Author Guidelines

Introduction

For additional tools visit Author Resources - an enhanced suite of online tools for Wiley Online Library journal authors, featuring Article Tracking, E-mail Publication Alerts and Customized Research Tools.

Manuscripts should be submitted online at:
https://wiley.atyponrex.com/journal/ACR


Arthritis Care & Research Editor: Kelli D. Allen, PhD
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill and Department of Veterans Affairs Healthcare System, Durham
Editorial office phone: 919-650-1459
E-mail: [email protected]

Articles are accepted for publication on the condition that they are submitted to this journal only. Articles should pertain to the field of rheumatic disease.

Manuscripts not in compliance with the following instructions may be subject to a delay in the review process.

Arthritis Care & Research, an official journal of the American College of Rheumatology and the Association of Rheumatology Professionals (a division of the College), is a peer-reviewed publication that publishes original research, review articles, and editorials that promote excellence in the clinical practice of rheumatology. Relevant to the care of individuals with rheumatic diseases, major topics are evidence-based practice studies, clinical problems, practice guidelines, educational, social, and public health issues, health economics, health care policy, and future trends in rheumatology practice.

Arthritis Care & Research follows the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals: http://www.icmje.org/recommendations/.

Submission, Format, and Organization

Manuscripts not in compliance with the following instructions may be subject to a delay in the review process.

Submit all new manuscripts online. Launch your web browser and go to https://wiley.atyponrex.com/journal/ACR. Check for an existing account. If you are submitting for the first time, create a new account. Follow all instructions. At the end of a successful submission, a confirmation screen with a manuscript number will appear, and you will receive an e-mail confirming that the manuscript has been received by the journal. If this does not happen, please check your submission and/or contact tech support at [email protected].

Manuscript files should be uploaded as .doc or .docx files. Figures should be uploaded separately as .doc(x), .jpg, .eps, or .tif files. Tables should be uploaded as editable .doc(x) files and can be included in the manuscript or uploaded separately.

Cover Letter Content

An electronic cover letter should accompany the manuscript. Note in the cover letter what type of manuscript is enclosed (Original Article, Clinicopathologic Conference (CPC), Brief Report, Review Article, or Letter to the Editor). Confirm that each individual named as an author meets the journal's criteria for authorship (listed in the Authorship Criteria section below).

Confirm in the cover letter that the manuscript has not been submitted or is not simultaneously being submitted elsewhere, is not at the time of submission under consideration by another journal or other publication, and that no portion of the data has been or will be published elsewhere while the manuscript is under review by the journal, unless rejected by Arthritis Care & Research or withdrawn by the author(s). If a manuscript is in "revision suggested" status with another journal, it is interpreted to be still under consideration by that journal; for the manuscript to be submitted to Arthritis Care & Research, it must first be officially withdrawn from consideration with the other journal. Similarly, a manuscript that is in "revision suggested" status with Arthritis Care & Research is deemed to be under consideration and may not be submitted to another journal unless the submission is withdrawn from Arthritis Care & Research.

Also confirm that no portion of the data has been or will be published elsewhere while the manuscript is under review by Arthritis Care & Research. Publication in proceedings or transactions of meetings or symposium volumes is considered to be prior publication that renders the manuscript ineligible. Publication on a preprint server is not considered to be prior publication, and the journal accepts the submission of manuscripts that have been previously posted on a preprint server. The publication of data in abstracts, and presentation in oral or poster sessions at meetings, do not constitute previous publication.

Include the corresponding author's address, telephone number, and e-mail address in the cover letter.

Manuscript Format

Format all pages of the manuscript, including those containing references, tables, and figure legends, double space in 12-point type, with 1- to 1½-inch margins. Number all sheets in succession, including references, tables, and figure legends.

Title page (page 1). On the first page, type the title, running head (short title for top of each page), name(s) of the author(s) and their major degrees, grant(s) or other financial supporter(s) of the study, address for correspondence and corresponding author's telephone numbers and e-mail address. Also indicate the word count for the manuscript (not including abstract, references, tables, and figure legends). The word and table/figure limits are outlined for each manuscript type below.

Also on the first page, indicate any financial support or other benefits from commercial sources for the work reported on in the manuscript, or any other financial interests that any of the authors may have, which could create a potential conflict of interest or the appearance of a conflict of interest with regard to the work.

Revised submissions must include a detailed response to the reviewers file that is uploaded in the Author’s Response section of the revision submission steps in ScholarOne. Please use this guide when creating your response file. We expect that the letter will include both responses to the reviewers' comments as well as text changes made in the paper, as opposed to just providing page locations where changes were made.

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ORCID

Arthritis Care & Research requires the submitting author (only) to provide an ORCID iD when submitting a manuscript.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion considerations

The American College of Rheumatology and the Association of Rheumatology Professionals are opposed to discrimination on the basis of race, color, ethnicity, sex, gender identity, gender expression, social class, national origin, pregnancy, age, disability, creed, religion, sexual orientation, veteran status, political affiliation, and political philosophy. We encourage authors, editors, and reviewers to be attentive to the language used in the text, figures, and tables in reports of clinical research, so that all people are treated with dignity and respect. Furthermore, we ask authors, editors, and reviewers to ensure that differences in results based on group status are not incorrectly attributed to biology rather than to non-biological factors, and to follow the guideline on reporting participant characteristics outlined in the Instructions to Authors.

The information below provides examples of practices in the conduct and reporting of clinical research that the journal will take into consideration, with the goals of increasing the accuracy and applicability of the information reported and ensuring that the language is inclusive, descriptive, and not offensive. Prior to submission of articles involving human subjects, authors should review the table to ensure that all applicable elements have been addressed. Currently the checklist below does not need to be completed/submitted with the manuscript; however, it will be used by reviewers and editors when evaluating articles involving human subjects.

The Methods section should include an explanation of how participant race and ethnicity were determined. If self-reported, authors should specify whether individuals answered an open-ended question or from a fixed set of categories.

NIH terminology should be used for racial and ethnicity categories. Note that these guidelines are specific to US studies. Non-US locations may have different racial and ethnic populations and/or use different terminology, meaning that these guidelines may not fit well. However, non-US studies are expected to follow the intent of these recommendations.

Authors should use American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, Black or African American, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, and White for race and Hispanic or Latino/a or Not Hispanic or Latino/a for ethnicity. Individuals’ self-identified countries of origin can also be reported when appropriate.

Please see definitions (NOT-OD-15-089) below:

American Indian or Alaska Native. A person having origins in any of the original peoples of North and South America (including Central America), and who maintains tribal affiliation or community attachment.

Asian. A person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent including, for example, Cambodia, China, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippine Islands, Thailand, and Vietnam.

Black or African American. A person having origins in any of the black racial groups of Africa.

Hispanic or Latino/a. A person of Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin, regardless of race. The term, "Spanish origin," can be used in addition to "Hispanic or Latino/a."

Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander. A person having origins in any of the original peoples of Hawaii, Guam, Samoa, or other Pacific Islands.

White. A person having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East, or North Africa.

Reporting of individuals’ self-identified countries, regions (e.g., Gullah), or tribes of origin can also be used when known and appropriate.

Discouraged terms include:

  • People of color
  • Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) and Black, Asian, and minority ethnic (BAME) (commonly used in the UK)
  • Terms related to colors, such as brown and yellow
  • Collective reference to racial and ethnic groups as “non-White.”
  • Racial and ethnic terms in noun form (e.g., avoid the terms Asians, Blacks, Hispanics, or Whites; instead use Asian Americans, Black Americans, Hispanic Americans, or White Americans)
  • The term Caucasian used to indicate the term White
  • Merging of race and ethnicity with a virgule as “race/ethnicity” (Instead, “race and ethnicity” is preferred)
  • Abbreviations of categories for race and ethnicity
  • The term minorities (Instead, use terms that reflect the scientific question such as underserved or underrepresented populations)
  • The term mixed race (instead use multiracial or multiethnic)

The names of races, ethnicities, and tribes should be capitalized. Examples include: African American, Alaska Native, American Indian, Asian, Black, Cherokee Nation, Hispanic, Kamba, Kikuyu, Latino/a, and White. Capitalize the first word and use lowercase for “people” when describing persons who are Indigenous or Aboriginal (e.g., Indigenous people, Indigenous peoples of Canada, Aboriginal people).

In text and tables, racial and ethnic categories should be listed in either alphabetical order or from largest to smallest group.

All affected categories of participants should be reported on when possible. If relevant groups are omitted or underrepresented, this should be noted in the Discussion.

Researchers should adjust for objective confounding variables when comparing racial and ethnic groups, and unadjusted findings should be clearly labeled in conjunction with adjusted findings for comparison purposes. If applicable, include racism, discrimination, social class, personal or family wealth, environmental exposures, insurance status, age, diet and nutrition, health beliefs and practices, educational level, language spoken, religion, tribal affiliation, country of birth, parents' country of birth, length of time in the country of residence, and place of residence.

If reporting community-based participatory research (CBPR) results, authors should describe how they engaged with members of populations reported (at outset, throughout the research process), or discuss implications for that population and how findings will be shared and used.

The term sex should be used when reporting biological factors and gender should be used when reporting gender identity or psychosocial or cultural factors.

Sexual designations should be used as adjectives rather than nouns. For example, use “male subjects” instead of “males,” and “female subjects” instead of “females.”

Checklist
  1. Explanation of how participant race and ethnicity were assessed in Methods section?
  2. Have authors used NIH terminology for race and ethnicity? Are no discouraged terms used?
  3. Have authors capitalized the names of races, ethnicities, and tribes?
  4. Are racial and ethnic categories listed in either alphabetical or from smallest to largest group?
  5. Is there appropriate representation of affected categories of participants based on the condition under study? If not, is this noted in the discussion?
  6. Have researchers adjusted for confounding factors when comparing racial and ethnic groups, and clearly labeled unadjusted findings?
  7. In the context of CBPR, have authors described how they engaged with members of populations reported or discussed implications for that population and how findings will be shared and used?
  8. Has the term sex been used for reports of biological factors and gender used for reports of gender identity or psychosocial or cultural factors?
  9. Are sexual designations used as adjectives and not as nouns?

Original Articles

Original Articles are descriptions of original research that adds to the body of knowledge in arthritis and the rheumatic diseases.

On the second page of Original Articles include an abstract of fewer than 250 words. The abstract for studies that include human subjects must indicate the number of subjects included in the primary analysis. Abstracts that do not include such information will be returned before being circulated to Editors. The abstract should be divided into the following sections: Objective, Methods, Results, and Conclusion.

On the third page, include a section titled Significance and Innovations. Provide 2-4 bullet points highlighting the significant and/or innovative findings from your article.

On the fourth page, begin the introduction (no heading is necessary). Follow this plan of organization: Materials and Methods (or Patients and Methods), Results, Discussion, References, Tables, and Figure Legends.

Original Articles should not exceed 4,200 words from introduction through discussion (not including references, tables, and figure legends). The total number of tables and figures combined may not exceed 6, and the number of references may not exceed 50.

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Clinicopathologic Conferences (CPC)

CPCs emphasize new ideas in medical science that shed light on the approach to diagnosis, disease management, or an emerging aspect of pathophysiology. The editors welcome queries about cases that might be appropriate subjects for CPCs, and invite submissions of CPCs.

No abstract is necessary. On the second page, begin the case presentation using the following headings (as applicable): Case Presentation (history of the present illness, past medical history, social and family history, review of systems, physical examination, laboratory evaluation) Case Summary, Differential Diagnosis, Discussion, the Patients' Course, Final Diagnosis. There is no word limit for CPCs. However, authors should be as concise as possible, while still communicating key findings and messages. The editorial team may ask authors to shorten CPCs in some instances.

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Brief Reports

Brief reports are short articles of original research consistent with the mission of Arthritis Care & Research to publish articles relevant to clinical care and public policy for people with rheumatic diseases.

On the second page, include an abstract of fewer than 250 words. The abstract should be divided into the following sections: Objective, Methods, Results, and Conclusion.

On the third page, include a section titled Significance and Innovations. Provide 2-4 bullet points highlighting the significant and/or Innovative findings from your article.

On the fourth page, begin the introduction (no heading is necessary). Follow this plan of organization: Materials and Methods (or Patients and Methods), Results, Discussion, References, Tables, and Figure Legends.

Brief reports should not exceed 2,500 words from introduction through discussion. The total number of tables and figures combined may not exceed 3, and the number of references may not exceed 15.

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Review Articles

Review Articles are discussions of clinical or public-health related topics in the rheumatic diseases. Review Articles should provide meaningful messages regarding the current status of research in a given area, as well as implications for clinical care and/or future research.

Narrative Review Articles should not exceed 5,000 words from introduction through discussion (not including references, tables, and figure legends). These reviews should include a single-paragraph abstract (no sections) of ≤250 words. The total number of tables and figures combined may not exceed 3, and the number of references may not exceed 85.

Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses should follow all guidelines for Original Articles (e.g., abstract format, Significance & Innovation bullets, manuscript sections, word limits, and maximum number of tables and figures), but up to 85 references are permitted.

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Letters to the Editor

Letters to the Editor should be limited to commentaries on previous articles published in Arthritis Care & Research and issues affecting rheumatology and the American College of Rheumatology. Letters that are commentaries on previous articles must be submitted within 6 months after publication of the article. The authors of the article being commented on will be invited to submit a reply letter. Subsequent letters commenting on this reply letter will not be accepted. Length of Letters to the Editor should be no more than 2 pages, including references. Only 1 table or figure may accompany a Letter to the Editor.

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Video Abstracts

Arthritis & Rheumatology (A&R), Arthritis Care & Research (AC&R), and ACR Open Rheumatology (ACROR), now offer authors of accepted articles the opportunity to present their research visually through the use of video abstracts. A video abstract succinctly describes the purpose, methods, results, and relevance of a given study within approximately 3–5 minutes. These videos are intended for a medical/clinical audience of physicians and other health professionals, including those in general fields and specialties outside the practice and research of rheumatology.

Submission information

  • Video abstracts must be submitted during the manuscript revision process as a supplemental file.
  • Please do not try to upload a video abstract upon initial submission of your manuscript.
  • Videos should be submitted through the A&R/AC&R/ACROR ScholarOne submission website as follows:
    • When submitting your revised manuscript, please indicate "yes" to the question, "Would you be interested in submitting a video abstract with your revised manuscript?"
    • Upload the video using the Video Abstract file designation.
    • Please note: video files too large to upload in ScholarOne may be alternately submitted as a URL for downloading (via a file transfer or cloud storage website, such as Dropbox). In these cases, include the URL link to the video file in a Word file using the Video Abstract file designation.

Video abstract formats

Authors may create a live-action video of the author(s) discussing the research or a narrated video with clips of data or schematic/clinical slides interspersed throughout the discussion.

Authors may create an animated video using graphics and voiceovers to illustrate concisely the concepts and mechanisms in the study.

If appropriate and pertinent, the author may (with permissions) include live-action video of patients demonstrating clinical conditions, and/or health care professionals demonstrating clinical/laboratory techniques.

Authors may use a videography company at the authors’ expense to produce their video abstract. One such company used by Wiley is Research Square; however, authors may use a company of their choice. Professionally produced videos use animation, graphics, and voiceovers to present and highlight the findings of the article.

Before you start, please be aware of the following:

  • Video abstracts are created, whether by the author(s) or by a videography company, at the author’s expense. For studies with commercial support, the supporting company might assist with video production/expense. Academic institutions might have staff and production resources that are available to the author(s).
  • Video abstracts will not be copyedited by the journal staff and therefore should be carefully reviewed and edited by the author(s) before final submission. Video abstracts will, however, be reviewed by the journal editors prior to publication.
  • Authors will need to attest to the following: 1) that the findings described in the video do not extend beyond the findings presented in the accepted article, and 2) that all coauthors of the accepted article agree with the final content of the video abstract.
  • For institutional postings of the video abstract, authors should post only the journal-approved version of the video.
  • It is the author’s responsibility to obtain and include the appropriate permissions for previously published material, as well as permissions for videos involving human subjects.
  • Due to copyright policy, videos must not include music soundtracks (this also applies to open-source music).

Content guidelines

  • Authors must provide a script of the video at time of submission.
  • Video abstracts must include authors’ financial disclosures and sources of funding for the study as reported in the title page footnotes of the accepted article.
  • Video abstracts must include a full citation of the accepted article (authors, title, and publication information).
  • Video abstracts must include the A&R, AC&R, or ACROR logo, i.e., specific to the journal in which the article was published.
  • Permissions are required for previously published materials and involvement of human subjects.
  • Company logos/marketing graphics and brand names are not permitted on the videos.
  • Institutional copyright insignias are not permitted on the videos.
  • Video abstracts should illustrate the key findings in a concise and informative manner, and the findings described in the video should not extend beyond the findings presented in the accepted article.
  • Editors reserve the right to request additional video editing by the authors (which may delay publication).
  • Provided that the content does not include study findings beyond those reported in the article, authors are encouraged to include additional relevant and illustrative material, such as laboratory footage, histologic images, clinical examination features, and figures/schematics.
  • Video abstract content should be understandable to medical/clinical professionals who are not necessarily basic science researchers and whose patients might benefit from the findings of the study.
  • If the narrator is not a medical professional (i.e., possibly unfamiliar with the pronunciation of medical/pharmaceutical terms), authors must ensure that all terms are pronounced correctly in the video before submission.

Technical specifications

  • It is important that the overall quality of videos be as high as possible and this must be assured at the submission stage. All submitted videos will be reviewed initially for audio/visual clarity and quality.
  • Video length should be 3–5 minutes.
  • In schematics and figures, please keep in mind readability and font size. Presentations should not include small text or images that will be difficult to see.
  • Please create videos with commonly used codecs. Recommended file formats for video files are Quicktime, MPEG, and Avi. (These are the standard codecs/file formats of videos created on smartphones and tablets.)
  • Restrict individual file sizes to 10MB or less (zipped or unzipped) as larger files can lead to download issues for users.
  • Please test video files before submission, preferably on computers not used for the video file’s creation, in order to check for compatibility issues.

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English-language editing service

Click here to send your manuscript to Wiley English Language Editing Service. The English Language Editing Service can help to ensure your paper is clearly written in standard, scientific English language appropriate to your discipline. Visit our site to learn about the options. Using the Wiley English Language Editing Service does not guarantee that your paper will be accepted for publication.

NOTE: Using this link will NOT submit your manuscript to the journal - it opens a new window for the English Language Editing Service.

You can use Wiley's 'Manuscript Language Checker' service at https://en.wileyeditingservices.com/english-language-checker-service-recommender. This is an entirely free service which allows authors to upload their manuscript and have it scanned for language, grammar, and flow. It will deliver a language quality score which suggests how ready the manuscript is for submission.

For Authors from India & Turkey, Wiley Digital Editing Service is offered: https://wileyeditingservices.com/en/article-preparation/digital-editing. This is fully AI-powered author service. Within minutes of uploading a manuscript in .doc or .docx file format, the author will receive a thoroughly edited document, complete with tracked changes and suggestions for improvements, for just $29.

The Wiley Digital Editing tool will complete 30 checks based on:

  • Language
  • Structure and References
  • Counts, Figures and Tables
  • Disclosures
  • Metadata

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Content, acronyms, and terminology

Do not use new technical words, laboratory slang, words not defined in dictionaries, or abbreviations or terminology not consistent with internationally accepted guidelines. Define any abbreviations the first time they are used. A list of acronyms for many common rheumatology terms has been developed by an international group of rheumatology journal editors. Names of and acronyms for genes and proteins should comply with their official entries in Entrez Gene and UniProt, respectively.

In order to make the description of patients as clear as possible and to facilitate comparisons with other studies, the Methods section should include, whenever possible, a short paragraph detailing the proportion of patients who satisfy the ACR classification criteria for the particular disease described.

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Statistical reporting & reviews

The journal’s statistical consultants recommend that statistical best practices be followed in the design and reporting of research studies. In addition, it is strongly recommended that authors include the appropriate reporting checklist based on the given study type (see reporting guidelines). This is for use in the review process only, and therefore should be included as a separate document from the manuscript.

For all studies, the Methods section of the manuscript should contain descriptions of 1) sample size and power considerations for the study; 2) the methods for primary and secondary analyses; and 3) how missing data have been handled (complete case analyses that include only subjects with complete data are rarely appropriate). The Results section should include 1) confidence intervals for estimate effect sizes, measures of association, or other parameters of interest and 2) 2-sided P values in almost all circumstances where hypotheses are being tested, such as a randomize controlled trial. Results should be presented with no more precision than is of scientific value and is meaningful given the available sample size.

Further details on statistical reporting for specific study types (clinical trials, observational studies, and preclinical and translational studies) are provided in the journal’s Guide to Statistical Reporting for Specific Study Types in ACR Journals.

Most submissions to Arthritis Care & Research are evaluated by a statistical reviewer to ensure methodological rigor and best practices in data reporting. In some circumstances the statistical review may be conducted after the initial review, and authors will be asked to respond to these additional comments. However, we aim for an efficient and rapid inclusion of statistical reviews.

Information on some specific study types

Clinical trials

All clinical trials must be registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov, www.controlled-trials.com, or another appropriate national body before they will be considered for publication in Arthritis Care & Research. For studies initiated after January 1, 2007, registration must have occurred before the first patient was enrolled. The registration requirement applies to prospective studies of drugs, biologic agents, and devices, as well as prospective investigations of prevention strategies, screening procedures, diagnostic algorithms, health promotion approaches, behavioral interventions, and health care economics. Phase I clinical trials, pharmacokinetic studies, studies that do not involve a concurrent control group, retrospective reviews, and observational studies that do not involve interventions are not included in this policy. Additional details are available in an editorial published in Arthritis & Rheumatology.

Authors of articles describing randomized controlled trials should consult the CONSORT (CONsolidated Standards of Reporting Trials) Statement for guidance on content that should be included in the report. In addition, a separate document consisting of the study protocol and the statistical analysis plan, as well as a separate document consisting of a completed CONSORT checklist, are required. These documents are for peer review only and will not be published with the accepted article. Authors submitting analyses based on previously published trials may be asked to provide the original CONSORT checklist and flow diagram so that reviewers can accurately determine the validity of the patient sample.

Charts and graphs in articles reporting on clinical trials should include a number at each data point in a graph or above each bar in a chart, for ease in determining the exact value being depicted.

For rheumatoid arthritis clinical trials, disease should be considered to be in remission/reported as being in remission only if the Boolean-based or Simple Disease Activity Index (SDAI)–based definition of remission developed by the American College of Rheumatology/European Alliance of Associations for Rheumatology has been met. This definition is summarized in Table 6 of the article reporting on its development.

Systematic reviews and meta-analyses

For systematic reviews, it is strongly recommended that authors consult the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines and use the PRISMA checklist.

Observational epidemiologic studies

For observational epidemiologic studies, it is strongly recommended that authors consult the STROBE (Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology) guidelines and use the STROBE checklist.

Clinical assessment instruments

For articles describing a new assessment tool or instrument, the journal’s copyright may include copyright of the tool or instrument itself, unless it has been copyrighted by the authors prior to submission.

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Compliance with research ethics standards

Research carried out with human subjects must be in compliance with the Helsinki Declaration (http://www.wma.net/e/policy/b3.htm). A statement to this effect must appear in the Methods section of the manuscript, including the name of the body that gave approval a statement confirming provision of written informed consent from human subjects (or receipt of a waiver from this requirement) is also required.

Compliance with Open Access regulations required by funding bodies, such as the National Institutes of Health, is required.

As of January 1, 2007, all prospective, interventional studies (be they initiated before or after that date [but not including trials that were completed before that date]) must be registered at http://www.clinicaltrials.gov, http://www.controlled-trials.com, or another appropriate national body in order to be considered for publication in Arthritis Care & Research. For studies initiated after January 1, 2007, registration must occur before the first patient is enrolled. In addition to prospective studies of drugs, biologic agents, and devices, this requirement will include prospective investigations of prevention strategies, screening procedures, diagnostic algorithms, health promotion approaches, behavioral interventions, and health care economics. Phase I clinical trials, those that do not involve a concurrent control group, retrospective reviews, studies designed only to generate pharmacokinetic data, and observational studies that do not involve interventions are not included in the policy at this time.

The journal reserves the right to subject any submitted text or figures to electronic scrutiny to ensure that text has not been plagiarized and images have not been inappropriately manipulated.

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Illustrations

When preparing charts and graphs, consult the journal’s graph/chart/table guidelines.

Charts and graphs in articles reporting on clinical trials should include a number at each data point in a graph or above each bar in a chart, for ease in determining the exact value being depicted.

Images should be submitted with the manuscript in one of the following formats: tif (preferred), .eps, .xls, or .doc.

Each figure must contain no more than 4 panels. A multiple-panel figure should be printed on 1 page; i.e., Figures 1A, 1B, and 1C should be on 1 page not 3 pages. Each figure must be small enough that it can be reduced such that the figure, including the legend below it, will occupy no more than half of a journal page (i.e., 3 1/4 inch width x 8 1/2 inch height or 7 inch width x 4 1/2 inch height. Lettering and symbols on figures should be large enough, and shading distinct enough, to remain readable after the figure is reduced.

Lengthy descriptions of methods should appear in the Methods section of the article and not in figure legends.

Although the letter of a multiple-part figure may be printed directly on the figure, the main figure number should not be (i.e., for Figure 2A, an "A" may appear on the figure, but "2" may not); the number will appear in the text of the figure legend.

Obtain releases from any patients whose pictures will be printed in the journal. Blinders on the eyes are not a substitute for patient's permission.

An article may include one page of color at no charge to the author. For subsequent pages of color, the author will be billed $500 per page.

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Tables

When preparing charts and graphs, consult the journal’s graph/chart/table guidelines.

Do not include any vertical lines in tables. Include horizontal lines below the title and headings and above the table footnotes only; there should be no horizontal lines separating the individual lines of data in the table body. Limit the width of each table (number of columns) such that it will fit in portrait (not landscape) orientation on a journal column (3¼ inches) or page (7 inches) and will not exceed the height of the page. Refer to current issues of the journal for further guidance regarding table style.

Tables with sections (e.g., Table 1a, Table 1b) are not acceptable and will be handled as two separate tables unless the information can be logically combined into one table with one set of headings.

Provide each table with an explanatory title so that it is intelligible without specific reference to the text. Provide each table column with an appropriate heading. Indicate clearly any units of measure on a table. Lengthy descriptions of methods should appear in the Methods section of the article and not in table footnotes.

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Supplementary material

Supplementary material will be considered for publication in the online edition of Arthritis Care & Research. Authors should note that supplementary material is not copyedited by Arthritis Care & Research staff, and therefore should be carefully reviewed by the authors before the final version of the manuscript is submitted.

The format of supplementary material will generally be limited to tables, figures, or short videos. Supplementary text describing methodologic information that is too lengthy for inclusion in the body of the published manuscript also may be considered as supplementary appendices. Editorial discretion will be exercised to discern whether data are essential for the manuscript.

Acceptance of supplementary materials will often be more liberal for articles reporting on clinical trials. Each supplementary item should be mentioned in the manuscript.If there is supplementary material that does not meet the above-described criteria but that the author believes is highly integral, a request for a waiver of the criteria may be made during the review/revision process and will be considered by the Editor. A request by a reviewer for supplementary material to be considered in the review process does not guarantee that the material will meet criteria for publication in the online edition of the journal, should the article be accepted. For submitted supplementary material that is not accepted for publication in the online edition of the journal, the author may state in the manuscript that the information is available from the corresponding author upon request; however, the material may not be referred to using the term “supplementary.”

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Data Sharing Policy

Authors are required to provide a Data Sharing Statement to be published along with accepted manuscripts. This statement should indicate if data will or will not be shared. The manuscript submission system includes specific questions regarding data sharing. The following options can be selected by authors: No data were used in this article; No data other than what is included in this article or supplementary material will be shared; All data used in this research are already included in the article or the supplementary material; Data will be shared upon request; Data will be shared in a public repository with accession information specified within the article; All data used in this research are already publicly available. If authors elect to share data they will be asked to provide information about what type of data will be shared, whether additional related documents will be available (e.g. study protocol, statistical analysis plan, informed consent form, codebooks), when the data will become available and for how long, by what access criteria data will be shared (including with whom, for what types of analyses, and by what mechanism), and whether there will be any costs associated with data sharing. For data deposited in repositories, authors will be asked to provide the name or link to the repository used to share data and the accession number to access the shared data. A list of public repositories that authors can consider for data sharing is available from the National Library of Medicine. Authors also have the option to explain why data will not be shared.

Potential Repositories for Data Types

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References

Compile references numerically according to the order of the citation. Consult recent issues of Arthritis Care & Research for reference style. Reference numbers cited in the text should be superscripted and called out in numerical order.

For references to journal articles, include the first 3 authors, followed by "et al" if there are more than 3 authors. The author names are followed by the title (with only the first word capitalized), the abbreviated name of the journal (use abbreviations that conform to those in the National Library of Medicine journals database), the year, volume, number (without issue number), and page range. Example: Brunner HL, Klein-Gitelman MS, Higgins GC, Lapidus SK, Levy DM, Eberhard A, et al. Toward the development of criteria for global flares in juvenile systemic lupus erythematosus. Arthritis Care Res 2010;62:811-20. If the journal material being cited is an editorial, review, abstract or letter, indicate this in brackets at the end of the title.

For chapters of books that have an editor(s) and individually authored chapters, include the names of the chapter authors, followed by the chapter title, the book editors, the book title, the city of publication, publisher name, year of publication, and chapter page range. Example: Katz JN. Developments in surgery for rheumatic and musculoskeletal disorders. In: Pisetsky DS, editor. The ACR at 75: a diamond jubliee. Hoboken(NJ): Wiley-Blackwell; 2009. p. 87-91.

For references to electronic publications, include the author or organization as applicable, title as appropriate, and the URL; prior to submission, please confirm that the URL is active.

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Assignment of reviewers

Arthritis Care & Research follows a single-blind peer review process. Authors are asked to suggest potential reviewers of their manuscript, as well as indicate reviewers whom they do not want to review the manuscript. Editors will consider these suggestions but are not bound by them.

Arthritis Care & Research requests that peer reviewers adhere to a set of basic principles during the peer-review process in research publication. To be a qualified reviewer, please keep in mind that you should not have previously reviewed a submitted manuscript or have a financial, personal, or intellectual conflict of interest that may diminish your ability to provide a fair review. Please refer to the Ethical Guidelines for Peer Reviewers prepared by the Committee on Publication Ethics, which provides further information on how to be objective and constructive in the peer-review process.

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Related manuscripts/duplicate publication

If the authors are aware of any related manuscript that has been or will be published by or submitted to another journal or to Arthritis Care & Research (e.g., another manuscript resulting from the same study), a copy of the other manuscript should be sent along with the one that is being submitted for publication in Arthritis Care & Research.

Articles are received only for exclusive publication in Arthritis Care & Research with the understanding that they have not been published elsewhere (in part or in full, in other words or in the same words, in letter or article form, or otherwise), are not at the time of submission under consideration by another journal or other publication, and will not be submitted elsewhere unless rejected by Arthritis Care & Research. Publication of preliminary data in the form of an abstract generally is not considered duplicate publication unless the abstract exceeds two pages in length and/or is cited in PubMed.

If an author violates this requirement or engages in other similar misconduct, the Editor may, in addition to rejecting the manuscript, impose a moratorium on the acceptance of new manuscripts from the author and, if the misconduct is deemed sufficiently serious, may refer the matter to the author's academic institution or hospital and/or the appropriate state or local disciplinary body.

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Authorship criteria

Authors. At the time a manuscript under consideration is sent for revision, the corresponding author must provide a listing of each co-author’s contributions, in accordance with the journal’s criteria for authorship, and the journal may publish this information. A downloadable form, in Microsoft Word, is provided on the manuscript submission site to assist corresponding authors in compiling the information.

In articles with equally credited authorship (co-senior authors or dual first authors; limited to 2), the names of the 2 co-senior authors or dual first authors should be denoted with an asterisk in the byline. The footnote should be placed after author affiliations and should read “Dr. X and Dr. Y were co-senior authors/dual first authors and contributed equally to this work."

Arthritis Care & Research requires that individuals must meet the first 3 of the 4 authorship criteria recommended by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors. To qualify for authorship, individuals must meet criterion 1 (1a and/or 1b and/or 1c), AND criterion 2 AND criterion 3 below:
Criterion 1: a) Substantial contributions to study conception and design; and/or b) Substantial contributions to acquisition of data; and/or c) Substantial contributions to analysis and interpretation of data.
Criterion 2: Drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content
Criterion 3: Final approval of the version of the article to be published

LLM-based Chatbots. Large Language Models (LLMs) driven by Chatbots, such as ChatGPT, do not currently satisfy our authorship criteria. An attribution of authorship carries with it accountability for the validity and integrity of the work, which cannot be effectively applied to LLM’s. Use of an LLM should be properly documented in the methods or acknowledgement sections of the manuscript, including the nature of use (e.g., checking spelling and grammar, researching of literature, etc.).

Patients as Authors (Patient Advocates/Patient Partners)

Authors of manuscripts submitted to this journal are welcome to include patient advocates/partners as authors on their submitted work. Patients must meet all the same criteria for authorship as any other co-author and should include all the same author information on the title page, including listing an affiliation. Since privacy is a concern for some patients, we also recommend discussing with the patient how they would like their name and affiliation to appear in the manuscript. All authors are required to have an affiliation of some kind. If the patient is not comfortable listing their work affiliation, we require an affiliation that contains all of the following elements:

  1. Patient Role (e.g., Patient Advocate, Patient Partner, Patient Author, Patient Representative, or other);
  2. City;
  3. State/Province.

The exact patient role can be determined between you and the patient and is not limited to the examples listed above.


Plagiarism detection

This journal uses iThenticate's CrossCheck software to detect instances of overlapping and similar text in submitted manuscripts. By submitting your manuscript to this journal you accept that your manuscript may be screened for plagiarism against previously published works.

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Disclosure of interest

The journal uses the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) disclosure of interest form to collect all author disclosures prior to acceptance. For revised manuscripts, the corresponding author should collect a completed ICMJE disclosure of interest form from each co-author, combine all individual forms into a single PDF file and upload the combined file with the manuscript files using the file designation Disclosure of Interest. A link to this combined file will be included with the published manuscript.

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Copyright: Wiley Online Licensing Service

Upon acceptance of a manuscript (except letters to the editor and replies, which are exempt), the corresponding author will receive an email with a link to the Copyright: Wiley Author Licensing Service, where he/she must promptly complete and electronically sign the appropriate copyright and/or license agreement. The article will not be published in an issue if this has not been done.

If your paper is accepted, the author identified as the formal corresponding author for the paper will receive an email prompting him/her to log into Author Services, where via the Wiley Author Licensing Service (WALS) they will be able to complete the license agreement on behalf of all authors on the paper.

For authors of Letters to the Editor and Replies

Articles classified as "Correspondence" do not require a signed copyright transfer agreement (CTA). If you have submitted a letter to the editor or an authors' reply, you will not receive an email notification asking you to sign the CTA. All correspondence will be published under the standard journal copyright line. If you have any questions, please contact [email protected].

For authors signing the copyright transfer agreement

If the open access option is not selected the corresponding author will be presented with the copyright transfer agreement (CTA) to sign. The terms and conditions of the CTA can be previewed in the samples associated with the Copyright FAQs below:
CTA Terms and Conditions: http://exchanges.wiley.com/authors/faqs---copyright-_301.html

For authors choosing open access

If the open access option is selected the corresponding author will have a choice of the following Creative Commons License Open Access Agreements (OAA):
Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License OAA
Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial No-Derivs License OAA

Arthritis Care & Research offers authors an open access publication option. You can read more about article publication charges (APCs) and whether you may be eligible for waivers or discounts, through your institution, funder, or a country waiver. Editorial decisions at Arthritis Care & Research are independent of the processing of APC payments and waivers.

To preview the terms and conditions of these open access agreements please visit the Copyright FAQs hosted on Wiley Author Services and visit http://www.wileyopenaccess.com/details/content/12f25db4c87/Copyright--License.html

If you select the open access option and your research if funded by certain funders [e.g. The Wellcome Trust and members of the Research Councils UK (RCUK) or the Austrian Science Fund (FWF)], you will be given the opportunity to publish your article under a CC-BY license supporting you in complying with the Funder's requirements. For more information on this policy and the Journal's compliant self-archiving policy please visit: http://www.wiley.com/go/funderstatement.

For RCUK and Wellcome Trust authors click on the link below to preview the terms and conditions of this license:
Creative Commons Attribution License OAA

To preview the terms and conditions of these open access agreements please visit the Copyright FAQs hosted on Wiley Author Services and visit http://www.wileyopenaccess.com/details/content/12f25db4c87/Copyright-- License.html

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Author corrections on proofs

The corresponding author will be provided with page proofs and asked to check for errors and editorial queries. Although the correction of editorial and typographical errors will be made without charge, the cost of excessive additional alterations may be charged to the author.

Authors are requested to return corrected proofs and accompanying forms within 72 hours. Publication of the article may be delayed if the proofs are not sent back on time.

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Correction to authorship

In accordance with Wiley’s Best Practice Guidelines on Research Integrity and Publishing Ethics and the Committee on Publication Ethics’ guidance, Arthritis Care & Research will allow authors to correct authorship on a submitted, accepted, or published article if a valid reason exists to do so. All authors – including those to be added or removed – must agree to any proposed change. To request a change to the author list, please complete the Request for Changes to a Journal Article Author List Form and contact either the journal’s editorial or production office, depending on the status of the article. Authorship changes will not be considered without a fully completed Author Change form. [Correcting the authorship is different from changing an author’s name; the relevant policy for that can be found in Wiley’s Best Practice Guidelines under “Author name changes after publication.”

Author Name Changes After Publication

In cases where authors wish to change their name following publication, Wiley will update and republish the paper and redeliver the updated metadata to indexing services. Our editorial and production teams will use discretion in recognizing that name changes may be of a sensitive and private nature for various reasons including (but not limited to) alignment with gender identity, or as a result of marriage, divorce, or religious conversion. Accordingly, to protect the author’s privacy, we will not publish a correction notice to the paper, and we will not notify co-authors of the change. Authors should contact the Editorial Office with their name change request.


Page charge

A $70 per-page charge will be assessed for publication in Arthritis Care & Research.

Instructions for payment will be sent to authors along with the proofs. In extreme cases of inability to pay, the page charge may be reduced or waived; this should be requested at the time the article is accepted. There is no page charge for solicited articles, letters to the editor, or clinical images. There is no page charge if the first author or corresponding author has been a member of ACR (American College of Rheumatology) / ARP for at least three years. Questions regarding the page charge should be directed to directed to Maggie Parry, Director, Quality and Production: [email protected].

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