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Editors in Chief
Andrew L. Warshaw, M.D.
Surgeon-in-Chief
Massachusetts General Hospital
W. Gerald Austen Professor of Surgery
Harvard Medical School
Boston, MA 02114 USA
Michael G. Sarr, M.D.
Department
of Surgery
Mayo Clinic and Mayo Foundation
Rochester, MN 55902 USA
Managing Editor
David Newcombe
Stellar Medical Publications
20 North Street-Unit 1
Plymouth, MA 02360
Tel 508-732-6767
Fax 508-732-6766
e-mail: surgery@stellarmed.com
All manuscripts should be submitted online at
http://ees.elsevier.com/surg/
Information for Authors
The Journal invites concise, original articles of new matter in
the broad field
of clinical and experimental surgery as well as
surgical organization, and history. We are especially interested
in articles on education
as well. Emphasis for acceptance
includes conciseness and clarity of presentation as well as
appropriateness of English usage.
All
authors must observe most strictly the rules against dual
publication. The statements and opinions expressed in the
articles and communications
herein are those of the author(s)
and not necessarily those of the Editors or Publisher, and the
Editors and Publisher disclaim any responsibility
or liability for
such material. Should there be a financial association between
one or more of the authors and a commercial company that
makes a product that figures prominently in the article, the
Editors stipulate that the authors state such an association.
Should a significant
conflict of interest be present, the Editors
reserve the right to reject the article on that basis.
Original Communications.
These manuscripts should
represent original research, either clinical or basic science.
Consideration for publication is based on originality,
scientific
content, and appropriate analysis. Emphasis should be placed
on novel and new information.
Brief Clinical Reports,
Case Reports, and Images in Surgery.
Manuscripts for these sections should be limited strictly to no
more than four double-spaced
manuscript pages with up to five
references. The articles could include one or two pertinent
illustrations but no abstract. Follow the
guidelines for original
communications. Please note, SURGERY rarely publishes case
reports and the ones published should be either of
timely
relevance or of significant educational value. The Journal is very
selective in choosing a case report for publication.
Editorials.
Editorials should be concise and brief (not to
exceed 1000 words, except under unusual circumstances) and
should express the personal
opinion of the author. An editorial
should contain a minimum of references, if any. Editorial
material to be considered by the Editors
may include not only
timely subjects of clinical interest, but also material of general
interest to the surgical community, including
topics of social
significance. Follow the guidelines for original communications.
Most editorials are "invited" or "solicited" by the
Editors; i.e., the
Editors have asked a specific person to write an editorial.
Unsolicited editorials will be considered, but will be
screened
highly by the Co-Editors-in-Chief.
Letters to the Editors. The Editors invite comments in the
form of letters that
express differences of opinion or supporting
views of previously published editorials or recently published
papers in Surgery. Each letter
must not exceed 500 words, should
be typed with double spacing, and must include complete
references. The editorial board reserves the
rights to accept,
reject, or excerpt letters without changing the views expressed
by the writer. No anonymous correspondence will be
published;
therefore each author should include his or her complete
address.
Clinical Reviews: SURGERY does not often publish
simple
review papers based solely on a literature review. On occasion,
the Editors will solicit a clinical review on a specific topic.
Exceptions include formal true systematic reviews (not just
review articles) which are well-performed and either relevant or
timely;
however, these are reviewed critically.
Societal Papers. Manuscripts submitted as part of the annual
meetings of the Society
of University Surgeons (SUS), Central
Surgical Association (CSA), or American Association of
Endocrine Surgeons (AAES) has other, somewhat
different
guidelines because of space limitations. Societal manuscripts
should have an abstract of no more than 200 words, no more
than
10 double-spaced text pages, no more than 25 references,
and no more than a total of 10 tables and figures combined. The
option does
exist for additional tables, figures, or text when
deemed necessary and appropriate by the Editors, to be
included in the electronically
published version that, however,
would not appear in the printed version. Such additional
material must be designated clearly as "For
the electronically
published version, not to be included in paper printed version."
Hypothesis Section. This section hopes
to challenge
"established" concepts and postulate novel ways of thinking
about problems in the hopes of changing surgical tradition
when
appropriate. We will review and critique these submissions
carefully. We anticipate few acceptances and irregular
appearance, if and
only when a good idea surfaces. Working
with Alden Harken, who will serve as the managing editor of this
section, we have established
the following criteria for
submission: (1) The Hypothesis (typically also the title of the
manuscript) must lead off the introduction
of the manuscript
and will be typed IN BOLD, and (2) the idea should be
presented succinctly, with the upper limit of 10 double-spaced
typed pages with no more than 25 references.
Reprints. Individual reprints of an article may be obtained
directly from the
author.
Book reviews. Books shall be reviewed only at the discretion
of the Editors.
Review: Usually at least
three (and often more) referees are
asked to review each article. Acceptance for publication is based
on originality, significance, and
scientific merit; these
manuscripts should further the knowledge and practice of
surgery. Revisions may be made to add clarity and
understanding
without altering the meaning and to follow an
overall editorial approach by SURGERY.
Manuscripts describing research involving human
subjects
must document both IRB approval/exemption and that
informed consent was obtained from patients who served as
subjects of the
investigation. A statement about HIPAA
compliance is also necessary for human studies from the United
States and other countries in which
the protection of patient
information by obtaining patient consent is required by law. In
the event that either Editors or referees question
the propriety
of the human investigation with respect to the risk to the
subjects or to the means of obtaining informed consent, Surgery
may request more detailed information about the safeguards
employed and the procedures used to obtain consent. Minutes
of the local human
experimentation committees that reviewed
and approved the research may also be requested.
Online manuscript submission. All
manuscripts should be
submitted online. Please go to http://ees.elsevier.com/surg/ ,
register, log in, and follow the instructions.
When uploading
your manuscript on the site, please be aware of the following:
• MS Word is the preferred word-processing program.
Please
do not upload anything as a PDF file; the system will build a PDF
for you.
• All text elements (title page, abstract,
main text, references,
appendices, figure legends, and tables) should be in a single file.
• Each figure file should be created
at the proper resolution
(see guidelines below) and uploaded as a separate file (TIFF or
EPS are the preferred formats).
• The
comments section should include the names,
affiliations, and email addresses of three potential reviewers.
The Editors will make every
effort to have one or more of these
suggested reviewers serve as a formal reviewer of your
manuscript.
The following format must be
used for all submitted
manuscripts:
-- The cover letter should provide (1) the category of
manuscript (i.e., original
report, brief clinical report, etc); (2)
statement that the material has not been previously published or
submitted elsewhere for publication
and will not be sent to
another journal until a decision is made concerning publication
by SURGERY; (3) information about any personal
conflicts of
interest of any of the authors; and (4) names of sources of
outside support for research, including funding, equipment,
and drugs. The cover letter should be submitted as a separate
file. Any financial support whatsoever from industry must be
acknowledged
as a financial disclosure of all the authors in the
cover letter and on the title page of the manuscript. For
instance, if a study is
funded partially or totally by Industry, this
needs to be stated clearly followed by a statement disclosing
whether or not each author
has any financial interest in the
company (etc) funding the study. It will be the Editors'
discretion whether or not this represents
too much of a conflict
of interest to warrant publication.
-- The title page should include the full name and highest
achieved
degree of each author, the institution from which the
work originated, sources of financial support, and the exact and
complete address,
business and home telephone numbers, e-mail
address, and fax number of the one author who will be responsible
for correspondence, galley
proofs, and reprint requests.
-- A structured abstract of no more than 250 words must
accompany the manuscript and consist
of four paragraphs, each
with its introductory label: Background (stating the purpose of
the study), Methods, Results, and Conclusions.
This abstract
should be numbered page two of the manuscript. Abstracts are
only necessary for Original Communications and Societal
papers.
-- Standard abbreviations should be used consistently throughout
the manuscript. The use of unusual abbreviations is
discouraged
but, if necessary, the term should be spelled out
in full the first time it appears, followed immediately by the
abbreviation in parentheses.
The abbreviation only should be
used from that point on. A separate page of all abbreviations
used is suggested to aid the manuscript
reviewers. For currently
accepted usage, consult the Manual of Style of the American
Medical Association; Scientific Style and Format:
The CBE
Manual for Authors, Editors, and Publishers; and the Chicago
Manual of Style by The University of Chicago Press.
-- Illustrations
should be submitted electronically. When
submitting the illustrations electronically, please use either an
EPS or TIF file format. Graphics
software such as Photoshop and
Illustrator should be used to create art. Figures submitted using
presentation software such as PowerPoint,
CorelDraw, or
Harvard Graphics are not acceptable. Color images need to be
saved as CMYK, at least 300 dots per inch (dpi). Grayscale
images should be at least 300 dpi. Line art (black and white or
color) and combinations of grayscale and line art should be at
least
300 dpi. Make sure that the figure number is marked
clearly on the figure or part of the electronic file name (i.e.,
Figure1.tif).
Please note that once you create digital art at
low resolution, you cannot adjust it. You must create your
art at the proper resolution
(300 dpi) to begin with. For
step-by-step instruction and screenshots on how to create your
art correctly the first time, go to Elsevier's
Author Gateway
(http://www.elsevier.com/artwork ) and click on "Artwork Instructions."
If you are unable to submit the
figures electronically, please
indicate they will be sent offline when submitting your paper
and send hardcopies to the Managing Editor.
Each illustration
should be marked lightly on the back in pencil with the
manuscript number (sent in an email when your manuscript is
submitted online), figure number, and first author's surname;
the top should also be indicated. For black-and-white and
halftone figures,
submit two sets of glossy prints. Computergenerated,
laser- or plotter-printed graphs or line drawings may
be submitted; these must have
sharp definition. All lettering
must be done professionally and should be in proportion to the
drawing, graph, or photograph. Typewritten
or freehand
lettering is unacceptable. Do not send negatives, original
artwork, x-ray films, or electrocardiographic tracings. Glossy
print photographs, 3 x 4 inches (minimum) to 5 x 7 inches
(maximum), with good black-and-white contrast or color
balance are preferred.
Consistency in size within the article is
strongly preferred. Any special instructions regarding sizing
should be clearly noted.
Figures must be cited in the text and numbered in order of
first mention. A reasonable number of black-and-white
illustrations will be
produced free of charge; however, please
note that special arrangements must be made with the Editors
and publisher for color plates
or extra illustrations. The cost of
color illustrations is usually borne by the authors. Please note
that the figures in the online version
of the Journal will be
reproduced in color, free of charge.
-- Legends must be provided for all illustrations. The legend
should not appear anywhere on the figure. If a figure has been
previously published, the legend must give full credit to the
original
source.
-- Tables should be numbered in the order in which they are
mentioned in the text, and given a brief, descriptive
title. Omit all
horizontal or vertical rules from the body of the table. Glossy
prints and reduced versions of typewritten tables are
unacceptable.
All acronyms, abbreviations, and unusual units of measurement
used in the title, headings, or body of the table should
be
fully explained in a footnote. For footnotes, use these symbols in
sequence: *, †, ‡, §, ||, ¶, #,
**,††, superscript lowercase letters. If
a table or any data therein have been previously published,
a footnote to the
table must give full credit to the original source.
-- Additional material only for electronic version: Under
exceptional
or special circumstances, SURGERY will allow
publication of additional tables, figures, or text (e.g.
Methodology, explanations of analysis,
etc) in the electronic
version of the published manuscript only. This material will not
be included in the print version, but a reference
to it being
available online will be present in the print version. The Editors
would like to emphasize that such additional material
will have
to meet strict criteria to be included in the electronic version;
such material may be used to complement the data in the
printed
version. If deemed by the authors or editors as crucial to
the interpretation of the manuscript, this material should be
included as
part of the printed version of the manuscript. Please
mark clearly in the submitted manuscript that this is additional
information to
be published electronically. The electronic
version should not be used as a repository for redundant or
unnecessary data.
-- Video
Clips for electronic version. We will accept relevant video
clips with accepted manuscripts for viewing in our online
version of
the Journal. For more information on the specific file
requirements, please use the following link in Author's Gateway
for Artwork: http://authors.elsevier.com/ArtworkInstructions.html?dc_AI1 . Once there, click on "Movies/animations" under
"Multimedia files" from the menu on the left-hand side.
-- Only references
cited in the text should be included in the
reference list; cite references in the text by superscript numbers.
The reference list must
be numbered according to the order of
mention of references in the text. The list format should conform
to that set forth in "Uniform
Requirements for Manuscripts
Submitted to Biomedical Journals" (Vancouver style) (http://www.icmje.org ). Do not cite as
a reference any work that has not
been published or accepted for publication. Manuscripts in
preparation or submitted (but not yet accepted
for publication)
are not acceptable as a reference nor are oral presentations.
Manuscripts fully accepted for publication but not yet
published
should be cited as "in press." Note that journal abbreviations
must follow the style used in the Cumulated Index Medicus. For
periodical references, give the surnames of authors and their
initials, title of article, publication name, year, volume, and
inclusive
page numbers. For books, give the surnames of authors
and their initials, chapter title (if applicable), editors' surnames
and initials,
book title, volume number (if applicable), edition
number (if applicable), city of publisher, full name of publisher,
year of publication,
and inclusive page numbers of citation.
Examples (if six or fewer authors, list all; if seven or more, list
first six and
add "et al."):
For journals:
Vega KJ, Pina I, Krevsky B. Heart transplantation is associated
with an increased risk for
pancreatobiliary disease. Ann Intern
Med 1996;124:980-3.
For books:
Ringsven MK, Bond D. Gerontology and leadership skills
for
nurses. 2nd ed. Albany (NY): Delmar Publishers; 1996.
For chapters:
Phillips SJ, Whisnant JP. Hypertension and stroke.
In: Laragh
JH, Brenner BM, editors. Hypertension: patho-physiology,
diagnosis, and management. 2nd ed. New York: Raven Press;
1995. p
465-78.
-- Copyright ownership is to be transferred by the following
statement, which must accompany all manuscripts and
be signed
by all authors. "The undersigned author(s) transfer all copyright
ownership of the manuscript [title of article] to Elsevier
Inc., in
the event the work is published. The undersigned warrant(s)
that the article is original, does not infringe upon any copyright
or other proprietary right of any third party, is not under
consideration by another journal, and has not been published
previously."
Authors will be consulted, when possible, regarding
republication of their material.
-- Direct quotations, tables, or illustrations
that have appeared in
copyrighted material must be accompanied by written permission
for their use from the copyright owner and original
author
along with complete information as to source. Photographs of
identifiable persons must be accompanied by signed releases
showing
informed consent. Articles appear in both the printed
and online versions of the journal, and wording of the release
should specify
permission in all forms and media. Failure to get
electronic permission rights may result in the images not
appearing in the online version.
Disclosure of Financial Interests and Potential Conflicts of Interest. SURGERY requires all authors to provide full
disclosure of any and all biomedical financial interests. Further, we require all authors on all types of articles (including letters)
to specify the nature of potential conflicts of interest, financial or otherwise. This disclosure includes direct or indirect financial
or personal relationships, interests, and affiliations relevant to the subject matter of the manuscript that have occurred over the last
two years, or that are expected in the foreseeable future. This disclosure includes, but is not limited to, grants or funding, employment,
affiliations, patents (in preparation, filed, or granted), inventions, honoraria, consultancies, royalties, stock options/ownership,
or expert testimony. This policy of full disclosure is similar to the policies of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors,
the Journal of the American Medical Association, and other such organizations. The conflict of interest statements should be included
in the Financial Disclosures section of the manuscript at the time of submission for all article types. If an author has no conflicts
of interest to declare, this must be explicitly stated. Authors should contact the Editorial Office with questions or concerns, but should
err on the side of inclusion when in doubt. The following is a sample text:
- Dr. Einstein reports having received lecture
fees from EMC Laboratories, and research funding from Quantum Enterprises. Dr. Curie disclosed consulting fees from RA Inc. Dr. Newton
reported his patent on "Newtonian physics". Dr. Archimedes reported no biomedical financial interests or potential conflicts of interest.
The submitting author will be required to indicate that this information has been fully included in the manuscript at the time of submission.
In addition, all authors are required to acknowledge that the conflict of interest disclosures are complete for both themselves and their
co-authors, to the best of their knowledge, when completing the Manuscript Submission Form. Manuscripts that fail to include the complete
statements of all authors upon submission will be returned to the corresponding author and will delay the processing and evaluation of
the manuscript.
Checklist for submitting complete manuscript in hardcopy to the Managing Editor
(This list must
be completed and included with manuscript)
- Five complete sets of the manuscript (including five sets of figures and tables)
must be submitted
- Title page, including names and affiliations of all authors and addresses/phone number/fax number for the
corresponding author
- Structured abstract (if required)
- Listing of all relevant abbreviations used in the manuscript
(e.g. ERC - endoscopic retrograde cholangiography)
- The complete text of the manuscript
- References listed in the correct
style (See "Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals." Ann Intern Med 1997;126:36-47.)
- A legend
for each figure
- All tables and/or boxes
- All figures (labeled with author's name and number)
- Electronic
copy (diskette or CD)
- Permissions for use of borrowed material (from copyright holder) in all forms and media and any necessary
patient release forms
- IRB Approval (if necessary)
- Commercial Relationship Disclosure (if appropriate)
- The following statement signed by all authors: I attest that this manuscript has not been submitted for publication in any other
journal and will not subsequently be submitted for potential publication in another journal until a decision has been made by SURGERY,
nor has it been published previously in any media.
- Please provide names of 3 or more potential reviewers without a conflict
of interest (include their addresses, phone and fax numbers, and email addresses)
- a. __________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
b. __________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
c. __________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
July 2007
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