All manuscripts submitted to Annals must be original; i.e., not published elsewhere (except in abstract form) and not under consideration for publication elsewhere. Annals accepts manuscripts prepared according to the “Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals” (JAMA 1993; 269:2282–2286) at http://www.icmje.org/
For more information on our perspective regarding duplicate submission, please see the Consensus Statement on Submission and Publication of Manuscripts, published in June 2001 (Ann of Surg Oncol 2001; 8:382-3).
PEER REVIEW
COPYRIGHT, AUTHORSHIP, AND FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE
The role of all persons designated as authors will be attested to according to the Authorship Responsibility section of the Copyright Form. We follow the copyright standards stated in the Uniform Requirements. For more information on our perspective regarding “Scientific Data from Clinical Trials: Investigators’ Rights and Responsibilities,” please see our statement published in June 2002 (Ann Surg Oncol 2002; 9:421-422).
All authors must disclose any affiliation with or financial involvement in any organization with a direct financial interest in the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript.
PERMISSIONS
EXPERIMENTAL SUBJECTS
ONLINE SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS VIA MANUSCRIPT CENTRAL
System Requirements
User Accounts
Getting Started
Preparing Electronic Files for Submission
The main document with manuscript text and tables should be prepared with an electronic word processing program. Please, do NOT include figures or illustrations within the manuscript text file. If you use Microsoft Word, the system can directly convert the Word formatted file, including all special characters. If you use other word processing software, such as WordPerfect, files should be saved in RTF (Rich Text Format). RTF is a common export property of most popular word processors. Check your word processor to see if it can export or "Save As" your file in RTF. Microsoft Word and WordPerfect both contain this function.
Save each figure as a single image file in either uncompressed TIFF (Tag Image File Format) or EPS (Encapsulated PostScript) format. Please refer to the “GUIDELINES FOR ELECTRONICALLY PRODUCED FIGURES” below for details on how to produce high quality electronic figures. Most image editing programs (e.g., Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, Deneba Canvas, Corel Draw, etc.) can produce TIFF or EPS file formats. The JPEG format is acceptable if the image is saved at the highest quality (without or with lossless compression). Images created in slide presentation programs, such as Microsoft PowerPoint, are low resolution and NOT acceptable. Charts created with Microsoft Excel are NOT acceptable in any circumstances. Please verify your uploaded files before proceeding with your submission. You will also be notified by email that your submission was successful.
Keep copies of your word-processing and figure files. If you are submitting figures that you have scanned, be prepared to send the hard copy originals upon request. Your scanned files may not be of sufficient quality for printing.
Annals of Surgical Oncology
GUIDELINES FOR ELECTRONICALLY PRODUCED FIGURES/ILLUSTRATIONS
For production of the figures/illustrations of an accepted manuscript, the Springer production department requires electronically produced figures to be saved in either EPS (Encapsulated PostScript) or TIFF (Tag Image File Format) format. Most drawing programs (e.g. Adobe Illustrator, Deneba Canvas, CorelDraw) have a save-as-EPS option in their Save dialog box. Other information about EPS can be found at the Adobe website.
General
Vector (Line) Graphics
Vector graphics exported from a drawing program should be stored in EPS format only.
Suitable drawing program: Adobe Illustrator. For simple line art the following drawing programs are also acceptable: Corel Draw, Freehand, Canvas.
No rules narrower than .25 pt.
No grey screens paler than 15% or darker than 60%.
Screens meant to be differentiated from one another must differ by at least 15%.
Spreadsheet/Presentation Graphics
Most presentation programs (Excel, PowerPoint, Freelance) produce data that cannot be stored in an EPS or TIFF format. Therefore graphics produced by these programs cannot be used for reproduction.
Halftone Illustrations
Black & white and color figures and illustrations should be saved in EPS or TIFF format.
Figures and Illustrations should be created using Adobe Photoshop whenever possible.
Scans
Scanned reproductions of black and white photographs should be provided as 300 ppi EPS or TIFF files.
Scanned color illustrations should be provided as EPS or TIFF files scanned at a minimum of 300 ppi with a 24-bit color depth.
Line art should be provided as EPS or TIFF files at 600 ppi.
MULTIMEDIA ARTICLE SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS (I.E., STREAMING VIDEOS)
Multimedia file for review: MPEG-1 or Quicktime MOV file with the largest frame size (usually 320 x 240 pixels) that will fit on a CD and will be playable on a Windows-based computer (maximum file size for review purposes is 60 MB).
Multimedia file for final submission if accepted for publication: generic Microsoft AVI file, full screen video 640 x 480 or 720 x 480 pixels (using Cinepak or similar CODEC), Microsoft DV AVI 720 x 480 pixels (NTSC format), or Quicktime MOV file full-screen video 640 x 480 or 720 x 480 pixels written to a CD (short submission) or data format DVD (-/+ R or RW). The content of these files must be identical to that reviewed and accepted by the editors.
All narration should be in English.
In general video clips should not exceed 3 minutes.
MANUSCRIPT PREPARATION AND SPECIFICATIONS
The last name of the first author should be typed in the top right-hand corner of each page and should conform to the following order: title page, abstract, text of manuscript,
acknowledgments, references, figure legends, and tables.
Annals uses the American Medical Association Manual of Style, 9th Edition (Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins, 1998).
Title Page
Abstract
Synopsis
Appendixes/Acknowledgments
References
The author is responsible for the accuracy of the references. References must be typed double-spaced. Material cited in the reference list “in press” must have been accepted for publication, not merely submitted for review. Ibid references are not permitted.
Unpublished data and personal communications should not be included in the reference list; rather, this information may be included in the text, with pertinent identification (A. Author, unpublished data) or (B. Author, personal communication). The unpublished data of others and personal communications can be used only when written authorization from the data owner or communicator is submitted with the original manuscript.
Sample References:
Journal
Journal article with DOI reference
Book
Book Chapter
Web-Based Resource
Figures or Illustrations
Color Figures and Illustrations
If figures and illustrations are created electronically please see Guidelines for Electronically Produced Figures/Illustrations. The publisher reserves the right to reduce or enlarge illustrations. Arrows, letters, and numbers should be inserted professionally. Micrographs should have an internal magnification marker and the magnification should also be stated in the caption.
Legends
Original magnification and staining method should be included. Acknowledgment of previous publication must be noted (see “Permissions”).
Tables
REPORTING OF RANDOMIZED TRIALS (CONSORT AGREEMENT)
CONSENSUS STATEMENT ON SUBMISSION AND PUBLICATION OF MANUSCRIPTS
Duplicate Submission and Publication
a) Prior publication in meeting program abstract booklets or expanded abstracts such as those published by the Surgical Forum of the American College of Surgeons or Transplantation Proceedings. However, these must be referenced in the final manuscript.
b) A manuscript which extends an original database (a good rule might be expansion by 50% or more) or which analyzes the original database in a different way in order to prove or disprove a different hypothesis. Previous manu¬scripts reporting the original database must, however, be referenced.
c) Manuscripts which have been published originally in non-English language journals, provided that the prior publication is clearly indicated on the English language submission and referenced in the manuscript. In some circumstances, permissions to publish may need to be obtained from the non-English language journal.
For example, any submission duplicating material previously published in full in “Proceedings” or book chapters is considered duplicate unless the exceptions in (a) above apply. Similarly, manuscripts dealing with subgroups of data (i.e., patients) that have previously been analyzed, discussed and published as a larger group are considered duplicate unless (b) above applies.
The Internet raises special concerns. If data have previously appeared on the Internet, submission of those data for publication is considered duplication. If Internet publication follows journal publication, the journal publication should be clearly referenced. Some journals may provide early Internet publication of accepted peer reviewed papers which are subsequently published in that journal. This does not constitute duplication if both manuscripts are identical and covered by the same single copyright.
Fraudulent Publication
The following activities are examples of fraudulent publication practices:
While not intended as an all-inclusive document, these examples and guidelines should alert authors to potential problems that should be avoided when they are considering submission of a manuscript to a peer-reviewed journal.
CONSENSUS STATEMENT ON SURGERY JOURNAL AUTHORSHIP – 2006
The following guidelines should be used to identify individuals whose work qualifies them as authors as distinct from those who are contributors to the work under consideration. All persons designated as authors should qualify for authorship, and all those who qualify should be so credited.
AUTHORSHIP CRITERIA
Each author should have participated sufficiently in the work to take public responsibility for appropriate portions of the content. Allowing one’s name to appear as an author without having contributed significantly to the study or adding the name of an individual who has not contributed or who has not agreed to the work in its current form is considered a breach of appropriate authorship.
Acquisition of funding, collection of data, contributing cases, or general supervision of the research group, of itself, or just being the Chair of the department does not justify authorship if the above criteria are not fulfilled.
ORDER OF AUTHORS
MULTI-CENTER STUDIES
CONTRIBUTORS LISTED IN ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Groups of persons who have contributed materially to the paper but whose contributions do not justify authorship may be listed under a heading such as "clinical investigators" or "participating investigators," and their function or contribution should be described - for example, "served as scientific advisors," "critically reviewed the study proposal," "collected data," or "provided and cared for study patients."
Because readers may infer their endorsement of the data and conclusions, all persons listed as contributors must give written permission to be acknowledged.
IN CONCLUSION
Annals of Surgical Oncology is the official journal of the Society of Surgical Oncology. Annals publishes original and educational manuscripts about oncology for surgeons from all specialties in academic and community settings.
All manuscripts submitted to Annals are subject to peer review and editing. Each manuscript is reviewed by at least two experts in the field, who may also be members of the Editorial Board. The decision of the Editor-in-Chief and Executive Editor is final. Authors are notified of the decision with reviewer comments if applicable.
Copyright on all accepted manuscripts will be held by the Society of Surgical Oncology, Inc. It is necessary that a copyright transfer statement be signed by the corresponding author on behalf of all authors, expressly transferring copyright to the Society in the event the paper is accepted for publication in Annals If the authors are or were US government employees and wrote the work as part of their official duties, this must be indicated on the form.
If a figure or table has previously appeared in copyrighted material, or if extensive material is quoted, the corresponding author must obtain written permission from the copyright holder (usually the publisher, not the author, of the original work) to reprint it. Full credit to the original publication must be included in the legend of the figure or footnote to the table. Provide all letters granting permission at the time of submission of the manuscript. The author is responsible for payment of applicable fees for reprinting previously published material. The use of photographs that identify patients require a written release form from the patient (or guardian) to do so. Obtaining this release is the author’s responsibility, and a copy of the release must accompany the manuscript at the time of submission.
All authors are accepted to abide by accepted ethical standards. In investigations that involve human subjects or laboratory animals, authors should provide an explicit statement in Materials and Methods that the experimental protocols were approved by the appropriate institutional review committe and meet the guidelines of their responsible governmental agency. In the case of human subjects, informed consent is essential.
Manuscripts are submitted online to Annals of Surgical Oncology via Manuscript Central. Please log directly onto the site at http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/aso and upload your manuscripts following the instructions given on the screen.
Authors will need the following in order to use Manuscript Central:
Authors entering the Manuscript Central site can either create a new account or use an existing one. When you have an existing account, use it for all your submissions and track their status on the same page. Please note: if you are unsure about whether or not you have an existing account, or have forgotten your password, enter your e-mail address into the area labeled “Password Help” located on the right side of the homepage. If you do not have an existing account, click on link “Create Account” located on the top right side of the homepage and follow the instructions given on the screen.
Once you have logged into your account, Manuscript Central will lead you through the submission process in a step-by-step orderly process. If you cannot finish your submission in one visit, you can save a draft and re-enter the process at the same point for that manuscript. While submitting your manuscript online, you will be required to enter data about your manuscript in the system. These include title, names of all authors, institutions with full address, and address of authors to whom correspondence should be sent, and so forth as listed below under “MANUSCRIPT PREPARATION”. Support for special characters is available. At any point during this process, there are Help buttons available to see common questions and a support link to ask a specific question via e-mail.
After entering all the information about manuscript title, abstract, authors and other details, you will be prompted for uploading files. Please, follow the instructions below for preparation of suitable electronic files. For review purposes, your text and figure file(s) will be converted into HTML so that they can be easily viewed with a browser on the Internet. They will also be converted into a PDF document so it can be viewed and printed with Adobe Acrobat Reader. The files in the PDF document will be presented in the order specified.
P.O. Box 2650
Orange Park, FL 32067-2650, USA
Tel: +1 (904) 451 6263
Fax: +1 (904) 213 1096
Email: info@asoeditorial.org
Upload figures separately from the text (i.e. files should not be integrated with the text files). Unless the authors have specified they wish to pay for color, color figures will be converted to grey scale for the print edition.
Upon submission of multimedia or dynamic articles, the author(s) will be required to submit the video in the following format:
Manuscripts should be typed double-spaced, with wide margins, and formatted for standard letter size paper (8–1/2 x 11 inches). All pages, including tables, must be numbered. All artwork must be labeled with the figure number. All text elements should begin flush left with no paragraph indents and two returns after every element, such as titles, headings, paragraphs, legends, etc.
Each manuscript must have a title page, including 1) title and subtitle of the paper; 2) a shortened version of the title for the running head (no more than 45 characters, including spaces); 3) full names and affiliations for all authors; 4) full mailing and e-mail addresses; telephone; and fax numbers of the author to whom correspondence and proofs should be sent; 5) and four to six key words.
Each manuscript must include a structured abstract of no more than 250 words, divided into the following subheadings: Background, Methods, Results, and Conclusions.
Authors must provide a brief 1–3 sentence explanation, not to exceed 40 words, of their manuscripts (except editorials). This synopsis will appear in the table of contents.
Acknowledgments of grant support and assistance of others in the study or in the preparation of the manuscript should be made in a separate paragraph following the text and preceding the References (see “Authorship” above). Acknowledgments should be as concise as possible.
References must be cited in consecutive numerical order at first mention in the text and arranged numerically, not alphabetically, on pages preceded by the head “References.” In each reference, list all authors’ names when there are seven or fewer; if there are more than seven, list the first three authors followed by et al.
1. Chao C, Martin RCG, Ross MI, et. al. Correlation between prognostic factors and increasing age in melanoma. Ann Surg Oncol 2004; 11:259–264.
2. Elias D, Sideris L, Pocard M, et. al. (2004) Results of RO resection for colorectal liver metastases associated with extrahepatic disease. Ann Surg Oncol 11:274–280; DOI: 10.1245/ASO.2004.03.085 [Online February 9, 2004].
3. Greene FL, Page DL, Fleming ID, et. al. AJCC Cancer Staging Manual, Sixth Edition. New York: Springer-Verlag, 2002.
4. Davis DA. Lifelong learning: A physician’s perspective. In: Manning PR, DeBakey L, eds. Medicine: Preserving the Passion in the 21st Century, Second Edition. New York: Springer Science+Business Media, Inc., 2004:245–250.
5. Jaques DP (2002) Ethical issues in surgical oncology–A panel discussion. Society of Surgical Oncology 55th Annual Cancer Symposium. Available: http://www.vioworks.com/clients/sso2002/default.htm [accessed November 18, 2004]
Figures or illustrations should be cited in consecutive numerical order at first mention in the text.
Color can be used without charge for the electronic edition of the journal but will appear in the printed version of the journal at the author’s expense: $1150 per article (Note: Color must be submitted in the preferred electronic format to be used without charge for the electronic edition—Please see the Guidelines for Electronically Produced Figures/ Illustrations below).
Each figure must have a descriptive legend typed double-spaced on a separate page after the reference list. Legends must be brief, self-sufficient explanations of the figures and illustrations in no more than four or five lines. Remarks such as, “For Explanation, see text”, should be avoided. All identifying symbols (arrows, letters, etc.) and abbreviations should be explained clearly in the legend.
Tables should be cited in consecutive numerical order at first mention in the text and should enhance, not duplicate, information contained in the text. They should be numbered and titled, and appear on separate pages at the end of the manuscript. All abbreviations should be spelled out, and footnotes to the table indicated with superscript lower case letters. Footnotes to the table should be limited, and extensive description included in the text, not in footnotes, as appropriate. Indication of previous publication must be included in a footnote.
For information on the Consort and to download the Consort E-Checklist and the E-Flowchart, go to: www.consort-statement.org
Increasing problems of duplicate and fraudulent submissions and publications have prompted the editors of surgical journals, including Annals of Surgical Oncology, to support these overall principles of publication:
In general, if a manuscript has been peer-reviewed and published, any subsequent publication is duplication. Exceptions to this general rule may be:
In the majority of clinical and research studies submitted to surgery journals for possible publication, many individuals participate in the conception, execution, and documentation of each of those works. However, recognition of work in the form of authorship has varied widely. This consensus statement is being issued to clarify and define the criteria for surgical journal authorship.
Individuals claiming authorship should meet all of the following 3 conditions:
The order of authorship on the byline should be a joint decision of the co-authors. Authors should be prepared to explain the order in which authors are listed.
When a large, multi-center group has conducted the work, the group should identify the individuals who accept direct responsibility for the manuscript. These individuals should fully meet the criteria for authorship defined above and editors will ask these individuals to complete journal-specific author and conflict of interest disclosure forms. When submitting a group-author manuscript, the corresponding author should clearly indicate the preferred citation and should clearly identify all individual authors as well as the group name.
All contributors who do not meet the criteria for authorship should be listed in an acknowledgments section. Examples of those who might be acknowledged include: individuals who allowed their clinical experience (i.e. cases) to be included, a person who provided purely technical help, writing assistance, or a department Chair who provided only general support. Financial and material support should also be acknowledged.
This consensus statement is intended as a basic guide for authors. In the interest of promoting the highest ethics in surgical publishing and the surgical sciences, we ask that authors take these criteria into careful consideration when submitting a manuscript to a peer-reviewed surgical journal.