Submission guidelines

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Please read the guidelines in full before submitting your manuscript.
Manuscripts not conforming to these guidelines may be returned.

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The Journal recommends that authors follow the Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals formulated by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE).

Sage is committed to upholding the integrity of the academic record. We encourage authors to refer to the Committee on Publication Ethics’ International Standards for Authors and view the author responsibilities section on the Sage Journal Author Gateway.

We also encourage you to familiarize yourself with our Editorial Policies and our Publication Ethics Policies.

Sage Publishing disseminates high-quality research and engaged scholarship globally, and we are committed to diversity and inclusion in publishing. We encourage submissions and peer review from a diverse range of authors and reviewers from across all countries and backgrounds. Read our diversity, equity, and inclusion pledge.

There are no fees payable to submit or publish in this journal. Open access options are available – see below.

Please read the guidelines below then submit your manuscript here.

Access: Subscription
Accepts preprints? Yes 
Identity transparency: Single anonymized (Reviewers know the author’s identity, but authors do not know the reviewers’ identities.)

File formatting requirement stage: On revision (i.e., authors must meet the journal’s file formatting requirements when they submit a revision). Original submissions are permitted to be format neutral (i.e. authors may use any type of formatting).

There are no fees payable to submit or publish in this journal.

Figures submitted in color will be published in color in the online version of the journal at no cost. If you wish to have color figures in the printed version, the following fees apply: $800 for first image in print; $200 for subsequent color print images.

Optional open access publishing is available for a fee via the Sage Choice program, and Open Access agreements, where authors can publish open access either discounted or free of charge depending on the agreement with Sage. Find out if your institution is participating by visiting Open Access Agreements at Sage. Open Access agreement eligibility is determined by the corresponding author’s affiliation matching an agreement at acceptance. For more information on Open Access publishing options at Sage please visit Sage Open Access.

For information on funding body compliance, and depositing your article in repositories, please visit Sage’s Author Archiving and Re-Use Guidelines and Publishing Policies.

Your article must be within the scope of the journal and be of sufficient quality. If not, it will not be reviewed. Please read the journal’s Aims and Scope to see if your article is appropriate.

The manuscript must be your original work, you must have the rights to the work, and you must have obtained and be able to supply all necessary permissions for the reproduction of any copyright works not owned by you, including figures, illustrations, tables, lengthy quotations, or other material previously published elsewhere.

Article types

Original Research Articles 

 Descriptions of rigorously conducted empirical research studies  

  • Structured abstract of no more than 300 words (Headings: Background, Methods, Results, Conclusion)
  • Community Brief of no more than 500 words (see below for required questions).  
  • 6,000-word limit for main text* 
  • Main text uses standard heading structure (i.e., Background, Methods, Results, Discussion) 
  • Authors should follow international reporting guidelines as described at https://www.equator-network.org (i.e., CONSORT for randomized trials, STROBE for observational studies, SQUIRE for quality improvement studies, etc.). 
  • Clinical trials registration required, as applicable (see below) 
  • Maximum total of 4 (four) tables and/or figures  

Brief Research Reports 

 Concise, focused reports about original research  

  • Structured abstract of no more than 300 words (Headings: Background, Methods, Results, Conclusion)
  • Community Brief of no more than 500 words (see below for required questions).  
  • 2,500-word limit for main text* 
  • Main text uses standard heading structure (i.e., Background, Methods, Results, Discussion) 
  • Authors should follow same reporting guidelines as for Original Research 
  • Maximum total of two (2) figures and/or tables  

Conceptual Analysis 

 Well-supported, in-depth analytic essays advancing theory, practice or policy 

  • Unstructured abstract of no more than 250 words  
  • Community Brief of no more than 500 words (Q&A format required; authors may choose questions)
  • 6,000-word limit for main text* 
  • Main text may use alternate heading structure, at authors’ discretion 
  • Manuscripts should present a novel idea, develop a new conceptual theory or model, or synthesize the literature in an innovative way  
  • Maximum total of 4 (four) tables and/or figures  

Advances in Methodology 

 Evidence- or practice-based recommendations that advance research methods, processes, or   approaches 

  • Unstructured abstract of no more than 250 words  
  • Community Brief of no more than 500 words (Q&A format required; authors may choose questions) 
  • 6,000-word limit for main text* 
  • Main text may use alternate heading structure, at authors’ discretion 
  • Authors should focus on transferable lessons that may inform how others conduct research on autism in adulthood 
  • Maximum total of 4 (four) tables and/or figures  

Emerging Practices 

 Well-referenced descriptions of innovative programs, interventions, technologies, or practices,   grounded in theory, with lessons learned from their initial implementation or pilot-testing 

  • Unstructured abstract of no more than 250 words  
  • Community Brief of no more than 500 words (see below for required questions)  
  • 6,000-word limit for main text* 
  • Main Text Structure: Introduction (including why this emerging practice is needed and how the practice is grounded in the literature); Emerging Practice (a clear description of the emerging practice, intervention, technology, or other advancement); Evaluation Methods; Results and Lessons Learned (including evaluation data, observations from practice, and other lessons from initial implementation efforts); Discussion (including conclusions, how this work advances the literature, limitations, implications, and next steps)
  • Maximum total of 4 (four) tables and/or figures  

Systematic Literature Reviews 

 Systematically conducted literature reviews (e.g. systematic reviews or scoping reviews), with or without meta-analysis 

  • Structured abstract of no more than 300 words (Headings: Background, Methods, Results, Conclusion)
  • Community Brief of no more than 500 words (see below for required questions).  
  • 6,000-word limit for main text* 
  • Main text uses standard heading structure (i.e., Background, Methods, Results, Discussion) 
  • Authors must follow the guidelines in the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) statement for systematic reviews (http://www.prisma-statement.org)or scoping reviews (http://www.prisma-statement.org/Extensions/ScopingReviews)
  • Authors must include a PRISMA flow diagram as part of the manuscript and submit the PRISMA checklist as supplemental information 
  • Include the systematic review registration number and funding source, as appropriate. 
  • Maximum total of 4 (four) tables and/or figures  
  • Authors should summarize the most important information in tables for the main article and present additional, more detailed information as online supplemental materials 

Brief Systematic Reviews 

 Brief reports of systematic literature reviews or scoping reviews when the evidence is too scant to justify a full-length article 

  • Structured abstract of no more than 300 words (Headings: Background, Methods, Results, Conclusion)
  • Community Brief of no more than 500 words (see below for required questions)  
  • 3,000-word limit for main text* 
  • Main text uses standard heading structure (i.e., Background, Methods, Results, Discussion) 
  • Authors should follow the same guidelines as for full-length systematic reviews (see above) 
  • Discussion should lay out a research agenda and recommendations to the field
  • Maximum total of 2 (two) tables and/or figures  

Narrative or clinical reviews 

 Thorough and balanced reviews of available evidence, melded with expert opinion, where a systematically conducted review would not be possible or clinically useful 

  • Unstructured abstract of no more than 250 words  
  • Community Brief of no more than 500 words (Q&A format required; authors may choose questions)  
  • 6000-word limit for main text* 
  • Main text may use alternate heading structure, at authors’ discretion 
  • Maximum total of 4 (four) tables and/or figures  
  • Note: Autism in Adulthood strongly prefers systematically conducted reviews. Authors should clearly justify their choice to use a narrative review format

Perspectives 

 Well-referenced opinions or recommendations on topics related to research, practice, or policy 

  • Unstructured abstract of no more than 250 words  
  • Community Brief of no more than 500 words (see below for required questions)  
  • 4000-word limit for main text* 
  • Main text may use alternate heading structure, at authors’ discretion 
  • Authors should be transparent about their own positionality, experience, and expertise. 
  • Perspectives must synthesize and advance the literature in a novel way, through the author(s) own lens(es), not solely review the current state of the science.  
  • All articles must end with one or more sections focused on the authors’ recommendations 
  • Maximum total of 2 (two) tables and/or figures  

Insights 

 Invited personal memoir-like essays from autistic adults or other stakeholders that provide important insights to the field  

  • No abstract  
  • No Community Brief 
  • 2,000-word limit for main text* 
  • The essay should be written for an academic audience and use citations, if appropriate, but it should be in the author’s own voice. The author should use their personal experiences to provide insights to others in the field 
  • Essays may be in a variety of formats, including, but not limited to first-person narratives, creative non-fiction, poetry, and graphics  
  • Note: Insight Essay authors work directly with our Insight Essay Editors. If you are interested in potentially writing an Insight Essay, please contact the editorial office at autisminadulthood@pdx.edu prior to writing the essay 
  • Do not use the ScholarOne System to submit Insight Essay manuscripts  - Insight Essay authors who would rather not use the online system may email their submission to autisminadulthood@pdx.edu.

Letters to the Editor 

Letters commenting on the scientific content of an article published in the Journal  

  • No abstract  
  • No Community Brief  
  • 500-word limit for main text 
  • May include one figure OR table  
  • No more than ten (10) citations

Guest Editorials

Solicited by the Editor to discuss a pressing issue or to accompany a manuscript to be published in Autism in Adulthood 

  • No abstract  
  • No Community Brief 
  • 2000 word limit for main text 
  • Maximum of ten (10) references  
  • Please do NOT submit unsolicited editorials

Reviews of Book, Media, and Other Resources 

Solicited reviews of published works relevant to research on autism in adulthood 

  • No abstract  
  • No Community Brief 
  • 1,000-word limit (or greater at the discretion of the Editors)  
  • Autism in Adulthood does NOT accept unsolicited reviews

*Word limits for the main text do NOT include the abstract, community brief, disclosure statements, author contribution statements, funding information, acknowledgments, tables, figure legends, or references. 

File Formatting Policy

For the original submission, AIA will accept manuscripts in any file format (e.g., a single PDF) as long as the files are clear and readable. Similarly, authors may use any standard citation format (e.g., JAMA, APA, Vancouver) for the original submission. 

Original submissions must still meet all content requirements, including any disclosures, IRB or other ethics and consent statements, a Community Brief (in Q&A format), and all relevant information needed to thoroughly review the manuscript. 

The editors generally only request major or minor revisions if they feel there is a strong chance that the manuscript can eventually be published in the journal, assuming that the authors adequately address the concerns raised by the editors and reviewers. If we ask authors to revise and resubmit the manuscript, we will then require them to comply with all guidelines in the Instructions for Authors, including the use of JAMA citation style and the use of documents in Word format. 

Language Policies

Use of active voice and concise language 

The active voice increases the strength, clarity, and accessibility of language. It also presents the researcher as an actor in the narrative of the science. Autism in Adulthood requires authors to use the active voice as opposed to the passive voice throughout the manuscript. For example: “A research assistant administered the surveys” (not: “Surveys were administered.”) or “We analyzed the data using reflexive thematic analysis” (not(“The data was analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis”). Autism in Adulthood also recommends use of clear, concise language. Avoid using sentences with excessive clauses or unnecessary complexity. 

Anti-ableist language 

Autism in Adulthood requires the use of anti-ableist language throughout. See Recommendations for Avoiding Ableist Language for more details. 

Person-first vs. identity-first language 

Autism in Adulthood respects that there are strong arguments and passions on both sides of the debate between the use of person-first language (e.g., “person with autism”) and identity-first language (e.g., “autistic person”) in relation to autism. However, there is a growing body of scientific and community literature documenting the dislike, amongst autistic individuals, of person-first language and its potential for increasing stigma. Based on this literature and the strong preference of the autistic members of the journal’s Editorial Board, we require the use of identity-first language, or more neutral terms such as "person on the autism spectrum.”. Editors may make exceptions, on a case-by-case basis if authors offer a strong justification for their use of person-first language (e.g., participants in the study prefer its use when describing themselves). 

Subpopulations within the autism spectrum 

Due to the ambiguity and potential offensiveness of terms such as “high functioning” or “low functioning” autism, “Kanner's” autism, or "mild" or "severe" autism, Autism in Adulthood asks authors to avoid using these terms. Instead, describe subpopulations using the specific characteristic(s) that make them a subpopulation. For example, "autistic people who qualify for developmental disability services," or "autistic people who primarily communicate using speech." 

Terms related to autism diagnoses 

The term “Autism Spectrum Disorder” (ASD) may be used when specifically discussing autism diagnoses. Otherwise, we recommend using terms such as “autism,” “autism spectrum,” “autistic adults,” or “autistic participants.” When referring to historic data, historic diagnoses such as Asperger's syndrome may be used; however, these terms should be considered out of date, and not used as terms for any part of the autism spectrum except when referring to someone’s self-identity. 

Strengths-based vs. deficits-based language 

Autism in Adulthood requires authors to take a strengths-based approach to writing about autism. Examples include: 

  • Referring to autism as a condition or disability instead of as a disease or illness; 
  • Using neutral terms such as "typically developing" or “non-autistic” rather than "healthy" or “normal”; 
  • Avoiding emotional phrases such as "suffering from autism"; 
  • Referring to “co-occurring” or “secondary” conditions instead of “comorbid” conditions; 
  • Referring to autistic characteristics in a neutral or positive manner, as opposed to as symptoms or deficits (e.g., “autistic traits,” “characteristics of autism,” or “features of autism” instead of “symptoms of autism”; “communication differences” instead of “communication deficits”). 

General guidelines for writing about disability more broadly 

There are many excellent guides to writing about disability more broadly. Authors may refer to resources from the following organizations: 

The Editors of Autism in Adulthood welcome questions by authors regarding language. We understand that language can be a gray area, can vary by geography and culture, and that there are many valid opinions. Contact the Editor for further guidance. 

Abbreviations 

Use only standard abbreviations, which can be found in the AMA’s Manual of Style for Authors and Editors, 10th edition or the Council of Science Editors (CSE) Style Manual, 8th edition. At first usage, spell out terms and provide abbreviations in parentheses. Thereafter, use only the abbreviations. It is not necessary to spell out standard units of measure. Use generic names for drugs if possible. If you wish to use a proprietary drug name the first time it appears, use the generic name followed by the proprietary name, manufacturer, and location in parentheses. 

Article Titles 

  • Manuscript titles should be brief, contain key terms, and clearly identify the purpose of the work.
  • Titles should be no more than 12-15 words (Editors may grant exceptions in certain cases where a longer title is needed).
  • Titles should be direct and to the point. The journal has a global readership, so clear and concise non-vernacular language is most effective.
  • Avoid the use of specific locations or regions in the title.
  • Do not use proprietary/trademarked names in the title.
  • Do not use acronyms in the title unless they are universally recognized and accepted.
  • Avoid using the title to make declarative statements about results of the study. For example, instead of “X is Related to Y in Autistic Adults”, use titles such as “The Association Between X and Y in Autistic Adults: Results from a Prospective Cohort Study”.

Community Briefs 

Prepare a community brief, of up to 500 words, highlighting the most important aspects of the manuscript. This summary should be aimed at what the lay public, including autistic adults, family members, practitioners, services providers, and policymakers, would want to know about the manuscript. The Brief should stand on its own as a complete summary of the most important aspects of the manuscript. It may serve as a summary for community members who cannot access the full article due to limited time, educational attainment, scientific knowledge, or other barriers.

The Community Brief is not just a simplified version of the abstract. Note that the recommended questions do not correspond to the abstract headers. They more closely correspond to the main content of the manuscript. Authors should make sure that they answer the recommended questions fully.

Please use Plain Language. Plain Language includes the use of short, simple sentences; the active (not passive) voice; and simple vocabulary. Avoid or define technical terms. 

For more information on Plain Language, please see: 

Authors should include the Community Brief in the main text file, immediately after the abstract.

Community Briefs should use a question-and-answer (Q&A) format. We require the following questions for each article type: 

Original Research and Brief Reports
  • “Why is this an important issue?”
  • “What was the purpose of this study?”
  • “What did the researchers do?”
  • “What were the results and conclusions of the study?”
  • “What is new or controversial about these findings?”
  • “What are potential weaknesses in the study?”
  • “How will these findings help autistic adults now or in the future?” 

Emerging Practices
  • “Why was this program developed?”
  • “What does the program do?”
  • “How did the researchers evaluate the new program?”
  • “What were the early findings?”
  • “What were the weaknesses of this project?” 
  • ”What are the next steps?”
  • “How will this work help autistic adults now or in the future?”

Perspectives
  • “Why is this topic important?”
  • “What is the purpose of this article?”
  • “What personal or professional perspectives do the authors bring to this topic?”
  • “What is already known about this topic?”
  • “What do the authors recommend?”
  • “How will these recommendations help autistic adults now or in the future?”

Systematic Literature Reviews and Brief Systematic Reviews
  • “Why is this an important issue?”
  • “What is the purpose of the review?”
  • “What did the authors do to review the literature?”
  • “What studies did the authors find?”
  • “In summary, what did those studies show?”
  • “What are the remaining gaps in the literature?”
  • “Based on this review, what do the authors recommend?”

Other article types, including Conceptual Analysis, Advances in Methodology, and Narrative or Clinical Reviews 
  • Authors should choose similar questions, but may tailor them to fit the content of the manuscript. 

 

Clinical Trials Registration  

Autism in Adulthood ascribes to the registration policies of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) that can be found at http://www.icmje.org/about-icmje/faqs/clinical-trials-registration. Appropriate registries (such as http://clinicaltrials.gov) must be accessible to the public at no charge and must be open to all prospective registrants and managed by a not-for-profit organization. There must be a mechanism to ensure the validity of the registration data, and the registry should be electronically searchable. Please include the appropriate Trial Registration Number on the Title Page of the submitted manuscript. 

Clinical trial registration

The journal conforms to the ICMJE requirement that clinical trials are registered in a WHO-approved public trials registry at or before the time of first participant enrollment as a condition of consideration for publication. The trial registry name and URL, and registration number must be included at the end of the abstract.

Formatting your manuscript

Accepted file types

The preferred format for your manuscript is Word. You do not need to follow a template, but please ensure your heading levels are clear, and the sections clearly defined.

Your article title, keywords, and abstract all contribute to its position in search engine results, directly affecting the number of people who see your work. For details of what you can do to influence this, visit How to help readers find your article online.

Title

Your manuscript’s title should be concise, descriptive, unambiguous, accurate, and reflect the precise contents of the manuscript. A descriptive title that includes the topic of the manuscript makes an article more findable in the major indexing services.

Abstract

Please include a structured abstract of Original Research Articles, Brief Research Reports, Systematic Literature Reviews, Brief Systematic Reviews- structured abstract of no more than 300 words

 Conceptual Analysis, Advances in Methodology, Emerging Practices, Narrative or Clinical Reviews, Perspectives- Unstructured abstract of no more than 250 words between the title and main body of your manuscript that concisely states the purpose of the research, major findings, and conclusions. If your research includes clinical trials, the trial registry name and URL, and registration number must be included at the end of the abstract. Submissions that do not meet this requirement will not be considered.

For clinical trials, the trial registry name and URL, and registration number must be included at the end of the abstract.

Keywords

Please include a minimum of 4 keywords, listed after the abstract. Keywords should be as specific as possible to the research topic.

Artwork, figures, and other graphics

For guidance on the preparation of illustrations, pictures, and graphs in electronic format, please read Sage’s artwork guidelines.

Figures supplied in color will appear in color online regardless of whether or not these illustrations are reproduced in color in the printed version. If you have requested color reproduction in the print version, we will advise you of the costs on receipt of your accepted article.

Please ensure that you have obtained any necessary permission from copyright holders for reproducing any illustrations, tables, figures, or lengthy quotations previously published elsewhere. For further information including guidance on fair dealing for criticism and review, please see the Frequently Asked Questions page on the Sage Journal Author Gateway.

Acknowledgments

If you are including an Acknowledgements section, this will be published at the end of your article. The Acknowledgments section should include all contributors who do not meet the criteria for authorship. Per ICMJE recommendations, it is best practice to obtain consent from non-author contributors who you are acknowledging in your manuscript.

Writing assistance and third party submissions: if you have received any writing or editing assistance from a third-party, for example a specialist communications company, this must be clearly stated in the Acknowledgements section and in the covering letter. Please see the Sage Author Gateway for what information to include in your Acknowledgements section. If your submission is being made on your behalf by someone who is not listed as an author, for example the third-party who provided writing/editing assistance, you must state this in the Acknowledgements and also in your covering letter. Please note that the journal editor reserves the right to not consider submissions made by a third party rather than by the author/s themselves.

Author contributions

As part of our commitment to ensuring an ethical, transparent and fair peer review and publication process, this journal has adopted CRediT (Contributor Roles Taxonomy). CRediT is a high-level taxonomy, including 14 roles, which is used to describe each author’s individual contributions to the work.

You will be asked to list the contribution of each author as part of the submission process. Please include the Author Contributions heading within your submission after the Acknowledgements section. The information you give on submission will then show under the Author Contributions heading later at the proofing stage.

Statements and declarations

Please include a section with the heading ‘Statements and Declarations’ at the end of your submitted article, after the Acknowledgements section [and Author Contributions section if applicable] including each of the sub-headings listed below. If a declaration is not applicable to your submission, you must still include the heading and state ‘Not applicable’ underneath. Please note that you may be asked to justify why a declaration was not applicable to your submission by the Editorial Office.

Ethical considerations

Please include your ethics approval statements under this heading, even if you have already included ethics approval information in your methods section. If ethical approval was not required, you need to explicitly state this. You can find information on what to say in your ethical statements as well as example statements on our Publication ethics and research integrity policies page.

All papers reporting studies involving human participants, human data or human tissue must state that the relevant Ethics Committee or Institutional Review Board approved the study, or waived the requirement for approval, providing the full name and institution of the review committee in addition to the approval number. If applicable, please also include this information in the Methods section of your manuscript.

Please include any participant consent information under this heading and state whether informed consent to participate was written or verbal. If the requirement for informed consent to participate has been waived by the relevant Ethics Committee or Institutional Review Board (i.e. where it has been deemed that consent would be impossible or impracticable to obtain), please state this. If this is not applicable to your manuscript, please state ‘Not applicable’ in this section. More information and example statements can be found on our Publication ethics and research integrity policies page.

Submissions containing any data from an individual person (including individual details, images or videos) must include a statement confirming that informed consent for publication was provided by the participant(s) or a legally authorized representative. Non-essential identifying details should be omitted. Please do not submit the participant’s actual written informed consent with your article, as this in itself breaches the patient’s confidentiality. The Journal requests that you confirm to us, in writing, that you have obtained written informed consent to publish but the written consent itself should be held by the authors/investigators themselves, for example in a patient’s hospital record. The confirmatory letter may be uploaded with your submission as a separate file in addition to the statement confirming that consent to publish was obtained within the manuscript text. If this is not applicable to your manuscript, please state ‘Not applicable’ in this section.

Declaration of conflicting interest

The journal requires a declaration of conflicting interests from all authors so that a statement can be included in your article. For guidance on conflict of interest statements, see our policy on conflicting interest declarations and the ICMJE recommendations.

If no conflict exists, your statement should read: ‘The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article’.

Funding statement

All articles need to include a funding statement, under a separate heading, even if you did not receive funding. You’ll find guidance and examples on our Funding page.

Data availability

The Journal is committed to facilitating openness, transparency and reproducibility of research, and has the following research data sharing policy. For more information, including FAQs please visit the Sage Research Data policy pages.

Subject to appropriate ethical and legal considerations, authors are encouraged to:

  • Share your research data in a relevant public data repository
  • Include a data availability statement linking to your data. If it is not possible to share your data, use the statement to confirm why it cannot be shared.
  • Cite this data in your research

Reference style and citations

The journal follows the AMA Manual of Style. View the AMA Manual of Style to ensure your manuscript conforms.

Every in-text citation must have a corresponding citation in the reference list and vice versa. Corresponding citations must have identical spelling and year.

Authors should update any references to preprints when a peer reviewed version is made available, to cite the published research. Citations to preprints are otherwise discouraged.

EndNote

At this time, Autism in Adulthood does not yet have an output style in EndNote, but you may use the journal JAMA as a substitute as it follows the same reference style. Go to www.EndNote.com, search for “JAMA” and download the output style.* 

*Note: The Publisher of Autism in Adulthood does not provide technical support for EndNote. If you have questions, click on the Support tab on EndNote’s website for assistance.

Supplemental material

This Journal can host additional materials online (e.g. datasets, podcasts, videos, images etc.) alongside the full text of the article. Your supplemental material must be one of our accepted file types. For that list and more information please refer to our guidelines on submitting supplemental files.

English language editing services

Authors seeking assistance with English language editing, translation, or figure and manuscript formatting to fit the journal’s specifications should consider using Sage Author Services. Visit Sage Author Services for further information.

As part of the submission process you will need to confirm that this is your original work, that you have the rights in the work, that this is for first publication in this Journal, that it is not being considered for/has not already been published elsewhere, and that you have obtained and can supply all necessary permissions for the reproduction of any copyright works not owned by you.

Please see our guidelines on prior publication and note that the journal may accept submissions of manuscripts that have been posted on preprint servers.

Preprints

The journal will consider submissions of manuscripts that have been posted on preprint servers.

Please enter the preprint DOI in the designated field when submitting your manuscript. We advise that you inform the Journal Editorial office about your posted preprint at submission.

Note that you should not post an updated version of your manuscript on a preprint server while it is being peer reviewed.

Learn more about our preprint policy.

Submission site

Submit your manuscript online via Sage Track.

IMPORTANT: Please check whether you already have an account in Sage Track before trying to create a new one. If you have reviewed or authored for the journal in the past year it is likely that you will have had an account created. For further guidance on submitting your manuscript online please visit ScholarOne Online Help.

Manuscripts should only be submitted with the consent of all contributing authors. The individual responsible for submitting the manuscript should carefully check that all those whose work contributed to the manuscript are listed as authors.

Ensure you upload all relevant manuscript files, including any additional supplemental files (including reporting guidelines where relevant).

Authorship

Please view our authorship policies, which includes information on criteria for authorship, who should be the corresponding author and more.

Please note that AI chatbots, for example ChatGPT, should not be listed as authors. For more information see the policy on Use of ChatGPT and generative AI tools.

Files

  • Your manuscript, properly formatted according to all stipulations above, and within the scope of the journal.
  • Figures and images.
  • Supplemental material. This journal can host additional materials online (e.g. datasets, podcasts, videos, images, etc) alongside the full-text of the article. Your supplemental material must be one of our accepted file types. For that list and more information please refer to our guidelines on submitting supplemental files.

Other information required for submission

  • ORCID ID of the submitting author.
    • It is strongly encouraged that all co-authors ensure their ORCID IDs are linked to their accounts in the submission system prior to article acceptance, as this is the only way to have their ORCID ID present on the published article. ORCID IDs cannot be added to manuscripts after acceptance/publication. Please note that each co-author must log in to the submission system to add their own ORCID ID to their account. To add an ORCID ID, edit your account, click the link when prompted, and sign into your ORCID account to validate your ID. You will then be redirected back to the submission system and your ORCID ID will become part of your accepted publication’s metadata.
    • Please create an ORCID ID if you do not already have one or visit our ORCID homepage to learn more.
  • Complete list of authors, with their institutional affiliations.
    • The author information you enter at submission must exactly match what is included on your manuscript and/or title page, including full names, academic affiliations, and corresponding author contact details.
    • The listed affiliation should be the institution where the research was conducted. If an author has moved to a new institution since completing the research, the new affiliation can be included in a note at the end of the manuscript.
    • All listed authors must meet the criteria for authorship (above).
    • All persons eligible for authorship must be included at the time of submission.
    • All authors must have given consent for the manuscript to be submitted in its current form.
  • Keywords: During submission, you may be asked to select or enter keywords for your manuscript. These keywords are used to match appropriate reviewers to your manuscript.
  • The number of figures, tables, and words in your manuscript.
  • Funder information: Name, grant/award number.
  • You may be required to enter your declaration of conflicting interest as part of the submission process, in addition to listing it on your manuscript and/or title page. Please have it on hand.
  • If you have posted your manuscript to a preprint server, you will be asked to supply the DOI (this does not prohibit submission, but no changes should be made to the preprint version while your manuscript is under evaluation in this journal). Please see our guidelines on prior publication. If the article is accepted for publication, the author may re-use their work according to the journal's author archiving policy. If your manuscript is accepted, you must include a link in your preprint to the final version of your published article.

The following summary describes the peer review process for this journal:
Identity transparency: Single-anonymized
Reviewer interacts with: Editor
Review information published: None

Your manuscript will undergo an initial evaluation. If it does not conform to the requirements laid out in these guidelines, it will be returned to you for amendments prior to peer review. Manuscripts may be desk rejected without peer review at this point if they are out of scope for the journal or otherwise unsuitable.

After passing the initial evaluation, your manuscript will then be peer reviewed. You can log in at any time to check the status of your manuscript. We will notify you when a decision has been reached.

After internal editorial screening for suitability, all manuscript submissions containing original research or that comprise scholarly review are subject to rigorous, independent, external peer review. Editorials, correspondence, news features, and/or Invited opinion or perspective contributions in other sections of the journal are subject to stringent editorial oversight; at need, external, independent review will be arranged to address specialized topics. Final decisions for publication are solely the responsibility of the Editor(s)-in-Chief.

To ensure the integrity of the peer review process we assign reviewers and cannot accept author recommendations.

All manuscripts are reviewed as rapidly as possible, while maintaining rigor. Reviewers make comments to the author and recommendations to the Editor who then makes the final decision on all manuscripts, including those appearing in a special issue or special collection. The Editor or members of the Editorial Board may occasionally submit their own manuscripts for possible publication in the Journal. In these cases, the peer review process will be managed by alternative members of the Board and the submitting Editor/Board member will have no involvement in the decision-making process.

In addition to the traditional, scientific peer-review procedure, manuscripts submitted to Autism in Adulthood receive at least one review from an autistic adult as part of our commitment to inclusion. While in some cases, autistic scientists or scholars may fill both roles, many autistic reviewers are people outside of academia. Our autistic reviewers greatly contribute to the high standards of the Journal. Autism in Adulthood asks autistic reviewers to give their opinion about whether the paper addresses high priority topics, the findings can have a true impact on the autistic community, the article is written in a respectful manner, and the community brief is comprehensible to the public.

As a COPE member we engage with multiple forms of post-publication discussion in line with wider guidance from Sage: Commentaries, Critiques and Responses.

You can view our complaints and appeals policy here.

Read Sage's complete peer review policy.

Plagiarism

The journal and Sage take issues of copyright infringement, plagiarism or other breaches of best practice in publication very seriously. Please read Sage's complete policy on plagiarism and the actions we may take.

Contributor’s Publishing Agreement

Before publication, we require the author as the rights holder to sign a Journal Contributor’s Publishing Agreement. Sage’s Journal Contributor’s Publishing Agreement is an exclusive license agreement which means that the author retains copyright in the work but grants Sage the sole and exclusive right and license to publish for the full legal term of copyright. Exceptions may exist where an assignment of copyright is required or preferred by a proprietor other than Sage. In this case copyright in the work will be assigned from the author to the society. For more information please visit the Sage Journal Author Gateway.

Preprints

If your manuscript was posted on a preprint server prior to acceptance, you must include a link in your preprint to the final published version of your published article.

Production

Your Sage Production Editor will keep you informed as to your article’s progress throughout the production process. Proofs will be made available to the corresponding author via our editing portal, Sage Edit, or by email, and should be returned promptly to avoid delaying publication. Authors are reminded to check their proofs carefully to confirm that all author information, including names, affiliations, sequence, and contact details are correct, and that Funding and Conflict of Interest statements, if any, are accurate. This is the final opportunity to make changes to your manuscript. Further corrections will not be possible after publication. Changes to the author list are not permitted at this stage.

Publication

OnlineFirst publication: This enables us to publish final articles online immediately, without waiting for assignment to a future issue of the Journal. This usually significantly reduces publication lead time. Visit the Sage Journals help page for more details, including how to cite OnlineFirst articles.

Access to your published article: We provide you with online access to your published article. The online access link is provided to the corresponding author for sharing with their co-authors.

Promoting your article

Publication is not the end of the process. Between us, we can ensure that your article is found, read, downloaded and cited as widely as possible. Many of the most effective tactics are those you can do quickly and easily to your network of contacts and peers. Visit the Promote Your Article page on the Sage Journal Author Gateway for numerous resources to help you promote your work.

The Sage Journal Author Gateway has some general advice on how to get published, plus links to further resources. Sage Author Services also offers authors a variety of ways to improve and enhance your article including English language editing, plagiarism detection, and video abstract and infographic preparation.

If you have any questions about publishing with Sage, please visit the Sage Journals Solutions Portal.

You can view our complaints and appeals procedure.

Contact us

You can direct any questions to the journal’s editorial office:

aut_eo@liebertpub.com