You are here

The American Journal of Sports Medicine

The American Journal of Sports Medicine


eISSN: 15523365 | ISSN: 03635465 | Current volume: 52 | Current issue: 6 Frequency: 14 Times/YearTimes/Year

An invaluable resource for the orthopaedic sports medicine community, The American Journal of Sports Medicine is a peer-reviewed scientific journal, first published in 1972. It is the official publication of the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine (AOSSM)! The journal acts as an important forum for independent orthopaedic sports medicine research and education, allowing clinical practitioners the ability to make decisions based on sound scientific information.

This journal is a must-read for:

  • Orthopaedic Surgeons and Specialists
  • Sports Medicine Physicians
  • Physiatrists
  • Athletic Trainers
  • Team Physicians
  • And Physical Therapists

Topics covered include:

  • ACL – injury & reconstruction
  • Arthroscopic techniques
  • Basic science relevant to clinical sports medicine, including the subjects of anatomy, biomechanics, and cell biology
  • Children & adolescents
  • Degenerative Joint Disease
  • Epidemiology of sports injuries
  • Female athletes
  • Imaging studies
  • Surgical techniques for the knee, shoulder, elbow, and ankle
  • Specific injuries including shoulder, knee and meniscus subjects
  • Rehabilitation & training
  • Sport specific subjects such as soccer, baseball and football issues
  • Treatment techniques

This journal is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE)

The American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine (AOSSM)

As a world leader in sports medicine education, research, communication and fellowship, The AOSSM is a national organization of orthopaedic surgeons specializing in sports medicine, including national and international sports medicine leaders. The AOSSM works closely with many other sports medicine specialists and clinicians, including family physicians, emergency physicians, pediatricians, athletic trainers and physical therapists, to improve the identification, prevention, treatment and rehabilitation of sports injuries.

Formed in 1972 primarily as a forum for education and research, the AOSSM has grown from its modest initial membership of fewer than 100 to close to 3,000.

Through research and advances in surgical and rehabilitation techniques, orthopaedic sports medicine specialists have been able to treat and rehabilitate athletes whose injuries were once career-ending and put them back in the game. Members must demonstrate continuing active research and educational activities in the field of sports medicine. Such activities may include service as a team physician at any level of competition, educating persons involved with the health of athletes, service to local, regional, national and international competitions, and the presentation of scientific research papers at sports medicine meetings.

The unifying interest of the membership is their concern with the effects of exercise and the monitoring of its impact on active individuals of all ages, abilities and levels of fitness.

Visit www.aossm.org for more information.

The American Journal of Sports Medicine, founded in 1972, is the official publication of the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine. It contains original articles addressed to orthopaedic surgeons specializing in sports medicine, and to team physicians, athletic trainers, and physical therapists focusing on the causes and effects of injury or disease resulting from or affected by athletic injury.

Editor-in-Chief
Bruce Reider, MD University of Chicago, AOSSM, Chicago, Illinois, USA
Deputy Editor
Daniel C. Wascher, MD University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA
Associate Editors: Current Concepts
Timothy Foster, MD Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Bert R. Mandelbaum, MD Santa Monica, CA, USA
Associate Editor: Electronic Media
Brett D. Owens, MD Providence, Rhode Island, USA
Associate Editor: Biomechanics
Braden C. Fleming, PhD Providence, Rhode Island, USA
Associate Editor: Epidemiology and Statistics
James L. Carey, MD, MPH Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Associate Editor: Hip and Thigh
Andrea M. Spiker, MD Madison, Wisconsin, USA
Associate Editor: Translational Biology
Scott A. Rodeo, MD New York, New York, USA
Associate Editor: Clinical Trials and Statistics
David C. Landy, MD, PhD Lexington, Kentucky, USA
Associate Editor: Pediatric and Adolescent Sports Medicine
Theodore J. Ganley, MD Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Editor Emeritus
Robert E. Leach, MD; 1991-2001 Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Founding Editor
Jack C. Hughston, MD; 1972-1990 Columbus, Georgia, USA
Board of Trustees
Stephen F. Brockmeier, MD Charlottesville, Virginia, USA
Charles A. Bush-Joseph, MD, Chair Chicago, Illinois, USA
Lutul D. Farrow, MD Cleveland, Ohio, USA
Frank Winston Gwathmey Jr, MD Charlottesville, Virginia, USA
Mark D. Miller, MD Charlottesville, Virginia, USA
Martha Meaney Murray, MD Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Bruce Reider, MD University of Chicago, AOSSM, Chicago, Illinois, USA
Kurt P. Spindler, MD Cleveland, Ohio, USA
Beth Shubin Stein, MD New York, New York, USA
Dean C. Taylor, MD Durham, North Carolina, USA
Edward M. Wojtys, MD Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
Editorial Staff
Donna Tilton, ELS Senior Editorial and Production Manager
Tere Hostetler Editorial Administrator
Editorial Board
Paul W. Ackermann, MD, PhD Stockholm, Sweden
Ryuichiro Akagi, MD, PhD Chiba, Japan
John P. Albright, MD Iowa City, Iowa, USA
Louis C. Almekinders, MD Durham, North Carolina, USA
Annunziato Amendola, MD Durham, North Carolina, USA
Christian N. Anderson, MD Nashville, Tennessee, USA
Kyle Anderson, MD Southfield, Michigan, USA
Jack T. Andrish, MD Cleveland, Ohio, USA
Michael Angeline, MD Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, USA
Elizabeth A. Arendt, MD Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
Rafael Arriaza Loureda, MD, PhD A Coruña, Spain
Michael Askew, PhD Akron, Ohio, USA
Juan D. Ayala, MD, PhD Madrid, Spain
Olufemi R. Ayeni, MD, PhD Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Frederick M. Azar, MD Memphis, Tennessee, USA
Clara Azevedo, MD Lisboa, Portugal
Champ Baker III, MD Columbus, Georgia, USA
Bjorn Barenius, MD, PhD Stockholm, Sweden
Johannes Robert Hermann Barth, MD Grenoble, France
Phillipe Beaufils, MD Le Chesnay, France
Knut Beitzel, MD München, Germany
Paulo Santoro Belangero, MD, PhD São Paulo, Brazil
Jillian E. Beveridge, PhD Providence, Rhode Island, USA
Bruce D. Beynnon, PhD Burlington, Vermont, USA
Tahsin Beyzadeoglu, MD Istanbul, Turkey
Meaghan E. Bishop, MD Tarrytown, New York, USA
Barry P. Boden, MD Rockville, Maryland, USA
Berte Bøe, MD, PhD Oslo, Norway
Ionna K. Bolia, MD, MS, PhD Los Angeles, California, USA
Matthew Brick, MBChB, FRACS(Ortho) Auckland, New Zealand
Robert H. Brophy, MD St. Louis, Missouri, USA
Charles H. Brown, Jr., MD Minnesota State University, USA
Charles A. Bush-Joseph, MD, Chair Chicago, Illinois, USA
Gianluca Camillieri, MD Rome, Italy
Michael R. Carmont, MBBS, FRCS(Tr&Ortho) Telford, UK
James E. Carpenter, MD Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
Etienne Cavaignac, MD, PhD Toulouse, France
Chih-Hwa Chen, MD Taipei, Taiwan
Shiyi Chen, MD, PhD Shanghai, China
Moises Cohen, MD Sao Paulo, Brazil
Steven Brad Cohen, MD Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
John E. Conway, MD Ft. Worth, Texas, USA
Ziad Dahabreh, MBBS, MSc, FRCS(Tr&Orth) Amman, Jordan
Derik L. Davis, MD Baltimore, Maryland, USA
Louis E. DeFrate, PhD Durham, North Carolina, USA
Dinesh Dhanaraj, MD, MSPH Langhorne, Pennsylvania, USA
Jonathan F. Dickens, MD Bethesda, Maryland, USA
Lee H. Diehl, MD Durham, North Carolina, USA
Ron L. Diercks, MD Groningen, the Netherlands
Patrick J. Djian, MD Paris, France
Christopher C. Dodson, MD Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Jason L. Dragoo, MD Redwood City, California, USA
Matej Drobnic, MD, PhD Ljubljana, Slovenia
Lars Engebretsen, MD, PhD Oslo, Norway
Pieter J. Erasmus, MBChB, MMed (ortho) Stellenbosch, South Africa
Douglas A. Evans, MD Maywood, Illinois, USA
Paul Fadale, MD Providence, Rhode Island, USA
Lutul D. Farrow, MD Cleveland, Ohio, USA
Julian A. Feller, FRACS Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Giuseppe Filardo, MD, PhD Bologna, Italy
Donald C. Fithian, MD Torrey Pines Orthopaedic Medical Group, San Diego, California, USA
Cristian A. Fontbote, MD Santiago, Chile
Lisa A. Fortier, DVM, PhD Ithaca, New York, USA
Michael Thomas Freehill, MD Stanford, California, USA
James Warner Genuario, MD, MS Lone Tree, Colorado, USA
Alan M.J. Getgood, MD, FRCS London, Ontario, Canada
Deepak Goyal, MBBS, MS, DNB Ahmedabad, India
Mark D. Grabiner, PhD Chicago, Illinois, USA
Sharon L. Hame, MD Los Angeles, California, USA
Michael Elias Hantes, MD Larisa, Greece
Christopher D. Harner, MD Houston, Texas, USA
Richard J. Hawkins, MD Greenville, South Carolina, USA
Iftach Hetsroni, MD Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
Lena Hirtler, MA, MD, PhD Vienna, Austria
Yuichi Hoshino, MD, PhD Kobe, Japan
Yinghui Hua, MD, PhD Shanghai, China
Christophe Hulet, MD Caen, France
Mark R. Hutchinson, MD Chicago, Illinois, USA
Omer A. Ilahi, MD Houston, Texas, USA
Andreas B. Imhoff, MD Munich, Germany
Eivind Inderhaug, MD, MPH, PhD Boenes, Norway
Michael Ilias Iosifidis, MD, PhD Thessaloniki, Greece
Eiji Itoi, MD, PhD Sendai, Japan
Timo Jaakko Jarvela, MD, PhD Helsinki, Finland
Andrew Esteban Jimenez, MD Trumbull, Connecticut, USA
David Paul Johnson, MD, FRCSC(Orth) Bristol, UK
Robert J. Johnson, MD Burlington, Vermont, USA
Grant Lloyd Jones, MD Columbus, Ohio, USA
Kristofer Jones, MD Los Angeles, California, USA
Jay Vinodrai Kalawadia, MD Allentown, Pennsylvania, USA
Mustafa Karahan, MD Istanbul, Turkey
Jakub Kautzner, MD, PhD Prague, Czech Republic
Susan L. Keays, BSc, BA(Hons), PhD Nambour, Australia
Keith Kenter, MD Western Michigan University School of Medicine, Kalamazoo, Michigan, USA
Erica Kholinne, MD, PhD Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Trisakti, Jakarta, Indonesia
Miguel A. Khoury, MD Hudson, Argentina
Ata Kiapour, PhD Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Jin Goo Kim, MD, PhD Seoul, Korea
Seung-Ho Kim, MD, PhD Seoul, Korea
Donald T. Kirkendall, PhD Cary, North Carolina, USA
Christoph Kittl, PhD London, UK
Elizaveta Kon, MD Milano, Italy
Thomas J. Kremen, MD Los Angeles, California, USA
Aaron J. Krych, MD Rochester, Minnesota, USA
Adam Kwapisz, MD, PhD Lodz, Poland
Robert F. LaPrade Edina, Minnesota, USA
Mario Victor Larrain, MD Buenos Aires, Argentina
Daniel Latt, MD, PhD Tucson, Arizona, USA
Lance E. LeClere, MD Arnold, Maryland, USA
Yee Han Dave Lee, MBBS, Mmed(Ortho), FRCS (Trauma & Ortho) Singapore, Singapore
Steven D. Levin, MD Skokie, Illinois, USA
Xinning Li, MD Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Paulo Jose Llinás, MD Cali, Columbia
Olaf Lorbach, MD, PhD Lorsch, Germany
Lisa Jean Lovse, MD Canmore, Alberta, Canada
C. Benjamin Ma, MD San Francisco, CA, USA
Krishna Mallik, MD Scottsdale, Arizona, USA
Michael Maloney, MD Rochester, New York, USA
Ajay Malviya, PhD, FRCS Ashington, UK
David F. Martin, MD Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA
David R. McAllister, MD Los Angeles, California, USA
Eric C. McCarty, MD Boulder, Colorado, USA
Ian D. McDermott, MBBS, MS, FRCS London, UK
Edward R. McDevitt, MD Arnold, Maryland, USA
Edward McFarland, MD Baltimore, Maryland, USA
Timothy J. McMeniman, MBBS FRACS Brisbane, Australia
Molly Meadows, MD Redwood City, California, USA
Jacques Menetrey, MD Geneva, Switzerland
Antonio C. Miguel, MD Mexico City, Mexico
Bruce S. Miller, MD Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
Mark D. Miller, MD Charlottesville, Virginia, USA
Robert H. Miller, MD Memphis, Tennessee, USA
Peter J. Millett, MD Vail, Colorado, USA
Mary Mulcahey, MD New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
Volker Musahl, MD Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
Norimasa Nakamura, MD, PhD Osaka, Japan
Jeffrey J. Nepple, MD St. Louis, Missouri, USA
Joseph T. Nguyen, MPH HSS, New York, NY, USA
Yuichiro Nishizawa, MD, PhD Kobe, Japan
Michael A. Oberlander, MD Walnut Creek, California, USA
Joo Han Oh, MD, PhD Seongnam, Republic of Korea
Sam Oussedik, BSc, MBBS, FRCS(Tr&Orth) London, UK
Nirav K. Pandya, MD Oakland, California, USA
David A. Parker, MBBS (Hons), B Med, Sci, FRACS Sydney, Australia
Lonnie E. Paulos, MD Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
Crystal A. Perkins, MD Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Mark J. Philippon, MD Vail, Colorado, USA
Halit Pinar, MD Izmir, Turkey
Nicolas Pujol, MD Le Chesnay, France
Anil Ranawat, MD New York, New York, USA
Per A. Renstrom, MD, PhD Stockholm, Sweden
Luciano Rossi, PhD Buenos Aires, Argentina
Derek Rutherford, PT, PhD Halifax, Canada
Marc R. Safran, MD Stanford, California, USA
Hatem G. Said, MD, FRCSI Assiut, Egypt
Kristin L. Sainani, PhD Stanford, California, USA
Adnan Saithna, MBChB, MSc, BMedSci, Dip SEM Scottsdale, Arizona, USA
Eric Samuelson, MD Omaha, Nebraska, USA
Sven U. Scheffler, MD Berlin, Germany
Robert C. Schenck Jr, MD Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA
Matthew R. Schmitz, MD San Diego, California, USA
Timothy C. Sell, PhD Durham, North Carolina, USA
Robert M. Shalvoy, MD Providence, Rhode Island, USA
K. Donald Shelbourne, MD Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
Margaret Smith, PhD St. Leonards, Australia
Gary S. Solomon, PhD Nashville, Tennessee, USA
Charles C. Stroud, MD Troy, Michigan, USA
Michael J. Stuart, MD Rochester, Minnesota, USA
Yoshitsugu Takeda, MD, PhD Komatsushima, Japan
Miho Jean Tanaka, MD Baltimore, Maryland, USA
Laura Timmerman, MD Walnut Creek, California, USA
Vehniah K. Tjong, MD Chicago, Illinois, USA
Marc Tompkins, MD Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
Pedro Javier Tort-Saade, MD San Juan, Puerto Rico
Bruce C. Twaddle, MBChB, FRACS Auckland, New Zealand
Samuel K. Van de Velde, MD, MPH, PhD Leiden, Netherlands
Michael L. Voight, DHSc Nashville, Tennessee, USA
Dharmesh Vyas, MD, PhD Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
William Robert Walsh, PhD Randwick, NSW, Australia
David Wasserstein, MD, MSc Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Kate E. Webster, PhD Bundoora, Australia
Robert W. Westermann, MD Iowa City, Iowa
Bryan J. Whitfield, MD Decatur, Georgia, USA
Thomas L. Wickiewicz, MD New York, New York, USA
Richard M. Wilk, MD Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Andy Williams, MB, BS, FRCS, FRCS(Orth), FFSEM(UK) London, UK
Ivan Ho-Bun Wong, MD, FRCS(C) Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada
Kazunori Yasuda, MD, PhD Sapporo, Japan
WP Yau, MBBS, FRCSE, FHKCOS, FHKAM Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Yi-Meng Yen, MD, PhD Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Jae Chul Yoo, MD, PhD Seoul, Republic of Korea
Alan Zhang, MD San Francisco, California, USA
Electronic Media Editorial Board
Ryuichiro Akagi, MD, PhD Chiba, Japan
Michael Angeline, MD Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, USA
Clara Azevedo, MD Lisboa, Portugal
Knut Beitzel, MD München, Germany
Paulo Santoro Belangero, MD, PhD São Paulo, Brazil
Berte Bøe, MD, PhD Oslo, Norway
Ziad Dahabreh, MBBS, MSc, FRCS(Tr&Orth) Amman, Jordan
Jonathan F. Dickens, MD Bethesda, Maryland, USA
Eivind Inderhaug, MD, MPH, PhD Boenes, Norway
Kristofer Jones, MD Los Angeles, California, USA
Thomas J. Kremen, MD Los Angeles, California, USA
Xinning Li, MD Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Mary Mulcahey, MD New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
Miho Jean Tanaka, MD Baltimore, Maryland, USA
David Wasserstein, MD, MSc Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Kate E. Webster, PhD Bundoora, Australia
Robert W. Westermann, MD Iowa City, Iowa
Ivan Ho-Bun Wong, MD, FRCS(C) Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada
Emeritus Editorial Board Members
Allen F. Anderson, MD deceased
Steven P. Arnoczky, DVM East Lansing, Michigan, USA
Alfred Atanda, MD Wilmington, Delaware, USA
Champ L. Baker, Jr., MD Columbus, Georgia, USA
James Baldwin, MD Portland, Oregon, USA
Marlene DeMaio, MD Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Hua Feng, MD, PhD Beijing, China
Cyril B. Frank, MD deceased
Freddie H. Fu deceased
William E. Garrett Jr., MD, PhD deceased
James G. Garrick, MD San Francisco, Calfornia, USA
Pablo E. Gelber, MD, PhD Barcelona, Spain
Ben K. Graf, MD Madison, Wisconsin, USA
Vojtech Havlas, MD, PhD Prague, Czech Republic
Michael Hayes, MD Orthopaedic Division, SPORTSMED·SA, 32 Payneham Road, Stepney, S Aus,5069, Australia
Stephen M. Howell, MD Sacramento, California, USA
Markku Jarvinen, MD, PhD Tampere, Finland
Dieter Kohn, MD Homberg / Saar, Germany
Rene Marti, MD deceased
John M. Marzo, MD Buffalo, New York, USA
Keith Meister, MD Gainesville, Florida, USA
Nicholas Mohtadi, MD, FRCS Calgary, Canada
John W. Orchard, MD, PhD, FACSP Kensington, Australia
Giancarlo Puddu, MD Rome, Italy
Thomas Rosenberg, MD Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
Mark E. Steiner, MD deceased
Carol C. Teitz, MD Seattle, Washington, USA
Steve Tippett, PhD, PT, SCS, ATC Peoria, Illinois, USA
Savio L-Y. Woo, PhD Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
Principal Reviewers
Geoffrey D. Abrams, MD Stanford, CA, USA
Scott M. Adams, MD Ellicott City, MD, USA
Ralph Akoto, MD  
Adam Albaba, MD  
Gordon Alderink, PhD  
Hari K. Ankem, MD  
Guillermo Araujo, MD  
Aravind Athiviraham, MD, FRCS(C) Chicago, IL, USA
Robert A. Arciero, MD  
Justin W. Arner, MD Pittsburgh, PA, USA
Michael Banffy, MD Los Angeles, CA, USA
F. Alan Barber, MD, FACS Plano, TX, USA
William R. Barfield, PhD  
Charles L. Beck, MD  
Jennifer Beck, MD Los Angeles, CA, USA
Cris Beiro, MD  
Ryan E. Bennett, MD  
Eric Berkson, MD  
David Bernholt, MD  
Daniel P. Berthold, PD Dr  
Matthew Best, MD Baltimore, MD, USA
Steven L. Bokshan, MD  
Gudrun H. Borchert, PhD  
Anthony Daniel Bratton, MD Las Vegas, NV, USA
Barrett S. Brown, MD Houston, TX, USA
Matthew J. Brown, MD Phoenix, AZ, USA
E. Lyle Cain, MD  
Mark Callanan, MD  
Christopher L. Camp, MD  
Abigail Campbell, MD  
James B. Carr, MD Jupiter, FL, USA
Peter N. Chalmers, MD Salt Lake City, UT, USA
Paul C. Chin, MD, PhD The Woodlands, TX, USA
Brian Cohen, MD  
Steven F. DeFroda, MD, ME Chicago, IL, USA
Nicholas N. DePhillipo, PhD, MBA, ATC  
Hussein A. Elkousy, MD Houston, TX, USA
Brandon J. Erickson, MD New York, NY, USA
Justin J. Ernat, MD, MS  
Nathan Joseph Fanter, DO Wheaton, IL, USA
Daniel N. Fish, MD  
Megan E. Flynn, MD  
Brian Forsythe, MD  
Matthew S. Fury, MD  
Robert August Gallo, MD  
Peter G. Gerbino, MD, MS Monterey, CA, USA
Daniel B. Gibbs, MD  
Scott M. Gleason, DO, MSc  
Jonathan Alexander Godin, MD, MBA Vail, CO, USA
Heath Patrick Gould, MD  
William Jeffrey Grantham, MD  
Justin J. Greiner, MD  
Michael Griesser, MD Middleton, OH, USA
Nathan L. Grimm, MD Boise, ID, USA
John Andrew Grotting, MD San Diego, CA, USA
Joseph H. Guettler, MD  
Carl Haasper, MD, PhD, MSc, FEBOT  
Joshua Hamann, MD Columbia, MO, USA
R. Frank Henn, MD Baltimore, MD, USA
Daniel C. Herman, MD, PhD  
Barb Hoogenboom, EdD, PT  
Joseph Horton, MD Harlingen, TX, USA
Eoghan T. Hurley, MB, MCh, PhD  
Jose Francisco Inzunza, MD  
Scott Geoffrey Kaar, MD St. Louis, MO, USA
Daniel James Kaplan, MD New York, NY, USA
Sumito Kawamura, MD Kitami, Japan
Michelle Kew  
Damian C. Kosempa, MD Greenfield, WI, USA
Nicholas Kusnezov, MD Fort Campbell, KY, USA
Drew Anderson Lansdown, MD San Francisco, CA, USA
Mark Jason Lemos, MD Burlington, MA, USA
James P. Leonard, MD Orland Park, IL, USA
Daniel Liechti, MD  
Tony C. Lin, MD Longview, WA, USA
Alexander E. Loeb, MD  
Robert Longstaffe, MD, FRCSC  
Prashant Meshram, MS, DNB  
Thomas K. Miller, MD Roanoke, VA, USA
Abdulhamit Misir, MD Istanbul, Turkey
R. Justin Mistovich, MD, MBA  
Matthew T. Muffly, MD  
Bradley J. Nelson, MD  
Gregory P. Nicholson, MD Chicago, IL, USA
Michael S. Nickoli, MD Columbus, OH, USA
Carl W. Nissen, MD  
James Lee Pace, MD Farmington, CT, USA
Jonathan D. Packer, MD Baltimore, MD, USA
Ronald S. Paik, MD Arlington, VA, USA
Nirav K. Pandya, MD Oakland, California, USA
Rocco Papalia, MD, PhD Rome, Italy
Shital N. Parikh, MD, FACS Cincinnati, OH, USA
Nikolaos Paschos, MD, PhD Jamaica Plain, MA, USA
Neeraj M. Patel, MD, MPH, MBS Chicago, IL, USA
Fernando A. Pena, MD Minneapolis, MN, USA
Jose Castillo de la Peña, MD  
Peter D. Pizzutillo, MD  
Kevin D. Plancher, MD New York, NY, USA
Mark D. Porter, MD, DSc, FACSP, FRACS  
Matthew Posner, MD  
Aaron D. Potts, MD Muskegon, MI, USA
Stephen Rabuck, MD Pittsburgh, PA, USA
Bart Rask, MD Hillsboro, OR, USA
Brian K. Rill, MD Detroit, MI, USA
Christopher J. Roach, MD San Antonio, TX, USA
Leonardo Roever, MHS, PhD, Pos-Doc, MBA  
Benjamin B. Rothrauff, MD, PhD Pittsburgh, PA, USA
Michael K. Ryan, MD  
Matthew Salzler, MD Boston, MA, USA
Matthew Sardelli, MD  
John Philip Scanaliato, MD  
Mark S. Schickendantz, MD Cleveland, OH, USA
James Shaha, MD Falls Church, VA, USA
Kevin G. Shea, MD  
Orrin H. Sherman, MD New York, NY, USA
Jason J. Shin, MD, FRCSC  
Sebastian Siebenlist, MD, MHBA  
Mark Siegel, MD Loveland, OH, USA
Jason E. Simon, MD, MBA  
Patrick N. Siparsky, MD Indianapolis, IN, USA
Patrick A. Smith, MD  
Daniel Solomon, MD  
Alvin W. Su, MD, PhD Springfield, PA, USA
Misty Suri, MD New Orleans, LA, USA
Edwin M. Tingstad, MD Pullman, WA, USA
Gehron Treme, MD Albuquerque, NM, USA
David P. Trofa, MD New York, NY, USA
Georgios Nikolaos Tzoanos, MD Heraklion, Greece
Ravi Vaswani, MD  
Rene Verdonk, MD, PhD Gent, Belgium
Russell F. Warren, MD New York, NY, USA
Stephen C. Weber, MD San Diego, CA, USA
Merrick Wetzler, MD  
Thomas Y. Wu, MD Ventura, CA, USA
Stefano Zaffagnini, MD  
Liang Zhou, MD, MS  
  • CABI: Abstracts on Hygiene and Communicable Diseases
  • CABI: CAB Abstracts
  • CABI: Global Health
  • CINAHL
  • Clarivate Analytics: BIOSIS Previews
  • Clarivate Analytics: Biological Abstracts
  • Clarivate Analytics: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCIE)
  • Clarivate Analytics: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCIE)
  • EMBASE
  • Focus On: Sports Science & Medicine
  • Index Medicus
  • InfoTrac (full text)
  • Leisure, Recreation and Tourism Abstracts
  • MEDLINE
  • Ovid: Allied and Complementary Medicine Database
  • SafetyLit
  • Science Citation Index Expanded (Web of Science)
  • Scopus
  • World Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology Abstracts (in CAB Abstracts Database)
  • The editor of AJSM, Bruce Reider, can be contacted via email at breider@ajsm.org.

    The American Journal of Sports Medicine (AJSM) is the official publication of the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine.

    Submit manuscripts online at https://submit.ajsm.org.

    Download the AJSM Submission Guidelines or see below.

    Download the AJSM Ethics Policies.

    AJSM offers optional open access publishing via the Sage Choice programme. For more information please visit the Sage Choice website. For information on funding body compliance, and depositing your article in repositories, please visit Sage Publishing Policies on our Journal Author Gateway. Please note that the Sage Choice article processing charge for AJSM is $4,000 USD.

    This journal is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

    1. Manuscript Submission Guidelines
    2. Submissions
    3. Authors
    4. Manuscript Formats
    5. Manuscript Preparation
      4.1 Abstract
      4.2 Study Designs
      4.3 Text
      4.4 Acknowledgment
      4.5 References
      4.6 Figures and Tables
      4.7 Videos
    6. Accepted Manuscripts
    7. NIH-Supported Studies
    8. Letters to the Editor
    9. Important Notice on Plagiarism and Copyright Infringement

    Back to top

    1. Manuscript Submission Guidelines

    Manuscripts must not be under simultaneous consideration by any other publication, before or during the peer-review process and cannot be uploaded to any preprint server. Papers presented at AOSSM meetings must be submitted to one of the AOSSM journals for first rights of refusal. Articles published in AJSM may not be published elsewhere without written permission from the publisher.

    Manuscripts should cite any other work by one or more of the co-authors that is relevant to the subject matter of the current submission or that used any of the same subjects, animals, or specimens being reported in the current submission. This includes manuscripts that are currently under preparation, are being considered by journals, are accepted for publication, or already published. In any of these cases, the relationship to the current submission should be made clear.

    The authors must declare the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI), if applicable, in the performance of this study or the writing of the manuscript. If AI was used, the author must identify the program and describe in detail how the AI was used.

    All review articles (such as systematic review, meta-analysis) submitted will be considered for the Current Concepts section. Authors with ideas for current concepts should contact the associate editor, Timothy Foster, MD, to find out if AJSM has recently published a review article on that topic or if there is a similar submission in progress. Contact Dr. Foster at tefoster@mgb.org to inquire about your idea or submit already completed papers directly to the journal at https://submit.ajsm.org.

    Back to top

    2. Submissions

    Authors should register on our online submission site and link and verify their ORCID ID (see information below) at https://submit.ajsm.org to submit manuscripts.

    When manuscripts have been received by the editorial office, the corresponding author will be sent an acknowledgment giving an assigned manuscript number, which should be used with all subsequent correspondence for anything related to that particular manuscript.

    The following items are required on submission:

    1. Anonymized manuscript including the abstract and any tables and figures where they occur in the text. No identifying information should appear in the uploaded manuscript. Please remove author names, initials, and institutions. State or country names may be used, but do not include specific locations such as cities or regions.
    2. Journal Contributor Publishing Agreement and AJSM Author Disclosure Statement. These forms are available for download from the author area of the submission site. The corresponding author must complete the forms and return them to AJSM by email or upload them online as a PDF or Word file using the ‘‘upload legal documents’’ option. As an alternative to the AJSM disclosure form, authors may submit the ICMJE disclosure form along with the AJSM Supplemental Form available on our website.The AOSSM checks author disclosures against the Open Payments Database (https:// openpaymentsdata.cms.gov). Any combined payments listed over $500/year from a single company should be included. Authors should include payments from the previous 5 years
    3. A copy of the IRB or other agency approval (or waiver) if animal subjects or human subjects or tissues or health information were used. Please see further instructions under "Text." This information should be uploaded with the disclosure and publishing forms and not as a supplemental file.
    4. Requirements for specific study types:

      Randomized Controlled Trials. All clinical trials started after January 1, 2016 must  prospectively registered at ClinicalTrials.gov or a similar database recognized by the ICMJE to be considered for publication. See list of ICMJE acceptable registries at http://www.icmje.org/about-icmje/faqs/clinical-trials-registration/.The original study protocol for all registered clinical trials must be included and can be uploaded as a supplemental file. This information should be anonymized for peer review (remove author name and location as well as trial registration number). The protocol information from the registration site or the formal protocol for the study design are acceptable. Use of a CONSORT flow diagram is required to illustrate the grouping and flow of patients for all randomized clinical trials. The CONSORT checklist must also be completed and uploaded as a supplemental file.

      Observational Studies. Cohort, case-control, or cross-sectional studies should include the CONSORT flow diagram in the paper. The STROBE checklist must also be completed and uploaded as a supplemental file.

      Biologics Studies. Studies reporting the use of autologous blood-based therapies (such as platelet-rich plasma, autologous conditioned serum, autologous protein solution) or cell-based therapies (including autologous cells derived from bone marrow or adipose tissue and allogeneic cells) should include the Minimum Information for Studies Evaluating Biologics in Orthopaedics (MIBO) checklist uploaded as a supplemental file.

      Animal Studies. Studies involving live animals models should include the completed ARRIVE Guidelines checklist as a supplemental file.

    Back to top

    3. Authors

    Authors may be asked to supply full supporting data for their study. If the author refuses this request, the paper will be rejected without further review. Cover letter, acknowledgments, and suggested reviewers are optional. If a paper has more than 5 authors, a cover letter detailing the contributions of all authors should be included in the appropriate box on the submission page. Only those involved in writing the paper should be included in the author line. Others should be listed as a footnote or acknowledgment. While there is no limit on the number of authors, no more than 12 will be listed on the masthead of the published article; additional authors will be listed at the end of the article. These authors will be indexed in Index Medicus as full authors.

    We strongly encourage all authors of the paper to link their ORCID ID to their accounts in our online submission system. ORCID provides a unique and persistent digital identifier that distinguishes researchers from every other researcher, even those who share the same name. Corresponding authors should confirm whether their coauthors would like to add an ORCID ID before submitting their manuscript to the journal. If your manuscript is accepted for publication, you will not be able to add an ORCID ID after the manuscript is sent to our production team. If you do not already have an ORCID ID please follow this link to create one.

    If the named authors for a manuscript change at any point between submission and acceptance, an Authorship Change Form must be completed and digitally signed by all authors (including any added or removed). An addition of an author is only permitted following feedback raised during peer review. Completed forms can be uploaded at the Revision Submission stage or emailed to the Journal Editorial Office contact (info@ajsm.org).

    IMPORTANT: Changes to the author by-line by adding or deleting authors are NOT permitted following acceptance of a paper.

    Back to top

     4. Manuscript Formats

    Manuscript pages should be double-spaced with consecutive page numbers and continuous line numbers. The abstract should be included with the manuscript as well as being entered in the Metadata section (except for case reports, which do not require abstracts). Manuscripts should be 6000 words or fewer (including abstract and references). There are also limitations on figures, tables, and references; see guidelines below. The system handles most common word processing formats; however, Word is preferred.

    Back to top

    4. Manuscript Preparation

    4.1 Abstract

    Abstracts should summarize the contents of the article in 350 words or less. The abstract should be structured in the following format:

    Background: In one or two sentences, summarize the scientific body of knowledge surrounding your study and how this led to your investigation.

    Hypothesis/Purpose: State the theory(ies) that you are attempting to prove or disprove by your study or the purpose if no hypothesis exists.

    Study Design: Identify the overall design of your study. See list below.

    Methods: Succinctly summarize the overall methods you used in your investigation. Include the study population, type of intervention, method of data collection, and length of the study.

    Results: Report the most important results of your study. Only include positive results that are statistically significant, or important negative results that are supported by adequate power. Report actual data, not just P values.

    Conclusion: State the answer to your original question or hypothesis. Summarize the most important conclusions that can be directly drawn from your study.

    Clinical Relevance: If yours was a laboratory study, describe its relevance to clinical sports medicine.

    Key Terms: Include at least 4 key terms for indexing. When submitting an article, you will be asked to choose from a list of terms that are used for assigning reviewers. These terms can be used in the manuscript as well. The list can be found at https://submit.ajsm.org/submission/editexpertise.

    What is known about the subject: Please state what is currently known about this subject to place your study in perspective for the reviewers.

    What this study adds to existing knowledge: Please state what this study adds to the existing knowledge.

    The last two items are for reviewers only and are not included in the word count, but should appear at the end of the abstract in the uploaded text.

    4.2 Study Designs

    Meta-analysis: A systematic overview of studies that pools results of two or more studies to obtain an overall answer to a question or interest. Summarizes quantitatively the evidence regarding a treatment, procedure, or association.

    Systematic Review: An article that examines published material on a clearly described subject in a systematic way. There must be a description of how the evidence on this topic was tracked down, from what sources and with what inclusion and exclusion criteria.

    Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial: A group of patients is randomized into an experimental group and a control group. These groups are followed up for the variables / outcomes of interesilart. NOTE: All clinical trials started after January 1, 2016 must be prospectively registered at ClinicalTrials.gov or a similar database recognized by the ICMJE to be considered for publication. See list of ICMJE-acceptable registries at http://www.icmje.org/about-icmje/ faqs/clinical-trials-registration/

    Crossover Study Design: The administration of two or more experimental therapies one after the other in a specified or random order to the same group of patients.

    Cohort Study: Involves identification of two groups (cohorts) of patients, one which did receive the exposure of interest, and one which did not, and following these cohorts forward for the outcome of interest.

    Case-Control Study: A study that involves identifying patients who have the outcome of interest (cases) and patients without the same outcome (controls), and looking back to see if they had the exposure of interest.

    Cross-Sectional Study: The observation of a defined population at a single point in time or time interval. Exposure and outcome are determined simultaneously.

    Case Series: Describes characteristics of a group of patients with a particular disease or who have undergone a particular procedure. Design may be prospective or retrospective. No control group is used in the study, although the discussion may compare the results to other published outcomes.

    Case Report: Similar to the case series, except that only one or a small group of cases is reported.

    Descriptive Epidemiology Study: Observational study describing the injuries occurring in a particular sport.

    Controlled Laboratory Study: An in vitro or in vivo investigation in which 1 group receiving an experimental treatment is compared to 1 or more groups receiving no treatment or an alternate treatment.

    Descriptive Laboratory Study: An in vivo or in vitro study that describes characteristics such as anatomy, physiology, or kinesiology of a broad range of subjects or a specific group of interest. Authors should choose the design that best fits the study.

    The Editor will make the final determination of the study design and level of evidence based on the Centre for Evidence Based Medicine guidelines.

    4.3 Text

    In general, follow the standard IMRAD (Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion) format for writing scientific articles. The author is responsible for all statements made in the work, including copyeditor changes, which the author will have an opportunity to verify. Authors with limited fluency in English should have the paper reviewed or edited by a native English speaker to ensure clear presentation of the work.

    Papers including human or animal subjects must include a statement of approval by appropriate agencies in the text, and a copy of the approval letter must be uploaded with the submission. If approval was not required, authors must upload a waiver statement from the appropriate agency. Additionally, all studies with human subjects must include the date range for enrollment in the study. For retrospective studies, please include the date of treatment. For human cadaveric specimens, please provide source (eg, donation to university anatomy program) and state if permission was obtained for use. Additionally, all studies involving animals must conform to ARRIVE guidelines. If available, please include the source of animal joint or tissue specimens.  For case reports, a letter from the patient granting permission for his/her information to be included in the publication is required.

    Reports on surgery, except in rare instances, require a minimum follow-up of 2 years.

    Use generic names of drugs or devices. If a particular brand was used in a study, insert the brand name along with the name and location of the manufacturer in parentheses after the generic name when the drug or device is first mentioned in the text.

    Use metric units in measurements (centimeter vs inch, kilogram vs pound).

    Abbreviations should be used sparingly. When abbreviations are used, give the full term followed by the abbreviation in parentheses the first time it is mentioned in the text, such as femur-ACL-tibia complex (FATC).

    Use of a CONSORT flow diagram is required to illustrate the grouping and flow of patients in all randomized controlled trials and observational clinical studies.

    Statistical methods should be described in detail. Actual P values should be used unless less than .001. Reporting of 95% confidence intervals is encouraged.

    4.4 Acknowledgment

    Type the acknowledgments in the box provided on the submission page; do not include it in the manuscript. This information will be added to the accepted manuscript at the time of publication. Give credit to technical assistants and professional colleagues who contributed to the quality of the paper but are not listed as authors. Please briefly describe the contributions made by persons being acknowledged. Note: anyone who has contributed to the preparation of the submitted text must be included on the author disclosure form, under Statement of Authorship, and his or her disclosures included there.

    4.5 References

    References should be double-spaced in alphabetical order and numbered according to alphabetical listing. Except for review articles, references should be limited to 60. If references are not in alphabetical order the uploaded file will be REJECTED and will have to be resubmitted with the references in the correct form. When author entries are the same, alphabetize by the first word of the title. In general, use the Index Medicus form for abbreviating journal titles and the AMA Manual of Style (11th ed) for format. Note: References must be retrievable. Do not include in the reference list meeting presentations that have not been published. Data such as presentations and articles that have been submitted for publication but have not been accepted must be put in the text as unpublished data immediately after mention of the information (for example, ‘‘Smith and Jones (unpublished data, 2000) noted ... ’’). Personal communications and other references to unpublished data are discouraged. For review purposes, unpublished references that are closely related to the submitted paper or are important for understanding it should be uploaded as supplemental files.

    References will be linked to Medline citations for the reviewers. Authors can include articles that are in Epublish mode. To ensure that these Epub references are linked correctly, please provide the PMID number from Medline at the end of the reference. For example: Emery CA, Meeuwisse WH. Injury rates and mechanisms of injury in minor hockey. Am J Sports Med. 2006 Jul 21; [Epub ahead of print] PMID: 16861577

    4.6 Figures and Tables

    Figures and tables should appear in the body of the paper near the place where they are mentioned. High-resolution images should also be uploaded separately as Figure files. The figures and tables should be cited in numeric order in the text and should not exceed 3 journal pages. One journal page equals 1 large table or figure, 2 medium-sized tables or figures, or 4 small tables or figures. Medium-sized tables and figures will be a page width and half the length of the page; small tables and figures are 1-column width and take up half the length of the page or less.

    Any material that is submitted with an article that has been reproduced from another source (that is, has been copyrighted previously) must conform to the current copyright regulations. It is the author’s responsibility to obtain written permission for reproduction of copyrighted material and provide the editorial office with that documentation before the material will be reproduced in the Journal.

    All image files for figures should be labeled with the Figure number (label each part if figures include multiple parts, eg, 2A, 2B). The figure legend should be placed below each figure and should include descriptions of each figure part and identify the meaning of any symbols or arrows. Terms used for labels and in the legend must be consistent with those in the text. A CONSORT flow diagram should be included for all randomized clinical trials to illustrate the grouping and flow of patients.

    Color will be used in the Journal where needed (eg, histology slides or surgical photographs). All other figures, such as bar graphs and charts, should be submitted in black and white.

    Figures for papers accepted for publication must meet the image resolution requirements of the publisher, Sage Publications. Files for line-based drawings (no grayscale) should ideally be submitted in the format they were originally created; if submitting scanned versions, files should be 1200 dots per inch (dpi). Color photos should be submitted at 600 dpi and black-and-white photos at 300 dpi.

    Charts and graphs can be submitted in the original form created (eg, Word, Excel, or PowerPoint). Photographs or scanned drawings embedded in Word or PowerPoint are not acceptable for publication.

    All photographs of patients that disclose their identity must be accompanied by a signed photographic release granting permission for their likeness to be reproduced in the article. If this is not provided, the patient’s eyes must be occluded to prevent recognition.

    For tables, the system accepts most common word processing formats. Tables should have a title that describes the content and purpose of the table. Tables should enhance, not duplicate, information in the text.

    4.7 Videos

    Use of supplementary video is encouraged. Videos may be submitted with a manuscript and, if approved by the editor, will be posted online with the article when published. Video submission is strongly encouraged for manuscripts reporting surgical, examination, or exercise techniques or injury mechanisms. For more information about the format requirements for videos, please review our Author Gateway instructions for supplemental material. For detailed information pertaining to copyright and permissions requirements, view the Video Permission and Fair Use Quick Guide. For videos with identifiable subjects, subjects will need to sign the Audio-Visual Likeness Release form. It is the author’s responsibility to submit signed release forms, if necessary, for each video.

    Back to top

    5. Accepted Manuscripts

    Once an article is accepted and typeset, authors will be required to carefully read and correct their manuscript proofs that have been copyedited by the publisher. Any extensive changes made by authors on the proofs will be charged to authors at the rate of $2 a line. Authors are responsible for ordering reprints of their articles. Completed articles will be published on our website before print publication. No corrections can be made after online publication, including corrections to author names and affiliations. All corrections must be made at the proofing stage.

    Back to top

    6. NIH-Supported Studies

    Authors of studies funded by grants from the National Institutes of Health can deposit a copy of their accepted final peer-reviewed manuscript and associated figure/table files (pre-typeset versions) to the NIH database after a 12-month embargo period from the time their article is published in AJSM.

    Back to top

    7. Letters to the Editor

    Letters to the editor should be submitted online at https:// submit.ajsm.org. Use the link “Submit a Letter to the Editor” at the top of the page. Letters should include all authors’ names at the end of the body of the letter. The author disclosure form and contributor publishing agreement are required for letters to the editor. Letters will be sent to the author of the paper discussed for a reply.

    Back to top

    8. Important Notice on Plagiarism and Copyright Infringement

    AJSM and Sage take issues of copyright infringement, plagiarism or other breaches of best practice in publication very seriously. We seek to protect the rights of our authors and we always investigate claims of plagiarism or misuse of articles published in the journal. Equally, we seek to protect the reputation of the journal. Submitted articles may be checked using duplication-checking software. Where an article is found to have plagiarized other work or included third-party copyright material without permission or with insufficient acknowledgement, or where authorship of the article is contested, or where data or other information found to be incorrect

    Institutional subscriptions are available as part of the American Journal of Sports Medicine Package (including Sports Health). Click here for more information.

    Individual Subscription, Combined (Print & E-access)


    Institutional Backfile Purchase, E-access (Content through 1998)


    Individual, Single Print Issue


    Institutional, Single Print Issue