Journal of Orthopaedic Complications is an International Peer Reviewed Journal Publishing Complex, Complicated and Difficult Musculoskeletal Cases

Complications are one of the most important events in Career of any Orthopaedic Surgeon. Complications and Complex and complicated cases provide an opportunity to learn practical points about patient management and lead to continuous improvement in our surgical skills and clinical decision making.

Journal of Orthopaedic Complications (JOC) is First of its kind journal where a complete journal is dedicated to Complications and difficult complex musculoskeletal cases. The submission format is kept very simple and practical.

Scope of the Journal

JOC will publish complicated/complications of musculoskeletal cases from all faculties including but not limited to Orthopaedic, Rheumatology, Physiotherapy, Occupational therapy, Neurology, Neurosurgery, Oncology and Congenital disorders.

Manuscripts must meet one of the following criteria:

  1. Primarily Complex or Difficult Cases
  2. Known and Unknown Complication of a disease, fracture, treatment, implant.
  3. Complications due to associated diagnosed or undiagnosed co-morbidities
  4. A known complication treated with a new or rarely reported method
  5. Any unexpected event in the course of observing or treating a patient
  6. Cases presenting with failed primary management with complicated clinical condition
  7. Delayed presentation of a fracture or disease leading to complex presentation
  8. Unusual findings that shed new light on the possible pathogenesis of a disease or an adverse effect
  9. A small series of cases with unusual Complication.
  10. A technical note demonstrated on a single complicated case.
  11. A series of cases {prospective or retrospective] using particular management modality with common complications over a period of time [a case series of complications]. Example a case series of complications of proximal femur nail in treatment of intertrochanteric fractures.
  12. Complication Bank: this special section will publish every complex and complicated case associated with orthopaedic surgery. Authors can send any case with complications [known or unknown; common or uncommon] and it will be published. This need not be with details of management or follow up of the case. The idea is to create a database of complications associated with various orthopaedic surgeries and diseases. A single page write up of less than 1000 words will be accepted.

Manuscripts will be reviewed by the Editorial Board and two external referees, and if your manuscript is accepted, it will be subject to 3500/- rupees article-processing charge (for oversees the article processing charges will be 150$). No charges for submitting the manuscript or for decision on the manuscript. Authors will usually receive a decision on their manuscript within 8-12 weeks.

All manuscripts are to be submitted via the Journal submission software ‘Scripture’ on the website www.orthocomplications.com Any other query regarding article formatting for submission process can also be mailed to orthocomplications@gmail.com

  SUBMISSION FORMATS

JOC accepts following formats of articles

1. Case Reports

2. Original article on complications

3. Complication Bank

4. Case Image

5. Technical Note on treatment of a complex/complicated case

6. Video Technique

7. Surgical Tips on avoiding / treating complications

8. Case Study /Series

9. Case Approach

10. Letter to Editor

11. Letter to Experts

 

Original Articles: include case series, comparative trials, epidemiological studies and RCT’s

Case Reports: Have been detailed below and all the remaining formats follow similar guidelines as case reports

 Case Image: is description of a single Image which has an unique learning point

Technical Note and Video Technique: detailed description of a new technique or improvisation of an old technique

 Surgical Tips: Small surgical tips and pearls are invited for this section. Pictures are essential and video will be preferable

 Case Study: This new format combines the level V evidence with Clinical Decision Making (CDM). It focuses on getting the thought process of the treating surgeon when dealing with a complex/complicated case

 Case Approach: This is a new but invited only section. We will invite an expert to describe to his approach to a particular case scenario with literature and rationale behind the approach

Complication Bank: this special section will publish every complex and complicated case associated with orthopaedic surgery. Authors can send any case with complications [known or unknown; common or uncommon] and it will be published. This need not be with details of management or follow up of the case. The idea is to create a database of complications associated with various orthopaedic surgeries and diseases. A single page write up of less than 1000 words will be accepted.

 Letter to Editor: on articles in JOC

 Letter to Experts: JOC will soon be creating an Expert panel of surgeons. Readers of JOC can ask queries regarding complicated cases to JOC Experts. These queries will be answered by experts. The Orthopaedic Research Group will add literature review to this expert opinion and article will be peer reviewed and published in 15 days.

 SUBMISSION FILES

Following files will be essential for submission of an article

–               Cover letter

–               Title page

–               Blinded manuscript

–               Tables

–               Figures

–               Copyright form

The details of formatting these files are provided below.

The Journal follows the Uniform requirements for manuscript as laid down by the International committee of Medical Journal Editors

(http://www.icmje.org/urm_main.html). Manuscripts submitted to JOC must be submitted in the format described below. Articles that do not meet the journal’s style will not be peer reviewed or considered for publication. All articles should be no more than 3500 words long with a maximum of 35 references and 10 figures. Manuscripts should also contain an abstract of up to 350 words. Article will only be accepted for peer review in the following format:

Title page

Abstract

Keywords

Introduction

Material and Methods

-Problem

-Solution

– methodology

Results:

How to avoid the problem

Future Research

 Discussion:

Conclusions:

Clinical Relevance:

References:

Illustrations and figures:

Figure legends (if any):

Additional data files (if any):

List of abbreviations used (if any):

Competing interests: To be downloaded from the website and a signed copy scanned and submitted along with manuscript

[Download Here ]

Authors’ contributions:

Acknowledgements and Funding:

Copyright Form: [Download Here]

 

FORMATTING DETAILS

 Title page

The first page of the manuscript should be a dedicated title page, including the title of the article. The title should include the study design, i.e. Case report. For example

Authors Names should appear in sequence that will be final, with superscript numbers mentioning authors affiliations

Author Name 11, Author Name 22, Author Name 33*

Address: 1 Full designation, degree and postal address of author 1; 2 Full designation, degree and postal address of author; 3 Full designation, degree and postal address of author 3

* Corresponding author should be indicated with an asterisk.

 

The full names, institutional addresses and email addresses for all authors must be included on the title page. No other information should be included on this page.

 Abstract

This should start on page 2 of the manuscript. The abstract must not exceed 350 words. Do  not use abbreviations or references in the abstract. The structured abstract should consist of four paragraphs: Background (including the context and purpose of the research), Methods, Results, and Conclusions. The abstract should be typed on a separate page, and should not include abbreviations, footnotes, or references. Abstract should make clear how the paper adds to the Orthopaedic literature:

Keywords: Add 3 to 5 keywords at the end of abstract. MESH terms will be preferable

 Blinded Manuscript

The manuscript should not contain names of author or their institute. References should be numbered in order of appearance and should be placed in square brackets [1]. Manuscript should contain following parts

Introduction: should explain the background of the case, including the disorder, usual presentation and progression and an explanation of the presentation if it is a new disease. If it is a case discussing an adverse drug interaction the introduction should give details of the drug’s common use and any previously reported side effects. It should also include a brief literature review.

Material & Methods should be sufficiently detailed to allow easy understanding and reproduction of the study. Details of study design, outcome measures, outcome assessors and statistical methods have to be provided here. Surgical technique should be described in details with photographs and videos [videos should be uploaded on you tube and link to be submitted to us]

Results: Keep results very succinct and to the point. Write all data in mean ± SD [Range] with appropriate standard units. Mention p values till third decimal points. Use tables to display the numerical data. Do not interpret the results in this section. Provide details of complication events and their individual follow ups

Discussion: should be elaborate and should focus on the main results of your study. Individual complications should be addressed separately and put in context with the current literature.

Clinical relevance: of the study should be mentioned in three or four sentences

 

ADDITIONAL DETAILS

Abbreviations (if any)

If abbreviations are used in the text they should either be defined in the text where first used, or a list of abbreviations can be provided.

 Consent

This section is compulsory. It should provide a statement to confirm that the patient has given their informed consent for the case report to be published. You do not need to send the form to us on submission, but we may request to see a copy at any stage (including after publication

 Competing interests

Please declare whether competing interest exists. A competing interest exists when your interpretation of data or presentation of information may be influenced by your personal or financial relationship with other people or organizations. Where an author gives no competing interests, the listing must read: “The author(s) declare that they have no competing interests”. Download Conflict of Interest form [Click Here]

 

Acknowledgements

Please acknowledge anyone who contributed towards the study by making substantial contributions to conception, design, acquisition of data, or analysis and interpretation of data, or who was involved in drafting the manuscript or revising it critically for important intellectual content, but who does not meet the criteria for authorship.

Author’s Contributions

We suggest the following kind of format (please use initials to refer to each author’s contribution):

“FC analyzed and interpreted the patient data regarding the fracture disease and the stiffness.  RH performed the histological examination of the callus, and was a major contributor in writing the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.”

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

 References

All references must be numbered consecutively, in square brackets, in the order in which they are cited in the text, followed by any in tables or legends. The must be no more than 35 references listed, e.g.

For an article within a journal:

Bentolila V, Nizard R, Bizot P, Sedel L. Complete traumatic brachial plexus palsy. Treatment and outcome after repair. J Bone Joint Surg Am 1999;81:20-8.

For a book chapter, or article within a book

Songcharoen P. Neurotization in the treatment of brachial plexus injury. In: Omer G, Spinner M, van Beek A, editors. Management of peripheral nerve problems. Philadelphia: W.B. Saunders; 1998. p. 459-64.

 

Case Reports: Case reports will be considered for publication if they contribute to an understanding of the diagnosis, treatment, and/or pathogenesis of diseases related to orthopaedic surgery. Manuscripts should include the headings Introduction, Report of the case, and Discussion. Do not forget to clearly indicate that consent for publication has been obtained from the patient or his/her nearest relative.

Complication Bank: this special section will publish every complex and complicated case associated with orthopaedic surgery. Authors can send any case with complications [known or unknown; common or uncommon] and it will be published. This need not be with details of management or follow up of the case. The idea is to create a database of complications associated with various orthopaedic surgeries and diseases. A single page write up of less than 1000 words will be accepted with heading of abstract, keywords, complication report, discussion, conclusion, references, , clinical message, figures and figure legends.

Case Image: is description of a single Image which has an unique learning point. It should not exceed 1000 words and should have headings of abstract, keywords, case image, discussion, conclusion, clinical message, references, figures and figure legends.

Technical Note and Video Technique: detailed description of a new technique or improvisation of an old technique. It should not exceed 1000 words and should have headings of abstract, keywords, Technical Note, discussion, conclusion, clinical message, references, figures and figure legends.

Surgical Tips: Small surgical tips and pearls are invited for this section. Pictures are essential and video will be preferable. It can be a small article from 500 to 1000 words and should include abstract, keywords, Surgical tip, discussion, clinical relevance, references, figures and figure legends

Case Study: This new format combines the level V evidence with Clinical Decision Making (CDM). It focuses on getting the thought process of the treating surgeon when dealing with a complex/complicated case. It should not exceed 2500 words and should include a structured abstract, keywords, background, Case introductions, case history, Case Assessment, Case Conceptualization, Management Options, treatment given, Implications of the case, Clinical recommendations, acknowledgements, references, Figures and figure legend. For more details authors can read the case study published in Journal of orthopaedic case reports titled “Infected Nonunion of Radius and Ulna –Strategy of approach”

Review Articles: These are commissioned, as authors are invited by the editor to contribute review articles.

Letters to the Editor: Letters to the editor of sufficient interest about published articles will be considered for publication. Letters should be typed double-spaced and limited to 1000 words. A copy of the letter will be sent to the previous article’s author(s) to invite a response.

 

After Acceptance

Upon acceptance of your article, your article will be processed and you will receive the proofs. You will also receive a separate e-mail for ordering off prints and printing of figures in colour.

 

Preparing illustrations and figures:

Please note that JOC can only publish ten figures in each article. If you have more than ten figures and feel that all are essential to the understanding, please make this clear in your covering letter, explaining why the figures are needed. Figures and tables should be sequentially referenced. Authors should include all relevant supporting data with each article.

Figures should be provided as separate files and should not be included in the main text of the submitted manuscript or include within them the figure legend. Each figure should comprise only a single file. There is no charge for the use of color.

Authors should make every effort to preserve the anonymity of the patient be removing or concealing any identifiable features, including birthmarks and tattoos. Please take extra care with images of the head and face, ensuring that only the relevant features are shown. Publication of facial images will be subject to approval by the Editor-in-Chief.

Formats

 

The following file formats can be accepted:

EPS (preferred format for diagrams)

PNG (preferred format for photos or images)

TIFF

JPEG

 

Figure legends: No more than 10 figures per article is accepted. For each figure, the following information should be provided: Figure number (in sequence, using Arabic numerals – i.e. Figure 1, 2, 3 etc); short title of figure (maximum 15 words); detailed legend, up to 300 words. Figures should be provided as separate files.

The legends should be included in the main manuscript text file rather than being a part of the figure file. For each figure, the following information should be provided: Figure number (in sequence, using Arabic numerals – i.e. Figure 1, 2, 3 etc); short title of figure (maximum 15 words); detailed legend, up to 300 words.

The legend should include a brief description of the exact location of image on the patient, the type of image (e.g. micrograph/x-ray), and time in relation to progression e.g. one week after surgery. There must be no abbreviations unless they are expanded (excluding common abbreviations such as antibodies).

Please note that it is the responsibility of the author(s) to obtain permission from the copyright holder to reproduce figures or tables that have previously been published elsewhere.

 

Preparing tables: Each table should be numbered in sequence using Arabic numerals (i.e. Table 1, 2, 3 etc.). Tables should also have a title that summarizes the whole table, maximum 15 words. Detailed legends may then follow, but should be concise.

Smaller tables considered to be integral to the manuscript can be pasted into the document text file. Such tables should be formatted using the ‘Table object’ in a word processing program to ensure that columns of data are kept aligned when the file is sent electronically for review.

 

Tabular data provided as additional files can be uploaded as an Excel spreadsheet (.xls) or comma separated values (.csv). As with all files, please use the standard file extensions.

 

Journal of Orthopaedic Complications also allows movies and/or animations to be included as additional files, and allows movies to be viewed in the context of the article. Video files should be send to us by email to orthocomplications@gmail.com or can be uploaded to you tube and link send to us.

Additional data files should be referenced explicitly by file name within the body of the article, e.g. ‘See additional file 1: Movie1 for the original data used to perform this analysis’.

 

Copyright Form: To be downloaded from the website and a signed copy scanned and submitted along with manuscript. Click here to Download]

 

Ethics: It is the responsibility of the authors to assure that all clinical investigations detailed in manuscripts submitted to the journal are conducted in accordance with the World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki (www.wma.net/ en/30publications/10policies/b3/index.html). All case reports must include a statement indicating that informed consent has been obtained from the patient or appropriate persons for publication, including any necessary photographs. An example of such a statement would be “The patients and/or their families were informed that data from the case would be submitted for publication, and gave their consent.” Do not use patients’ names, initials, institutional ID numbers, or other identifying information. Articles, including their study design, originating from a particular institution are assumed to be submitted with the approval of the requisite authority on ethical issues. Articles describing research involving human subjects must include a statement in the Materials and methods section indicating that approval was given by the institutional review board (IRB) or Ethics committee of the institution and that informed consent was obtained from each patient or candidate. Manuscripts reporting animal experiments must include a statement in the Materials and methods section indicating that approval was obtained from the institutional review board and that animal care complied with the guidelines of the authors’ institution or any national law on the care and use of laboratory animals.

 

Style and language

General: Currently, JOC can only accept manuscripts written in English. Spelling should be US English or British English, but not a mixture.

It is essential that submitted manuscripts have a high standard of written English. Manuscripts that are poorly written will be returned to authors for revision prior to peer review. Authors are advised to write clearly and simply, and to have their article checked by colleagues before submission. Non-native speakers of English may choose to make use of a copyediting service before submission.

JOC will copy edit accepted manuscripts before they are published. The editing is designed only to correct such things as misused words, spelling errors, missing references or incomplete citation information.

Typography

-Please use double line spacing.

-Type the text unjustified, without hyphenating words at line breaks.

-Abbreviations spelt out in full for the first time

-Numerals from 1 to 10 spelt out

-Numerals at the beginning of the sentence spelt out

– Use hard returns only to end headings and paragraphs, not to rearrange lines.

-Capitalize only the first word, and proper nouns, in the title.

-All pages should be numbered.

-Use the JOC reference format.

-Footnotes to text should not be used.

-Greek and other special characters may be included. If you are unable to reproduce a particular special character, please type out the name of the symbol in full.

-Gene names should be in italic, but protein products should be in plain type.

-Please ensure that all special characters used are embedded in the text, otherwise they will be lost during manuscript processing.

-Genes, mutations, genotypes, and alleles should be indicated in italics, and authors are required to use approved gene symbols, names, and formatting. Protein products should be in plain type.

 

Units

SI Units should be used throughout (liter and molar are permitted, however).

 

Contact Address:

Editor Journal of Orthopaedic Complications

IORG House, A-203, Manthan Apts, Shreesh CHS, Hajuri Road, Thane [W]. Maharashtra, India. Pin – 400604

Email: orthocomplications@gmail.com

Tel: 91-22-25834545