Free video abstracts were developed as a new content stream for American Journal of BioMedicine in 2016, aimed at increasing the visibility of our authors and their work. Through video media authors can now go beyond the constraints of the written article to convey their research, and provide a new, enhanced user experience for the journal’s global audience. It is envisaged that video abstracts will enhance a user’s understanding and appreciation of an article through the accessible presentation of the main results and conclusions reported. To maximize engagement and visibility, authors are encouraged to combine footage of themselves with other relevant material of interest.
Editorial guidelines
In producing a video abstract, authors are asked to adhere to the following basic guidelines.
A video abstract should not last longer than four minutes.
A video abstract should introduce the topic of the article, highlight the main results and conclusions and discuss future potential developments in the field as a result of the work.
The presentation should be understandable and accessible to users outside of the immediate field of the article.
Inclusion of additional relevant material such as images, animations and lab footage is strongly encouraged.
A video abstract must include a soundtrack providing a clear verbal narration of the visual content. Unfortunately we no longer allow the use of any music in video abstracts. Clearing rights to use music is incredibly complicated as there are often many rights holders, in both the master recording and the underlying song. Attaching music to images, such as overlaying a piece of music with the images in the video abstract, also requires us to obtain a separate synchronisation licence. Licences (i.e. permissions) generally have to be negotiated with the copyright owners, usually the record company and the publishing company. Unfortunately music taken from royalty free sites is not an answer to the problem as generally these sites cannot guarantee that the music has not been copied from elsewhere. Therefore we cannot include music taken from royalty free sites or stated to be in the public domain.
Presentations should not include small text that will be difficult to read.
To meet accessibility requirements, authors are encouraged to accompany their video abstract with a transcript (as a .txt file).
PLEASE NOTE: authors should be aware that use of material from previously published work requires appropriate permission from the publisher.
Technical specifications
Video abstracts must meet minimum standards of quality for both video and audio components. In creating a video abstract, authors are asked to meet the following specifications.
Frame rate: 25–30 frames per second
Aspect ratio: 16:9 or 4:3, square pixels, deinterlaced
Frame size: (minimum) 320 × 240 pixels
Format: .mov, .mpg, or .mp4
Video codec: H.264, mp2, mp4
Video encoding: 2 pass H.264 preferred
Keyframe: at least every six seconds
Video bitrate: 480–2672 kbps
Audio bitrate: 16-bit AAC audio at a sampling frequency of 44.1kHz
Bitrate of 192 kbps
Maximum file size: 100 MB
PLEASE NOTE: all video abstracts will be assessed for editorial suitability and quality by the American Journal of BioMedicine Editorial Board and staff team.
