Allow content?
This content requires cookies. To view content please update your cookie preferences.
The Journal of Laryngology and Otology
INSTRUCTIONS FOR AUTHORS
Please submit articles electronically using the ScholarOne Manuscripts submission site, for which you can find the link below: Submit An Article (opens in a new tab). Further information on article submission is available at: Submitting your materials
Please note that the journal uses software to screen papers where there is reason to believe that material may not be original. By submitting your paper you are agreeing to any necessary originality checks your paper may have to undergo during the peer review and production processes.
Authors should note that the editors may choose to publish accepted material in both paper and electronic formats or in electronic format only. Paper submissions may also be shortened, at the Editor’s discretion, with the full text version available in electronic format only.
Non-native English speakers are asked to check their manuscript with a native English speaker prior to submission. Further information on services for authors requiring help with submission in English is available on the Preparing your materials page.
The following will be considered:
Main Articles*: These should report clinical research or audit and should not normally exceed 7500 words.
Review Articles* and Historical Articles will also be considered but should not exceed 3000 words unless specifically commissioned. Longer articles or theses will be considered for publication as Supplements but the authors will normally be expected to meet the costs of publication.
Systematic Reviews*: Authors of Systematic Reviews are advised to consult this journal's editorial Sataloff et al Systematic and other Reviews; Criteria and other Complexities. J Laryngol Otol 2021;135:565-7 (opens in a new tab) and to conform to the PRISMA 2020 guidelines referenced there.
The title should, ideally, pose a question to be addressed and must specify that a Systematic Review +/- a Meta-analysis has been undertaken.
The Editorial linked above has detailed guidance for the Methods and Results sections. The latter must open with a paragraph stating how many articles were finally selected from the search, followed by their references, identified by superscript Arabic numerals, listed consecutively at the end of the manuscript in the order in which they are cited, rather than solely referring readers to a table. The Discussion should offer added content, with a critical appraisal of the studies referenced and, ideally, a meta-analysis. Previously published systematic reviews should be excluded from analysis, but should be addressed in the Discussion section of the manuscript, explaining what the submitted work adds to the literature.
Manuscripts Concerning Large Language Models and Chatbots
The Journal of Laryngology & Otology accepts research examining the application of large language models (LLMs) and generative AI chatbots to tasks in otolaryngology and head and neck surgery. As these models are updated frequently and produce variable, non-deterministic output, such studies carry a particular risk of being impossible to reproduce or independently verify. To maintain the standard of evidence expected by our readers, authors must report their methods with sufficient precision that an independent investigator could repeat the study and obtain comparable results.
Authors should be familiar with, and may want to structure their manuscript in accordance with established reporting guidelines in this field such as CHART (Chatbot Assessment Reporting Tool) and TRIPOD-LLM. Wider published guidance also exists.
At a minimum, the Methods section must state:
- Model identity and version: the exact name, developer, and version of every model tested, together with the date(s) on which each was accessed.
- Access route and settings: whether the consumer interface or the API was used, and any configurable parameters (e.g. temperature, system or custom instructions, retrieval or plug-in settings).
- Prompts: the verbatim prompt(s), how they were developed, and whether they were iterated or held constant across models.
- Input and output data: the source and full text of all inputs, and the complete model outputs, can be provided as supplementary material if needed. Data sets can also be deposited and available as a weblink.
- Repetition and variability: the number of independent runs per query and how output variability was handled, recognising that identical prompts may yield different responses.
- Evaluation: the reference standard or ground truth; the instrument or scale used to assess outputs; the number, expertise and blinding of assessors; and a measure of inter-rater agreement.
Manuscripts should also confirm that no patient-identifiable data were entered into any publicly hosted model, and should declare any use of AI tools in the preparation of the manuscript itself, in accordance with the Journal's authorship and ethics policies.
Manuscripts that do not permit reproduction of the study, or that provide insufficient methodological detail, may be returned to authors before peer review.
Key references:
Gallifant J, Afshar M, Ameen S, et al. The TRIPOD-LLM reporting guideline for studies using large language models. Nat Med. 2025;31(1):60–69.
Chatbot Assessment Reporting Tool (CHART) Statement. Ann Fam Med. 2025;23(5):389 (published concurrently across several journals, 2025).
Submission should not normally exceed 7500 words.
Clinical Records* (Case Reports): These should be no more than 1500 words, with four authors as a maximum. To be accepted for publication case reports must convey a clinical message of exceptional value. Articles merely reporting cases of rare pathology are very unlikely to be deemed acceptable for publication. The search strategy used must be detailed.
Short Communications:* These should be articles illustrating surgical technique or the use of technical innovation. As with Clinical Records the manuscript should not exceed 1500 words and should have a maximum of four authors. Articles should be clearly illustrated with line art from a laser printer. Cross-hatching is allowed: do not use grey-tints.
Book Reviews and Letters to the Editor will also be considered.
For further information on preparation of manuscripts please go to Preparing your materials.
* For the purposes of Gold Open Access funding, this journal considers these article types to be research articles. If publishing Gold OA, all or part of the publication costs for these article types may be covered by one of the agreements Cambridge University Press has made to support open access.