Guidelines for Authors

Thank you for your interest in the Stem Cell Investigation (SCI; Stem Cell Investig; print ISSN: 2306-9759; Online ISSN: 2313-0792). SCI adheres to the Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly work in Medical Journals, issued by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) (1), and the Cope of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors (2), issued by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). Please refer to the following guidelines to help you prepare your manuscript. Feel free to contact the editorial office by email (editor@sci-online.org) should you have any questions. To ensure a swift peer review and publication process, manuscripts that do not adhere to the following instructions will be returned to the corresponding author for technical revision at preliminary review.

1. ABOUT THE JOURNAL

The Stem Cell Investigation (SCI; Stem Cell Investig; print ISSN: 2306-9759; Online ISSN: 2313-0792) is a free access, peer-reviewed online journal covering basic, translational, and clinical research on all aspects of stem cells. It publishes original research articles and reviews on embryonic stem cells, induced pluripotent stem cells, adult tissue-specific stem/progenitor cells, cancer stem like cells, stem cell niche, stem cell technology, stem cell based drug discovery, and regenerative medicine. Stem Cell Investigation is indexed in PubMed/PMC since April 2016.

2. MANUSCRIPT CATEGORIES 

2.1 Original Article
Word limit: there is no fixed word limit for research articles, but authors must use the most concise language possible, as well as succinct, structured sentences. The word count for the main text (excluding the abstract, references, tables, boxes, or figures) should be provided when the manuscript is submitted.
Abstract: Structured (usually into four paragraphs with the following subheadings: Background, Methods, Results, and Conclusions, unless specified otherwise in the reporting checklists), 200-350 words max. No abbreviations.
Key words: 3~5.
References: No limit.
Figures/Tables: No limit, but 10 figures are deemed sufficient.
Description: Original articles should take the following format: Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion and/or Conclusions. Original articles must have originality and clinical impact.

Original articles should include a section describing the contribution made by each author to the manuscript. See the “3.4 Author Contributions” sections for details.

When a manuscript documents any experiment(s) involving human subjects or animals, the authors must indicate an ethical statement both in the methods section and the footnote. See the “3.7.3 Ethical Statement” section for details.

Please note that systematic review with meta-analysis will be categorized as Original Article.

2.1.1 Reporting Checklist
Apart from following the general format as indicated above, Original Articles should be prepared according to the EQUATOR research reporting guidelines, as listed below, and each submission should include a checklist (a reformatted version has been created for the journal) as a supplementary material. The relevant page/line and section/paragraph number in the manuscript should be stated for each item in the checklist. A statement should be included at the end of the “Introduction” to indicate which reporting checklist was followed (e.g., “We present the following article/case in accordance with the CONSORT reporting checklist.” ). The manuscript should also include a Reporting Checklist statement in the footnote (see the “3.7 Footnote”). Failure to do so will result in the manuscript being returned to the authors for amendment.

Please note that the application of a checklist is aimed for transparent and clear reporting to allow critical appraisal of the manuscript. The final format of the manuscript should follow the author instruction requirements. 

Study Type	Guideline*	Download Checklist (reformatted for the journal)
Randomized controlled trial	CONSORT (CONsolidated Standards Of Reporting Trials)	CONSORT Checklist
Nonrandomized design	TREND (Transparent Reporting of Evaluations with Nonrandomized Designs)	TREND Checklist
Observational studies in Epidemiology	STROBE (STrengthening the Reporting of Observational studies in Epidemiology)	STROBE Checklist
Diagnostic accuracy study	STARD (STAndards for Reporting of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies)	STARD Checklist
Systematic review or meta-analysis	PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses)	PRISMA Checklist
Animal research	ARRIVE Guidelines	ARRIVE Checklist
Clinical practice guideline	RIGHT Guidelines	RIHGT Checklist
Prediction Model Development and Validation	TRIPOD Guidelines	Tripod Checklist

*Authors may refer to the Extensions to the CONSORT Statement based on the specific study type; if a particular study type has not been included in the above list, authors can find more reporting guidelines on EQUATOR Network (https://www.equator-network.org/home/) and should indicate upon submission which guideline has been followed and provide related reporting checklist if available.

2.1.2 Selection And Description Of Participants
In study articles, the process of selection for observational or experimental subjects (healthy individuals or patients, including controls) should be clearly set out in the methods section. Any eligibility or exclusion criteria should be provided, along with a description of the population from which the subjects were sourced. Ideally, representative populations should be included in all study types and characteristics (such as age, sex, or ethnicity) of the study population should be described. Terms relating to sex (when reporting biological factors) and gender (identity, psychosocial or cultural factors) should be used correctly, and the sex and/or gender of the human participants, or the sex of animals or cells, should be reported, except where this is not appropriate. The methods used to classify sex and gender should also be described, where relevant. If the study focused on a specific population (e.g., only females), unless the reason is obvious (e.g., cervical cancer), the authors should explain their reasoning for this. For race and ethnicity, authors should describe how these were determined, and their relevance to the study should be explained. Study subjects should be described in the most neutral, exact, and respectful language possible. Any language that might cause the stigmatization of subjects must be avoided.

2.1.3 Research Resource Identifiers (RRID)
SCI is pleased to be a part of the Research Resource Identification Initiative, a project aimed at clearly identifying key research resources, aka materials, used in the course of scientific experiments. These include antibodies, cell lines, model organisms, and software tools. To help authors quickly find the correct identifiers for their materials there is a single web site (https://scicrunch.org/resources) where all resource types can be found and a 'cite this' button next to each resource that contains proper citation text that should be included in the methods section of the manuscript. Several examples of properly formatted methods sections with RRIDs can be found below:

• Antibodies: "antibody against ERK1 (Abgent Cat# AP7251E, RRID:AB_2140114)."
• Cell Lines: "we used the following cell lines: RRID: CVCL_1H60,..."
• Genetically modified organisms: "Fgf9Eks/Fgf9+ mice (RRID:MGI_3840442)..."
• Software tools: "...terminals were mapped (Neurolucida, v10, RRID:SCR_001775)."

2.2 Review Article
Word limit: 6,000 words max. (including an abstract but excluding references, tables, and figures)
Abstract: Unstructured (structured for narrative reviews and systematic reviews without meta-analysis), 200-350 words max.
Key words: 3~5.
References: No limit.
Figures/tables: No limit.
Description: Review articles should present a timely, comprehensive analysis of a specific topic. We welcome the submission of proposals for review articles for initial consideration.

Review articles should entail a section describing the contribution made by each author to the manuscript. See the “3.4 Author Contributions” section for details.

Besides the conventional review article, there are some typical classifications of review article listed below, which may entail the conformation with a reporting guideline. Please note that the application of a checklist is aimed for transparent and clear reporting to allow critical appraisal of the manuscript. The final format of the manuscript should follow the author instruction requirements.

2.2.1 Narrative Review
We strongly welcome the submission of narrative reviews, although our editors may still consider traditional reviews for publication. A narrative review article should provide a broad narrative synthesizing material on a topic published to date.

In addition to following the general format of a review article described above, narrative reviews should also adhere to the narrative review checklist (available here) and each submission should include the Checklist as a supplementary material. The relevant page/line and section/paragraph number in the manuscript should be stated for each item in the checklist. A statement “We present the following article in accordance with the narrative review reporting checklist” should be included at the end of the “Introduction”. The manuscript should also include a Reporting Checklist statement in the footnote (see the “Footnote” section). Failure to do so will result in the manuscript being returned to the authors for amendment.

We recommend that authors refer to the following article for guidance in writing narrative reviews: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2647067.

2.2.2 Systematic Reviews Without Meta-analysis
Systematic reviews without meta-analysis are categorized as Review Article. In addition to following the general format of a review article described above, this type of reviews should also adhere to the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) and each submission should include the PRISMA Checklist (a reformatted version has been created for the journal can be downloaded here) as a supplementary material. The relevant page/line and section/paragraph number in the manuscript should be stated for each item in the checklist. A statement “We present the following article in accordance with the PRISMA reporting checklist” should be included at the end of the “Introduction”. The manuscript should also include a Reporting Checklist statement in the footnote (see the “Footnote” section). Failure to do so will result in the manuscript being returned to the authors for amendment.

Structure: (1) Abstract: Structured with Background, Methods, Results, and Conclusions. (2) The text: Arranged as Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion, and Conclusions.

2.3 Case Report and Case Series
Word limit: 2,500 words max. (excluding references, tables, and figures)
Abstract: 200-350 words max. Structured with Background (state what is known and unknown; why the case report is unique and what it adds to existing literature), Case Description (describe the patient’s demographic details and main history, the main diagnosis, interventions, outcomes and follow-ups), and Conclusions (summarize the main take-away lesson, clinical impact and potential implications).
Key words: 3~5.
References: 20 max.
Figures/tables: 8 max. (combined)
Description: Case studies should present observations of diseases, clinical findings, or novel/unique treatment outcomes that are relevant to practitioners in related fields. The text should be arranged as follows: Introduction, Case Presentation, and Discussion. Only cases of exceptional interest and novelty are considered. For manuscripts that fail to qualify, editors may request that the authors shorten the manuscript for resubmission as another type of article.

2.3.1 Reporting Checklist
Apart from following the general format as indicated above, authors should prepare the case reports according to the CARE Guidelines and their submission should include a reporting checklist (a reformatted version has been made for the journal) as a supplementary material. The relevant page/line and section/paragraph number in the manuscript should be stated for each item in the checklist. A statement like “We present the following case in accordance with the CARE reporting checklist” should be included at the end of the “Introduction”. The manuscript should also include a Reporting Checklist statement in the footnote (see the “3.7 Footnote”). Failure to do so will result in the manuscript being returned to the authors for their amendment.

Please note that the application of a checklist is aimed for transparent and clear reporting to allow critical appraisal of the manuscript. The final format of the manuscript should follow the author instruction requirements. 

For case series, regardless of specialty, authors are encouraged to prepare the manuscript according to the AME Case Series Checklist (adapted from CARE and PROCESS checklist). Of note, for case series in surgery, authors are recommended to prepare the manuscript according to the PROCESS Checklist. Filled checklist and statement requirements for case series are similar as described for case reports above.

The reformatted CARE, AME Case Series and PROCESS checklists can be downloaded here: CARE, AME Case Series, PROCESS.

An ethical statement indicating whether written consent has been obtained from the subject (or their parent / guardian) is required for both case report and case series. See the “3.7.3 Ethical Statement” section for details.

2.4 Editorial
Word limit: 2500 words max. (excluding references, tables, and figures)
Abstract: Not required
References: 25 max. (including the article being discussed)
Figures and Tables: 2 max. (combined)
Description: An Editorial is defined as a comment on an article or articles published in SCI. Editorials are generally solicited by the editorial office and written by recognized leader(s) in the field. 

2.5 Editorial Commentary
Word Limit: 2,500 words max. (excluding references, tables, and figures).
Abstract: Not required.
References: 25 max.
Figures/Tables: 2 max in total.
Description: The Editors extend an invitation to an expert in the field to discuss a paper, report, or event from within the past few months, or in the near future. The problems addressed by the relevant paper/report/event should be considered within the wider context of the field.

2.6 Letter To The Editor
Word limit: 1,000 words max. (excluding references, tables, and figures)
Abstract: Not required.
References: 10 max.
Figures/tables: 1 max. (combined)
Description: We welcome the submission of letters regarding the content of the journal or other topics of interest to our readers. The journal may invite replies from the authors of the original publication, or forward letters to these authors. Correspondence is also referred to as a ‘Letter to the Editor’.

2.7 Methodology
Methodology articles should present a new experimental or computational method, test or procedure. The method described may either be completely new, or may offer a better version of an existing method. The article must describe a demonstrable advance on what is currently available. The method needs to have been well tested and ideally, but not necessarily, used in a way that proves its value.

2.8 Others
In general, SCI does not accept articles that fall outside the above-mentioned categories. If you have any questions regarding the article category for submission to SCI, please contact the Editorial Office at: editor@sci-online.org.

3. MANUSCRIPT SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS

The length of manuscripts must adhere to the specifications under the section “MANUSCRIPT CATEGORIES”.

Manuscripts should be presented in the following order: (i) Title page (title, running title, authors, institutions and affiliations, and Author contributions); (ii) abstract and keywords; (iii) the main text; (iv) Acknowledgments; (v) Footnote; (vi) References; (vii) Supplementary material; (viii) Figure legends; (ix) Tables (titled and with footnotes); (x) Figures (it is recommended that figures, tables and videos are provided in separate files).

Please note that changes to author information (except for the correction of grammatical errors) are not permitted after the manuscript has been accepted, nor can the manuscript be withdrawn after this point unless sufficient reasons are given.

3.1 Title Page
The title page should include: a) the title of the article; b) the authors’ full names and institutional affiliations; c) the address, telephone and fax numbers, and effective e-mail address of the corresponding author(s) (extremely important for subsequent timely communication); d) a running title of no more than 60 characters (including spaces); e) disclaimers (if applicable); f) word count; g) number of figures and tables.

3.2 Abstract And Keywords
The abstract must adhere to the specifications under the section ‘2. Manuscript Categories’. The abstracts of original articles (including systematic reviews with meta-analyses), systematic reviews without meta-analyses and narrative review should be structured. The abstracts for all the other manuscript types should be unstructured. The abstract should not contain any abbreviations or acronyms, citations, figures, or tables. General statements (e.g., “the significance of the results is discussed’’) should be avoided. After the Abstract, 3-5 keywords should be provided.

Where relevant, the clinical trial registration number should be included at the end of the abstract. For studies that have a registration number, this number should be included initially when a trial acronym is used to refer to the trial in the report or to other trials discussed in the paper. For data that have been deposited in a public repository and/or are the subject of analysis elsewhere, the distinctive, persistent data set identifier, the repository name, and the number should be included at the end of the abstract.

3.3 Text
Format: Text should be double-spaced throughout. The pages should be numbered.
Font: A clearly readable font (e.g., Arial, Calibri, Times New Roman, or Verdana) with 10 or 12 pt. font size.
Language: English. British or American spelling is acceptable but must be consistent throughout.

3.4 Author Contributions
This section is only required for original articles, review articles, systematic reviews, and meta-analyses. It describes the contribution each author made to the manuscript. Authorship credit should be based on: 1) substantial contributions to the conception and design of the study, acquisition of the data, or analysis and interpretation of the data; 2) drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content; and 3) the final approval of the version to be published. Authors should meet all three of these conditions.
Note: acquisition of funding, collection of data, language editing, or general supervision of the research group alone does not constitute authorship.

The ‘Author contributions’ section should be presented as follows:
(I) Conception and design:
(II) Administrative support:
(III) Provision of study materials or patients:
(IV) Collection and assembly of data:
(V) Data analysis and interpretation:
(VI) Manuscript writing: All authors
(VII) Final approval of manuscript: All authors

Note: 1. With VI and VII, “All authors” is obligatory, while the other credits are case-based; 2. The ‘Author contributions’ section is not required when there is only one author.

3.5 Data Citation
We are committed to improving openness, transparency, and reproducibility of research, and believe research data citation through standard reference lists offers an easy way to access data for reproducible research.

To support best practice in data citation, AME has endorsed the FORCE11 Data Citation Principles (https://www.force11.org/datacitationprinciples). According to the FORCE11 Data Citation Principles, data can be cited in the same way as article, book, and web citations, and authors are required to include data citations as part of their reference list.

Data citation is applicable for data held within institutional, subject-focused, or more general data repositories. When citing or making claims based on data, authors should refer to the data at the relevant place in the main text of the manuscript and include a formal citation in the reference list. We recommend the format proposed in the Joint Declaration of Data Citation Principles .

Below is an example of an in-text data citation:
[dataset] Authors; Year; Dataset title; Data repository or archive; Version (if any); Persistent identifier (e.g. DOI)

“[dataset]” should be included immediately before the reference so it can be properly identified as a data reference.

3.6 Acknowledgments
Textual material that names the parties that the author wishes to thank or recognize for their assistance (e.g., producing, funding, or inspiring the work, or assisting in the research on which the work was based).

All contributors who do not meet the criteria for authorship should be listed in the ‘Acknowledgments’ section. Examples of those who might be acknowledged include an individual who provided purely technical help, writing or language editing assistance, or a department chairperson who provided only general support. If a part of the manuscript has been presented elsewhere (e.g. meeting presentation/poster history), a corresponding statement should be provided in the acknowledgment section. Financial and material support should also be acknowledged.

The ‘Acknowledgments’ section should also detail all funding sources for the work in question. There must be a section “Funding” within the “Acknowledgments” section. If the research was carried out without funding, "None" should be stated in this section.

In providing details of funding, authors should adhere to the following guidance:

• The sentence should begin: ‘This work was supported by …’
• The full official funding agency name should be given, (i.e., ‘National Institute of Health’, not ‘NIH’). Grant numbers should be given in brackets (e.g., [grant number xxxx]).
• Multiple grant numbers should be separated by a comma (e.g. [grant numbers xxxx, yyyy]).
• Agencies should be separated by a semi-colon (with ‘and’ before the last funding agency)
• Where certain sources of funding were received by a specific author, the following text should be added after the relevant agency or grant number: ‘to [author initials]’.

Example: ‘This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health [AA123456 to C.S., BB765432 to M.H.]; and the Alcohol & Education Research Council [hfygr667789].’

3.7 Footnote

3.7.1 Reporting Checklist
For articles written in accordance with specific reporting guidelines, the author must include the “Reporting Checklist” section in the footnote and indicate, “The authors have completed the XXXX reporting checklist.”

If the manuscript is accepted for publication, the author’s completed checklist will be published online alongside the manuscript.

3.7.2 Conflicts Of Interest
All authors will be asked to fill in the ICMJE’s unified disclosure form (the latest version). The form could be downloaded at: https://cdn.amegroups.cn/static/public/coi_disclosure.docx. Each author should submit a separate form and is responsible for the accuracy and completeness of the submitted information. The corresponding author should use the information in the form completed by each author to create the COI statement for the manuscript. The statement (but not the forms) must be included along with the submission. The statement should include the initials of the author along with the conflicts of interest. The following examples show the format in which the Conflicts of Interest statement should appear in the manuscript:

“Conflicts of Interest: All authors have completed the ICMJE uniform disclosure form. The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.”

“Conflicts of Interest: All authors have completed the ICMJE uniform disclosure form. KSS and VS are former employees of Scanco Medical AG. NV is a current employee of Scanco Medical AG. The other authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.”

If the paper is accepted, the completed ICMJE’s unified disclosure forms will be required and will be published alongside the article.

For more about the journal’s policy on conflicts of interest, visit: https://sci.amegroups.org/page/about/conflicts-of-interest.

3.7.3 Ethical Statement
Statement #A is a must for every article, followed by statement #B.
Statement #B should be described ①based on the type of experimental research and article type; ②both in the Methods section and the “Ethical Statement” section of Footnote.

#A. (a Must) Statement for every article

(a) Please note that all articles submitted to our journal must include an Ethical Statement in Footnote, containing the following wording: “The authors are accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.”

(b) Written informed consent for the publication of details relating to an individual person must be obtained from that person (or their parent or legal guardian in the case of children under 18) for all manuscripts that include images, details, or videos. The consent must be for publication of their details under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) (such that they will be freely available on the internet). If the person has deceased, consent for publication must be acquired from their next of family. A statement that written informed consent for publication was obtained must be included in the manuscript.

To get consent for publication, authors can use the consent form (download the form for patient or the form for participant ) or a consent form from their own institution or region, if suitable. The consent form must specify that the details/images/videos will be freely available on the internet and that the general public will be able to view them. Authors do not need to provide a copy of the consent form to the editorial office; however, if the Editor requests it, the consent form must be provided and will be kept confidential.

Consent for image publication may not be necessary in circumstances where photographs are completely unidentified and there are no details on persons mentioned within the text. The Editor has the final say on whether or not consent to publish is required.

#B. (Based on research experiments type and article type)

(a) Human Experiments
For research involving human experiments, the article must include a statement that ethical approval was obtained (or a statement that it was not required and why), including the name of the ethics committee(s) or institutional review board(s), the number/ID of the approval(s), and a statement that the participants gave informed consent before taking part (or a statement that it was not required and why). Authors should also state that the study conformed to the provisions of the Declaration of Helsinki (as revised in 2013), available at: https://www.wma.net/policies-post/wma-declaration-of-helsinki-ethical-principles-for-medical-research-involving-human-subjects. For example:

(For prospective experiments) Ethical Statement: The authors are accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved. The trial was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki (as revised in 2013). The study was approved by institutional/regional/national ethics/committee/ethics board of ******* (NO.: the registration number of ethics board) and informed consent was taken from all individual participants.

(For retrospective experiments) Ethical Statement: The authors are accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved. The study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki (as revised in 2013). The study was approved by institutional/regional/national ethics/committee/ethics board of ******* (NO.: the registration number of ethics board) and individual consent for this retrospective analysis was waived.

(b) Animals Experiments
For any experiments involving animals, the authors must indicate the nature of the ethical review permissions, relevant licenses (e.g. Animal [Scientific Procedures] Act 1986), and national or institutional guidelines for the care and use of animals by which the research was conducted. Describe this information in both the “Method” section and the “Ethical Statement” section on Footnote. For example:

Ethical Statement: The authors are accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved. Experiments were performed under a project license (NO.: the license number) granted by institutional/regional/national ethics/committee/ethics board of *******, in compliance with ******* national or institutional guidelines for the care and use of animals.

(c) Case Report
In general, the submission of a Case Report should be accompanied by written consent from the subject (or their parent/guardian) before publication; this is particularly important where photographs are to be used or in cases where the unique nature of the incident being reported makes it possible for the subject to be identified. Authors should also state that the study conformed to the provisions of the Declaration of Helsinki (as revised in 2013), available at: https://www.wma.net/policies-post/wma-declaration-of-helsinki-ethical-principles-for-medical-research-involving-human-subjects. Please describe this information in both the “Case Presentation” section and the “Ethical Statement” section on Footnote. For example:

Ethical Statement: The authors are accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved. All procedures performed in this study were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee(s) and with the Helsinki Declaration (as revised in 2013). Written informed consent was obtained from the patient for publication of this case report and accompanying images. A copy of the written consent is available for review by the editorial office of this journal.

C. Additional Notes:
The Editorial Office may request copies of the informed consent documentation at any time. While the Editorial Board recognizes that it might not always be possible or appropriate to seek such consent, the onus will be on the authors to demonstrate that this exception applies in their case.

The Journal retains the right to reject any manuscript on the basis of unethical conduct in either human or animal studies.

3.8 References
Sources should be referenced according to the Vancouver reference style. In text references should be identified using numbers in round brackets. Where more than one number is required, they should appear consecutively [e.g., "cancer-related mortality (19)”; “denocarcinoma (29,30)”]. References (including in the text, tables and figure legends) should be numbered consecutively and consistently according to the order in which they first appear in the text.

The titles of journals should be abbreviated according to the style used in Index Medicus. For reports with up to three authors, all the author names should be listed. However, if a report has more than three authors, the first three authors should be listed followed by “et al.”

• McLeer-Florin A, Lantuéjoul S. Why technical aspects rather than biology explain cellular heterogeneity in ALK-positive nonsmall cell lung cancer. J Thorac Dis 2012;4:240-1.
• Lin X, Li W, Lai J, et al. Five-year update on the mouse model of orthotopic lung transplantation: Scientific uses, tricks of the trade, and tips for success. J Thorac Dis 2012;4:247-58.

For other styles of publication or Internet articles, see https://www.nlm.nih.gov/bsd/uniform_requirements.html.

Below are two examples for management of the reference:
a.     If you manage references manually or in other way, you could refer to the reference example below:
Lin X, Li W, Lai J, et al. Five-year update on the mouse model of orthotopic
lung transplantation: Scientific uses, tricks of the trade, and tips for success. J Thorac Dis 2012;4:247-58.
b.     If you use “Endnote” (a commercial reference management software package produced by Clarivate Analytics, used to manage bibliographies and references when writing essays and articles), the reference style file for AME journals can be directly downloaded here: https://cdn.amegroups.cn/static/public/reference-style.ens.

3.9 Tables
Tables should be self-contained and complement, but not duplicate, the information contained in the text. All tables should be numbered consecutively in the order in which they are mentioned in the text. Each table should be on a separate page; tables must be typed and editable in a tabular format that is convenient for copyediting and typesetting; they should not be inserted as images. Please refer to the examples for different cases.

Each column must have an appropriate heading and, if measurements are given, the units should be provided in the column heading. Column headings should be brief, with units of measurement in parentheses; all abbreviations must be defined in footnotes. Footnote symbols: †, ‡, §, ¶, should be used (in this order), and *, **, *** should be reserved for P-values. Statistical measures such as SD or SEM should be identified in the headings.

If the tables have been reproduced from another source, a letter or permission from the copyright holder (usually the publisher) authorizing the reproduction of the material must be submitted as supplemental material along with the manuscript.

3.10 Figures
All illustrations (line drawings and photographs) are classified as figures. Figures should be cited in the order in which they appear in the text. Magnifications should be indicated using a scale bar on the illustration. Please refer to the specification (file types, resolution, image size, file size etc.) for more detailed requirements.

If the figures have been reproduced from another source, a letter from the copyright holder (usually the publisher) authorizing the reproduction of the material must be attached to the covering letter.

Where illustrations include recognizable individuals, living or deceased, great care must be taken to ensure that consent for publication has been given (see Ethical Statement ). A statement like “This image is published with the patient/participant’s consent.” should be included at the end of the figure legend. Patient anonymity should be preserved. Photographs need to be cropped sufficiently to prevent human subjects from being recognized and the eyes and eyebrows (at a minimum) must be masked using Coarse Pixilation to make the individual unrecognizable.

In-text citations

• Cite figures with the format: Figure 1A, Figure 1B, Figure 2, Figure 3, etc. When consecutive subparts of a figure are cited, they should be cited as: Figure 1A-1D, Figure 2B-2L, etc.
• Cite figures in ascending numeric order upon first appearance in the manuscript file. This includes citations to text boxes and tables. In the published article, figures are inserted according to the placement of their first citation and caption in the article.
• Lettered subparts of whole figures may be cited in any order in the text if the first mention of each whole figure is in numerical order. For example, Figure 1 contains 4 subparts (ie: Figure 1A, 1B, 1C, 1D). These subparts should be cited consecutively, unless Figure 1 as a whole is already cited before Figure 1A, 1B, 1C, 1D.

3.11 Videos
The journal will accept digital files in mp4, flash video (flv.), MPEG (MPEG video file), DVD video, mov., avi., and mwv. formats or videos on CD / DVD. Contributors are asked to be succinct, and the editorial office reserves the right to request a shorter video if necessary. Video files can be submitted online at: https://sci.amegroups.org/pages/view/submit-multimedia-files

• Duration: Video files should be limited to 20 minutes.
• Quality: Please set the video aspect ratio as 4:3 or 16:9 (widescreen). The original video should be of high quality with the resolution > = 1280*720, the frame rate > = 24 frames per second and the bit rate > = 5 Mbps.
• In-video text: All text notes, explanations, or descriptions, etc. in the video must be provided in English. The logo or watermark of the hospital / institution should not appear on screen. Any patient information should be erased from the video.
• Video legends: Legends should be provided for the video files. The video files should be numbered consecutively in their order of reference in the text.

For promotion, all accepted videos will be subsequently included in AME Surgical Video Database (ASVIDE: https://www.asvide.com) and its youtube channel (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCA4NnVYmMW2NS5QrnLEVQNg).

3.12 Abbreviations And Symbols
Use only standard abbreviations; All abbreviations should be defined when they are first used in the text unless the abbreviation is a standard unit of measurement and a list of full terms should be provided in the manuscript.

3.13 Supplementary Appendix
The Supplementary Appendix should be paginated, with a table of contents, followed by the list of investigators (if there are any), text (such as methods), figures, tables, and then references. The supplementary appendix should not be included in the article’s reference list.

The Appendix must be submitted in a Word file. The Appendix will not be edited for style. It will be presented online as additional information provided by the authors.

The published article will contain a statement that supplementary material exists online and will provide the reader with a URL and / or link. Refer to the following example for how to reference the supplementary appendix in the text of the article: “Many more regressions were run than can be included in the article. The interested reader can find them in a supplementary appendix online.”

3.14 Equations
Equations should be numbered sequentially with Arabic numerals; these should appear right in parentheses. All variables should appear in italics. Use the simplest possible form for all mathematical symbols. For example:

• “a2+b2=c2” equations: normal text format.
• All other equations: a graphic of the entire equation should be produced using MathType and inserted into the main body of the text as an object.

4. STYLE OF THE MANUSCRIPT

Manuscripts must follow the style of the Vancouver agreement detailed in the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors’ revised ‘Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals: Writing and Editing for Biomedical Publication’, as presented at: http://www.ICMJE.org/.

• Author name: Each author’s given name should be followed by their surname. The first letter of the surname should be capitalized. A hyphen can be used in the surname depending on the rule in the author’s region.
  Note: Author names will be published exactly as they appear in the manuscript file. Please double-check the information carefully to make sure it is correct. If applicable, an ORCID should be placed after the name of the author.
  
• When abbreviating an author’s name, the first letter of each capitalized word will be used for the name’s abbreviation, i.e., “Shaoling Li” becomes “SL.” The first letter of the second name SHOULD NOT be capitalized, or else it will be included in the abbreviation. However, if the author wishes to use an abbreviation that includes their second name, they should write their second name using a hyphen to connect it with its anterior word, i.e., “Shao-Ling Li” to become “SLL.”
• Spelling: British or American spelling is acceptable but must be consistent throughout.
  
• Units: All measurements must be given in SI or SI derived units. For more information about SI units, please go to the Bureau International des Poids et Mesures (BIPM) website at: https://www.bipm.org/en/about-us/.
  
• Abbreviations must be used sparingly and only where they ease the reader’s task by reducing repetition of long, technical terms. Initially, the full term should be given, followed by the abbreviation in parentheses. Thereafter, only the abbreviation should appear.
  
• Trade names: Drugs should be referred to by their generic names. If proprietary drugs have been used in the study, these should be referred to by their generic name, with the proprietary name and the name and location of the manufacturer mentioned in parentheses.

5. AUTHORSHIP AND CONTRIBUTORSHIP

For specification, please refer to: https://sci.amegroups.org/page/about/authorship-and-contributorship

6. COPYRIGHT AND PERMISSIONS

For specification, please refer to: https://sci.amegroups.org/page/about/copyright-and-permission

7. PEER REVIEW PROCESS

For specification, please refer to: https://sci.amegroups.org/pages/view/peer-review-process

8. ARTICLE PROCESSING CHARGES

For specification, please refer to: https://sci.amegroups.org/pages/view/article-processing-charges

9. PROOFS
Page proofs will be sent to the author via e-mail. Page proofs should be returned within three working days, preferably by e-mail. Corrections should be marked on the actual proof and provided in a numbered list. Lengthy additions should be avoided but, when necessary, should be provided in an MS Word file with explicit instructions regarding placement.

10. OFFPRINTS AND REPRINTS
Authors will be sent a free URL link to the published online article for their personal use. Authors who wish to purchase hard-copy offprints should fill in the offprint order form, which will be sent with the author’s proof. Orders should be sent to the Editorial Office. Orders for reprints should be sent to the Publisher’s Office.

11. SUBMITTING AND TRACKING MANUSCRIPTS
All articles are submitted and the entire review process is managed electronically through the ScholarOne system (https://mc03.manuscriptcentral.com/sci), which has been developed to provide authors with a straightforward online submission process.

For any questions, please contact our Editorial Office by e-mail: editor@sci-online.org.

References
1. Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly work in Medical Journals: http://www.icmje.org/recommendations/.
2. CODE OF CONDUCT AND BEST PRACTICE GUIDELINES FOR JOURNAL EDITORS: https://publicationethics.org/files/Code_of_conduct_for_journal_editors.pdf.

Updated on September 05, 2022