Instructions to authors

• Aims and scope
• Instructions to Authors
• Peer Review Process
• Preparation of your manuscript
• Publication and Research Ethics
• Publishing Agreements including Open Access
• Promoting your work
• Contact Us

Aims and scope

Alcohol and Alcoholism (A&A) is an online-only, peer reviewed journal publishing 6 issues per year. The Journal publishes papers in English on biomedical, psychological, and sociological aspects of alcohol-related research, provided that they make a new and significant contribution to knowledge in the field and areas thereof concerned.

Peer Review Process

To simplify the submission process for authors, A&A has relaxed some guidelines for new submissions. Authors are required to format their papers and provide individual files at the revision stage only. New papers submitted to A&A can be submitted as a single Word or PDF file, provided it is legible for peer review and the level of written English in the manuscript is sufficient to allow editors and reviewers to fully assess the manuscript contents. The only other requirements are for authors to follow the prescribed word count and number of references for their article type (see the “Preparation of your manuscript” Section for more information).

The Journal operates single-anonymized peer review, meaning that the identity of the authors is known to the editors and to the reviewers, but that the reviewers’ identities are known only to the editors and are hidden from the authors.

The Chief Editors may decide to make an Editorial Rejection if a submission does not meet minimum criteria of scientific rigour, and relevance and interest to the Journal's readers, or if the Chief Editors believe that the paper would be less competitive than other submissions, also taking into account priority, innovation, etc. Submission of a paper implies that it has been approved by all the named authors, and that it reports unpublished work, that it is not under consideration for publication in whole or in part elsewhere, and that if accepted by Alcohol and Alcoholism it will not be published elsewhere in the same form, either in English or in any other language, without the consent of the Chief Editors.

Papers that are scientifically acceptable but need revision because they are not clear and concise or do not conform sufficiently to the conventions of Alcohol and Alcoholism will be returned to the authors for amendment. A tracked copy of a revision to be uploaded alongside the point-by-point response.

Editors and Independent Reviewers

Normally a paper is read by the handling Chief Editor and two or more reviewers. The main task of the reviewers is to make recommendations on the acceptability of a paper. However, final decisions are made by the handling Chief Editor. The handing Chief Editor may consult with the other Chief Editor, as needed. Once the paper is accepted for publication, the Editorial Office of the journal will prepare the paper for publication by the Production Team. In this final process, attention is paid to grammar and the detailed conventions and style of the Journal.

Complaints

To register a complaint regarding non-editorial decisions, the Journal’s policies and procedures, editors, or staff, please contact Journals.Ethics@oup.com. Complaints will be taken seriously and will be carried forward following COPE guidelines and processes and/or sanctions will be enacted if deemed appropriate.

Disclosure of potential conflicts of interest

This journal takes a serious view on various ethical issues related to publishing in this field. As well as familiarizing themselves with guidelines relating to these issues at the ISAJE website and elsewhere, authors should also pay special attention to issues related to ‘conflict of interest’ before submission of their work to this journal.

The Journal requires all authors to disclose any potential conflict of interest at the point of submission. It is the responsibility of the corresponding author to ensure that conflicts of interest of all authors are declared to the Journal.

Authors

A conflict of interest exists when the position, activities, or relationships of an individual, whether direct or indirect, financial, or non-financial, could influence or be seen to influence the opinions or activities of the individual. For more information, refer to OUP’s definition of conflict of interest. The Journal follows the COPE guidance for any undisclosed conflict of interest that emerges during peer review, production, or after publication.

Peer reviewers

Individuals that have a conflict of interest relating to a submitted manuscript should recuse themselves and will not be assigned to oversee, handle, or peer review the manuscript.

If during peer review a Reviewer, or Author becomes aware of a conflict of interest that was not previously known or disclosed they must inform the handling Chief Editor immediately.

Editors and editorial board members

At initial submission, the corresponding author must declare if one (or both) of the Chief Editors is an author of or contributor to the manuscript. If one of the Chief Editor is an author, the other Chief Editor will handle the paper. In the event that both Chief Editors are authors in the same paper, the Editorial Office will appoint an acting handling Editor among the members of the Editorial Board, who has no conflict of interest and will oversee the peer review and decision-making process. If accepted, a statement will be published in the paper describing how the manuscript was handled. The statement will read “[Author name] holds the position of [role] for Alcohol and Alcoholism and has not peer reviewed or made any editorial decisions for this paper."

Previously published material

You should only submit your manuscript(s) to the Journal if:

• It is original work by you and your co-author(s).
• It is not under consideration, in peer review, or accepted for publication in any other publication.
• It has not been published in any other publication.
• It contains nothing abusive, defamatory, derogatory, obscene, fraudulent, unethical, and/or illegal.

The submitting author must disclose in their cover letter and provide copies of all related or similar preprints, dissertations, manuscripts, published papers, and reports by the same authors (i.e., those containing substantially similar content or using the same, similar, or a subset of data) that have been previously published or posted electronically or are under consideration elsewhere at the time of manuscript submission. You must also provide a concise explanation of how the submitted manuscript differs from these related manuscripts and papers. All related previously published papers should be cited as references and described in the submitted manuscript. The Journal does not discourage you from presenting your findings at conferences or scientific meetings but recommends that you refrain from distributing complete copies of your manuscripts, which might later be published elsewhere without your knowledge.

For previously published materials including tables and figures, please see the Reusing copyrighted materials section.

“Words Matter” - Guidance on Language and Terminology

Please note that this section is adapted from The American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse and the Journal of Addiction Medicine.

We ask our authors and reviewers to please use language and terminology that minimize stigmatizing terminology.

1. Please use “person first” language (e.g. “person/patient/participant with alcohol use disorder”, rather than “alcoholic”). Person-first language helps to reduce stigma against people who use drugs by not implying that they are their disorder. “Addict” and “alcoholic,” while often used among some patients and the public, can be stigmatizing, dehumanizing, and do not reflect the very human condition of addiction.
2. Please avoid the use of the word “abuse” in reference to substance use unless referring to a diagnosis in pre-DSM 5 versions of the American Psychiatric Association Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). “Abuse” has a negative, violent connotation. Similarly do not use the word “abuser.” “Misuse,” “problematic use,” or “hazardous use” are appropriate replacements for “abuse” depending on the context.
3. Preferred terms for the disease include substance use disorder, alcohol use disorder, drug use disorder, gambling disorder, and addiction. Use of terms in other diagnostic systems are acceptable provided the terms are used as defined. Examples include “dependence” when referring to pre-DSM 5 or International Classification of Diseases (ICD) diagnoses, or the ICD diagnosis “Harmful Use.” Note that “drug” should not be used when the more appropriate term is “substance” (i.e., drug, alcohol, and tobacco) or “medication” (i.e., drug intended for medical use). “Person who uses drugs” should be used rather than “drug user.”
4. Terminology that attempts to quantify or risk by stratifying substance use or other behaviors should be defined within the manuscript. However, we recommend authors: a. Avoid using the imprecise terms “misuse,” “problem use,” or “inappropriate use.” b. “Moderate” drinking is non-specific and implies associations with values or outcomes. “Low” risk or “lower” risk is preferred, or simply specify the amount (e.g. fewer than 2 drinks per day). c. Preferred terms for use that may have health consequences include “at-risk” or “risky” or “hazardous use.” “Harmful Use” is an ICD diagnosis and its use should be restricted to that diagnosis. “Problem use” or “problematic use” can refer to use associated with consequences that do not meet criteria for a substance use disorder/addiction. “Unhealthy use” refers to the full spectrum from risky use to a disorder. ASAM Public Policy Statement on Terminology Related to the Spectrum of Unhealthy Substance Use.
5. A return to substance use following a period of non-use should carefully consider the context. For example, “return to drinking” would reflect the use of alcohol following a period of non-use whereas “relapse to heavy drinking” would reflect the use of alcohol following a period of abstinence in an individual with alcohol use disorder.
6. Use medical, not non-medical language: a. Avoid “medication-assisted” unless referring to specific programs with those names. Medication is a treatment, so the term MAT may be used to refer to Medication for Addiction Treatment. Opioid agonist therapy is now commonly referred to “Medication for Opioid Use Disorder (MOUD). b. “Medical record” is preferred over “chart.”. c. Avoid “drunk,” “smashed,” “bombed.” Instead use “intoxicated” (consistent with the DSM-5).
7. Avoid inaccurate or imprecise terms: a. “Opiates” refer to plant-derived substances and their derivatives (e.g. morphine, codeine, heroin). “Opioids” is a broader term that includes synthetics and semi-synthetics as well as endogenous opiate-like compounds (e.g., endorphins). b. “Adherence” is preferred over “compliance” when referring to use of health services or medications. c. For specificity, “history of” and “active” should be avoided in favor of more specific descriptions (e.g. “past 30-day use,” “current [past year] diagnosis”). d. Avoid “substitution” therapy when referring to Mediation for Opiod Use Disorder. “Substitution” is not a correct characterization of medication treatment (for example, opioid agonist treatment does not generally produce euphoria or short-lived increases in blood opioid levels). Thus, for opioids, “agonist treatment” or “opioid agonist treatment” are preferred.
8. Avoid stigmatizing language (words that attribute moral judgement): a. Do not refer to “dirty” or “clean” urine or test results; instead use the terms “positive” or “negative” urine or “urine positive for cocaine”, or “cocaine detected,” etc. b. Do not use “drunk, pothead, crackhead, meth addict, etc.” Instead use “patient/participant with [insert substance] use disorder.” c. Do not use the terms “frequent flyer” or “recidivist”. Instead use “patient with multiple relapses.” e. Avoid stating that the patient failed in treatment. Instead note that the treatment was not efficacious or effective. f. Do not use “drop-out” to refer to an individual who has left treatment or a study protocol. Instead, use terms such as “withdrew from treatment,” “discontinuation of treatment,” “non-adherence to treatment,” or “discontinued the invention.”
9. The use of “marijuana” is discouraged given its racial origins and connotation. Please use “cannabis” instead. “Marijuana” may be used if the authors are referencing a specific diagnosis, survey item, etc.

Please see also:

• Volkow, Gordon & Koob. 2021.
• NIAAA website
• International Society of Addiction Journal Editors website

Inclusive language

As defined by the Linguistic Society of America, “Inclusive language acknowledges diversity, conveys respect to all people, is sensitive to differences, and promotes equal opportunities”. We encourage you to consider using inclusive language and images when preparing your manuscript.

Preparation of your manuscript

To simplify the submission process for authors, A&A has relaxed some guidelines for new submissions. Authors are required to format their papers and provide individual files at the revision stage only. New papers submitted to A&A can be submitted as a single Word or PDF file, provided it is legible for peer review and the level of written English in the manuscript is sufficient to allow editors and reviewers to fully assess the manuscript contents. The only other requirements are for authors to follow the prescribed word count and number of references for their article type (as below).

Article Types

*Clarification on the Letters to the Editors. These are intended to provide an opportunity to discuss or expand particular points made in previously published work in Alcohol and Alcoholism, and/or comment on or criticize work previously published in Alcohol and Alcoholism. In response the Letter, the handling Chief Editor will solicit a Reply from the authors of the work previously published in Alcohol and Alcoholism. The Chief Editors make a final decision on whether a Letter, a Reply, or both are accepted for publication. Letters to the Editors cannot be used as a vehicle for publication of preliminary results. The Journal does not typically publish case reports, although case reports of special interest may be rarely considered for publication as a Letter to the Editors.

Formatting

Title page

The title of the paper should be given in full, together with the name(s) of the author(s), address(es) of the Laboratory or Unit(s) or Department(s) in which the work was performed, the address and e-mail numbers of the author to whom correspondence concerning the handling of the paper should be sent. A running title for the paper (55 characters or less including spaces) and a list of no more than six key words should also be provided.

Abstract

The Abstract must include a summary of the work done and the conclusions reached. It must not include any introductory material nor description of methods used or statistical comparisons of results. The Abstract should be structured into the following sections: Aims, Methods, Results and Conclusions, although this is limited to certain article types; for additional details, please see the details provided in the Table above.

Short Summary

This additional summary (max 50 words) provides the key findings of the manuscript. Please note that when submitting your short summary, it should follow the abstract and be on a separate page.

Style of papers

The journal follows Oxford SCIMED style. Please refer to these requirements when preparing your manuscript after initial review. Find more information in our mini style checklist.

Tables

Each Table should be typed on a separate page and should be supplied with a heading and an explanatory legend. The heading and legend should make the general meaning comprehensible without reference to the text. The heading, which should precede the Table details, must be short but informative, and must not include any details of any kind. Conditions specific to the particular experiment should be stated in the legend, which should be placed at the bottom of the Table. Reference to the text for general experimental methods is permissible provided that there is no ambiguity. Footnotes should be as few as possible. The units in which the results are expressed, e.g. g/dl, should be given at the top of each column, and not repeated on each line of the Table. Words or numerals should be repeated on successive lines; 'ditto' or '' are not to be used. The approximate positions of the Tables should be indicated in the text.

Figures

Each illustration should be submitted electronically; each should bear the author's name, the title (abbreviated if necessary) of the paper and the Figure number. All photographs, diagrams and charts (both line and half-tone) should be referred to as Figures, given Arabic numerals numbered consecutively in the order in which they are referred to in the text. The approximate position of each Figure in the text should be indicated in the text.

Figure legends must be typed on a separate page at the end of the paper. Each Figure should be supplied with a heading and legend, which should make the general meaning comprehensible without reference to the text. The heading must be short but informative and must not contain any details of any kind nor be merged with the legend. The legends should then be started on a separate line and should include details specific to the particular experiment. Legends should be included at the end of the paper after the reference section.

Figures should be provided as jpg or tif files (publication quality min 300 d.p.i.).

Reproduction of half-tone illustrations (photographs)

The magnification, if any, is to be indicated; this is best done by adding a bar representing a stated length. The Editors will accept plates for publication only (a) when they make a significantly important scientific or clinical contribution to the paper, and (b) when the photographs supplied are of a quality that justifies publication in this form.

Figure accessibility and alt text

Incorporating alt text (alternative text) when submitting your paper helps to foster inclusivity and accessibility. Good alt text ensures that individuals with visual impairments or those using screen readers can comprehend the content and context of your figures. The aim of alt text is to provide concise and informative descriptions of your figure so that all readers have access to the same level of information and understanding, and that all can engage with and benefit from the visual elements integral to scholarly content. Including alt text demonstrates a commitment to accessibility and enhances the overall impact and reach of your work.  

Alt text is applicable to all images, figures, illustrations, and photographs. 

Alt text is only accessible via e-reader and so it won’t appear as part of the typeset article. 

Detailed guidance on how to draft and submit alt text. 

References

This is a modified Harvard style system. In the text, references for papers by more than two authors are given as the first author followed by et al. When more than one reference is mentioned at a time in the text, the references should be listed chronologically. In the list of references, the references should be typed double-spaced in alphabetical order and entries should be as follows:

(a) Journal references:

(1) Authors' names; (2) year of publication; (3) title of paper: (4) abbreviated journal name; (5) volume number; (6) first and last page numbers. When there are more than seven authors, the first three authors are given, followed by et al.
Example: Joutsenniemi K, Martelin T, Kestilä L. et al. Living arrangements, heavy drinking and alcohol dependence. Alcohol Alcohol 2007;42:480–91. https://doi.org/10.1093/alcalc/agm011.Example:

(b) Book references:

(1) Authors' names; (2) year of publication; (3) title of article; (4) title of book and volume number, if any; (5) editor(s); (6) first and last page numbers of article; (7) city of publication; (8) publisher's name.
Example: Alkana RL and Noble EP. (1979) Amethystic agents - reversal of acute ethanol intoxication in humans. In Majchrowicz E and Noble EP (eds), Biochemistry and Pharmacology of Ethanol, Vol. 2, pp. 349-74. New York: Plenum Press.

Only papers published or accepted for publication (and therefore in press) can be included in the list of references. Personal communications, unpublished work or work submitted for publication should not be entered in the list of references, but can be quoted only in the text. However, the corresponding author is fully responsible for making sure the accuracy of personal communication or unpublished work quoted in the text. Similarly, a paper presented at a conference cannot be considered as a publication and should not therefore be listed, unless it appeared as an Abstract in a Journal.

Footnotes

These should be avoided as far as possible. When they must be used, as in Tables, reference should be made by the symbols *, **, ***, †, ††, †††, in that order.

Acknowledgements, Conflict of Interest and Funding Statements

These must be as short as possible.

It is the corresponding author’s responsibility to assure that individuals acknowledged in the manuscript are aware and agreed to have their name in the acknowledgement section of the manuscript.

A detailed conflict of interest statement must also be included in this section of the manuscript.

The following rules should be followed for Funding Statements:

The sentence should begin: ‘This work was supported by …’ The full official funding agency name should be given, i.e. ‘the National Cancer Institute at the National Institutes of Health’ or simply 'National Institutes of Health' not ‘NCI' (one of the 27 subinstitutions) or 'NCI at NIH. Grant numbers should be complete and accurate and provided in brackets as follows: ‘[grant number ABX CDXXXXXX]’?Multiple grant numbers should be separated by a comma as follows: ‘[grant numbers ABX CDXXXXXX, EFX GHXXXXXX]’?Agencies should be separated by a semi-colon (plus ‘and’ before the last funding agency)?Where individuals need to be specified for certain sources of funding the following text should be added after the relevant agency or grant number 'to [author initials]'.

An example is given here: ‘This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health’ [P50 CA098252 and CA118790 to R.B.S.R.] and the Alcohol & Education Research Council [HFY GR667789].

Oxford Journals will deposit all NIH-funded articles in PubMed Central. See depositing articles in repositories – information for authors for details. Authors must ensure that manuscripts are clearly indicated as NIH-funded using the guidelines above.

Crossref Funding Data Registry

In order to meet your funding requirements authors are required to name their funding sources, or state if there are none, during the submission process. For further information on this process or to find out more about CHORUS, visit the CHORUS initiative.

Language Editing

Particularly if English is not your first language, before submitting your manuscript you may wish to have it edited for language. This is not a mandatory step, but may help to ensure that the academic content of your paper is fully understood by journal editors and reviewers. Language editing does not guarantee that your manuscript will be accepted for publication. There are other specialist language editing companies that offer similar services and you can also use any of these. Authors are liable for all costs associated with such services.

Publication and Research Ethics

Authorship

The corresponding author is solely responsible for making sure that all authors agreed to be listed as authors, they approved the final version of the manuscript (including the list of authors) and that they provided significant contribution to the study to qualify as authors. According to the ICMJE guidelines, all of the following 4 criteria must be met to be considered an author:

• Substantial contributions to the 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.

Individuals who participated only in acquisition of funding, collection of data, or general supervision of a research group (i.e. institution leaders who were not actively involved in specific projects), does not justify authorship. These individuals should be included in the Acknowledgements.

The corresponding author is responsible for ensuring all authors meet the above criteria for authorship.

The Journal does not allow ghost authorship, where an unnamed author prepares the article with no credit, or guest/gift authorship, where an author who made little or no contribution is listed as an author. The Journal follows Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidance on investigating and resolving these cases. For more information, please see the OUP Publication Ethics page.

Natural language processing tools driven by artificial intelligence (AI) do not qualify as authors, and the Journal will screen for them in author lists. The use of AI (for example, to help generate content or images, write code, process data, or for translation) should be disclosed both in cover letters to editors and in the Methods or Acknowledgements section of manuscripts. Please see the COPE position statement on Authorship and AI for more details.

After manuscript submission, no authorship changes (including the authorship list, author order, and who is designated as the corresponding author) should be made unless there is a substantive reason to do so. The handing Chief Editor and all co-authors must agree on the change(s), and neither the Journal nor the publisher mediates authorship disputes. If individuals cannot agree on the authorship of a submitted manuscript, contact the editorial office at alcalc.editorialoffice@theeditorialhub.com. The dispute must be resolved among the individuals and their institution(s) before the manuscript can be accepted for publication. If an authorship dispute or change arises after a paper is accepted, contact OUP’s Author Support team. COPE provides guidance for authors on resolving authorship disputes.

After submission, changing who is designated as the corresponding author will be permitted only where there is a substantive reason to do so. For the avoidance of doubt, changing the corresponding author in order to access Read and Publish funding is not permissible. For more information on Read and Publish funding, see the Open access charges section.

Group authorship

Groups (also known as corporate, organization, or collective names) who meet authorship criteria should be included in the main author list. Every individual in the group should fully meet the criteria for authorship. At least one individual must be designated on behalf of the group as the primary point of contact during the peer-review and production processes, as well as for correspondence following publication. You may list this individual separately in the main author list if desired. A complete list of the individual members of the group must be included in the manuscript.

CRediT

The Journal uses the contributor roles taxonomy (CRediT), which allows authors to describe the contributor roles in a standardized, transparent, and accurate way. Authors should choose from the contributor roles outlined on the CRediT website and supply this information upon submission. You may choose multiple contributor roles per author. Any other individuals who do not meet authorship criteria and made less substantive contributions should be listed in your manuscript as non-author contributors with their contributions clearly described.

Changes to published papers

The Journal will only make changes to published papers if the publication record is seriously affected by the academic accuracy of the published information. Changes to a published paper will be accompanied by a formal correction notice linking to and from the original paper.

As needed, we follow the COPE guidelines on retractions.

For more information and details of how to request changes, including for authors who wish to update their name and/or pronouns, please see OUP’s policy on changes to published papers. If you have any questions about your article please contact us. Requests for corrections should state ‘Correction notice request’ and the article ID in the subject line. Please also include as an email attachment the pdf of the article marked up with the requested amendments using the ‘Comment’ feature in Adobe Acrobat.

Availability of Data and Materials

Where ethically feasible, Alcohol and Alcoholism strongly encourages authors to make all data and software code on which the conclusions of the paper rely available to readers. Authors are required to include a Data Availability Statement in their article. When data and software underlying the research article are available in an online source, authors should include a full citation in their reference list. For details of the minimum information to be included in data and software citations see the OUP guidance on citing research data and software. We suggest that data be presented in the main manuscript or additional supporting files, or deposited in a public repository whenever possible. For information on general repositories for all data types, and a list of recommended repositories by subject area, please see Choosing where to archive your data.

Data Availability Statement

The inclusion of a Data Availability Statement is a requirement for articles published in Alcohol and Alcoholism. Data Availability Statements provide a standardised format for readers to understand the availability of data of original and third-party data underlying the research results described in the article. The statement should describe and provide means of access, where possible, by linking to the data or providing the required unique identifier.

The Data Availability Statement should be included in the endmatter of your article under the heading ‘Data availability’.

More information and examples of Data Availability Statements.

Data Citation

Alcohol and Alcoholism supports the Force 11 Data Citation Principles and requires that all publicly available datasets be fully referenced in the reference list with an accession number or unique identifier such as a digital object identifier (DOI). Data citations should include the minimum information recommended by DataCite:

• [dataset]* Authors, Year, Title, Publisher (repository or archive name), Identifier

*The inclusion of the [dataset] tag at the beginning of the citation helps us to correctly identify and tag the citation. This tag will be removed from the citation published in the reference list.

Digital preservation

Content published in the Journal will automatically be deposited into digital preservation services, including CLOCKSS, the Global LOCKSS Network, and Portico. This ensures the long-term preservation of your work. Through LOCKSS, participating institutions can sustain access to content if the Journal were to otherwise be unavailable, even for a short period of time. Should the Journal ever cease to publish, or content would otherwise become permanently unavailable, long-term access to the archives of CLOCKSS and Portico would be triggered. Until such a trigger event were to occur, this content is not available to the public through CLOCKSS and Portico.

Preprint policy

Authors retain the right to make an Author’s Original Version (preprint) available through various channels, and this does not prevent submission to the journal. For further information see our Online Licensing, Copyright and Permissions policies. If accepted, the authors are required to update the status of any preprint, including your published paper’s DOI, as described on our Author Self-Archiving policy page.

Reusing copyrighted material

As an author, you must obtain permission for any material used within your manuscript for which you are not the rightsholder, including quotations, tables, figures, or images. In seeking permissions for published materials, first contact the publisher rather than the author. For unpublished materials, start by contacting the creator. Copies of each grant of permission should be provided to the editorial office of the Journal. The permissions agreement must include the following:

• nonexclusive rights to reproduce the material in your paper in the Journal
• rights for use in print and electronic format at a minimum, and preferably for use in any form or medium
• lifetime rights to use the material
• worldwide English-language rights

If you have chosen to publish under an open access licence but have not obtained open access re-use permissions for third-party material contained within the manuscript, this must be stated clearly by supplying a credit line alongside the material with the following information:

• Title of content
• Author, Original publication, year of original publication, by permission of [rightsholder]
• This image/content is not covered by the terms of the Creative Commons licence of this publication. For permission to reuse, please contact the rights holder.

Our publisher, Oxford University Press, provides detailed Copyright and Permissions Guidelines, and a summary of the fundamental information.

Misconduct

Authors should observe high standards with respect to research integrity and publication ethics as set out by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). Falsification or fabrication of data including inappropriate image manipulation, plagiarism, including duplicate publication of the author's own work without proper citation, and misappropriation of work are all unacceptable practices. Allegations of ethical misconduct, both directly and through social media, are treated seriously and will be investigated in accordance with the relevant COPE guidance.

If misconduct has been established beyond reasonable doubt, this may result in one or more of the following outcomes, among others:

• If a submitted manuscript is still under consideration, it may be rejected and returned to the author.
• If a paper has already been published online, depending on the nature and severity of the infraction, either a correction notice will be published and linked to the paper, or retraction of the paper will occur, following the COPE Retraction Guidelines.
• The relevant party’s institution(s) and/or other journals may be informed.

Manuscripts submitted to the Journal may be screened with plagiarism-detection software. Any manuscript may be screened, especially if there is reason to suppose that part or all the of the manuscript has been previously published.

COPE defines plagiarism as “when somebody presents the work of others (data, words or theories) as if they were their own and without proper acknowledgment.”

COPE defines redundant/overlapping publication as “when a published work (or substantial sections from a published work) is/are published more than once (in the same or another language) without adequate acknowledgment of the source/cross-referencing/justification,

or

when the same (or substantially overlapping) data is presented in more than one publication without adequate cross-referencing/justification, particularly when this is done in such a way that reviewers/readers are unlikely to realise that most or all the findings have been published before.”

COPE defines citation manipulation as “behaviours intended to inflate citation counts for personal gain, such as: excessive self-citation of an authors’ own work, excessive citation to the journal publishing the citing article, and excessive citation between journals in a coordinated manner.”

Data fabrication is defined as intentionally creating fake data or misrepresenting research results. An example includes making up data sets.

Data falsification is defined as manipulating research data with the purpose of intentionally giving a false representation. This can apply to images, research materials, equipment, or processes. Examples include cropping of gels/images to change context and omission of selected data.

If notified of a potential breach of research misconduct or publication ethics, the Journal editor and editorial office staff may inform OUP and/or the author’s institutional affiliation(s).

Ethical research

The Journal follows Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidelines on ethical oversight. We take research integrity seriously, and all research published in the Journal must have been conducted in a fair and ethical manner. Wherever appropriate, the Journal requires that all research be done according to international and local guidelines.

Human subjects

When reporting on human subjects, you should indicate whether the procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the Helsinki Declaration, which were developed by the World Medical Association. For non-interventional studies, where ethical approval is not required or where a study has been granted an exemption by an ethics committee, this should be stated within the manuscript with a full explanation. Otherwise, manuscripts must include a statement in the Methods section that the research was performed after approval by a local ethics committee, institutional review board and/or local licensing committee, or that such approval was not required. The name of the authorizing body and any reference/permit numbers (where available) should also be stated there. Please be prepared to provide further information to the editorial office upon request.

Human subjects must give written informed consent, or if they are minors or incapacitated, such consent must be obtained from their parents or guardians. Consent forms should cover not only study participation but also the publication of the data collected. Also, any patient or provider information should be anonymized to the extent possible; names and ID numbers should not be used in the text and must be removed from any images (X-rays, photographs, etc.). Please note blanking out an individual’s eyes in a photograph is not an effective way to conceal their identity. In studies where verbal, rather than written, informed consent was obtained, this must be explained and stated within the manuscript. If informed consent is not required or where a study has been granted an exemption, this must be included in the Methods section along with the name of the authorizing body. The Journal does not routinely collect consent forms, but authors should be prepared to provide written consent forms signed by the participants or other appropriate documentation to the editorial office upon request. For further guidance and examples, please refer to COPE’s guidance on consent.

Animal subjects

Studies involving animals require approval from the relevant institutional ethics committee or institutional animal use and care committee, and the research must be conducted in accordance with applicable national and international guidelines. All such manuscripts must include a statement in the Methods section providing details of the name of the committee(s) that approved the study, as well as the permit or animal license numbers where available. Where a study has been granted an exemption, this must be stated in the Methods section along with the name of the authorizing body. Please be prepared to provide further information to the editorial office upon request.

Details on animal housing and husbandry must be provided in the manuscript.

ARRIVE guidelines:

You are encouraged to consult the ARRIVE guidelines recommended by the National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3R).

Euthanasia or Anesthesia Methods:

Where applicable, any euthanasia or anesthesia methods must be carried out in accordance with applicable veterinary guidelines. These methods must be described in detail and be aimed at humane endpoints. Details on the planned behavioral observations or physiological measurements used to determine the humane endpoint must also be described. You are advised to consult the NC3Rs guide on Humane Endpoints and the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) Guidelines for the Humane Slaughter of Animals.

Wider ethical guidelines

Alcohol and Alcoholism subscribes to the Farmington Consensus statement [see Alcohol and Alcoholism 33, 6-7 (1998)] and the Ethical Practice Guidelines of the International Society for Addiction Journal Editors (ISAJE), which can be accessed on the ISAJE website.

The ISAJE guidelines have been developed after consultation with recommendations and other documents produced by a variety of bodies, including those of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), modification of the latter by Drug and Alcohol Dependence, the US National Institutes of Health (NIH), Office of Research Integrity, and the 'Integrity in Science' project of the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI).

Clinical trials

Clinical trials should be registered before enrollment of the first subject in accordance with the criteria outlined by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE). When reporting primary or secondary analyses from a clinical trial, follow these criteria:

• Provide the trial registration number at the end of the Abstract.
• When the trial acronym is first used in the manuscript, provide the registration number and a link to the trial registration, which should be cited as a reference.
• If your data have been deposited in a public repository and/or are being used in a secondary analysis, please state at the end of the Abstract the unique, persistent data set identifier, and repository name and number.
• When submitting the manuscript, you must disclose any protocol alterations and all posting of results of the submitted work or closely related work in registries.

Where available, registration numbers should be provided not only for the trial you are reporting but also for any other trial mentioned in the manuscript. When the trial acronym is first used in the manuscript, provide the registration number and a link to the trial registration, which should be cited as a reference.

Requirements for specific paper types

The journal supports the Equator Network and as such we ask that all authors read and comply with the guidelines listed via the Equator homepage. These include the PRISMA guidelines for systematic review articles, STARD guidelines for diagnostic/prognostic studies and CONSORT guidelines for randomised trials.

Experimental hazards

Authors should draw attention to any particular chemical or biological hazard that may be involved in carrying out the experiments described. Where appropriate, the safety precautions that were taken should be stated. Alternatively, a statement may be included to indicate that an acceptable code of practice has been followed, with references to the relevant standards.

SI units

Alcohol and Alcoholism uses the recommended SI symbols for units [see Pure and Applied Chemistry (1970) 21, 1-44; IUPAC Manual of Symbols and Terminology for Physico-chemical Quantities and Units (1979) Pergamon Press, Oxford].

Other technical information

Details of technical data, e.g. chromatography, enzymes, isotope experiments, and other physical aspects and constants, mathematics and abbreviations of biochemicals are as published in the Biochemical Journal (1993) 289, 1-15.

Statistics

The Editors emphasize the importance of correct statistical design, analysis and presentation. Authors are advised to consider all statistical aspects at the stage of planning the project, as badly designed studies may not be salvageable later. Statistical methods should be specified explicitly and referenced if they are non-standard. Estimates presented should be accompanied by indices of precision (e.g. means accompanied by confidence intervals). Authors are advised to consult the following: Altman, DG, Gore, SM, Gardner, MJ and Pocock, SJ. (1983) Statistical guidelines for contributors to medical journals. British Medical Journal 286: 1489-93.

Drug and dosage selection

Authors must make every effort to ensure the accuracy of information, particularly with regard to drug selection and dose. However, appropriate information sources should be consulted, especially for new or unfamiliar drugs or procedures. It is the responsibility of every practitioner to evaluate the appropriateness of a particular opinion in the context of actual clinical situations and with due consideration to new developments.

Publishing Agreements including Open Access

After your manuscript is accepted, you will be asked to sign a licence to publish through our licencing and payment portal, SciPris. Alcohol and Alcoholism offers the option of publishing under either a standard licence or an open access licence. There is a charge to publish under an open access licence, which allows your paper to be freely accessible to all readers immediately upon online publication. Editorial decisions occur prior to this step and are not influenced by payment or ability to pay. The standard licence makes your paper available only to Journal subscribers and there is no licence charge. This licence grants OUP an exclusive licence to publish and distribute the content. There is no transfer of ownership of the copyright. You, the author, retain copyright for the content.

Please note that some funders require open access publication as a condition of funding. If you are unsure whether you are required to publish open access, please check with your funder or institution before selecting your licence.

Papers can be published under the following:

• Standard licence to publish (Oxford University Press (OUP) Journals, Standard Publication Model)
• Creative Commons Attribution licence (CC BY)
• Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial licence (CC BY-NC)
• Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives licence (CC BY-NC-ND)
• United States Government Licence
• Crown Copyright Licence

Please see the OUP guidance on Licences, copyright, and re-use rights for more information regarding these publishing agreement options.

Open Government Licence

The Open Government Licence is an open licencing model for content produced by employees of UK Crown bodies allowing users to copy, publish, distribute adapt and transmit the Information for commercial and non-commercial purposes. For additional information see here.

Complying with funder mandates

Please note that some funders require open access publication as a condition of funding. If you are unsure whether you are required to publish open access, please do clarify any such requirements with your funder or institution before selecting your licence.

Further information on funder mandates and direct links to a range of funder policies.

Charges

Please see the details of open access licences and charges. If you select an open access licence, you must pay the open access charge or request to use an institutional agreement to pay the open access charge through our licencing and payment portal, SciPris.

OUP has a growing number of Read and Publish agreements with institutions and consortia which provide funding for open access publishing. This means authors from participating institutions can publish open access, and the institution may pay the charge. Find out if your institution is participating.

Self-archiving

Self-archiving refers to posting a copy of your work on a publicly accessible website or repository. Under certain circumstances, you may self-archive versions of your work on your own webpages, on institutional webpages, and in other repositories. For information about the Journal's policy, and to learn which version(s) of your paper are acceptable for self-archiving, please see our Author self-archiving policy.

Promoting your work

As the author, you are the best advocate for your work, and we encourage you to be involved in promoting your publication. Sharing your ideas and news about your publication with your colleagues and friends could take as little as 15 minutes and will make a real difference in raising the profile of your research.

You can promote your work by:

• Sharing your paper with colleagues and friends. If your paper is published open access, it will always be freely available to all readers, and you can share it without any limitations. Otherwise, use the toll-free link that is emailed to you after publication. It provides permanent, free access to your paper, even if your paper is updated. · Signing up for an ORCID iD author identifier to distinguish yourself from any other researchers with the same name, create an online profile showcasing all your publications, and increase the visibility of your work.
• Using social media to promote your work. To learn more about self-promotion on social media, see our social media guide for authors. Find out how Oxford University Press promotes your content.

Contact Us

For questions regarding submission and review, including appeals, you can reach the editorial office by email at alcalc.editorialoffice@theeditorialhub.com.

After your paper has been sent to production, you can contact oupsupport@scipris.com for questions regarding the production process or publication. Please see Changes to published papers if you need to request a substantive change to your published paper.