THE OCULAR SURFACE

A Journal of Review Linking Laboratory Science, Clinical Science, and Clinical Practice

AUTHOR INFORMATION PACK

TABLE OF CONTENTS XXX

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• Description p.1
• Impact Factor p.1
• Editorial Board p.1
• Guide for Authors p.4

ISSN: 1542-0124

DESCRIPTION
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The Ocular Surface, a quarterly, a peer-reviewed journal, is an authoritative resource that

integrates and interprets major findings in diverse fields related to the ocular surface, including
ophthalmology, optometry, genetics, molecular biology, pharmacology, immunology,
infectious disease, and epidemiology. Its critical review articles cover the most current knowledge
on medical and surgical management of ocular surface pathology, new understandings of ocular
surface physiology, the meaning of recent discoveries on how the ocular surface responds to injury
and disease, and updates on drug and device development. The journal also publishes select original
research reports and articles describing cutting-edge techniques and technology in the field.

Benefits to authors
We also provide many author benefits, such as free PDFs, a liberal copyright policy, special discounts
on Elsevier publications and much more. Please click here for more information on our author services.

Please see our Guide for Authors for information on article submission. If you require any further
information or help, please visit our Support Center

IMPACT FACTOR
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2020: 5.033 © Clarivate Analytics Journal Citation Reports 2021

EDITORIAL BOARD
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Editor-in-Chief
Ali Djalilian, University of Illinois Eye and Ear Infirmary, Chicago, IL, United States of America
Founding Editor
Michael A. Lemp, GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY, Washington, District of Columbia, DC, USA
Senior Associate Editor
Reza Dana, Harvard University, Boston, MA
Associate Editors
Reiko Arita, Itoh Clinic, Saitama, Japan
Stefano Bonini, Roma Tre University, Roma, Italy
Jennifer P. Craig, University of Auckland, National Eye Care Centre, Auckland New Zealand

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Pedram Hamrah, MD, FACS, FARVO, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston Massachusetts, United States
of America
James V. Jester, University of California Irvine, Irvine, CA, United States of America
Jason Nichols, The University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, United States of America
Managing Editor
David Newcombe, Stellar Medical Publications, Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States of America
Editorial Board
Vinay Aakalu, University of Illinois Chicago Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Chicago, Illinois,
United States of America
Armin R. Afshar, University of California, San Francisco and San Francisco Department of Public Health, San
Francisco, California, United States of America
Pablo Argueso, Harvard Medical School, Department of Ophthalmology, Boston, MA, United States of America
Penny A. Asbell, MOUNT SINAI HOSPITAL, New York, NY, United States of America
Stefano Barabino, University of Genoa, Genova, Italy
Sayan Basu, LV Prasad Eye Institute, Hyderabad, India
Christophe Baudouin, National Hospital Centre for Ophthalmology Quinze-Vingts, Paris, France
Carolyn G. Begley, Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis, Indianapolis, IN, United States of America
Caroline Blackie, Johnson & Johnson, Medical Director of Ocular Surface Disease, Burlington, Massachusetts,
United States of America
Douglas Borchman, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY, United States of America
Vatinee Bunya, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, PA
Shukti Chakravarti, NYU Langone Health, New York, New York, United States of America
Sunil Chauhan, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States of America
M. Soledad Cortina, University of Illinois Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States of America
Darlene Dartt, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States of America
Cintia De Paiva, BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE, Houston, TX, United States of America
Sophie Deng, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States of America
Nick Di Girolamo, University of New South Wales School of Medical Sciences, Sydney, Australia
Giulio Ferrari, San Raffaele Hospital, Eye Repair Lab, Cornea and Ocular Surface Unit, Milan, Italy
Suzanne Fleiszig, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, United States of America
Eric Gabison, The Fondation Adolphe de Rothschild Hospital, Paris, France
Anat Galor, University of Miami School of Medicine, Miami Florida, United States of America
Gerd Geerling, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Dusseldorf, Germany
Jose Gomes, Federal University of Sao Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
Darren Gregory, University of Colorado Denver, Denver, CO, United States of America
Karsten Gronert, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, California, United States of America
Andrew J. W. Huang, Washington University in St Louis, Saint Louis, MO, United States of America
Hosik Hwang, Hallym University, Ophthalmology, Chuncheon, Gangwon, Republic of Korea
Geetha Iyer, Sankara Nethralaya, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
Sandeep Jain, University of Illinois Eye and Ear Infirmary, Chicago, Illinois, United States of America
Charlotte Joslin, University of Illinois Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States of America
Winston W.-Y. Kao, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH, United States of America
Ahmad Kheirkhah, The University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, United States of America
Ashok Kumar, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan, United States of America
Neil Lagali, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden
Alexander Ljubimov, CEDARS-SINAI MEDICAL CENTER, Los Angeles, California, United States of America
J. Daniel Nelson, Health Partners Plans Inc, Bloomington, MN; Professor, Ophthalmology, University of
Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, United States of America
Kelly Nichols, The University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, United States of America
Gary Novack, University of California Davis Medical Center, Davis, California, United States of America
Stephen Pflugfelder, BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE, Houston, TX, United States of America
Danielle Robertson, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, United States of
America
Daniel R. Saban, Duke University Department of Ophthalmology, Durham, North Carolina, United States of
America
Michelle Senchyna, Allergan Irvine, Irvine, CA, United States of America
Fiona Stapleton, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
Mary Ann Stepp, The George Washington University, Washington, District of Columbia, United States of America
Michael Stern, Allergan Irvine, Irvine, CA, United States of America
Benjamin Sullivan, TearLab Corporation, Escondido, CA, United States of America
John Sutphin, Jr., The University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS, Kansas, United States of America
Alan Tomlinson, Glasgow Caledonian University, Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom
Louis Tong, Singapore Eye Research Institute, Singapore, Singapore
Scheffer C.G. Tseng, Ocular Surface Center, Miami, FL, United States of America
Kazuo Tsubota, Keio University School of Medicine Graduate School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan

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Vasilis Vasiliou, Yale University School of Public Health, New Haven, CT, United States of America
Edoardo Villani, University of Milan, Department of Clinical Science and Community Health, Eye Clinic San
Giuseppe Hospital, Milan, Italy
Norihiko Yokoi, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan

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GUIDE FOR AUTHORS
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A peer-reviewed quarterly journal, The Ocular Surface (TOS) features concise, state-of-the-art,
referenced review articles to elucidate the vast body of findings in this rapidly evolving field. Its
purview ranges from molecular biology to surgery, encompassing lacrimal, lid, and ocular surface
physiology, pathology, pharmacology, and medical/surgical therapeutic interventions. TOS also
publishes select high impact original research reports and articles describing innovative techniques
and technology. Descriptions of desired content and requirements for articles are described below
under the section headings: Review Articles; High Impact Original Research Reports; Innovative
Techniques and Technology; Research Correspondence; and Special Issue Articles.. All manuscripts
undergo peer review by two or more reviewers. Authors are asked to revise their manuscripts,
addressing all the reviewers' suggestions or explaining their reasons for declining to do so.
Submission
Manuscripts must be submitted through Editorial Manager: https://www.editorialmanager.com/
THEOCULARSURFACE/default.aspx
Submission checklist
You can use this list to carry out a final check of your submission before you send it to the journal for
review. Please check the relevant section in this Guide for Authors for more details.

Ensure that the following items are present:

One author has been designated as the corresponding author with contact details:
E-mail addressFull postal address

All necessary files have been uploaded:

Manuscript:Include keywordsEnsure that the manuscript file includes a disclosure section just before
the references even if the authors have no conflicts to discloseAll figures (include relevant captions)All
tables (including titles, description, footnotes)Ensure all figure and table citations in the text match the
files providedEnsure your manuscript file includes page numbers and the continuous line-numbering
feature is turned on
Graphical Abstracts / Highlights files(where applicable)
Supplemental files where applicable)

Further considerations
Manuscript has been 'spell checked' and 'grammar checked'All references mentioned in the Reference
List are cited in the text, and vice versa Permission has been obtained for use of copyrighted
material from other sources (including the Internet)Journal policies detailed in this guide have been
reviewedReferee suggestions and contact details provided, based on journal requirements

While submitting revision, make sure that you submit: 1. The Revised Manuscript with track
changes under the file type "Revised Manuscript with Changes Marked; 2. A clean version
of the Revised Manuscript under the file type "Manuscript File"; 3. Response to reviewers
in a separate file.

For further information, visit our Support Center.

Guidelines for Writing Articles
Review Articles

Most reviews are written at the invitation of the editors, but independent proposals of articles
are welcomed. To propose a review, please email a brief description of the intended review
to Editor-in-Chief Ali Djalilian, MD ([email protected]) and Managing Editor David Newcombe
([email protected]). If the editors consider the topic to be appropriate, you will be asked
to submit a detailed outline and tentative bibliography for peer review.
Guidelines

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For these comprehensive reviews we require at least one author (senior author) to have at least
10 years of experience in that particular space. We would like these reviews to go beyond just
summarizing what is known and published in the literature and instead to synthesize all the existing
information to propose new ideas/paradigms, identify and try to resolve controversies, identify the
major gaps in knowledge, what are the technical challenges, what is the outlook for the future

Reviews should follow a topic-based outline, labeled with headings and subheadings [I,A,1,a, (1),
(a)]. A TOS review should not be a general overview of a topic, but rather an in-depth, literature-
based, critical review that emphasizes areas of new information, controversies, etc. The authors' own
findings may be cited in the context of findings published in the literature, but original work should
not be the focus of the review. The readers will have various levels of understanding about specific
topic areas, so it is important for authors to provide the background, definitions, and explanations
necessary to enhance understanding. Illustrative figures and diagrams are very helpful.Format
1. Abstract
Please submit a narrative abstract.
2. Length of Text
Appropriate length is usually about 10-14 printed pages (equivalent to about 24-34 double-spaced
manuscript pages, including references, figures and tables).
3. Disclosure
In a paragraph before the reference section, authors must disclose any potential conflicts of interest.
If no potential conflicts exist, that must be stated.
4. Method of Literature Search
The review manuscript should state the method of literature selection, specifying search words and
data bases used, as well as the date of search; number of articles retrieved; criteria for selecting
articles for inclusion in review; criteria for excluding articles.
5. References
A review article should not cite all publications relevant to the topic of the article; rather, the references
should be selected according to their importance and usefulness in clarifying, documenting, and
providing historical background. Multiple similar references to document a statement are usually not
needed. The appropriate number of references varies according to the length of the article and the
complexity of the topic. The number of references in a 12-14 page review article (20-30 double-
spaced typed pages of text) should seldom exceed 150, although there may be exceptions to this
guideline. Authors are encouraged to request advice from the editors if it seems that more references
are appropriate.
High Impact Original Research Reports
The goal of including original research articles in TOS is to provide rapid, peer-reviewed publication of
high-quality, high-impact information that holds promise of significantly advancing the understanding
of the ocular surface. The work should present new conceptual frameworks or novel research findings
that challenge or enhance our current approach to clinical practice or research.
Guidelines
To this end, the research must:
1. Be original research of the author that is conducted with sound scientific method
2. Provide new information that answers a specific question regarding ocular surface health or disease
3. Provide new, mechanistically based information
4. Be presented according to the author guidelines and format listed below
5. Be performed according to tenets of good laboratory and clinical practice:
a. If involving laboratory animals, the work should conform to the ARVO guidelines for humane use
of such animals;
b. If involving human subjects, the work should conform to the Declaration of Helsinki and provide
for informed consent in an IRB approved protocol;
c. If involving a clinical trial, should be registered with a clinical trial registry
6. Be presented in a clear, logical manner with sufficient detail to be reproducible by other researchers
7. Present rationale and statistical analysis of data support conclusions
Format
1. Title Page: (As above under "Manuscript Preparation")
2. Structured abstract: A structured abstract of fewer than 250 words is required for original research
articles and should be arranged under the following headings: Purpose, Methods, Results, and
Conclusions. Abbreviations should be defined at first mention, Do not include references. The abstract
must be included as part of the main manuscript file.

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3. Text: The Ocular Surface recommends a 3,500 or fewer word count, excluding title page, legends,
and references. The text should be double-spaced.
In a brief Introduction, provide the research rationale and objectives without extensively reviewing
the literature. In the Methods section, describe the experimental design, subjects used, and
procedures followed. Previously published procedures should be identified by reference only. Provide
sufficient detail to enable others to duplicate the research. Use standard chemical or nonproprietary
pharmaceutical nomenclature. In parentheses, identify specific sources by brand name, company,
city, and state or country. A description of the statistical analysis techniques should be included.
If human subjects were involved in the investigation, the Methods section must confirm that: (1)
the research followed the tenets of the Declaration of Helsinki; (2) informed consent was obtained
from the subjects after explanation of the nature and possible consequences of the study; and (3)
where applicable, the research was approved by the institutional human experimentation committee
or institutional review board (IRB).
If experimental animals were used in the investigation, the Methods section must confirm adherence
to the ARVO Statement for the Use of Animals in Ophthalmic and Vision Research and, where
applicable, approval by the appropriate animal research review board.
Present the Results with a minimum of discussion. Cite all tables and figures in numerical order. Limit
the Discussion to statistically significant data and their limitations. Do not reiterate results.
4. Acknowledgments: Acknowledgments should be written in the third person and be limited to
colleagues and research assistants. Acknowledgments are not meant to recognize appreciation for
personal or manuscript production support. Including dedications to individuals or groups is not
allowed.
5. Disclosure/Conflict of Interest Statement: In a paragraph before the reference section, authors
must disclose any potential conflicts of interest. If no potential conflicts exist, that must be stated.
6. References (as described under "Manuscript Preparation")
Innovative Techniques and Technology
Evolving technologies and techniques in both the basic and clinical arenas often do not have sufficient
published peer-reviewed data to permit a comprehensive review for inclusion in the basic science,
clinical research, or clinical practice sections of The Ocular Surface. Nonetheless, there is a value to
both researcher and clinician in being aware of the potential applications and pitfalls of such new
technology. In order to inform our readership of evolving technologies and techniques, publication of
articles describing such options with adequate peer review is appropriate.
Appropriate length for ITT articles is usually about 6-8 printed pages, including figures and references
(equivalent of about 9-14 double-spaced typed pages).
Guidelines
1. Technologies or techniques should provide a significant insight or advance in the basic or clinical
investigation or treatment of the ocular surface.
2. Manuscripts should critically describe outcome data, not just a proposed method or technique.
3. Figures or diagrams to illustrate the application or interpretation of the technique should be
included.
4. Appropriate references to support conclusions and claims should be provided, even if the number
of such references is limited.
5. Commercial bias must be avoided, and the value of the technology/technique must be factually
supported, not speculative.
6. The author must fully disclose all proprietary and financial interests or support.
7. An attempt will be made to include such articles in issues that have a corresponding related topic
in any review of the three major sections of the journal.
Format
1. Narrative abstract
2. Brief introduction describing purpose of the procedure, other procedures used for the same purpose,
and advantages of (need for) the new procedure.
3. Description of the technique, including theoretical basis and steps in performing (including figures
and diagrams).4. Outcome data
5. Summary/Conclusion
6. Disclosure: In a paragraph before the reference section, authors must disclose any potential
conflicts of interest. If no potential conflicts exist, that must be stated.
7. References (as described under "Manuscript Preparation")
Research Correspondence

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This publication is type for novel findings that are more limited in scope. The format is similar to an
editorial or a letter to editor with no abstract or subheadings in the text. There is a strict 1200 word
limit as well as a limit of 7 references. Only one Figure or Table is permitted (not both). Disclosure
is required in a paragraph before the reference section. Authors must disclose any potential conflicts
of interest. If no potential conflicts exist, that must be stated.
Special Issue Articles
These are invited articles that pertain to a central theme. e.g. meibomian gland, infection. The journal
creates online collections for each of the themes. Special Issue Articles should follow the same format
as High Impact Original Research Reports

BEFORE YOU BEGIN

Ethics in publishing
Please see our information on Ethics in publishing.
Studies in humans and animals
If the work involves the use of human subjects, the author should ensure that the work described
has been carried out in accordance with The Code of Ethics of the World Medical Association
(Declaration of Helsinki) for experiments involving humans. The manuscript should be in line with the
Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical
Journals and aim for the inclusion of representative human populations (sex, age and ethnicity) as
per those recommendations. The terms sex and gender should be used correctly.

Authors should include a statement in the manuscript that informed consent was obtained for
experimentation with human subjects. The privacy rights of human subjects must always be observed.

All animal experiments should comply with the ARRIVE guidelines and should be carried out in
accordance with the U.K. Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act, 1986 and associated guidelines, EU
Directive 2010/63/EU for animal experiments, or the National Research Council's Guide for the Care
and Use of Laboratory Animals and the authors should clearly indicate in the manuscript that such
guidelines have been followed. The sex of animals must be indicated, and where appropriate, the
influence (or association) of sex on the results of the study.
Informed consent and patient details
Studies on patients or volunteers require ethics committee approval and informed consent, which
should be documented in the paper. Appropriate consents, permissions and releases must be obtained
where an author wishes to include case details or other personal information or images of patients
and any other individuals in an Elsevier publication. Written consents must be retained by the author
but copies should not be provided to the journal. Only if specifically requested by the journal in
exceptional circumstances (for example if a legal issue arises) the author must provide copies of the
consents or evidence that such consents have been obtained. For more information, please review the
Elsevier Policy on the Use of Images or Personal Information of Patients or other Individuals. Unless
you have written permission from the patient (or, where applicable, the next of kin), the personal
details of any patient included in any part of the article and in any supplementary materials (including
all illustrations and videos) must be removed before submission.
Declaration of interest
All authors must disclose any financial and personal relationships with other people or organizations
that could inappropriately influence (bias) their work. Examples of potential competing interests
include employment, consultancies, stock ownership, honoraria, paid expert testimony, patent
applications/registrations, and grants or other funding. Authors must disclose any interests in two
places: 1. A summary declaration of interest statement in the title page file (if double anonymized) or
the manuscript file (if single anonymized). If there are no interests to declare then please state this:
'Declarations of interest: none'. 2. Detailed disclosures as part of a separate Declaration of Interest
form, which forms part of the journal's official records. It is important for potential interests to be
declared in both places and that the information matches. More information.
Submission declaration and verification
Submission of an article implies that the work described has not been published previously (except in
the form of an abstract, a published lecture or academic thesis, see 'Multiple, redundant or concurrent
publication' for more information), that it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere, that
its publication is approved by all authors and tacitly or explicitly by the responsible authorities where
the work was carried out, and that, if accepted, it will not be published elsewhere in the same form, in

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English or in any other language, including electronically without the written consent of the copyright-
holder. To verify originality, your article may be checked by the originality detection service Crossref
Similarity Check.
Preprints
Please note that preprints can be shared anywhere at any time, in line with Elsevier's sharing policy.
Sharing your preprints e.g. on a preprint server will not count as prior publication (see 'Multiple,
redundant or concurrent publication' for more information).
Use of inclusive language
Inclusive language acknowledges diversity, conveys respect to all people, is sensitive to differences,
and promotes equal opportunities. Content should make no assumptions about the beliefs or
commitments of any reader; contain nothing which might imply that one individual is superior to
another on the grounds of age, gender, race, ethnicity, culture, sexual orientation, disability or health
condition; and use inclusive language throughout. Authors should ensure that writing is free from bias,
stereotypes, slang, reference to dominant culture and/or cultural assumptions. We advise to seek
gender neutrality by using plural nouns ("clinicians, patients/clients") as default/wherever possible
to avoid using "he, she," or "he/she." We recommend avoiding the use of descriptors that refer
to personal attributes such as age, gender, race, ethnicity, culture, sexual orientation, disability or
health condition unless they are relevant and valid. When coding terminology is used, we recommend
to avoid offensive or exclusionary terms such as "master", "slave", "blacklist" and "whitelist". We
suggest using alternatives that are more appropriate and (self-) explanatory such as "primary",
"secondary", "blocklist" and "allowlist". These guidelines are meant as a point of reference to help
identify appropriate language but are by no means exhaustive or definitive.
Changes to authorship
Authors are expected to consider carefully the list and order of authors before submitting their
manuscript and provide the definitive list of authors at the time of the original submission. Any
addition, deletion or rearrangement of author names in the authorship list should be made only
before the manuscript has been accepted and only if approved by the journal Editor. To request such
a change, the Editor must receive the following from the corresponding author: (a) the reason
for the change in author list and (b) written confirmation (e-mail, letter) from all authors that they
agree with the addition, removal or rearrangement. In the case of addition or removal of authors,
this includes confirmation from the author being added or removed.
Only in exceptional circumstances will the Editor consider the addition, deletion or rearrangement of
authors after the manuscript has been accepted. While the Editor considers the request, publication
of the manuscript will be suspended. If the manuscript has already been published in an online issue,
any requests approved by the Editor will result in a corrigendum.
Copyright
Upon acceptance of an article, authors will be asked to complete a 'Journal Publishing Agreement' (see
more information on this). An e-mail will be sent to the corresponding author confirming receipt of
the manuscript together with a 'Journal Publishing Agreement' form or a link to the online version
of this agreement.

Subscribers may reproduce tables of contents or prepare lists of articles including abstracts for internal
circulation within their institutions. Permission of the Publisher is required for resale or distribution
outside the institution and for all other derivative works, including compilations and translations. If
excerpts from other copyrighted works are included, the author(s) must obtain written permission
from the copyright owners and credit the source(s) in the article. Elsevier has preprinted forms for
use by authors in these cases.

For gold open access articles: Upon acceptance of an article, authors will be asked to complete a
'License Agreement' (more information). Permitted third party reuse of gold open access articles is
determined by the author's choice of user license.

Author rights
As an author you (or your employer or institution) have certain rights to reuse your work. More
information.
Elsevier supports responsible sharing
Find out how you can share your research published in Elsevier journals.

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Role of the funding source
You are requested to identify who provided financial support for the conduct of the research and/or
preparation of the article and to briefly describe the role of the sponsor(s), if any, in study design; in
the collection, analysis and interpretation of data; in the writing of the report; and in the decision to
submit the article for publication. If the funding source(s) had no such involvement, it is recommended
to state this.
Open access
Please visit our Open Access page for more information.
Elsevier Publishing Campus
The Elsevier Publishing Campus (http://www.publishingcampus.com) is an online platform offering
free lectures, interactive training and professional advice to support you in publishing your research.
The College of Skills training offers modules on how to prepare, write and structure your article and
explains how editors will look at your paper when it is submitted for publication. Use these resources,
and more, to ensure that your submission will be the best that you can make it.
Elsevier Researcher Academy
Researcher Academy is a free e-learning platform designed to support early and mid-career
researchers throughout their research journey. The "Learn" environment at Researcher Academy
offers several interactive modules, webinars, downloadable guides and resources to guide you through
the process of writing for research and going through peer review. Feel free to use these free resources
to improve your submission and navigate the publication process with ease.
Language (usage and editing services)
Please write your text in good English (American or British usage is accepted, but not a mixture of
these). Authors who feel their English language manuscript may require editing to eliminate possible
grammatical or spelling errors and to conform to correct scientific English may wish to use the English
Language Editing service available from Elsevier's Author Services.
Submit your article
Please submit your article via Editorial Manager at
https://www.editorialmanager.com/THEOCULARSURFACE/default.aspx.
Suggesting reviewers
Please submit the names and institutional e-mail addresses of several potential reviewers.

You should not suggest reviewers who are colleagues, or who have co-authored or collaborated with
you during the last three years. Editors do not invite reviewers who have potential competing interests
with the authors. Further, in order to provide a broad and balanced assessment of the work, and ensure
scientific rigor, please suggest diverse candidate reviewers who are located in different countries/
regions from the author group. Also consider other diversity attributes e.g. gender, race and ethnicity,
career stage, etc. Finally, you should not include existing members of the journal's editorial team,
of whom the journal are already aware.

Note: the editor decides whether or not to invite your suggested reviewers.
Style
Follow guidelines of style, terminology, measurement, and quantitation as set forth in the American
Medical Association Manual of Style (10th ed., New York, Oxford University Press, 2007).

PREPARATION
Queries
For questions about the editorial process (including the status of manuscripts under review) or for
technical support on submissions, please visit our Support Center.
Peer review
This journal operates a single anonymized review process. All contributions will be initially assessed by
the editor for suitability for the journal. Papers deemed suitable are then typically sent to a minimum of
one independent expert reviewer to assess the scientific quality of the paper. The Editor is responsible
for the final decision regarding acceptance or rejection of articles. The Editor's decision is final. Editors
are not involved in decisions about papers which they have written themselves or have been written
by family members or colleagues or which relate to products or services in which the editor has an

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interest. Any such submission is subject to all of the journal's usual procedures, with peer review
handled independently of the relevant editor and their research groups. More information on types
of peer review.
Use of word processing software
It is important that the file be saved in the native format of the word processor used. The text
should be in single-column format. Keep the layout of the text as simple as possible. Most formatting
codes will be removed and replaced on processing the article. In particular, do not use the word
processor's options to justify text or to hyphenate words. However, do use bold face, italics, subscripts,
superscripts etc. When preparing tables, if you are using a table grid, use only one grid for each
individual table and not a grid for each row. If no grid is used, use tabs, not spaces, to align columns.
The electronic text should be prepared in a way very similar to that of conventional manuscripts (see
also the Guide to Publishing with Elsevier). Note that source files of figures, tables and text graphics
will be required whether or not you embed your figures in the text. See also the section on Electronic
artwork.
To avoid unnecessary errors you are strongly advised to use the 'spell-check' and 'grammar-check'
functions of your word processor.
Article structure
Subdivision - numbered sections
Divide your article into clearly defined and numbered sections. Subsections should be numbered
1.1 (then 1.1.1, 1.1.2, ...), 1.2, etc. (the abstract is not included in section numbering). Use this
numbering also for internal cross-referencing: do not just refer to 'the text'. Any subsection may be
given a brief heading. Each heading should appear on its own separate line.
Introduction
State the objectives of the work and provide an adequate background, avoiding a detailed literature
survey or a summary of the results.
Material and methods
Provide sufficient details to allow the work to be reproduced by an independent researcher. Methods
that are already published should be summarized, and indicated by a reference. If quoting directly
from a previously published method, use quotation marks and also cite the source. Any modifications
to existing methods should also be described.
Results
Results should be clear and concise.
Discussion
This should explore the significance of the results of the work, not repeat them. A combined Results
and Discussion section is often appropriate. Avoid extensive citations and discussion of published
literature.
Conclusions
The main conclusions of the study may be presented in a short Conclusions section, which may stand
alone or form a subsection of a Discussion or Results and Discussion section.
Disclosure/Conflicts of Interest
In a paragraph that appears just before the references, all listed authors must state all possible
competing interests (conflicts of interest) in the manuscript, including all financial interests
(consulting, board membership, stock ownership, patent applications, grants, or honoraria) or
non-financial competing interests (sometimes called private interests), which can be personal
relationships, political, religious, or personal convictions, academic writing or consulting, or serving
as an expert witness, that might lead to bias or a conflict of interest. If there is no conflict of interest,
this should also be explicitly stated as none declared. All sources of funding should be acknowledged
in the manuscript.
Essential title page information
• Title. Concise and informative. Titles are often used in information-retrieval systems. Avoid
abbreviations and formulae where possible.
• Author names and affiliations. Please clearly indicate the given name(s) and family name(s) of
each author and check that all names are accurately spelled. Name should be followed by academic
degree(s) and superscript numeral(s) corresponding to institution(s) named in footnote.
• Short title.Provide "short" title for use in running head.

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• Title page footnotes.List institutional affiliation(s) of each author preceded by superscript number.
Affiliation should be institution where work was performed. If the author has moved, new address
should be given as a separate footnote.
•Corresponding author.Give name, complete address, telephone and fax numbers, and Email
address.
Highlights
Highlights are optional yet highly encouraged for this journal, as they increase the discoverability of
your article via search engines. They consist of a short collection of bullet points that capture the
novel results of your research as well as new methods that were used during the study (if any). Please
have a look at the examples here: example Highlights.

Highlights should be submitted in a separate editable file in the online submission system. Please
use 'Highlights' in the file name and include 3 to 5 bullet points (maximum 85 characters, including
spaces, per bullet point).
Structured abstract
A structured abstract, by means of appropriate headings, should provide the context or background for
the research and should state its purpose, basic procedures (selection of study subjects or laboratory
animals, observational and analytical methods), main findings (giving specific effect sizes and their
statistical significance, if possible), and principal conclusions. It should emphasize new and important
aspects of the study or observations.
Keywords
Immediately after the abstract, provide a maximum of 8 keywords in alphabetical order, using
American spelling and avoiding general and plural terms and multiple concepts (avoid, for example,
'and', 'of'). Be sparing with abbreviations: only abbreviations firmly established in the field may be
eligible. These keywords will be used for indexing purposes.
Abbreviations
Define abbreviations that are not standard in this field in a footnote to be placed on the first page of
the article. Such abbreviations that are unavoidable in the abstract must be defined in parentheses
at their first mention, as well as at their first mention in the text. Ensure consistency of abbreviations
throughout the article.
Formatting of funding sources
List funding sources in this standard way to facilitate compliance to funder's requirements:

Funding: This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health [grant numbers xxxx, yyyy];
the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Seattle, WA [grant number zzzz]; and the United States Institutes
of Peace [grant number aaaa].

It is not necessary to include detailed descriptions on the program or type of grants and awards. When
funding is from a block grant or other resources available to a university, college, or other research
institution, submit the name of the institute or organization that provided the funding.

If no funding has been provided for the research, it is recommended to include the following sentence:

This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or
not-for-profit sectors.
Acknowledgements
Collate acknowledgements in a separate section at the end of the article before the references and do
not, therefore, include them on the title page, as a footnote to the title or otherwise. List here those
individuals who provided help during the research (e.g., providing language help, writing assistance
or proof reading the article, etc.).
Appendices
If there is more than one appendix, they should be identified as A, B, etc. Formulae and equations in
appendices should be given separate numbering: Eq. (A.1), Eq. (A.2), etc.; in a subsequent appendix,
Eq. (B.1) and so on. Similarly for tables and figures: Table A.1; Fig. A.1, etc.

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Units
Follow internationally accepted rules and conventions: use the international system of units (SI). If
other units are mentioned, please give their equivalent in SI.
Footnotes
Footnotes should be used sparingly. Number them consecutively throughout the article. Many word
processors can build footnotes into the text, and this feature may be used. Otherwise, please indicate
the position of footnotes in the text and list the footnotes themselves separately at the end of the
article. Do not include footnotes in the Reference list.
Artwork
Image manipulation
Whilst it is accepted that authors sometimes need to manipulate images for clarity, manipulation for
purposes of deception or fraud will be seen as scientific ethical abuse and will be dealt with accordingly.
For graphical images, this journal is applying the following policy: no specific feature within an image
may be enhanced, obscured, moved, removed, or introduced. Adjustments of brightness, contrast,
or color balance are acceptable if and as long as they do not obscure or eliminate any information
present in the original. Nonlinear adjustments (e.g. changes to gamma settings) must be disclosed
in the figure legend.
Electronic artwork
General points
• Make sure you use uniform lettering and sizing of your original artwork.
• Embed the used fonts if the application provides that option.
• Aim to use the following fonts in your illustrations: Arial, Courier, Times New Roman, Symbol, or
use fonts that look similar.
• Number the illustrations according to their sequence in the text.
• Use a logical naming convention for your artwork files.
• Provide captions to illustrations separately.
• Size the illustrations close to the desired dimensions of the published version.
• Submit each illustration as a separate file.
• Ensure that color images are accessible to all, including those with impaired color vision.

A detailed guide on electronic artwork is available.

You are urged to visit this site; some excerpts from the detailed information are given here.
Formats
If your electronic artwork is created in a Microsoft Office application (Word, PowerPoint, Excel) then
please supply 'as is' in the native document format.
Regardless of the application used other than Microsoft Office, when your electronic artwork is
finalized, please 'Save as' or convert the images to one of the following formats (note the resolution
requirements for line drawings, halftones, and line/halftone combinations given below):
EPS (or PDF): Vector drawings, embed all used fonts.
TIFF (or JPEG): Color or grayscale photographs (halftones), keep to a minimum of 300 dpi.
TIFF (or JPEG): Bitmapped (pure black & white pixels) line drawings, keep to a minimum of 1000 dpi.
TIFF (or JPEG): Combinations bitmapped line/half-tone (color or grayscale), keep to a minimum of
500 dpi.
Please do not:
• Supply files that are optimized for screen use (e.g., GIF, BMP, PICT, WPG); these typically have a
low number of pixels and limited set of colors;
• Supply files that are too low in resolution;
• Submit graphics that are disproportionately large for the content.
Color artwork
Please make sure that artwork files are in an acceptable format (TIFF (or JPEG), EPS (or PDF) or
MS Office files) and with the correct resolution. If, together with your accepted article, you submit
usable color figures then Elsevier will ensure, at no additional charge, that these figures will appear
in color online (e.g., ScienceDirect and other sites) in addition to color reproduction in print. Further
information on the preparation of electronic artwork.

AUTHOR INFORMATION PACK 19 May 2022 www.elsevier.com/locate/jtos 12

Illustration services
Elsevier's Author Services offers Illustration Services to authors preparing to submit a manuscript but
concerned about the quality of the images accompanying their article. Elsevier's expert illustrators
can produce scientific, technical and medical-style images, as well as a full range of charts, tables
and graphs. Image 'polishing' is also available, where our illustrators take your image(s) and improve
them to a professional standard. Please visit the website to find out more.
Figure captions
Ensure that each illustration has a caption. Supply captions separately, not attached to the figure. A
caption should comprise a brief title (not on the figure itself) and a description of the illustration. Keep
text in the illustrations themselves to a minimum but explain all symbols and abbreviations used.

Publisher's permission should be obtained to reprint any figure or table that substantially resembles
one that has been previously published, even if some details have been modified. Caption should
state: Reprinted (or modified) from (author's name and reference number) with permission from
(publisher's name).
Tables
Please submit tables as editable text and not as images. Tables can be placed either next to the
relevant text in the article, or on separate page(s) at the end. Number tables consecutively in
accordance with their appearance in the text and place any table notes below the table body. Be
sparing in the use of tables and ensure that the data presented in them do not duplicate results
described elsewhere in the article. Please avoid using vertical rules and shading in table cells.
References
Citation in text
Please ensure that every reference cited in the text is also present in the reference list (and vice
versa). Any references cited in the abstract must be given in full. Unpublished results and personal
communications are not recommended in the reference list, but may be mentioned in the text. If these
references are included in the reference list they should follow the standard reference style of the
journal and should include a substitution of the publication date with either 'Unpublished results' or
'Personal communication'. Citation of a reference as 'in press' implies that the item has been accepted
for publication.
Reference links
Increased discoverability of research and high quality peer review are ensured by online links to
the sources cited. In order to allow us to create links to abstracting and indexing services, such as
Scopus, CrossRef and PubMed, please ensure that data provided in the references are correct. Please
note that incorrect surnames, journal/book titles, publication year and pagination may prevent link
creation. When copying references, please be careful as they may already contain errors. Use of the
DOI is highly encouraged.

A DOI is guaranteed never to change, so you can use it as a permanent link to any electronic article.
An example of a citation using DOI for an article not yet in an issue is: VanDecar J.C., Russo R.M.,
James D.E., Ambeh W.B., Franke M. (2003). Aseismic continuation of the Lesser Antilles slab beneath
northeastern Venezuela. Journal of Geophysical Research, https://doi.org/10.1029/2001JB000884.
Please note the format of such citations should be in the same style as all other references in the paper.
Web references
As a minimum, the full URL should be given and the date when the reference was last accessed. Any
further information, if known (DOI, author names, dates, reference to a source publication, etc.),
should also be given. Web references can be listed separately (e.g., after the reference list) under a
different heading if desired, or can be included in the reference list.
Data references
This journal encourages you to cite underlying or relevant datasets in your manuscript by citing them
in your text and including a data reference in your Reference List. Data references should include the
following elements: author name(s), dataset title, data repository, version (where available), year,
and global persistent identifier. Add [dataset] immediately before the reference so we can properly
identify it as a data reference. The [dataset] identifier will not appear in your published article.

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Reference management software
Most Elsevier journals have their reference template available in many of the most popular reference
management software products. These include all products that support Citation Style Language
styles, such as Mendeley. Using citation plug-ins from these products, authors only need to select
the appropriate journal template when preparing their article, after which citations and bibliographies
will be automatically formatted in the journal's style. If no template is yet available for this journal,
please follow the format of the sample references and citations as shown in this Guide. If you use
reference management software, please ensure that you remove all field codes before submitting
the electronic manuscript. More information on how to remove field codes from different reference
management software.
Reference style
References should be numbered consecutively and typed double-spaced. Journal titles should be
abbreviated, without periods, according to the Index Medicus style. Citation of abstracts may be
acceptable if 1) the cited report is not available in full-length form, and 2) the abstract is published
in an indexed journal (e.g., ARVO abstract published Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci). In the text,
statements referenced by abstracts should be acknowledged as such, e.g., "Preliminary findings
suggest" Complete information should be given for each reference, as shown below. Publications with
1-6 authors should give all names; publications with more than six authors should name the first six
followed by "et al." Author last names are followed by initials without commas or periods.

Sample
1. Oguro M, Imahiro S, Saito S, Nakashizuka T. Mortality data for Japanese oak wilt disease
and surrounding forest compositions, Mendeley Data, v1; 2015. http://dx.doi.org/10.17632/
xwj98nb39r.1.

Journal Article
2. Jones JP. Pitfalls in the design of clinical trials for anti-dry eye agents. Ocul Surf 2015;13:2-16

Abstract
3. Smith PS, Williams LC. Effects of artificial tear solutions on osmolarity of dry eyes (abstract). Invest
Ophthalmol Vis Sci 2015;59, ARVO E-Abstract 4015

Book
4. Charles PO, van Housen Q Jr, Duchen PX, et al (eds): Cornea, conjunctiva, lid: new concepts. New
York, NY, Random House, 2015

Chapter in book
5. Aay OK: Effect of estrogen medications on the cornea, in Charles PO, van Housen Q Jr, Duchen PX,
et al (eds): Cornea, conjunctiva, lid: new concepts. New York, NY, Random House, 2015, pp 234-25
Journal abbreviations source
Journal names should be abbreviated according to the List of Title Word Abbreviations.
Journal abbreviations source
Journal names should be abbreviated according to the National Library of Medicine style (PubMed,
Index Medicus).
Data visualization
Include interactive data visualizations in your publication and let your readers interact and engage
more closely with your research. Follow the instructions here to find out about available data
visualization options and how to include them with your article.
Research data
This journal encourages and enables you to share data that supports your research publication
where appropriate, and enables you to interlink the data with your published articles. Research data
refers to the results of observations or experimentation that validate research findings. To facilitate
reproducibility and data reuse, this journal also encourages you to share your software, code, models,
algorithms, protocols, methods and other useful materials related to the project.

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Below are a number of ways in which you can associate data with your article or make a statement
about the availability of your data when submitting your manuscript. If you are sharing data in one of
these ways, you are encouraged to cite the data in your manuscript and reference list. Please refer to
the "References" section for more information about data citation. For more information on depositing,
sharing and using research data and other relevant research materials, visit the research data page.
Data linking
If you have made your research data available in a data repository, you can link your article directly to
the dataset. Elsevier collaborates with a number of repositories to link articles on ScienceDirect with
relevant repositories, giving readers access to underlying data that gives them a better understanding
of the research described.

There are different ways to link your datasets to your article. When available, you can directly link
your dataset to your article by providing the relevant information in the submission system. For more
information, visit the database linking page.

For supported data repositories a repository banner will automatically appear next to your published
article on ScienceDirect.

In addition, you can link to relevant data or entities through identifiers within the text of your
manuscript, using the following format: Database: xxxx (e.g., TAIR: AT1G01020; CCDC: 734053;
PDB: 1XFN).
Mendeley Data
This journal supports Mendeley Data, enabling you to deposit any research data (including raw and
processed data, video, code, software, algorithms, protocols, and methods) associated with your
manuscript in a free-to-use, open access repository. During the submission process, after uploading
your manuscript, you will have the opportunity to upload your relevant datasets directly to Mendeley
Data. The datasets will be listed and directly accessible to readers next to your published article online.

For more information, visit the Mendeley Data for journals page.
Data statement
To foster transparency, we encourage you to state the availability of your data in your submission.
This may be a requirement of your funding body or institution. If your data is unavailable to access
or unsuitable to post, you will have the opportunity to indicate why during the submission process,
for example by stating that the research data is confidential. The statement will appear with your
published article on ScienceDirect. For more information, visit the Data Statement page.

AUTHOR INQUIRIES
Visit the Elsevier Support Center to find the answers you need. Here you will find everything from
Frequently Asked Questions to ways to get in touch.
You can also check the status of your submitted article or find out when your accepted article will
be published.
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