Instructions to Authors

Table of Contents

• How We Publish
• Preparation of Manuscripts
  • General Guidance
  • Article Types
    • Original Article
    • Study Protocol
    • Review Article
    • Systematic Review
    • Case Report
    • Correspondence:
      • Research Letter
      • Perspective
      • Images in Dermatology
      • Letter to the Editor and Response
• Peer Review Process
• Publication and Research Ethics
• Publishing Agreements and Charges
• After Publication
• Contact Us

How We Publish

Skin Health and Disease is a peer-reviewed fully open access journal publishing 6 issues per year online. All papers published in the Journal are made freely available online under open access publishing agreements, with applicable charges. Please refer to the open access section below for more information. 

After copyediting and review of the final proof, papers are published on the Advance Articles page. This is considered the Version of Record of the paper. The Version of Record requires a correction notice for any changes after it is published, even if it is not yet placed in an issue. See the definitions of the Version of Record and other versions of the paper for more details. The Version of Record will be removed from the Advance Articles page after it is published into an issue.

Scope of the Journal

Skin Health and Disease is an interdisciplinary international open access journal covering all aspects of dermatology including basic science, translational and clinical research. We especially welcome cutting-edge interdisciplinary and multiprofessional dermatology research. This includes genetics, immunology, pathology, surgery or pure clinical studies, as well as artificial intelligence (AI) in dermatology and teledermatology studies. The overarching aim of the journal is to improve patient outcomes by increasing our understanding of skin problems at every stage from disease pathogenesis to its treatment and prevention.

We will publish research articles, reviews, case reports, method papers, protocols, negative studies, pilot studies, as long as the article can demonstrate robust methodology, scientific validity and reliability. All papers will undergo rigorous and fast peer review, as well as rapid publication times.

As one of the British Association of Dermatologists journals, Skin Health and Disease receives referred submissions from the British Journal of Dermatology (BJD) and Clinical and Experimental Dermatology (CED).

Submitting to the Journal

Skin Health and Disease is an official publication of the British Association of Dermatologists. To publish the Journal, the British Association of Dermatologists partners with Oxford University Press (OUP), a not-for-profit publisher and a department of the University of Oxford. Learn more about how publishing with OUP reinvests in the scholarly community on the OUP Authoring page.

After preparing your manuscript according to the guidance in the Preparation of Manuscripts section, you can submit your work through the Journal’s online submission site. If you have not used our submission site before, you will need to create an account. When entering your co-author details, please check if they already have an account before adding them, as multiple accounts for the same user may result in emails going to the wrong address. Once a user is logged onto the site, submissions should be made via the Author Centre. The system will guide you through the process step by step.

More information is available on the ScholarOne Manuscripts FAQ and help page. Please contact us with any questions about submitting your manuscript.

Preparation of Manuscripts

Free format submissions

SHD allows for free format submissions. With free format submission, you do not need to worry about following formatting requirements until the revision stage.

Free format requirements:

• Upload your manuscript as a single file including text, figures, and tables.
• Confirm all required sections are included in your manuscript.
• Your references may be submitted in any style or format (though they must be numbered and set in consecutive order). Please ensure formatting is consistent throughout.
• If you are asked to revise your manuscript after editorial or peer review, SHD will request the revised manuscript to be formatted according to the guidelines below.

Revised submissions

If you are planning to submit a revised manuscript, we require the following items:

• A version of the manuscript with tracked changes and a clean version to ensure the reviewers and editors can view all of the changes that you have made.
• A point-by-point response to the previous reviewers’ comments.
• Upload all the tables and figures even if no changes have been made. The system does not automatically carry over the previous files.
• Please include the word count for the relevant article type.
• Ensure that you have applied for copyright permission for the reuse of material already published in another journal, book or article by the time your paper is accepted. We will be unable to publish any previously published figure or table either adapted or reproduced without appropriate permission.

General Guidance

All manuscripts should conform to the general guidance below. Please refer to the Article Categories section for specific guidance for your article type.

• Manuscript text must be saved in Word (.doc or .docx) or rich text format (.rtf). We would like authors not to submit text in PDF format (.pdf).
• Figures must be saved as separate figure files. GIF, JPEG, PICT or BMP files are acceptable for submission, but only JPEG, TIFF or EPS files are suitable for printing. After acceptance, you will be contacted to provide print-quality figures if you have not already done so. Please note that if you supply figures in PDF format only, they must be distilled using the ‘print optimized’ option.
• Abbreviations must be defined when first used in the abstract and in the main text, as well as when first used in table and figure captions.
• All relevant files must be included with each revision of the paper.
• Repetition of information or data in different sections of the manuscript must be carefully avoided.

Pre-submission language editing

Authors may wish to use a language-editing service before submitting to ensure that editors and reviewers understand the manuscript. Our publisher, Oxford University Press, partners with Enago, a leading provider of author services. Prospective authors are entitled to a discount of 30% for editing services at Enago, through the OUP-Enago partner page.

Enago is an independent service provider, who will handle all aspects of this service, including payment. Authors are under no obligation to take up this offer. Language editing is optional and does not guarantee that the manuscript will be accepted. Edited manuscripts will undergo the regular review process of the Journal.

Title page

The first page of all manuscripts should include the following information: 

• The title of the paper avoiding abbreviations
• A short title for the paper of 70 characters or less, to be used as a running head (not needed for correspondence-type items)
• The manuscript word, table, and figure counts
• Full names of all authors
• Names of the institutions at which the research was conducted, clearly linked to the respective authors using superscript Arabic numbers
  • Full affiliation address elements include: Division/Department, Institution/Organization, City, State abbreviation/Region abbreviation, and Country
  • Dual lead and/or senior authorship should be indicated here. 
• A single corresponding author, including full name and email address
• Statements on the following: 
  • Funding sources: State sources of funding for the research, including a short description of involvement of the funder in study design, data collection, data analysis, and manuscript preparation. If there are no funding sources please state ‘This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors’.
  • Conflicts of interest: Please see the Conflicts of interest policy for more details. If there are no conflicts then please state ‘None to declare’.
  • Data availability: Examples of the data availability statement can be found here.
  • Ethical approval statement
  • Patient consent statement
  • Clinical trial registration (if applicable)
  • Permission to reproduce material from other sources (if applicable)
• Teaser text: The teaser text should be a brief promotional text intended to entice the reader to click through to the article and will be published as part of the table of contents. The teaser text should be no longer than 200 words. As with a main abstract, avoid citations and define any abbreviations.
• Bulleted statements (maximum 70 words per question) in answer to each to each of the following questions (not applicable to correspondence-type items):
  • What is already known about this topic?
  • What does this study add?
  • For translational research papers include a third set: What is the translational message?
  • For qualitative research papers include a third set: What are the clinical implications of this work?

Author names

If the paper is published, the author name(s) will be displayed online in Latin-alphabet characters as provided to us on the manuscript. If authors wish for an alternative name also to be displayed (for instance, the non-Anglicised Chinese-character version of an author name, or an alternate name by which the author is commonly known) please include that name in parentheses, immediately after the Latin-character name in the manuscript. Note that alternatives names will be presented as supplied on our website and in the article PDF but may not be presented in other locations where the published article appears, such as Pubmed. 

Text abstracts

Abstracts must be written in English and should be designed to summarise the essential features of the paper in a logical and concise sequence. The abstract should be included within the main manuscript file. 

Abstracts are not required for correspondence-type articles.

For Original Articles and Study Protocols the abstract should be structured, have a maximum length of 350 words, and must not contain reference citations or abbreviations. Abstracts should include the following subheadings: 

• Background
• Objectives
• Methods
• Results
• Conclusions

For Review Articles, Systematic Reviews, and Case Reports, abstracts should be unstructured, have a maximum length of 350 words, should briefly outline the findings that are being presented, and must not contain reference citations or abbreviations.

Graphical abstracts

Authors of Original Articles, Study Protocols, Review Articles, Systematic Reviews, and Case Reports are encouraged to submit a graphical abstract as part of the article, in addition to the text abstract:

• Graphical Abstracts should concisely communicate a paper’s main findings and reflect key parts of the Abstract (Background, Objectives, Methods, Results and Conclusions).
• Text should be kept to a minimum – the Abstract is the written summary of your work; the Graphical Abstract should focus on imagery and clear statistics where relevant.
• Think about your target audience before drafting your Graphical Abstract and consider Graphical Abstracts that had captured your attention and were easily understood.
• We encourage you to use images relevant for the Graphical Abstract, rather than re-using figures from your paper.
• You may wish to use tools such as TidBit or Canva in preparing your Graphical Abstract.

Please upload your Graphical Abstract as a separate document, titled ‘Graphical Abstract’ at the time of submission. Your Graphical Abstract will be peer reviewed, so please ensure you retain an editable copy. If your manuscript is accepted, then the Graphical Abstract will appear in both the print and online versions of your article. See this page for guidance on appropriate file format and resolution for graphics.

Teaser text

Authors are required to submit teaser text as part of the article, in addition to the main text abstract. The teaser text should be a brief promotional text intended to entice the reader to click through to the article and will be published as part of the table of contents. The teaser text should be submitted for peer review as part of the main manuscript file, under the heading ‘Teaser text’, before the article’s main text. The teaser text should be no longer than 200 words. As with a main abstract, avoid citations and define any abbreviations. 

Abbreviations

Please define nonstandard abbreviations at the first occurrence.

Style

The journal follows AMA style with a numerical citation system. More information on the journal style and reference examples are available here.

Please refer to these style requirements when preparing the manuscript. UK spelling should be used throughout, except in quotations and in references. 

Tables

• Tables should be included at the end of the manuscript, each on a separate page.
• Please submit tables in an editable format in Word and not as an Excel files, images, or PDFs.
• Tables should be numbered as Table 1, Tables 2, 3. Each table must have a legend that explains its purpose without reference to the text.
• Tables should be no longer than 1.5 pages long in Word. If the Editor considers that there are too many tables in an article, they may request some of the tables be moved to Supporting Information or request a summary table.
• Avoid excessive formatting such as the use of colour and shading and the use of tabbed spacing to indicate alignment. Ensure that any formatting or superscript symbols such as asterisks are explained in the table footnote. Provide units in column or row headers, rather than in the table body.

Figures

• Figures must be submitted as a separate file(s).
• Where a figure has more than one panel, each panel should be submitted as a separate file with a brief description of each panel given in the figure legend. Please ensure that each file is named appropriately (e.g. Figure 1a, Figure 1b).
• Figures should be submitted in one of the following file formats: .jpeg, .jpg, .png, .tiff, .pdf, or .eps. Images prepared as .bmp, .gif, or .doc/.docx files will not be accepted. Authors must include figure titles, legends, and captions within the manuscript file details; they should not be included in the image files.
• Figures should be cited in text as follows: Figure 1, Figures 2-4
• Authors should obtain permission to reproduce previously published figures or tables. Please provide any accreditation text required by the copyright holder.
• Digital images should not be manipulated (e.g. contrast, brightness) unless the manipulation is applied to the whole image and does not modify the information in any way. Where images have obviously been cropped the full image should be submitted as a supplementary file for review (for example an entire image of a Western blot with molecular-weight markers).
• A certain degree of image processing is acceptable but the final image must faithfully represent the original data. Image acquisition and processing software must be included in the methods. Authors should be prepared to supply the editors with original images on request.
• Histopathology slides and graphs should be separate figures and not subpanels of the same figure. Please provide scale bars or the level of magnification used.
• Images of maps, charts, graphs, shapes, and diagrams are best rendered digitally as geometric forms called vector graphics. Vector images use mathematical relationships between points and the lines connecting them to describe an image. Because these file types do not use pixels, resolution does not apply to vector images. Save vector images as .eps, or .pdf files and embed the fonts
• Images of photographs, paintings, or scans can be provided as raster images. Raster images should be saved as uncompressed .tiff files to avoid quality loss; .jpg/.png file formats are acceptable for raster images but may result in a lower resolution. The resolution of raster files is measured by the number of dots or pixels in a given area, referred to as “dpi” or “ppi.”
  • Minimum resolution required for colour half-tones: 300dpi
  • Minimum resolution for grayscale half-tones: 600dpi
  • Minimum resolution for combination half-tones and line art: 600-900dpi
  • Minimum resolution for monochrome line art (complex or finely drawn): 1200dpi
• Please also consider accessibility when designing each figure, so that all images can be easily understood by colour-blind and visually impaired readers. Guidelines for preparing different image types, including recommendations for colour palettes, colour contrast, image layout, and text accessibility.
• We require all clinical images to have patient consent for publication (see Editorial policies on patient privacy). Eye bars or masking of the eyes is discouraged as they do not protect the anonymity of the patients.
• All case reports must have patient consent for publication before submission.

Figure accessibility and alt text

Incorporating alt text (alternative text) when submitting your paper helps to foster inclusivity and accessibility. Good alt text ensures that individuals with visual impairments or those using screen readers can comprehend the content and context of your figures. The aim of alt text is to provide concise and informative descriptions of your figure so that all readers have access to the same level of information and understanding, and that all can engage with and benefit from the visual elements integral to scholarly content. Including alt text demonstrates a commitment to accessibility and enhances the overall impact and reach of your work.  

Alt text is applicable to all images, figures, illustrations, and photographs. 

Alt text is only accessible via e-reader and so it won’t appear as part of the typeset article. 

Detailed guidance on how to draft and submit alt text. 

References

References should be in AMA format and appear as consecutive, unbracketed superscript numbers in the text, e.g. in our previous reports1,2 and those of Smith et al.,3–5 and should be listed numerically in the reference list at the end of the article. Format references as below, using standard (MEDLINE) abbreviations for journal titles. If there are more than four authors, include the first three authors followed by et al. If there are more than six editors of a book, include the first five authors followed by et al.

• de Berker DAR, Baran R, Dawber RPR. The nail in dermatological diseases. In: Baran and Dawber’s Diseases of the Nails and Their Management (Baran R, Dawber RPR, de Berker DAR, Haneke E, Tosti A, eds), 3rd edn. Oxford: Blackwell Science Ltd, 2001; 172–92.
• Shuster S. The nature and consequence of Karl Marx’s skin disease. Br J Dermatol 2008; 158:1–3.
• Graham-Brown R, Burns T. Lecture Notes: Dermatology. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2006.
• Smith A. Select committee report into social care in the community. Available at: http://www.dhss.gov.uk/reports/report015285.html (last accessed 7 November 2003).

If a reference falls into a different category (e.g. conference proceedings, prescribing information), or if in doubt, please provide as much information as possible.

Authors are responsible for the accuracy of reference information and may be queried to provide any missing reference elements during proofing. We recommend the use of a tool such as EndNote for reference management and formatting. Endnote style files for the AMA reference manager are available here.

Acknowledgements

Authors of all article types are encouraged to submit an “Acknowledgements” section, which should be set as a single paragraph, clearly marked with a separate heading, and included on the title page.

Author names within this section should be given as closed initials with dots (C.J.D.). Do not include study funding or conflict of interest/disclosure information within this section, as that information should instead be included within the Funding or Conflicts of interest sections. 

Acknowledgements may consist of: a list of participants, investigators, or study groups within a group study; mention of previous presentations of the material; preprint information; additional contributions or thanks; contributions to the paper that do not qualify for authorship (see Authorship section for additional detail); deceased author details; and/or miscellaneous acknowledgements. Please do ensure you have permission in writing from anyone you choose to acknowledge in your paper.

Funding sources

All manuscripts require a “Funding sources” statement on the title page. If there are no funding sources to disclose, the authors should still include the section and state “None declared.” 

Authors must fully declare all funding information relevant to the study, including specific grant numbers. If the funder is listed in the Crossref Open Funder Registry, the funder name should be included exactly as it appears within that database. Where grants were received by specific members of the author group, the authors should be identified using closed initials with dots (C.J.D.). If no funding was received for the study, the authors should still include the section and state “This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.” 

Conflicts of interest 

All manuscripts require a “Conflicts of interest” statement on the title page. Any listed authors in this section should be identified using closed initials with dots (C.J.D.). If there are no conflicts of interest to disclose, the authors should still include the section and state “None declared.” 

For more information, please refer to OUP’s definition of conflict of interest and the Authors’ section of the potential conflicts of interest section. 

Data availability

All manuscripts require a “Data availability” statement on the title page.

It is recommended that data are displayed in their raw form and not in a way that conceals their distribution. Individual data should be presented as dot plots next to the average for the group with appropriate error bars. The methods should be described in enough detail that the experimental conditions can be repeated in another laboratory. If any equipment or specific reagent used is detailed, provide the name of the manufacturer, city, state (if applicable) and country. 

Any materials generated during the study (e.g. cell lines, animals, plasmids or antibodies) should be made available to other researchers, where this is practicable. Novel DNA or amino acid sequences should be submitted to a public database such as GenBank or the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) and the accession number quoted.

Data presentation

• It is recommended that data are displayed in their raw form and not in a way that conceals their distribution. Individual data should be presented as dot plots next to the average for the group with appropriate error bars. The methods should be described in enough detail that the experimental conditions can be repeated in another laboratory. If any equipment or specific reagent used is detailed, provide the name of the manufacturer, city, state (if applicable) and country. 
• Any materials generated during the study (e.g. cell lines, animals, plasmids or antibodies) should be made available to other researchers, where this is practicable.
• Novel DNA or amino acid sequences should be submitted to a public database such as GenBank or the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) and the accession number quoted.

Reporting statistics

Good reporting is important as it ensures a manuscript can be understood by a reader, replicated by a researcher, used to make a clinical decision, and included in a systematic review.

Reporting methods

• Describe the type of study, e.g. randomized clinical trial phase III, pilot, case–control, meta-analysis etc.
• Indicate the aim of the statistical analysis (primary objective, secondary objective, exploratory or ancillary analysis).
• Describe the statistical methods in the order in which are used in the results.
• Make it clear which statistical test was used for which variable.
• State if any assumptions were checked and how.
• Describe how missing data were handled (if data are missing).
• Describe any planned sensitivity or subgroup analyses.
• If relevant, include a sample-size calculation, with sufficient detail so it can be verified, and report the minimal clinically important difference (if possible).
• Report the alpha-level (one or two sided) and the statistical package.
• Describe with enough detail to enable a knowledgeable reader with access to the original data to verify the reported results.

For more details about reporting standards, please see the ICJME recommendations.

Reporting results

• Present in the same order of importance as described in the methods.
• Include effect sizes and their 95% confidence intervals with the appropriate degree of precision, in addition to P-values. Please read this editorial and accompanying paper on how to report confidence intervals.
• Adjusted data for multiple testing.
• Include both absolute and relative measures.
• Provide enough detail that the results can be incorporated into other analyses; for example, in future meta-analytical studies if reporting a continuous outcome, provide mean (standard deviation), while for categorical outcomes when reporting relative summary statistics, please include the frequency of the outcome (numerator) over the total sample observed (denominator). In addition to these recommendations, all applicable general and study-specific SAMPL guidelines should be followed.

Supplementary material

SHD encourages the submission of underlying datasets, appendices, video files etc. as online-only supplementary material. Supplementary material should be uploaded during manuscript submission using the file designation ‘Supplementary file for review’. SHD has no restriction around the amount of supplementary material.

Authors must submit supplementary data or supplementary material at the same time as the main manuscript. Supplementary material should enhance the written article without being necessary to understand it and must be cited in the text of the main manuscript.

• Reference to supplementary material in the manuscript should be sufficiently specific to allow readers to understand what is being referenced.
• Please label supplementary material in the format ‘Table S1’, ‘Figure S1’. Any Supporting Information consisting of just text should be ‘Appendix S1’ etc.
• Supplementary material will be available online only and will not be copyedited or typeset.
• Style and formatting of supplementary material should be consistent with that of the manuscript.
• Supplementary material should be formatted to function on any internet browser.
• Supplementary items should be submitted as clearly-labeled files that are separate from the main article file(s).
• Supplementary material may be hosted on OUP’s website or at one of our preferred partner sites, such as Dryad. Material hosted elsewhere (e.g. the author’s personal or institutional website, Google Docs, YouTube) is not allowed as links may expire.

Article Types

This journal publishes several different article types:

Original Article

SHD will consider all research articles that ask a specific question and provide a clear answer; this needs to be demonstrated with robust methodology. It is important that a study can be replicated. We do not require a study to be novel, but it should be original and should not be under consideration for publication elsewhere. We are particularly keen to receive papers that are interdisciplinary and those related to AI, as well as those from the allied health and nursing community.

We will consider negative studies, secondary analyses, pilot studies, methods papers, or data papers. We encourage authors to submit their data sets to a well-established public data repository. See our data sharing policy for more details.

Original Articles should include:

• Title page with bulleted statements (maximum 70 words) in answer to the following questions:
  • What is already known about this topic?
  • What does this study add?
  • Translational research papers should also include a bulleted statement answering the question: What is the translational message?
  • Qualitative research papers should also include bulleted statements answering the question: What are the clinical implications of this work?
• Title page must also include statements on the following:
  • Acknowledgements (optional): These should be brief and should include any individuals who contributed to the research described in the paper or to the development of the manuscript but who do not fulfil the criteria to be listed as an author. 
  • Funding sources
  • Conflicts of interest
  • Data availability
  • Ethics statement
  • Patient consent: Patient consent for publication, including for use in social media, is required for all clinical images whether or not the patient is identifiable.
• Title page must also include Teaser text 
• Structured Abstract—maximum word count: 350
  • Abstract headers: Background, Objectives, Methods, Results, Conclusion
• Optional: Graphical Abstract
• Text of up to 3500 words, the Editor will consider longer manuscript if appropriate.
• May include tables and figures—no limit
• References—no limit
• Must provide the following information during the submission process:
  • Author contributions with CRediT (Contributor Roles Taxonomy) details
  • Author consent: This section of the submission process must be completed to confirm that all authors listed qualify for authorship according to the ICJME guidelines and that all authors agree to its submission to the Journal.

Each submission must contain the following sections and use these terms as the first level section headers: Abstract, Introduction, Materials and methods (or Patients and methods), Results, Discussion, References, and Figure legends (if applicable).

Methods, software and tools, especially related to AI

If you are reporting about a software tool or app, it must be of use to the community and present a proven advantage over existing alternatives, where applicable. For software, databases, and online tools, the long-term utility should also be discussed, as relevant. This discussion may include maintenance, the potential for future growth, and the stability of the hosting, as applicable.

Submissions that present methods, software, or tools must show that the new tool achieves its intended purpose. If similar options already exist, the submitted manuscript must demonstrate that the new tool is an improvement over an existing option. This requirement may be met by including a proof-of-principle experiment or analysis; if this is not possible, a discussion of the possible applications and some preliminary analysis may suffice.

If the manuscript’s primary purpose is the description of new software or a new software package, this software must be open source, deposited in an appropriate archive, and conform to the Open Source Definition.

If the manuscript mainly describes a database, this database must be open-access and hosted somewhere publicly accessible, and any software used to generate a database should also be open source. If relevant, databases should be open for appropriate deposition of additional data. In these cases, authors should provide a direct link to the deposited software or the database hosting site from within the paper.

If the focus of a manuscript is the presentation of a new tool, such as a newly developed or modified questionnaire or scale, it should be openly available under a CC-BY licence.

Study Protocol

SHD encourages the publication of study protocols to keep researchers and funding bodies up to date as well as to avoid duplication of work.

If your protocol is for a randomized trial, please use the SPIRIT (Standard Protocol Items for Randomized Trials) recommendations. The SPIRIT statement is an evidence-based tool developed through systematic review of a wide range of resources and consensus. It closely mirrors the CONSORT statement and reflects important ethical considerations.

If your protocol is for a systematic review or meta-analysis, then please use the PRISMA-P (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic review and Meta-Analysis Protocols) reporting guideline. The PRISMA-P checklist contains 17 items considered to be the essential and minimum components of systematic review or meta-analysis protocol.

The three important databases to ensure that your protocol is registered are Prospero, Clinical Trials.gov, and AllTrials.

Protocols that have formal ethical approval and have undergone independent peer review to gain funding from a recognized, open access advocating research-funding body will not require further peer review. Evidence of independent peer review and ethical approval should be provided during submission.

For more details about how to write a protocol, please see https://www.who.int/ethics/review-committee/format-research-protocol/en/.

Study Protocols should include:

• Title page 
• Title page must also include statements on the following:
  • Acknowledgements (optional): These should be brief and should include any individuals who contributed to the research described in the paper or to the development of the manuscript but who do not fulfil the criteria to be listed as an author. 
  • Funding sources
  • Conflicts of interest
  • Data availability
  • Ethics statement
  • Patient consent: Patient consent for publication, including for use in social media, is required for all clinical images whether or not the patient is identifiable.
• Title page must also include Teaser text
• Structured Abstract—maximum word count: 350
  • Abstract headers: Background, Methods, Discussion, and Protocol Registration
• Optional: Graphical Abstract 
• The trial status at the time of submission including the protocol version number and date, the date recruitment began, and the approximate date when recruitment will be completed.
• Text of up to 4000 words.
• References—no limit
• Must provide the following information during the submission process:
  • Author contributions with CRediT (Contributor Roles Taxonomy) details
  • Author consent: This section of the submission process must be completed to confirm that all authors listed qualify for authorship according to the ICJME guidelines and that all authors agree to its submission to the Journal.

Each submission must contain the following sections and use these terms as the first level section headers: Abstract, Introduction, Materials and methods (or Patients and methods), Results, Discussion, References, and Figure legends.

Review Article

SHD will consider well written comprehensive Review Articles on a topic of recent advancement article on a disease area, a therapy area covering basic, translational, experimental, clinical, or an interdisciplinary area in dermatology.

They may be solicited by the Editor or may be submitted by authors for publication subject to peer review.

Review Articles should include:

• Title page with bulleted statements (maximum 70 words) in answer to the following questions:
  • What is already known about this topic?
  • What does this study add?
• Title page must also include statements on the following:
  • Acknowledgements (optional): These should be brief and should include any individuals who contributed to the research described in the paper or to the development of the manuscript but who do not fulfil the criteria to be listed as an author. 
  • Funding sources
  • Conflicts of interest
  • Data availability
  • Ethics statement
  • Patient consent: Patient consent for publication, including for use in social media, is required for all clinical images whether or not the patient is identifiable.
• Title page must also include Teaser text 
• Unstructured Abstract—maximum word count: 350
• Optional: Graphical Abstract 
• Text of up to 3500 words, the Editor will consider longer manuscript if appropriate.
• May include tables and figures—no limit
• References—no limit
• Must provide the following information during the submission process:
  • Author contributions with CRediT (Contributor Roles Taxonomy) details
  • Author consent: This section of the submission process must be completed to confirm that all authors listed qualify for authorship according to the ICJME guidelines and that all authors agree to its submission to the Journal.

Each submission must contain the following sections and use these terms as the first level section headers: Abstract, Introduction, Materials and methods (or Patients and methods), Results, Discussion, References, and Figure legends.

Systematic Review

SHD will consider well written comprehensive Systematic Reviews on a topic of recent advancement article on a disease area, a therapy area covering basic, translational, experimental, clinical, or an interdisciplinary area in dermatology.

Systematic Reviews should include:

• Title page with bulleted statements (maximum 70 words) in answer to the following questions:
  • What is already known about this topic?
  • What does this study add?
• Title page must also include statements on the following:
  • Acknowledgements (optional): These should be brief and should include any individuals who contributed to the research described in the paper or to the development of the manuscript but who do not fulfil the criteria to be listed as an author. 
  • Funding sources
  • Conflicts of interest
  • Data availability
  • Ethics statement
  • Patient consent: Patient consent for publication, including for use in social media, is required for all clinical images whether or not the patient is identifiable.
• Title page must also include Teaser text 
• Unstructured Abstract—maximum word count: 350
• Optional: Graphical Abstract 
• Text of up to 3,500 words
• May include tables and figures—no limit
• References— no limit
• Must provide the following information during the submission process:
  • Author contributions with CRediT (Contributor Roles Taxonomy) details
  • Author consent: This section of the submission process must be completed to confirm that all authors listed qualify for authorship according to the ICJME guidelines and that all authors agree to its submission to the Journal.

Case Report 

SHD will consider well-structured Case Reports or Case Series that may not necessarily be novel but should be written in a style that conveys a clear message and outcome. It must clearly articulate how the treatment helped the patient or why it was different from standard practice. Reports of adverse cutaneous drug reactions to new therapies and successful responses to off licence use of new medications will be considered for publication. All Case Reports and Case Series must ensure that they have taken patient consent for publication.

Follow the CARE reporting guidelines as a guiding framework for your manuscript.

Case Reports should include:

• Title page with bulleted statements (maximum 70 words) in answer to the following questions:
  • What is already known about this topic?
  • What does this study add?
• Title page must also include statements on the following:
  • Acknowledgements (optional): These should be brief and should include any individuals who contributed to the research described in the paper or to the development of the manuscript but who do not fulfil the criteria to be listed as an author. 
  • Funding sources
  • Conflicts of interest
  • Data availability
  • Ethics statement
  • Patient consent: Patient consent for publication, including for use in social media, is required for all clinical images whether or not the patient is identifiable.
• Title page must also include Teaser text
• Unstructured Abstract—maximum word count: 350
• Optional: Graphical Abstract
• Text of up to 1,200 words
• May include maximum of 6 tables or figures
• References—maximum of 15 (more if necessary, subject to Editor approval)
• Must provide the following information during the submission process:
  • Author contributions with CRediT (Contributor Roles Taxonomy) details
  • Author consent: This section of the submission process must be completed to confirm that all authors listed qualify for authorship according to the ICJME guidelines and that all authors agree to its submission to the Journal.

Correspondence

SHD will consider correspondence items in the form of Research Letters, Perspectives, Images in Dermatology articles, Letters to the Editor, and Responses. All short communications and correspondence items should be formatted in one continuous section without bulleted statements, sub-headings, or abstract.

Research Letter

Research Letters are short descriptions of important current research findings/preliminary research findings that may lead to more substantial research studies. They could also be short summaries of primary research. We would like them to be concise, thought-provoking and of interest to clinicians.

Research Letters should include:

• Title page
• Title page must also include statements on the following:
  • Acknowledgements (optional): These should be brief and should include any individuals who contributed to the research described in the paper or to the development of the manuscript but who do not fulfil the criteria to be listed as an author. 
  • Funding sources
  • Conflicts of interest
  • Data availability
  • Ethics statement
  • Patient consent: Patient consent for publication, including for use in social media, is required for all clinical images whether or not the patient is identifiable.
• No abstract required
• Text of up to 1,200 words
• May include a maximum of 1 table or figure
• References— maximum of 10
• Must provide the following information during the submission process:
  • Author contributions with CRediT (Contributor Roles Taxonomy) details
  • Author consent: This section of the submission process must be completed to confirm that all authors listed qualify for authorship according to the ICJME guidelines and that all authors agree to its submission to the Journal.

Perspective

Perspectives provide an opportunity to address any topic relevant to dermatology by articulating a new point of view that is based on evidence or experience from patients and physicians alike, particularly those that may generate philosophical debate. We especially encourage perspectives from dermatology patients, which could be co-written with your clinician.

We encourage them to be concise and thought-provoking, and prompt new ways of thinking, but they should be written in a simple and easily accessible format that a wide international audience can understand.

Perspectives should include:

• Title page
• Title page must also include statements on the following:
  • Acknowledgements (optional): These should be brief and should include any individuals who contributed to the research described in the paper or to the development of the manuscript but who do not fulfil the criteria to be listed as an author. 
  • Funding sources
  • Conflicts of interest
  • Data availability
  • Ethics statement
  • Patient consent: Patient consent for publication, including for use in social media, is required for all clinical images whether or not the patient is identifiable.
• No abstract required
• Text of up to 1,200 words
• May include a maximum of 2 tables or figures
• References—maximum of 10
• Must provide the following information during the submission process:
  • Author contributions with CRediT (Contributor Roles Taxonomy) details
  • Author consent: This section of the submission process must be completed to confirm that all authors listed qualify for authorship according to the ICJME guidelines and that all authors agree to its submission to the Journal.

Images in Dermatology 

SHD welcomes submissions of exemplar clinical photographs and novel scientific images for the journal. We consider clinical images that reflect the presentation of dermatological disease across all skin types. In particular, we seek to redress the balance in the lack of representative images of skin of colour in the existing literature, where there is evidence presented to support the clinical diagnosis proposed.

Images in Dermatology should include:

• Title page
• Title page must also include statements on the following:
  • Acknowledgements (optional): These should be brief and should include any individuals who contributed to the research described in the paper or to the development of the manuscript but who do not fulfil the criteria to be listed as an author. 
  • Funding sources
  • Conflicts of interest
  • Data availability
  • Ethics statement
  • Patient consent: Patient consent for publication, including for use in social media, is required for all clinical images whether or not the patient is identifiable.
• No abstract required
• May include composite images with up to three panels, for example providing histopathology, immunohistochemistry or electron microscopy to accompany the clinical image.
  • Photographs or images should be of high quality and have potential to alter dermatology practice.
  • Images will be selected based on scientific merit, originality, relevance to the journal readership and value added to our understanding of dermatological science.
• Include a concise, scholarly caption of up to 100 words.
• Essential supplementary files may be supplied for review, but not for publication, to best support the proposed diagnosis in the submission
• References—maximum of 2
• Must provide the following information during the submission process:
  • Author contributions with CRediT (Contributor Roles Taxonomy) details
  • Author consent: This section of the submission process must be completed to confirm that all authors listed qualify for authorship according to the ICJME guidelines and that all authors agree to its submission to the Journal.

Letter to the Editor and Response

The Journal welcomes Letters to the Editor from readers offering relevant comments and providing objective and scholarly criticism of recently published articles in the Journal. Letters to the Editor allow readers to participate and debate recently published SHD articles. We encourage rapid responses to be sent when the paper is online in the Accepted Manuscripts section, so that the Letter to the Editor can be published soon after the article itself, with a Response from the authors if possible. They should add to the authors’ interpretation, enrich the original paper, and increase the value for readers. They should be objective, referenced, respectful to other authors, and concise.

The Journal will only consider submissions pertaining to papers published in the past year. After the initial Letter to the Editor and Response, no further submissions on the same topic will be considered.

At the discretion of the editors, Letters to the Editor being considered for publication may be sent to the authors of the original article to give them the opportunity to submit a Response. If an author does not submit a Response, the Journal may publish a statement indicating this to readers. To enable readers to evaluate the arguments presented, initial Letters to the Editor and Responses are linked to the original article, are typically published online simultaneously, and may be published together in the same issue.

Letters to the Editor and Responses should include:

• Title page
• Title page must also include statements on the following:
  • Acknowledgements (optional): These should be brief and should include any individuals who contributed to the research described in the paper or to the development of the manuscript but who do not fulfil the criteria to be listed as an author. 
  • Funding sources
  • Conflicts of interest
  • Data availability
  • Ethics statement
  • Patient consent: Patient consent for publication, including for use in social media, is required for all clinical images whether or not the patient is identifiable.
• No abstract required
• Text of up to 750 words
• May include a maximum of 1 table or figure
• References—maximum of 8
• Must provide the following information during the submission process:
  • Author contributions with CRediT (Contributor Roles Taxonomy) details
  • Author consent: This section of the submission process must be completed to confirm that all authors listed qualify for authorship according to the ICJME guidelines and that all authors agree to its submission to the Journal.

Peer Review Process

The Journal uses the ANSI/NISO Standard Terminology for Peer Review. If you would like further description of the peer review terms used here, please refer to the most recent standard definitions. If further clarification is needed, please contact the editorial office ([email protected]).

The Journal operates single-anonymized peer review, meaning that the identity of the authors is known to the editors and to the reviewers, but that the reviewers’ identities are known only to the editors and are hidden from the authors.

Once a submitted manuscript passes initial assessment by the Journal’s Editor-in-Chief, it will then be passed to an Associate Editor, who will oversee peer review and recommend a final decision. The Editor-in-Chief makes the final decision on the submitted manuscript.

Editors and reviewers must not handle manuscripts if they have a conflict of interest with an author or the content. Editors make every effort to avoid potential conflicts of interest in the assignment of other editors and peer reviewers. For more information, please see the section on Disclosure of potential conflicts of interest. During the peer review phase, a manuscript is typically sent to 2 reviewers.

Authors may suggest potential reviewers at submission or may request that specific individuals not be used as reviewers. However, there is no guarantee the suggested reviewers will be selected or excluded by the Journal. Recommended reviewers should be experts in their field and able to provide an objective assessment of the manuscript without financial or interpersonal conflicts of interest with any authors. We encourage authors to consider reviewers from a diverse range of backgrounds, including those from under-represented communities.

Statistical methods should be rigorous, and reporting of statistical findings should be accurate and complete. Editors may request an expert statistical review of any submission containing statistical analysis.

If a manuscript is accepted for publication, the reviewer comments will not be published alongside the paper.

For full details about the peer review process, see Fair editing and peer review or OUP author information.

Manuscript transfer

Receiving transfers

The Journal accepts original submissions as well as transfers from the British Journal of Dermatology (BJD) and Clinical and Experimental Dermatology (CED). Reviewer reports may be included in the transfer with reviewer consent. Transferred manuscripts may be sent out for additional peer review, and a decision will be made on the manuscript based on the feedback from all consenting reviewers and the judgment of the editorial team of Skin Health and Disease.

Screening for misconduct

Manuscripts may be screened using Similarity Check to help detect publication misconduct including plagiarism and redundant publication.

Identity/activity detection

The Journal uses ScholarOne’s Unusual Activity Detection tool to build confidence in the identity of authors and reviewers.

Reviewer recognition

To promote recognition of the essential work done by reviewers, the Journal offers reviewers the option to have their reviews verified and automatically listed on their Web of Science Researcher Profile.

Reviewer locator

The Journal uses the Web of Science Reviewer Locator to assist the editors in finding appropriate reviewers.

Appeals and complaints

Authors may appeal an editorial decision. To do so, please contact the editorial office, providing as much specific detail as possible about why the original decision should be reconsidered. Every appeal will receive a response within a reasonable timeframe. Please do not resubmit the manuscript in the interim.

To register a complaint regarding non-editorial decisions, the Journal’s policies and procedures, editors, or staff, please contact us. Complaints will be taken seriously and will be carried forward following COPE guidelines and processes and/or sanctions will be enacted if deemed appropriate.

Publication and Research Ethics

Authorship

Authorship is limited to those who have made a significant contribution to the design and execution of the work described. Any contributors whose participation does not meet the criteria for authorship should be acknowledged but not listed as an author. For a detailed definition of authorship, please see the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) definitions of authors and contributors. SHD uses the CREDiT taxonomy to describe the role of each individual author.

The Journal does not allow ghost authorship, where an unnamed author prepares the article with no credit, or guest/gift authorship, where an author who made little or no contribution is listed as an author. The Journal follows Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidance on investigating and resolving these cases. For more information, please see the OUP Publication Ethics page.

Natural language processing tools driven by artificial intelligence (AI) do not qualify as authors, and the Journal will screen for them in author lists. The use of AI (for example, to help generate content, write code, or process data) should be disclosed both in cover letters to editors and in the Methods or Acknowledgements section of manuscripts. Please see the COPE position statement on Authorship and AI for more details.

After manuscript submission, no authorship changes (including the authorship list, author order, and who is designated as the corresponding author) should be made without the approval of the editor. All co-authors must agree on the change(s), and neither the Journal nor the publisher mediates such disputes. If individuals cannot agree on the authorship of a submitted manuscript, contact the editorial office ([email protected]). The dispute must be resolved among the individuals and their institution(s) before the manuscript can be accepted for publication. If an authorship dispute or change arises after a paper is accepted, contact the editorial office ([email protected]). COPE provides guidance for authors on resolving authorship disputes.

If authors intend to use Read and Publish funding to publish a manuscript under an open access licence, note that changing the corresponding author to access those funds is not permissible. For more information on Read and Publish funding, see the open access charges section.

Corresponding authorship

SHD’s policy is to allow only one corresponding author for an article, they should be designated at the time of submission and indicated in the manuscript.

Group authorship

Groups (also known as corporate, organization, or collective names) who meet authorship criteria should be included in the main author list. Every individual in the group should fully meet the criteria for authorship. At least one individual must be designated on behalf of the group as the primary point of contact during the peer-review and production processes. You may list this individual separately in the main author list if desired. A complete list of the individual members of the group must be included in the manuscript under the List of contributors heading.

The group name will be entered for a PubMed Central (PMC) citation. The names of the individual members of the group will be entered as collaborator names for PMC citation, in the order in which they are published in the paper. If an individual is named both in the main author list and as a member of the group, they will appear in PMC as both an author and a collaborator.

ORCiD iD

Authors are encouraged to provide their ORCiD iDs (Open Researcher and Contributor IDs) at submission and take advantage of the benefits of participating in ORCID. If authors do not already have an ORCiD iD, they can register for free via the ORCiD website.

As ORCiD identifiers are collected, they are included in papers and displayed online, in the HTML of the publication, in compliance with recommended practice issued by ORCiD.

ORCiD functionality online allows users to link to the ORCiD website to view an author’s profile and list of publications. ORCiD iDs are displayed on web pages and are sent downstream to third parties in data feeds, where supported.

If authors have registered with ORCiD, they can associate their ORCiD iD with their submission system account by going to their account details, entering their ORCiD iD, and validating their details. Learn more about ORCID and how to link it to an author account.

CRediT

The Journal requires the use of the contributor roles taxonomy (CRediT), which allows authors to describe the contributor roles in a standardized, transparent, and accurate way. Authors should choose from the contributor roles outlined on the CRediT website and supply this information upon submission. Authors may choose multiple contributor roles per author. Any other individuals who do not meet authorship criteria and made less substantive contributions should be listed in the manuscript as non-author contributors with their contributions clearly described. Following manuscript submission, any changes to contributor roles require the approval of the editor.

Disclosure of potential conflicts of interest

Authors

The Journal requires all authors to disclose any potential conflict of interest at the point of submission. Conflicts of interest should be clearly labeled and included on the title page. It is the responsibility of the corresponding author to ensure that conflicts of interest of all authors are declared to the Journal.

A conflict of interest exists when the position, activities, or relationships of an individual, whether direct or indirect, financial or non-financial, could influence or be seen to influence the opinions or activities of the individual. For more information, refer to ICMJE | Recommendations | Author Responsibilities—Disclosure of Financial and Non-Financial Relationships and Activities, and Conflicts of Interest. The Journal follows the COPE guidance for any undisclosed conflict of interest that emerges during peer review, production, or after publication.

Peer reviewers

Individuals that have a conflict of interest relating to a submitted manuscript should recuse themselves and will not be assigned to oversee, handle, or peer review the manuscript.

If during peer review an editor, reviewer, or author becomes aware of a conflict of interest that was not previously known or disclosed they must inform the Editor-in-Chief immediately.

Editors and Editorial Board members

At initial submission, the corresponding author must declare if the Editor-in-Chief, an Editor, or an Editorial Board Member of the Journal is an author of or contributor to the manuscript. Another Editor without a conflict of interest will oversee the peer review and decision-making process.

If accepted, a statement will be published in the paper describing how the manuscript was handled. The statement will read “[Author name] holds the position of [role] for [Journal] and has not peer reviewed or made any editorial decisions for this paper."

Previously published material

Authors should only submit a manuscript(s) to the Journal if:

• It is original work by the author and their co-author(s).
• It is not under consideration, in peer review, or accepted for publication in any other publication.
• It has not been published in any other publication.
• It contains nothing abusive, defamatory, derogatory, obscene, fraudulent, or illegal.

The submitting author must disclose in their cover letter and provide copies of all related or similar preprints, dissertations, manuscripts, published papers, and reports by the same authors (i.e., those containing substantially similar content or using the same, similar, or a subset of data) that have been previously published or posted electronically or are under consideration elsewhere at the time of manuscript submission. Authors must also provide a concise explanation of how the submitted manuscript differs from these related manuscripts and papers. All related previously published papers should be cited as references and described in the submitted manuscript.

The Journal does not discourage authors from presenting their findings at conferences or scientific meetings but recommends that they refrain from distributing complete copies of their manuscripts, which might later be published elsewhere without prior knowledge.

For previously published materials including tables and figures, please see the Reusing copyrighted materials section.

Preprints

Authors retain the right to make an Author’s Original Version (preprint) available through various channels and this does not prevent submission to the Journal. If accepted, the authors are required to update the status of any preprint, including adding a published paper’s DOI. For full details on allowed channels and updating a preprint, please see our Author self-archiving policy.

Reusing copyrighted material

Authors must obtain permission for any material used within a manuscript for which they are not the rightsholder, including quotations, tables, figures, images, data, or software. In seeking permissions for published materials, first contact the publisher rather than the author. For unpublished materials, start by contacting the creator. Copies of each grant of permission should be provided to the editorial office of the Journal. The permissions agreement must include the following:

• Nonexclusive rights to reproduce the material in the paper in Skin Health and Disease
• Rights for use in print and electronic format at a minimum, and preferably for use in any form or medium
• Lifetime rights to use the material
• Worldwide English-language rights

If authors have not obtained open access re-use permissions for third-party material contained within the manuscript, this must be stated clearly by supplying a credit line alongside the material with the following information:

• Title of content
• Author, Original publication, year of original publication, by permission of [rightsholder]
• This image/content is not covered by the terms of the Creative Commons licence of this publication. For permission to reuse, please contact the rights holder.

Our publisher, Oxford University Press, provides detailed Copyright and Permissions Guidelines, and a summary of the fundamental information.

Misconduct

Authors should observe high standards with respect to research integrity and publication ethics as set out by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). Falsification or fabrication of data including inappropriate image manipulation, plagiarism, including duplicate publication of the author's own work without proper citation, and misappropriation of work are all unacceptable practices. Allegations of ethical misconduct, both directly and through social media, are treated seriously and will be investigated in accordance with the relevant COPE guidance.

If misconduct has been established beyond reasonable doubt, this may result in one or more of the following outcomes, among others:

• If a submitted manuscript is still under consideration, it may be rejected and returned to the author.
• If a paper has already been published online, depending on the nature and severity of the infraction, either a correction notice will be published and linked to the paper, or retraction of the paper will occur, following the COPE Retraction Guidelines.
• The relevant party’s institution(s) and/or other journals may be informed.

Manuscripts submitted to the Journal may be screened with plagiarism-detection software. Any manuscript may be screened, especially if there is reason to suppose that part or all the of the manuscript has been previously published.

COPE defines plagiarism as “when somebody presents the work of others (data, words or theories) as if they were their own and without proper acknowledgment.”

COPE defines redundant/overlapping publication as “when a published work (or substantial sections from a published work) is/are published more than once (in the same or another language) without adequate acknowledgment of the source/cross-referencing/justification, or when the same (or substantially overlapping) data is presented in more than one publication without adequate cross-referencing/justification, particularly when this is done in such a way that reviewers/readers are unlikely to realize that most or all the findings have been published before.”

COPE defines citation manipulation as “behaviours intended to inflate citation counts for personal gain, such as: excessive self-citation of an authors’ own work, excessive citation to the journal publishing the citing article, and excessive citation between journals in a coordinated manner.”

Data fabrication is defined as intentionally creating fake data or misrepresenting research results. An example includes making up data sets.

Data falsification is defined as manipulating research data with the purpose of intentionally giving a false representation. This can apply to images, research materials, equipment, or processes.

Examples include cropping of gels/images to change context and omission of selected data.

If notified of a potential breach of research misconduct or publication ethics, the Journal editor and editorial office staff may inform OUP and/or the author’s institutional affiliation(s).

Ethical research

The Journal follows Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidelines on ethical oversight. We take research integrity seriously, and all research published in the Journal must have been conducted in a fair and ethical manner. Wherever appropriate, the Journal requires that all research be done according to international and local guidelines.

Human participants

When reporting on patients or participants, authors should indicate whether the procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the Helsinki Declaration, which were developed by the World Medical Association. For non-interventional studies, where ethical approval is not required or where a study has been granted an exemption by an ethics committee, this should be stated within the manuscript with a full explanation. Otherwise, manuscripts must include a statement that the research was performed after approval by a local ethics committee, institutional review board and/or local licencing committee, or that such approval was not required. The name of the authorizing body and any reference/permit numbers (where available) should also be stated there. Please be prepared to provide further information to the editorial office upon request.

Patients or participants must give written informed consent, or if they are minors or incapacitated, such consent must be obtained from their parents or guardians. Consent forms should cover not only study participation but also the publication of the data collected. Also, any patient or provider information should be anonymized to the extent possible; names and ID numbers should not be used in the text and must be removed from any images (X-rays, photographs, etc.).

Please note blanking out an individual’s eyes in a photograph is not an effective way to conceal their identity. In studies where verbal, rather than written, informed consent was obtained, this must be explained and stated within the manuscript. If informed consent is not required or where a study has been granted an exemption, this must be included in the Patient Consent statement along with the name of the authorizing body. The Journal does not routinely collect consent forms, but authors should be prepared to provide anonymised written consent forms signed by the participants or other appropriate documentation to the editorial office upon request. For further guidance and examples, please refer to COPE’s guidance on consent.

Patient involvement in research

One of SHD’s missions is to ensure that patients are involved in the research process, and hence we encourage authors to provide a short statement in the methods describing how patients were involved in the research.

Patient privacy

Patients have a right to privacy that should not be infringed without informed consent. Identifying information should not be published in written descriptions, photographs and pedigrees unless the information is essential for scientific purposes and the patient (or parent or guardian) gives written informed consent for publication.

Identifying details should be omitted if they are not essential, but patient data should never be altered or falsified to attain anonymity. Complete anonymity is difficult to achieve and informed consent for publication should be obtained if there is any doubt. Masking the eye region in photographs of patients is not allowed and offers inadequate protection of anonymity.

Authors must take adequate measures to protect participants’ privacy in the reporting of any qualitative research submitted to the SHD, for example by anonymizing the names of individuals and locations.

The journal requires that informed patient consent for publication is obtained for all case reports and for all clinical images, whether or not the patient is identifiable. Confirmation of patient consent for publication in accordance with the BAD publications patient consent form is required at the time of submission as we require confirmation to promote content and images on publicly accessible social media platforms.

The BAD publications patient consent form can be download here. If the patient is a minor, then the parent or guardian’s consent must be obtained. For any patient who is deceased, where possible patient consent for publication from the next of kin must be taken.

Clinical trials

Clinical trials should be registered before enrollment of the first subject in accordance with the criteria outlined by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE). When reporting primary or secondary analyses from a clinical trial, follow these criteria:

• Provide the trial registration number at the end of the Abstract.
• When the trial acronym is first used in the manuscript, provide the registration number and a link to the trial registration, which should be cited as a reference.
• If an author’s data has been deposited in a public repository and/or are being used in a secondary analysis, please state at the end of the Abstract the unique, persistent data set identifier, and repository name and number.
• When submitting the manuscript, authors must disclose any protocol alterations and all posting of results of the submitted work or closely related work in registries.
• In reporting randomized clinical trials, authors must comply with published CONSORT guidelines. This must be included with the manuscript files at submission.
• Present the recommended trial flow diagram as a figure in the manuscript or as supplementary material.

Where available, registration numbers should be provided not only for the trial authors are reporting but also for any other trial mentioned in the manuscript. When the trial acronym is first used in the manuscript, provide the registration number and a link to the trial registration, which should be cited as a reference. 

Animal subjects

Studies involving animals require approval from the relevant institutional ethics committee or institutional animal use and care committee, and the research must be conducted in accordance with applicable national and international guidelines. All such manuscripts must include a statement providing details of the name of the committee(s) that approved the study, as well as the permit or animal licence numbers where available. Where a study has been granted an exemption, this must be stated along with the name of the authorizing body. Please be prepared to provide further information to the editorial office upon request.

ARRIVE guidelines

Authors are encouraged to consult the ARRIVE guidelines recommended by the National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3R).

C4DISC partnership

The Journal, the British Association of Dermatologists, and OUP aim to create a community that fosters diversity, equity, and inclusion. As part of our commitment to these principles, OUP is a proud partner of the Coalition for Diversity & Inclusion in Scholarly Communications (C4DISC). C4DISC works with organisations and individuals within the scholarly communications landscape to foster equity, inclusion, diversity, and accessibility across the publishing industry and its published outputs.

The Journal is proud to adopt the Joint Statement of Principles of C4DISC.

Inclusive language

As defined by the Linguistic Society of America, “Inclusive language acknowledges diversity, conveys respect to all people, is sensitive to differences, and promotes equal opportunities”. We encourage authors to consider using inclusive language and images when preparing a manuscript. For guidelines, please see the Inclusive language guide for BAD journals.

Availability of data and materials

Where ethically feasible, the Journal strongly encourages authors to make all data and software code on which the conclusions of the paper rely available to readers. Authors are required to include a data availability statement in their paper. When data and software underlying the research article are available in an online source, authors should include a full citation in their reference list. For details of the minimum information to be included in data and software citations see the OUP guidance on citing research data and software.

Whenever possible, data should be presented in the main manuscript or additional supporting files or deposited in a public repository. Visit OUP’s Research data page for information on general repositories for all data types, and resources for selecting repositories by subject area.

Data availability statement

The inclusion of a data availability statement is a requirement for papers published in the Journal. Data availability statements provide a standardized format for readers to understand the availability of original and third-party data underlying the research results described in the paper. The statement should describe and provide means of access, where possible, by linking to the data or providing the required unique identifier.

More information and example data availability statements.

Choosing where to archive your data

Authors are highly encouraged to select a repository that issues DOIs as this helps to facilitate persistent linking to the dataset from the research article. You may refer to online resources such as FAIRsharing.org and re3data.org for lists of data repositories, including information on certification status and services offered.

We suggest you consider these options when choosing your repository:

• Dryad Digital Repository
• Figshare

Digital preservation

Content published in the Journal will automatically be deposited into digital preservation services, including CLOCKSS, the Global LOCKSS Network, and Portico. This ensures the long-term preservation of the work. Through LOCKSS, participating institutions can sustain access to content if the Journal were to otherwise be unavailable, even for a short period of time. Should the Journal ever cease to publish, or content would otherwise become permanently unavailable, long-term access to the archives of CLOCKSS and Portico would be triggered. Until such a trigger event were to occur, this content is not available to the public through CLOCKSS and Portico.

Self-archiving policy

Self-archiving refers to posting a copy of the work on a publicly accessible website or repository. Under certain circumstances, authors may self-archive versions of the work on their own webpages, on institutional webpages, and in other repositories. For information about the Journal's policy, and to learn which version(s) of the paper are acceptable for self-archiving, please see our Author self-archiving policy. 

Publishing Agreements and Charges

Authors, please read each section on the publishing agreement (also called a licence) and charges carefully.

Publishing agreements

After a manuscript is accepted, authors will be asked to sign a licence to publish through our licencing and payment portal, SciPris. The Journal is fully open access, meaning all papers in the Journal are published under an open access licence. The corresponding author will need to arrange payment of an open access charge to publish in the Journal. This charge allows all published papers to be immediately and freely available to all readers immediately upon online publication. Editorial decisions occur prior to this step and are not influenced by payment or ability to pay.

Papers can be published under the following licence types:

• Creative Commons Attribution licence (CC BY)
• Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial licence (CC BY-NC)

Please see the OUP guidance on Licences, copyright, and re-use rights for more information regarding these publishing agreement options.

Complying with funder mandates

Please note that some funders require open access publication as a condition of funding. If authors are unsure whether they are required to publish open access, they should clarify any such requirements with their funder or institution before selecting a licence. Further information on funder mandates and direct links to a range of funder policies.

Charges

Open Access Charges

Please see the details of open access licences and charges. If authors select an open access licence, then authors must pay the open access charge or request to use an institutional agreement to pay the open access charge through our licencing and payment portal, SciPris.

• Non-Member Charges for CC BY OA: £1,969
• Non-Member Charges for CC BY-NC OA: £1,969

A 50% APC discount is applicable for Case Report, Research Letter, Perspective, Images in Dermatology and Letter to the Editor articles.

Read and Publish

OUP has a growing number of open access agreements with institutions and consortia, which provide funding for open access publishing (also known as Read and Publish agreements). This means corresponding authors from participating institutions can publish open access, and the institution may pay the charge. Find out which institutions have an open access agreement.

To be eligible for one of OUP’s Read and Publish agreements, the corresponding author must provide their qualifying institution as their primary affiliation when they submit their manuscript. After submission, changing the corresponding author in order to access Read and Publish funding is not permissible.

Waiver policy

Corresponding authors based in countries and regions that are part of the developing countries initiative receive a full waiver of their open access charge. For further details, please see our open access waiver policy.

Colour charges

The Journal does not charge for colour.

Page charges

The Journal does not have page charges.

Member discounts

Corresponding authors who are members of the British Association of Dermatology may be eligible for discounts on publication charges. Please provide the member identifier when prompted at the time of manuscript submission.

Open access charge discount:

• Member Charges for CC BY OA: £1,572
• Member Charges for CC BY-NC OA: £1,572

After Publication

Changes to published papers

The Journal will only make changes to published papers if the publication record is seriously affected by the academic accuracy of the published information. Changes to a published paper will be accompanied by a formal correction notice linking to and from the original paper.

As needed, we follow the COPE guidelines on retractions.

For more information and details of how to request changes, including for authors who wish to update their name and/or pronouns, please see OUP’s policy on changes to published papers.

Promoting your work

As the author, you are the best advocate for your work, and we encourage you to be involved in promoting your publication. Sharing your ideas and news about your publication with your colleagues and friends could take as little as 15 minutes and will make a real difference in raising the profile of your research.

You can promote your work by:

• Sharing your paper with colleagues and friends. If your paper is published open access, it will always be freely available to all readers, and you can share it without any limitations. Otherwise, use the toll-free link that is emailed to you after publication. It provides permanent, free access to your paper, even if your paper is updated.
• Signing up for an ORCID iD author identifier to distinguish yourself from any other researchers with the same name, create an online profile showcasing all your publications, and increase the visibility of your work.
• Using social media to promote your work. To learn more about self-promotion on social media, see our social media guide for authors.

Find out how Oxford University Press promotes your content.

Press releases

Please notify the BAD press office of any intention to notify the media of a study which has not yet been published and is therefore under embargo.

You can contact the press office via: [email protected]. Where possible and appropriate, the BAD will provide you with a quote in support of the research.

If the article is not yet published online, press releases/information should be embargoed until the OUP publication date to ensure no media coverage before the article is available to be read. Your production contact or the BAD press office should be able to provide you with this information and where possible will attempt to publish the paper on a mutually agreeable date. Manuscript Submission Guide

Contact us

For questions regarding submission and review, including appeals, authors can reach the editorial office by email at [email protected].

After a paper has been sent to production, authors can contact [email protected] for questions regarding the production process or publication. Please see the Changes to Published Papers section if authors need to request a substantive correction to a published paper.