General Information
The European Journal of Musculoskeletal Diseases (EJMD) publishes peer-reviewed articles related to musculoskeletal diseases, orthopedic and reconstructive surgery, rehabilitation, prosthetic and implant research, musculoskeletal imaging, craniofacial and dental disorders, joint and bone diseases, muscular disorders, occlusion-related conditions, and related basic and clinical sciences.
The journal considers original research articles, review articles, case reports, case series, technical notes, and other scholarly contributions relevant to the field.
Only manuscripts written in English are considered for publication.
Submitted manuscripts must represent original work that has not been previously published and is not under consideration elsewhere.
All submissions undergo editorial assessment and double-blind peer review. Scientific quality, methodological rigor, originality, and clinical relevance are the primary criteria for publication.
The journal operates under a full open-access publishing model. Authors retain copyright of their work, and accepted articles are published under a Creative Commons license.
Manuscripts and editorial correspondence should be submitted electronically to:
Submission Requirements
All manuscripts must be accompanied by the required Author Declaration documentation available on the journal website.
The institutional email address of the corresponding author must be provided at the time of submission.
Authors are encouraged to suggest up to three potential reviewers with appropriate expertise. Suggested reviewers:
- should not be current collaborators of the authors;
- should not have co-authored publications with any author within the previous five years;
- should belong to institutions different from those of the authors.
The editorial team may or may not invite suggested reviewers.
Authors should retain copies of all submitted materials, as the publisher cannot accept responsibility for lost files or correspondence.
Authorship
Authorship should be limited to individuals who have made substantial contributions to the work, including:
- conception or design of the study;
- acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data;
- drafting or critical revision of the manuscript;
- approval of the final version for publication.
All authors must approve the submitted manuscript and agree to be accountable for the integrity and accuracy of the work.
The journal follows the recommendations of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) and the principles of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).
Individuals who contributed to the work but do not meet authorship criteria should be acknowledged appropriately.
Acquisition of funding, administrative supervision, or data collection alone does not justify authorship.
Any changes to authorship after submission must be approved by all authors and communicated to the Editorial Office.
Manuscript Preparation
Manuscripts should be prepared in Microsoft Word format using double spacing and continuous page numbering.
The title page should include:
- manuscript title;
- full author names;
- institutional affiliations;
- corresponding author contact information;
- keywords.
Structure of Original Research Articles
Original research articles should generally include the following sections:
- Abstract
- Introduction
- Materials and Methods
- Results
- Discussion
- Acknowledgements (if applicable)
- Funding
- Declaration of Conflicting Interests
- References
Review articles, case reports, technical notes, and other article types may follow alternative structures appropriate to the manuscript category.
References
References should be prepared in AMA (American Medical Association) style and numbered consecutively according to their appearance in the text.
Journal titles should be abbreviated according to Index Medicus standards.
Where available, authors are encouraged to include the DOI (Digital Object Identifier) for all references.
Authors are responsible for the accuracy and completeness of all references.
Examples
Autorino R, Lamendola MG, De Luca G, et al. Neuroendocrine immunophenotype as predictor of clinical recurrence in 110 patients with prostate cancer. Int J Immunopathol Pharmacol. 2007;20(4):765-770.
Robb RJ, Lin Y. T-cell growth factor purification, interaction with a cellular receptor and in vitro synthesis. In: Goldstein AL, ed. Thymic Hormones and Lymphokines. New York, NY: Plenum Publishing Corp; 1984:274-280.
For manuscripts with eight or more authors, “et al.” should follow the third author.
Tables and Figures
Tables and figures should be cited consecutively within the manuscript.
Tables should include concise titles.
Figures should be submitted in high-quality image format (JPG, TIFF, or PDF).
Authors are responsible for obtaining permission for any previously published material reproduced in the manuscript.
The journal recommends the use of SI units throughout the manuscript.
Ethical Requirements
Research involving human participants or animals must comply with recognized ethical standards and institutional requirements.
Manuscripts reporting studies involving human participants or animals must include a statement confirming approval by the appropriate Ethics Committee or Institutional Review Board, including the institution name and approval number where applicable.
Research involving human participants must comply with the principles of the World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki.
For studies involving human participants, authors must clearly state whether informed consent was obtained and whether consent was written or verbal.
Case reports and case series involving identifiable patient information or images require confirmation that informed consent for publication was obtained from the patient or legally authorized representative.
Research involving animals must comply with recognized institutional and international ethical standards.
Clinical Trial Registration
Clinical trials must be registered in a publicly accessible WHO-approved trial registry before participant enrollment.
The registry name, registration number, and URL should be included at the end of the abstract.
Reporting Guidelines
Authors are encouraged to follow appropriate reporting guidelines according to study design, including:
- CONSORT
- PRISMA
- STROBE
- CARE
- ARRIVE
and related standards where applicable.
Funding and Conflicts of Interest
All sources of financial support for the research, authorship, or publication of the manuscript must be disclosed under a separate “Funding” heading.
Authors must disclose any financial or non-financial conflicts of interest that could influence the work reported in the manuscript.
A “Declaration of Conflicting Interests” statement must be included before the References section.
If no conflicts exist, authors should state:
“The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.”
Language Quality
Manuscripts should be written in clear and grammatically correct English.
Authors whose first language is not English are encouraged to obtain professional language editing before submission when necessary.
The journal reserves the right to request language revision prior to peer review or acceptance.
Peer Review Process
All submissions undergo an initial editorial evaluation followed by double-blind peer review by at least two independent experts in the relevant field.
Reviewer and author identities remain concealed throughout the review process.
Reviewers evaluate manuscripts according to:
- scientific quality and originality;
- methodological rigor;
- clinical relevance;
- ethical standards;
- clarity of presentation.
Based on reviewer evaluations, editorial decisions may include:
- acceptance;
- minor revision;
- major revision;
- rejection.
Revised manuscripts may undergo additional editorial assessment or further peer review where appropriate.
Final publication decisions are made by the Editor-in-Chief based on scientific merit, reviewer feedback, and editorial judgment.
Editors or Editorial Board members submitting manuscripts to the journal are excluded from editorial handling and decision-making related to their submissions.
The journal is committed to maintaining confidentiality, fairness, and integrity throughout the peer-review process.
Open Access, Copyright, and Licensing
The European Journal of Musculoskeletal Diseases operates under a full open-access publishing model.
All published articles are freely accessible online immediately upon publication.
Authors retain copyright of their work.
Accepted articles are published under the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits use, distribution, adaptation, and reproduction in any medium, provided appropriate credit is given to the original authors and source.
The following statement will appear on published articles:
© Year The Author(s). Published by LAB Publishers. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Article Processing Charges (APC)
An Article Processing Charge (APC) is payable upon editorial acceptance of the manuscript.
Detailed information regarding publication fees is available in the Publication Fees section of the journal website.
No production or publication process will begin until payment has been received.
Proofs and Publication
Accepted manuscripts undergo copyediting, typesetting, and proof review before publication.
Page proofs will be sent to the corresponding author for final review prior to publication and should be returned promptly.
Only minor corrections may be made at the proof stage.
Published articles receive a DOI and are made freely accessible online immediately upon publication.
Editorial Correspondence
All editorial correspondence and manuscript submissions should be directed to:
Dr. Matteo Bonetti
Editor-in-Chief
European Journal of Musculoskeletal Diseases
Email: ejmd@lab-publishers.com