Original Research
Structured manuscript with objective, methods, results, discussion, and conclusion.
Author Preparation Standards
Instructions for Authors
Instructions for Authors
Journal of Osteoarthritis and Cartilage
Prepare manuscripts with methodological rigor, reporting clarity, and policy-aligned structure for efficient peer review outcomes.
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Scope Fit
Instructions Before You Submit
Confirming scope and structure early improves triage speed, reviewer matching, and decision quality.
Journal of Osteoarthritis and Cartilage publishes evidence on osteoarthritis pathogenesis, cartilage biology, diagnostics, intervention pathways, surgical and non-surgical management, and long-term functional outcomes.
Authors should clearly state the manuscripts clinical or scientific contribution and explain practical implications for patient care, rehabilitation strategy, or service planning.
Strong submissions connect findings to real treatment decisions rather than presenting isolated observations without translational context.
Multidisciplinary studies should describe each specialty contribution so reviewers can assess methodological coherence and implementation relevance.
If submission includes procedural innovation, explain safety governance, protocol standardization, and eligibility logic in sufficient detail for appraisal.
Papers outside journal scope may be redirected or declined at triage to maintain review quality and relevance.
Article Types
Choose the Correct Submission Format
Format choice should match evidence maturity and methodological depth.
Clinical Trial Report
Include registration, intervention protocol, endpoint hierarchy, and adverse event handling.
Observational and Registry Study
Report cohort definition, confounder strategy, and sensitivity analysis.
Systematic Review or Meta-analysis
Provide reproducible search, selection, bias appraisal, and synthesis methods.
Short Communication
Focused findings with concise methods and clearly bounded interpretation.
Perspective and Commentary
Evidence-based interpretation tied to emerging priorities in osteoarthritis care.
When selecting article type, prioritize clarity and reproducibility over brevity. Complex datasets should not be forced into short formats.
If uncertain about fit, contact the editorial office before submission to reduce avoidable delay.
Manuscript Structure
Core Reporting Requirements
Consistent structure helps reviewers evaluate validity and external applicability efficiently.
- Title should be precise and reflect principal outcomes or comparisons.
- Abstract should be structured with objective, methods, key results, and conclusion.
- Introduction should define the evidence gap and rationale without overstated framing.
- Methods should provide reproducible detail on participants, interventions, and analytical logic.
- Results should separate primary and secondary findings with transparent uncertainty reporting.
- Discussion should interpret findings with limitations and practical implications clearly stated.
- Conclusion should remain proportional to study design strength and evidence boundaries.
Tables and figures must be internally consistent with manuscript text and include clear legends and unit definitions.
Where subgroup or exploratory analyses are reported, distinguish prespecified analyses explicitly.
Ethics and Integrity
Mandatory Governance Information
Ethics, disclosure, and integrity transparency are essential submission requirements.
Ethics Approval
Human and animal studies must report oversight body approval references.
Consent and Privacy
State consent approach and participant privacy safeguards where applicable.
Trial Registration
Interventional studies should include registration identifier and timing.
Conflict Disclosure
All authors must disclose relevant financial and non-financial interests.
Funding Transparency
Funding sources and sponsor roles in design and analysis must be explicit.
Data and Code Statement
Availability details should include repository links, access limits, and reuse conditions.
Integrity note: undeclared overlap, manipulated figures, or inconsistent data reporting may trigger formal investigation.
Files and Formatting
Submission Package Checklist
Complete and consistent files improve workflow speed and reduce revision cycles.
- Main manuscript file with clearly labeled sections and consistent terminology.
- Title page with full author details and corresponding author contact information.
- Figure files and tables prepared at publication quality with editable legends.
- Cover letter summarizing novelty, relevance, and compliance declarations.
- Supplementary files for protocols, appendices, and extended analyses when needed.
- Language quality review completed before submission for reviewer readability.
Reference formatting should be complete and accurate to support citation linking and downstream indexing quality.
Use consistent abbreviations for interventions, outcomes, and imaging or laboratory measures across all files.
Review Process
What to Expect After Submission
Understanding review stages helps teams prepare efficient, high-quality responses.
Editorial Triage
Scope, integrity, and reporting readiness are checked before external review assignment.
Peer Review Routing
Specialist reviewers are selected by topic relevance and methods expertise.
Decision Communication
Editors provide focused rationale and prioritized revision expectations.
Revision Submission
Authors should provide point-by-point responses mapped to specific edits.
Final Evaluation
Editors assess whether scientific and policy concerns are fully resolved.
Production Readiness
Accepted articles proceed to editing, formatting, metadata, and publication scheduling.
Revision responses should remain evidence-based and respectful, especially when interpretation disagreements arise.
Clear response matrices accelerate re-review by making verification straightforward for both editors and reviewers.
Run a final consistency check across abstract, tables, and discussion statements before upload.
Explain endpoint rationale clearly when several clinically meaningful outcomes are available.
Provide reproducibility details for analytical scripts and software environments where possible.
Use precise language for causal claims and distinguish exploratory analyses from confirmatory findings.
Structured response matrices improve revision quality and shorten re-review cycles.
Cover letters should summarize novelty, scope fit, and reporting checklist completion in concise form.
Method detail is especially important for surgical and procedural manuscripts with complex workflows.
Run a final consistency check across abstract, tables, and discussion statements before upload.
Explain endpoint rationale clearly when several clinically meaningful outcomes are available.
Provide reproducibility details for analytical scripts and software environments where possible.
Use precise language for causal claims and distinguish exploratory analyses from confirmatory findings.
Structured response matrices improve revision quality and shorten re-review cycles.
Cover letters should summarize novelty, scope fit, and reporting checklist completion in concise form.
Method detail is especially important for surgical and procedural manuscripts with complex workflows.
Run a final consistency check across abstract, tables, and discussion statements before upload.
Explain endpoint rationale clearly when several clinically meaningful outcomes are available.
Provide reproducibility details for analytical scripts and software environments where possible.
Use precise language for causal claims and distinguish exploratory analyses from confirmatory findings.
Structured response matrices improve revision quality and shorten re-review cycles.
Cover letters should summarize novelty, scope fit, and reporting checklist completion in concise form.
Method detail is especially important for surgical and procedural manuscripts with complex workflows.
Run a final consistency check across abstract, tables, and discussion statements before upload.
Explain endpoint rationale clearly when several clinically meaningful outcomes are available.
Provide reproducibility details for analytical scripts and software environments where possible.
Use precise language for causal claims and distinguish exploratory analyses from confirmatory findings.
Structured response matrices improve revision quality and shorten re-review cycles.
Cover letters should summarize novelty, scope fit, and reporting checklist completion in concise form.
Method detail is especially important for surgical and procedural manuscripts with complex workflows.
Run a final consistency check across abstract, tables, and discussion statements before upload.
Explain endpoint rationale clearly when several clinically meaningful outcomes are available.
Provide reproducibility details for analytical scripts and software environments where possible.
Use precise language for causal claims and distinguish exploratory analyses from confirmatory findings.
Structured response matrices improve revision quality and shorten re-review cycles.
Cover letters should summarize novelty, scope fit, and reporting checklist completion in concise form.
Method detail is especially important for surgical and procedural manuscripts with complex workflows.
Run a final consistency check across abstract, tables, and discussion statements before upload.
Explain endpoint rationale clearly when several clinically meaningful outcomes are available.
Provide reproducibility details for analytical scripts and software environments where possible.
Use precise language for causal claims and distinguish exploratory analyses from confirmatory findings.
Structured response matrices improve revision quality and shorten re-review cycles.
Cover letters should summarize novelty, scope fit, and reporting checklist completion in concise form.
Method detail is especially important for surgical and procedural manuscripts with complex workflows.
Run a final consistency check across abstract, tables, and discussion statements before upload.
Explain endpoint rationale clearly when several clinically meaningful outcomes are available.
Provide reproducibility details for analytical scripts and software environments where possible.
Use precise language for causal claims and distinguish exploratory analyses from confirmatory findings.
Structured response matrices improve revision quality and shorten re-review cycles.
Cover letters should summarize novelty, scope fit, and reporting checklist completion in concise form.
Method detail is especially important for surgical and procedural manuscripts with complex workflows.
Run a final consistency check across abstract, tables, and discussion statements before upload.
Explain endpoint rationale clearly when several clinically meaningful outcomes are available.
Provide reproducibility details for analytical scripts and software environments where possible.
Use precise language for causal claims and distinguish exploratory analyses from confirmatory findings.
Submit Your JOC Manuscript
Use Manuscriptzone or the simple form; both routes follow the same quality and integrity standards.
Editorial office: [email protected]
