Letter to the Editor
300–600 words
Short prose responses to a published issue. Civil disagreement is welcomed; ad hominem is not. Letters of merit are circulated to the cited authors for reply before publication.
A Journal of Contemporary Orthopaedic Literature · Founded MMXXVI · United States
Correspondence & Submissions
We accept letters, literature analyses, and invited specialist correspondence.
§ I — Categories
The journal recognises three modes of correspondence. Each is held to the same standard of evidence-grade reasoning, regardless of length or invitation.
300–600 words
Short prose responses to a published issue. Civil disagreement is welcomed; ad hominem is not. Letters of merit are circulated to the cited authors for reply before publication.
1,200–2,000 words
A journal-club-style reading of a recent paper. Authors are expected to summarise the design, weigh methodological strength, and articulate what the evidence does and does not establish.
By invitation
Specialist commentary on a chosen paper, solicited by the editorial board. Invited authors retain editorial latitude within the journal's evidence-grade framework.
§ II — Submission
Submissions are read by the editorial board. Decisions, with substantive comments, are returned within four weeks.
§ III — Editorial Standards
Citations are rendered in AMA style — superscript numerals in the body, the full reference list ordered by appearance, journal titles abbreviated as indexed in the National Library of Medicine. Page ranges, volume and issue, year, and DOI are required for any cited periodical. Pre-prints are permissible when clearly designated; grey literature is treated with corresponding caution.
Reasoning is expected to be evidence-graded. Authors should articulate the level of evidence they invoke, distinguish association from causation, and concede when the literature is silent. We have no patience for boosterism — neither the breezy optimism that follows industry meetings nor the casual extrapolation from a single underpowered trial. Where a technique is novel, say so; where outcomes are unproven, say that too.
Commercial relationships are disqualifying for unsolicited correspondence on a product or technique in which the author holds a financial interest. Invited contributors must disclose all relationships of consequence; these are printed beneath the piece. The editorial board reserves the right to decline any submission whose financial entanglements compromise its scholarly utility.
Peer revision is invited rather than imposed. Each accepted piece is circulated to one or two readers selected for relevant expertise; their comments are forwarded to the author for consideration, not for compliance. The author retains authorship, and the editorial board retains the final decision to publish. Civility, brevity, and intellectual seriousness are the only conditions we hold without exception.
Lectio · Dialogus · Praxis