Instructions for Authors
Please note: failure to follow our detailed instructions to authors may influence the decision to accept or reject the manuscript and will adversely affect the time to publication.
Editorial policy
Original contributions from Asia are welcome, but manuscripts must adhere to acceptable English standards. The text should be clear, logical, and concise. When evaluating a manuscript for publication, the Editor considers its originality, educational value, and validity. Suggestions for significant revisions or corrections may be provided to help authors revise their submissions to meet the journal’s standards. The Editor reserves the right to make editorial and literary changes, and accepted articles may undergo additional copy-editing to align with the journal’s style.
The journal follows a single-anonymised peer review process. All submissions are initially reviewed by the Editor to determine their suitability for the journal. The final decision regarding acceptance or rejection rests with the Editor, and this decision is final. Detailed information on the types of peer review is available.
Online submission
All material should be submitted through the online submission and review system All text, including references, figure legends and tables should be prepared in a single PDF file and a Word docx file. Illustrations should be supplied as separate files. The manuscript published should follow the template provided on the website.
Declarations
Authors must disclose the use of generative AI and AI-assisted technologies in the writing process by adding a statement at the end of their manuscript. This declaration does not apply to the use of basic tools for checking grammar, spelling, references etc. If there is nothing to disclose, there is no need to add a statement.
Funding source
All sources of funding should be declared as an acknowledgement at the end of the text. Authors should declare the role of study sponsors, if any, in the study design, in the collection, analysis and interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript; and in the decision to submit the manuscript for publication. If the study sponsors had no such involvement, the authors should so state.
Ethics
The Asian Journal of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery will only accept results from human and/or animal studies if it is evident that the research was conducted to the highest ethical standards. Formal and documented ethical approval from an appropriately constituted research ethics committee is required for all studies involving human participants, medical records, or anonymised human tissues. Such studies must comply with the World Medical Association’s Declaration of Helsinki (June 1964) and its subsequent amendments. Manuscripts should include a statement confirming that the research protocol received approval from the local ethical committee or its equivalent.
Animal studies must fully adhere to local, national, ethical, and regulatory principles, including applicable licensing requirements. Papers will not be accepted if there are concerns regarding the care and humane treatment of experimental animals. Authors must provide a clear statement in the manuscript outlining the care principles followed during the study.
Covering Letter
Manuscripts must be accompanied by a cover letter confirming that the current “Instructions for Authors” has been read and that the authors comply with its instructions and accept the stated conditions. The letter should confirm that all authors have reviewed and approved the submitted version of the manuscript and accept responsibility for its content. It must also verify that all acknowledged contributors or providers of personal communications have consented to their inclusion. Additionally, the letter should declare that the work is original, has not been previously published, and is not under consideration for publication elsewhere. If accepted, the authors must agree that the paper will not be published in the same or a similar form, in English or any other language, without the written permission of the copyright holder.
Preparation of manuscripts
Failure to submit papers per these instructions will result in the return of the manuscript for correction before it is sent out for review. All copies must be typed double-spaced, including text, bibliographies, figure legends and tables. Use a standard, easy-to-read word processor font such as Times New Roman or Arial. All pages should be numbered in the bottom right corner or bottom centre. Papers should be set out as follows: title page, summary, keywords, text, acknowledgements, references, figure legends, and tables.
Main article types
- Original research articles should generally be no more than 3000 words in length, with 40 references and 16 figures/illustrated images/ tables. Please note that composite figures count as individual items.
- Review papers should be no more than 4000 words, with 80 references and 16 figures/illustrated images/tables. Please note that composite figures count as individual items.
Other article types
- Communications and correspondence: letters for publication should be no more than 800 words in length, with five references and two tables/figures. If the letter is in response to a published article, then the article should be included in the reference list.
Title page
The title page should give the following:
(1) title of the article
(2) initials and name of each author
(3) name and address of the department or institution to which the work should be attributed
(4) the name, address, telephone, fax and e-mail details of the author responsible for editorial correspondence
(5) ORCID address of each author
(5) details of any meeting at which the work was presented, wholly or in part.
Abstract or Summary and Keywords
The article summary should consist of no more than 300 words. The journal does not demand structured abstracts, but the summary should briefly describe the background and purposes of the study, the subjects studied and the methods used, the main findings (including specific data and statistical analysis) and the conclusions. Four to six keywords should be provided at the end of the summary.
Text
Headings should be appropriate to the nature of the paper. Research papers should usually be split into sections under the headings: Introduction, Materials/Patients and Methods, Results and Discussion. Other headings may be appropriate depending on the nature of the paper; the proper use of headings enhances clarity and readability.
Drug/device names: Use generic names of drugs, suture materials and instruments whenever possible. Give the trade name in brackets after the generic or approved name, followed by manufacturer, city, state (if US), and country. Proprietary names should be capitalised.
Abbreviations should be avoided in the title and summary. Explain abbreviations when they first occur in the text.
Numbers: use SI units throughout. Do not give percentages if the total number in the sample is less than 50. Percentages greater than ten should be rounded to the nearest whole number. Numerical data should be analysed by appropriate statistical methods. When evaluating a manuscript, the Editor and statistical referees will consider the design of the study, the presentation of the data, the analysis of the data and the interpretation of the results. The use of standard deviation and standard error should be clearly distinguished. The statistical test(s) used should be stated clearly in the ‘Methods’ section of the paper. Statistical significance should not be confused with clinical significance. In particular, ‘negative’ findings should be interpreted through the use of confidence intervals. Authors should beware of placing undue emphasis on secondary analyses, especially when they are suggested by an inspection of the data.
Tables
These should be double-spaced and contain only horizontal rules. Format tables with tabs rather than spaces, or prepare them as tables in Microsoft Word. Do not submit tables as photographs. A short descriptive title should appear above each table and any footnotes, suitably identified, below. Care must be taken to ensure that all units are included. Ensure that each table is cited in the text.
Figures
Figures should be submitted online as separate files. The minimum resolution for high-quality reproduction is 300 dpi. Permission to reproduce illustrations from other sources should always be obtained before submission, and details included with the legend. The journal is published in full colour (in print and online) so colour photographs should be submitted wherever possible. Photographs must be in sharp focus with good contrast and should not be altered or retouched in any way. ‘Before’ and ‘after’ photographs of patients should be standardised in terms of size, position and lighting. Provide scale bars on photomicrographs rather than stating the magnification in the legend. Legends are required for figures and should be included as part of the manuscript. All figures should be numbered in a single sequence.
Patient confidentiality: where illustrations include individuals of whatever age who are recognizable or whose identity may be deduced from the context, written consent must be obtained for publication. All identifying features not considered relevant to the text should be obscured.
Supplementary data (including multimedia and video)
The journal accepts electronic supplementary material to support and enhance your scientific research. Supplementary files allow the author to submit supporting applications, movies, animation sequences, high-resolution images, background datasets, sound clips and more, which will be published online alongside the electronic version of your article.
References
Please ensure that you include all relevant references to previous articles in the Asian Journal of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. The accuracy of references is the responsibility of the authors. Limit citations to those that are essential to the study. It is not necessary or appropriate to quote every historical reference unless there is a specific point to be made. References derived from computer literature searches should not be cited unless they have been read and contribute specifically to the discussion.
References should be cited in the text in numerical order, not alphabetically, and be indicated in the text by superscript numbers, e.g. 1,2 or 1-4. The reference list should be typed double-spaced and in numerical order. If there are more than six authors listed only the first three followed by ‘et al.’ Internet resources should have their accessibility verified and all URLs should be checked again at the proof stage.
Copyright
Contributions are accepted on the understanding that they have not been submitted simultaneously to another Journal and have not been published elsewhere. Dual publication or redundant publication is unethical. Redundant publication occurs when two or more papers, without full cross reference, share the same hypothesis, data, discussion points, or conclusions.
Upon acceptance of an article, authors will be asked to sign a ‘Journal Publishing Agreement’. Acceptance of the agreement will ensure the widest possible dissemination of information. An e-mail will be sent to the corresponding author confirming receipt of the manuscript together with a ‘Journal Publishing Agreement’ form or a link to the online version of this agreement.