Author Guidelines

As part of the submission process, authors are required to check off their submission's compliance with all of the following items, and submissions may be returned to authors that do not adhere to these guidelines.

The submission has not been previously published, nor is it under consideration by another journal (an explanation has been provided in the Comments to the Editor, if applicable).
The text adheres to the stylistic and bibliographic requirements outlined in the Author's Guidelines.
The submission file is in Microsoft Word document format. Please ensure that all citations in the text correspond to the provided files. Additionally, include Graphical Abstracts/Highlights files where applicable.
Obtain permission for the use of copyrighted material from various sources, including the Internet.
Please provide statements on all conflicts of interest related to this manuscript, even if the authors have no interests to declare.
If you have used AI tools in drafting of the manuscript, production of images or graphical elements of the paper, or in the collection and analysis of data, plase disclose the use of AI tools.

Manuscript Preparation

Guideline and Recommendations

Annali Italiani di Chirurgia advocates for a complete and transparent reporting of biomedical and biological research, including applied biological research. The authors are recommended to adhere to the minimum reporting guidelines provided by the EQUATOR network and follow the guidelines of ‘Good Publication Practice’ outlined by COPE and ICMJE. These guidelines aim to ensure responsible and ethically sound publication of articles.

Furthermore, according to the ICMJE's ‘Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals’, we encourage authors, reviewers, and editors to follow the best practices guidelines for ethical behavior in academic journal publishing.

Type of Study	Guideline	Checklist
Randomized Controlled Trials	CONSORT	CONSORT checklist
Observational Studies including Cohort, Case-Control, and Cross-Sectional Studies	STROBE	STROBE checklist
Systematic Review or Meta-Analysis	PRISMA	PRISMA checklist
Case Reports	CARE guidelines	CARE checklist
Animal Research	ARRIVE guidelines	ARRIVE checklist

The reporting guidelines for other types of studies can be found at https://www.equator-network.org/reporting-guidelines/.

Submission of a manuscript to a journal of Annali Italiani di Chirurgia implies that all authors have read and agreed to its content and that the manuscript conforms to the journal’s policies.

Manuscript Categories

Article: An article, also known as original research or original article, refers to a research report on scientific experiments, trials, investigations, and so on. It typically includes the background, hypothesis, methods, and results of research, interpretation of the results, and value analysis of the findings. A structured abstract (AIM, METHODS, RESULTS, CONCLUSIONS) is required, with the main text not exceeding 6,000 words and references not exceeding 80 items.

Review: A review refers to a summary and synthesis of existing literature in a particular research field, extracts useful information based on one or more issues, and analyzes the current status, trends, and research prospects in that area. Reviews take various forms, such as narrative review, descriptive review, and scoping review. The main text should not exceed 8,000 words, with references not exceeding 150 items.

Systematic Review: A systematic review is a secondary study that strictly follows systematic methods. It aims to address a clearly defined research question by employing systematic, transparent, and reproducible approaches to comprehensively search, screen, evaluate, and synthesize existing primary studies. The objective is to provide an objective and unbiased summary of a specific research topic to support evidence-based decision-making and future research. A meta-analysis is a quantitative research method that is typically conducted within a systematic review. It employs statistical techniques to combine and quantify data from multiple independent but related studies, providing a more precise estimate of the overall effect. Meta-analysis integrates results from various studies through weight calculations, heterogeneity assessments, and sensitivity analyses, enhancing statistical power and reducing the impact of insufficient sample sizes in individual studies.

For qualitative systematic reviews and meta-analyses, a structured abstract is required, with the main text not exceeding 8,000 words and references not exceeding 150 items. The PRISMA checklist or MOOSE checklist should be provided as supplementary materials. We encourage authors to register their qualitative systematic review and meta-analysis on public registration platforms such as PROSPERO before conducting the work, and to include the registration URL and number in the manuscript.

Clinical Guideline: A clinical guideline refers to systematic recommendations formulated for specific clinical situations (such as how to diagnose, treat, or manage a medical condition) to assist healthcare professionals in making appropriate decisions. The development or revision of guidelines is usually conducted by multidisciplinary experts in accordance with relevant local or international guidelines, taking into account normativeness, credibility, and feasibility. Based on high-quality evidence, the guidelines provide standardized processes with clear and explicit recommendations. An indicative abstract is recommended, with no limit on the main text length or the number of references.

Letter: A letter refers to brief scientific findings, observations, or comments communicated through dialogue with the editor. It is an effective way to share preliminary research data, offer constructive feedback, or discuss new ideas. The aim is to promote rapid dissemination and value of exchange, collaboration, and debate within the field. An abstract is optional, with the main text not exceeding 2,500 words and references not exceeding 45 items.

Case Report: A case report (including case series) is a detailed report regarding rare diseases or complications, and is used to describe the symptoms, signs, pathological characteristics, diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up of individual or minority cases. It aims to make other researchers aware of the possibility of specific phenomena occurring. The writing of case reports requires a structured abstract and should follow the CARE guidelines. Authors are encouraged to upload the CARE checklist as supplementary materials when submitting. A structured abstract is required, with the main text not exceeding 2500 words and references not exceeding 45 items.

Editorial: An editorial is typically written by invited editorial board members, senior editors, or expert scholars and offers reflections and insights on a specific issue, event, or societal hot topic, aiming to guide public opinion or call for action. It is usually theoretical, focusing on the author's viewpoints and presenting an independent conclusion, but should not contain unpublished research data. An abstract is optional, with the main text typically not exceeding 1,500 words and references not exceeding 15 items.

Commentary: A commentary is issued to publish brief comments from scholars on articles published in the journal. It may focus on a specific article, an entire issue, or research trends over a particular period. Authors can raise critical questions, propose further reflections to drive the conclusion, or elaborate on their views on a particular issue addressed in the article, and establish a complete and independent conclusion, with the main purpose of advancing research progress in the field. Before commenting, the author should have a thorough understanding of the topic. At the same time, the original author of the article being commented on can defend themselves against criticism and questioning. In this case, the original author's reply is usually published simultaneously with the letter. A commentary does not require an abstract, with the main text typically not exceeding 1,500 words and references not exceeding 15 items.

Manuscript Formatting Requirements

In the manuscript, in addition to the identity and institutional affiliation(s) of each author, it is also required to provide the name(s) and email address(es) of the corresponding author(s).

The language of publication is professional English. The English abstract should be concise, limited to 400 words, and presented with structured content. EXAMPLE - AIM: 1 sentence; METHODS: 1-2 sentences; RESULTS: 1-2 sentences; CONCLUSIONS: 1-3 sentences). Key Words must be indicated (generally 3 to 8).

The TEXT of the manuscript has to be organized according to the following scheme: a) Introduction (with bibliographic references if it is the case); b) Materials and Methods (or case experience); c) Results; d) Discussion (with bibliographic references if it is the case) and commentary; e) Conclusions; f) References, in numerical order of citation in the text.

WORK'S ICONOGRAPHY—Annali Italiani di Chirurgia mandates that figures submitted in color be published online in color. To guarantee optimal reproduction quality, it is imperative that photographs, histological, and radiographic illustrations adhere to high-quality standards. The accepted figure types include .eps, .ai, .pdf, .tiff, .png or .jpeg/.jpg (if editable); .eps files will be converted for online publication. Figures prepared as .doc/.docx files will not be accepted.

Specific DPI requirements for figures are as follows:
Minimum resolution for images (i.e., for on-screen viewing): 300 dpi

Furthermore, to uphold the integrity and scientific validity of imprinting techniques (including, but not limited to, protein imprinting) and gel data reports, authors are urged to upload original, untrimmed, and unadjusted images as supplementary information files during the initial manuscript submission. It is crucial to ensure that each referenced graphic in the text is concise, accompanied by relevant annotations, and arranged in numerical order.

References

Authors are responsible for citing references accurately and should attest that the references cited support the associated statement. The reference list should accurately reflect the current state of knowledge in the field, maintain balance, and include citations from a diverse range of authors, sources, and schools of thought. Authors must avoid excessive and inappropriate self-citation or coordinated efforts among several authors to collectively self-cite.

The reference list must be organized in numerical order. It should include only those citations that are crucial to the presentation. In cases where the number of authors is less than six, the names of all authors should be listed. However, if there are more than six authors, the first six authors' names should be listed, followed by "et al." The standard journal title should be fully written out without any abbreviations, and page numbers should be specified. When referencing in the text, use the corresponding numerical [number] for each reference.

Examples for References:

(1) Journal:
① Less than 6 authors
[1] Costantino M. The rhinogenic deafness and SPA therapy: clinical-experimental study. La Clinica Terapeutica. 2008; 159: 311-315.

② More than 6 authors
[2] Rose ME, Huerbin MB, Melick J, Marion DW, Palmer AM, Schiding JK, et al. Regulation of interstitial excitatory amino acid concentrations after cortical contusion injury. Brain Research. 2002;935: 40-46.

(2) Book:
[1] Dybvig DD, Dybvig M. Det tenkende mennesket: filosofiog vitenskapshistorie med vitenskapsteori. 2nd edn. Tapir akademisk forlag: Trondheim. 2003.
[2] Lang TA, Secic M. How to report statistics in medicine. American College of Physicians: Philadelphia. 1997.

(3) Patent:
[1] Myers K, Nguyen C, inventors; 3F Therapeutics, Inc., assignee. Prosthetic heart valve. USA: United States patent US 6,911,043. 28 June 2005.

(4) If there are non-English journals in the reference, please insert the journal language as the ending:
[1] Ellingsen AE, Wilhelmsen I. Sykdomsangst blant medisin- og jusstudenter. Tidsskr Nor Laegeforen. 2002;122: 785-7. (In Norwegian)

(5) Website:
[1] Fugelsnes E. Oppvarmet støv kan gi økte helseplager. 2004. Available at: http://www.forskning.no/Artikler/2004/mars/1079517069.32 (Accessed: 1 April 2004).

If there is a lack of any of these indications, a review of the paper will be required, and notwithstanding its eventual approval for publication, it will be published only when sent back after the completion from the Corresponding Author.

Authors are the only responsible of data and conclusions of their work.

The Direction affirms its right to do, if necessary, some limited adjustments to the text and to images for editorial reasons, and to improve the understanding of some articles, without alter the substance of the work. On galley proofs, the Corresponding Author will have the possibility to control and agree the final text.

The articles that are debatable can be accompanied from a 'comment' promoted by the Scientific Committee of the journal, which will be included in drafts and excluded from possible corrections.

The authors naturally have the right to replicate to any 'comment' when returning the correct drafts; in that case the manuscript will be published in full after the 'comment'.

Comments of other readers will be published on 'Letters to the Director' section. The copyright of published works is reserved to the Journal. On each published article, the arrival data, and that of its acceptation will be reported. Manuscripts and iconographic material, even if not accepted for publication, will be not given back.
The proofs of accepted manuscripts will be sent to the Corresponding Author and should be returned to the Publisher within the required days (usually within 48 hours) to avoid unexpected delays in publication.

Article Processing Charge

Upon acceptance for publication, all authors are required to pay the Article Processing Charge (APC), which is typically 1500 EUR, to cover the cost of publication. Please contact the Editorial Office (editorial@annaliitalianidichirurgia.it) for payment information.

Notice

The viewpoints or expressions conveyed in the manuscripts featured in Annali Italiani di Chirurgia are representative of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the perspectives of the editors, the editorial board, or the publisher. The editors, editorial board, and publisher explicitly disclaim any responsibility or liability for such materials. Authors bear the ultimate responsibility for the content published.

Copyright Notice

All manuscripts published in Annali Italiani di Chirurgia are open-access, meaning they are freely accessible worldwide and licensed for reuse. This offers numerous benefits: Authors retain copyright under the CC-BY license, ensuring ownership of their works. Articles are immediately available online for free and permanently after publication, thereby enhancing their visibility and accessibility and leading to wider distribution. This increased accessibility fosters greater citation and impact, enabling authors to connect with readers globally and promoting collaboration. Open access also eliminates barriers to accessing research findings, further facilitating collaboration. Additionally, compliance with open access policies is simplified, as open access journals are indexed in bibliographic databases and institutional repositories without any embargo period, enabling authors to easily adhere to funding sources or academic institutions' open access policies.

Currently, Annali Italiani di Chirurgia has begun adopting CC-BY 4.0, granting third parties the right to freely use most articles, provided that the integrity of the content is maintained and proper attribution to the original author, citation details, and journal are correctly identified. Generally, permission is not required for the majority of content (including text, graphics, tables, multimedia content, and any other material) to reuse or reproduce content from Annali Italiani di Chirurgia.

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