Guidelines for Authors

Thank you for your interest in AME Clinical Trial Review (AME Clin Trials Rev; ACTR). ACTR adheres to the ICMJE’s Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly work in Medical Journals (1), COPE’s Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors (2), and WAME’s policy (3) for generating this author instruction. Please refer to the following guidelines to help you prepare your manuscript. Feel free to contact the editorial office by email (actr@amegroups.com) 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 the preliminary review. The author instruction is updated on September 02, 2024.

1. ABOUT THE JOURNAL

AME Clinical Trials Review (ISSN 3005-6152; AME Clin Trials Rev; ACTR) is an international, open-access, peer-reviewed online journal, publishing reviews and commentaries on clinical trials in all phases.

ACTR is dedicated to sharing insights of the key opinion leaders to stimulate thought and discussion on all aspects of clinical trials, including but not limited to the design, conduct, analysis, regulation and ethics. It is the ultimate goal of the journal that the stimulated discussion will facilitate the translation of the findings of clinical trials from bench to bedside, and to clinical practice.

ACTR upholds a rigorous peer review process and high-quality publication standards. ACTR only publishes reviews, commentaries or letters on all phases of clinical trials and does not accept other types of manuscripts (e.g., original articles, etc.). ACTR welcomes unsolicited submissions and also proactively invites specialists to review and comment on valuable clinical trials.

The entire submission and peer review process are managed through OJS system, an electronic system, which provides an efficient way and ensures a rapid turnaround of paper submission, review, and publication.

For more about our journal, please see: https://actr.amegroups.org/about

2. MANUSCRIPT CATEGORIES

Manuscript categories	Word limit	Abstract	Key words	Main text	Reference	Tables and Figures	Structure template
Review Article	6,000 max.	Unstructured, except for some certain types; 200–350 words	3–5	Include Introduction, main body* (require discussing on strengths and limitations of the review), and Conclusions	No limit	No limit	Download
-Systematic Review	6,000 max.	Structured with Background, Methods, Results, and Conclusions; 200–350 words	3–5	Structured as Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion, and Conclusions; Require a highlight box	No limit	No limit	Download
-Scoping Review	6,000 max.	Structured with Background, Methods, Results, and Conclusions; 200–350 words	3–5	Structured as Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion, and Conclusions; Require a highlight box	No limit	No limit	Download
-Narrative/Literature Review	6,000 max.	Structured with Background and Objective, Methods, Key Content and Findings, and Conclusions; 200–350 words	3–5	Include Introduction, Methods, main body*, and Conclusions.	No limit	No limit	Download
-Review Article of the Clinical Trials Education Channel	No limit.	Unstructured; 200-350 words	3–5	Include Introduction, main body*, and Conclusions.	No limit	No limit	Download
Editorial	2,500 max.	Not required	3–5	Unstructured	No limit	2 max.	NA
Editorial Commentary	2,500 max.	Not required	3–5	Unstructured	25 max.	2 max.	NA
Letter to the Editor	1,000 max.	Not required	Not required	Unstructured	10 max.	1 max.	NA

*The word “main body” should not be used as a subheading and authors are free to decide on the subheadings for the content of the main body.

2.1 Review Article
Review articles are articles that identify, synthesize and summarize existing evidence and information on a specific topic of clinical trials. At ACTR, review articles should present a timely, comprehensive analysis of a specific topic related to clinical trials. We welcome the submission of proposals for review articles for initial consideration.

Word limit: 6,000 words max (but no limit for a Review Article under the Clinical Trials Education Channel, see the “Clinical Trials Education Channel” section for details)., including abstract but excluding references, tables, and figures.
Abstract: 200–350 words. Unstructured, except for certain types of reviews, e.g., systematic reviews without meta-analysis, scoping reviews, and narrative reviews.
Keywords: 3–5.
Main text: Include Introduction, main body (the word “main body” should not be used as a subheading and authors are free to decide on the subheadings for the content of the main body), and Conclusions. It is important to note that we require that the main body of a review also contain a discussion on the main strengths and limitations to inform the reader of a more objective understanding of the information in the review. In addition, systematic reviews and scoping reviews are required to contain a box that highlights the key findings and potential impacts. See the “Main Text” section for details.
References: No limit.
Figures/Tables: No limit.
Contributions: Review articles should include a section describing the contribution made by each author to the manuscript. See the “Author Contributions” section for details.
Ethical Statement: When a review documents any image(s) or video(s) involving human subjects or animals, the authors must indicate an ethical statement both in the methods section and the footnote. See the “Ethical Statement” section for details.

Besides the conventional review article, there are some typical classifications of review articles listed below, which may entail the conformation with a reporting guideline.

2.1.1 Systematic Reviews without Meta-analysis
We strongly welcome the submission of systematic reviews. A systematic review consists of searching, screening, and selecting all eligible literature following predetermined eligibility criteria, and appraising and synthesizing the literature to answer a specific research question. A systematic review requires a rigorous and systematic approach to reduce bias and produce more trusted evidence to facilitate decision-making (https://www.cochranelibrary.com/about/about-cochrane-reviews) (4). Systematic reviews without meta-analysis are categorized as Review Articles.

In addition to following the general format of a review article described above, this type of review should also adhere to the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) (5) 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. The statement “We present this 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. Please note that the application of a checklist is aimed at transparent and clear reporting to allow a better critical appraisal of the manuscript. The final format of the manuscript should follow the author instruction requirements.

Abstract: Structured with Background, Methods, Results, and Conclusions.
Main text: Arranged as Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion, and Conclusions. Systematic reviews are required to contain a box that highlights the key findings and potential impacts. See the “Main Text” section for details.

2.1.2 Scoping Review
We strongly welcome the submission of scoping reviews. Similar to a systematic review, a scoping review also contains systematic literature searching, screening, and selecting. However, it differs in not mandatorily requiring quality appraisal of the included literature. The report of a scoping review should follow the PRISMA-ScR (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews) (6) Checklist and each submission should include the PRISMA-ScR Checklist (which can be downloaded here) as supplementary material. The relevant page/line and section/paragraph number in the manuscript should be stated for each item in the checklist. The statement “We present this article in accordance with the PRISMA-ScR 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. Please note that the application of a checklist is aimed at transparent and clear reporting to allow a better critical appraisal of the manuscript. The final format of the manuscript should follow the author instruction requirements.

Abstract: Structured with Background, Methods, Results, and Conclusions.
Main text: Arranged as Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion, and Conclusions. Scoping reviews are required to contain a box that highlights the key findings and potential impacts. See the “Main Text” section for details.

2.1.3 Narrative Review (Also Called Literature Review)
We welcome the submission of narrative reviews, although our editors may still consider traditional reviews for publication. A narrative review aims to provide readers with cutting-edge, scholarly, evolving developments and evidence-based overview of a clinical trials-related subject by searching, selecting, compiling, and summarizing the available literature. Through a narrative review, readers could gain more comprehensive and enlightening knowledge on a particular field. A narrative review is less methodologically demanding than a systematic review or a scoping review, as it does not require a search of all literature in a field, nor does it necessarily require a rigorous appraisal of the included literature.

Abstract: Structured with

• Background and Objective: describe relevant background, reasons for conducting this review, and primary objectives of this review.
• Methods: briefly describe the search strategy, including databases, time frame, and language considerations.
• Key Content and Findings: describe what the literature review will mainly contain and any key findings.
• Conclusions: describe the main conclusions and how the review may potentially impact future research, clinical practice, and policy making.

Main text: Arranged as Introduction, Methods, main body (the word “main body” should not be used as a subheading and authors are free to decide on the subheadings for content of the main body) and Conclusions. The Methods section should include a completed table as follows:

Table X. The search strategy summary

Items	Specification
Date of search (specified to date, month and year)
Databases and other sources searched
Search terms used (including MeSH and free text search terms and filters) Note: please use an independent supplement table to present detailed search strategy of one database as an example
Timeframe
Inclusion and exclusion criteria (study type, language restrictions etc.)
Selection process (who conducted the selection, whether it was conducted independently, how consensus was obtained, etc.)
Any additional considerations, if applicable

Note: Please note that a narrative review is less methodologically demanding than a systematic review, as it does not require a search of all literature in a field. Therefore, the search strategy summary of a narrative review is mainly used for more transparent reporting.

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 supplementary material. The relevant page/line and section/paragraph number in the manuscript should be stated for each item in the checklist. The statement “We present this 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. Please note that the application of a checklist is aimed at transparent and clear reporting to allow a better critical appraisal of the manuscript. The final format of the manuscript should follow the author instruction requirements.

2.1.4 Clinical Trials Education Channel
The Clinical Trials Education Channel aims to publish Review Article of high educational value that can guide the better understanding and practice of the whole cycle of clinical trials, including ethics, methodological design, analysis, reporting, appraisal, and supervision.

Word limit: no limit.
Abstract: 200–350 words, unstructured.
Keywords: 3–5.
Main text: Include Introduction, main body (the word “main body” should not be used as a subheading and authors are free to decide on the subheadings for the content of the main body), and Conclusions. It is important to note that we require that the main body of a review in the Clinical Trials Education Channel also contain a discussion on the main strengths and limitations to inform the reader of a more objective understanding of the information in the review.
References: No limit.
Figures/Tables: No limit.

2.2 Editorial and Editorial Commentary

2.2.1 Editorial
Editorials are written in-house by the journal’s editorial team members to discuss a paper, report, event or topic from within the past few months, or in the near future.

Word limit: 2,500 words max., excluding references, tables, and figures.
Abstract: Not required.
Keywords: 3~5.
Main text: Unstructured.
References: No limit.
Figures and Tables: 2 max. in total.
Ethical Statement: See the “3.6.4 Ethical Statement” section for details.

2.2.2 Editorial Commentary
The Editors extend an invitation to an expert in the field to discuss a paper, report, event or topic from within the past few months, or in the near future. The problems addressed by the relevant paper/report/event/topic should be considered within the wider context of the field.

Word limit: 2,500 words max., excluding references, tables, and figures.
Abstract: Not required.
Keywords: 3~5.
Main text: Unstructured.
References: 25 max., including the article being discussed.
Figures and Tables: 2 max. in total.
Ethical Statement: See the “3.6.4 Ethical Statement” section for details.

2.3 Letter to the Editor
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’.

Word limit: 1,000 words max., excluding references, tables, and figures.
Abstract: Not required.
Keywords: Not required.
Main text: Unstructured.
References: 10 max.
Figures and Tables: 1 max.
Ethical Statement: See the “3.6.4 Ethical Statement” section for details.

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; (ii) Keywords; (iii) the main text; (iv) Acknowledgments; (v) Footnote; (vi) References; (vii) Tables; (viii) Figures; (ix) Videos; (x) Figure Legends; (xi) Supplementary material.

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 degree information, address [full address for the corresponding author(s)], telephone and fax numbers, and effective e-mail address of the corresponding author(s) (extremely important for subsequent timely communication); d) if available, the 16-digit ORCID of the author(s); e) a running title of no more than 60 characters (including spaces); f) disclaimers (if applicable); g) word count; h) number of figures and tables; i) contributions (required for certain article types; see below detailed description).

3.2 Authorship and Author contributions

3.2.1 Authorship
Authors should meet all four of the ICMJE’s authorship criteria listed below for authorship (1):

1) Substantial contributions to the conception and design of the study; or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of the data for the work; AND
2) Drafting the article or reviewing it critically for important intellectual content; AND
3) Final approval of the version to be published; AND
4) Agreement to be 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.

Contributors who meet fewer than all 4 of the above criteria for authorship should not be listed as authors, but they should be acknowledged. Examples of activities that alone (without other contributions) do not qualify a contributor for authorship are acquisition of funding; general supervision of a research group or general administrative support; writing assistance, technical editing, language editing, and proofreading. Additionally, AI tools cannot be listed as an author of a paper as they cannot meet the requirements for authorship and cannot take responsibility for the submitted work (1-3).

Authors must disclose in the Cover letter and the Acknowledgment for applying any AI tools (e.g., ChatGPT, Bing) in the writing of a manuscript, production of images or graphical elements of the paper, or in the collection and analysis of data. Disclosure should include - but is not limited to - all prompts used to generate new text, or to convert text or text prompts into tables or illustrations; the full prompt used to generate the research results; the time and date of a query; and the AI tool used and its version. Authors are fully responsible for the content of their manuscript, even those parts produced by an AI tool, and are thus liable for any breach of publication ethics. For more recommendations, please refer to the WAME Recommendations on Chatbots and Generative Artificial Intelligence in Relation to Scholarly Publications: https://wame.org/page3.php?id=106 (7).

Please carefully check the authorship of your manuscript before submission. Except for grammatical corrections, any other changes of authorship after submission require a sound scientific justification.

3.2.2 Author contributions
Of note, the “Contributions” section is required for review articles.

Author contribution describes the contribution each author made to the manuscript. The ‘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: With VI and VII, “All authors/Both authors (when there are only two authors)” is obligatory, while the other credits are case-based; The ‘Contributions’ section is not required when there is only one author.

See more details of authorship and contributorship: https://actr.amegroups.org/pages/view/authorship-and-contributorship.

3.3 Abstract and Keywords
The abstract must adhere to the specifications under section “MANUSCRIPT CATEGORIES”. The abstract should not contain any citations, figures, tables, or undefined abbreviations or acronyms. General statements (e.g., “the significance of the results is discussed’’) should be avoided. After the Abstract, 3-5 keywords should be provided.

3.4 Main Text
The structure of main text must adhere to the specifications under the section “2.MANUSCRIPT CATEGORIES”.

The structure of the main text must adhere to the specifications under the section “MANUSCRIPT CATEGORIES”. In general, the main text of many articles in different types contains a) Introduction; b) Methods; c) Results; d) Discussion; and e) Conclusions. However, there are differences and modifications for different types of articles regarding the above sections. Of note, a highlight box is required for some article types.

3.4.1 Highlight Box
A highlight box is used to highly summarize the key findings/recommendations, innovation, and potential implications of the study.

Manuscript categories that require a highlight box: Systematic Review and Scoping Review.
Word limit: The box should be concise with no more than 250 words.

Template: Highlight Box for Systematic Review and Scoping Review.

Key findings Report here about the key findings of the review. What is known and what is new? Report here about what is known. Report here about what this manuscript adds. What is the implication, and what should change now? Report here about the implications and actions needed.

3.4.2 Introduction
The introduction should give a brief description of what we already know and what we don't know, with a clear rationale defense based on the above. The introduction needs to very clearly specify the question the study proposes to answer, and what the purpose of the review is. For Systematic Review and Scoping Review, we recommend a structured introduction to increase the readability:

a) Background
b) Rationale and knowledge gap
c) Objective

3.4.3 Methods
Authors should report methods as exhaustively as possible to make the study more transparent and reproducible. Specific reporting guidelines for each article type can be found at: https://www.equator-network.org/ (8).

3.4.4 Results
The report of the study results needs to be properly detailed and paired well with the figures and tables rather than repeating them. It is important to note that the results should be presented objectively and not overly interpreted (interpretation should be done in the Discussion). In particular, the author needs to ensure that the results and data are consistent and accurate throughout the manuscript.

3.4.5 Discussion
The discussion should be evidence-based, comprehensive, in-depth, and cutting-edge. For Systematic Review and Scoping Review, we recommend a structured discussion to increase the readability:

a) Key findings
b) Strengths and limitations
c) Comparison with similar research
d) Explanations of findings
e) Implications and actions needed

For Review Article and Narrative Review/Literature Review, although a separate Discussion section is not required, authors are encouraged to include evidence-based, comprehensive, in-depth, and cutting-edge discussion throughout the main body content. In particular, we recommend including a separate section on strengths and limitations in the main body to promote a more intellectual interpretation.

3.4.6 Conclusions
Conclusions are summaries of the entire article. Conclusions need to be concise, usually using only one paragraph. Conclusions need to be scientifically deducible from the results available and the information presented, not exaggerated, out of scope, or even wrong.

Manuscript categories that require a separate conclusions section: Review Article, Systematic Review, Scoping Review, and Narrative/Literature Review.

3.5 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).’

3.6 Footnote

3.6.1 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.

3.6.2 Peer Review File
With a commitment to openness and accountability, and to increase the level of transparency throughout our peer review process, our editorial office has decided to fully implement a transparent peer review process for all submissions.

The practice will see the inclusion of a “peer review file” (a record of reviewer reports and author replies) in the footnote of the corresponding article. The peer review file will be published online (only) along with the article.

For more details, please refer to: https://actr.amegroups.org/announcement/view/214.

3.6.3 Conflicts of Interest
All authors will be asked to fill in the ICMJE’s unified disclosure form (the latest version). The form can 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.

See the journal’s policy on conflicts of interest: https://actr.amegroups.org/page/about/conflicts-of-interest.

3.6.4 Ethical Statement
Please note that all articles submitted to our journal must include an Ethical Statement in the 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.”

3.7 References
Sources should be referenced according to the Vancouver reference style. Referencing AI-generated material as the primary source is not acceptable. For guidance on references, please refer to: https://www.icmje.org/recommendations/ (1).

In the 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)”; “adenocarcinoma (29,30)”; “raised significantly (15, 20, 31-33)”]. 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.

In the reference list, 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.

Below are two examples for the 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.

3.8 Tables
Tables are recommended to be provided in separate files. 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.

3.9 Figures
Figures should be provided in separate files. 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.

• File types, resolution, size: Please refer to the specification (file types, resolution, image size, file size etc.) for more detailed requirements.
  For photographs, clinical images, photomicrographs, gel electrophoresis, and other types that include labels, arrows, or other markers, please submit 2 versions: one version with the markers and one without. An explanation for all labels, arrows, or other markers should be included in the figure legend.
• Figure legends: Legends should be provided for figures, including the figure title, the full name of any abbreviation in the figure, a detailed description of any symbol in the figure (e.g., some color notation or arrows), and a separate description of each figure if it is a combination of several figures, etc.
• Copyright: 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 (see “5. COPYRIGHT AND PERMISSION”).
• Patient Privacy: 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. Nonessential identifying details should be omitted. For example, 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. However, masking the eye region in photographs of patients is inadequate protection of anonymity. If identifying characteristics are de-identified, authors should provide ensure that such changes do not distort scientific meaning. 

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 (i.e.: 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, and 1D.

3.10 Videos
Videos are recommended provided in separate files. 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://actr.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 and audio: Videos should have text or symbols or audio descriptions. All text notes, explanations, descriptions, etc. in the video must be provided in English. 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.
• Copyright: If the videos 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 cover letter. It is especially worth noting that if background music appears in a video, the author should also obtain authorization from the copyright owner of that music if that music is involved in copyright licensing (see “5. COPYRIGHT AND PERMISSION”).
• File name: please name the videos as Video 1, Video 2, Video S1, Video S2, etc. upon submission.

In-text citations

• Cite videos with the format: Video 1, Video 2, Video S1, Video S2, etc.
• Cite videos in ascending numeric order upon the first appearance in the manuscript file.

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

3.11 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.”

4. STYLE OF THE MANUSCRIPT

4.1 Vancouver Style
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/ (1).

• 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.
• Abbreviation of 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.
• Numbers: for numbers below 10, use the full English spelling, e.g., "nine" instead of "9"; for numbers ≥10, use the Arabic numerals; for numbers ≥1,000, use the thousand separator, i.e., "1,000" instead of "1000".
• Italics: Medical Latin words and gene name need to be italicized, e.g., in vivo, in vitro.
• 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 (9).
• Abbreviations: must be used sparingly and only where they ease the reader’s task by reducing the 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.
• 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.

4.2 Language
ACTR only publishes articles written in English. British or American spelling is acceptable but must be consistent throughout. We recommend language polish for non-native speaker authors. We recognize AME Editing Service and other platforms for language polishing.

4.3 Data Citation
We are committed to improving the 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 practices in data citation, AME has endorsed the FORCE11 Data Citation Principles (https://www.force11.org/datacitationprinciples) (10). 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 (10).

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.

4.4 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.

4.5 Abbreviations and Symbols
Use as few abbreviations as possible, as too many abbreviations increase readers' reading load, slow down reading, and make comprehension more difficult. When abbreviations are considered, 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.

5. COPYRIGHT AND PERMISSIONS

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

6. PEER REVIEW PROCESS

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

7. ARTICLE PROCESSING CHARGES

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

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. SUBMITTING AND TRACKING MANUSCRIPTS
All articles are submitted and the entire review process is managed electronically through the OJS system (https://actr.amegroups.org/login), which has been developed to provide authors with a straightforward online submission process.

For any questions, please contact our Editorial Office by e-mail: actr@amegroups.com.

References*
1. https://www.icmje.org/recommendations/
2. https://publicationethics.org/
3. https://wame.org/policies
4. https://www.cochranelibrary.com/about/about-cochrane-reviews
5. http://www.prisma-statement.org/?AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1
6. https://www.equator-network.org/reporting-guidelines/prisma-scr/
7. https://wame.org/page3.php?id=106
8. https://www.equator-network.org/
9. https://www.bipm.org/en/about-us
10. https://force11.org/info/joint-declaration-of-data-citation-principles-final/

*Please note for better guidance and illustration, external links are included but the journal does not endorse or take responsibility or liability for any content, advertising, products, or other materials on the externally linked sites, and does not take responsibility for the sites' availability.