EDITORIAL

Policies rely on biomedicaluniform requirementsDavid L. Turpin, Editor-in-Chief

Seattle, Wash

At first glance, journal editors might seem like anindependent group caught up in their ownpower. Upon closer scrutiny, most readers will

realize that biomedical journals are indirectly guided bya committee of editors who encourage voluntary com-pliance to a set of requirements for doing business. I amreferring to the International Committee of MedicalJournal Editors (ICMJE) and its recently updatedversion of the Uniform Requirements for Manu-scripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals (http://www.icmje.org).

Because the AJO-DO supports the authority of thisscholarly organization, I intend to write a series ofeditorials making clear our interpretation of theseprinciples for the benefit of our authors and readers.This month, I will describe the responsibilities of ourauthors, the role of the editor, the peer-review process,the need for editorial freedom, and conflicts of interest.In the future, I will include a look at the protection ofhuman subjects and animals in research studies, over-lapping publications, correspondence to the editor, andelectronic publication.

A small group of editors of general medical journalsmet informally in Vancouver, British Columbia, in1978 to establish guidelines for manuscripts submittedto their journals. The group became known as theVancouver Group. Its requirements for manuscripts,including formats for bibliographic references devel-oped by the National Library of Medicine, were firstpublished in 1979. The Vancouver Group expandedand evolved into the ICMJE, which met annually toexpand its influence and now includes ethical principlesof biomedical journalism. The total content of the 2006revision of the guidelines can now be reproduced foreducational, not-for-profit purposes, and the committeeencourages distribution of this material.

The Uniform Requirements state the ethical princi-ples in the conduct and reporting of research andprovide recommendations relating to specific elementsof editing and writing. These recommendations are

Am J Orthod Dentofacial Orthop 2006;130:561-20889-5406/$32.00Copyright © 2006 by the American Association of Orthodontists.

doi:10.1016/j.ajodo.2006.09.022

based largely on the shared experiences of a moderatenumber of editors and authors, collected over manyyears. Wherever possible, recommendations are accom-panied by a rationale that justifies them; as such, thedocument serves an educational purpose.

Byline authors

An author is generally considered to be a personwho has made substantive intellectual contributionsto the study being published. According to theICMJE and this Journal, authorship credit is basedon (1) substantial contributions to conception anddesign, or acquisition of data, or analysis and interpre-tation of data; (2) drafting the article or revising itcritically for important intellectual content; and (3) finalapproval of the version to be published. An authorshould meet all 3 conditions.

When an article is submitted, the correspondingauthor should clearly indicate the preferred citation foreach author. Contributors to the research who do notqualify to be listed as authors can be listed in theacknowledgments. Examples of those who might beacknowledged include persons who gave purely tech-nical or writing assistance, or a department chairpersonwho provided general support. Acquisition of funding,collection of data, or general supervision, alone, doesnot justify authorship. Each author should have partic-ipated sufficiently in the work to take public responsi-bility for appropriate portions of the content. The orderof authorship on the byline should be a joint decision ofthe coauthors. Authors should be prepared to explainthe order in which the authors are listed. Once an articleis submitted, AJO-DO policy requires that all authorsmust agree on any change in authorship.

Role of the editor

The editor of the AJO-DO is responsible for itsentire content. As owner of this publication, the Amer-ican Association of Orthodontists (AAO) shares in thisendeavor—the publication of a reliable and readablejournal, produced with due respect for the Journal’sstated aims and the costs of production. The functions

of the owner and the editor, however, are different. The

561

American Journal of Orthodontics and Dentofacial OrthopedicsNovember 2006

562 Editorial

AAO has the right and obligation to appoint the editorand to assist in making major business decisions inwhich the editor should be involved to the fullest extentpossible. The editor must have full authority to deter-mine all editorial content of the Journal. This conceptof editorial freedom is resolutely defended by mosteditors, even to the extent of placing their own posi-tions at stake. To make this relationship workable, youreditor is a member of the AAO Board of Trustees andparticipates regularly in board meetings, conferencecalls, and related organizational responsibilities. Youreditor also has a written contract with the AAO thatclearly states his rights and duties, in addition to thegeneral terms of his appointment through 2011.

Editorial freedom

This Journal, like the ICMJE, adopts the WorldAssociation of Medical Editors’ definition of editorialfreedom. It states that editorial freedom or indepen-dence requires that editors-in-chief have full authorityover the editorial content of their journals. Journalowners should not interfere in the evaluation, selection,or editing of individual articles, either directly or bycreating an environment that strongly influences deci-sions. The editor should base decisions on the validityof the work and its importance to the journal’s readers,not on the commercial success of the journal. Theeditor should be free to express critical but responsibleviews about all aspects of dentistry without fear ofretribution, even if these views conflict with the pub-lisher’s commercial goals.

Peer review

Unbiased, independent, critical assessment is anintrinsic part of all scholarly work. Peer review is thecritical assessment of manuscripts submitted to journalsby experts who are not part of the editorial staff. Peerreview can therefore be viewed as an important exten-sion of the scientific process. Peer review helps editorsdecide which manuscripts are suitable for their jour-nals, and helps authors and editors in their efforts toimprove the quality of their reporting. A peer-reviewedjournal is one that submits most of its publishedresearch articles for outside review. The AJO-DOregularly calls on reviewers from a field of nearly 600

volunteers. The reviewers who are most active (com-

pleting 3 or more timely reviews a year) have theirnames published in the journal. We update the list ofnames every 6 months, so the list changes as reviewersbecome more or less active. Reviewers with experiencein some highly specialized areas of orthodontics areoften in short supply and are called on frequently. Withour online system, we can keep accurate records todocument the performance levels of our experts.

Conflicts of interest

Public trust in the peer-review process and thecredibility of published articles depend in part on howwell conflict of interest is handled during writing, peerreview, and editorial decision-making. A conflict ofinterest exists when an author, a reviewer, or an editorhas a financial or personal relationship that inappropri-ately influences (biases) his or her actions. Theserelationships vary from those with negligible potentialto those with great potential to influence judgment.Financial relationships (stock ownership, honoraria,paid expert testimony) are the most easily identifiableconflicts of interest and the most likely to underminethe credibility of the journal, the authors, and thescience itself. It is the responsibility of all participantsin the peer-review and publication process to discloserelationships that could be viewed as potential conflictsof interest. For the AJO-DO, disclosure of these rela-tionships is also important in connection with guesteditorials, letters to the editor, and review articles,because it can be more difficult to detect bias in thesesubmissions than in reports of original research. Wecan use information disclosed in conflict-of-interest andfinancial-interest statements as bases for editorial deci-sions, and it is normal practice for us to publish thisinformation if it is thought to be important in judgingthe manuscript.

I hope this brief summary of the recent history ofthe ICMJE will help our readers understand howdecisions are made about who qualifies as a bylineauthor, the importance of editorial freedom, the peer-review process, and how we manage conflicts ofinterest. Support of the relatively young ICMJE and itsUniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted toBiomedical Journals is already yielding rewards for

both authors and readers.