Author Guidelines

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.

Submission Package & How to Submit

Cover letter template

Dear Editors, We wish to submit “