Editor's Guidelines | Archives of Surgery and Clinical Research

Editorial Roles & Accountability

Editor-in-Chief / Senior Editor

Upholds editorial independence and policy alignment.
Assigns submissions to handling Editors and oversees difficult cases (appeals, ethics).
Approves retractions and major notices; liaises with publisher for post-publication updates.

Handling Editor

Conducts initial triage for scope, integrity, and completeness.
Selects unbiased expert reviewers; manages review and revisions to decision.
Ensures decisions map to reviewer evidence and journal criteria, not to payment ability.

Confidentiality: Editors must keep reviewer identities, manuscript content, and deliberations confidential, in line with the journal’s double-blind policy.

Step 1 — Editorial Triage

Within the first screening window, verify the essentials before inviting reviewers. Use this checklist to record triage outcomes in the editorial system.

Check	What to look for	Action
Scope fit	Surgical/clinical relevance; study type fits journal remit	Proceed / Transfer suggestion
Ethics	IRB/IACUC approval, consent, trial registration for interventional studies	Request documentation / Reject
Integrity	Similarity report, image/data concerns, authorship completeness	Clarify / Investigate per COPE flowcharts
Blinding	Separate Title Page vs Blinded Manuscript; scrubbed file metadata	Request corrected files
Reporting	CONSORT/PRISMA/STROBE, etc.; data availability statement	Request checklist / Proceed
Competing interests	Declarations from authors; funding statement	Request updates

Step 2 — Selecting & Inviting Reviewers

Nominate at least two experts with complementary methods/clinical domains; avoid close collaborators, recent coauthors, or same-department colleagues.
Screen for conflicts (financial, academic rivalry, personal relationships) and confirm availability and expertise in the invitation.
Encourage constructive, evidence-based critique focused on methods, statistics, ethics, and clarity—never on identities or affiliations.

Reviewer invitation template

Subject: ASCR review invitation – [Short Title] – [ASCR-YYYY-XXXX] Dear Dr. [Name], We invite you to review the manuscript “[Title]” for ASCR. We use double-blind review. Please confirm by [date]. Abstract: [paste 3–5 lines] Conflicts: Please decline if any conflict exists (financial, recent collaboration, shared affiliation, personal). Timeline: Initial review due [date]. If you accept, you’ll receive structured prompts covering methods, statistics, ethics, and limitations. Thank you for supporting rigorous surgical research. Sincerely, [Editor Name], Handling Editor, ASCR

Step 3 — Managing the Review Process

Timelines: Request reviews in 14–21 days; send courteous reminders at 7 days overdue; reassign after 10–14 days if needed.
Anonymity: Preserve blinding in reviewer comments; redact identifying statements before sharing with authors.
Quality control: Decline unsubstantiated “accept/reject” recommendations; ask reviewers to cite evidence, quantify concerns, and suggest actionable revisions.
Civility: Remove ad hominem language and any sensitive author information before forwarding to authors.

Structured reviewer prompts (use/adapt)

Methods appropriateness and reproducibility (design, statistics, registration).
Risk of bias (allocation, blinding, missing data, selective reporting).
Ethics/consent adequacy and patient confidentiality.
Data presentation (effect sizes, CIs, exact p-values; figures/tables clarity).
Conclusions proportional to results; limitations acknowledged.

Step 4 — Decisions & Communications

Base decisions on reviewer evidence and journal criteria, recorded transparently in the editorial system. Do not consider APC/waiver status.

Decision types

Accept — minor editorial polish; proceed to production.
Minor revision — targeted changes; no new data required.
Major revision — substantial changes or added analyses.
Reject — out of scope, major methodological flaws, or integrity concerns.

Decision letter template (revise)

Subject: Decision – [ASCR-YYYY-XXXX] “[Title]” Dear [Corresponding Author], Thank you for submitting to ASCR. After double-blind review, our decision is: [Minor/Major revision]. Please respond to each reviewer point in a separate letter and upload a tracked-changes file. We look forward to your revised manuscript by [date]. If more time is needed, contact us. Sincerely, [Editor Name]

Appeals & complaints

Handle appeals by assigning an independent senior Editor who was not involved in the original decision. Authors must provide evidence-based arguments addressing reviewer/editor points. Record outcomes in the editorial history and inform all parties politely.

Conflicts of Interest & Editorial Independence

Editors must recuse themselves from manuscripts with any conflict (recent collaboration, shared grants, institutional ties, financial interests, or personal relationships).
Do not handle submissions authored by yourself or by your close collaborators; route to an independent Editor-in-Chief delegate.
Decisions must not be influenced by commercial considerations, advertising, or APCs/waivers.

Editor COI self-check (quick list)

Have I coauthored with any author in the last 36 months?
Do I share a current or recent (last 3 years) grant, employment, or supervisory relationship?
Do I have a financial interest in a relevant product or competitor?
Could a reasonable reader perceive bias if I handled this paper?

Research Integrity & Misconduct Handling

Editors safeguard the scholarly record by detecting and addressing integrity issues consistently and fairly.

Similarity screening: Review overlap reports and request clarifications or rewrites as per the journal’s plagiarism policy.
Image/data checks: Seek original images/data where manipulation is suspected; mark splices; require disclosure of adjustments.
Ethics concerns: For suspected fabrication, falsification, plagiarism, or undisclosed conflicts, follow established flowcharts; document steps and preserve all correspondence.
Patient privacy: Ensure consent for identifiable images; require robust de-identification otherwise.

Outcomes & updates

Corrections for honest errors that do not invalidate findings.
Retractions when results are unreliable, ethics approvals invalid, or misconduct is confirmed.
Expressions of concern when investigations are ongoing and readers should be alerted.

Publish update notices with their own DOIs and bidirectional links to the affected article. Display status on the article page and PDF.

Special Issues & Thematic Collections

Guest Editors must follow all journal policies and double-blind procedures. The journal may provide official email aliases for outreach. Proposals should define scope, timelines, and editorial independence. Any discounts/waivers linked to special issues are handled transparently by the publisher and must not influence editorial decisions.

Special Issue proposal essentials

Guest editor details and conflict disclosures.
Scope and rationale aligned with journal aims.
Submission window and publication target dates.
Indicative author list and reviewer pool strategy.

Editor Checklists

Before review

Scope fit and ethics/registration verified.
Blinded files and scrubbed metadata confirmed.
Reporting checklist(s) present; data availability statement present.
Similarity report verified; no high-risk red flags.

During review

At least two unbiased reviewers engaged.
Civility and constructiveness of comments ensured.
Overdue reviews chased and reassignments made if needed.

At decision

Decision grounded in evidence and policy.
Clear, actionable author guidance prepared.
For rejections, offer transfer suggestions where appropriate.

Templates & Snippets

Request for ethical documentation

Please upload documentation for IRB/IACUC approval [protocol ID, date] and confirm written informed consent procedures. For interventional trials, include the registry name and identifier registered prior to first participant enrollment.

Request for raw images/data

To complete our integrity checks, please provide original, unprocessed images/data for Figures [X–Y], with acquisition details. Disclose any global adjustments; delineate splices with visible demarcations.

Appeal acknowledgment

We acknowledge your appeal regarding [ASCR-YYYY-XXXX]. A senior editor unconnected to the original decision will reassess the file. We will update you by [date].

Equity, Diversity & Bias Mitigation

Encourage diverse reviewer pools across geography, gender, career stage, and methodology.
Screen language for bias; ensure critiques address methods and interpretation, not identity.
Invite authors to suggest diverse, qualified reviewers (with justification) while the Editor retains final choice.

Data, Materials & Transparency

Ask for persistent identifiers (DOIs) for datasets and code where available; ensure data availability statements are specific.
For clinical datasets with restrictions, verify governance and de-identification; encourage controlled-access repositories.
Ensure references include DOIs where possible and that effect sizes and 95% CIs accompany p-values.

Hand-off to Production

Verify final files (figures at resolution, editable tables, permissions and credit lines).
Confirm license (CC BY 4.0) and funding metadata; ensure Crossref deposit readiness.
Ensure the article displays up-to-date status badges and links to any notices.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I handle a paper from my institution?

No. Route to an independent Editor to avoid perceived or real conflicts.

May authors reuse figures from other publishers?

Only with appropriate permissions or compatible licenses. Ensure credit lines appear in legends and acknowledgments; verify license compatibility with CC BY where applicable.

What if reviewers strongly disagree?

Seek a third opinion or adjudicate by focusing on methodological points and evidence. Communicate a clear editorial rationale in the decision letter.

What if serious concerns arise post-publication?

Open an investigation, notify the publisher, and consider a notice (correction, expression of concern, retraction) following ethics guidance. Link notices via DOIs and update article pages and PDFs.

Contact

Editorial queries, appeals, and ethics notifications: [email protected] · Technical support: [email protected]