Potential authors may approach SIS Editors with article submissions (see "Submit Your Article" section of this guide). Additionally, the SIS Editor (or in some cases an AOTA staff member representing the SIS) may contact you or put out a call for papers about writing an article based on a particular issue’s theme to appear in the most appropriate section (e.g., a Sensory Integration & Processing SIS article might appear in the Mental Health section, based on its focus). The Editor will provide you with the topic, issue theme (if any), length, and deadline. After you have agreed to write the article, you must complete a copyright release form.
As you begin writing, please share the initial draft with the SIS Editor to be sure you are meeting his or her expectations.
Submit your completed article to the SIS Editor, who will review it and share it with their committee. If they have questions, they may return the article to you for clarification.
The Editor will submit the article to AOTA, where staff in AOTA’s Practice Department will review it. Articles may be accepted, provisionally accepted with edits, or rejected. If additional questions arise, it may be returned to you for clarification. Your article may also be edited for space.
At this point, your article will be sent to AOTA’s Communications staff to be edited for grammar, clarity, consistency, and adherence to AOTA style (we use APA as the basic style guide, with additions and exceptions based on our in-house manual [see "AOTA Style" section of this guide for examples]). You will be sent a copy of the article after the editing has been completed. Please review it carefully and respond to any queries by the deadline.
Please note that the length of the review process varies considerably due to a number of factors. Working with the Editor as you are writing will result in considerably less work after you submit the article.
After the SIS Quarterly Practice Connections has been printed, each author will receive two complimentary copies.
