Frequently Asked Questions

When and how shall I receive a proof of my article? A proof of most papers published will be sent to the corresponding author within 2-4 weeks, generally by e-mail in PDF format.

Why is my supplementary material not online? Supplementary material should be uploaded within 24 hours of online publication of your paper. If it does not appear 24 hours after your paper is published online, please contact the Editorial Board via e-mail.

My paper is online—when will it be published? All papers that appear online are considered published. The date it appears online is the definitive publication date.

What is/where do I find the manuscript number to put on my licence/offprint form? Manuscript number (or article ID number) It can be found on any correspondence from Editorial Board and on your PDF proofs. If you have not yet been assigned an article ID number, but you have a manuscript number assigned by the Editorial Office, you may use that number on your license form.

Can I make another correction to my article? Please contact the Editorial Board to see if this is possible. You will need to check the status of your paper with us, but if it is soon after you returned your first corrections, generally yes. You should ensure that you check your proofs very carefully to avoid this situation.

How do I open my proofs? What should I do if I want to make changes to them? You will need Adobe Reader to open your PDF proofs – this software is freely available at https://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html. You can make changes by printing out the PDF and e-mailing the marked up pages as an attachment, to Editorial Board; or if you have Adobe Acrobat, you can electronically mark your corrections and e-mail the PDF back to us.

When do you need my proof corrections back? We require proof corrections to be sent back within 24 hours of reception.

I was out of town and couldn't return the proofs within your deadline—is it too late to return them for inclusion in the next issue? This depends on how quickly the journal is published. You should always return your proofs as soon as possible, even if you miss the deadline. If you know you will be away, please let us know so we can accommodate this, or arrange for someone to handle the proofs in your absence.

Has my paper been accepted? Please could you send an official letter of acceptance? You should receive a letter of acceptance from the Editors of the journal once your paper has been accepted. If you have any doubts over whether your paper has been accepted, please contact the Editorial Office you submitted your paper to.

Figures: What format should figures be supplied in? We prefer figures to arrive as TIFFs, although we can accept most figure formats. Please note that JPEGs generally do not meet our requirements and should be avoided. For production, images must be at a minimum resolution of 600 dots per inch (dpi) for line drawings (black and white) and combinations, and 300 dpi for colour or greyscale. Colour figures must be supplied in CMYK not RGB colours. Please ensure that the prepared electronic image files print at a legible size and are of a high quality for publication. For useful information on preparing figures, visit https://cpc.cadmus.com/da where you can also test whether your figures are suitable for production by using the preflight tool at https://cpc.cadmus.com/da.

Will I receive any free offprints? Unless stated in the journal or on the offprint form, you will not receive any free paper offprints. Most journals do, however, offer authors free, permanent access to the online version of their articles.

When will I receive online access to my article? Corresponding authors will be sent URLs for their online papers once they are published.

When will I receive my paper offprints? If applicable, offprints are normally dispatched within 4–6 weeks after print publication.

How do I pay for excess charges? You will be invoiced for any costs relating to publication after print publication.

How much do offprints cost? The prices for offprints are stated on the offprint invoice.

What is the difference between offprints and reprints? Offprints are ordered before publication of an article, and are printed the same time as the issue. Reprints are printed after publication and may incur an extra cost.

Where are my offprints? If you do not receive your ordered offprints 6 weeks after publication of the journal, please contact the Editorial Office, so we can investigate what went wrong.

Can you send the invoice for my paper to someone else? Invoices can be addressed to whomsoever you wish. Please contact the Editorial Office for more information.

Can we receive a waiver for our article's charges? If your country is listed on our developing countries list, you may receive a waiver of publication charges. Other reasons for applying for a waiver should be directed to the Editorial Office of the journal, to consider you for a waiver.

What is a ‘Conflict of Interest’? Any financial interests or connections, direct or indirect, or other situations that might raise the question of bias in the work reported or the conclusions, implications or opinions stated – including pertinent commercial or other sources of funding for the individual author(s) or for the associated department(s) or organization(s), personal relationships, or direct academic competition.

How can I be sure if I should declare something? Please consider the following Conflict of Interest test: Is there any arrangement that would compromise the perception of your impartiality or that of your co-authors if it was to emerge after publication and you had not declared it?

Who should make the declaration? The corresponding author is expected to obtain the relevant information from all co-authors

How should the declaration be made? This journal requires declaration of any Conflict of Interest upon submission. This information will be available to the Editors. If your manuscript is published, this information will be communicated in a statement in the published paper.
Note: Depending on the journal, you may also be asked to submit signed Conflict of Interest form if your article is accepted for publication. In both cases the corresponding author is in a position to report for all co-authors.

What happens if I do not know about any potential Conflict of Interest for my co-authors? On submission any potential Conflict of Interest should be clearly stated for each author – the Editors reserve the right to require further information before the paper is reviewed. As corresponding author it is your responsibility to confirm with your co-authors whether they have any conflicts to declare. If you are unable to do this you will need to co-ordinate the completion of written forms from all co-authors, and submit these to the editorial office before the manuscript can be processed.

Are referees and Editors covered by a similar code? All referees are either asked to decline to review a manuscript if they have a potential conflict or declare any potential conflict. All Editors have submitted a Conflict of Interest statement to the publisher. Editors would not handle the review of a manuscript if there is a potential Conflict of Interest, and instead would pass it on to another editorial colleague.