Open Access Pub· Peer-reviewed· Open access since 2015
About the Journal of Ophthalmic Science
A peer-reviewed, open-access journal spanning ophthalmic science, clinical care and vision research. JOS publishes basic, experimental, preclinical, clinical, translational and population research whose primary contribution concerns the eye, visual system or delivery of eye care.
- FocusOphthalmic science and vision research
- Publishing since2015
- Peer reviewSingle-blind external review by relevant specialists
- LicenseCC BY 4.0; authors retain copyright
- IdentifiersISSN 2470-0436 (online) · Crossref DOI prefix 10.14302
Published by Open Access Pub · 42 articles in 3 volumes and 11 issues
Plate — schematicFundus · OCT
Schematic only. Fundus field of view with optic disc, arcades and macula; below, a retinal layer profile with the foveal depression. Not a patient image and not a reproduction of any published figure.
I
What the journal is
A peer-reviewed, open-access journal covering ophthalmic science, eye disease and vision research, published by Open Access Pub since 2015 under ISSN 2470-0436.
The Journal of Ophthalmic Science is registered with the ISSN International Centre under ISSN 2470-0436, with the key title Journal of ophthalmic science and the recorded title variant JOS. Every article carries a Crossref DOI under the prefix 10.14302.
Its subject is ophthalmic science in the broad scholarly sense: ocular biology, visual neuroscience, experimental and preclinical eye-disease research, clinical studies across the anterior and posterior segment, ocular imaging and diagnostic accuracy, surgery and therapeutics, ophthalmic devices and biomaterials, vision rehabilitation, epidemiology, and research on eye-health services and access to care. Laboratory, computational and engineering work is considered when its primary question, validation or application is clearly ophthalmic.
The journal publishes research. It is not a source of clinical guidance for patients, not a venue for product reviews or marketing evaluations, and not a general biomedical title that accepts ophthalmic work as a subcategory. Articles report what their investigators observed and measured; the journal does not convert those findings into recommendations, and nothing published here is medical advice.
Outside the journal’s remit
- Laboratory or materials science without a clear ophthalmic question or application
- Method and algorithm papers not evaluated on ophthalmic data
- Studies of systemic disease in which ocular findings are incidental
- Reviews without a defined contribution to ophthalmic or vision science
The boundary is stated on both sides in the aims and scope. Work outside it is referred elsewhere at screening.
II
Why the journal exists
To provide openly readable, citable publication for rigorous work across ophthalmic science, eye care and the visual system.
Progress in ophthalmology draws on complementary forms of evidence: mechanistic and preclinical studies, clinical trials, diagnostic and imaging research, carefully documented cases, systematic reviews, population studies and evaluations of how eye care reaches communities. JOS provides a scholarly venue for these contributions when the question and evidence are clearly ophthalmic.
Published articles receive a Crossref DOI, remain free to read without subscription or registration, and are available under CC BY 4.0. Authors retain copyright.
Clinical implications must remain proportionate to the study design, evidence and uncertainty. Individual articles report research findings and do not provide medical advice.
The journal requires accurate methods, appropriate ethics and consent statements, informative data-availability statements and responsible image handling. Manuscripts that proceed to external peer review are normally evaluated by at least two independent ophthalmology specialists, with additional methodological expertise where needed.
III
Who the journal is for
Clinicians and researchers who work on the eye and the visual system, and the librarians and editors who evaluate where such work is published.
- Ophthalmologists in clinical and surgical practice, and ophthalmology trainees
- Vision scientists, ocular biologists and experimental or translational researchers
- Optometrists and clinicians in eye-care services
- Ocular imaging and diagnostic-accuracy researchers
- Ophthalmic epidemiologists and eye-health services researchers
- Librarians, indexers and research-integrity staff assessing the journal
IV
The journal’s record
What the journal is, and what it has published. The counts are the figures held in the journal’s own records as at 31 July 2026, and are those shown on its homepage and archive.
- Title
- Journal of Ophthalmic Science
- Short form
- JOS — the title variant recorded in the ISSN register
- ISSN
- 2470-0436 (online) · ISSN-L 2470-0436
- Publisher
- Open Access Pub, United States
- Publishing since
- 2015
- Publication model
- Open access; no subscription, no reader charge
- License
- Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0); authors retain copyright
- Self-archiving
- Permitted without embargo
- Identifiers
- Crossref DOI, prefix 10.14302
- Preprints
- Permitted; authors may post to medRxiv or bioRxiv before submission
- Peer review
- Manuscripts proceeding to external review are normally evaluated by at least two independent ophthalmology specialists
- Article charge
- USD 1,200 standard, USD 900 student rate, billed only after acceptance; no submission fee
- Editorial board
- 13 displayed editors in 8 countries
- Published record
- 42 articles in 3 volumes and 11 issues, 2015–2026
- Language
- English
V
The standards that govern publication
Each standard is summarized here and stated in full on the page that owns it. Nothing an author pays for influences whether a manuscript is accepted.
Independence and review
- Editorial independence
- Editorial decisions rest on scientific merit and are independent of article charges, membership and any optional service.
- Review by relevant specialists
- Review is single-blind. Manuscripts that proceed to external peer review are normally evaluated by at least two independent ophthalmology specialists with expertise relevant to the submission. Peer-review policy
- Conflicts of interest
- Authors, editors and reviewers declare financial and non-financial interests bearing on the work. Editors and reviewers recuse themselves where objectivity could be compromised.
Research and clinical ethics
- Clinical and research ethics
- Studies in human participants must comply with the Declaration of Helsinki and carry institutional review board approval. Animal work follows the ARVO Statement for the Use of Animals in Ophthalmic and Vision Research. Ethics policy
- Trial registration
- Interventional studies must be registered in a public registry before the first participant is enrolled, and the registration identifier must appear in the manuscript.
- Patient privacy in ophthalmic images
- Identifiable ophthalmic, periocular or facial images and case details require written consent for publication. Authors must remove unnecessary identifiers and follow the approved privacy and publication-consent policy for every image type.
- Image integrity
- Any adjustment must be applied uniformly across the image and described in the methods; raw or source images must be supplied on request during review; and the use of AI-based image enhancement or segmentation tools must be disclosed. Image and data integrity
- Accurate methods and reporting
- Submissions follow the reporting standard for their design — CONSORT, STROBE, STARD and the CARE checklist for case reports. Instructions for authors
- Originality and data
- All submissions are screened with iThenticate, including for overlap with the authors’ own prior work. A data availability statement is required for every empirical manuscript. Data availability policy
Publication terms
- Open-access publication
- Authors retain copyright. Every article is published under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 and may be self-archived without embargo. Copyright and license
- Prior posting
- Posting a manuscript to a recognized preprint server such as medRxiv or bioRxiv before submission is permitted and is not treated as prior publication.
- Publication charges
- One charge of USD 1,200, or USD 900 at the student rate, raised only if a manuscript is accepted. There is no submission fee. Waiver decisions are made separately from peer review. Charges and waivers
- Identification and discoverability
- Every article carries a Crossref DOI, which registers the published version and distributes its metadata; that is distinct from inclusion in a selective bibliographic index. Current coverage is listed on the indexing page. Indexing
VI
Where editorial responsibility sits
The journal follows COPE and ICMJE guidance on authorship, conflicts of interest, corrections and retractions. Responsibility for applying it is held by named editors.
Editor-in-Chief
Federico Gonzalez-Fernandez
University of Mississippi Medical Center, United States — ophthalmic pathology and retinal cell biology
The Editor-in-Chief holds final responsibility for what the journal publishes and for the standards applied to it, screens each submission for scope, assigns a handling editor, and is the person to whom editorial appeals are directed.
Handling and assignment
The handling editor selects reviewers by subspecialty, screens them for conflicts of interest, and synthesises their reports into a decision.
The subspecialty expertise recorded for members of the board includes cornea and the ocular surface, cataract and refractive surgery, glaucoma, vitreoretinal surgery and retinal disease, uveitis and ocular inflammation, oculoplastic, orbital and lacrimal surgery, ophthalmic imaging and angiography, ophthalmic pathology and visual electrophysiology.
Conflicts and recusal
Editors and reviewers declare any personal, financial or institutional conflict with the authors or the research topic, and recuse themselves from any manuscript where objectivity could be compromised.
Authors declare funding sources, grant numbers, and employment or contractual relationships with interested parties.
Corrections, retractions and appeals
Minor errors found after publication are addressed by an erratum or corrigendum; serious errors affecting a paper’s conclusions by a correction notice with an updated version of the article; and evidence of misconduct or fabrication by retraction under COPE guidance.
An author who disagrees with an editorial decision may submit a formal appeal to the Editor-in-Chief within 30 days, with justification and any additional evidence.
VII
Where to go next
Submit to the Journal of Ophthalmic Science
Manuscripts are received through the editorial office and assigned to a subspecialty editor. Read the instructions for authors before preparing your files.
Journal of Ophthalmic Science · ISSN 2470-0436 (online) · Crossref DOI prefix 10.14302 · Published by Open Access Pub · 42 articles in 3 volumes and 11 issues, 2015–2026.
Article counts, issue counts and board totals on this page are the figures held in the journal’s own records as at 31 July 2026, and are those shown on its homepage, archive and editorial board page.