Optics Express has updated its review criteria, with modifications both to the substance and the look and feel of the review forms. The goals are to improve the reviewer experience, to obtain more informative reviewer reports to guide manuscript decisions, and in the long run to enhance the quality and stature of Optics Express.

The biggest change is that Optics Express submissions now require a brief statement (less than 200 words, excluding references) explaining the novelty, potential impact and relevance of this submission and clearly stating why the paper is suitable for publication in Optics Express. This statement will not be included in the final publication but will be provided to the reviewers, who will be encouraged to comment on the novelty and impact of the submission. The intent is to aid reviewers and editors in assessing a paper’s novelty and significance by placing the work in the broader context of the existing literature and the authors’ previous contributions.

Of course, a proper introduction to a journal article, or even an abstract, should also cover novelty and impact. However, we believe there are still important reasons to call these out in a separate novelty and impact statement. Authors will be compelled to address overlap with previous work (both from their group and others). The novelty and impact statement requirement will encourage authors to carefully consider novelty and impact when preparing their manuscript. Finally, reviewers will have access to a succinct distillation that specifically addresses novelty and impact, attributes we hope they will highlight when making their assessment.

Reviewers of papers submitted to Optics Express will be asked to consider four specific attributes: fit with the technical scope of the journal, novelty and impact, technical content, and presentation quality. Below we outline review criteria for each of the four attributes. Our hope is that by publicizing these guidelines, we will provide useful instruction to current and prospective authors.

Technical scope

Optics Express provides rapid publication of articles that emphasize scientific and technology innovations in all aspects of optics and photonics. Papers that potentially fall outside the scope of the journal include those where optics, although perhaps present, is not central to the theme of the article. Possible questions to ask for determining scope include: (1) Is the innovation of the paper strongly connected to optics and photonics, where we interpret “optics” to mean involving light or other forms of electromagnetic radiation? (2) Would I search for this topic in Optics Express, or would I start with other journals? (3) Has this topic traditionally had a home in Optics Express or other journals with similar scope? (4) Are the important bibliographic references connected to the optics literature?

Novelty and impact

Optics Express emphasizes both novelty and impact in its publications. In addition to describing new work, novel papers must contain new information that has the potential to significantly impact the field of optics. Reviewers are asked to read the authors’ novelty and impact statement to assess this aspect of the paper. Possible questions to address include: (1) Did you learn anything new or surprising from reading the paper? (2) Is the novelty described in the “Author novelty and impact statement” significant compared to past work or simply incremental? (3) Does the paper itself present novel results, enable new applications, solve important problems, or provide new theoretical insight? (4) How likely is this paper to make a major impact on future research?

Technical content

Possible questions to address include: (1) Is the paper free from technical errors? (2) Are the conclusions supported by the data presented? (3) Is the work placed in proper context? (4) Is prior or related work adequately referenced?

Presentation quality

Possible questions to address include: (1) Does the title clearly define the subject matter and is it free from poorly defined acronyms? (2) Does the abstract serve as a stand-alone document that succinctly describes both the procedures and conclusions? (3) Does the article present the subject in a way that an informed reader can understand the content? (4) Are the figures, tables, captions, and multimedia content understandable, readable, and useful? (5) Is the quality of English appropriate for an archival journal?

This updated review criteria and the new requirement for Optics Express authors to provide a novelty and impact statement are effective immediately. Authors and reviewers who have questions about these changes may contact Optics Express at opex@osa.org. The Optics Express editorial board thanks the authors and reviewers who support the journal with high-quality submissions and constructive review reports.

Andrew M. Weiner

Editor-in-Chief, Optics Express

Purdue University

James R. Leger

Senior Deputy Editor, Optics Express

University of Minnesota