Review PolicyClinical Trial Registration PolicyContinuing Medical Education (CME) Credit for AJKD ReviewersConflict of Interest PolicyCopyright PolicySponsored ArticlesNational Institutes of Health (NIH) Public Access PolicyAnnouncement PolicySupplement PolicyAmerican Journal of Kidney Diseases (AJKD) policies and procedures generally follow those of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors, as published in the "Uniform Requirement for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals: Writing and Editing for Biomedical Publication" (updated October 2008; www.icmje.org).
Review Policy
Two editors will review all manuscripts submitted to AJKD, generally within 1 week. Because AJKD receives many more manuscripts than can be published in a timely manner, the editors must prioritize which new submissions will proceed to external review. If the editors deem that a manuscript does not have high priority for publication, it may be rejected at this stage.
Other manuscripts will be reviewed as follows:
1. The submissions listed below will be sent for external review. Before any such article is invited for revision, it will be considered at an editorial meeting, which is attended by the Editor-in-Chief, Deputy Editor, Co-Editors, Education Editor, and Pathology Editor. In order to reach a decision on a manuscript, a quorum of at least 4 editors is necessary.
- Original Investigations
- Case Reports
- Narrative Reviews
- Special Articles
- Unsolicited Editorials
2. Features may be solicited or unsolicited; however, the review process is identical in either case. Submissions for each feature listed below are handled by a feature editor and reviewed by a feature-specific Advisory Board and/or other reviewers, as appropriate.
- Acid-Base and Electrolyte Teaching Case
- Imaging Teaching Case
- Kidney Biopsy Teaching Case
- In Practice
- In Translation
- Core Curriculum in Nephrology
- World Kidney Forum
3. Letters to the Editor, Quiz Pages, and invited editorials will generally be reviewed only by the Editorial Board.
As a general policy,
AJKD does not publish book reviews.
TopClinical Trial Registration Policy
To help limit publication bias and to aid in the identification of clinical trails for meta-analyses, AJKD requires authors of manuscripts pertaining to clinical trials to register their study in a public trials registry. AJKD defines a clinical trial as any research project that prospectively assigns human subjects to intervention or comparison groups to study the cause-and-effect relationship between a medical intervention and a health outcome. Studies designed for other purposes, such as to study pharmacokinetics or major toxicity (eg, phase 1 trials), are exempt.
For trials that were completed on or before December 31, 2005, the authors may, in lieu of registration, cite a published peer-reviewed article describing the study. Authors are encouraged to provide a digital version of this article as a "Relevant Reprint" during the submission process in order to accelerate the consideration process. If a trial was completed before December 31, 2005 but there is no previous publication, then the trial must be registered retroactively.
All other studies that were ongoing as of January 1, 2006 or were started after that date must be registered at the earliest opportunity; this applies even if the study has since concluded or been published.
AJKD does not advocate one particular registry, but registration must be with a registry that meets the following minimum criteria:
- Accessible to the public at no charge
- Searchable by standard electronic (internet-based) methods
- Open to all prospective registrants free of charge or at minimal cost
- Validates registered information
- Identifies trials with a unique number
- Includes information on the investigator(s), research question or hypothesis, methodology, intervention and comparisons, eligibility criteria, primary and secondary outcomes measured, date of registration, anticipated or actual start date, anticipated or actual date of last follow-up, target number of subjects, status (anticipated, ongoing, or closed), and funding source(s).
Registries that currently meet these criteria include the following:
TopContinuing Medical Education (CME) Credit for AJKD Reviewers
In order to recognize and encourage manuscript review as an educational activity, the National Kidney Foundation offers Category 1 credit for the peer review of manuscripts submitted to
AJKD. The National Kidney Foundation is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education to provide continuing medical education for physicians.
The National Kidney Foundation designates this educational activity for a maximum of 3 Category 1 credits toward the AMA Physician's Recognition Award. Each physician should claim only those credits s/he actually spent in the activity. The National Kidney Foundation will award each physician up to a maximum of 15 credits per year for this Continuing Medical Education (CME) activity.
Obtaining CME credit for manuscript review is entirely voluntary. To apply for CME credit, a reviewer must complete the 5-question posttest survey on the Editorial Manager review form. The awarding of CME credit will be contingent on the review being of adequate quality. After a final disposition has been made on the manuscript in question, reviewers who apply for CME credit by completing all 5 questions on the post-test survey will receive an email message from the editorial office concerning any credit(s) earned. CME will only be awarded for original reviews, not reviews of revisions.
A high-quality review should include the following criteria
1: (1) discussion of the importance of the research question; (2) discussion of the originality of the paper; (3) clear identification of the strengths and weaknesses of the method (study design, data collection, and data analysis); (4) useful comments on the writing, organization, tables, and figures of the manuscript; (5) constructive comments; (6) appropriate evidence using examples from the paper to substantiate comments; and (7) comments on the author's interpretation of the results.
The manuscript must be kept confidential; the reviewer must request permission from the Editor beforehand if a colleague is to be consulted. Comments should be constructive and professional. The reviewers should rate the manuscript, but should not state in the comments to the author whether the manuscript should be published or not.
Further information on criteria and formats for each article type is available in the Information for Authors document, which can be accessed at
www.ajkd.org/authorinfo. For general guidance on reviewing manuscripts, reviewers may also consult the Peer Reviewer Instructional Guide (
www.wame.org/rsources.htm) and a freely available editorial that appeared in the
Journal of the American College of Cardiology (
content.onlinejacc.org/cgi/content/full/42/7/1314).
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1van Rooyen S, Black N, Godlee F: Development of the Review Quality Instrument (RQI) for assessing peer reviews of manuscripts. J Clin Epidemiol 52:625-629, 1999
TopConflict of Interest Policy
A conflict of interest exists when an author, reviewer, or editor has financial or personal relationships with other persons or organizations that may inappropriately influence or bias his or her actions. There is a potential for a conflict of interest whether or not an individual believes that a relationship affects his or her scientific judgment. Conflicts can occur as the result of employment, consultancies, stock ownership, honoraria, paid expert testimony or opinions, personal and family relationships, or academic competitive pressures. All participants in the peer review and publication process must disclose all relationships that could be viewed as a potential conflict of interest.
Potential Author Conflicts
Authors should disclose at the time of manuscript submission all financial and interpersonal relationships that could be viewed as presenting a potential conflict of interest. These include, but are not limited to, any financial relationship that involves conditions, tests, or treatments discussed in the manuscript or alternatives to tests or treatments. Authors should disclose information even when there is a question as to whether a relationship constitutes a conflict. Potential conflicts should be listed for each author on the page following the title page and will also be requested during the submission process; these will be published with the manuscript.
Authorship of editorials and reviews requires interpretation of the literature and therefore is inherently subject to bias; thus AJKD requests that authors of such manuscripts not have a significant financial interest in the subject matter of the manuscript.
Potential Reviewer Conflicts
Individuals who have potential conflicts of interest should not serve as peer reviewers. This includes individuals who closely collaborate either in clinical care or research with the authors as well as individuals who may have a financial interest in the subject matter of the manuscript being reviewed. Authors may provide editors with the names of persons they feel should not review their manuscript because of a potential conflict. However, when possible, authors should explain the reason(s) for their concerns. Editors will try to avoid selecting reviewers who have potential conflicts of interest. Individuals who have been invited to review a manuscript must disclose any conflicts that could bias their opinions, and they should disqualify themselves from reviewing when appropriate.
Potential Editor Conflicts
The Editors (Editor-in-Chief, Deputy Editor, Co-Editors, Statistical Editors, Education Editor, and Pathology Editor) should not review or be responsible for manuscripts associated with their institutions or with each other.
The following procedures address manuscripts with potential conflicts of interest within the editorial board, excluding invited editorials, Letters to the Editor, and Quiz Pages:
1. For manuscripts that have at least 1 author who is also an Editor, an Associate Editor will serve as Acting Editor-in-Chief for the manuscript. All Editors will be fully excluded from the editorial process. The Associate Editor must not be associated with the manuscript nor work closely with the authors. The editorial staff will select an appropriate Associate Editor on the basis of expertise and the lack of a conflict with any of the authors. The identity of the Acting Editor-in-Chief will be published with the manuscript if it is accepted for publication. If the manuscript is not published, the authors and Editors will not have knowledge of the identity of the Acting Editor-in-Chief, other consulted Associate Editors, or any reviewers.
2. For manuscripts originating from an administrative unit of the institution which an Editor is a member of or is closely affiliated with (for example, a Division of Nephrology), the Editor who has a conflict will recuse him/herself from participating in discussion or adjudication of the manuscript. If a quorum is not possible, the manuscript will be reviewed in the same manner as for manuscripts authored by an Editor.
3. If an Editor has a conflict of interest with any author of a manuscript, and the conditions listed in items 1 and 2 do not apply, then the Editor will recuse him/herself from editorial responsibilities and from the discussion of the manuscript. If the withdrawal of an Editor or Editors makes obtaining a quorum impossible, manuscripts will be reviewed in the same manner as for manuscripts authored by an Editor.
Conflict of interest statements for all Editors are on file. Authors and reviewers who require this information should contact the editorial office (AJKD@tuftsmedicalcenter.org) for the most recent information.
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Copyright Policy
The copyright will be assigned exclusively to the National Kidney Foundation, including the right to reproduce the article in all forms and media. Elsevier will not refuse any reasonable request by the author for permission to reproduce any of his or her contributions following publication in AJKD.
Copyright assignment for supplementary data sections is the same as for figures and tables within the manuscript, and they are included in the author's copyright assignment to the National Kidney Foundation. If material included in supplementary data sections has been published previously, authors must obtain permission for its reuse in AJKD. If authors cannot transfer copyright for material included in supplementary data sections (eg, a form or questionnaire), then authors must include a letter granting permission for its reuse in AJKD.
Authors retain the rights to use certain versions of their article without the need to obtain further permission. These rights include the right to use the preprint or accepted author's manuscript for personal use, internal institutional use, and for scholarly posting; and the published journal article for personal use and internal institutional use. For the most up-to-date information regarding additional author rights, see www.elsevier.com/wps/find/authorsview.authors/copyright; to request permission for another use, refer to www.ajkd.org/content/permission.
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Sponsored Articles
AJKD offers authors the option to sponsor nonsubscriber access to their articles online at www.ajkd.org and www.sciencedirect.com. Authors can only select to sponsor their article after receiving notification that their article has been accepted for publication in AJKD.
The charge for article sponsorship is $3,000, which is used to offset publishing costs. The fee excludes taxes and other potential author fees such as color charges which are additional.
Authors who have had their article accepted and who wish to sponsor their article to make it available to nonsubscribers should complete and submit the sponsored article order form located at: www.elsevier.com/wps/find/intro.cws_home/sponsoredarticles.
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National Institutes of Health (NIH) Public Access Policy
Elsevier will deposit manuscripts to PubMed Central (PMC) on behalf of AJKD authors reporting NIH-funded research. This service will help authors comply with the NIH revised ''Public Access Policy,'' effective April 7, 2008. The NIH's revised policy requires that NIH-funded authors submit to PMC, or have submitted on their behalf, their peer-reviewed manuscripts, to appear on PMC no later than 12 months after final publication. Complete information about the NIH Public Access Policy can be found online at publicaccess.nih.gov.
Elsevier will send to PMC the final peer-reviewed manuscript as accepted for publication and will authorize that the article be posted for public access 12 months after final publication. Following the deposit by Elsevier, authors will receive further communications from the NIH with respect to the submission.
Authors are also welcome to post their accepted manuscript on their personal or institutional website. Please note that in accordance with AJKD's author agreement, authors should not post manuscripts directly to PMC or other third-party sites.
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Announcement Policy
AJKD shares a common interest with its readership in promulgating scientific information for patients with kidney disease and hypertension and electrolyte disorders. Therefore, AJKD will print announcements of upcoming scientific meetings, solicitations for research grants, and other educational programs. Space does not permit printing every requested announcement, and the editorial office reserves the right to select which announcements will appear in the pages of AJKD. The editors will give priority to major meetings and programs sponsored by public or professional organizations. From time to time, AJKD will also print announcements sponsored by industry, if they are not restricted in content and are open for all to participate. Announcements should be a maximum of 150 words and should be submitted to AJKD@tuftsmedicalcenter.org at least 4 months in advance of the event or program. All announcements should include a title and contact information, (eg, the name of the contact person, website [if any], telephone number, fax number, and/or email). The editorial office reserves the right to edit submissions.
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Supplement Policy
AJKD will consider publication of sponsored supplements that are of interest to its readers and demonstrate scientific validity. The number and quality of manuscripts in a supplement must be sufficient to warrant a separate journal issue, and must relate to a unifying theme. Submission of a supplement from a symposium or conference must occur in a timely fashion. In general, supplements will not be published if the publication date is more than 12 months after the date of the symposium or conference. No more than 2 supplements per month will be published. The cost of publication must be borne entirely by the sponsor(s). Further information on sponsorship opportunities may be obtained from the publisher.
Following initial contact with the publisher, a written proposal for a supplement to AJKD must be submitted to Editor-in-Chief Andrew S. Levey, MD (AJKD@tuftsmedicalcenter.org) for consideration.
The proposal must contain the following information:
- The Guest Editor's or Coordinator's name and contact information (affiliation, telephone, fax, email address, and preferred method of communication).
- Topic(s) to be covered by the supplement, with a preliminary table of contents.
- If the supplement is to be based on a conference or symposium, information on where and when the symposium will be or was held, and who will provide or has provided financial support for the symposium.
- An estimate of the total number of double-spaced manuscript pages.
- Sponsor(s) of the supplement.
A Guest Editor is a subject expert who is responsible for the content of the supplement, ensuring the quality of each component manuscript and its contribution to a cohesive, coherent whole. The Guest Editor is responsible for ensuring that all manuscripts are in final form before submitting. The Guest Editor may elect to write an introduction or summary, but each article must include sufficient introduction and description of methods to be able to “stand on its own”. When a Guest Editor is not used, the authors are fully responsible for ensuring that the articles are consistent with one another and that their manuscripts are in final form before submitting. In such cases, a Coordinator is responsible for handling all manuscript submissions and facilitating communications between the authors and the editorial office.
AJKD will provide the Guest Editor or Coordinator with information on the journal's production schedule, and will recommend deadlines for receipt of materials that are intended to allow enough time for review, revision, and reconsideration of the supplement manuscripts. It should be noted that any estimated publication date of any
AJKD supplement is simply a projection based on the best information available at the outset; whether it can be met will depend entirely on receipt of the completed manuscripts at the
AJKD editorial office in a timely fashion, the nature of the review required, and the extent of mandatory revisions. Ideally, a supplement based on a conference or symposium should be planned so that authors submit manuscripts to the Guest Editor or Coordinator at the time of the meeting, which should permit the review and publication of manuscripts in a timely manner.
The manuscripts must be prepared according to
AJKD Information for Authors (
www.ajkd.org/authorinfo). When all supplement manuscripts are completed, they must be submitted via
AJKD's Editorial Manager system (
www.editorialmanager.com/ajkd). Manuscripts that do not follow journal format will be returned for editing before external review; furthermore, the editorial office will not begin processing the supplement articles until all of the manuscripts for the supplement are received.
All supplements will undergo appropriate review of their contents. The review process may vary, depending on the number and length of articles and the nature of their content. Articles will almost invariably require revision; in addition, the Editor-in-Chief reserves the right to reject portions of the supplement, or even the entire supplement. The editorial office will contact the Guest Editor or Coordinator regarding the decision to accept, reject, or require additional revisions. Once a supplement has been accepted it is formally scheduled for publication; changes to the publication date at this stage can not be accommodated.
The supplement must contain a statement indicating the source(s) of funding. It is the responsibility of the Guest Editor or Coordinator to disclose to the
AJKD editorial office at the time of submission any restrictions or expectations communicated to the Guest Editor or Coordinator by the sponsor(s) regarding the contents of the supplement. Furthermore, the Guest Editor or Coordinator must state what, if any, financial relationship they may have with the sponsor of the supplement. Likewise, all authors should disclose what, if any, financial relationship they have with the sponsor of the supplement, or the manufacturer of any products, or competing products, that are discussed in their manuscripts. Each manuscript must indicate any support that was obtained for the manuscript or its contents. If medical writer(s)/editor(s) have been involved, their role must be explicitly acknowledged, and their affiliation/source of funding must be listed. Additionally, if the sponsor has a financial interest in a product either directly or indirectly discussed in the manuscript, this relationship should be identified, along with the name of the product. Information about sponsorship and related products will be published with each article in the supplement.
Publication of a supplement does not constitute product or sponsor endorsement by the National Kidney Foundation or
AJKD, and a disclaimer indicating this will be printed at the beginning of each supplement.
Articles published in a supplement of
AJKD are subject to the same copyright restrictions that apply to articles published in the regular issue of the journal.
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Updated April 2009
