Instructions for Authors

The Revista Argentina de Cirugía is the official scientific publication of the Asociación Argentina de Cirugía (Argentine Association of Surgery). Its frequency is quarterly (it is published in the last month of the period: March, June, September and December) and will consider for publication articles related to various aspects of surgery, which are submitted to a peer review system, double-blind, with ad hoc form. They may deal with clinical or experimental research, conferences, updated reviews, case presentations, letters to the Director and other forms of publication that are accepted by the Editorial Board. All articles must be unpublished. No published material may be partially or totally reproduced without the prior authorization of the Journal's Editorial Board. 

The opinions expressed in the articles are the sole responsibility of the authors. The Editorial Board reserves the right to make grammatical, style and other corrections depending on the printing needs.

Incomplete papers will not be accepted for editorial review.

Papers accepted for publication may be subject to editorial comment.

The Revista Argentina de Cirugía follows the instructions of the Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly work in Medical Journals drawn up by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors. See http://www.icmje.org/recommendations/browse/publishing-and-editorial-issues/corrections-and-version-control.html consult the Instructions page for submitting an article from the Revista Argentina de Cirugía, where you will find the instructions from the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors.

We will first list the different articles treated for publication and then describe how to prepare a manuscript for submission.

Regarding how to prepare an article for submission, please, strictly follow the Instructions for submitting an article.

If the articles prepared by the authors are not in accordance with what is specified in these regulations, the editors of the Revista Argentina de Cirugía will return them so that the pertinent changes can be made.

Since Vol. 110 No. 4 (December 2018), the Journal is published in a bilingual version (Spanish and English).

Correct form of abbreviation to cite the publication: Rev Argent Cir.
Políticas de copyrigth: La revista conserva los derechos de autoría

 

Note: In accordance with the new requirements of SciELO and Núcleo Básico, the authors will be asked for their corresponding ORCID registration number. For instructions and obtaining the registration number, please visit the following link: https://orcid.org

 

Different articles considered for publication

Original article

They are scientific reports of the results of an original basic or clinical research. The text is limited to 2700 words, with an abstract in Spanish and another in English, each of up to 250 words, a maximum of 5 tables and figures (total), up to 40 bibliographic references and a maximum of 10 authors.

 

Brief communication

It is an original investigation. The introduction and discussion are shorter than in an original article. The text is limited to 1300 words, with an abstract in Spanish and another in English, each of up to 150 words, a maximum of 3 tables and / or figures (total), up to 15 bibliographic citations and a maximum of 6 authors.

 

Special article

Includes personal data and conclusions; they are usually focused on areas such as economic policy, ethics, law, or health care provision. The text is limited to 2700 words, with an abstract in Spanish and another in English, up to 250 words each, a maximum of 5 tables and figures (total) and up to 40 bibliographic references.

 

Clinical cases (see Scientific Letters)

 

Review articles

Review articles are usually requested by editors from recognized authors, both national and foreign, but we will take unsolicited material into consideration. Before writing a review article for the Journal, contact the Editorial Office. All review articles follow the same editorial and peer review process as original research articles. It could be written by different types of authors (no more than 3 authors), not specifically surgical specialists. Accordingly, they may include material that could be considered introductory to specialists in the field being covered.

 

Conflict of interest: since the essence of the review articles is the selection and interpretation of the literature, the Journal expects that the authors of said articles do not have a financial association with a company (or its competitor) responsible for any product that is discuss in the article.

 

Other types of article

 

Editorials

They usually provide comments and analysis concerning an article in the issue of the Journal in which it appears. They can include a figure or a table. They are almost always requested, although very occasionally it could be considered an unsolicited editorial. Editorials are limited to 1200 words with up to 15 bibliographic references.

 

Opinion articles

They are opinion essay articles. They are similar to editorials, but are not related to any particular article in the issue. These are often opinions on health policy issues and are generally unsolicited. The text is limited to 2000 words.

 

Images in surgery

It presents common and classic images of different aspects of surgery. Images are an important part of how much we do and learn in surgery. This feature attempts to capture the sense of discovery and visual variety experienced by the surgeon.

Images in surgery will be signed by a maximum of three authors.

 

Letter to the Director

It is an opinion on an article published in the latest issue of the Journal. The text will have a maximum of 500 words and generally will not include figures or tables (at most one approved by the Editorial Board); It cannot have more than 5 bibliographic references and it will be signed by a maximum of 3 authors.

 

Scientific letter

Clinical cases will be accepted that do not exceed 6 authors, 1200 words, with an abstract in Spanish and another in English, each one of up to 150 words, 2 figures or tables (total) and 6 bibliographic references in a format called Scientific Letter.

 

Surgical technique

This section includes articles on novel surgical techniques. The technique should be described in as much detail as possible so that it can be reproduced and accompanied by appropriate illustrations. It is suggested not to use intraoperative photographs, but drawings. The latter must be of professional quality. It is necessary that the technique has been practiced in several cases and with good results. The interventions made only once do not correspond to this section, but to Scientific Letters. The text will be limited to 1500 words, with a maximum of 9 figures and tables (total) and up to 10 bibliographic references. An abstract of no more than 150 words in Spanish and another one in English.

 

Instructions for submitting an article

 

Instructions

To prepare the articles, follow the instructions detailed below and the international requirements described in the Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals, written by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors.

 

Duplication

A duplicate article is one whose material substantially matches a previous publication. The Revista Argentina de Cirugía will not receive manuscripts whose content has been published in whole or in part, or whose content has been previously presented or accepted for publication elsewhere, except for special situations (see Admissible secondary publication).

When the author submits the material, he or she must always make a statement to the editor about all previous submissions and reports that could be considered duplicate publications of the same or similar work.

The attempt of a duplicate publication, without prior notification and without the consent of the Editorial Board, will cause it to be rejected.

If the article has already been published, the Editorial Board will publish a notice about the characteristics of the duplicate material, even without the consent of the authors.

Preliminary disclosure, in public media or scientific information, of all or parts of an article that has been accepted but has not yet been published in the Journal will not be accepted (except in specifically authorized cases).

 

Secondary Publication

Admissible secondary publication of the same article in the same or another language is justifiable as long as:

▪ The editors approve the publication.

▪ A footnote to the second version will inform readers, reviewers and reference agencies that the article has been previously published in whole or in part and must be cited in full.

 

Protection of patient privacy

Descriptions, photographs or other details that help to identify the patient cannot be published, unless this information is essential for publication, in which case the patient or the parent or guardian, in the case of minors, must express their written consent.

 

Article preparation

The original articles will be divided into the following sections: introduction, material and methods, results and discussion.

Longer articles may need subtitles in some of the sections (results and discussion) in order to clarify their content.

Case publication, review articles, updates and editorials do not require this format.

The manuscript must be sent in a Microsoft Word® file.

Pages should be numbered consecutively, starting with the title, in the upper right corner of each page.

The pages will be of A4 format, including the text of the figures and the legends, while the size of the letter used must be body 12.

 

Title page

  1. Title of the article must be concise but informative.
  2. Give the article a title that does not exceed 2 lines of 50 characters each.
  3. Name, middle initial and last name of each of the authors with their highest academic degree and the institution to which they belong.
  4. Name of the department and the institution to which the work is attributed.
  5. Name and email address of the author to whom correspondence about the article should be addressed (corresponding author).
  6. Name and address of the author to whom it corresponds to contact to request reprints.
  7. Sources of support (donations, equipment, etc.).
  8. On the page that bears the title of the work, include the count of the number of words only for the text. Exclude title, abstract, references, tables, and figure legends.

 

Authorship

All persons designated as authors must be qualified for authorship.

Each author must have participated sufficiently in the work to be in a position to be publicly responsible for its content.

Merit for authorship should be based only on solid contributions:

  1. a) Conception and design or analysis and interpretation of data.
  2. b) Writing the article or critical review of its intellectual content.
  3. c) Final approval of the review to be published.

 

All three conditions are indispensable. Participation only in the collection of data or funds does not justify authorship, as well as acting only in the general supervision of the group.

At least one author should be responsible for any part of an article that is critical to its main conclusions.

These criteria should also be applied in multicenter studies in which all authors must meet them.

Group members who do not meet these criteria should be listed, if they agree, in the acknowledgments or in the appendix.

 

Summary and keywords

 

The second page should contain an abstract of up to 250 words.

The abstract should report the purposes of the study or research, the basic procedures (selection of people or laboratory animals for the study, observational, analytical and statistical methods), the main findings (specific data and their statistical significance if possible) and the main conclusions. It should emphasize the important and new aspects of the study or observation.

At the bottom of the abstract, authors must provide or identify 3 to 10 keywords that help index the article. These keywords should preferably be selected from the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) of the National Library of Medicine (available at https://meshb.nlm.nih.gov/search).

 

Abstract in English

 

It must be a faithful translation of the summary in Spanish and must follow the same guidelines as this one. Please have the abstract in English reviewed by a professional translator with experience in scientific writing.

 

Text

 

It will be divided into sections called: a) Introduction, b) Material and methods, c) Results and d) Discussion. The length of the text may not exceed 2700 words. They do not include the Abstract (maximum 250 words) and the bibliography (maximum 40 references).

 

Introduction

It establishes the background, the purpose of the article and makes the summary of the logical foundations for the observation of the study.

Give only strictly pertinent references and should not include details of the conclusion of the work. Finish the Introduction clearly stating the objective (s) of the work.

 

Material and methods

It clearly describes the selection of subjects for observation and experimentation (patients or laboratory animals, including control group).

It must identify age, sex and other important characteristics of the subjects.

Identify the methods, devices (provide the name of the product, the name of the producing company and the city) and procedures with sufficient detail to allow other researchers to reproduce the results.

The statistical methods used, drugs and chemicals should be mentioned, including chemical names, doses and routes of administration.

The randomized clinical studies must present information on the most important elements of the study, containing the protocol and the flow sheet for the inclusion of patients, and must also follow the CONSORT guidelines.

Authors submitting reviews should include a section describing the methods used for data location, selection, and synthesis; these methods should be abbreviated in the abstract.

 

Ethics

 

When clinical studies are carried out in human beings, the procedures carried out must be explicitly in accordance with the ethical standard of the committee responsible for human experimentation, institutional or regional and with the Declaration of Helsinki of 1975, corrected in 1983 and revised in 1989, which must appear explicitly in the work methodology.

Do not use the names of the patients, nor their initials or the number that corresponds to them in the hospital, especially in the illustrative material.

All research work that includes experimental animals must have been carried out following the indications of the "Guide for the care and use of laboratory animals" (http://www.nap.edu/ readingroom / books / labrats /) belonging to the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of North America and updated by the American Physiological Society (APS) (http://www.the-aps.org/ committees / animal / index.htm).

 

If they do not comply with the declared codes of ethics, the articles will not be considered for publication.

 

Statistics

 

Statistical methods should be described in sufficient detail to allow readers to verify the results. Where possible, the findings should be quantified and presented with appropriate indicators of measurement, error, or uncertainty (such as confidence intervals). Relying solely on statistical tests of hypotheses, such as the use of the "p" value, which fails to communicate important quantitative information, should be avoided.

Please, provide details about the randomization, descriptions of the method for the success of the blind observation, and whether there were complications in the treatment.

When the data is summarized in the Results section, the analytical method used must be specified in order to analyze it.

Statistical terms, abbreviations, and symbols must be defined.

When a series of data presents a parametric distribution (small dispersion), it is recommended to present them as mean ± standard deviation, but if they present a non-parametric distribution, it is recommended to provide median and range. Likewise, the use of SEM (standard error of the mean) as a measure of dispersion is discouraged, unless its need is clearly stated.

 

Results

The results must presented, but not be interpreted in this section. They should be presented in a logical sequence in the text, tables and figures. Do not repeat in the text all the data in the tables or figures, emphasize or summarize only the important observations.

Tables and figures should be used in the number strictly necessary to explain the material and to assess its support. Charts can be used as an alternative for tables with many entries.

 

Discussion

Emphasize the new and important aspects of the study and the conclusion that emerges from them.

Do not repeat data already contained in the Introduction or in the Results section.

In the Discussion section include the findings, their implications and limitations, including what future research would imply. Relate the observations to those of other important studies.

The conclusions must be related to the objectives of the study. Unqualified reports and conclusions that are not fully supported by the data should be avoided.

Authors should avoid giving information on economic costs-benefits unless the article includes economic data and their analysis.

Priority claim or reference to other work that has not been completed should be avoided.

Make other hypotheses when justified, but clearly label them as such.

Recommendations can be included where appropriate.

 

Conflict of interest

 

At the end of the text, under the subtitle Declaration of conflict of interest, all authors (of original articles, reviews, editorials or any other type of article) must disclose any relationship with any type of organization with direct or indirect financial interests, in the topics, issues, or materials discussed in the manuscript (e.g., consulting, employment, expert testimony, fees, hired speaker, advances, grants, refunds, royalties, stock option or ownership) that may affect the conduct or ownership report of work admitted within 3 years of commencement of submitted work. If authors are uncertain about what should be considered a potential conflict of interest, they should report it for consideration. If there is no conflict of interest, the authors must declare in writing that they have none.

Because editorials and reviews are based on the selection and interpretation of literature, the Journal expects that the author of such articles will have no financial interest in the company (or its competitors) that manufactures the product discussed in the manuscript.

Information about potential conflicts of interest should be available to reviewers and will be published with the manuscript at the discretion of the Editorial Board’s evaluation. Authors with questions about these problems should contact the Editorial Office.

 

Acknowledgements

 

Place them in the appendix of the text.

Please, specify:

1) Contributions that need appreciation but do not justify authorship, such as a general endorsement from the chair or the department.

2) Appreciation for the financial and material support; the nature of the support should be specified. People who have contributed intellectually to the material but whose intervention does not justify authorship can be named; their role and contribution can also be described. For example: "scientific advisor", "critical review of study purposes", "data collection", or "participation in clinical work". Said persons must give their consent in writing to be appointed.

It is the responsibility of the authors to obtain written permission from the people mentioned in the acknowledgments, because readers can infer their approval of the data and conclusions. The technical legend should be appreciated in a separate paragraph.

 

Bibliography

Citations should be numbered in the order in which they are first mentioned in Arabic numerals in square brackets in the text, tables, and captions. The bibliographic citations cannot be more than 40 in the original works and up to a maximum of 80 in the review articles.

The style will be used as shown in the examples, which are based on the formats used by IndexMedicus.

Abstracts for reference should be avoided, and accepted but not yet published references or material will be designated "in press" or "in preparation", with appropriate written permissions to cite such material. Information from articles that have been submitted but not yet accepted are cited in the text as “unpublished observations” with written permission from the source.

The bibliography must be verified and controlled in the original articles by the authors.

 

Examples

 

Article

When the authors are more than six (6), the first six are cited (surname followed by the initials of the names) and “et al.” Is added.

Oria A, Cimmino D, Ocampo C, Silva W, Kohan G, Zandalazini H, Szelagowski C, Chiappetta L. Early endoscopic intervention versus early conservative management in patients with acute gallstone pancreatitis and biliopancreatic obstruction. Ann Surg 2007; 245: 10-17.

If the Spanish version, “y col.” should be used in place of “et al.”.

 

Chapter of a book

Tisi PV, Shearman CP. Systemic consequences of reperfusion. In: Grace PA, Mathie RT, eds. Ischaemia-reperfusioninjury. London: Blackwell Science; 1999: 20-30.

 

Complete Book

Courtney M. Townsend, Jr., MD, R. Daniel Beauchamp, MD, B. Mark Evers, MD and Kenneth L. Mattox, MD. Sabiston Textbook of Surgery, 19th Edition. Elsevier; 2012.

 

Electronic item before printing

  1. Authors. Title. Journal; [on-line]. Consulted the dd / mm / yyyy. Available on: website (exact or sufficient website to guide the reader to the link).

 

Personal communication

"Personal communication" should be avoided unless you have essential information not available from another source. The name of the person and the date of the communication will be cited in parentheses in the text. Authors must obtain written permission and confirmation of the veracity of a personal communication.

 

Software

Epi Info [computer program]. Version 6. Atlanta: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; 1994.

 

Online Journals

Friedman SA. Preeclampsia: a review of the role of prostaglandins. ObstetGynecol [serial online]. January 1988; 71: 22-37 Available from: BRS Information Technologies, McLean, VA. Retrieved December 15, 1990.

 

Databases

CANCERNET-PDQ [database online]. Bethesda, MD: National Cancer Institute; 1996. Accessed January 20, 2010.

 

WWW

Helman A. Air pressure and Mount McKinley. At: http: // www.cohp.org/ak/notes/pressure_altitude_simplified_ II.html; accessed 10/19/2009.

 

Tables

The tables must be sent in such a way that they can be modified in order give them the style of the Journal. The tables will be numbered consecutively in the order in which they were previously cited in the text and with a brief title for each one. Place an abbreviated heading in each column and the explanatory notes at the bottom of the table (not in the headings). All non-standardized table abbreviations should be explained at the bottom of the table itself.

For footnotes, use the following symbols in this sequence: *, †, ‡, §, ¶, **, ††, ‡‡, etc.

Statistical measures such as standard deviation and standard error of the mean must be identified. Make sure each table was cited in the text. If data from another source (published or not) is used, permission and the source known in full must be obtained.

Do not include vertical lines in the tables. Only use horizontal lines, which are strictly necessary to understand the content clearly.

Using too many tables in relation to the length of the text can lead to difficulties in setting up the pages.

The Revista Argentina de Cirugía will accept 5 tables and figures (in total).

 

Figures

 

The "figures" for the Revista Argentina de Cirugía are: diagrams, drawings, photographs, micrographs, algorithms, flow diagrams, and so on.

Numbers, letters and symbols must be clear in all parts and their size must be adequate so that all items are legible, even after they have been reduced for publication. Titles and detailed explanations are placed in the caption text and not in the illustration itself.

If photographs of people are used, either the person must not be identified or they must have written permission to use the photograph (see Protecting Patient Privacy).

If microscopy photographs are submitted, the magnification used (e.g., 40x), and the staining method should be noted. Also, each structure described should be clearly marked with an arrow. The types of arrows to use will be, in the following order: black arrow, black arrow head, white arrow, white arrow head, short black arrow, long black arrow, hollow black arrow head, hollow white arrow head. Avoid marking structures with asterisks, stars, circles, or other unconventional symbols. Figures must be numbered consecutively in the order in which they have been previously cited in the text. If a figure has already been published, the clarification of the original source must be included and written permission for its publication must be attached.

Permission must be requested from all authors and the publisher, except for documents in the public domain.

 

Units of measurement

 

Length, weight, height, and volume measurements should be in units of the metric system, temperature in degrees Celcius (°C), and blood pressure in mmHg, according to the units and symbols used by the International System of Measurements (Système International d'Unités)

All clinical, hematological and chemical measurements should be expressed in units of the metric system and/or IU.

 

Abbreviations and symbols

 

Use only standardized abbreviations. Do not use abbreviations in the title or in the abstract; when used in the text, the whole word must be cited before being abbreviated, unless it is a standard unit of measure.

All numerical values ​​must be accompanied by their unit. Decimals will be separated with a comma in Spanish and a dot in English. Numbers with up to 4 digits will be written without a space, a period or a comma (for example: 1357, 6893 and 3356). From 5 digits, a space will be left for every 3 digits (for example: 24 689, 163 865 and 9 786 432). The years will be written without separation, periods or commas.

 

Submission

Authors must submit the manuscript through the OJS system. They can be guided by the instructions available in "Help" section, on the same web page. For the moment, the authors should send the article in .docx or .doc format to the email address revista@aac.org.ar.

 

Peer review

Once the formal and content requirements are met, the article is submitted to external peer review. When the article is sent to the reviewers, they have a maximum of 7 days to respond whether or not they will carry out the review; if accepted, they have a period of 15 days to send it completed.

Appointed reviewers are external and honorary, and their work is essential to meet publication quality standards. The review is double-blind, which means that the reviewers will not be sent information about the authors. Likewise, the identity of the reviewers is safeguarded.

If the reviewer does not submit the evaluation within the stipulated time and the deadline has expired, new reviewers will be appointed. This can affect anticipated editorial times.

Once the evaluations of the reviewers are received, they are entered for the agenda of the next meeting of the Editorial Board, which will analyze and record them to notify the authors.

In case of controversy between the reviewers of the same work, the Board may send new reviewers to reevaluate the work.

In the evaluation, the reviewers assign a score of 0-100 and decide whether they are acceptable in their original state, with major changes, with minor changes, or if they are rejected. The final decision is made by the Editorial Board based on the opinion of the external reviewers.

 

 

Authors should send the corrected version and a letter with detailed responses to the reviewers' comments, point by point. Once these corrections are received, they can be forwarded again to the referees for their acceptance. If it is accepted by them or by the Editorial Board, the article follows the steps of the publication process (proofreading, proofreading of English, proof of galley, etc.).

 

Rapid publication

It is the sole decision of the Editorial Board to consider whether the accepted article will have the category of "rapid publication".

The Editorial Board will make this decision solely by virtue of the topic presented, which must be novel or highly topical. The aim pursued by the Journal is to rapidly publish original topics with an impact on clinical practice.

For this purpose, the reviewers must issued their decision within a period of no more than one week and, if approved, the editors will maintain daily contact with the authors by e-mail or directly by phone for the necessary changes in the article and will request the authors to make such changes within 48 hours of communication.