Guidelines for Authors

 

The VENEZUELAN JOURNAL OF SURGERY is the official dissemination organ of the Venezuelan Society of Surgery (SVC). It is an open-access digital publication. The statements made in the articles are the responsibility of the authors. The editor reserves the right to make grammatical, stylistic, and other corrections depending on the requirements for publication. The primary language of publication is Spanish. Articles are accepted with the understanding that their essential content has not been and will not be submitted for publication elsewhere. For approval, the manuscript undergoes a DOUBLE-BLIND PEER REVIEW process. Once published, the article becomes the property of the Venezuelan Society of Surgery.

Click this link to download the Author Instructions

The VENEZUELAN JOURNAL OF SURGERY follows the Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals drafted by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors. http://www.icmje.org/icmje-recommendations.pdf

 

ETHICAL RESPONSIBILITIES OF AUTHORS

 

This journal is committed to maintaining the integrity of the scientific record. Authors must refrain from misrepresenting research results, which could harm the trust in the journal and ultimately the entire scientific effort.

The integrity of research and its presentation can be achieved by following the rules of good scientific practice:

• The manuscript has not been submitted to more than one journal for consideration.
• The manuscript has not been previously published (in part or in whole), unless the new work refers to an expansion of a previous work (provide information on the reuse of material to avoid the presumption of text recycling "self-plagiarism").
• A single study should not be divided into multiple parts to increase the number of submissions and deliveries to multiple journals or to one journal.
• Data (including images) have not been fabricated or manipulated to support conclusions.
• Data, text, or theories from others are not presented as if they were the authors' own ("plagiarism"). Proper acknowledgments must be given to other publications; this includes material that is closely copied (almost verbatim), summarized, and/or paraphrased; quotation marks are used for verbatim copying of material, and permissions must be provided for publishing copyrighted material.
• Important note: the journal may use software to detect plagiarism.
• Consent for publication has been obtained from all co-authors and responsible authorities at the institution/organization where the work was carried out before the work is submitted.
• The authors listed in the submission have contributed sufficiently to the scientific work and therefore share collective responsibility and accountability for the results.
• Changes in authorship or the order of authors will not be accepted after the manuscript has been accepted.
• Upon request, authors must be prepared to send relevant documentation or data to verify the validity of the results. This could be in the form of raw data, samples, records, etc.
• If there is any suspicion of misconduct, the journal will conduct an investigation following the guidelines established by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). https://publicationethics.org/ If, after the investigation, the allegation raises valid concerns, the accused author will be contacted and given the opportunity to provide their version. If misconduct is proven, the Editor-in-Chief may implement the following measures, including, but not limited to:
• If the article is still under consideration, it may be rejected and returned to the author.
• If the article has already been published online, depending on the nature and severity of the violation, an Erratum will be placed on the article or, in severe cases, the article will be fully retracted. The reason must be stated in the Erratum or retraction notice published.

 

AUTHOR CONTRIBUTION DISCLOSURE

 

The submission must contain summarized information regarding the contribution made to the manuscript by each of the authors. According to the ICMJE https://www.icmje.org/recommendations/browse/roles-and-responsibilities/defining-the-role-of-authors-and-contributors.html, the following are authorship criteria:

1. Substantial contributions to the conception and design of the work, or the acquisition, analysis, and interpretation of data for the work,
2. Drafting the work or revising it critically for important intellectual content,
3. Final approval of the version to be published, and
4. Agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work to ensure that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.

All those designated as authors must meet the authorship criteria, and all who meet the authorship criteria must be identified as authors. 

Below is an example of authorship statements: ·    

• “Author Contributions” 

        S.J. developed the idea and the research instrument, conducted the literature search. J.L. and G.M. collected the data and drafted the manuscript. F.L. performed the statistical analysis and reviewed the document. J.M. conducted the final review, contributing with expertise and intellectual analysis.  All authors provided critiques prior to submission and approved the final report.

 

CONFLICT OF INTEREST DISCLOSURE

Authors must disclose all relationships or interests that could influence or bias the work. Although the author may feel that there are no conflicts, disclosing any relationship or interest provides greater transparency, leading to a more accurate and objective evaluation of the work. Readers may perceive a conflict of interest as real or probable, which does not imply that a financial relationship with an organization that sponsored the research is inappropriate. Examples of potential conflicts of interest directly or indirectly related to the research may include, but are not limited to, the following:  

• Research grants from sponsoring entities (complete sponsorship data must be provided).
• Honoraria for speaking at symposia, etc.
• Financial support for attending symposia.
• Financial support for educational programs.
• Support from a project sponsor.
• Position on an advisory board or board of directors or other type of management relationship.
• Multiple affiliations.
• Financial relationships, e.g., equity ownership or investment interests, intellectual property rights (e.g., patents, copyrights, and royalties from such rights), spouse and/or children who may have a financial interest in the work. Interests that go beyond financial interests and compensation (non-financial interests) that may be important to readers should also be disclosed. These may include, but are not limited to, personal relationships or competing interests directly or indirectly linked to the research, or professional or personal beliefs that may influence the research.  The corresponding author will collect conflict of interest disclosure forms from all authors. In the case of author collaborations, the corresponding author may sign the disclosure form on behalf of all authors. The corresponding author will include a summarized statement in the manuscript text in a separate section, before the “References” section, reflecting what is specified in the conflict of interest disclosure form(s). For review purposes, affiliations may be identified, but not authors.  Below are examples of statements that must be included in the text: ·      “Funding: This study was funded by X (grant number X)”.
• “Conflict of interest: Author 1 received funding for this research from Company A. Author 2 received honoraria for speaking from Company B and holds shares in Company C. Author 3 is a member of Committee D.”If there is no conflict, authors should state:
• “Conflict of interest: The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.”

 

STATEMENT ON HUMAN AND ANIMAL RIGHTS

When reporting studies involving human participants, authors must include a statement that the studies have been approved by the institutional and/or national bioethics committee and have been conducted in accordance with the ethical standards established in the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its subsequent amendments or comparable ethical standards. If there are doubts about whether the research was conducted in accordance with the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki or comparable standards, authors must explain the reasons for their approach and demonstrate that an independent ethics committee or institutional review board explicitly approved the questionable aspects of the study.  The following statements must be included in the text before the “References” section: Ethical Approval “All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.”  The welfare of animals used for research must be respected. When reporting experiments on animals, authors must indicate whether institutional and/or national guidelines for the care and use of animals were followed. For studies involving animals, the following statement must be included: “All applicable institutional and/or national guidelines for the care and use of animals were followed."  If the articles do not contain studies with human participants or animals by any of the authors, it is recommended to include the following sentence: “This article does not contain any studies with human participants or animals performed by any of the authors.”  For retrospective studies, add the following sentence: “For this type of study, formal consent is not required.”  Informed Consent All individuals have rights that must not be infringed. Participants in studies have the right to decide what happens to the (identifiable) personal data collected and to what they have said during a study or interview, as well as any photographs taken. Therefore, it is important that all participants provide written informed consent before their inclusion in the study. Identifying details (names, dates of birth, identity numbers, and other information) of participants who were studied should not be published in written descriptions, photographs, and genetic profiles unless the information is essential for scientific purposes and the participant (or parent or guardian if the participant is incapable) has given written informed consent for publication. Complete anonymity is difficult to achieve in some cases, so consent should be obtained if there is any doubt. For example, masking the eye region in photographs of participants is inadequate protection of anonymity. If identifying characteristics are altered to protect anonymity, such as in genetic profiles, authors should ensure that the alterations do not distort scientific meaning.  The following statement should be included in the text after the “Methods” section:  Informed Consent:“Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study." If identifying information of any participant is available in the article, the following statement should also be included: “Additional informed consent was obtained from all individual participants for whom identifying information is included in this article.”

 

SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS CHECKLIST

All items below must be ready and available when submitting the work.

TITLE PAGE

• Full title and short title for the header.
• All contributing authors, full names, titles, affiliations, and email addresses.
• Information of the "corresponding author".

 

MANUSCRIPT

• Abstract and keywords. (N/A for letters to the editor; optional in brief communications)
• Abstract and keywords in English.
• Manuscript text (without the title page) with authors hidden for review purposes.
• Ethical statements, conflict of interest, and human/animal rights statements (authors hidden).
• References in PubMed^® style.
• Optional: tables, figures, and animations.
• Videos should not exceed three (3) minutes in length each (authors hidden).
• Videos in .MP4 or .MOV file format.

 

MULTIMEDIA ARTICLES (submission of an article in video format)

• Video abstract, ethical statements, conflict of interest, human/animal rights, and references.
• The video should not exceed ten (10) minutes.
• Mandatory narration in Spanish without background music.
• Video in .MP4 or .MOV file format.

 

FIGURES / IMAGES / MULTIMEDIA

• For vector graphics, editable insertion in Microsoft Word^® is preferred.
• The width of figures should be 39 mm, 84 mm, 129 mm, or 174 mm, and no more than 234 mm.
• No patient identification information.
• Patient and/or publisher permissions, if necessary.

 

OFFICIAL ICMJE CONFLICT OF INTEREST FORM:

• One completed form per author (e.g., 5 authors = 5 forms).

 

Conflict of Interest Declaration Template

 

FOR REVISIONS ONLY:

• A point-by-point response to reviewers' comments (authors hidden for review purposes).

 

IMPORTANT SUBMISSION INFORMATION

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

Authors will need the following items:

• Internet access.
• Electronic files of all required documents.  
• YOUR AUTHOR ACCOUNT  Authors accessing the journal website for the first time must create an account at https://www.revistavenezolanadecirugia.com/index.php/revista/index by clicking "Register" and indicating their email, username, and password. NOTE: If you have previously accessed the system, always use your existing account for ALL subsequent submissions. If you have forgotten your username or password, use the “Forgot your password?” link in the “Login” section.  ONLINE SUBMISSION  After logging into your account, go to the “Submissions” section and use the “New Submission” link; the system will guide you through a step-by-step manuscript submission process. The required documents for all online submissions are: Title Page, the main manuscript document (with authors hidden), and the conflict of interest declaration form, which must be completed by each contributing author. In the “Start” tab, select the language, identify the section to which your article corresponds (if in doubt, click “about”), and to proceed, ensure that all requirements in the submission checklist are completed and selected. If desired, you can make a comment for the Editor, check the data consent box, and click “save and continue.” In the “Upload Submission” tab, click “Upload File,” select the type of file to be submitted (title page, manuscript with authors hidden, conflict of interest declarations, or others), and once uploaded, click “Continue.” In the “Metadata” tab, add additional information if necessary, and click “Complete.” In the “Finish” tab, the phrase “File added” will appear. Repeat the process until all required files are uploaded. In the “Upload Submission” tab, verify that all files are uploaded and click “Save and Continue.” In the “Metadata” tab, complete all required sections (in Spanish and English). In the “Add Contributor” tab, add the identification of each author (it is recommended that all authors have their ORCID digital identifier) https://orcid.org/register?. Indicate the role of each author and include the authors in the lists, then click “Save.” Enter the keywords (in Spanish and English) and click “Save and Continue.” In the “Confirmation” tab, verify the information and click “Finish Submission.”  Ensure that all mandatory fields are completed before attempting to submit your work; the system will not allow you to proceed if any mandatory fields are incomplete. If you cannot complete your submission in one visit, the system can save a draft, and you can return to the process at the same step by clicking on the “Submissions” section.  
• SUPPORT AND ASSISTANCE  If you have questions or need assistance at any time during the submission and review process, contact our Editor-in-Chief of RevVenezCir:  Dr. Silvia Piñango +58(412) 2267988 email: admin@revistavenezolanadecirugia.com

 

MANUSCRIPT PREPARATION

Prospective studies with data extending beyond 30 days must include information about patient loss to follow-up in the “Abstract” and “Results” sections, reporting how many patients were initially evaluated, then at each study point, and the number of patients finally evaluated.

 

MANUSCRIPT SECTIONS AND FILES

Your manuscript must be uploaded in several parts; for example: “Title Page,” the “Manuscript” with authors hidden, and the “Conflict of Interest Form.” Tables and figures should be submitted along with the manuscript, as well as any supplementary electronic material and videos (either as supplementary videos or as multimedia articles).  Use the following text formatting guidelines. 

• Use Microsoft Office^® Word^® word processor.
• Use a plain and normal font (e.g., Arial).
• Use single spacing even between paragraphs.
• Set page margins to 3 cm.
• All headings and subheadings should be in bold.
• Use italics for emphasis or for writing words in another language.
• Use the automatic page numbering function to number the pages.
• Use tabs or other commands for indents; do not use the spacebar. Title Page (mandatory) 
• Full title of the article.
• Short title (maximum 30 characters, including spaces).
• Full names, titles, departments, and institutional addresses of each contributor.
• “Email:” followed by the name and contact information of the corresponding author.
• Any detailed funding information and acknowledgment of funding acceptance.
• Acknowledgments: to individuals other than the authors who directly participated in the work.  

 

Manuscript with Authors Hidden - Main Text (mandatory) The “Manuscript” must be with authors hidden for review and must include the main text of the work (including hidden statements on ethics, informed consent, and conflict of interest), references, and figure legends (if any). Tables should also be included at the end of the document.  The main document must include: 

• Abstract and Abstract: It is a micro-article or cover letter. It must ensure that the article is discovered, read, and cited. It will be presented as a structured paragraph: objectives, methods, results, and conclusions. It must be written in Spanish and English. It should not exceed 250 words or contain abbreviations.
• Keywords: 3 to 10 technical terms used in publications related to the topic. Keywords in Spanish will be used according to the list of Health Sciences Descriptors (DeCS) http://decs.bvs.br/E/homepagee.htm and in English, the terms from the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/mesh should be used.
• Introduction: Reason for the study and problem statement. It should establish the state of the research, gaps in knowledge that justify the research, delimitation, and structure of the article.
• Methods: Presentation of hypotheses, objectives, type of research, data collection instruments explained, without including the instrument itself, and analysis method.
• Statements regarding ethics and informed consent (see details below).
• Results: Presentation of the collected data.
• Discussion: Summary of findings, with analysis and discussion of results, explanations, and interpretation according to the cited literature. Include conclusions as a summary of the most important results with answers to the research questions or hypothesis testing. It is recommended to discuss the implications and limitations of the study, point out the usefulness of the research for other researchers, and propose future research opportunities or lines.
• Conflict of Interest Declaration.
• References (see details below).
• Tables and Figures.  Additional formatting requirements and details for specific types of manuscripts are included in the "Manuscript Types and Formats" section below.
• Four statements are required in the text: the ethical statement and the informed consent statement after the “Methods” section, and the conflict of interest statement and author contribution statement  just before the “References” section. For each author, a conflict of interest statement is required, which should declare potential conflicts of interest ("author 1, author 2," etc.), or otherwise write “no conflict of interest.” For more information, see the “Ethical Responsibilities of Authors” section at the beginning of this guide.
• References : List references in consecutive order as they appear in the text. Identify reference citations in the text with numbers in parentheses and superscript preceded by a comma or period as appropriate. Example: [no statistically significant difference.⁽¹⁾]·  Once a reference is cited, all subsequent citations must be made with the original number.·  When the text requires citing a reference with multiple authors, the name of the first author should be followed by et al. (in italics). Example: [Vivas et al. reviewed in their study the relationship between…]. If it is the end of the sentence, et al. should be followed by the corresponding punctuation mark. Example: […as demonstrated by Marrero et al.. Similarly, López et al., Alfaro et al., and Wagner et al. also found….]·      Cite all references within the text or tables.·   Works that have been accepted for publication or are in press may appear in the References; however, the journal will not reference unpublished data or personal communications.·      Use the Vancouver style. Visit this website to use the appropriate style. https://guides.lib.monash.edu/citing-referencing/vancouver 
• Tables:  Use the Microsoft Word^® table function (do not insert spreadsheets) to create tables.·   Number all tables with Arabic numerals. ·  Always cite tables in the text in consecutive numerical order. ·  For each table, provide a title; it should clearly and concisely explain the components of the table. · Table footnotes should be indicated with lowercase letters (use asterisks for significance values and other statistical data) and include them below the body of the table. · All tables should be on separate pages at the end of the main document and should be cited in the text.

 

Official Conflict of Interest Form - (required)  Each contributing author must complete the official ICMJE conflict of interest form electronically. Click http://www.icmje.org/coi_disclosure.pdf   to download a PDF of the form. During submission, ensure that all forms are uploaded in a separate file from the main document. If any author's form is missing in the submission, it will be returned to the author for correction prior to review. Each author must complete the form even if there is no conflict of interest. All details in the forms must correspond with the conflict of interest statement included in the manuscript text. Reviewers will not see these forms.  Important Note: if you have trouble viewing the ICMJE form after downloading it, ensure that you open the PDF directly from your "downloads" folder through Adobe Reader rather than through your internet browser.

 

Figures / Images (optional) Graphic files in JPEG format up to 300 dpi are accepted. Do not upload figures as PDF files. All figures should be numbered with Arabic numerals. Parts of the figure should be denoted with lowercase letters. Figures should always be cited in the text in consecutive numerical order. Name figures with "Fig" and the figure number, for example, Fig.1.  Photographs of patients in which the subject is identifiable should have the face masked or be accompanied by written permission from the individual in the photograph for publication.  If you include figures that have already been published elsewhere, you must obtain permission from the copyright owners.  

• Vector graphics: the preferred format is Microsoft Office^®.  Line art: should be in black and white without shading. Ensure that all lines and letters within the figures are legible at the final size. All lines should be at least 0.1 mm (0.3 pt) wide. Scanned lines from drawings and line drawings in bitmap format should have a minimum resolution of 1200 dpi.  
• Halftone art (photographs, drawings, or paintings with fine shading, etc.): if photograph enlargements are used, indicate this using scale bars within the figure. Halftones should have a minimum resolution of 33 dpi.  
• Combined art (combination of halftones and line art): combined illustrations should have a minimum resolution of 600 dpi.  Color art: If the artwork will be published in black and white, ensure that details are visible; many colors are not distinguishable when converted to black and white. You may choose to use patterns instead of colors in such cases. Color illustrations should be submitted as RGB (8 bits/channel).  
• Letters and numbering in figures: Helvetica and Arial (sans-serif fonts) are preferred. Keep the letter size consistent throughout the document (preferably 2-3 mm / 8-12 pt). Avoid shading or using other text attributes and do not include titles or subtitles within your figures.

 

Multimedia Article (authors hidden for review) The submission of a multimedia article consists of a video no longer than 10 minutes in duration. Keep the length/size of the video as precise as possible, as some authors and reviewers may experience issues when uploading, downloading, or viewing larger files, depending on server speed and other external factors.  Requirements for Multimedia Articles ·  Multimedia articles must be accompanied by an abstract in Spanish and English and keywords. ·      It must be in .mp4 or .mov format. · Video files should not exceed ten (10) minutes in length. ·  For multimedia article files larger than 500 MB, authors may upload them in compressed files (e.g., zip files) or send in separate video sections. ·  Video narration is mandatory without background music.  

• Dynamic Video (supplementary) Dynamic video files can be included as additional information that cannot appear in the journal as a digital file: animations, video clips, etc. If a dynamic video file is submitted, the manuscript text must specifically mention the material as a citation (e.g., "as shown in Animation 3"). Keep the length/size of the video as precise as possible, as some authors and reviewers may experience issues when uploading, downloading, or viewing larger files, depending on server speed and other external factors. Submissions of articles that include videos will require authors to follow the following specifications.  Requirements for Dynamic Articles ·Video files should not exceed three (3) minutes in length. ·  Always use .mp4 or .mov files. ·      Narration is mandatory without background music.  
• Other (optional; authors hidden for review) If your submission file does not fit any of the above file designations, you may submit it as “Other,” but any document submitted under this file item must be hidden for review purposes and will be evaluated according to its suitability.

 

MANUSCRIPT TYPES AND FORMATS

Manuscript types include original articles, new concepts, review articles, brief communications, letters to the editor, and multimedia articles. You may submit your manuscript as Format I, II, or III (detailed in the tables below). Each manuscript type requires a specific submission format. When the nature of the report requires it, manuscripts that do not follow these formats may be accepted. Note that the limits on the number of pages, words, and figures shown in the table below should be used as a guide rather than a rule; editors and reviewers will make the final assessments. Please be concise in your writing.

 

MANUSCRIPT FORMATS

The double-spaced pages and word count below are a guide rather than a rule. The title page, references, figures, legends, and tables will not be considered for page and word count. 

Click for instructions for each article type.

 

ADDITIONAL SUBMISSION DETAILS

Abbreviations, drug names, digits

Use the standard abbreviations and units listed in Scientific style and format: The CBE manual for authors, editors, and publishers, 6th ed. Style Manual Committee, Council of Biology Editors. (Huth, Edward J., Chairman). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/leap/90015br2 . The first time an uncommon abbreviation appears in the text, it should be in parentheses and preceded by the full name of its meaning. Generic names of drugs and chemicals should be used the first time the drug or chemical is mentioned in the text and thereafter. If an author wishes, the trade name may be inserted in parentheses after the generic name the first time the generic name appears; the manufacturer's name and city should also be included. Express digits as numbers, except when they are the first word of a sentence. Units of measurement should be expressed in the metric system and should be abbreviated when used with numbers.

 

MANUSCRIPT SUBMISSION

 

SUBMISSION STEPS

 

Submission Process

Review the submission checklist at the beginning of this document. We recommend that you have all items listed in the checklist completed and ready to upload before starting your online submission. Ensure that you submit a separate title page that includes the full names, affiliations, and addresses of the authors and the correct order of authors and the ORCID identifier. Submit the rest of the documents (main text, figures, tables, etc.) and the conflict of interest forms.

Ensure that your submission looks like this example

Review Your Submission

Ensure that ALL documents in your submission list have been uploaded correctly. Registered authors will receive a confirmation email. If the submission is incomplete, it will be returned to the author with an email notification indicating the need for additional information or correction. Once the complete manuscript is successfully submitted, it will be properly reviewed. Your ORCID digital identifier is required.

 

FOLLOW-UP

After submission, you can monitor the progress of your submission through the review process. Only the designated corresponding author can view the submission and must enter the same username and password to access the submission details.

 

REVIEW AND EDITORIAL ACTION

The editorial staff will examine submitted manuscripts for accuracy and completeness and usually sends most manuscript submissions to two reviewers.

 

AFTER ACCEPTANCE

If your manuscript is accepted, you will receive an email from the journal with questions related to proofs before publication. Simultaneously, you will be invited to contribute to the production and publication process with the contribution established by the Board of Directors of the Venezuelan Society of Surgery: $3 or its equivalent at the exchange rate for DOI assignment by ASEREME.       

If there is a solvent member of the Venezuelan Society of Surgery among the authors, no additional contribution will be required.       

If there is no solvent member of the Venezuelan Society of Surgery, a contribution of $25 or its equivalent at the exchange rate will be required for publication.

These requirements for the payment of production, publication, and DOI assignment will be paid per published article to the account of the Venezuelan Society of Surgery: BANPLUS 0174-0101-70-1014146680 in the name of Banco Universal, name of Sociedad Venezolana de Cirugía, Rif: J-00224523-9. The payment receipt should be sent to the email: admin@revistavenezolanadecirugia.com