Contributions should be substantial and significant in content. Papers should describe the original work of the authors that has not been previously published in a refereed journal and is not currently under consideration by another refereed journal. Manuscripts that are commercial in nature will not be considered.
Authors are expected to conform to the SPIE Guidelines for Professional Conduct and Publishing Ethics.
Submissions based on reports that have been submitted to or published in a conference proceedings should adhere to the following guidelines:
- Distinction between proceedings and journal papers: Conference proceedings provide a vehicle for rapid reporting of ideas, techniques, and results. These reports may be somewhat incomplete and inconclusive. It is generally understood that their purpose is to provide snapshots of recent or continuing work. Journal papers, however, are expected to be more complete and polished, to contain comparisons of theoretical and experimental results, and to include comprehensive references to other work, substantial conclusions, etc.
- Revision of proceedings manuscripts for journal submission: Proceedings manuscripts submitted to the Journal of Biomedical Optics should be substantively revised, expanded, and updated to reflect this difference in purpose between the two types of publications. However, there may be exceptions to this. Papers that already satisfy the purposes and requirements of both types of publications may be submitted to the journal with only minor revisions.
- Copyright issues: SPIE copyright policy permits authors to submit their proceedings manuscripts to a journal. Authors wishing to submit papers that were presented at or published in a conference proceedings sponsored by organizations other than SPIE are responsible for ensuring adherence to the copyright policies related to that presentation or publication.
- Disclosure: If a manuscript was previously published in a conference proceedings or is under consideration for publication in a conference proceedings or presentation at a conference, this information must be disclosed to the journal editor at the time of submission to the Journal of Biomedical Optics.
- Journal submission format: All manuscripts submitted to the Journal of Biomedical Optics must be prepared according to the guidelines outlined in the information for journal authors.
