Aims and Scope

The Asian Journal of Occupational Therapy (AsJOT) is an official publication of the Japanese Association of Occupational Therapists (JAOT). Since its first publication in 2001, AsJOT provides opportunities for researchers from Asia and other regions/countries to publish their influential research articles and reviews covering occupational therapy and its fundamental academic disciplines relevant to occupational therapy. AsJOT covers all aspects of occupational therapy and welcomes articles that will contribute to the health and well-being of persons with disabilities or those who are at risk. Contributions from researchers and practitioners who have an interest in occupational therapy are welcomed.

The target readership of the journal are occupational therapists, academics and researchers conducting research in occupational therapy or related fields, university and vocational school faculty members who teach occupational therapy, students studying occupational therapy, the medical and rehabilitation professionals related to occupational therapy, etc.

AsJOT is currently supported in full by JAOT. AsJOT is an open access online journal (Refer to, https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/browse/asiajot/-char/en). The article will be published online within a few weeks of the completion of author’s proof corrections. The online issue is published every January of the year. The print issue is not published. 

Manuscript Types

The manuscripts include Original Articles, Reviews, Rapid Communications, Case Reports, Miscellaneous, which are important to the occupational therapy profession for their originality, timeliness, effectiveness and readability.Authors need to make articles clear and concise, and must avoid non-standard abbreviations. 

Original Articles

This is the most common type of journal manuscript. It may be called an Original Article, Research Article, or just Article, depending on the journal. The Original Research format is suitable for many different fields and different types of studies. It includes full Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion sections.

Original Articles contain the original clinical or laboratory research. 

・ The main body needs to be in the general format consisting of: Abstract, Keywords, Introduction, Materials/Subjects, Methods, Results, Discussion and Conclusions

・ Abstract should be no more than 250 words

・ Keywords should be 3-5 words

・ 5,000 words in general including main body, references, figures, photographs, and tables. One figure (or photograph, illustration, and table) is calculated as 200 words

Reviews

Reviews can deal with scientific topics either clinical or laboratory. 

・ Brief reviews between 2,500 to 3,000 words excluding references, figures, photographs, and tables are particularly welcome. Longer reviews can be accepted when they were justified by its topics and comprehensiveness

・ Sufficient discussion should be supported by more than 30 references

Rapid Communications

Rapid Communications are usually published soon after submission to the journal, so this format is useful for scientists with results that are time sensitive (for example, those in highly competitive or quickly-changing disciplines). They should deal with scientific material which deserves a rapid publication as the top priority.

・ 2,000 words or less excluding references, figures, photographs, and tables

・ A total of no more than 4 tables and figures and up to 15 references 

Case Reports

A case report needs to describe a new disease (disorder), confirmation of a rare or new disease, a new insight into pathogenesis, etiology, diagnosis, or treatment, a new finding associated with a currently known disease. A report on special scientific investigation will be regarded as an original article even with a single case.

・ The length should be 1,000 words or less excluding references, figures, photographs, and tables. They can be exceeded only when justified by extensive special studies

・ In general, 3 tables and figures in total with up to 10 references

Miscellaneous

It includes the article which the editing committee judged as useful including; a committee report, news from international conference, an introduction of the association and a research institute, an introduction of new technology and new products.

Manuscript Submission

Manuscripts submitted to this journal must not have been published or be under consideration for publication elsewhere. Manuscripts including the License Agreement for Publication Rights and supplemental forms must be submitted through online submission system (Editorial Manager). 

To submit the manuscript, go to the submission site (https://www.editorialmanager.com/asjot/default.aspx). Once authors upload all parts of the manuscript, the files are compiled and converted to PDF format during the online submission process. Submitted manuscripts will not be returned to the authors.

Authors are responsible for ensuring that a blind review process can take place by submitting a masked version of the manuscript; that is, one that contains no identifying information, including names and affiliations of all authors and acknowledgments. If unmasked articles are submitted, they will be returned for masking before they are reviewed. If you have any questions, please contact us at; asianjot@jaot.or.jp.

Language

Only English articles can be accepted. Please write your text in clear and grammatically correct English (both American and British usage can be accepted, but not a mixture of both). Author whose native language is not English should have the manuscript proofread for language accuracy prior to submission. Authors must submit a certificate of proofreading when submitting the manuscript.

Classification

1. Cerebrovascular Disease　　　　　　11. Cognitive Disorders
2. Cardiovascular Disease　　　　　　  12. Supportive Device
3. Respiratory Disease                                    13. MTDLP
4. Muscular-Skeletal Disease                       14. Community
5. Neurological Disease                                 15. Theories
6. Cancer                                                              16. Research
7. Internal Disease                                           17. Management
8. Mental Health                                               18. Education
9. Developmental Disability                        19. The others
10. Elderly

Editorial Policies

Authors are requested to read and comply with this editorial policies before submitting their manuscript. If the editorial board determines that the manuscript does not comply with the this  policies, it may be rejected without peer review.

When submitting an article to this journal, the paper must not have been previously published (including in another language), not be in print, and not be under consideration for publication in another journal.

However, the fact that the manuscript has been published on a publicly available preprint server shall not constitute a previous publication.

The journal follows the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidelines when dealing with any cases of misconduct or dispute. Falsification or fabrication of data, plagiarism, including duplicate publication of the authors' own work without proper citation, and misappropriation of the work are all unacceptable practices. Any cases of ethical misconduct are treated very seriously and will be dealt with in accordance with the COPE guidelines. 

Acceptance Criteria

1. Completeness: All text and figures are present. A cover letter should not be attached.

2. Permissions: Any necessary permissions to reproduce third-party material are included.

3. Exclusive Submission: The journal will accept only exclusive submissions. Submissions that are with another journal or publication for consideration shall not be considered and the submission will be deemed rejected.

4. Content quality: Peer review is conducted to evaluate and ensure the quality and suitability of manuscript for publication. Authors should respond and address comments from reviewers.

Editorial and Review Process

Submissions are initially screened for compliance with this guide for authors and other technical aspects. Those that do not comply will be returned to authors. For guidelines-compliant manuscripts are initially assessed by the Editor-in-Chief for suitability for the journal. Suitable manuscripts are then assigned to an editor who select at least two reviewers who undertake a double-blind peer review. Editor decides to offer authors the opportunity to resubmit with minor revision or major revision, or editor can recommend to the Editor-in-Chief that a manuscript is either suitable for acceptance without revision or should be rejected. The Editor-in-Chief then makes the final decision. When the reviewers and editor recommend revisions, the authors must submit a revised version within 6 months after receiving the review results.

Authors should address this feedback from reviewers in a response to reviewers (in a separate file). A response to reviewers specifies how the authors addressed each comment the reviewers made. In the revised manuscript itself, the authors should use highlighting to draw additional attention to the change.

Resubmitted manuscripts may be sent back to the original reviewer or to new reviewers if deemed necessary by the editor. After a final assessment of the revised manuscript and any further reviews or advice, the editor makes a recommendation of acceptance or rejection to the Editor-in-Chief who makes the final decision. 

All accepted manuscripts are subject to copyediting. Authors will receive the edited manuscript for review and final approval before online publication. The authors assume final responsibility for the content of articles, including changes made in copyediting.

Authors may request an appeal to the Editorial Board if they are concerned that an editorial decision has been made in error. Appeals will only be considered if the author provides detailed evidence of misunderstanding or error by the reviewers or editorial board members. The Editor-in-Chief will carefully consider the appeal and make the final decision. The decision and process will follow the guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

Authorship

All those included in the author list of a submission must have made substantial contributions to:

・ Conception or design of the work; or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work; AND 

・ Drafting the work or revising it critically for important intellectual content; AND 

・ Final approval of the version to be published; AND

・ Agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved. 

Re-use of Copyrighted Material

Authors are responsible for obtaining permission to publish any figures or illustrations that are protected by copyright, including figures published elsewhere and pictures taken by professional photographers.

Conflict of Interest

All authors are responsible for the disclosure of any actual or perceived conflicts of interest.  Examples of potential conflicts of interest include but are not limited to financial interests (such as membership, employment, consultancies, stocks/shares ownership, honoraria, grants or other funding, paid expert testimonies and patent-licensing arrangements) and non-financial interests (such as personal or professional relationships, affiliations, personal beliefs). These must be disclosed when directly relevant or directly related to the work that the authors describe in their manuscript.

If AsJOT editors or editorial staff have relationships or activities with any of the authors that pose potential conflicts related to articles, the authors have to disclose it in the manuscript. In this case editors will not accept assignments if the author has a close professional relationship with the handling editor, which in their view could affect the objectivity of the review.

If the authors have no conflict of interest to declare, they must also state this in their manuscripts with “The authors have no conflict of interest to declare”. It is the responsibility of the corresponding author to review this policy. 

Reporting Guidelines

Accurate and complete reporting enables readers to fully appraise research, replicate it, and use it. Authors must adhere to research reporting standards presented in the EQUATOR network (http://www.equator-network.org/). 

After Acceptance Process

Upon acceptance of their article, authors will be provided the proofs of their typeset article. No additions and revisions are permitted other than correcting typographical errors introduced during the production process. After proofing, the article will be published online free of charge at the journal's J-STAGE site at, https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/browse/asiajot.

Errata and Retractions

The Journal recognizes the importance of maintaining the fairness of the published references.

Errors in published articles will be corrected by publishing an errata. The errata should describe errors that seriously affect the scientific fairness of the publication, the reputation of the authors, or the journal itself. Authors requesting a correction of a published article should notify the editorial member responsible for the manuscript or the editorial committee of the details of the error and of the changes that have been made. If there is disagreement among the co-authors over the correction, the Editor-in-Chief may ask for advice from the Editorial Committee or outside reviewers. If the correction is published, the statement will be included in the text for any disagreeing authors. 

A retraction will be issued if the published article contains invalid or unreliable results or conclusions, has been published elsewhere, or contains violations of the Code of Conduct (research ethics or publication ethics). Individuals requesting retraction of a paper are encouraged to contact the Editorial Committee of the Journal with details of their concerns. The Editor-in-Chief will investigate and contact the author(s) of the article in question for a response. If there is disagreement among the co-authors over the retraction, the Editor-in-Chief may seek advice from the Editorial Board or an external reviewer. When a retraction is announced, the dissenting author(s) will be acknowledged in the text.

The decision to publish an errata or retraction is at the Editor-in-Chief's discretion alone.

Ethical Considerations

Human Studies

The authors must indicate in the manuscripts whether the procedures followed were in accordance with the “Declaration of Helsinki”. Also, the design of special scientific research in human diseases or animal experiments should be approved by the ethics committee of the institution and comply with guidelines on animal protection and the ethical code currently applied in the country of origin. Authors must provide the name of the committee and state the reference number in the manuscript where appropriate, but identifying information have to be masked for anonymized review purposes (e.g., approved by the ethical committee of ABC University). Authors will be required to state the unmasked information during the process of author proofreading. 

Informed Consent

Written informed consent must be obtained where authors wish to include case details or other personal information or images of patients and any other individuals. Any information or data that may identify study participant must not appear anywhere in the manuscript, including the main text, tables, and figures. If authors are submitting the facial photographs of patients, the eyes should be blacked out. The manuscripts must include a statement that confirms written informed consent was obtained to publish the cases or photographs in an online open access publication.

Clinical Trial Registration

The World Health Organization defines a clinical trial as any research study that prospectively assigns human participants or groups of humans to one or more health-related interventions to evaluate the effects on health outcomes (https://www.who.int/clinical-trials-registry-platform). The journal follows the ICMJE Clinical Trial guidelines for submissions to be considered for publication. These require that clinical trials be registered in a public trials registry at or before the time of first patient enrolment.

Any manuscript that describes the work or outcomes of a clinical trial must register it at one of the registries below, which the journal deems to be compliant. Any posting of results in a clinical trial registry as part of these requirements will not be deemed to be previously published or an overlapping publication. Clinical trials can be registered with an ICMJE approved registry.

Authors must also provide or submit the original protocol upon request and provide the registration identification number and the URL for the trial's registry upon submission.

Copyright, Open Access and Fees

AsJOT is fully Open Access from 15th April, 2025 and uses Creative Commons (CC) licenses, which allow users to use, reuse and build upon the material published in the journal without charge or the need to ask prior permission from the publisher or author. More details on the CC licenses are below.

Copyright and Licensing

Authors retain copyright but are required to sign a License Agreement for Establishment of Publication Rights to grant the JAOT permission to reproduce the work in the journal under a Creative Commons license CC BY 4.0 (Attribution 4.0 International). This license allows users to share and adapt an article, even commercially, as long as appropriate credit is given.

Self-archiving (Green Open Access) Policy

 Self-archiving, also known as Green Open Access, enables authors to deposit a copy of their manuscript in an online repository. AsJOT encourages authors of original research manuscripts to upload their article to an institutional or public repository immediately after publication in the journal. 

Long-term Digital Archiving

J-STAGE preserves its full digital library, including AsJOT, with Portico in a dark archive (see https://www.portico.org/publishers/jstage/). In the event that the material becomes unavailable at J-STAGE, it will be released and made available by Portico.

Article Processing Charge

There are many costs associated with publishing scholarly journals, such as those of managing peer review, copy editing, typesetting and online hosting. To cover these costs in the absence of journal subscriptions, authors (or their representatives) are asked to pay article processing charges (APCs).

If the first author is a JAOT member, the APC is waived. If the first author is a non-JAOT member, the APC of 5000 Yen will be applied for all article types. Authors of accepted manuscripts will be invoiced for the APC before publication of their manuscript.

 Formatting Guidelines

 theManuscripts should follow the style of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (7th edition) and the specific instructions listed below. Reference style should follow the Vancouver Style, see the “References”.

Formatting 

All submissions much adhere to the following formatting guidelines:

・ Manuscripts should be double spaced

・ Number all pages and use continuous line numbers, starting with the abstract page

・ Use only Times New Roman with the font size of 12-points

・ Do not use vertical lines for tables

Manuscript

A cover letter should not be attached. The main manuscript file can be submitted in Microsoft Word. The manuscript needs to include the following sections:

1) Abstract and Keywords

A structured abstract of 200-250 words is required –use the headings; Objective Methods, Results, and Conclusion. The content should enable the readers to grasp the essence of the paper immediately and must give the readers quick recap on the statement of the problem or issues, methodology, results, and conclusions. The manuscripts must include 3-5 keywords after the abstract.

2) Main body

The main body should be divided into sections which includes sub-headings. The main text should include the followings: an introduction, material and subject, method, results, discussion, summary and conclusions. 

3) Conflict of Interest  

4) Authors must declare any conflict of interest at the end of their paper, before the acknowledgement or references. See “Conflict of Interest” under the “Editorial Policies” for more information. Acknowledgements (if any)

Acknowledgements must be brief and may include names of persons or facilities who contributed to the research or article but who are not authors, followed by any funding bodies that supported the research and appropriate grant numbers. In the manuscripts, any identifying information (names of persons, facilities, and grant numbers etc) should be masked. Authors will be required to state the unmasked information during the process of the author proofreading.  

5) References

Reference literature must be indicated consecutively in Arabic numerals in square brackets through the paper. In case that the same reference is cited more than once in the main body, the same number should be used for each time. Reference style should follow the Vancouver Style (Refer to, https://www.nlm.nih.gov/bsd/uniform_requirements.html and https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK7256/).  If the cited paper is written in a language other than English (Eg., Japanese), please translate it into English and the phrase ‘‘(in Japanese)’’, should be added after the title of the book or journal. 

*The title of Japanese journals should be listed in Japanese in Roman letters. For example, if you want to write “occupational therapy” in Japanese, please write “sagyouryouhou”.

Examples:

Journal articles 

Author. Title of article. Abbreviated title of journal. Year of publication;Volume (Issue):Page numbers.

[1] Radford KA, Lincoln NB. Concurrent validity of the stroke drivers screening assessment. Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 2004;85(2):324-8.

[2] Akinwuntan AE, De Weerdt W, Feys H, Pauwels J, Baten G, Arno P, et al. Effect of simulator training on driving after stroke: a randomized controlled trial. Neurology. 2005;65(6):843-50.

Forthcoming journal articles

[3] Ohyanagi T, Sengoku Y. A solution for measuring accurate reaction time to visual stimuli realized with a programmable microcontroller. Behav Res Methods. Forthcoming 2010.

Journal articles in Japanese

[4] Sengoku Y, Nakajima S, Nakamura Y. Effects of occupational therapy on identical twin children with hydrocephalus based on variations in static and dynamic equilibrium reaction (in Japanese). The Japanese Occupational Therapy research (sagyouryouhou). 2009 May;28(5):555-64.

Books and other monographs 

Author. Title of book. Edition. Place of publication: Publisher; Year of publication.

[5] Kane RL, Ouslander JG, Abrass IB, Resnick B. Essentials of Clinical Geriatrics. 7th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill; 2013.Editors, editors. Title of book. Edition  [if not first].Place of publication: Publisher; Year of publication

[6] Cicchetti D, Cohen DJ, editors. Developmental psychopathology. New York: John Wiley & Sons Inc; 1995.

Chapter in a book

[7] Tangarorang GL, Kerins GJ, Besdine RW. Clinical Approach to the Older Patient: An Overview. In: Cassel CK, Leipzig RM, Cohen HJ, Larson EB, Meier DE, editors. Geriatric Medicine: An Evidence-based Approach. 4th ed. New York: Springer Science+Business Media; 2006. 149–62.

Japanese book

[8] Nakamura R, Saito H, Nagasaki H. Fundamental Kinesiology. 6th ed (in Japanese). Tokyo: Ishiyaku Publishers Inc; 2013.

[9] Shimomura T. Stroke. In: Eto F, Takeda K, Hara H, Bando M, Watanabe S, editors. Rehabilitation of higher cortical dysfunction Ver.2 (in Japanese). Tokyo: Ishiyaku Publishers Inc; 2011; 95-101.

Web (Journals)

Author/organization's name. Article title. Journal title [Internet]. Date or year of publication [cited date - year month day]; Volume (Issue):Page numbers. Available from: URL.

 [10] Watabe T, Suzuki H, Kabe K, Hamabe S, Yoda M. Oculomotor Rehabilitation Program for a Patient with Brain Injury in an Acute Care Hospital: A Single-Case Experimental Design. Asian J Occup Ther [Internet]. 2022 July 27 [cited 2022 Aug 18]; 18(1):133-140. Available from: https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/asiajot/18/1/18_133/_article/-char/en. 

Web (web page, etc.)

Title [Internet]. Place of publication: Publisher's name (unless unknown); Date or year of publication [updated date (if available); cited date]. Available from: URL.

[11] The American Occupational Therapy Association, Inc [Internet ]. Montgomery: Health & Wellness [cited 2022 Aug 17]. Available from: https://www.aota.org/Practice/Health-Wellness.aspx

6) Figures and Photographs

Figures and photographs of good quality should be submitted as Microsoft Excel or Power Point file and should not be embedded in the manuscript. Please use a lettering to make them clear and readable even after reducing the size to about 66%. Number figures in order of mention in the text. Titles should be brief and complete. Provide an explanatory caption /legend which is comprehensible enough without referring to the text for every figure or photograph. Authors who wish to use illustrations which were already published must obtain the permission of the first author, publisher and/or copyright holders to give precise reference to the original work. This permission must include the right to publish in electronic media.

If authors are submitting the photographs of patients, see “Informed Consent” under the “Ethical Considerations” for more information. 

7) Tables

Tables in an editable format (Microsoft Word or Excel), and not as images should be submitted as a separate file. Tables should not be embedded in the manuscript. Number tables in order in Arabic numerals and list in the order corresponding to the reference cited in the text. Titles should be brief and complete. Each table must provide an appropriate brief explanatory caption /legend which is comprehensible enough without referring to the text. They should be kept as simple as possible and as a graphical representation. Information other than the definition of the data should be presented as footnotes.

　8）　Product Names

When mentioning a registered trade name in the text, capitalize the first letters of the product name and include the company name in parentheses following the registered trade name. Do not include a symbol or acronym indicating a registered trademark (®, TM, etc.).