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The Cleft Palate Craniofacial Journal

The Cleft Palate Craniofacial Journal


eISSN: 15451569 | ISSN: 10556656 | Current volume: 61 | Current issue: 3 Frequency: Monthly

The Cleft Palate Craniofacial Journal (CPCJ) is the premier peer-reviewed, interdisciplinary, international journal dedicated to current research on etiology, prevention, diagnosis, and treatment in all areas pertaining to craniofacial anomalies. CPCJ reports on basic science and clinical research aimed at better elucidating the pathogenesis, pathology, and optimal methods of treatment of cleft and craniofacial anomalies. The journal strives to foster communication and cooperation among professionals from all specialties. CPCJ is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics.

Audience
Medical, surgical, dental, speech, and allied health. Because of the diverse and complex needs of patients, and the required services of many varied specialists, interdisciplinary cooperation and team care are promoted.

Mission Statement
The mission of The Cleft Palate Craniofacial Journal is to publish peer-reviewed information of the highest scientific quality regarding cleft palate and other craniofacial anomalies in order to advance the global education of scientists and clinicians.

Values
We value:
The acquisition and dissemination of knowledge regarding all aspects of craniofacial anomalies
The sharing of knowledge from both the basic and clinical sciences
The highest ethical standards in research and care
Interdisciplinary collaboration, education and team care

Editor
Jamie L. Perry, PhD, CCC-SLP Greenville, NC, USA
Associate Editor
Stephen F. Conley, MD, MS Milwaukee, WI, USA
Section Editors: Anatomy/Basic Sciences
James J. Cray, PhD Columbus, OH, USA
Nuno V. Hermann, DDS, PhD, Dr Odont Copenhagen, Denmark
Section Editors: Behavioral Sciences
Meredith Albert, PhD Chicago, IL, USA
Celia Heppner, PsyD, ABPP Dallas, TX, USA
Alessia L. Johns, PhD Los Angeles, CA, USA
Section Editors: Craniofacial Surgery
Section Editors: Dentistry & Orthodontics
Gregory S. Antonarakis, DDS, MSc, PhD Geneva, Switzerland
Richard A. Bruun, DDS Boston, MA, USA
Jaime de Jesús Viñas, DMD, MS San Juan, Puerto Rico, USA
Daniel Levy-Bercowski, DDS, MS, MSD Augusta, GA, USA
Kathy Russell, BSc, DDS, MSc Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
Rishma Shah, PhD, BDS, MSC Chapel Hill, NC, USA
Kirt E. Simmons, DDS, PhD Roland, AR, USA
Section Editor: Epidemiology
Section Editor: Ethics/Health Policies and Perspectives
Christian Vercler, MD Ann Arbor, MI, USA
Section Editors: Genetics
Walid Fakhouri,MSc, PhD Houston, TX, USA
Anne V. Hing, MD Seattle, WA, USA
Michele Rubini, MD Ferrara, Italy
Seth M. Weinberg, PhD Pittsburgh, PA, USA
Section Editors: Nursing
Sybill D. Naidoo, PhD, RN, CPNP St. Louis, MO, USA
Section Editors: Oral/Maxillofacial Surgery
Section Editor: Otolaryngology
Steven L. Goudy MD Atlanta, GA, USA
Krishna G. Patel, MD, PhD Charleston, SC, USA
Jonathan R. Skirko, MD, MHPA, MPH Salt Lake City, UT, USA
Section Editors: Pediatrics
Emily R. Gallagher, MD, MPH Seattle, WA, USA
Yvonne R. Gutierrez, MD Los Angeles, CA, USA
Anne V. Hing, MD Seattle, WA, USA
Section Editors: Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery
Craig B. Birgfeld, MD Seattle, WA, USA
Anand Kumar, MD, FACS, FAAP Cleveland, OH, USA
Miles J. Pfaff, MD MHS Irvine, CA, USA
Davinder J. Singh, MD Phoenix, AZ, USA
Raj M. Vyas, MD FACS Orange, CA, USA
Karen W. Y. Wong Riff, MD, PhD, FRCS(C) Toronto, ON, Canada
Section Editors: Speech Pathology
Alice Lee, PhD Cork, Ireland
Dennis Ruscello, PhD Morgantown, WV, USA
Debbie Sell, PhD London, UK
Linda Vallino-Napoli, PhD, MS, CCC-SLP/A Wilmington, DE, USA
Specialty Review Board
Tarek Abulezz, MD Sohag University, Sohag, Egypt
Nazan Adali, MSc, BDS, FDSRCS King’s College London / Luton and Dunstable University Hospital NHS Trust, London, United Kingdom
A.J. Agopian  
Meredith Albert, PhD Chicago, IL, USA
Cassandra Alghieri, PhD Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
Jill Arganbright, MD Children's Mercy Hospital, Kansas City, MO, USA
Alade Azeez, DDS, MS University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA
Susanna Botticelli, DDS, MSc, PhD IKH-Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
Rany Bous, BDS, MDS Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA
Curtis Budden, MD MEd FRCSC Stollery Children's Hospital, Edmonton, AB, Canada
Jenna Carlson, MS School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh, USA
William Carroll, MD Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA
Cynthia Cassell, PhD, MA PRAMS, WHFB, DRH, CDC, Atlanta, GA, USA
Siva Chinnadurai, MD, PhD Children's Minnesota, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
Ellen Cohn, PhD, CCC-SLP ASHA, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
Kristopher Day, MD Pacific Sound Plastic Surgery, Bellevue, WA, USA
Gillian De Boer, PhD University of Alberta, Edmonton Canada, Alberta, Canada
Rafael Denadai, MD A&D DermePlastique, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Rahma ElNaghy, BDS, MS, MOrthRCSEd, PhD, FDSRCS, FRCDC University of Detroit Mercy School of Dentistry, USA
Mohamed Elshazly, MD Assiut University, Assiut, Egypt
Vale Francisco, PhD, MSc, DDM University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
Emily Gallagher, MD, MPH, FAAP University of Washington, Seattle Children's Hospital, Seattle, WA, USA
Lord Gowans, PhD Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi, Ghana
Jordan Halsey, MD Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital, St. Petersburg, FL, USA
Hedieh Hashemi Hosseinabad, PhD, CCC-SLP University of North Texas, Denton, TX, USA
Syed Hashmi, MD, MPH, PhD McGovern Medical School at The University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston, TX, USA
Celia Heppner, PsyD, ABPP Children’s Health System of Texas, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA
Chiung-Shing Huang, DDS, PhD Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Taipei,Taiwan
Hanyao Huang, DDS, PhD West China Hospital of Stomatology, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
David Jones, PhD University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY, USA
Rami Kantar, MD, MPH New York University, New York, NY, USA
Kathy Kapp- Simon, PhD Shriner's Children's Hospital Chicago, Univ. of Illinois,Chicago, IL, USA
Alison Kaye, MD Overland Park Regional Medical Center, Overland Park, KS, USA
Kristina Klinto, PhD Lund University, Skåne University Hospital, Lund/Malmö, Sweden
Katelyn Kotlarek, PhD, CCC-SLP University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY, USA
James Lee, MD Kaiser Permanente School of Medicine, Keck School of Medicine , Los Angeles, CA, USA
Brenda Louw, SLP East Tennessee State University,Johnson City, TN, USA
David Low, Professor, MD Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, USA
Leanne Magee, PhD Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, USA
Meg Maguire, MS, RN, CPNP-PC Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, USA
Alexader Marston, MD Tufts Medical Center, Boston, MA, USA
Susan Motch Perrine, PhD Dept of Anthropology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA
Jeanne Nervina, DMD, MS, PhD CTOR Academy, Hoboken, NJ, USA
Kamlesh Patel, MD, MSc St. Louis Children’s Hospital, Washington University School of Medicine , St. Louis, MO, USA
Valerie Pereira, PhD, MSc University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR
Sally Peterson-Falzone, PhD, CCC-Sp, ASHA honors University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
Elizabeth Prada, DMD, MPH  Lancaster Cleft Palate Clinic, Lancaster, PA, USA
Shankar Rangasamy Venugopalan, DDS, DMSc, CAGE(Ortho), PhD Tufts University School of Dental Medicine, Boston, MA, USA
Reynaldo Rivera  
Brianne Roby, MD, FACS Children's Minnesota, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
Brian Schutte, PhD Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA
Amber Shaffer, PhD UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
Thomas Sitzman, MD, MPH Phoenix Children’s Hospital, Univ. of Arizona College of Medicine , Phoenix, AZ, USA
Multimedia Specialist
President
Adriane L. Baylis, PhD Columbus, OH, USA
President Elect
Oksana A. Jackson, MD Philadelphia, PA, USA
Past President
Vice President
Steven L. Goudy MD Atlanta, GA, USA
Vice President-Elect
Canice E. Crerand, PhD Columbus, OH, USA
Communications Officer
James J. Cray, PhD Columbus, OH, USA
Treasurer
Scott A. Dailey, PhD, CCC-SLP Iowa City, IA, USA
Board Members
Joli C. Chou, DMD, MD Philadelphia, PA, USA
Kelly Nett Cordero, PhD, CCC-SLP Phoenix, AZ, USA
Sean P. Edwards, MD, DDS, FACS, FRCDC Ann Arbor, MI, USA
Deji V. Fashemo, DDS, MPH Dallas, TX, USA
Gregory D. Pearson, MD Columbus, OH, USA
Melisande J. Ploutz, CPNP, CLC Rochester, NY, USA
Lindsay A. Schuster, DMD, MS Pittsburgh, PA, USA
Ex-officio
Stephen Len Philadelphia, PA, USA
Adam M. Levy, CAE, ACPA Executive Director Chapel Hill, NC
Jamie L. Perry, PhD, East Carolina University, Editor The Cleft Palate Craniofacial Journal, Greenville, NC, USA
Suzanne Santomieri Charlotte, NC, USA

Important Notice of Changes, effective 01/01/2022: CPCJ recently made changes to these below author guidelines, please carefully review these changes before submitting your paper. One substantial change is moving to strictly follow AMA referencing style. This impacts NEW submissions only (that is, new papers uploaded as of January 1, 2022).

Due to the worldwide impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, we are very aware that many researchers and reviewers will have difficulty meeting the typical timelines associated with our journal’s peer review process. Our editorial office will continue to send reminders, but we intend to be very flexible during this time. Please do let us know if you will need additional time. Furthermore, journal submissions are currently substantially higher for CPCJ and the availability of reviewers in some cases is limited. This may cause delays, but please be rest assured that our journal team is working to ensure the timely management of your submission.

This Journal is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics.

Please read the guidelines below then visit the Journal’s submission site https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/cpcj to upload your manuscript. Please note that manuscripts not conforming to these guidelines may be returned.

Sage Publishing disseminates high-quality research and engaged scholarship globally, and we are committed to diversity and inclusion in publishing. We encourage submissions from a diverse range of authors from across all countries and backgrounds.

There are no fees payable to submit or publish in this Journal. Open Access options are available - see section 3.3 below.

  1. What do we publish?
    1.1 Aims & Scope
    1.2 Article types
    1.3 Writing your paper
  2. Editorial policies
    2.1 Peer review policy
    2.2 Authorship
    2.3 Writing assistance
    2.4 Artificial Intelligence
    2.5 Funding Disclosure
    2.6 Declaration of conflicting interests
    2.7 Research ethics and patient consent
    2.8 Clinical trials
    2.9 Reporting guidelines
    2.10 Research Data
    2.11 Cover letter
  3. Publishing policies
    3.1 Publication ethics
    3.2 Contributor's publishing agreement
    3.3 Open access and author archiving
  4. Preparing and submitting your manuscript
    4.1 File format
    4.2 Make your article discoverable
    4.3 Identifiable information
    4.4 Use of “Patient-First” Language
    4.5 Avoiding Priority Claims
    4.6 Manuscript files to be uploaded
    4.7 English language editing services
    4.8 ORCID
    4.9 Permissions
  5. On acceptance and publication
    5.1 Sage Production
    5.2 Online First publication
    5.3 Access to your published article
    5.4 Promoting your article
  6. Further information
  7. Appealing the publication decision

1. What do we publish?

1.1 Aims & Scope

Before submitting your manuscript to CPCJ, please ensure you have read the Aims & ScopeCPCJ publishes manuscripts of the highest scientific quality on all topics related to orofacial clefts and other craniofacial anomalies to advance the global education of scientists and clinicians.

Only manuscripts of sufficient quality that meet the aims and scope of The Cleft Palate Craniofacial Journal (CPCJ) will be reviewed. CPCJ is directed to a multidisciplinary readership of clinicians and scientists interested in craniofacial anomalies, including cleft lip and cleft palate.

1.2 Article Types

Research

PRISMA checklist
CONSORT checklist

 

Clinical Review and Education

 

Opinion

1.3 Writing your paper

The Sage Author Gateway has some general advice and on how to get published, plus links to further resources. Sage Author Services also offers authors a variety of ways to improve and enhance their article including English language editing, plagiarism detection, and video abstract and infographic preparation.

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2. Editorial policies

2.1 Peer review policy

When a manuscript is submitted, CPCJ editorial staff perform and initial evaluation according to the following criteria: material is original and timely, writing is clear, study methods are appropriate, data are valid, conclusions are reasonable and supported by the data, information is important, and topic has general interest to readers of this journal. From these basic criteria, the editors assess a paper's suitability for publication. Suitable manuscripts are sent to expert consultants for peer review. Manuscripts deemed unsuitable for publication are rejected promptly.

Two independent peer reviews are typically solicited. At the discretion of the Section Editor, a third review may be requested and/or a review by a biostatistician may also be solicited. The Editor is responsible for all final decisions regarding acceptance or rejection, recommendations for revision, and final editing. Manuscripts will be evaluated according to various criteria, including scientific methodology, level of evidence, novelty, clarity, and conciseness. Accepted articles describing novel findings or methods with high levels of evidence may be advanced in the publication queue at the discretion of the Editor. 

All submitted articles are "double-anonymized" to ensure an unbiased review. Reviewers will not have access to author names or affiliations. Authors will not have access to reviewer names or affiliations.

The Editor or members of the Editorial Board may occasionally submit their own manuscripts for possible publication in the journal. In these cases, the peer review process will be managed by alternative members of the Board and the submitting Editor/Board member will have no involvement in the decision-making process.

CPCJ is committed to delivering high quality, fast peer-review for your paper, and as such has partnered with Publons. Publons is a third-party service that seeks to track, verify and give credit for peer review. Reviewers for CPCJ can opt in to Publons in order to claim their reviews or have them automatically verified and added to their reviewer profile. Reviewers claiming credit for their review will be associated with the relevant journal, but the article name, reviewer’s decision and the content of their review is not published on the site. For more information visit the Publons website.

Reviewers for CPCJ have the option to invite a Reviewer in Training (a graduate student, postdoctoral fellow, early-career research assistant or associate) to serve as a co-reviewer. This program is completely optional. This opportunity is afforded as an educational experience to the Reviewer in Training. The quality of the review is the responsibility of the lead reviewer and not of the Reviewer in Training. The Reviewer in Training will not receive any communications about the manuscript. The use of the contact information for the Reviewer in Training may be used to invite and authorize reviewer roles in the future. If the mentee wishes to be recognized in Publons, the lead reviewer can forward the email that certifies they completed the review to the mentee and then the mentee can send that to Publons. If you worked with a reviewer in training and wish to give them credit, please complete the survey here: https://survey.alchemer.com/s3/7392813/CPCJ-Reviewer-Scoresheet

2.2 Authorship

Papers should only be submitted for consideration once consent is given by all contributing authors. Those submitting papers should carefully check that all those whose work contributed to the paper are acknowledged as contributing authors. 

The list of authors should include all those who can legitimately claim authorship. This is all those who:

  1. Made a substantial contribution to the concept or design of the work; or acquisition, analysis or interpretation of data,
  2. Drafted the article or revised it critically for important intellectual content,
  3. Approved the version to be published, 
  4. Participated sufficiently in the work to take public responsibility for appropriate portions of the content.

The corresponding author must declare his or her contribution to the manuscript by signing the copyright transfer form on behalf of all authors. Authors should meet the conditions of all the points above.

CPCJ follows authorship guidelines as outlined by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE). Only those involved in writing the paper should be included in the author line. Others should be listed as a footnote or acknowledgment. These authors will be indexed in PubMed as full authors.

The CPCJ allows research groups to be recognized in submitted manuscripts. Authors should identify both the group name and the individual authors who accept responsibility for the article (e.g., Smith A, Johnson R, Williams T; The CleftCran Research Group). The named individuals must meet the full criteria and requirements for authorship as described above. Other research group members who do not qualify for authorship may be listed in an Acknowledgement.

Acquisition of funding, collection of data, or general supervision of the research group alone does not constitute authorship, although all contributors who do not meet the criteria for authorship should be listed in the Acknowledgments section. Please refer to the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) authorship guidelines for more information on authorship.

Authors should determine the order of authorship among themselves and should settle any disagreements before submitting their manuscript. Changes in authorship (ie, order, addition, and deletion of authors) should be discussed and approved by all authors. Any requests for such changes in authorship after initial manuscript submission and before publication should be explained in writing to the editor in a letter or email from all authors.

Please note that AI chatbots, for example ChatGPT, should not be listed as authors. For more information see the policy on Use of ChatGPT and generative AI tools.

2.3 Writing assistance

Individuals who provided writing assistance, e.g., from a specialist communications company, do not qualify as authors and so should be included in the Acknowledgements section. Authors must disclose any writing assistance – including the individual’s name, company and level of input – and identify the entity that paid for this assistance.

It is not necessary to disclose use of language polishing services.

2.4 Artificial Intelligence

Use of Large Language Models and generative AI tools in writing your submission

Sage recognizes the value of large language models (LLMs) (e.g. ChatGPT) and generative AI as productivity tools that can help authors in preparing their article for submission; to generate initial ideas for a structure, for example, or when summarizing, paraphrasing, language polishing etc. However, it is important to note that all language models have limitations and are unable to replicate human creative and critical thinking. Human intervention with these tools is essential to ensure that content presented is accurate and appropriate to the reader. Sage therefore requires authors to be aware of the limitations of language models and to consider these in any use of LLMs in their submissions:

Objectivity: Previously published content that contains racist, sexist or other biases can be present in LLM-generated text, and minority viewpoints may not be represented. Use of LLMs has the potential to perpetuate these biases because the information is decontextualized and harder to detect.
Accuracy: LLMs can ‘hallucinate’ i.e. generate false content, especially when used outside of their domain or when dealing with complex or ambiguous topics. They can generate content that is linguistically but not scientifically plausible, they can get facts wrong, and they have been shown to generate citations that don’t exist. Some LLMs are only trained on content published before a particular date and therefore present an incomplete picture.
Contextual understanding: LLMs cannot apply human understanding to the context of a piece of text, especially when dealing with idiomatic expressions, sarcasm, humor, or metaphorical language. This can lead to errors or misinterpretations in the generated content.
Training data: LLMs require a large amount of high-quality training data to achieve optimal performance. However, in some domains or languages, such data may not be readily available, limiting the usefulness of the model.

Guidance for authors

Authors are required to:

  1. Clearly indicate the use of language models in the manuscript, including which model was used and for what purpose. Please use the methods or acknowledgements section, as appropriate.
  2. Verify the accuracy, validity, and appropriateness of the content and any citations generated by language models and correct any errors or inconsistencies.
  3. Provide a list of sources used to generate content and citations, including those generated by language models. Double-check citations to ensure they are accurate, and are properly referenced.
  4. Be conscious of the potential for plagiarism where the LLM may have reproduced substantial text from other sources. Check the original sources to be sure you are not plagiarizing someone else’s work.
  5. Acknowledge the limitations of language models in the manuscript, including the potential for bias, errors, and gaps in knowledge.
  6. Please note that AI bots such as ChatGPT should not be listed as an author on your submission.

We will take appropriate corrective action where we identify published articles with undisclosed use of such tools.

2.5 Funding Disclosure

CPCJ requires all authors to report their funding. Authors will be asked to disclose any sources of funding during submission. Be sure to include all relevant grant numbers and the names of the granting agencies. This information will be used to generate a funding statement that will appear at the end of the manuscript. Funding information should not be included in the acknowledgements or manuscript text because it can compromise anonymity during peer review.

2.6 Declaration of conflicting interests

It is the policy of CPCJ to require a declaration of conflicting interests from all authors enabling a statement to be carried within the paginated pages of all published articles. Authors are required to disclose, on the title page included with the submission, any relevant conflict of interest, including direct or indirect financial interests they may have in the materials or subject matter dealt with in the manuscript. This information will be held in confidence by the Editor during the review process but will be included in publication of an accepted manuscript. If no conflict exists, please state that ‘The Author(s) declare(s) that there is no conflict of interest’.

For guidance on conflict of interest statements, please see the ICMJE recommendations here.

2.7 Research ethics and patient consent

Medical research involving human subjects must be conducted according to the World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki. Compliance with these guidelines should be indicated in the Methods section of the manuscript, along with Institutional Review Board approval if appropriate.

Submitted manuscripts should conform to the ICMJE Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals, and all papers reporting animal and/or human studies must state in the methods section that the relevant Ethics Committee or Institutional Review Board (IRB) provided (or waived) approval. Please ensure that you have provided the full name and institution of the review committee, in addition to the approval number.

While informed consent might not be required for consecutive case series and/or retrospective chart review reports, these are still considered research given that the objective of your report is to generalize the findings. As such, they require Humans Subjects Review Board approval. If IRB approval is not available, the authors must state so in a cover letter accompanying the submission and include a statement in the manuscript that principles outlined in the Declaration of Helsinki were followed.

For research articles, authors are also required to state in the methods section whether participants provided informed consent and whether the consent was written or verbal.

Information on informed consent to report individual cases or case series should be included in the manuscript text. A statement is required regarding whether written informed consent for patient information and images to be published was provided by the patient(s) or a legally authorized representative. The author is responsible for ensuring the anonymity of protection of any individual depicted in a manuscript. A signed permission form must be obtained for any recognizable individual appearing in manuscript figures.

Shading of the eyes is not an acceptable means of rendering an individual unrecognizable. If an author chooses to use his/her own institutional patient permission form, it must include permission to use photographs for all types of publication including but not limited to print, visual, electronic, or broadcast media.

Please also refer to the ICMJE Recommendations for the Protection of Research Participants.

All research involving animals submitted for publication must be approved by an ethics committee with oversight of the facility in which the studies were conducted. The Journal has adopted the ARRIVE guidelines.

2.8 Clinical trials

CPCJ endorses the ICMJE requirement that clinical trials are registered in a WHO-approved public trials registry at or before the time of first patient enrolment. However, consistent with the AllTrials campaign, retrospectively registered trials will be considered if the justification for late registration is acceptable. The trial registry name and URL, and registration number must be included at the end of the abstract.

2.9 Reporting guidelines

The relevant EQUATOR Network reporting guidelines should be followed depending on the type of study. For example, all randomized controlled trials submitted for publication should include a completed CONSORT flow chart as a cited figure and the completed CONSORT checklist should be uploaded with your submission as a supplementary file. Systematic reviews and meta-analyses should include the completed PRISMA flow chart as a cited figure and the completed PRISMA checklist should be uploaded with your submission as a supplementary file. The EQUATOR wizard can help you identify the appropriate guideline.

Other resources can be found at NLM’s Research Reporting Guidelines and Initiatives.

2.10 Research data

At Sage we are committed to facilitating openness, transparency and reproducibility of research. Where relevant, CPCJ requests all authors submit any primary data used in their research articles alongside their article submissions to be published in the online version of the journal or provide detailed information in their articles on how the data can be obtained. This information should include links to third-party data repositories or detailed contact information for third-party data sources. Data available only on an author-maintained website will need to be loaded onto either the journal’s platform or a third-party platform to ensure continuing accessibility.

Examples of data types include but are not limited to statistical data files, replication code, text files, audio files, images, videos, appendices, and additional charts and graphs necessary to understand the original research. The editor may consider limited embargoes on proprietary data. The editor can also grant exceptions for data that cannot legally or ethically be released. All data submitted should comply with Institutional or Ethical Review Board requirements and applicable government regulations. Authors should also follow data citation principles.

For more information please visit the Sage Author Gateway, which includes information about Sage’s partnership with the data repository Figshare.

Author have the option of including a data availability statement during the submission process.

2.11 Cover letter

Cover letters are required when addressing topics such as IRB exceptions (Sect 2.6) or anything related to third-party submissions (Sect 4.6.1). 

If none of these situations apply, then cover letters are optional. However, CPCJ encourages cover letters if authors have special information they wish to declare or disclose. For example, authors may wish to outline why their research is innovative or novel.

The manuscript submission system requires that cover letters be submitted as Microsoft Word documents.

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3. Publishing Policies

3.1 Publication ethics

Sage is committed to upholding the integrity of the academic record. We encourage authors to refer to the Committee on Publication Ethics’ International Standards for Authors and view the Publication Ethics page on the Sage Author Gateway.

3.1.1 Plagiarism

The Cleft Palate Craniofacial Journal (CPCJ) and Sage take issues of copyright infringement, plagiarism or other breaches of best practice in publication very seriously. We seek to protect the rights of our authors and we always investigate claims of plagiarism or misuse of published articles. Equally, we seek to protect the reputation of the journal against malpractice. Submitted articles may be checked with duplication-checking software. Where an article, for example, is found to have plagiarised other work or included third-party copyright material without permission or with insufficient acknowledgement, or where the authorship of the article is contested, we reserve the right to take action including, but not limited to: publishing an erratum or corrigendum (correction); retracting the article; taking up the matter with the head of department or dean of the author's institution and/or relevant academic bodies or societies; or taking appropriate legal action.

3.1.2 Prior publication

If material has been previously published it is not generally acceptable for publication in a Sage journal. However, there are certain circumstances where previously published material can be considered for publication. Please refer to the guidance on the Sage Author Gateway or if in doubt, contact the Editor at the address given below.

Please note as part of the submission process you will be required to warrant that you are submitting your original work, that you have the rights, that you have obtained and can supply all necessary permissions for the reproduction of any copyright works not owned by you, that you are submitting the work for first publication in the Journal, and that it is not being considered for publication elsewhere and has not already been published elsewhere. \

Note that the Journal may accept submissions of papers that have been posted on pre-print servers; include the DOI for the preprint in the designated field during the submission process. Authors should not post an updated version of their paper on the preprint server while it is being peer reviewed for possible publication in the journal. If the article is accepted for publication, the author may re-use their work according to the Journal’s author archiving policy. If your paper is accepted, you must include a link on your preprint to the final version of your paper.

3.2 Contributor's publishing agreement

Before publication, Sage requires the author as the rights holder to sign a Journal Contributor’s Publishing Agreement. Sage’s Journal Contributor’s Publishing Agreement is an exclusive licence agreement which means that the author retains copyright in the work but grants Sage the sole and exclusive right and licence to publish for the full legal term of copyright. Exceptions may exist where an assignment of copyright is required or preferred by a proprietor other than Sage. In this case copyright in the work will be assigned from the author to the society. For more information please visit the Sage Author Gateway.

3.3 Open access and author archiving

CPCJ offers optional open access publishing via the Sage Choice programme and Open Access agreements, where authors can publish open access either discounted or free of charge depending on the agreement with Sage. Find out if your institution is participating by visiting Open Access Agreements at Sage. For more information on Open Access publishing options at Sage please visit Sage Open Access. For information on funding body compliance, and depositing your article in repositories, please visit Sage’s Author Archiving and Re-Use Guidelines and Publishing Policies.

4. Preparing your manuscript for submission

CPCJ is hosted on Sage Track, a web based online submission and peer review system powered by ScholarOne™ Manuscripts. Visit https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/cpcj to login and submit your article online.

IMPORTANT: Please check whether you already have an account in the system before trying to create a new one. If you have reviewed or authored for the journal in the past year it is likely that you will have had an account created. For further guidance on submitting your manuscript online, please visit ScholarOne.

Before entering the online manuscript submission system, please be sure the following elements are on hand:

  • Contact details for all authors
  • Funding disclosure details (when applicable – see Sect 2.4)
  • Main manuscript files, including a separate title page (required) and separate tables and figures (if included)
  • Any supplemental files (optional)
  • Cover Letter (see Sect. 2.10 for when this is required)
  • Completed PRISMA checklist (for systematic reviews and meta-analyses)
  • Completed CONSORT checklist (for clinical trials)
  • Twitter handles for authors and a drafted tweet of no more than 280 characters (optional)
  • A data availability statement (optional, unless required by funder or institution)

4.1 File format

The preferred format for your manuscript is Word. LaTeX files are also accepted. Word and (La)Tex templates are available on the Manuscript Submission Guidelines page of our Author Gateway. Please ensure your manuscript is in either Word or LaTeX otherwise it may be sent back to you.

4.2 Make your article discoverable

When writing up your paper, think about how you can make it discoverable. The title, keywords and abstract are key to ensuring readers find your article through search engines such as Google. For information and guidance on how best to title your article, write your abstract and select your keywords, have a look at this page on the Gateway: How to Help Readers Find Your Article Online 

4.3 Identifiable information

CPCJ uses double-anonymized peer review, and thus authors are required to submit: 

  1. version of the manuscript which has any information that compromises the anonymity of the author(s) removed. This version will be sent to the peer reviewers. 
  2. separate title page which includes any potentially identifying material. This will not be sent to the peer reviewers. 

See this page for detailed guidance on making an anonymous submission.

4.4 Use of “Patient-First” Language

Please be sure you are using patient-first language in your entire manuscript (e.g., use "patients with CLP" instead of "CLP patients"; or "patients with 22q11.2 DS" instead of 22q11.2DS patients").

4.5 Avoiding Priority Claims

Manuscripts should avoid priority claims such as "this is the first study to...", "this is the largest study", etc. even when qualified by statements like "to our knowledge..."

4.6 Manuscript files to be uploaded

These include: Title Page (required); Manuscript (required); Tables (optional); Figures (optional); Supplemental Materials (optional).

4.6.1 Title Page

The Title Page (submitted separately from the manuscript) must include (in the following order):

  • Title (maximum 20 words); should be informative, relevant, and concise
  • Author names with no more than three highest attained degrees, in the order that they will appear in print
  • Institutional affiliation for each author. The affiliation listed should be the institution where the research was conducted. If an author has moved to a new institution since completing the research, the new affiliation can be included in a manuscript note at the end of the paper.
  • Name, address, telephone number, fax number, and email address of the corresponding author, who will receive all editorial communication and reprint requests
  • Declaration of conflicting interest statement.  Authors must disclose any relevant conflict of interest, including direct or indirect financial interests they may have in the materials or subject matter dealt with in the manuscript. If no conflict exists, please state that ‘The Author(s) declare(s) that there is no conflict of interest.
  • Any Acknowledgements to be included in the manuscript (see details below)
  • If applicable, statement that manuscript was presented at a professional meeting, including the name, date, and location of the meeting
  • Running title (less than 8 words)

Acknowledgments

All contributors who do not meet the criteria for authorship should be listed in an Acknowledgements section. Examples of those who might be acknowledged include a person who provided purely technical help, or a department chair who provided only general support. 

If professional writing assistance was provided (e.g., from a specialist communications company) this should be included in the Acknowledgements section. Authors must disclose any writing assistance – including the individual’s name, company and level of input – and identify the entity that paid for this assistance.

When an individual who is not listed as an author submits a manuscript on behalf of the author(s), a statement must be included in the Acknowledgements section of the manuscript and in the accompanying cover letter. The statement must confirm that the listed authors have authorized the submission of their manuscript via third party and approved any statements or declarations, e.g., conflicting interests, funding, etc.

Where appropriate, Sage reserves the right to deny consideration to manuscripts submitted by a third party rather than by the authors themselves.

Do not include funding information in the Acknowledgements. Authors will be asked to disclose any sources of funding during submission.

To ensure that the article is anonymized, please do not include author names or affiliations, or any other identifying information in any portion of the manuscript other than this Title Page.

A formatted title page example can be found here for reference.

4.6.2 Manuscript

Word counts and specific formatting requirements for different article types are further described in Section 1.2. A formatted manuscript example can be found here for reference.

Page 1: Title The first page of the manuscript text file should include only the title used on the Title Page (above).

Page 2: Abstract Original articles and Ideas and Innovations articles should include a structured abstract of no longer than 250 words with the following headings and information, as applicable.

Structured Abstract:

  • Objective: State the main question or objective of the study and the major hypothesis tested, if any.
  • Design: Describe the design of the study indicating, as appropriate, use of randomization, anonymization, criterion standards for diagnostic tests, temporal direction (retrospective or prospective), etc.
  • Setting: Indicate the study setting, including the level of clinical care (for example, primary or tertiary; private practice or institutional).
  • Patients, Participants: State selection procedures, entry criteria, and numbers of participants entering and finishing the study.
  • Interventions: Describe the essential features of any intervention, including the methods and duration of administration.
  • Main Outcome Measure(s): The primary study outcome measures should be indicated as planned before data collection began. If the hypothesis being reported was formulated during or after data collection, this fact should be clearly stated.
  • Results: Describe measurements that are not evident from the nature of the main results and indicate any anonymization. If possible, the results should be accompanied by confidence intervals (most often the 95% interval) and the exact level of statistical significance. For comparative studies, confidence intervals should relate to the differences between groups. Absolute values should be indicated when risk changes or effect sizes are given.
  • Conclusions: State only those conclusions of the study that are directly supported by data, along with their clinical application (avoiding overgeneralization) and/or whether additional study is required before the information should be used in clinical settings. Equal emphasis must be given to positive and negative findings of equal scientific merit.

(Reproduced with permission from: Haynes RB et al. More informative abstracts revisited. Ann Intern Med. 1990;113:69–76).

Data-based Brief Communications articles should include a structured abstract of no longer than 150 words with the following headings: Objective, Design, Setting, Patients/Participants, Interventions, Main Outcome Measure(s), Results, Conclusions.

Non-data-based Brief Communications, Perspective articles, and Ethics/Health Policy reports should include an unstructured abstract of no longer than 100 words.

Case/Clinical reports should include an unstructured abstract of no longer than 100 words, describing the objective, essential features and uniqueness of the case being presented, and conclusions.

What I (We) Do articles should include a 50–75-word structured abstract with the following format: background (what is the issue/problem), solution, what I/we did that is new.

Narrative reviews should include an unstructured abstract of no longer than 250 words.

Letters to the Editor and Editorials do not require abstracts.

A note about Key Words: Please do not include a list of Key Words in the manuscript. During manuscript submission, authors will be asked to select Key Words from a list of curated terms. The minimum number of Key Words required is three.

Page 3: Body of Manuscript. Where applicable, divide the body of the manuscript into the Introduction, Methods, Results, Conclusion, References, and Figure Legends (if figures are included).

Additional details on the References and Figure Legends are included below.

If accepted, a Declaration of Conflicting Interests statement and a Funding Disclosure statement will be added to the manuscript during production. If any Acknowledgments were included on the title page, this text will also be added to the manuscript during production and will appear just before the references.

The CPCJ follows guidelines published in the American Medical Association Manual of Style.

  • Manuscripts should be typed double-spaced with 1” margins, left justified, and use a standard 12-point font.
  • Pages should be numbered consecutively in the upper right-hand corner.
  • Do not print a running title.
  • Turn off the word processing program’s hyphenation feature and ‘‘smart quotes’’ feature before typing.
  • Headings must be used to designate the major divisions of the manuscript. Up to three levels of headings may be used.

Statistics

If a statistical analysis is conducted, explanation of the methods used must precede the Results section in the manuscript. Unusual or complex analysis methods should be referenced.

Units of Measure/ Abbreviations

The metric system is preferred for expressing units of measure. Abbreviations may be used for terms. The full term for each abbreviation should appear at its first use in the text, unless the abbreviation is a standard unit of measure. Abbreviations used in a table must be explained in a footnote below the table. For a list of standard abbreviations, consult the Council of Biology Editors Style Guide (available from the Council of Science Editors, 9650 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, MD 20814; http://www.councilscienceeditors.org) or other standard sources.

The table below lists standard accepted abbreviations for typical cleft-type classifications and study groups. Other abbreviations may be proposed for classifications and groups not listed.

Modifying terms that may added to the abbreviations above include:

i (isolated)

I (incomplete)

U (unilateral)

B (bilateral)

SM (submucous)

Phonetic Symbols

Authors who use phonetic symbols are required to use Unicode-compliant fonts in their manuscripts. This will ensure the symbols display properly both during peer review and in the final published article. Examples of acceptable fonts include Charis SIL, Doulos SIL, and Gentium Unicode. Times New Roman is also acceptable, as it includes most IPA symbols and is Unicode compliant.

Citations/References

For citations and references, as of 2022 CPCJ uses the 11th Edition AMA Manual of Style. Note that in this style, in-text citations are represented by superscript numerals.

Figure Legends

A list of figure legends must be included on a separate page at the end of the manuscript article file. The legend should explain each figure as concisely as possible. Do not include figure legends in your figure art file. Figure legends are not included in the word count limit.

4.6.3 Tables

Tables should be numbered consecutively using Arabic numerals. Each table should have an appropriate title and explanation at its head. Abbreviations used in a table must be explained in a footnote below the table. Submit tables as separate files, with one table per file, in either .doc (text) or .xls (spreadsheet) format.

4.6.4 Figures

All figures and illustrations must be original photographs or artwork. For figures or illustrations reprinted from published work, the author must obtain written permission from the copyright holder and disclose that upon submission. Submit figures as separate files.

Illustrations, pictures and graphs should be supplied in the highest quality and in an electronic format that helps us to publish your article in the best way possible. Figures submitted at lower than the required resolutions stated above will be allowed for review purposes. However, the publication process for accepted manuscripts will be delayed until acceptable images have been submitted. Please follow the guidelines below to enable us to prepare your artwork for the printed issue as well as the online version.

  • Format: TIFF, JPEG: Common format for pictures (containing no text or graphs).
    EPS: Preferred format for graphs and line art (retains quality when enlarging/zooming in).
  • Placement: Figures/charts and tables should be submitted separately. Please add a placeholder note in the running text (i.e., “[insert Figure 1.]"). A single figure may include multiple images (a, b, c, etc.) but all must appear on the same page. Figures should be numbered consecutively in the order in which they appear in the manuscript, using Arabic numerals (e.g., Figure 1, Figure 2, etc).  Figure legends must be included on a separate page following the body of the manuscript. The legends should explain each figure in detail.
  • Resolution: Rasterized based files (i.e., with .tiff or .jpeg extension) require a resolution of at least 300 dpi (dots per inch). Line art should be supplied with a minimum resolution of 800 dpi.
  • File size limits: File sizes should be kept below 10MB where possible. 
  • Color: Please note that images supplied in color will be published in color online and black and white in print (unless otherwise arranged). Therefore, it is important that you supply images that are comprehensible in black and white as well (i.e., by using color with a distinctive pattern or dotted lines). The captions should reflect this by not using words indicating color. For specifically requested color reproduction in print, you will receive information regarding the costs from Sage after receipt of your accepted article. The first color image is $800, and it is $200 for any additional color images within the same contribution.
  • Dimension: Check that the artworks supplied matches or exceeds the dimensions of the journal.
  • Fonts: The lettering used in the artwork should not vary too much in size and type (usually sans serif font as a default).

Image Integrity

Figures should be minimally processed and should reflect the integrity of the original data in the image. Adjustments to images in brightness, contrast, or color balance should be applied equally to the entire image, provided they do not distort any data in the figure, including the background. Selective adjustments and touch-up tools used on portions of a figure are not appropriate. Images should not be layered or combined into a single image unless it is stated that the figure is a product of time-averaged data. All adjustments to image date should be clearly disclosed in the figure legend. Images may be additionally screened to confirm faithfulness to the original data. Authors should be able to supply raw image data upon request. Authors should also list tools and software used to collect image data and should document settings and manipulations in the Methods section.

Visual Abstracts

A graphical abstract is meant to be a clear, quick, and concise pictorial representation of research that has been published in the journal. It is meant to support the written abstract that accompanies all papers submitted for review to the journal. All figures published in the journal, including graphical abstracts, should be of the highest quality and should highlight paper findings. Please note visual abstracts are optional, but if you wish to submit a visual abstract with your paper, please follow the below guidelines:

  • The graphic should be labelled as “graphical abstract” or similar, so that it is clear the file is not an article figure file (e.g., it should not be labelled “Fig1”, “Fig2” etc.)
  • The aspect ratio for the graphic should be 16:9 (the recommended size ratio would be 600px X 338px)
  • The figure file type should be the same as for other article figures. Graphical abstracts, as with all figures in the journal, are only accepted in the following formats: JPG, TIF, or EPS. The journal does not accept Word or PowerPoint figure files.
  • A caption should be provided with the graphic. The caption should read: “This is a graphical representation of the abstract”
  • Do not use images subject to copyright clearance for graphical abstracts. If at all, graphical abstracts should feature aspects of the original figures created for the paper it is supporting.
  • The final visual abstract image should be sent with accepted article.
  • Simplicity is the key to conveying information visually. Terms and abbreviations should match overall journal usage and style.

4.6.5 Supplemental Material

This journal is able to host additional materials online (e.g., datasets, podcasts, videos, images, etc.) alongside the full text of the article. For more information, please refer to our guidelines on submitting supplementary files.

Supplemental figures, tables, data files, and text
These types of supplemental files should be named as Supplemental followed by the number in the sequence (e.g., Supplemental Figure 1; Supplemental Table 1) and referred to in the body of the manuscript text.

Video

Video clips that contribute significantly to the manuscript may be submitted in either avi, mov, or mpeg formats. Videos should be submitted at the desired reproduction size and length but should not exceed 10MB in size. If submitting avi files, the files must be compressed. Authors are solely responsible for all editing of video clips.

As there are restrictions to the video file size, we recommend compressing the file and uploading it to the CPCJ Sage Track platform. The manuscript review system ScholarOne has a file size limit of 350mb for video files. If the video you wish to submit for review is larger than this, please follow these instructions on compressing the video file to fit within this limitation.

Please note that if your submission is accepted, you will be asked to provide the full-size file for publication. This can be provided to production via DropBox or Google Drive.

Each video file must be accompanied by a still image from the video that conforms to the figure resolution and size requirements outlined above for figures. This image will be published in the print version of the journal in place of the video. Please indicate in the figure legend that the still image has an associated video file. Both the print-version figure and the video must share the same file name (e.g., Figure1.jpg and Figure1.mov). A "List of Video Legends" should be prepared on a separate page at the end of the manuscript article file. 

Video submissions are strongly encouraged, particularly for articles dealing with surgical techniques.

For more information about the format requirements for videos, please review our Author Gateway. For detailed information pertaining to copyright and permissions requirements, view the Video Permission and Fair Use Quick Guide.

For videos with identifiable subjects, subjects will need to sign the Audio- Visual Likeness Release Form. It is the author’s responsibility to submit signed release forms, if necessary, for each video. If patient(s) are identifiable in the video, authors must confirm a Patient Permission form has been completed and signed by each patient.

If the author does not hold copyright to the video, the author must obtain permission for the video to be published in the journal. This permission must be for unrestricted use in all print, online, and licensed versions of the journal.

Best-practice guidelines for preparing videos are be found at the following link: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/pages/instructions-for-authors.

Audio
Audio clips that contribute significantly to the manuscript may be submitted in .au, .ram, .wav, or .mp3 formats. Audio files should not exceed 6 MB in size. Authors are solely responsible for all editing of audio clips. Audio clips should be cited in the manuscript as Audio 1, Audio 2, etc. A "List of Audio Legends" should be submitted on a separate page at the end of the manuscript article file.

4.7 English language editing services

Authors seeking assistance with English language editing, translation, or figure and manuscript formatting to fit the journal’s specifications should consider using Sage Language Services. Visit Sage Language Services on our Journal Author Gateway for further information. 

4.8 ORCID

As part of our commitment to ensuring an ethical, transparent and fair peer review process Sage is a supporting member of ORCID, the Open Researcher and Contributor ID. ORCID provides a unique and persistent digital identifier that distinguishes researchers from every other researcher, even those who share the same name, and, through integration in key research workflows such as manuscript and grant submission, supports automated linkages between researchers and their professional activities, ensuring that their work is recognized.

The collection of ORCID IDs from corresponding authors is now part of the submission process of this journal. If you already have an ORCID ID you will be asked to associate that to your submission during the online submission process. We also strongly encourage all co-authors to link their ORCID ID to their accounts in our online peer review platforms. It takes seconds to do: click the link when prompted, sign into your ORCID account and our systems are automatically updated. Your ORCID ID will become part of your accepted publication’s metadata, making your work attributable to you and only you. Your ORCID ID is published with your article so that fellow researchers reading your work can link to your ORCID profile and from there link to your other publications.

If you do not already have an ORCID ID please follow this link to create one or visit our ORCID homepage to learn more.

4.9 Permissions

Please also ensure that you have obtained any necessary permission from copyright holders for reproducing any illustrations, tables, figures or lengthy quotations previously published elsewhere. Submission of a manuscript to the CPCJ is taken as evidence that no portion of the text or figures has been published or submitted for publication elsewhere unless information regarding previous publication is explicitly cited and written copyright permission obtained and uploaded at the time of manuscript submission. Permission should be obtained for both print and online publication.

For further information including guidance on fair dealing for criticism and review, please see the Copyright and Permissions page on the Sage Author Gateway.

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5. On acceptance and publication

5.1 Sage Production

Your Sage Production Editor will keep you informed as to your article’s progress throughout the production process. Proofs will be made available to the corresponding author via our editing portal Sage Edit or by email, and corrections should be made directly or notified to us promptly. Authors are reminded to check their proofs carefully to confirm that all author information, including names, affiliations, sequence and contact details are correct, and that Funding and Conflict of Interest statements, if any, are accurate. 

5.2 Online First publication

Online First allows final articles (completed and approved articles awaiting assignment to a future issue) to be published online prior to their inclusion in a journal issue, which significantly reduces the lead time between submission and publication. Visit the Sage Journals help page for more details, including how to cite Online First articles.

5.3 Access to your published article

Sage provides authors with online access to their final article.

5.4 Promoting your article

Publication is not the end of the process! You can help disseminate your paper and ensure it is as widely read and cited as possible. The Sage Author Gateway has numerous resources to help you promote your work. Visit the Promote Your Article page on the Gateway for tips and advice. 

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6. Further information

Any correspondence, queries or additional requests for information on the manuscript submission process should be sent to the The Cleft Palate Craniofacial Journal (CPCJ) editorial office as follows:

Editor: Jamie Perry, PhD
Editorial Office: The Cleft Palate Craniofacial Journal
Email: 
perryja@ecu.edu

If you have any questions about publishing with Sage, please visit the Sage Journal Solutions Portal

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7. Appealing the publication decision

Editors have very broad discretion in determining whether an article is an appropriate fit for their journal. Many manuscripts are declined with a very general statement of the rejection decision. These decisions are not eligible for formal appeal unless the author believes the decision to reject the manuscript was based on an error in the review of the article, in which case the author may appeal the decision by providing the Editor with a detailed written description of the error they believe occurred.

If an author believes the decision regarding their manuscript was affected by a publication ethics breach, the author may contact the publisher with a detailed written description of their concern, and information supporting the concern, at publication_ethics@sagepub.com

 

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