Author Guidelines
General. The guidelines provided (guideline IV) in Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals by International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) updated in October 2007 is followed and Authors are requested to visit www.icmje.org for further information.
Please submit three copies of your contribution on A4 paper (210x297 mm). A copy should also be submitted on CD in MS word format. All images and tables should also be included in the disc.
The entire manuscript including the references must be double spaced with 2.5cm margin on all four sides. Each part of the manuscript should start on a separate page. Pages should be numbered consecutively starting from the title page.
Abbreviations should be used only if essential and must be defined at the first mention in the title, abstract, text, tables and figure legends.
Use generic names whenever possible. When it is necessary to mention the name of an instrument or equipment, the name of the supplier, city or country must be given and the trade name given as the trademark (®).
Authors should follow the SI system of units including for haematological and clinical chemistry measurements (except for blood pressure which will continue to be expressed in mmHg). Temperatures are given in degrees Celsius.
Ethics. When reporting experiments on human subjects, a letter of ethical clearance obtained from a recognized institute should be affixed and informed consent should be taken from the patients.
Statistics. All calculations in the manuscript should be statistically correct and The Editor may request to review the article by a Statistician if needed. Define statistical terms, abbreviations and symbols used. Mention the name of statistical software if used. Statistical methods not in common usage must be referenced.
Previously published material. Inclusion of total paragraphs more than 250 words, tables and figures previously published by different Authors should be accompanied with a letter from the original publisher and the main author.
Covering letter. The covering letter should be signed by all authors, declaring no conflict of interest and confirming that the paper has not been submitted elsewhere. All authors must disclose any affiliations that they consider to be relevant and important with any organization that has a direct interest on the title concern. This will apply to all articles submitted to the journal.
Papers become copyright on acceptance for publication.
Title page. This should contain (1) title of the article, (2) initials, names and qualifications of each author, (3) their designation, (4) the name(s) of their institution(s) (5) the name(s) of the institution(s) the study was performed. (6) the name of the ethical clearance board if experimental work had been done on human subjects. One author should be nominated for correspondence with the editor, with the complete address, telephone and e-mail address. There should normally be a maximum of six authors.
TYPE OF CONTRIBUTIONS
Leading Articles. The editor encourages submission of signed leading articles which are less than 2000 words in length and address topics of current interest. They should be supported by no more than 20 references. Submissions may be subjected to external review before acceptance.
Review Articles are usually commissioned. But the Editor encourages authors who would like to contribute, to discuss potential topics before submission. All review articles should have less than 200 word abstract, less than 5000 words in main text and with no more than 60 references.
Original Articles should normally be in the format of Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results and Discussion. Each manuscript must have a 200 word structured abstract. Lengthy manuscripts are likely to be returned for shortening. The discussion in particular should be clear and concise and should be limited to matters arising directly from the results. Avoid discursive speculation. Limit up to 20 references.
Surgeons-in-Training papers should be tightly produced and statistically robust. There can be no more than three authors, only one of whom may not be a surgeon in training. The article should not exceed more than 2000 words with less than 20 references.
Case Reports and technical innovations should not exceed 500 words with 2 illustrations and 5 references. No abstract is required. A case report should be informative and devoid of irrelevant details.
Correspondence. The editor welcomes topical correspondence relating to articles published in the journal. Letters should not exceed 250 words, typed double-spaced and must have a title page showing the name(s), qualifications, and contact details. The Editor reserves the right to shorten or to delete objectionable comments. The letter may be forwarded to the Author of the article under discussion to provide an opportunity for confutation.
REFERENCES, ILLUSTRATIONS AND TABLES
References
These should confirm to the Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals by International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) (formerly ‘Vancouver style'). The references in the text should be numbered consecutively in the order in which they appear and indicated by Arabic numerals in parentheses. Do not superscript. Up to four authors should be listed. If there are more than four, then the first three should be listed followed by ‘et al'. Except for review articles there should not be more than 20 references. Examples are given below.
Journal articles
- De Bolla AR, Obeid ML, Mortality in acute pancreatitis. Annuals of the Royal College of Surgeons of England 1984; 66:194-6.
Books
- Rentoul E, Smith H (eds): Glaister's Medical Jurisprudence and Toxicology. 13th edition. London: Churchill Livingstone; 1973.
Chapters in Books
- Calenoff L, Rogers L: Oesophageal complications of surgery and life-saving procedures. In: Mayers M, Ghahremani G (eds): Iatrogenic Gastrointestinal Complications. New York: Springer, 1981;23-63
Abstracts
- Burstein I, Steinberg R, Zer M. Small bowel obstruction and covered perforation in childhood caused by bizarre bezoars and foreign bodies (Abstract). Journal of the Israeli Medical Association. 2000 Feb; 2(2): 129 - 31
Illustrations
All illustrations should be numbered consecutively using Arabic numerals (e.g. Figure 1) and be cited in the main text. All illustrations should be attached separately at the end of the main text.
Illustrations should have the figure number and its description typed as figure legends at the bottom of each. Magnification should be given in the caption and staining technique mentioned on histological pictures. The name of the author, title, figure number and arrow indicating the orientation should be indicated on the back of each illustration. Figures or tables reproduced from a published work must have the original source quoted and the permission of the author and publisher.
Photographs should be glossy prints showing good contrast.
Computer generated illustrations should be professionally prepared using a computer and laser printer.
Tables and graphs
All tables / graphs should be numbered consecutively using Arabic numerals (e.g. Table 1) and be cited in the main text. All tables and graphs should be attached separately at the end of the main text.
Each table should have fully explanatory, concise note of the table. The use of abbreviations should be avoided and if used should be defined in a footnote to the table.
Manuscripts that do not conform to these requirements will be returned for amendments.
Papers and correspondence should be sent to:
The Editor,
Sri Lanka Journal of Surgery,
College of Surgeons of Sri Lanka,
No 6, Independence Avenue,
Colombo 7,
Sri Lanka.
Telephone +94112682290, +94112695080
e-mail collsurg@systec.lk
