Instruction for Authors

European Journal of Pediatric Surgery is a broad-based international journal, appearing six times per year, publishing vital developments in pediatric surgery through original articles, reviews, case reports, case galleries, special reports, abstracts of the literature and meeting announcements. Every manuscript received is subject to peer review by two independent and anonymous referees before a decision is made regarding acceptance, rejection, or return for revision. Only papers that are of the highest scientific quality, concisely written and consistent with the Instructions for Authors can be accepted. The authors are responsible for the contents of their contribution.

General Policy

As the language of publication is English, only English manuscripts are accepted. Manuscripts written by authors whose first language is not English should be checked by an English native speaker before submission. A clear, easily comprehensible style will enhance the value of the paper and give it a high readability score. Manuscripts which do not meet acceptable language standards will be returned to authors. The journal reserves the right to edit the language of accepted papers for clarity and correctness, and to make formal changes to ensure compliance with the style of European Journal of Pediatric Surgery. Authors have the opportunity to review any such changes in the proofs.
Submission of a manuscript to European Journal of Pediatric Surgery implies that it represents original research not previously published and that it is not being considered or submitted for publication elsewhere. The copyright is expected to be held by the corresponding author.
The corresponding author must declare that the manuscript is submitted to the European Journal of Pediatric Surgery on behalf of all authors. In the case of clinical or experimental studies with human subjects the study protocol has to be approved by an ethical committee. Copyright is transferred to the publisher upon acceptance of the manuscript in accordance with existing legislation. Submission of a manuscript signifies acceptance of the journal’s Instructions for Authors.

Submission of Manuscripts

Manuscripts can be now submitted via online submission at
http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/ejps.
Hard copy submission and electronic submission via e-mail or disk will no longer be accepted. In case of questions concerning the online submission process, please contact Susanne Aberle in the European Journal of Pediatric Surgery Helpdesk via phone + 49-711-89 31-206 or e-mail to: Helpdesk.EJPS@thieme.de. Additionally, you can download the “Author’s Guide for Submission of a Manuscript” as a pdf document which you will find on the starting page of the online submission system under the link “Instructions & Forms”.
To submit a manuscript, please follow the instructions in the online submission system.
In the first 4 steps of the submission process, please enter all relevant information about the manuscript, consisting of the manuscript type, the title (no more than 200 letters), themabstract (no more than 2500 letters), 3–5 key words, the co-authors’ contact details and a cover letter. Please be sure to indicate the correct e-mail address of all co-authors as their account will be created based on their e-mail address. Only manuscripts with correct e-mail addresses of all co-authors can be accepted. Please indicate the corresponding author of your manuscript. Please answer the questions in step 4 accordingly and enter your acknowledgements in the appropriate text box.
In step 5 please upload the main document and – if applicable – figures, tables and supplemental files (for peer review or not for peer review). Please note that all these files have to be uploaded separately. Please do not integrate abstract, figures, tables, etc. in the main document. Since all files will automatically be combined into a single PDF and HTML document for peer review please designate the order in which your files appear by using the dropdowns in the order column.
If you submit a revision, please include only the latest set of files and delete the previously submitted files. Please use the MS Word “track changes” function to indicate the changes you have made in reference to your original submission.

Types of Manuscripts

Authors are invited to submit the following manuscript types for publication: original article, review, case report, case galleries, special report, letter to the editor and editorial. An original article presenting the results of original research in the form of a full-length study should not exceed 10–12 pages (including illustrations and tables) in 1 1⁄2 line spacing with about 30 lines per page. Case reports and case galleries should be limited to 2–3 pages including 2 illustrations. Case Reports present a small series of cases (with at least 2 patients) and a review of the literature. Case Galleries present just 1 case. Both manuscripts types are listed in MEDLINE.
Original articles rank first in importance when determining the order of publication. Case reports and case galleries are featured in accordance with available space.

Structure of Manuscripts

Manuscripts should contain the following sections: structured abstract, main document as well as figures and tables, if applicable.

Abstract: Special value is placed on a concise and clearly written summary in English. The abstract should be confined to essentials (methods preferred, results obtained) and be structured in introduction, material and methods, results and conclusions.

Main document: The main document should consist of introduction, patients/material and methods, results, discussion, conclusion, acknowledgements (to be added in the appropriate text box during the submission process) and references. The paper should be well organized and subdivided clearly into sections. Subheadings in the materials, results and discussion sections improve the readability. Figure and table legends should be listed at the end of the main document.
Please use common text processors, such as Microsoft Word or Word Perfect and save your files as *.doc, *.txt or *.rtf. If possible, please use the endnote function of your word processor to insert notes into your manuscript. You can download the suitable Endnote Output Styles at ftp://support.isiresearchsoft.com/pub/pc/styles/
endnote4/Euro%20J%20Pediatric%20Surgery.ens for Endnote 8 and newer.
Introduction: The background of the questions examined in the paper should be introduced to the general reader. It should therefore concisely summarize the purpose of the study and the rationale of the hypothesis tested or clinical questions examined. Only important references should be quoted.
Patients/Material and Methods: The methodology should be described with enough details to be fully understandable for the reader. When referring to previous papers using the same method, the description of methodology can be abbreviated but should still be comprehensible. In clinical studies the type of study (prospective, retrospective, randomized, cohort, etc.) should be detailed and it should be clearly stated whether the patient group consisted of a consecutive series or which inclusion and exclusion criteria have been used.
Results: This section should precisely report the results thereby avoiding annotations and comparisons to previous own or foreign results. Tables and figures are useful and should contribute towards a better understanding of the text.
Discussion: The main findings of the study should be emphasized, commented and discussed with respect to other results reported in the literature; including any potential weakness of the study.
Conclusion: The reader should be informed in a few sentences briefly and concisely about the major results of the study.
Acknowledgements and grant information: Financial support should be stated.

References should be limited to important recent publications. Only those articles cited in the text may be included in the reference list. The references are indicated in the text, tables and illustrations by Arabic numbers in square brackets. The list of references is placed at the end of the article and lists the references in order of their appearance in the text. For articles with more than 3 authors the term “et al.” is placed after the third author.

Articles in journals:
1  Metzelder ML, Kubler J, Petersen C et al. Laparoscopic nephroureterectomy in children: a prospective study on Ligasure versus Clip/Ligation. Eur J Pediatr Surg 2006; 16: 241–244
2  Wedel T, Tafazzoli K, Sollner S et al. Mitochondrial myopathy (complex I deficiency) associated with chronic intestinal pseudo-obstruction. Eur J Pediatr Surg 2003; 13: 201–205

Chapters from books have to be cited as follows: author(s), title of chapter, editor(s), title of book, edition, place of publication: publisher; year of publication; first and last page of the chapter.

Chapters in books:
3  Elger CE, Kurthen M. Paediatric Epilepsy Surgery. In: Panteliadis CP, Korinthenberg R. Paediatric Neurology. 1st ed. Stuttgart: Georg Thieme Verlag; 2005; 622–645

Articles in press (accepted for publication) at the time of submission of your manuscript have to be designated “in press” at the end of the reference. Abstracts should only be cited if published in a scientific journal and have to be marked with “abstr” followed by the page number. Manuscripts which have been submitted but not yet accepted, unpublished data or personal communications should not be mentioned in the references but indicated in the text.

Figures: The editors and publishers make every effort to publish your submitted figures in maximum quality. Therefore it would be helpful to abide by the guidelines which are listed below.
If you have any questions concerning these guidelines please do not hesitate to contact the production manager stated in the masthead.

• each figure has to be uploaded separately (not embedded into the main document) 
• entitle the files precisely and number the figures consecutively but independent of the tables
• indicate in the main document where the figures should appear
• file format and resolution of halftone images: *.eps, *.tif, *.jpg; minimal resolution: 300 dpi
• file format and resolution of line drawings: *.eps, *.tif, *.jpg; minimal resolution: 800 dpi
• save *.jpg files with the quality adjustment “high” or better “maximum”
• colour space: RGB or CMYK
• colour depth: 8-bit image

If you use figures from books or other journals, be sure to mention the accurate reference in the legend and to obtain the permission for reproduction.
Before publication of any illustration in which the patient may be recognized, the author of the article must provide the publisher with the patient’s written consent to publication of the respective photograph. Appropriate standard letters for obtaining this consent are available on request from the publisher or can be downloaded from http://www.thieme.de/ejps under “Forms” in the left navigation bar. Please note that a black bar placed across the eyes may no longer be considered to be sufficient to preserve the patient’s anonymity.

Tables:

• each table has to be uploaded separately
• entitle the files precisely and number the tables consecutively but independent of the figures
• indicate in the main document where the table should appear
• file format and resolution: *.doc or *.xls

Please do not forget to enter the legends for the figures and tables in the appropriate text box while uploading the file AND to include a list of all legends on a separate page in the main document.

Videos: It is also possible to upload videos as supplemental file for review. The preferred video file format is *.mpg (MPEG-1). Alternatively, also *.avi, *.mov, *.rm and *.wmv will be accepted. Maximum length is 1 minute. Please do not forget to give a descriptive legend at the end of the main document. This legend will be published together with an internet link to your video at the end of your manuscript.

General Information

Attention: Liability

The new product liability legislation makes increased demands on the duty of care to be exercised by authors of scientific research and medical publications. This applies in particular to papers and publications containing therapeutic directions or instructions and doses or dosage schedules. We therefore request you to examine with particular care also in your own interest the factual correctness of the contents of the correction and galley proofs. You may make this easier for youself by arranging to have your statements counter-checked in accordance with the risks theoretically involved in the same by expert colleagues and co-workers.
During the technical production of books and journals checks are repeatedly made for print errors, with particular reference also to doses and dosage schedules. Failing expert knowledge on the part of proofreaders, however, all that can be done is to see whether the printed matter and manuscript agree. The responsibility for the correctness of data and statements made in the manuscript rests entirely with you as the author.
We should join hands in reducing the risk of right of recourse or claim to damages, and in this regard your responsible cooperation is fundamental.

Revision: The corresponding author obtains recommendations from the reviewers for revision of the manuscript. Please respond to these comments when submitting your revision by referring to page and line numbers and indicate all changes made in the manuscript. Your manuscript should be revised within 3–6 months to be represented to the reviewers.

Proofs: Proofs will be sent by the publisher to the corresponding author as a PDF file with the request that they be returned immediately after correction. Close examination by the author is necessary as the author is solely responsible for the correctness of the manuscript approved for print. The publisher reserves the right to charge for extensive changes in the proof. After imprimatur by the author no further changes are possible.

Reprints: 25 reprints of each article will be supplied free of charge to the corresponding author. These will be shipped after publication of the journal issue. An order form for further reprints for personal use (in increments of 50) will be sent with the proofs and should be signed and returned with the corrected proofs even if additional reprints are not required.

Copyright: All rights are held by the publishers, including the right to reproduce all or part of any publication.

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