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Taylor & Francis

Prepare your manuscript for Acta Chirurgica Belgica.

Review the checklist, choose your article type, and turn your draft into a cleaner submission package.

Checked 2026-08-01
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Article types

Review
Case Report
Letter to the Editor
Systematic Review
Clinical Trial
Editorial
Protocol
Lectio

Readiness requirements

Review the key details below, or download the complete checklist with every stored source-backed requirement.

Abstract length

  • Provide an author-written abstract of no more than 250 words.
  • Use a structured abstract.
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  • Should contain a structured abstract of 250 words.
  • Trial registration numbers should be included in the abstract, with full details in the methods section.
  • There are no strict formatting requirements, but all manuscripts must contain the essential elements needed to evaluate a manuscript: abstract, author affiliation, figures, tables, funder information, references.
  • A structured abstract should cover (in the following order): should consist of four paragraphs labelled Background, Methods, Results, and Conclusion.

Keywords

  • Include or confirm the keywords required by the journal. Articlo checks this item and flags anything that still needs author input.

Reference style

  • Articlo formats your supplied references to the journal's stored style and checks that citations match the reference list; source validity is not verified.
  • Review: All clinical studies must mention approval by the local institutional review board, mentioning the reference number.
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  • For manuscripts submitted in LaTeX format a.bib reference file must be included.
  • All bibliographic entries must contain a corresponding in-text citation.
  • Readers should be able to interpret the table without reference to the text.
  • If you reply yes, you will be required to provide the DOI, pre-registered DOI, hyperlink, or other persistent identifier associated with the data set(s).
  • The DAS should include the hyperlink, DOI or other persistent identifier associated with the data set(s), or information on how the data can be requested from the authors.
  • A declaration must be included within the submission stating: Confirmation the authors take full responsibility for the integrity of the whole content, including accuracy of references.

Figure and table rules

  • Keep every figure and table numbered, captioned, and cited in the manuscript. Keep figures embedded; Articlo also extracts numbered source files for the package.
  • Figures should be high quality (1200 dpi for line art, 600 dpi for grayscale and 300 dpi for color, at the correct size).
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  • Figures should be high quality (1200 dpi for line art, 600 dpi for grayscale and 300 dpi for colour, at the correct size).
  • Figures should be saved as TIFF, PostScript or EPS files.
  • Figures should be supplied as separate files and not embedded in Microsoft Word™ or similar software.
  • Figures should be of sufficient resolution to enable refereeing.
  • Tables should present new information rather than duplicating what is in the text.
  • Figures should be supplied in one of our preferred file formats: PS, JPEG, TIFF, or Microsoft Word (DOC or DOCX) files are acceptable for figures that have been drawn in Word.

Funding statement

  • You should declare only the acquired funds and grants that are directly relevant to the work reported in your article; for example, This work was supported by the [Funding Agency #1] under Grant [number xxxx]; [Funding Agency #2] under Grant [number xxxx]; and [Funding Agency #3] under Grant [number xxxx].

Competing interests

  • Include or confirm the competing interests required by the journal. Articlo checks this item and flags anything that still needs author input.

Data availability statement

  • Add or confirm the author-written Data availability statement; Articlo flags it if author input is still needed.
  • Authors are required to provide a data availability statement, detailing where data associated with a paper can be found and how it can be accessed.
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  • If data cannot be made open, authors should state why in the data availability statement.
  • Authors are required to cite any data sets referenced in the article and provide a Data Availability Statement.

Ethics statement

  • Add or confirm the author-written Ethics statement; Articlo flags it if author input is still needed.
  • All patients participating to prospective clinical studies must have signed a written informed consent.
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  • Review: Authors who do not have formal ethics review committees should include a statement that their study follows the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki.
  • All authors are required to follow the ICMJE requirements on privacy and informed consent from patients and study participants.
  • Authors may use this Patient Consent Form, which should be completed, saved, and sent to the journal if requested.
  • When submitting medical images or patient photographs, patient anonymity should be guaranteed in the appropriate manner.
  • In settings where ethics approval for non-interventional studies (e.g. surveys) is not required, authors must include a statement to explain this.
  • Clinical Trial: In order to be published in a Taylor & Francis journal, all clinical trials must have been registered in a public repository at the beginning of the research process (prior to patient enrolment).
  • Review: All original research papers involving humans, animals, plants, biological material, protected or non-public datasets, collections or sites, must include a written statement in the Methods section, confirming ethical approval has been obtained from the appropriate local ethics committee or Institutional Review Board and that where relevant, informed consent has been obtained.
  • Clinical Trial: Please confirm that any patient, service user, or participant (or that person’s parent or legal guardian) in any research, experiment, or clinical trial described in your paper has given written consent to the inclusion of material pertaining to themselves, that they acknowledge that they cannot be identified via the paper; and that you have fully anonymized them.

Blinded manuscript

  • The PDF should be uploaded as the “Manuscript - with author details”/”Manuscript - anonymous” file.

Cover letter

  • Using Third-Party Material in your Paper You must obtain the necessary permission to reuse third-party material in your article.
  • Review: The use of short extracts of text and some other types of material is usually permitted, on a limited basis, for the purposes of criticism and review without securing formal permission.
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  • If you wish to include any material in your paper for which you do not hold copyright, and which is not covered by this informal agreement, you will need to obtain written permission from the copyright owner prior to submission.

Title page and author information

  • All authors of a manuscript should include their full name and affiliation on the cover page of the manuscript.
  • One author will need to be identified as the corresponding author, with their email address normally displayed in the article PDF (depending on the journal) and the online article.

Article structure and word limits

  • They should always be accompanied by a measure of the effect size, and of the precision of the measurement (95% confidence intervals).
  • P values should always be reported as exact values, never as ‘NS’ (not significant) or using the > or 2.
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  • Review: These instructions will ensure we have everything required so your paper can move through peer review, production and publication smoothly.
  • Review / Systematic Review: In addition, authors from a systematic review should have registered their work on PROSPERO, the International prospective register of systematic reviews.
  • All prospective clinical studies must be registered clinicaltrails.gov or EudraCT.
  • The registry should be publicly accessible (at no charge), open to all prospective registrants, and managed by a not-for-profit organization.
  • Case Report: Case reports should offer more than rarity, but contribute to either the diagnosis, management, or pathophysiology of surgical disease.
  • Review: In addition, they should offer a review of the published literature, summarized as much as possible in tabular format.
  • Normally distributed data should be reported as mean (SD), and otherwise as median (range) or median (IQR).
  • Bar charts should have error bars representing standard deviation or SEM.
  • Differences between groups with a non normal data distribution should be compared with non parametric tests.
  • P values should be adjusted for multiple testing, when appropriate (Bonferroni).
  • The authors should provide a measure for the goodness of fit of a model.
  • Note that, regardless of the file format of the original submission, an editable version of the article must be supplied at the revision stage.
  • Your research funder or your institution may require you to publish your article open access.
  • Use our APC finder to view the APC for this journal.
  • All research studies on humans (individuals, samples, or data) must have been performed in accordance with the principles stated in the Declaration of Helsinki.
  • You will also need to upload your LaTeX source files, which should be uploaded as a single zip file alongside your submission and marked as “LaTeX Source Files”.
  • Queries Should you have any queries, please visit our Author Services website or contact us here.
  • A declaration must be included within the submission stating: Originality and accuracy of content has been confirmed by the authors.
  • Authors must provide full methodological details and adhere to relevant reporting guidelines where applicable.
  • Authors must retain the original and revised versions which must be shared upon request.
  • The PLSP guidelines for authors must be followed at all times.
  • Please use SI units (non-italicized).
  • Please note that data should only be shared if it is ethically correct to do so, where this does not violate the protection of human subjects, or other valid ethical, privacy, or security concerns.
  • Image descriptions are typically used by systems such as pronouncing screen readers to make images accessible to people that cannot read or see the object due to a visual disability.

Reporting guidelines

  • Include or confirm the reporting guidelines required by the journal. Articlo checks this item and flags anything that still needs author input.

Statistical reporting

  • Data should be checked for normality of distribution using an appropriate statistical test.
  • Use of statistical tests.

Preprints and prior publication

  • If you have shared an earlier version of your Author’s Original Manuscript on a preprint server, please be aware that anonymity cannot be guaranteed.

Artificial intelligence disclosure

  • Add or confirm the author-written Artificial intelligence statement; Articlo flags it if author input is still needed.
  • Please include a statement disclosing whether and how generative AI has been used in the research and manuscript preparation process.
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  • Use of AI tools as part of ethical research studies is permitted.
  • A declaration must be included within the submission stating: The name and version number of the AI tool used.
  • Systematic Review: Use of AI tools as part of ethically conducted literature reviews, systematic reviews, meta-analysis and bibliometrics studies is permitted.
  • Use of AI tool assisted plain language summaries (PLS) of authors own work is permitted.
  • Please read our guidance on using AI tools in your research and manuscript preparation to understand scenarios where their use may be permissible, and the required information that must be disclosed.
  • A declaration must be included within the submission stating: Confirmation the authors have checked terms of use for the specific AI tool used, and therefore confirm suitability for publication.

Authorship and originality

  • Authorship All authors submitting to medicine, biomedicine, health sciences, allied and public health journals should conform to the Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals, prepared by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) and have contributed substantially to the work.

Language and text style

  • Manuscripts must be copy-edited before submission by a native speaker, a person holding a C1/C2 certificate in English, or a commercial editing company.

Study reporting guidelines

  • For non interventional studies, authors should comply with the STROBE recommendations.
  • For animal studies, approval must have been obtained from the local or institutional animal use and care committee.
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  • Authors must provide full methodological details and adhere to relevant reporting guidelines where applicable (e.g. CONSORT-AI, STARD-AI, GAMER, TRIPOD-AI, etc).
  • Systematic Review: All meta-analyses should comply with the guidelines outlined in the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) statement, and include a PRISMA flow chart in the submission.
  • Authors should follow the Equator reporting guidelines ( https://www.equator-network.org/ ).
  • Clinical Trial: This should explain that all work was conducted with the formal approval of the local human subject or animal care committees (institutional and national), and that clinical trials have been registered as legislation requires.
  • Clinical Trial: Randomized clinical trials must adhere to the guidelines outlined in the Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT) statement, and the manuscript must include a CONSORT flowchart.

Manuscript structure

  • Clinical Trial: All papers which report in vivo experiments or clinical trials on humans or animals must include a written statement in the Methods section.
  • Time to event should be analyzed using the Kaplan Meier method and log rank test.
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  • When reporting results from a multivariable analysis, the authors should explain why and how independent variables were entered in a model.
  • Authors must retain full records of the methods undertaken, including full descriptions and records of the prompts used, which must be shared with the journal upon request.

Author contributions

  • You may be required to provide CRediT roles (contributor details) for yourself and your co-authors.
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What your package checks

Abstract: 250 words
Declarations: Data availability, Ethics, Artificial intelligence

Source transparency

This preparation guide uses published journal-specific author requirements. Journal instructions can change, so authors should complete a final review before submission.

Open official guideline source