Author Guidelines

The Journal of Surgery and Medicine (JOSAM) (e-ISSN: 2587-0858) is an international, peer-reviewed, open-access medical journal published monthly. JOSAM publishes high-quality Original Research Articles, Reviews, and Case Reports across all surgical and medical specialties. All submitted manuscripts are subjected to rigorous, double-blind peer review.

1. General Editorial & Ethical Principles

Manuscripts submitted to JOSAM must adhere strictly to the guidelines established by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), World Association of Medical Editors (WAME), Council of Science Editors (CSE), and the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

• Originality & Prior Publication: Manuscripts are considered with the understanding that they are entirely original, have not been published previously in print or electronic format, and are not under active consideration elsewhere.
• Publication Fees: Standard manuscript evaluation, typesetting, and publication are completely free of charge. JOSAM charges no submission fees and no Article Processing Charges (No APC). 
• Language Standards: JOSAM publishes exclusively in American English. Authors must adhere to American spelling, punctuation, and terminology. Authors whose native language is not English are strongly advised to seek professional medical English editing prior to submission.
• Plagiarism Screening: All submissions are automatically screened using iThenticate / Turnitin. Submissions exceeding a 15% similarity index (excluding references) or exhibiting verbatim text recycling will be desk-rejected immediately.
• Open Access & Copyright: Articles are published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0). Authors retain unconditional copyright while granting JOSAM the non-exclusive right of first publication.

2. Authorship Criteria & Responsibilities

In accordance with ICMJE guidelines, each listed author must fulfill all four of the following requirements:

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

Note: General supervision, data collection alone, acquisition of funding, or department chair status does not justify authorship. JOSAM permits only one corresponding author per submission, who serves as the sole liaison for all editorial communications.

3. Two-File Submission Structure (Double-Blind Requirement)

To ensure strict compliance with our double-blind peer review workflow, manuscripts must be submitted as two distinct Microsoft Word (.docx) files:

File 1: Title Page File (Contains ALL Author Metadata & Mandatory Declarations)

The Title Page file must be uploaded separately and must include the following information:

• Article Title & Running Short Title
• Full Author Details: Full names, academic degrees, institutional affiliations, departments, cities, countries, and verified ORCID iDs for all authors.
• Corresponding Author Details: Full name, institutional address, cell phone number, and official institutional email address.
• Conference Presentation: If the study was presented at a scientific congress or symposium, state the full congress name, exact dates, and venue.
• Ethics Committee Approval: Full official name of the Institutional Review Board (IRB) / Ethics Committee, date of approval, and protocol/decision reference number.
• Informed Consent Statement: Confirmation of written informed consent obtained from patients, participants, or legal guardians (or explicit institutional waiver details).
• Conflict of Interest Statement: Full disclosure of any financial, personal, or institutional affiliations that could represent a conflict of interest (or declare: "The authors declare no competing interests.").
• Financial Disclosure / Funding: Details of grants or research funding received (or declare: "This study received no external financial support.").
• Author Contributions (CRediT Taxonomy): Detailed contributions using the standard CRediT roles (e.g., Conceptualization, Methodology, Formal Analysis, Investigation, Writing - Original Draft, Writing - Review & Editing, Supervision).
• Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) Statement: In compliance with COPE policies, state whether generative AI tools or LLMs (e.g., ChatGPT) were utilized. If used, specify the tool name, version, and exact application. If no AI tools were used, explicitly state: "The authors declare that no artificial intelligence (AI) tools or generative AI technologies were used in the creation, writing, or analysis of this manuscript."
• Data Availability Statement: Statement specifying where research data supporting the findings can be accessed.

File 2: Blinded Main Text File (Strictly Anonymized)

The Main Text file must NOT contain any author names, institutional affiliations, city/country identifiers, or acknowledgments. The text must be prepared in 12 pt Times New Roman font, double-spaced with standard 2.5 cm margins:

• Title (without author names).
• Abstract & Keywords:
  • Original Articles: Structured abstract (Background/Aim, Methods, Results, Conclusion) up to 350 words.
  • Reviews & Case Reports: Unstructured abstract up to 250 words.
  • Keywords: 3 to 6 keywords selected strictly from the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) vocabulary.
• Main Text Structure:
  • Original Article: Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion.
  • Review: Introduction, Subheaded Thematic Sections, Conclusion.
  • Case Report: Introduction, Case Presentation, Discussion, Conclusion.
• References: Formatted in NLM / AMA style with active DOI links.
• Tables and Figure Legends: Placed at the end of the text.

4. Technical Specifications: Figures, Tables, and References

• Figures & Images: Figures must be embedded within the main text file for review AND uploaded as separate high-resolution files. Minimum resolution is 300 DPI for clinical photographs and histopathology (TIFF or JPEG) and 600 DPI for vector charts/graphs. All patient identifiers must be masked (eye bars alone are insufficient; explicit patient consent is mandatory).
• Tables: Must be created using Microsoft Word table functions (not embedded as image files) and numbered consecutively. Table titles must be placed above the table; explanatory footnotes and abbreviation expansions must be placed below.
• References & Active DOIs: References must follow the NLM / Index Medicus style. Number references consecutively in the order in which they are first cited using Arabic numerals in square brackets (e.g., [1, 3-5]). Mandatory: All cited articles must include active, clickable DOI URLs formatted as https://doi.org/10.xxxx/xxxx. For citations with up to 6 authors, list all authors; for 7 or more authors, list the first 6 followed by "et al."

5. Peer Review & Proofreading Workflow

• Double-Blind Review: Submissions passing technical screening are evaluated by at least two independent external reviewers. In the event of conflicting evaluations, a third reviewer or Senior Editor is assigned.
• Revisions: Revised files, including an itemized Point-by-Point Reply to Reviewers Letter and a marked manuscript showing all changes, must be submitted within 30 days.
• Galley Proof Approval: Corresponding authors receive PDF proofs for typographical and layout verification. Corrections and final sign-off must be returned within 48 to 72 hours. Substantial text changes or authorship modifications are not permitted at this stage.

6. Manuscript Withdrawal & Retraction Policy

JOSAM adheres strictly to the COPE Retraction Guidelines and international ethical conventions:

• Pre-Review Withdrawal: Authors may request manuscript withdrawal during the initial pre-review screening by submitting a signed withdrawal letter to josam@jsurgmed.com.
• Withdrawal During Peer Review: Once a manuscript has been assigned to external reviewers, withdrawal requests are discouraged and will be granted only under extraordinary, scientifically validated circumstances approved by the Editorial Board.
• Post-Publication Retraction: If substantial errors, duplicate publication, unauthorized data use, or scientific misconduct (data fabrication, unethical human experimentation, severe plagiarism) are proven, JOSAM will issue a formal retraction. A watermarked "RETRACTED" notice will be affixed to the online PDF, linked bidirectionally to a detailed Retraction Statement published in the next regular issue and reported to international indexing databases.