Author Guidelines
Prepare every submission with the official SJS template for its article type. SJS accepts Original Articles, Case Reports / Case Studies, and Systematic Reviews / Meta-Analyses.
Original Article
For empirical quantitative, qualitative, or mixed-methods surgical research.
Download Word templateCase Report / Case Study
For unusual, instructive, or clinically important surgical cases.
Download Word templateSystematic Review & Meta-Analysis
For evidence synthesis prepared in accordance with PRISMA 2020.
Download Word template1. General manuscript preparation
- Use the official two-column SJS Word template for the selected article type. Write in clear academic English and remove all square-bracketed instructions before submission.
- Use a concise, informative title. Provide every author's full name, department/institution, city and country; identify the corresponding author and provide a current email address and ORCID iD where available.
- Submit a separate title page and a blinded manuscript. Remove author names, identifying acknowledgements, and identifying file properties from the blinded file.
- Provide a structured abstract of no more than 250 words using Background, Objective, Methods, Results, and Conclusion, followed by 3–5 keywords. Do not cite references, tables, or figures in the abstract.
- Use clear headings, SI units, and sufficient methodological detail for appraisal and reproducibility. Report effect estimates, confidence intervals, exact p-values, and missing-data procedures where applicable.
2. Structure by article type
Original Article
Use: Introduction; Methods (study design and setting, participants and eligibility, variables/data collection, statistical analysis, and ethical approval); Results; Discussion; Conclusion; Declarations; and References. Present participant flow and baseline characteristics before primary and secondary outcomes. Keep interpretation in the Discussion and discuss clinical implications, strengths, limitations, and generalisability.
Case Report / Case Study
Follow CARE where applicable. Explain why the case is unusual, instructive, or clinically important; distinguish novelty from rarity; describe the setting, de-identified patient information, diagnostic reasoning, intervention, adverse events, outcome, follow-up, and patient perspective when available. Present results chronologically, protect confidentiality, and obtain written consent for publication of de-identified details and images.
Systematic Review / Meta-Analysis
Follow PRISMA 2020. State protocol registration and amendments; eligibility criteria; databases, supplementary sources, and search dates; reproducible search strategies; independent screening and extraction; conflict resolution; risk-of-bias tools; and certainty-of-evidence methods. For meta-analysis, report the model, software/version, effect measures with precision, heterogeneity, subgroup/sensitivity analyses, and reporting-bias assessment. Include a consistent PRISMA flow diagram.
3. Tables, figures, and references
- Cite tables and figures in numerical order. Place table titles above tables and figure captions below figures. Define all abbreviations and submit high-resolution, de-identified images.
- Clinical case material must be anonymised and supported by publication consent. Systematic reviews must provide a PRISMA flow diagram; forest plots should be supplied when applicable.
- Use Vancouver references in order of first citation with superscript Arabic numerals. List family name followed by initials without periods; when there are more than three authors, list the first three followed by et al. Use standard NLM journal abbreviations and include DOI links where available.
4. Required declarations
Place these statements after Acknowledgements and before References:
- Ethics approval and consent to participate, including committee and approval/reference number or a documented explanation when not required.
- Consent for publication, particularly for patient information, images, or clinical details.
- Availability of data and materials, including repository links and justified access conditions.
- Artificial intelligence use statement, identifying the tool and purpose; authors remain responsible for the final content.
- Author contributions using initials and CRediT roles where appropriate.
- Funding, conflict/competing interests, and acknowledgements.