Pediatrics Open Science Author Instructions

Pediatrics Open Science is the premier open access journal from the American Academy of Pediatrics. Every article published in the journal is free to read, download, and share. Pediatrics Open Science welcomes original research relevant to the health and well-being of children and their families. Pediatrics Open Science is Plan S compliant and welcomes funded research. Authors of accepted articles must pay an article publishing charge (APC) within ten days of acceptance.

For a limited time, Pediatrics Open Science is waiving the APC.

• Our scope, mission, and values
• Article types
  
• Article preparation
  
• Article submission
• Article review process and acceptance criteria
• Publication ethics, artificial intelligence, data sharing, and open access
• Reader comments, letters to the editor, and errata
• Contact us

 

Scope

Pediatrics Open Science welcomes original research relevant to the health and well-being of children and their families. We aim to provide a rigorous, fair, and fast peer review process.
 

Mission

To improve the health of children and families by making pediatric research findings and perspectives accessible worldwide. 

Values

• Transparency
• Diverse perspectives
• Creativity, curiosity, and innovation
• Rigorous, reproducible, and ethical research practices

 

Article Types

Regular Article

Abstract length: 250 words or fewer (structured, as noted below)
Article length: 3,000 words or fewer

Regular Articles are original research contributions that aim to inform clinical practice or the understanding of a disease process. Regular Articles include but are not limited to clinical trials, interventional studies, cohort studies, case-control studies, epidemiologic assessments, and surveys. Components of a Regular Article include:

• What’s Known on This Subject
  
• What This Study Adds

These two brief summaries are each limited to 40 words. Please use precise and accurate language in paragraph form (ie, not bullet points). For manuscripts accepted as Regular Articles, these summaries will become a highly visible part of your published paper, with prominence on the first page. Moreover, these summaries may be highlighted and presented in other areas of the journal. It is therefore paramount that you use language of the same caliber as the rest of your paper.

• Structured Abstract (four paragraphs with headings in boldface type; single-spaced)

The abstract should consist of: Objectives or Background and Objectives, Methods, Results, and Conclusions. The Objective should clearly state the hypothesis; Methods, inclusion criteria and study design; Results, the outcome of the study; and Conclusions, the outcome in relation to the hypothesis and possible directions of future study.

Body of Article

For the body of your article, follow this general outline:

Introduction
A 1- to 2-paragraph introduction outlining the wider context that generated the study and the hypothesis.

Methods
This section should detail inclusion criteria and study design to ensure reproducibility of the research. All studies that involve human subjects must be approved or deemed exempt by an official institutional review board; this should be noted here.

Results
This section should give specific answers to the aims or questions stated in the introduction. The order of presentation of results should parallel the order of the methods section.

Discussion
The section should highlight antecedent literature on the topic and how the current study changes the understanding of a disease process or clinical situation. It should include a section on the limitations of the present study.

Conclusion
A brief concluding paragraph presenting the implications of the study results and possible new research directions on the subject. 

↑ Back to Top ↑

Research Briefs

Abstract length: no abstract
Article length: 700 words or fewer
References: Up to 10 references can be cited

Research Briefs summarize original research describing preliminary findings or descriptive studies that, although meaningful, are better suited to a shorter, focused report than other article types that appear in the journal. Although there is no restriction on the type of study design for Research Briefs, clinical trials are in most cases better suited for submission as a Regular Article. 

Authors should follow the following format.

Introduction
A brief paragraph summarizing the context of the report and any hypotheses.

Methods
A concise description of the study design and approach.  All studies that involve human subjects must be approved or deemed exempt by an official institutional review board; this should be noted here.

Results
A concise description of the findings.  A combined total of two tables or figures can be used.

Discussion
A concise summary of how the findings influence the understanding of the topic.  The limitations should be clearly described.  Special attention should be on the implications and next steps that are needed beyond a statement that more research is needed.

↑ Back to Top ↑

Perspectives

Abstract length: no abstract
Article length: 1,200 words or fewer
Author limit: 3 authors or fewer
Reference limit: 7 references or fewer
Figure/table limit: No more than one (1) figure or table allowed

Perspectives are unsolicited opinion pieces that address current topics in issues such as advocacy, public policy, and population health, or clinical topics related to infant, child, and/or adolescent health. Perspectives pieces should include a clear explanation of an issue and potential measures to address it. A short synopsis of current or past personal research on the topic is not appropriate.

The general instructions regarding submission (including cover letter, title page requirements, contributors statement page, journal style guidance, and conflict of interest statements) also apply to Perspectives.

↑ Back to Top ↑

 

Commentary

Abstract length: no abstract
Article length: 400 to 800 words

Commentaries are solicited by the editors. These contributions usually pertain to and are published concurrently with a specific article; the commentary serves to launch a broader discussion of a topic. The general submission instructions (including cover letter, title page, contributors' statement page, journal style guidance, and conflict of interest statements) also apply to commentaries. Further instructions will be sent to authors after they are invited to write a commentary. Responses to published articles should be submitted as online Comments.

↑ Back to Top ↑

 

Article Preparation

“Submit As You Like”

For new manuscripts submitted directly to Pediatrics Open Science, we allow authors to submit their materials in any format, provided the required elements listed below are included. If a revision is requested, authors are then required to edit the manuscript and associated documents to conform to all style and formatting guidelines. To submit, authors will need:

Title page

• Title
• Running title up to 97 characters
• All author names and affiliations
• Corresponding author’s contact information
• Article word count
• Ethics statements:
  
  • data availability statement
  • funding statement
  • conflict of interest disclosure
  • ethics approval statement
  • patient consent statement
  • permission to reproduce material from other sources
  • relevant reporting checklists where appropriate
  • clinical trial registration

Manuscript

• Continuous line numbering and page numbers. This greatly assists the peer reviewers and editors in making comments.
• One or multiple editable files that include an abstract (if applicable), all manuscript sections, figures, and tables. 
• Figures and tables must have legends and uploaded in the highest resolution possible. The editorial office will send back any difficult to read figures or tables to you for revision.
• References may be submitted in any style or format, so long as it is consistent throughout the manuscript. 

 

Journal Style and Formatting Requirements

General Style. All aspects of the manuscript, including the formatting of tables, illustrations, and references and grammar, punctuation, usage, and scientific writing style, should be prepared according to the most current AMA Manual of Style (http://www.amamanualofstyle.com).¹

Author Listing. All authors’ names should be listed in their entirety, and should include institutional/professional affiliations and degrees held. If published, author names and affiliations will appear as seen in the submitted manuscript Word document and the final typeset proofs. All authors must ensure that their information is correct. 

Authoring Groups. To include an authoring group, note the following to ensure all individuals are correctly acknowledged:

• On the title page, list any study group at the end of the author listing, preceded either by "for" or "on behalf of" and followed by an asterisk, such as: "on behalf of the XXXXX Study Group*."
  Add the following line: “*A complete list of study group members appears in the Acknowledgments.” (Alternatively, list these non-author contributors in an Appendix and change the statement accordingly.)
• Ensure that your Acknowledgments section, placed at the end of the main text and before the References, clearly delineates group members and non-group members. For example: "Members of Study Group ABC include: Person 1, Person 2, Person 3, Person 4. We also wish to acknowledge Person 5 and Person 6 for technical editing."
• Do not list the group name as an author in the online metadata section. Only authors who fulfill all four authorship criteria should be included in the online metadata, the title page, and the contributors statement page. These authors should not be included in the acknowledgments, which are reserved for thanking non-author contributors.

Abbreviations. List and define abbreviations on the Title Page. Unusual abbreviations should be avoided. All terms to be abbreviated in the text should also be spelled out at first mention, followed by the abbreviation in parentheses. The abbreviation may appear in the text thereafter. Abbreviations may be used in the abstract if they occur 3 or more times in the abstract. Abbreviations should be avoided in tables and figures; if used they should be redefined in footnotes.

Units of Measure. Like many US-based journals, Pediatrics Open Science uses a combination of Système International (SI)^2,3 and conventional units. Please see the AMA Manual of Style for details.

Proprietary Products. Authors should use nonproprietary names of drugs or devices unless mention of a trade name is pertinent to the discussion. If a proprietary product is cited, the name and location of the manufacturer must also be included.

Page/Line Numbers. Include page numbers and continuous line numbering in your manuscript so that editors and peer reviewers may more easily point out items/revisions.

References. Authors are responsible for the accuracy of references. Citations should be numbered in the order in which they appear in the text. Reference style should follow that of the AMA Manual of Style, current edition. Abbreviated journal names should reflect the style of Index Medicus. Visit: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/nlmcatalog/journals. If you used reference management software (eg, EndNote) to prepare your manuscript, you must convert the file to plain text prior to submission. Please note: The generated HTML page with the References is for staff/editorial use only; please do not use Word line numbering on your references.

References

1. Iverson C, Christiansen S, Flanagin A, et al. AMA Manual of Style. 10th ed. New York, NY: Oxford University Press; 2007.
2. Lundberg GD. SI unit implementation: the next step. JAMA. 1988;260:73-76.
3. Système International conversion factors for frequently used laboratory components. JAMA. 1991;266:45-47.

↑ Back to Top ↑

 

Formatting by Section

Cover Letter

The cover letter serves to assure the editors that the article and the authors meet the conditions of publication.  This can include a brief paragraph that provides any additional information that may be useful to the editors.  Reviewers will not see the cover letter; cover letters are not a Title Page.
All authors must affirm the following in their cover letter before their manuscript is considered:

• That the manuscript is being submitted only to Pediatrics Open Science, that it will not be submitted elsewhere, while under consideration, that it has not been published elsewhere, and, should it be published in Pediatrics Open Science, that it will not be published elsewhere—either in similar form or verbatim—without permission of the editors. 
• That all authors are responsible for reported research.
• That all authors have participated in the concept and design, analysis and interpretation of data, and drafting or revising of the manuscript, and that they have approved the manuscript as submitted.

If a manuscript uses the same or similar data contained in previously published articles, the authors must state this in the cover letter (and provide citations to the related or possibly duplicative materials).

If the manuscript has been posted on a preprint server, the authors must state this in the cover letter (and include a link to the preprint server posting). Manuscripts should not be submitted to preprint servers while under consideration for publication.

Title Page

The Title Page should appear first in your manuscript document. Title pages for all submissions must include the following items:

1. Title (97 characters maximum)
2. Author listing. Full names for all authors, including degrees, and institutional/professional affiliations. These affiliations should list the institution where the research presented in the article took place; if the affiliation has changed, add a note indicating the additional affiliation.
3. Corresponding Author. Contact information for the corresponding author (including: name, address, telephone, and email). You may list the corresponding author's Twitter handle as well.
4. Short title (55 characters [including spaces] or fewer). 
5. Conflict of Interest Disclosures for all authors. This includes any potential conflicts of interest, any relevant financial relationships, and any other relationships or activities that could be perceived to have influenced the work. If none, say "The authors have no conflicts of interest relevant to this article to disclose.”
6. Funding/Support. Research or project support, including internal funding, should be listed here; if the project was done with no specific support, please note that here. Technical and other assistance should be identified in Acknowledgments.
7. If applicable, Clinical Trial registry name, registration number, and data sharing statement. We adhere to ICMJE guidelines, which require that all trials must be registered with ClinicalTrials.gov or any other WHO Primary registry. All articles reporting results of clinical trials must also include the Data Sharing Statement.
8. Abbreviations. List and define abbreviations used in the text. If none, say "Abbreviations: none".
9. Word count, figure count, and reference count. List the word count for the manuscript (excluding the title page, abstract, figure/table legends, and references). List the number of figures/tables and references.
10. For Regular Article submissions, include both the “What’s Known on This Subject" and the "What This Study Adds” summaries (see Regular Article type for description). These are not needed for any other article type.

If the title page does not include all of the above items, the submission may be returned to the authors for completion.

Contributors' Statement Page

All submissions must contain a Contributors’ Statement Page, directly following the Title Page(s) and in the specific format described below. Manuscripts lacking a properly formatted Contributors' Statement Page will be returned to the authors for correction.

All persons designated as authors must qualify for authorship (see "Publication Ethics"), and all those who qualify should be listed. Each author should have participated sufficiently in the work to take public responsibility for appropriate portions of the content. The Contributors' Statement Page lists the authors and specifies the contribution(s) made by each individual. If multiple individuals have identical contributions they may be listed together; do not list an author more than once.

You must follow the required format when creating your Contributors’ Statement Page or your manuscript will be returned for correction.

• Each author should only appear once.
• Use names, not initials.
• If multiple authors have identical contributions, you can list them in the same sentence; otherwise, list each author separately.
• Conclude your statement by confirming that: All authors approved the final manuscript as submitted and agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work.

 

Sample Contributors' Statement

Dr Smith and Prof Jones conceptualized and designed the study, drafted the initial manuscript, and reviewed and revised the manuscript.
Drs Brown, Grey, and Black and Ms Johnson designed the data collection instruments, collected data, carried out the initial analyses, and reviewed and revised the manuscript.
Dr Green conceptualized and designed the study, coordinated and supervised data collection, and critically reviewed the manuscript for important intellectual content.
All authors approved the final manuscript as submitted and agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work.

Note:

Acquisition of funding, collection of data, or general supervision of a research group alone does not constitute a sufficient basis for authorship. Contributors who do not meet the criteria for authorship (such as persons who helped recruit patients for the study, or professional editors) should be listed in an Acknowledgments section placed after the manuscript’s conclusion and before the References section. Because readers may infer their endorsement of the data and conclusions, these persons must give written permission to be acknowledged. These permissions do not need to be submitted with the manuscript unless requested by the editors.

Manuscript

New manuscripts are not required to follow specific formatting, provided that all required elements are included. Revised manuscripts should adhere to the following format:

• Typeset in portrait orientation
• Times New Roman font, size 12, black
• Title Page, Contributors' Statement Page, Abstract, Acknowledgments, and references should be single-spaced
• The Main Body Text should be double-spaced
• Include line and page numbering in your Word document (excluding the References)
• Do not include page headers or footers
• Do not include footnotes within the manuscript body. Footnotes are allowed only in tables/figures.

 

Word Count

To determine article length, count the body of the manuscript (from the start of the Introduction to the end of the Conclusion). The title page, contributors' statement page, abstract, acknowledgments, references, figures, tables, and multimedia are not included.

Figures, Tables, and Supplementary Material

For any figure, table, or supplementary material reproduced or adapted from another source, authors are required to obtain permission from the copyright holder, and proof of permission must be uploaded at the time of submission. The legend must include a statement that the material was used or adapted with permission.

Figures

Authors should number figures in the order in which they appear in the text. Figures include graphs, charts, photographs, and illustrations. Each figure must include a legend (placed in a list appearing after the References) that does not exceed 50 words. Abbreviations previously expanded in the text are acceptable. If a figure is reproduced from another source, authors are required to obtain permission from the copyright holder, and proof of permission must be uploaded at the time of submission. Adapted figures need to be labeled "adapted" in the source line. For reprinted figures, the source line needs to include "reprinted with permission."  Figure arrays should be clearly labeled, preassembled, and submitted to scale. Figure parts of an array (A, B, C, etc.) should be clearly marked in capital letters in the upper left-hand corner of each figure part.

Style for figures:  Readers should be able to understand figures without referring to the text. Avoid pie charts, 3-dimensional graphs, and excess ink in general. Make sure that the axes on graphs are labeled, including units of measurement, and that the font is large enough to read. Generally delete legends or other material from the graph if it makes the picture smaller. Color graphs should be interpretable if photocopied in black and white.

Technical requirements for figures: Upload figures as separate files; list figure legends as the last item in your main Word/text file. Do not paste figures into your manuscript text/Word file. The following file types are acceptable: TIFF, PDF, EPS. Color files must be submitted in their original RGB color. Pediatrics Open Science cannot accept Excel or PowerPoint files for any part of your submission.

Remember to upload figures as separate files; list figure legends as the last item in your main Word/text file. Do not paste figures into your manuscript text/Word file.

Tables

Tables should be numbered in the order in which they are cited in the text and include appropriate headers. Tables should not reiterate information presented in the Results section, but rather should provide clear and concise data that further illustrate the main point. Tabular data should directly relate to the hypothesis. Table formatting should follow the current edition of the AMA Manual of Style.

Technical requirements for tables: Tables should be constructed using a Microsoft Word program and inserted either in numerical order at the end of the main Word document (following the references) or as separate files. Tables may use any legible font size and may appear in portrait or landscape orientation; however, the main manuscript text pages must remain in portrait orientation. Do not provide tables in scan/image format. Pediatrics Open Science cannot accept Excel or PowerPoint files for any part of your submission. 

• Do NOT include linked or cross-referencing cell functions and formulas in your Word document tables, as these can cause a file conversion error in the manuscript submission system.

Style for tables: Tables should be self-explanatory. Avoid abbreviations; define any abbreviations in footnotes to the table. Avoid excess digits and excess ink in general. Where possible, rows should be in a meaningful order (eg, descending order of frequency). Provide units of measurement for all numbers. In general, only one type of data should be in each column of the table.

Presentation of Numbers and Statistics

• Results in the abstract and the paper generally should include estimates of effect size and 95% confidence intervals, not just P values or statements that a difference is statistically significant. Where possible, focus on absolute and not relative differences. Measures of clinical impact like the number needed to treat can be especially helpful for our readers.
• All statistical methods should be clearly described.
• Units of independent variables must be provided in tables and results sections if regression coefficients are provided.
• Equations should be typed exactly as they are to appear in the final manuscript. The following table, adapted from the guidelines for authors for the Annals of Internal Medicine by editors of Medical Decision Making, shows how to present certain percentages and some statistical measures:

Reporting	Details
Percentages	Report percentages to one decimal place (ie, xx.x%) when sample size is greater than or equal to 200. To avoid the appearance of a level of precision that is not present with small samples, do not use decimal places (ie, xx%, not xx.x%) when sample size is less than 200.
Error Measures	Report confidence intervals, rather than standard errors, when possible. Use "mean (error measures)" rather than "mean ± error measure" notation.
P values	Except when one-sided tests are required by study design, such as in noninferiority trials, all reported P values should be two-sided. In general, P values larger than 0.01 should be reported to two decimal places, those between 0.01 and 0.001 to three decimal places; P values smaller than 0.001 should be reported as P [is less than sign]0.001. Notable exceptions to this policy include P values arising in the application of stopping rules to the analysis of clinical trials and genetic-screening studies.
"Trend"	Use the word trend when describing a test for trend or dose-response. Avoid the term "trend" when referring to p-values near but not below 0.05. In such instances, simply report a difference and the confidence interval of the difference (if appropriate) with or without the p-value.

Supplemental Information

Authors may wish to include additional information in an appendix as part of their article. References to any online supplemental information must appear in the main article. Such supplemental information can include but are not limited to additional tables, figures, videos, audio files, slide shows, data sets (including qualitative data), and online appendices. If your study is based on a survey, consider submitting your survey instrument or the key questions as a data supplement. Authors are responsible for clearly labeling supplemental information and are accountable for its accuracy. Supplemental information will be peer reviewed, but not professionally copyedited.

 

Article Submission

Submit your manuscript at https://submit-pedsos.aappublications.org/.

You must complete each step to submit your manuscript. Use proper capitalization—Do not use all CAPS, or all lowercase, or HTML. Click on the “Save/Continue” button on each screen to save your work and advance to the next screen.

Submission Guide. The first screen you’ll see is the “Submission Guide.” This page provides a description of each article type and guidance on what is required for each section of the submission system. Once you’ve reviewed this page, click “Begin Submission” at the bottom of the page.

Manuscript Basics. Select your article type and enter the title, short title, and abstract. Review your article type earlier in the Submission Guide for further details on abstracts. This is also where you'll select which open access license (CC BY or CC BY-NC-ND) you'd like.

Abstract, Cover Letter and Questions. Enter your abstract and cover letter in the text boxes provided. If your article type does not require an abstract, type “NA” in the text box. If your manuscript reports the results of a clinical trial, you must enter a Data Sharing Statement and the clinical trial number in the text boxes provided. See Data Sharing for more information. Reponses to the funding questions are required.

Keywords. Enter the appropriate keywords/categories for your submission.

Reviewer Suggestions/Exclusions. To indicate any preferred and non-preferred reviewers, enter the reviewer's information in the appropriate sections.

Author List. To add yourself as an author, click the “Add Author” button, then the “I Am This Author” button in the top right corner of the popup screen. If you are also the corresponding author, click the “Mark as Corresponding Author” box, then click “Save.” You can add additional authors by entering their email address to search for them in the system. You can change the author order in your list by dragging author entries to the desired position. Note: After the manuscript has been submitted, the authors cannot be added or removed from the author list.

Manuscript Files. In this step, you will be prompted to upload your files.

The first screen you’ll see includes information on the file types supported for each upload type (manuscript file, image files (which include tables and figures), and supplemental data or additional files). Click Save/Continue to submit your files.

Your main manuscript file should be submitted by dragging the file into the green box labeled “Drop manuscript files here” or by clicking the “Select Files” link in this box. Labels are preferred, but not required. Please note that these labels are not a substitute for the required table/figure legends in your manuscript files.

Your table and figure files should be submitted by dragging them into the gray box labeled “Drop image and table/figure files here” or by clicking the “Select Files” link in this box.

Supplemental data files should be submitted by dragging them into the blue box labeled “Drop supplemental files here” or by clicking the “Select Files” link in this box. Once you drag a file into this box, you will have the option of checking an “Internal Use” box if the file provided is for editor use only and not to be shared with the peer reviewers.  

Once you’ve dragged over or selected your files, click “Upload Files” to complete the upload. Once you are taken to the next screen, use the navigation links on the left-hand side to move to the next step.

Submission Proofing. Here you will review the data entered for each step. You can revise any section by clicking the “Edit” button next to the section you’d like to revise.

License to Publish Agreement

Authors retain the copyright for their work when publishing with Pediatrics Open Science. All authors are required to sign the Pediatrics Open Science License to Publish Agreement, giving Pediatrics Open Science the right to produce/publish the article, create derivatives, license, sell reprints, and repurpose content under new products created by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

At the time of provisional acceptance, all authors will receive instructions for submitting an online License to Publish Agreement. No paper will be scheduled for an issue and move onto production until all authors have completed their forms.

We do not accept forms via fax, email, or regular mail unless a technical problem with the online author account cannot be resolved. Every effort should be made for authors to use the online system. Corresponding authors can log in to the submission system at any time to check on the status of any co-author’s form.

Disclosure Forms

At the time of provisional acceptance, all authors are required to submit a disclosure form. Pediatrics Open Science adheres to ICMJE policy and uses an online disclosure e-form in order for authors to do so. The collection of forms is automated within the online submission system.

 

Article Review Process and Acceptance Criteria

Relevance to readers is of primary importance in manuscript selection. The readership includes general pediatricians, specialists, and other clinicians who care for pediatric patients, pediatrics researchers and educators, and child health policy-makers. Pediatrics Open Science receives many more high-quality manuscripts than can be accommodated. An article that is thought by the editors to be outside of scope or very unlikely to be accepted to the journal may be rejected without review. All manuscripts considered for publication are peer reviewed, including those written by members of the Editorial Board. Peer reviewers are selected by the editors. Selection is based on their expertise in the topic of the manuscript. Generally, at least 2 reviews are required before a decision is rendered. Authors can suggest reviewers who they believe should not review the manuscript but should provide a clear rationale for this request.

Authors should carefully follow instructions for manuscript preparation and ensure that the manuscript is proofread before submission. Manuscripts are electronically scanned for plagiarism. Authors will be contacted if there is concern about potential plagiarism. Pediatrics Open Science follows the recommendations of the Committee on Publication Ethics for concerns about plagiarism or any other manuscript-related ethical issue.

Manuscripts are judged on the importance, originality, scientific strength, clinical relevance, and clarity of content. Pediatrics Open Science does not publish manuscripts that focus only on animal research. Refer to the sections below on the particular considerations for each of the manuscript types that appear in the journal.

Authors should also consider the comprehensive reporting guidelines for a wide variety of study designs that are available at http://www.equator-network.org/home/. These can be helpful in improving manuscript clarity and completeness. Note that authors submitting manuscripts describing adverse drug or medical device events or product problems should also report these to the appropriate governmental agency. Responses to a published article should be submitted as online comments. The editors will determine which comments will be published in the journal as Letters to the Editor.

 

Publication Ethics

Authorship. An “author” is someone who has made substantive intellectual contributions to a published study. Each author is required to meet ALL FOUR of the following criteria:

1. Substantial contribution(s) to conception and design, acquisition of data, or analysis and interpretation of data; and
2. Drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content; and
3. Final approval of the version to be published, and
4. Agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.

NOTE: Acquisition of funding, collection of data, or general supervision of the research group alone does not constitute a sufficient basis for authorship.

All persons listed as authors must meet these criteria, and all persons who meet these criteria must be listed as authors. Articles submitted with an unexpectedly large number of authors invite scrutiny by editors and reviewers for clear justification for the presence of each person on the authorship list. Pediatrics Open Science permits a statement of equal contribution for two first authors and two senior authors. On the title page, include asterisks by each name and a statement that reads: * Contributed equally as co-first authors or *Contributed equally as co-senior authors.

Decide authorship issues, including the order, before submission. Pediatrics Open Science does not allow addition or removal of authors or changes to the author order after a manuscript is submitted without explicit approval from the editors.

If published, author names and affiliations will appear as seen in the submitted manuscript Word document and the final typeset proofs. All authors must ensure that their information is correct. 

Conflict of Interest and Disclosure. After a paper is accepted by Pediatrics Open Science for publication, all authors must submit conflict of interest and disclosure forms. Pediatrics Open Science adheres to the policy and uses the standardized disclosure form of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE). The collection of the forms is automated within the online system.

IRB Approval. All studies that involve human subjects must be approved or deemed exempt by an official institutional review board; this should be noted in the Methods section of the manuscript.

Industry Sponsorship. All industry sponsorship must be declared in the manuscript. Manuscripts in which all authors are employed by a commercial entity can raise additional scrutiny from the editorial board. 

Registration of Clinical Trials. All clinical trials must be registered in a World Health organization-approved Clinical Trial registry prior to enrollment of the first subject. The registry name and registration number should be included on the title page. Reports of unregistered trials will be returned to authors without review. Publication of the results of a trial that was initiated prior to the ICMJE requirement for trial registration will be considered by the editors on a case-by-case basis.

Suspected Errors and Allegations of Misconduct. Pediatrics Open Science follows the processes outlined in the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) flowcharts when investigating suspected errors and allegations of misconduct. Please be aware that all investigations are confidential. If an error has been found or misconduct has been identified, the journal will publicly acknowledge the outcome through an erratum or retraction, depending on the severity of the issue. Investigations that result in no error or misconduct being found will not be publicized.

Editorial Board Members as Authors. The journal allows editorial board members to submit articles for consideration. These articles undergo the same rigorous peer review as all other submissions. The manuscript management system automatically blinds a user with administrative access from viewing a manuscript for which they are an author, so author editorial board members cannot view the manuscript from the administrative side once it has been submitted.

Editor Conflict of Interest. Journal editors recuse themselves from manuscripts for which they have a conflict of interest.

Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence (AI) tools do not qualify for authorship. To qualify, authors must meet all four of the following criteria¹:

1. Substantial contribution(s) to conception and design, acquisition of data, or analysis and interpretation of data; and
2. Drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content; and
3. Final approval of the version to be published, and
4. Agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.

AI tools cannot take responsibility for the accuracy or integrity of a manuscript and, therefore, do not qualify for authorship.² 

While the use of AI tools is discouraged, if generative AI tools are used in any part of manuscript preparation, from writing to data analysis to image creation, the authors must report it in the Methods and Acknowledgments sections³ and note use of an AI tool in the cover letter. Identification of AI must include the name and manufacturer of the AI tool and how it was used in relation to the work being submitted.² Authors are accountable for the integrity and accuracy of all material in their manuscript, including any content generated by AI.³

References

1. International Committee of Medical Journal Editors. Defining the Role of Authors and Contributors. Available at: https://www.icmje.org/recommendations/browse/roles-and-responsibilities/defining-the-role-of-authors-and-contributors.html. Accessed April 7, 2023
2. World Association of Medical Editors. Chatbots, ChatGPT, and Scholarly Manuscripts. Available at: https://wame.org/page3.php?id=106. Accessed April 7, 2023
3. Council on Publication Ethics. Authorship and AI Tools. Available at: https://publicationethics.org/cope-position-statements/ai-author. Accessed April 7, 2023

Consideration of Race and Ethnicity

Race and ethnicity should be acknowledged as a social construct rather than as genetic or biological categories. The use of racial and/or ethnic categories in models and analyses, and the selection of comparison groups should be explicitly justified. Research questions and interpretation of results should consider minority group members’ successes, the effects of racism (interpersonal, institution, or internalized), and histories of exclusion, mistreatment, and exploitation. Research questions and interpretation of results should not focus on presumed deficits of minority group members, their individual behaviors, or perceived mistrust. Please see the AMA Manual of Style Section 11.12.3: Race and Ethnicity for more detailed guidance. 

Clinical Trials

A study is considered a clinical trial if it prospectively assigns human subjects (whether randomized or not) to intervention or concurrent comparison or control groups to study the cause-and-effect relationship between a medical intervention and a health outcome. Medical interventions include drugs, surgical procedures, devices, behavioral treatments, process-of-care changes, and the like.

If authors report the results of a clinical trial, they must affirm that the study has been registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov or another WHO-approved national or international registry prior to the enrollment of the first subject. Information on requirements and appropriate registries is available at www.icmje.org. The trial registry name, registration number, and date of registration must be listed on the title page. To facilitate the review, please also provide the web link to the registration on the title page. Please also provide this registration information in the main methods section of the report.

All articles reporting results of clinical trials must include the Data Sharing Statement on their Title Page.

Authors are also required to complete both pages of a CONSORT Form (flowchart and checklist) and submit these with their manuscript. In our submission system, these files appear under “Instructions and Forms.” For observational epidemiological studies, follow the appropriate STROBE checklist.

• Download a CONSORT form checklist (PDF) here.

• Download a CONSORT form flowchart (PDF) here.

↑ Back to Top ↑

Reuse of Data Sets

If a manuscript uses the same or similar data contained in previously published articles, the authors must state this in the cover letter (and provide citations to the related or possibly duplicative materials).

If a separate manuscript by the same authors using the same data set is under review or accepted but not yet published in another journal, the authors must state this in the cover letter and provide enough information to assure that the manuscript submitted to Pediatrics Open Science is not duplicative.

↑ Back to Top ↑

Data Sharing

The International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) requires ICMJE journals to include data sharing statements in articles that report results of clinical trials.

Data sharing statements must include:

• Whether deidentified participant data (including data dictionaries) will be shared
• The data that will be shared
• Whether additional documents will be made available
• The start and end dates of data availability
• Access criteria
• How the data will be made available

The data sharing statement must be included on the title page of your manuscript and entered into the section provided in the manuscript management system.

If you will not be sharing your data, insert the following statement on your title page and in the manuscript submission system.

Data Sharing Statement: Deidentified individual participant data will not be made available.

If you will be sharing your data, refer to the table in the data sharing section of the ICMJE clinical trials page for examples of how to incorporate the required information into your statement, and refer to the example below.

Data Sharing Statement: Deidentified individual participant data (including data dictionaries) will be made available, in addition to study protocols, the statistical analysis plan, and the informed consent form. The data will be made available upon publication to researchers who provide a methodologically sound proposal for use in achieving the goals of the approved proposal. Proposals should be submitted to ____________[INSERT EMAIL ADDRESS OR OTHER CONTACT INFORMATION].

↑ Back to Top ↑

Open Access

Pediatrics Open Science is a Plan S–compliant open access journal that welcomes funded research. When publishing in Pediatrics Open Science, authors retain the copyright to their work and can choose from two different licenses: CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 or CC BY 4.0. For more information on the differences between the licenses, click here.

While there is no fee to submit an article for peer review, an article publishing charge (APC) is charged on all accepted manuscripts. The APC must be paid within ten days of acceptance. Discounts on the APC are available. For more information, visit the Open Access page.

For a limited time, Pediatrics Open Science is waiving the APC.

↑ Back to Top ↑

Reader Comments

Pediatrics Open Science welcomes reader comments on published articles. To submit a comment, click on the "Comments" tab that appears with each article, then click on "Submit a Comment." Comments submitted via email or regular mail will not be considered for posting or returned.

The editors review all comments submitted online; comments are not peer reviewed. The decision regarding whether to post a comment is at the sole discretion of the editors, and all editorial decisions are final. The submitting author will receive an email if the comment is posted, which generally occurs within 3-5 days of submission. No email notification will be sent if the comment is not posted. Once a comment has been posted on the website, you will not have the right to have it removed or edited. Pediatrics Open Science shall, however, be able to remove any comment at its discretion.

Note: Comments are online responses only. They are neither published nor cited in Medline/PubMed. Comments that raise issues addressed in prior comments are unlikely to be posted.

Be sure to follow all of the consideration criteria below; you will not be able to modify your comment after submission.

Consideration Criteria for Posting of Reader Comments

• To ensure timely discussion, comments are limited to articles published within the previous 6 months.
• The editors will consider posting comments that contribute substantially to the discussion of the original article to which the reader is responding. All editorial decisions are final.
• We will consider posting comments from all readers regardless of professional background. Decisions about posting are made based on the content, not the professional background of the respondent.
• Pediatrics Open Science does not allow multiple comment submissions from the same reader for a particular article.
• Comments must be in English and not exceed 500 words, not including references.
• Comments must have no more than 3 authors. Please insert commas between author names. If author affiliations include commas, insert semicolons between each affiliation.
• Comments must have no more than 5 references.
• Comments cannot include web links. We will remove any web links from responses chosen for posting. The only exceptions are links to AAP publications and to government documents/webpages; these must be correctly cited as references (do not paste them in the body of the comment) using AMA style. 
• Tables, figures, and other attachments are not allowed.
• Pediatrics Open Science will not post comments that are, or appear in the opinion of the editor to be, obscene, libelous, incomprehensible, defamatory, or rude; that include advertising, address personal health questions about the respondent or family members; or that give personal health information about identifiable individuals. The decision regarding whether to post any comment is at the sole discretion of the editors; all editorial decisions are final.
• In general, we do not edit reader comments prior to or after posting. The editors may, at their discretion, modify submitted comments either before or after posting the comment.

 

How to Submit Reader Comments for Consideration

1. Locate the article online.

2. To respond to the article, scroll to the bottom of the page (or the sidebar on the left-side of the screen) and click the “Add comment” button. Pediatrics Open Science only allows one comment per author per article.

3. Add your name, affiliation, comment title, and the comment response. (Note that no HTML tags are allowed.  Lines and paragraphs are automatically recognized. The <br /> line break, <p> paragraph and </p> close paragraph tags are inserted automatically. If paragraphs are not recognized simply add a couple of blank lines.)

4. Click "Submit."

How to View Comments

To read comments on an article that have been posted, click on the "Comments" link in the sidebar on the left side of the screen.

 

How to Cite a Comment

Example:

Puttgen, Katherine. RE: Topical Timolol Maleate Treatment of Infantile Hemangiomas [comment], Pediatrics (November 2, 2016),
https://publications.aap.org/pediatrics/article/138/3/e20160355/52672/Topical-Timolol-Maleate-Treatment-of-Infantile

↑ Back to Top ↑

Letters to the Editor

All Letters to the Editor must first be submitted as online comments (and must conform to comment requirements). Selected comments may then be chosen for publication in the indexed edition of Pediatrics Open Science as “Letters to the Editor.” The editors may choose to abridge and edit a comment prior to publication as a Letter to the Editor in Pediatrics Open Science without notifying or seeking approval from the author. Only these selected responses will be cited in Medline. Any letters submitted through the official manuscript submission site will be withdrawn.

At the time of provisional acceptance, the comment author will receive instructions for submitting an online copyright form. No comment will be scheduled for an issue’s Letters to the Editor section and move onto production until the copyright form is completed.

↑ Back to Top ↑

Errata

The corresponding author of an article can request a correction to a published manuscript. The editors will decide if an erratum is in order. 

↑ Back to Top ↑

Pediatrics Open Science Editorial Office

Publisher’s Office
American Academy of Pediatrics
345 Park Blvd
Itasca, IL 60143
Email

Managing Editor
Charlene Dundek, Itasca, IL
Email

 

Ver. 11.22.2022