Author Guidelines | Archives of Surgery and Clinical Research

Article Types & Recommended Limits

ASCR accepts a range of article types. Word counts are flexible for methodological rigor and clarity, but aim to stay within the suggested limits unless justified in your cover letter.

Type	Typical structure	Word limit (excl. references)	Abstract	References
Original Research	IMRaD (Intro, Methods, Results, Discussion)	3,500–5,000	Structured, 250–300 words	as needed
Systematic Review / Meta-analysis	PRISMA flow + methods, results, discussion	4,000–6,000	Structured, 250–300 words	as needed
Clinical Trial	CONSORT-aligned; registry and protocol details	3,500–5,000	Structured, 250–300 words	as needed
Short Communication	Intro, concise methods/results, brief discussion	1,800–2,500	Unstructured, ≤200 words	≤25 suggested
Case Report / Case Series	Background, case(s), discussion, learning points	1,500–2,500	Unstructured, ≤200 words	≤30 suggested
Surgical Technique / Video	Rationale, stepwise technique, outcomes, pitfalls	2,000–3,000	Unstructured, ≤200 words	as needed
Perspective / Commentary	Topic discussion with evidence-led viewpoint	1,200–2,000	Unstructured, ≤150 words	≤20 suggested
Editorial / Letter	Concise argument or response	≤1,000	—	≤10 suggested

Preprints welcome: You may submit manuscripts previously posted to reputable preprint servers. Disclose the server and DOI on submission; upon publication, link the version of record (VoR).

Manuscript Structure & Formatting

Title page (file 1)

Title (≤20 words, informative and specific)
Author names, affiliations, and ORCID iDs
Corresponding author contact (email, phone)
Word count (main text), figures, tables, supplementary files
CRediT contributions; funding; conflicts of interest
Trial registration (if applicable)

Blinded manuscript (file 2)

Abstract (structured where required) + 3–6 keywords
Main text (IMRaD or appropriate schema)
Acknowledgments (avoid identifying text during review)
Data Availability Statement
Ethics & consent statements
References
Figure legends and tables (placed after references or uploaded separately)

Style & language

Standard English, concise, and precise terminology
Numbers and statistics: report effect sizes and 95% CIs where applicable
Units: SI units; include conventional units in parentheses if useful
Abbreviations: define at first use in abstract and main text
Drugs and devices: include generic names; provide manufacturer, city, country

Double-blind review: Upload a separate title page and a blinded manuscript without author-identifying details to support double-blind peer review.

File formats

Text: DOCX or RTF; LaTeX accepted (provide PDF and source)
Figures: TIFF/PNG (300+ dpi for photos; 600+ dpi for line art); vector (SVG/EPS) preferred for diagrams
Tables: editable within manuscript or as CSV/XLSX; avoid embedded images of tables
Supplementary: datasets (CSV), code (plain text with license), multimedia (MP4 with captions)

Ethical Requirements & Transparency

Authorship & contributions: List all contributors with CRediT roles; obtain agreement from all authors on the final manuscript.
Conflicts of interest: Declare financial, academic, and personal relationships that could influence the work.
Funding: Provide funder names and grant numbers; state the funder’s role.
Human participants: Identify approving IRB/ethics committee and protocol number; confirm informed consent procedures; for clinical trials, provide registry and identifier registered prior to first participant enrollment.
Patient privacy: De-identify case materials; obtain publication consent for images and detailed cases.
Animal research: Provide protocol approval and welfare measures; align methods to minimize pain/distress.
Data availability: Include a Data Availability Statement (open repository preferred; state conditions if restricted).
Preprints & prior dissemination: Disclose preprints, theses, or conference abstracts related to the submission.
Similarity & originality: We screen for overlap and inappropriate image manipulation; retain raw data and unprocessed images.

Corrections, retractions, and concerns: We publish DOI-linked notices for post-publication updates. Report concerns to the editorial office with the manuscript/article ID.

Reporting Guidelines & Registration

Use discipline-appropriate reporting checklists and upload them with your submission:

CONSORT for randomized trials (include flow diagram and checklist)
SPIRIT for trial protocols
PRISMA for systematic reviews/meta-analyses (add search strategies as supplementary files)
STROBE for observational studies
ARRIVE for animal research
CARE for case reports (include informed consent)
SQUIRE for quality improvement

Register prospective interventional trials in a recognized registry. Provide the registry name and identifier in the Methods and on the title page.

Figures, Tables & Multimedia

Figures

Provide separate high-resolution files; name consistently (e.g., Fig1.tif).
State any adjustments (brightness/contrast) in the legend; avoid selective enhancement or splicing.
Annotate surgical steps and anatomy clearly; ensure scale bars where applicable.
Obtain permission/credit lines for third-party content and keep them in legends and within the PDF.

Tables

Provide concise titles and explanatory footnotes; avoid vertical rules.
Ensure internal consistency with numbers and percentages (denominators stated).

Videos

Upload MP4 (H.264), 720p or higher; provide a descriptive caption.
Include on-screen labels for key steps; provide narration or captions for accessibility.
Confirm patient anonymity (no faces/identifiers unless consented for publication).

References

Use a numbered citation style (Vancouver/AMA-like). Number references consecutively in the order cited in text, tables, and figure legends; superscripts in-text are acceptable. Include DOI links in the form https://doi.org/ when available. Ensure that every in-text citation has a corresponding entry in the reference list and vice-versa.

Examples

Journal article: Lastname AB, Lastname CD. Article title. Journal Name. 2025;9(2):e123–e131. https://doi.org/xx.xxxx/xxxxx
Preprint: Lastname AB, Lastname CD. Title. medRxiv [preprint]. 2025. https://doi.org/xx.xxxx/xxxxx
Dataset: Lastname AB. Title [dataset]. Repository; 2024. https://doi.org/xx.xxxx/xxxxx

Submission Package & How to Submit

Your package should include

Title page (authors, affiliations, ORCID, disclosures, funding)
Blinded manuscript
Figures and tables (separate files preferred)
Supplementary files (datasets, code, multimedia, checklists)
Cover letter (brief significance and fit to journal)
Ethics documentation (approvals/consents where applicable)

Submission channel

Use the journal’s online submission system. If a form is temporarily unavailable, email the editorial office with the subject line Submission – ASCR-[ArticleType]-[ShortTitle] and include your files and a completed checklist.

Cover letter template

Dear Editors, We wish to submit “