Table of Contents
TYPES OF MANUSCRIPTS PUBLISHED
MANUSCRIPT PREPARATION AND FORMATTING INSTRUCTIONS
As an international, peer-reviewed, open access research publication, Spine Research publishes the foremost progress and novel understanding of all aspects of spine science, including basic science, clinical investigations and medical engineering. The aim of the Journal is to foster the worldwide dissemination of research in spine-related physiology, pathology, diseases, treatment and innovative technology, as well as other significant findings related to spine.
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Authors
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Duplicate Publication
Manuscripts are reviewed for possible publication with the understanding that they are being submitted only to the
Spine Research and have not been published, simultaneously submitted, or already accepted for publication elsewhere. The Editorial team may subject any manuscript submitted for consideration of publication in the
Spine Research to plagiarism-detection software.
This does not preclude consideration of a manuscript that has been rejected by another journal or a complete report that follows publication of preliminary findings elsewhere, usually in the form of an abstract. Copies of any possibly duplicate published material should be submitted with the manuscript under consideration, with a statement in the cover letter as to why the manuscript currently being submitted is not a duplicate publication.
Authorship
Spine Research expects that each person listed as an author has participated sufficiently in the intellectual content, the analysis of data, and/or the writing of the manuscript to take public responsibility for it. Each author must have reviewed the manuscript, believes it represents valid work, and approves it for submission.
Moreover, should the Editorial team request the data upon which the manuscript is based, the authors shall produce it. Each author's specific contributions to the work should be indicated; this information will be published as a footnote to the paper. For example, the areas of participation might include:
Participated in research design
Participated in the writing or critical revision of the paper
Participated in the performance of the research
Contributed new reagents or analytic tools
Participated in data analysis
An author may list more than one contribution, and more than one author may have contributed to the same aspect of the work. Manuscripts with any change in authorship/contributions after submission must be resubmitted as a new manuscript.
Plagiarism
As defined by the World Association of Medical Editors (http://www.wame.org/resources/publication-ethics-policies-for-medical-journals), plagiarism is the use of others' published and unpublished ideas or words (or other intellectual property) without attribution or permission, and presenting them as new and original rather than derived from an existing source. The intent and effect of plagiarism is to mislead the reader as to the contributions of the plagiarizer. This applies whether the ideas or words are taken from abstracts, research grant applications, Institutional Review Board applications, or unpublished or published manuscripts in any publication format (print or electronic).
Spine Research is a member of CrossCheck by CrossRef and iThenticate. iThenticate is a plagiarism screening service that verifies the originality of content submitted before publication. iThenticate checks submissions against millions of published research papers, and billions of web content. Authors, researchers and freelancers can also use iThenticate to screen their work before submission by visiting http://www.ithenticate.com.
All allegations of plagiarism are investigated in accordance with the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidelines detailed at https://publicationethics.org/files/u7140/plagiarism%20A.pdf. When plagiarism is detected at any time before or after publication, the journal editorial office will take appropriate action as directed by the standards set forth by COPE. If plagiarism is found, the author, the author's institution and funding agencies, and the original publication will be notified. A statement noting the plagiarism, providing a reference to the plagiarized material, and information the original paper may follow. Depending on the extent of the plagiarism, the paper may also be formally retracted. For additional information, please visit http://www.publicationethics.org.
Financial Support and Disclosure of Conflicts
Authors must state all possible conflicts of interest in the manuscript, including financial, consultant, institutional and other relationships that might lead to bias or a conflict of interest. If there is no conflict of interest, this should also be explicitly stated as none declared. All sources of funding should be acknowledged in the manuscript.
All relevant conflicts of interest and sources of funding should be included on the title page of the manuscript with the heading "Conflicts of Interest" and “Funding Source".
For example: “Conflicts of Interest: A has received honoraria from Company Z. B is currently receiving a grant (#12345) from Organization Y, and is on the speaker's bureau for Organization X - the CME organizers for Company A. For the remaining authors none were declared."
“Source of Funding": list all the grant supports/funders for the study.
A financial disclosure section is part of the submission process and must be completed by each author at first revision. This information is for review by the Editors but will be published if relevant to the content of the accepted manuscript.
The primary purpose of the disclosure section is to determine whether authors have received any commercial financial support that could create a conflict of interest. In addition to monetary interests, a potential for conflict of interest can exist whether or not an individual believes that a relationship (such as dual commitments, competing interests, or competing loyalties) affects his or her scientific judgment. Please review ICMJE Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals at the following link:
https://www.icmje.org/disclosure-of-interest/
Ethics
When reporting studies on human subjects, author should indicate whether the procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation (institutional or regional) and with the Declaration of Helsinki (https://www.wma.net/policies-post/wma-declaration-of-helsinki/). For prospective studies involving human participants, authors are expected to mention about approval of regional/national/institutional or independent ethics committee or review board, obtaining informed consent from adult research participants and obtaining assent for children aged over 7 years participating in the trial. The age beyond which assent would be required could vary as per regional and/or national guidelines. Ensure confidentiality of subjects by desisting from mentioning participants' names, initials or hospital numbers, especially in illustrative material. When reporting experiments on animals, indicate whether the institution's or a national research council's guide for, or any national law on the care and use of laboratory animals was followed.
Evidence for approval by a local ethics committee (for both human as well as animal studies) must be supplied by the authors on demand. Animal experimental procedures should be as humane as possible, and the details of anesthetics and analgesics used should be clearly stated. The ethical standards of experiments must be in accordance with the guidelines provided by the ARRIVE and World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki on Ethical Principles for Medical Research Involving experimental animals and human beings, respectively. The journal will not consider any paper which is ethically unacceptable. A statement on ethics committee permission and ethical practices must be included in all research articles under the “Methods" section.
We reserve the right to decline publication of a paper even after it has been accepted if it becomes apparent that there are serious problems with the scientific content or violations of our publishing policies.
Studies in Humans and Animals
If the work involves the use of human subjects, the author should ensure that the work described has been carried out in accordance with The Code of Ethics of the World Medical Association (Declaration of Helsinki) for experiments involving humans. The manuscript should be in line with the Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals and aim for the inclusion of representative human populations (sex, age and ethnicity) as per those recommendations. The terms sex and gender should be used correctly.
Authors should include a statement in the manuscript that informed consent was obtained for experimentation with human subjects. The privacy rights of human subjects must always be observed.
For studies involving minors and vulnerable people groups, obtaining assent is required and it should be clearly stated in the text that assent has been provided. The age beyond which assent is required may vary per regional and/or national guidelines. Authors must protect the confidentiality of subjects and must not communicate participants' names, initials, or medical record numbers.
Authors describing studies involving animals must have consulted the 'Animal Research: Reporting In Vivo Experiments' (ARRIVE) 2.0 guidelines, developed by the NC3Rs to improve standards of reporting, ensuring that the data from animal experiments can be fully scrutinized and utilized. Articles reporting in vivo experiments must adhere to the ARRIVE Essential 10 checklist as a minimum, and we encourage authors to use the full ARRIVE 2.0 checklist. The relevant information outlined in these guidelines should be included in the appropriate section of the article.
Protection of Patients' Rights to Privacy
Identifying information should not be published in written descriptions, photographs, sonograms, CT scans, etc., and pedigrees unless the information is essential for scientific purposes and the patient (or parent or guardian, wherever applicable) gives written informed consent for publication. Authors should remove patients' names from figures unless they have obtained written informed consent from the patients. The journal abides by ICMJE guidelines: (1) Authors, not the journals nor the publisher, need to have the patient consent form before the publication related to patient privacy and have the form properly archived by the author. (2) If the publication includes some facial images that make the patients identifiable, a statement about the patient's consent needs to be present in the manuscript.
Reporting of Randomized Clinical Trials
Registration of Clinical Trials is an essential requirement for publication of clinical trials in Spine Research. On the title page of your manuscript, provide the name of the trial registry and the registration number/identifier of the trial.
Acceptable web-based clinical trial registries include the following:
EudraCT at https://eudract.ema.europa.eu for EU trials
ClinicalTrials.gov at www.clinicaltrials.gov for US trials
The UK's Clinical Study Registry found at https://www.isrctn.com/
WHO International Trial Registry Network found at https://www.who.int/clinical-trials-registry-platform
Australian & New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry, found at http://www.anzctr.org.au/
Chinese Clinical Trail Registry (https://www.chictr.org.cn)
Reporting Guidelines
Spine Research strongly recommend authors to utilize the below and other reporting guidelines (find all reporting guidelines from:
https://www.equator-network.org/) when drafting their manuscripts. Authors should be able to provide the completed checklists when required by the Editorial Office.
| Guideline | Study Type | URL |
| ARRIVE | In vivo animal experiments | https://arriveguidelines.org/ |
| STROBE | Observational studies (cohort, case-control, cross-sectional) | https://www.strobe-statement.org/ |
| CONSORT | Randomized controlled trials | www.consort-spirit.org |
| SQUIRE | Quality improvement projects | https://www.squire-statement.org/ |
| PRISMA | Systematic reviews and meta-analyses | https://www.prisma-statement.org |
| STARD | Studies of diagnostic accuracy | https://pubs.rsna.org/doi/full/10.1148/radiol.2015151516 |
| CARE | Case reports | https://www.care-statement.org/ |
| AGREE | Clinical practice guidelines | https://www.agreetrust.org/ |
Qualitative Research
Qualitative research provides in-depth insights about people's values, attitudes, beliefs, and experiences. Qualitative methodology informs approaches to data collection and analysis, and includes grounded theory, ethnography, and phenomenology. Open-ended interviews and focus groups are commonly used to collect data. Authors are advised to follow the COREQ guidelines for reporting primary qualitative research. Please visit:
http://intqhc.oxfordjournals.org/content/19/6/349.full.pdf
Systematic review and/or synthesis of primary qualitative studies can provide a broader understanding of people's perspectives. Methodologies for synthesis of qualitative research include thematic synthesis, meta-ethnography, and critical interpretive synthesis. Authors can refer to the ENTREQ statement at
http://www.biomedcentral.com/content/pdf/1471-2288-12-181.pdf
Data Availability Statement
Spine Research requires authors to include in any articles that report results derived from research data to include a Data Availability Statement. The provision of a Data Availability Statement will be verified as a condition of publication. Data Availability Statements should include information on where data supporting the results reported in the article can be found including, where applicable, a description of the publicly archived datasets analyzed or generated during the study, not a hyperlink. Where research data are not publicly available, this must be stated in the manuscript along with any conditions for accessing the data. Data Availability Statements must take one of the following forms (or a combination of more than one if required for multiple types of research data):
The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available in the [NAME] repository
The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are not publicly available due [REASON WHY DATA ARE NOT PUBLIC] but are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
Data sharing not applicable to this article as no datasets were generated or analyzed during the current study.
All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article [and its supplementary information files].
The data that support the findings of this study are available from [third party name] but restrictions apply to the availability of these data, which were used under license for the current study, and so are not publicly available. Data are however available from the authors upon reasonable request and with permission of [third party name].
Generative AI Policy
Authors who use generative AI and AI-assisted technologies (AI tools) in the writing of a manuscript, production of images or graphical elements of the paper, or in the collection and analysis of data, must be transparent in disclosing in the manuscript which AI tool was used and how it was used. Authors are fully responsible for the content of their submitted manuscript, including any parts produced by an AI tool, and are thus liable for any breach of publication ethics. The specific AI tool used, and its purpose should be described in the
Methods or
AI Statement section. For further guidance, please refer to the
Ethical Best Practices in Scholarly Publishing for Lippincott's policy on generative AI use for authors and journals.
Spine Research operates a single-blind external peer review process, wherein the reviewers are aware of author's identity, however the authors don't. Brief introduction on editorial review process of the journal:
On submission, editors review all submitted manuscripts initially for suitability for formal review. Manuscripts with insufficient originality, serious scientific or technical flaws, or lack of a significant message are rejected before proceeding for formal peer-review. Manuscripts that are unlikely to be of interest to the readers of the journal are also liable to be rejected at this stage.
Manuscripts that are found suitable for potential publication of the journal are sent to a minimum of two independent expert reviewers to assess the scientific quality of the manuscript. Authors submitting manuscripts to Spine Research may propose suitable reviewers or oppose reviewers who may have competing interests. The proposed reviewers should not be affiliated with the same institutes as the contributor(s). However, the selection of these reviewers is at the sole discretion of the editor, who selects reviewers to reflect relevant expertise, diversity, and geographical backgrounds.
Peer reviewers have access to the submitted manuscript and any appendices included by the authors. If the paper is a randomized controlled trial, peer reviewers will also have access to the trial protocol. Peer review assists editors in their decision on whether to publish an article and helps authors revise and improve their manuscripts. Peer reviewers make suggestions for improvements, critique the analysis, point out relevant published work which is not yet cited, and provide recommendations to the authors and the editors. At Spine Research, reviewers are aware of authors' identities, meantime, reviewers' comments are sent to the authors anonymously. Details of peer review including dates and peer review comments are not shared publicly. Reviewed articles are treated confidentially prior to their publication.
Based on the comments from the reviewers, the handling editor takes an acceptance decision on the manuscript and convey the comments and suggestions (acceptance/ rejection/ amendments in manuscript) to the corresponding author, who is requested to provide a point-by-point response to reviewers' comments and submit a revised version of the manuscript. This process is repeated until reviewers and editors are satisfied with the manuscript. Manuscripts are accepted on the basis of quality, originality, significance, novelty, and importance for the field.
Manuscripts received from Editorial Board Members will be screened by the Editor-in-Chief and sent to external peer reviewers. The Editorial Board Members, who submit manuscripts to the journal as authors or co-authors, will be excluded from publication decisions.
Manuscripts received from Editor-in-Chief will be handled by the other co-Editor-in-Chief or one of the Associate Editor of the journal and will be sent to external peer reviewers. The contributing Editor-in-Chief will be excluded from decision-making of his/her manuscript.
Editors are not involved in decisions about papers which they have written themselves or have been written by family members or colleagues or whoever relate to products or services in which the editor has an interest. Any such submission is subject to the journal's standard procedures, with peer review handled independently of the relevant editor and their research groups.
Peer Review for Special Issues
All invited guest editors should have expertise in the chosen topic as evidenced in their research activities and publication record. A guest editor will typically be responsible for soliciting papers under the overseer of EiC and won't be involved in editorial and peer review process. Peer Reviewing Procedure of all articles appearing in the special issues should conform to the standard editorial and publication policies as outlined for the journal. Although appearing as part of a special issue, all articles should conform to the same quality standard as any journal paper. This implies that each manuscript will be original, not be published elsewhere in a journal and will be peer reviewed by at least two specialists in the field. The Editor-in-Chief follows best practice guidance provided by the Publisher to ensure the selection of qualified peer reviewers, and makes the final decisions to all special issue articles.
Appeal
The authors have the right to appeal if they have a genuine cause to believe that the editorial board has wrongly rejected the paper. If the authors wish to appeal against the editorial decision, they should email the editorial office (email: spineresearch@pub.hep.cn.) explaining in detail the reason for the appeal. The appeals will be acknowledged by the editorial office and will be investigated in an unbiased manner. The processing of appeals will be done within 6–8 weeks. While under appeal, the said manuscript should not be submitted to other journals. The final decision rests with the Editor-in-Chief of the journal. Second appeals are not considered.
TYPES OF MANUSCRIPTS PUBLISHED
| Type | Text Word Count | Abstract Word Guideline | Figures/Tables | References |
| Original research | 6,000 | 400 words, structured into: Background, Methods, Results and Conclusions. | 10 | 50 |
| Review | 6,000
| 400 words, unstructured | 10 | 100 |
| Systematic Review | 6,000 | 400 words, structured into: Background, Methods, Results and Conclusions. | 10 | 50 |
| Meta-Analysis | 6,000 | 400 words, structured into: Background, Methods, Results and Conclusions. | 10 | 50 |
Consensus and Guideline | No requirement | 400 words, unstructured | No requirement | No requirement |
| Case Report | 1,000 | 400 words, unstructured | 5 | 10 |
| Perspective | 1,000 | No abstract | No requirement | No requirement |
| Letters to the Editor | 1,000 | No abstract | 2 | 10 |
| Editorial | 1,000 | No abstract | 2 | 10 |
Original Research: It is full-length reports of completed basic, translational, or clinical research. Articles should report important, novel and fully completed studies with strong conclusions. Authors are encouraged to be concise, the length of an Original Research article is preferably within 6,000 words. Articles have a structured abstract of maximum 400 words, including Background, Methods, Results and Conclusions.
Review: Spine Research welcome rigorous, balanced reviews on topics of interest to the field. If you have a concern about whether your topic fits within the scope of the journal, please contact the journal's editor. All review articles undergo the same peer-review and editorial process as original research reports.
Systematic Review: Systematic Review presents a comprehensive and unbiased synthesis of all available evidence on a clearly formulated research question. It employs systematic and explicit methods to identify, select, critically appraise, and analyze relevant studies. Authors must adhere to the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines to ensure methodological rigor and transparency. The recommended length is 6,000, and it should include a structured abstract.
Meta Analysis: Only results of meta analysis are reported in this kind of article. The length of the article is about 6,000 words (not including tables, figures, and references).The meta analysis should have the following headings: Keywords, Abstract, Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion, Reference, Tables, and Legends in that order. Authors must adhere to the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines to ensure methodological rigor and transparency. It should include a structured abstract.
Consensus and Guideline: Official recommendations from professional organizations on issues related to clinical practice and health care delivery. Spine Research is flexible with length, reference, and other format requirements given the variability in the format of guidelines developed by different organizations. A concise table or concise graphic summarizing the recommendations and other key points is desirable. Guidelines that meet standards (http://www.equator-network.org/) will fare more favorably than those that do not.
Case Report: New, interesting and rare cases can be reported. They should be unique, describing a great diagnostic or therapeutic challenge and providing a learning point for the readers. Cases with clinical significance or implications will be given priority. These communications could be of up to 1,000 words (excluding Abstract and references) and should have the following headings: Abstract (unstructured), Keywords, Introduction, Case report, Discussion, Reference, Tables and Legends in that order. All the components that are required in Abstract (unstructured) based on the reporting guidelines (CARE).
Perspective: Articles that advance a particular viewpoint will be considered Perspectives, but they must acknowledge alternate views. Perspectives should be written within the context of an informed consideration of the state of the art of the topic. Views should be defended with published literature to the extent possible.
Letter to the Editor: Information of a high interest to the community and information on other pertinent subjects should be submitted as a Letter to the Editor. Letters are expected to provide substantive comments on papers published in the journal within the previous 6 months. Letters may be sent for peer review. A second type of Letter includes comments on articles already published in
Spine Research. The authors of the original publication will be contacted for a response, which if accepted, will publish in the same issue as the Letter to the Editor.
Editorial: It is invited articles to explain the importance of specific articles or to provide opinions on general concepts in practice, research, or policy.
MANUSCRIPT PREPARATION AND FORMATTING INSTRUCTIONS
Manuscripts must be written in clear, grammatical English. Manuscripts not conforming to Journal format will be returned to authors for modification. It is recommended that authors adjust the format and content of their manuscript according to the provided template. Please double space the entire main body document and number each page. Do not add line numbers as the system will generate those when the PDF is built.
The Manuscript Temple for Original Research.docx
The Manuscript Temple for review.docxThe Manuscript Temple for editorial.docx
Original Research Articles should include the sections listed below.
1. Title Page
Following Pages:
2. Abstract
3. Introduction
4. Methods
5. Results
6. Discussion
7. Conclusions
8. Acknowledgment
9. Ethical statement
10. Conflicts of Interest
11. Funding source
12. Data availability statement
13. Author contributions
14. AI statement
15. References
1. Title Page
The title page must include:
a. Title of the article. Titles should clearly and concisely describe the contents of the paper and include the animals, participants, or cells studied.
b. The names of all authors (first name, middle initial, last name)
c. Author Affiliations (departmental and institutional) at the time the research was done.
d. Disclaimers, if any.
e. Sources of support for the work; include sponsor names along with explanations of the role of those sources if any in study design; collection, analysis, and interpretation of data; writing of the report; any restrictions regarding the submission of the report for publication; or a statement declaring that the supporting source had no such involvement or restrictions regarding publication.
f. Conflict of Interest and Funding Disclosure – List any existing financial arrangements between an author and a company whose product figures prominently in the submitted manuscript or between the author and any company or organization sponsoring the research reported in the submitted manuscript. If an author has no conflicts of interest, list the author's name, followed by “no conflicts of interest." Additional guidance is provided under Journal Policies, Conflicts of Interest.
g. Corresponding Author's name, mailing address, telephone number, and e-mail address
2. Abstract
A properly constructed and informative abstract is helpful for the initial editorial review of the submitted manuscript. Original Research, Meta Analysis and Systematic Review articles must include a structured abstract that contains no more than 400 words, is written in complete sentences, and includes the following headings:
Background: Provide 1 or 2 sentences that explain the context of the study. And then state the precise objective, the specific hypothesis to be tested, or both.
Methods: Describe the study design, including the use of cells, animal models, or human subjects. Identify the control group. Identify specific methods, procedures, and if appropriate, statistical analysis used. Describe interventions, if used.
Results: Report the most important findings, including results of statistical analyses.
Conclusions: Summarize in 1 or 2 sentences the primary outcomes of the study, including their potential clinical importance, if relevant (avoid generalizations). Include the participants, animals, or cells studied.
(If applicable) Clinical Trial Registry number and website where it was obtained (please provide a description to the trial page, preferably the English-language version).
(If applicable) Registry and registry number for systematic reviews or meta-analyses. An appropriate registry for systematic reviews and meta-analyses is PROSPERO. Please note that PROSPERO does not allow for post-completion registration of studies.
Review articles, Guideline and Consensus, and case reports should include an unstructured abstract (no more than 400 words) that states the purpose of the article and emphasizes the major concepts and conclusions.
Any abbreviations used in the abstract should be defined in the abstract at first mention.
Below the abstract, provide 5–10 keywords or short phrases, including the subject group, that will help to increase the discoverability of your manuscript; do not use adjectives. Terms that are fundamental to your manuscript but are not included in your manuscript title or abstract are especially important to include to increase discoverability by indexing services such as PubMed.
Please note that during manuscript submission, you will be asked to supply keywords to assist the editors in identifying suitable reviewers for your manuscript. Keywords for reviewer searches should include the terms most fundamental to your manuscript and may differ from your list of keywords for publication.
3. Introduction
Describe clearly the background to the research conducted and the specific objectives. This should not be a comprehensive review of the literature, however. State the specific objective/hypothesis and the rationale of the study. Do not include methods, data, results, or conclusions from the work being reported.
4. Methods
The Methods should include and describe the following aspects:
Ethics
When reporting studies on human beings, authors should indicate whether the procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation (institutional or regional) and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2024 (available at https://www.wma.net/policies-post/wma-declaration-of-helsinkiethicalprinciples-for-medical-research-involving-humansubjects/). For prospective studies involving human participants, authors are expected to mention about approval of regional/national/institutional or independent ethics committee or review board, obtaining informed consent from adult research participants and obtaining assent for children aged over 7 years participating in the trial. The age beyond which assent would be required could vary as per regional and/or national guidelines. Ensure confidentiality of subjects by desisting from mentioning participants including names, initials or hospital numbers, especially in illustrative material.
When reporting experiments on animals, authors must confirm that all experiments were performed in accordance with relevant guidelines and regulations. For the anesthesia and euthanasia of animals, authors are advised to consult the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) Guidelines for the Euthanasia of Animals (2020). the ARRIVE 2.0 reporting guidelines (https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3000411) is also recommended when documenting animal studies.
Evidence for approval by a local ethics committee (for both human as well as animal studies) must be supplied by the authors on demand. The ethical standards of experiments must be in accordance with the guidelines provided by the CPCSEA and World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki on Ethical Principles for Medical Research Involving Humans for studies involving experimental animals and human beings, respectively. The journal will not consider any paper which is ethically unacceptable. A statement on ethics committee permission and ethical practices must be included in all research articles under the “Methods" section.
Study design
Selection and description of participants
Describe your selection of the observational or experimental participants (patients or laboratory animals, including controls) clearly, including eligibility and exclusion criteria and a description of the source population.
Technical information
Identify the methods, apparatus (give the manufacturer's name and address in parentheses), and procedures in sufficient detail to allow other workers to reproduce the results.
Give references to established methods, including statistical methods; provide references and brief descriptions for methods that have been published but are not well known; describe new or substantially modified methods, give reasons for using them, and evaluate their limitations. Identify precisely all drugs and chemicals used, including generic name(s), dose(s), and route(s) of administration.
Reports of randomized clinical trials should present information on all major study elements, including the protocol, assignment of interventions (methods of randomization, concealment of allocation to treatment groups), and the method of masking (blinding), based on the CONSORT Statement (http://www.consort-statement.org).
5. Results
Present your results in a logical sequence in the text, tables, and figures. Do not present specifics of data more than once and do not duplicate data from tables or figures in the text. Do not present data from individual subjects except for very compelling reasons. Report losses to observation (such as dropouts from a clinical trial). Use boldface for the first mention of each table or figure.
For statistical analysis:
Report actual P values rather than thresholds: not just whether the P value was above or below the significant-difference threshold. Example: write "P = 0.18", not "P > 0.05" or "P = NS."
P should be expressed to 2 digits for P ≥ 0.01, because expressing P to more than 3 digits does not add useful information. If P < 0.001, it should be expressed as P < 0.001, rather than P < 0.0001 or P = 0.00001 for example. In certain types of studies, it may be important to express P values to more significant digits. Please consult the AMA Manual of Style for further direction.
References should be numbered consecutively, in the order in which they are cited in the text, and should be formatted in AMA style. Citations in the reference list should include all named authors. Any in press articles cited within the references and necessary for the reviewers' assessment of the manuscript should be made available if requested by the editorial office.
The journal uses American Medical Association (AMA) style. References should begin on a separate page and numbered in the order in which they are cited in the text, where they are designated by superscript numbers placed outside periods and commas, and inside colons and semicolons. Only published works and manuscripts that have been accepted for publication should be listed in the References. Manuscripts in preparation, unpublished observations, and personal communications should be referred to in parentheses in the text. Completed manuscripts submitted for publication may be cited as footnotes to the text (see above, Footnotes). If these are subsequently accepted, the author may transfer them to the reference section in galley proof.
References Format. No more than six authors should be listed. If there are seven or more, only the first three followed by ''et al.'' should be included. Titles of journal articles must be included, and abbreviation of journal names should conform to Index Medicus style.
For information on AMA style, please visit http://www.amamanualofstyle.com.
Two authors:
Ahmed KA, Xiang J. Mechanisms of cellular communication through intercellular protein transfer. J Cell Mol Med. 2011; 15(7): 1458-73.
More than seven authors:
Ali JM, Bolton EM, Bradley JA, et al. Allorecognition pathways in transplant rejection and tolerance. Transplantation 2013; 96(8): 681-8.
Organization as author:
CDC. Prevention of herpes zoster: recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). MMWR Recomm Rep 2008; 57(RR-5): 1-30.
Donation after Circulatory Death. British Transplant Society. Available at: British Transplantation Society – Guidelines & Standards. Accessed August 1, 2013.
Figures and Tables:
Each figure/table should be numbered and cited in sequence using Arabic numerals (i.e., Table 1, 2, 3, etc.). Titles for tables should appear above the table, titles for figures should appear below the figure. Please note that it is the responsibility of the author(s) to obtain permission from the copyright holder(s) to reproduce figures or tables that have previously been published elsewhere. If the author(s) obtain permission, please add “Reprinted from Graziano et al. with permission, copyright xxx[1]" in the relative figure legend.
Tables: Photographs of tables are not acceptable. Type each table, double-spaced throughout (including column headings, footnotes, and data), on a separate page. Tables may be included as part of the Main Body file and placed after the References section. Number the tables in sequence in Arabic numerals and supply a concise, informative title for each one. Each column in the tables should carry a concise heading describing the data in the column. Use lowercase superscript letters to designate footnotes, and type the footnotes below the tables to which they refer. Tables are cited in the text in numerical order. Each table should be able to be understood without consulting the text.
Like text, tables should be prepared using a standard word-processing program and may be included within the main body text document or uploaded separately. Do not upload table files more than once (that is, in the main document and in separate files).
Acceptable document file types for tables include .DOC and .DOCX; do not submit PDF, XLS or XLSX type files.
Figures and Legends: Figures should be uploaded in the highest resolution available. Legends should be supplied for all figures. They are numbered to correspond with the figures and typed double-spaced on a separate page. Figure legends for any supplemental figures being submitted are to be provided separately; see section, Supplemental Digital Content (SDC).
Acceptable figure file formats
Do not embed figures into the main body file
All final digital figures for accepted manuscripts should be submitted in eps, tiff, jpg, png, or svg. PowerPoint PPT format is permitted when the image resolution is very high.
Each figure must be uploaded as a separate file.
Provide a brief caption (1–2 sentences) summarizing the key information of each figure in legend.
If the figure is a composite (containing multiple subfigures), label each subfigure using uppercase letters A, B, C, etc., rather than lowercase letters. We recommend using Arial font for the labels, in either black or white (contrast with the figure). Do not enclose the letters in parentheses () or other similar symbols, and position each label in the top-left corner of its corresponding subfigure.
Histology figures must be in color.
Monochrome images (such as line graphs) should be prepared at a resolution of 1200 DPI.
Halftones images (black/white or color) should be prepared at a resolution of 300 DPI.
Combination halftones (images containing both pictures and text labeling) should be prepared at 600 DPI.
Color images must be saved as ''CMYK''. Images saved as ''RGB'' are not acceptable for printing.
Your manuscript may be returned to you for correction if the images are of insufficient quality.
Appropriate use of the English language is a requirement for publication in the Spine Research. Authors having difficulty in writing in English who submit manuscripts to international journals often receive negative comments from referees or editors about the English-language usage in their manuscripts, and these challenges can contribute to a decision to reject a paper. To help reduce the possibility of such problems, we strongly encourage such authors consider using Wolters Kluwer Author Services**.
Wolters Kluwer Author Services
Wolters Kluwer, in partnership with Editage, offers a unique range of editorial services to help you prepare a submission-ready manuscript:
Premium Editing: Intensive language and structural editing of academic papers to increase chances of journal acceptance.
Advanced Editing: A complete language, grammar, and terminology check to give you a publication-ready manuscript.
Translation with Editing: Write your paper in your native language and Wolters Kluwer Author Services will translate it into English, as well as edit it to ensure that it meets international publication standards.
Plagiarism Check: Helps ensure that your manuscript contains no instances of unintentional plagiarism.
ONLINE MANUSCRIPT SUBMISSION
New Submissions
Once the manuscript has been created, visit the submission site at
https://www.editorialmanager.com/spres/default.aspx. to upload the manuscript. Once the manuscript has been vetted for compliance to the Journal's requirements, a manuscript number will be assigned to the submission. Failure to adhere to these guidelines will result in your manuscript being returned to you for correction. Faxed, scanned, or emailed copies of manuscripts will not be accepted.
Revised Submissions
Mandatory Author Forms: Upon first revision, authors will be required to complete a License to Publish Form (LTP). LTP forms are required of every author listed on the submission. Please ensure each author's email address is properly listed on the footnotes page of your manuscript to avoid delays in reaching authors. Manuscripts will not pass to production without completed forms. LTP forms are available from the submission site homepage https://www.editorialmanager.com/spres/default.aspx.
All revised submissions require a point-by-point response to the reviewers' comments. Please upload this document as file type Response to Reviewers.
Changes made in the revised manuscript should be indicated using highlighted, bold, or underlined text. Upload both a Marked and a Clean version of the revised manuscript. File types are provided for both versions.
A requirement of all revisions is the artwork quality check as described above (see
Figures and Legends).
Revised manuscripts should be submitted within the deadline specified in the decision letter. Please contact us for an extension of the due date if it is not possible to submit the revision within that period, or should you desire to withdraw the manuscript from further consideration.
Revisions should adhere to original specifications for the submission type. Sometimes changes made in response to the decision/critiques may bring the revised manuscript out of compliance (e.g., over the word count and/or table/figure limit) with original specifications. This may be allowed by the Editor but must be noted in the point-by-point response.
Submitting Invited Videos
Authors may want or be invited to submit videos to the Journal's website. The videos will serve to emphasize key aspects of the research findings reported in their soon to be published manuscript. Please visit Stand Alone Video Format Requirements https://bit.ly/VMxbrb to download full specifications and instructions for preparing these invited videos.
The Journal does not support submissions consisting solely of stand-alone videos without accompanying manuscript text. All videos should be associated with a corresponding article, and the written content should comply with the requirements of the selected article type. Detailed formatting and structural requirements for each article category can be found in the “TYPES OF MANUSCRIPTS PUBLISHED".
POST ACCEPTANCE
Page Proofs
The publisher's Journal Production Editor will contact you when page proofs are ready for your review. The figures included on author's proofs are high resolution. Please inform the Journal Production Editor immediately if you have any questions concerning the quality of the figures on the proofs. For information regarding proofs, or the status of publication of your accepted manuscript, please contact the editorial office here: spineresearch@pub.hep.cn.
Changes in Corresponding Author's Contact Information
Please give all new information, including email address, to the editorial office and to the publisher. Authors may send this information to the editorial office here: spineresearch@pub.hep.cn. If the Journal is unsuccessful in contacting the corresponding author, the author will not receive proofs for approval, and the manuscript may not be published.
Changes at Proofs
It is expected that the final manuscript sent to the Editor is indeed the final version, so few changes should be required at proof stage.
Copyright
Authors are the owners of all copyrights to their articles published in the journal. Authors grant WK and Higher Education Press a license to publish the article and identify itself as the original publisher.
Open Access
Every peer-reviewed research article appearing in this journal will be published open access. This means that the article is universally and freely accessible via the internet in perpetuity, in an easily readable format immediately after publication. The article publishing charge (APC) is currently waived for this journal until 2028. Journal Owner will pay to make the articles open access.
Spine Research provides authors the below Creative Commons 4.0 licenses:
This license lets others distribute, remix, tweak, and build upon your work, even commercially, as long as they credit you for the original creation. This is the most accommodating of licenses offered.
National Institutes of Health (US) Public Access Policy
The Journal is compliant with the NIH Public Access Policy. Please refer to the Publisher's page for more details.
EDITORIAL OFFICE CONTACTS
The Editorial Office is pleased to answer any questions you may have about preparing your manuscript in accordance with our guidelines.
Editorial Office contact:
Full Name: Zi Wang
Title/Designation: Managing Editor
Full Name: Shanshan Liu, Xingyu Zhou
Title/Designation: Editorial Office
Contact Email: spineresearch@pub.hep.cn
Submit a manuscript: https://www.editorialmanager.com/spres/default.aspx.