accepted.

1. After submitting the presubmission form, 1-2 days later you will receive an email invitation to submit the article. Click the link to accept the invitation.  This will require you to login to the JAAOS site, and accept the invitation.

2. Submit the article following the steps in the “My Invitations” folder. Create both a title page and blinded manuscript file, and upload them.

3. Click “Proceed” on the bottom right after the files are uploaded, and select the appropriate section/category for the manuscript from the drop down menu.

4. Move through the next screens, following instructions from steps 7-10 above. Manuscript should be double-spaced with line and page numbering. Abstract must be included in the main file (not the title page). 

5. Ensure that authors do not have COI’s per JAAOS rules:

6. Add comments stating that you are the ORS responsible for the OTH article. Possible text to use: “Please note that this manuscript was solicited by the ORS for an On the Horizons article.  As the ORS responsible, I (YOUR NAME) am submitting the manuscript on behalf of the authors.”

7. Build and view the PDF of the submission.

8. Approve the submission.