Author Guidelines for Publications

Optometry & Contact Lenses (OCL)

Official journal of Vereinigung Deutscher Contactlinsen-Spezialisten und Optometristen (VDCOe.V., Association of German Contact Lens Specialists and Optometrists)

Aims and Scope

Optometry & Contact Lenses (OCL) is a journal published ten times a year, covering all aspects related to eye and vision care. It publishes scientific and clinical articles as well as case reports focusing on ophthalmic optics, optometry, ophthalmology and related disciplines. OCL also contains interviews with public figures in the fields covered by the journal, book reviews of new and current publications in the fields of eye and vision care as well as association information from VDCO. In addition, each issue also contains a section called COE Continuing Optometric Education, featuring a COE certified article with a multiple choice quiz. COE participants can earn two COE credits when they achieve the passing score for the quiz.

Each article is peer-reviewed before publication.

Primary Readership 

Opticians, optometrists, ophthalmologists and doctors who are in further education to become ophthalmologists as well as students from Germany, Austria and Switzerland studying ophthalmic optics, optometry, ophthalmology and related disciplines.

Editor-in-Chief 

Wolfgang Cagnolati, DSc*, MSc*, FCOptom, FAAO, Germany 
*Pennsylvania College of Optometry 

Editorial Board 

  • Dr. Michael Bärtschi, Bern, Switzerland 
  • Dr. Sven Jonuscheit, Glasgow, UK 
  • Dr. Heiko Pult, Weinheim, Germany 

Scientific Advisory Board 

  • Dr. Stefan Bandlitz, Cologne, Germany
  • Prof. Dr. Sherry Bass, New York, USA 
  • Prof. Dr. Jan P. Bergmanson, Houston, USA  
  • Dr. med. Detlev Breyer, Düsseldorf, Germany
  • Dr. Bastian Cagnolati, Duisburg, Germany 
  • Dr. Fabian Conrad, Sydney, Australia 
  • Prof. Dr. Stephan Degle, Jena, Germany  
  • Prof. Dr. Holger Dietze, Berlin, Germany 
  • Dr. Klaus Ehrmann, Botany, Australia 
  • Prof. Dr. med. Carl Erb, Berlin, Germany
  • Prof. Dr. J. Peter Gierow, Kalmar, Sweden
  • Prof. Dr. med.  Dipl. Ing. (FH) Hans-Jürgen Grein, Lübeck, Germany
  • Prof. Dr. Michel Guillon, London, UK 
  • Dr. Andreas Hartwig, Heikendorf, Germany 
  • Dr. Wolfgang Jaschinski, Hagen (Westfalen), Germany
  • Prof. Dr. Christian Kempgens, Berlin, Germany 
  • Prof. Dr. Pete Kollbaum, Bloomington, USA 
  • Prof. Dr. Konstantin Kotliar; Aachen, Germany 
  • Prof. Dr. med. Kathleen Kunert, Jena, Germany 
  • Prof. Dr. med. Anja Liekfeld, Potsdam, Germany 
  • Dr. Dörte Lünsmann, Waterloo, Canada 
  • Dr. Sebastian Marx, Jena, Germany
  • Dr. Sigrid Müller-Schotte, Utrecht, Netherlands 
  • Prof. Dr. Paul Murphy, Waterloo, Canada
  • Prof. Dr. Daniela Nosch, Olten, Switzerland 
  • Prof. Dr. Uwe Oberheide, Köln, Germany
  • Dr. Daniela Oehring, Plymouth, UK 
  • Dipl. Ing. (FH) Gustav Pöltner, Innsbruck, Austria 
  • Prof. Dr. Stephan Reiss, Berlin, Germany 
  • Dr. Janine Rolfs, Berlin, Germany
  • Prof. Wolfgang Sickenberger, Jena, Germany
  • Dr. Jan Skersvetat, Boston, USA
  • M.S., Ph.D., F.A.A.O. Frank Spors, Ponoma, USA
  • Prof. Dr. med. Nicole Stübiger, Hamburg, Germany 
  • Dr. Mirjam van Tilborg, Utrecht, Netherlands 
  • PD Dr. Wolfgang Wesemann, Cologne, Germany 
  • Prof. Dr. Stefanie G. Wohl, New York, USA 
  • Dr. Graeme Young, Farnham, UK 

Project Coordination

Stephanie Mühlberg
Email: muehlberg@ocl-online.de 

Author Information

Optometry & Contact Lenses publishes scientific and clinical articles as well as case reports focusing on ophthalmic optics, optometry, ophthalmology and related disciplines. Papers which have been published in another journal will not be accepted. Each manuscript submitted for publication must be accompanied by a written declaration, signed by the author stating that the manuscript has not been published elsewhere and is not undergoing a peer review process. 

Manuscripts submitted will be subject to a double blind review process conducted by the Editor-in-Chief and two reviewers.

Nomenclature 

Authors must ensure that their manuscripts are written in error-free English following the conventions of standard English grammar and usage. Use abbreviations only if they are widely acceptable and spell them out on first mention. Use the latest version of DIN, ISO and CEN Standards and the International System of Units (SI) for units of measurement. When mentioning devices or equipment, provide information regarding the product/brand name, name of manufacturer and country of origin. Use the international non-proprietary names (INN) of pharmaceuticals as designated by the World Health Organisation.
Gender-neutral language is used in publications in german language.
 

Types of articles

Scientific and Clinical Articles

Manuscripts should not exceed 3,500 words and must be typed in 12-point Times New Roman font. An abstract in German and English (each no longer than 250 words) is to be included. The abstract should be concise and structured into the following sections: Purpose, Methods, Results and Conclusions. The abstract should preferably not contain any references. The article may have up to four tables and six figures as well as five to six keywords in German and English. Choose keywords according to Medical Subject Headings (MeSH), produced by National Library of Medicine (http://www.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/authors.html). Scientific and clinical articles should include a maximum of 30 references. 

Literature Review Articles

Manuscripts should not exceed 4,000 words and must be typed in 12-point Times New Roman font. An abstract in English (no longer than 250 words) is to be included. The abstract should be concise and structured into the following sections: Purpose, Methods, Results and Conclusions. The abstract should preferably not contain any references. The article may have up to six tables and six figures as well as five to six keywords in German and English. Choose keywords according to Medical Subject Headings (MeSH), produced by National Library of Medicine (http://www.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/authors.html). Literature review articles should include a maximum of 50 references. 

Case Reports

Manuscripts should not exceed 2,500 words and must be typed in 12-point Times New Roman font. An abstract in German and English (each no longer than 250 words) is to be included. The abstract should be concise and structured into the following sections: Purpose, Methods, Results and Conclusions. The abstract should preferably not contain any references. The article may have up to four tables and six figures as well as five to six keywords in German and English. Choose keywords according to Medical Subject Headings (MeSH), produced by National Library of Medicine (http://www.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/authors.html). Case reports should include a maximum of 25 references. 

COE Certified Continuing Education

Continuing Optometric Education (COE) is the umbrella term for certified continuing education courses and programmes in all areas of optometry. One COE point is awarded for successfully completed COE certified courses in Optometry & Contact Lenses (OCL). Each issue of the journal contains a COE certified article with a quiz. This can be a scientific article, a clinical article or a case report. The Editorial Board of the journal selects the article to be published. The quiz is designed as a multiple choice test following the guidelines of the German Quality Association for Optometric Services (GOL). 
 

Manuscript STructure

Manuscript Structure

Structure the article as follows:

  • Abstract
  • Introduction
  • Material und Methods 
  • Results
  • Discussion
  • Conclusions
  • References
  • Appendices

Do not number sections.

Title Page

A separate title page should be structured as follows: 

  • Short and concise title (up to 60 characters) 
  • All authors‘ full names, academic degrees, institutional affiliations as well as complete postal and email addresses of all authors
  • Corresponding author’s name and contact details (for purposes of correspondence with the Editor-in-Chief and reviewers during the peer review process)


References

Cite references in the text in ascending numerical order inserting superscript Arabic numerals. Use ascending numerical order in the Reference section too. References and journal titles should be listed according to the Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals (http://www.icmje.org). It is recommended to use Citation Style Language (CSL) for references. The required CSL format for "Optometry & Contact Lenses (OCL)” can be downloaded free of charge at ocl-online.de.

Examples of correct forms of references are given below.

References to Articles 

Bar-Dayan, Y., Levin, A., Morad, Y., Grotto, I., Ben-David, R., Goldberg, A., Onn, E., Avni, I., Levi, Y. and Benyamini, O. G. (2005). The changing prevalence of myopia in young adults: a 13-year series of population-based prevalence surveys. Invest. Ophthalmol. Vis. Sci., 46, 2760–2765.

Leone, J. F., Cornell, E., Morgan, I. G., Mitchell, P., Kifley, A.,Wang, J. J. and Rose, K. A. (2010). Prevalence of heterophoria and associations with refractive error, heterotropia and ethnicity in Australian school children. Br. J. Ophthalmol., 94, 542–546. 

Smandzich, M., von Handorff, C. (2016). Skiaskopie nach Mohindra vs. Skiaskopie in Zykloplegie bei hyperopen Kindern. DOZ, Opto., 36-41. 

References to Books

Edwards, M. H. (1998). Myopia: definitions, classifications and economic implications. In: Myopia and Nearwork (eds. Rosenfield, M., Gilmartin, B.), Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford, pp. 1–12. 

Viner, C. (2004). Refractive Examination. In: Pediatric Optometry (eds. Harvey, W., Gilmartin, B.) Butterworth-Heinemann, pp. 21-26. 

Web References

American Optometric Association (2017). Comprehensive Pediatric Eye and Vision Examination. Evidence-Based Clinical Practice Guidelines, http://www.aoa.org. Referencing: 01 October 2020. 

Figures, Tables and Photographs

Provide all figures, tables and photographs in a separate file to the main article, i.e. do not embed them in the main text file. Place figure and table titles and legends after the end of the main text. Number figures and legends consecutively (e.g. Fig. 1, Fig. 2, Table 1, Table 2). Insert figure and table references in the text and number them accordingly. 

Author’s Copyright and Third Party Copyright 

If figures, tables and photographs from copyrighted publications or the internet are used in an article, then unlimited reprint rights and permissions must be obtained from the original copyright holder (it is the responsibility of the author to obtain these permissions). Copyright to the article submitted remains with the author(s).

File Formats

All articles submitted to the journal must comply with the following guidelines.

  • Text: the preferred format is Word (other open formats will also be accepted; do not submit PDF files)
  • Picture files: use EPS, JPG, PPT, PPTX or TIF format with a minimum resolution of 300 dpi
  • Tables: submit tables as a Word file (.doc, .docx)

Conflict of Interests 

If there is a possible conflict of interest, include a statement before the list of references such as: “Bert Meyer and Jane Miller are paid employees of … (company’s name); the study was financed by … (company’s name)“. If there is no conflict of interests, include a statement like this: “The author declares that there is no conflict of interests regarding the methods and devices mentioned in the article“.

Declaration of Helsinki und Animal Studies 

For studies involving human subjects, a statement must be included to the effect that the study was conducted in accordance with the ethical principles for medical research involving human subjects developed by the World Health Medical Association (outlined in the Declaration of Helsinki). The privacy rights of human subjects must always be observed, i.e. use only numbers and/or letters for patients/subjects; do not use their names or initials. Include a statement in the manuscript that informed consent for experimentation with human subjects was obtained from participants. Include the name of the ethics committee approving the study.

All studies involving animals should comply with and be reported according to the ARRIVE guidelines, the EU Directive 2010/63/EU for animal experiments or the National Institute of Health Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals (NIH Publications No. 8023, revised 1978). It is the responsibility of the author(s) to ensure that the experiment was conducted in accordance with these guidelines.

Acknowledgements 

Collate acknowledgements in a separate paragraph before the list of references.

Copyright 

All content, in particular texts, photographs and graphics, is copyrighted. Unless otherwise explicitly stated, copyright is held by DOZ-Verlag Optische Fachveröffentlichung GmbH. A third party wishing to reprint all or any part of a copyrighted article must obtain written permission from the publisher.

Proofreading Process 

Before the article submitted is published, the corresponding author will receive a PDF file for final proofing. Pease return the corrected proofs within seven days of receipt. The corresponding author is responsible for the accuracy of all content in the final proof. It is also the corresponding author’s responsibility to give the approval for print. Once the final proof has been submitted for printing, no further changes can be made to the article. After publication, all authors will receive a PDF offprint and, if requested, up to three complimentary copies of the OCL issue in which their paper was published. Authors can use their articles for non-commercial and personal purposes.

Manuscript Submission Checklist 

As part of the submission process, authors are required to check off their manuscript’s compliance with the following items.

  • Length (number of words) of summaries/abstracts, keywords, text and references, depending on type of article (i.e. scientific/clinical article, literature review article or case report)
  • Title on a separate page, according to journal guidelines
  • Manuscript structure, according to journal guidelines
  • Reference list, according to journal guidelines 
  • Figures, tables and photographs, according to journal guidelines
  • File formats, according to journal guidelines 
  • Conflict of interests, according to journal guidelines
  • Declaration of Helsinki and studies involving animals, according to journal guidelines 
  • Signed declaration: All submissions must contain a declaration, signed by the author stating that the manuscript has not been published in another journal and is currently not subject to a review process.
  • Proofreading process, according to journal guidelines

Manuscript Submission

All manuscripts must be electronically submitted to the Editor-in-Chief:
Wolfgang Cagnolati DSc*, MSc*, FCOptom, FAOO
Email: cagnolati@ocl-online.de
 

Download

Download Citation Style Language (.csl) for Optometry & Contact Lenses (OCL)

(To save the file, right-click and select "Save link as" and download the linked file to your own computer.)