Overview for Authors
Types of articles
The Canadian Journal of Surgery (CJS) publishes the following types of articles:
- Editorials are written by members of the editorial board.
- Research articles report the results of original research. The journal does not distinguish between full-length articles and brief reports.
- Reviews present a comprehensive and critical appraisal of a particular topic.
- Commentaries are similar to reviews but are designed to make a point about published research on a topic without reviewing the topic comprehensively. This section may include consensus statements regarding clinical practice.
- Discussions in surgery comment on innovations in surgical education and surgical practice. They include continuing medical education articles, such as evidence-based reviews in surgery and tips for conducting surgical research.
- Letters to the editor comment on recent articles in the journal. To submit a letter, find the relevant article on canjsurg.ca, then, in the right-hand ‘This Article’ column, select ‘Respond to this article’. Select e-letters are considered for formal publication.
Note: Survey-based submissions are rarely accepted and will be considered only if they present breakthrough or otherwise compelling surgical events with high response rates. CJS does not accept case reports.
Length of articles
Research articles can have up to 4000 words (excluding title page, abstract, references, tables, figures and figure captions) and should include no more than 60 references.
Reviews can have up to 10 000 words (excluding title page, abstract, references, tables, figures and figure captions).
Commentaries are limited to 1000 words and 5 references. They should contain an article summary with a maximum of 150 words. They may include a figure or a key points box. They generally do not include tables.
Discussions in surgery are limited to 1000 words and 5 references, with the exception of continuing medical education articles, which are limited to 2000 words and 10 references. They should include an article summary with a maximum of 150 words, and may include figures and tables as necessary.
Letters to the editor are limited to 3000 characters (including spaces) and 5 references.
Manuscript preparation
Authors should consult the ICMJE recommendations (formerly the Uniform Recommendations for Manuscripts).
Title page
This page should contain authors’ full names, academic degrees and affiliations; any meeting(s) at which the work was presented, in whole or in part; and the corresponding author’s contact information (mailing address and email address).
Abstract
All research and review articles must contain a 150- to 250-word abstract. Structured abstracts are required for research, systematic reviews and meta-analyses and should contain the same headings appearing in the body of the paper: Background, Methods, Results, Discussion, Limitations and Conclusion. Narrative reviews should have an unstructured abstract stating the key points of the article. Please note: the abstract should be uploaded both as part of the main document and in the abstract section in Manuscript central.
Tables and figures
Tables must be self-explanatory and should not duplicate data presented in figures. Prepare tables using Word or Excel table function tools (not spaces, tabs).
Figures should be provided in electronic format. Charts should be sent as Excel or PowerPoint files, or listed as data points.
Photographic/radiographic images should be sent as JPGs, minimum 300 dpi at minimum two inches square. Consult our digital art submission for editorial articles information, postscript to PDF instructions or digital camera specifications for details.
References
These should be cited in numerical order of appearance in the text. References in tables and figures should be numbered and cited where the table or figure is first mentioned in the text. Include the surnames and initials of up to 3 authors, followed by “et al.” when there are more than 3 authors.
CJS consensus process
Authors of consensus statements should be appointed by a committee of a representative organization. The subject or question being studied should be reviewed by the group and modified by the authors, if necessary. The manuscript should be circulated to the entire membership of the organization for comments. The manuscript should be revised by the authors and submitted to the committee for final review before submission to the journal. The manuscript will undergo independent review and revision at CJS before publication. The method of generating consensus should be defined in the article. It is generally sufficient to include a statement saying that the method is in accordance with the CJS consensus process (see Can J Surg 2013;56:365).
Clinical trial proposal
CJS considers manuscripts that propose a clinical trial. The article should include an evidence-based summary of the background to the question being answered. This may include preliminary data that have not been reported elsewhere. The clinical trial should have research ethics board approval. The article should include information used to register the trials with a public trials registry, such as clinicaltrials.gov. The trial authors should be prepared to modify the protocol based on reviews solicited by CJS. The journal and the authors will commit to publishing results of the clinical trial.
Manuscript submission
CJS has an online submission and review system at http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/cjs. New users are required to register. We do not accept manuscript submissions via mail or email.
Your manuscript will be assigned a manuscript number. Use it to track your manuscript’s progress online in your Author Centre. You will be notified as soon as possible of the outcome of the peer review process. Decisions and queries will be communicated via email.
Review and publication process
Peer Review
All submitted manuscripts are viewed by an editor. Manuscripts that are not suitable for CJS or that are of insufficient priority for publication are rejected promptly. Other manuscripts are sent for peer review. Peer reviewers’ identities are kept confidential, but author names are shared with reviewers. Manuscripts under consideration are privileged communications between authors and editors. Editorial staff discuss them only with the corresponding author and peer reviewers. Once a decision is made, authors are notified promptly and are sent a copy of the reviewer comments.
Ethical Considerations
Manuscripts that involve investigations on human participants must give the name of the ethics committee that approved the study. Manuscripts describing studies in which there was direct contact with humans must describe how informed consent was obtained. In studies on patients with conditions that may affect their ability to give fully informed consent, the manuscript must describe how the authors determined that the participants were capable of giving consent, if consent was obtained from the participants rather than guardians. Manuscripts that involve investigations on animals must include a statement that all procedures complied with the institutional guidelines for animal care and mention the name of the animal care committee that approved the research. Before a paper is accepted for publication, authors will be asked to complete the ICMJE Form for Disclosure of Potential Conflicts of Interest for potential conflicts of interest related to work described in the paper. Manuscripts based on studies funded by contracts (not grants) from any source including commercial firms, private foundations or governments must be accompanied by a statement describing both the authors' and the sponsor's role in the design of the study; the collection, analysis and interpretation of data; the writing of the paper; and the decision to submit the paper for publication. The journal will not review or publish manuscripts based on studies that are conducted under conditions that allow the sponsor to have sole control of the data or to withhold publication. CJS encourages authors to share, on request, with other researchers at academic institutions the original data on which their publications in CJS are based.
Editing
Accepted manuscripts are edited with a view to clarity, brevity, style and accuracy. Editors may add subheadings to enhance readability. An edited manuscript proof is sent to the corresponding author for approval. Note that all authors are responsible for the content of the manuscript, including copyeditor changes authorized by the corresponding author.