Untitled Document

Instructions to authors

GENERAL INFORMATION

The goal of ANNALS OF NEUROSURGERY is to provide a platform for the online publication of scientific papers. The articles published on the ANNALS OF NEUROSURGERY would be of interest to health care professionals working in experimental and clinical Neurosurgery.

It is a reliable and citable publication organ. Every article that is published on the ANNALS OF NEUROSURGERY would have been peer-reviewed by an International interdisciplinary group of reviewers.

The Internet-based, paper-less nature of our journal enables for a rapid process of reviewing, editing and publishing of new thoughts and data of interest to the neurosurgical community. The submission and subscription policy of the ANNALS OF NEUROSURGERY differs in many aspects from other journals.

If you have a concept for an article in mind, your paper is not yet finished or if you want some preliminary feedback for something you find worth publishing please feel free to submit anything for an Editor's statement. If you are in the final stages in the preparation of your publication - here are our more detailed:

GUIDELINES FOR AUTHORS

Everything starts with an abstract.

Remember that many readers are not willing to read more than this summary. Therefore make it clear, easy to read and short (up to 250 words). The Abstracts for general clinical and experimental papers should include the following sections:

Aim, Methods, Results, and Conclusion

Papers that are significantly technical in nature should include a Technique/Technical Development and/or Instrumentation section(s), as appropriate. Abstracts for Case Reports do not follow the above format, but contain Objective and Importance, Clinical Presentation, Intervention (or Technique), and Conclusion headings. For the sake of brevity the descriptions under each heading need not be in complete sentences and may be formulated in phrases. Abstracts will be critically reviewed and evaluated for direct and accurate conciseness to the manuscript's contents.

- Send manuscripts including all tables, illustrations, figures, audio file, short video file and references to the editor's office of ANNALS OF NEUROSURGERY. The preferred way of submitting is by E-mail.

- Accepted manuscripts will be returned after editing to the author for approval. The Editor reserves the right to edit the language and structure of the paper. The authors are responsible for all statements made in their work, including changes made by the copy editor and authorized by the corresponding author.

- Submit title page with full title of the paper--short, clear, and specific. List all authors' full names; include the highest academic degree(s) for each author and departmental and institutional affiliations for each author.

- Provide a running title of 3 or 4 words, and list, in alphabetical order, key words (maximum of 7) for coding and indexing.

- All references cited (footnotes not accepted) in the text must be listed. References must be numbered and in alphabetical order. All authors of each reference must be completely listed ("et al." is not allowed). References should be hypertext linked to Pubmed abstracts wherever they are available (i.e. active reference links).
- Images: RGB colour submissions are preferred. Images should be on JPG format. For other formats please contact us before submission.

- All radiological images must be properly aligned, so that the vertical axis is straight up and down. All figures submitted must be owned solely by the author(s). Arabic numbers must be used to designate figures and tables, and all figures and tables must be referred to in numerical order in the text.

- Images of patients should be accompanied with patients written consent for publication

- Refer to patients by number (or, in anecdotal reports, by fictitious given names). Real names or initials should not be used in the text, tables, or illustrations

- Please check your references. You are responsible for the accuracy and completeness of the references. Reference numbers in the text should be enclosed in parentheses on the line of type at the citation of the author(s)' name(s) or enclosed in parentheses on the line of type at the ends of sentences. References in tables and in figure legends must appear in the Reference Page(s).

- All references must be cited by reference number in the text. Papers quoted as "in press" (accepted for publication elsewhere) should appear in the references. Papers "submitted for publication" but not yet accepted and citations such as "personal communication" or "unpublished data" should not be referenced but should be enclosed in parentheses in the appropriate place in the text. Abstracts, "letters to the editor" or "comments" should be clearly identified by including "abstr," "letter," or "comment," respectively, in parentheses at the end of the reference. Abbreviations for journal titles should be those adopted by the Index Medicus.

Here some examples (adapted from NEUROSURGERY)

For an Article in a Journal:

Wilkins RH: The natural history of intracranial vascular malformatons: A review. Neurosurgery 16:421-430, 1985.

For an Article in a Foreign Language:

Vlahovitch B, Frerebeau P, Ouaknine G, Billet M, Gros C: Importance of peroperative angiography in cerebral vascular malformations [in French]. Neurochirurgie 15:191-201, 1969.

For a Chapter in an Edited Book:

Alper MG, Blazina VJ: Clinical neurophysiology of orbital tumors, in Laws ER Jr (ed): The Diagnosis and Management of Orbital Tumors. Mount Kisco, Futura Publishing Co., 1988, pp 29-92.

For a Chapter in an Authored Book:

Benzel EC: Spinal deformities, in Biomechanics of Spine Stabilization: Principles and Clinical Practice. New York, McGraw-Hill, Inc., 1995, pp 73-77.

For an Article "In Press":

Barrow DL, Tindall GT: Visual loss following transsphenoidal surgery. Neurosurgery (in press).

For an Article in an Electronic Journal:

Piatt JH Jr: A pitfall in the diagnosis of child abuse: External hydrocephalus, subdural hematoma, and retinal hemorrhages. Neurosurg Focus 7(4): Article 4, 1999.

For an Abstract:

Aldana PR, Bethea J, Keane RW, Alonso O, Srinivasan A, Dietrich WD: Capase-3 activation after fluid-percussion brain injury. Soc Neurosci Abstr 24:1732, 1998 (abstr).

For a Letter to the Editor:

Watts C: Chemonucleolysis: An appeal for objectivity. J Neurosurg 42:488, 1975 (letter).

For a Comment:

Cohen AR: Endoscopic aqueductoplasty: Technique and results. Neurosurgery 45:516, 1999 (comment)

For a Presentation at a Meeting:

Laws ER Jr, Ots M: Fibrin tissue adhesive: A role in transsphenoidal neurosurgery for pituitary tumors. Presented at the 42nd Annual Meeting of the Neurosurgical Society of America, Tuckertown, Bermuda, May 10-13, 1989.

Clinical/Experimental Papers

OBJECTIVE--State the primary objective of and rationale for the study; include the importance of the issue being addressed.
METHODS--Define the basic design, procedures, and/or setting in which the study was conducted.
(INSTRUMENTATION)--List the new instrument(s) being presented/ investigated.
(TECHNIQUE or TECHNICAL DEVELOPMENT)--Describe the significance of the new technique being presented and/or the significant technical aspects of the paper.
RESULTS--Present significant data and observations gathered.
CONCLUSION--Interpret findings and give principal conclusions; recommend clinical approach and/or need for future investigations.

Case Reports

OBJECTIVE AND IMPORTANCE--State the significance of the issue and importance of the case(s).
CLINICAL PRESENTATION--Define the case(s) presented, pertinent attendant issues and observations.
INTERVENTION or TECHNIQUE--Describe the course of treatment; describe new technique or therapeutic approach.
CONCLUSION--State outcome of case(s) and recommended treatment pathways.

For other useful information regarding structured abstracts, please refer to the following articles:
1. Ad Hoc Working Group for Critical Appraisal of the Medical Literature: A proposal for more informative abstracts of clinical articles. Ann Intern Med 106:598-604, 1987.
2. Haynes RB, Mulrow CD, Huth EJ, Altman DG, Garner MJ: More informative abstracts revisited. Ann Intern Med 113:69-76, 1990.