Instructions to Authors

1. Aims and Scope  2. Article Types  3. Manuscript Preparation  4. Online Manuscript Submission  5. Peer Review Process  6. Editorial Policy and Publication Ethics  7. After Acceptance  8. Archiving Policy

1. Aims and Scope

Surgery Today is an official peer-reviewed and fully open-access journal of the Japan Surgical Society. The journal publishes review articles, original articles, short communications, short technical reports (“How to Do It”), and letters to the editor. The main purpose of the journal is to provide a place for the publication of high-quality papers documenting recent advances and new developments in all fields of surgery, both clinical and experimental. All articles receive a full and extensive peer review by recognized experts from the subject of research field. The journal is published monthly.

Field of interest: All fields of surgery.

2. Article Types

Surgery Today publishes a variety of different article types. Details on manuscript preparation are provided below.

Article Type Description Abstract Main Text
Recommended Section Maximum *1
Review Article Review Articles are summaries of specific research areas or themes. – 200 words Not specified Not specified
Original Article Original Articles are scientific reports with new findings of original experimental or clinical research. – 200 words
– Structured (Purpose, Methods, Results, and Conclusions)		 Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion Not specified
Short Communication Rapid and concise reports of new and significant research findings, or confirmatory studies (including those containing negative results) of previously published research findings. – 150 words Not specified – 2,000 words
– ≤ 2 tables and/or figures
How to Do It This section includes short articles on methods or techniques recommendable for practical surgery. – 150 words Not specified – 2,000 words
– ≤ 4 tables and/or figures
Letters to the Editor Letters to the Editor are brief, constructive commentaries that can be submitted in response to a recently published article in the journal. Not required Not specified – 500 words including references
– No figure or table

*1 Word limit includes main body of the manuscript only (not including Title page, Abstract, Figure legends, Tables and References). For letters to the editor, word limit includes references.

3. Manuscript Preparation

Information provided here on manuscript preparation and formatting is based, in part, on the “Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals” as published by the ICMJE. For any information that is not mentioned in this guideline, authors should refer to the ICMJE Recommendations.

Preprint Posting

Posting a manuscript on a recognized preprint server that operates in accordance with scholarly publishing standards before submission is not considered redundant or duplicate publication by the Surgery Today.
-Authors must disclose any preprint posting at the time of submission, including the name of the preprint server and the DOI or a persistent link.
-Upon publication, authors should update the information on preprint to include a link to or citation of the final published article.

Submission Checklist

Checklist for Submissions
-This checklist is provided to help you prepare your submission inline with the Instructions of the Journal.
-Manuscripts that do not follow the instructions below WILL BE RETURNED to the corresponding author before undergoing peer review.

Language Editing

If authors are non-native English speakers, manuscripts must be professionally edited by a native English speaker, preferably with expertise in medical English, prior to submission.

General Formatting

  • Language: English
  • Font Size: 12
  • Font type: Times New Roman
  • Spacing: Double-spaced
  • Line Numbers: Required
  • Page numbers: Required

Required Files and Formats

Please prepare and upload the following files in the specified order and format:

  1. Title Page — Microsoft Word format (.doc or .docx)
  2. Main Document (combined file) — Microsoft Word format (.doc or .docx)
    This file should include the following sections in order:
    ・Abstract and Keywords
    ・Main Text
    ・References
    ・Figure Legends
  3. Figures — Common image file formats (e.g., .jpg, .png, .tiff)
  4. Tables and Footnotes — Microsoft Word (.doc/.docx) or Excel (.xls/.xlsx)
    Image formats are not accepted.
  5. Supplemental Files (if applicable, e.g., videos)

Title Page

Title page template

The title page should include the following information:

  1. Article Type: Specify the type (e.g., Review Article, Original Article, etc.).
  2. Article Title: Concise and informative; include searchable terms. Do not include the abbreviations in the title except for gene names or in commonly used abbreviations.
  3. Authors: Full names, and institutional affiliation numbers.
  4. Affiliations: Institutional name, city, and country for each author.
  5. Corresponding Author: Name, and e-mail address.
  6. Author Contributions: Briefly describe each author’s role (refer to ICMJE guidelines).
  7. Acknowledgements: Acknowledge individuals or institutions that contributed.
  8. Conflicts of Interest: Declare any potential conflicts for all authors.
  9. Financial Support: List all sources of funding.
  10. Ethical Approval: Provide the name of the approving institution. If waived or not required, state the reason.
  11. Consent for Publication: Confirm informed consent was obtained. If waived or not required, state the reason.

Abstract and Keywords

  • Abstract: Must be clear, concise, and understandable without reference to the main text.
  • Keywords: Provide 3-8 relevant keywords that reflect the content of the article.

Main Text

See “2. Article Types” section for the information.

References

  • The References section should appear immediately after the main text under the heading “References.”
  • References must be numbered in the order of first appearance in the text and cited using Arabic numerals (e.g., [1], [2-4]).
  • Authors are responsible for the accuracy and completeness of all references.
  • Cite primary, peer-reviewed literature whenever possible. Avoid citing meeting abstracts unless no full article is available.
  • When citing multiple references:
    • separate non-consecutive numbers with commas (e.g., [1,3,5]), and
    • indicate consecutive citations as a range with a hyphen (e.g., [3–5]).
  • List the first six authors, followed by “et al.” if there are more than six authors.
  • Abbreviate journal titles according to Index Medicus (MEDLINE) journal abbreviations.
  • Do not cite AI-generated content as a primary source. If AI tools were used in the research workflow (e.g., writing support, analysis, figure generation), disclose this in the appropriate section of the manuscript in accordance with the journal’s policies.
  • When available, authors are strongly encouraged to include the digital object identifier (DOI) at the end of each reference entry, formatted as “doi: https://doi.org/10.xxxx/xxxxx” (no period after the DOI).

Examples:
Journal article

  1. Kusum K, Kusum V. Cytology of nipple discharge in florid gynecomastia. Acta Cytol 2001; 47:36–40. doi: https://doi.org/10.1159/000326472
  2. Mitchell AJ, Vaze A, Rao S. Clinical diagnosis of depression in primary care: a meta-analysis. Lancet 2009; doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(09)60879-5

    Journal article in a language other than English

  1. Nakajima T. Tabular analysis of 10 000 cases of gastric cancer in the Cancer Institute Hospital. Gan to Kagakuryoho (Jpn J Cancer Chemother) 1994; 21:1813–97. (in Japanese)

    Journal article with an English abstract

  1. Imada T, Takehana T, Rino Y, Suzuki M, Takahashi M, Chin C, et al. Indications for pylorus-preserving gastrectomy for early gastric cancer. Nihon Syokakigeka Gakkaizasshi (Jpn J Gastroenterol Surg) 1995; 28:2248–55. doi: https://doi.org/10.5833/jjgs.28.2248 (in Japanese with English abstract)

    Homepage

  1. Doe J. Title of subordinate document. In: The dictionary of substances and their effects. Royal Society of Chemistry. 1999. http://www.rsc.org/dose/title of subordinate document. Accessed 15 Jan 1999.

    Parts of book

  1. Watanabe H, Jass JR, Sobin LH. Histopathological typing of oesophageal and gastric tumours, 2nd ed. Berlin Heidelberg New York: Springer; 1990. p. 23.

    Book chapter

  1. Wyatt JI. Helicobacter pylori, duodenitis and duodenal ulceration. In: Rathbone BJ, Heatley RV, editors. Helicobacter pylori and gastroduodenal disease. 2nd ed. Oxford: Blackwell; 1992. p. 140–9.

Units of Measurement

  • All measurements should follow the International System of Units (SI).
  • Length, height, weight, and volume: metric units (meter, kilogram, or liter) or their decimal multiples.
  • Temperatures: Celsius.
  • Blood pressures: millimeters of mercury.
  • Leave one space between each number and unit. except for ℃ and %,.
  • Use a capital letter “L” for liter in the Text, Figures, and Tables (e.g., g/dL, mg/dL, IU/L, and mEq/L).

 Abbreviations

Define abbreviations at their first appearance in the text and in each Table and Figure and use the abbreviations consistently thereafter.

Names of Drugs, Devices, and Other Products

Use descriptive name. Do not use the specific brand names of drugs, devices, and other products and services, unless it is essential to the discussion.

Figure Legends

Legends must be prepared for all Figures presented in the manuscript. They should be clearly descriptive and understandable without reference to the text.

Figures

  • All illustrations (line drawings and photographs) are classified as figures.
  • Numbered in the order they are cited. Use Arabic numerals (e.g. Figure 1, Figure 2) in bold fonts.
  • Do not include figure titles or legends in the image; provide them in the main manuscript file instead.
  • Accepted format: Common image file formats (e.g., .jpg, .png, .tiff)
  • Figures must be submitted as separate files, do not include them in the main manuscript Word document.
  • Do not copy-and-pasted in PowerPoint
  • Scanned images will not be accepted.
  • Tone art, or photographic images should be produced at the minimum resolution of 300 dpi.
  • Include the scale (bar) in images captured with scanning electron microscopes.
  • Color should only be used for didactic purposes.
  • All line art backgrounds must not contain any color.

Tables and Footnotes

  • Accepted format: Microsoft Word (.doc/.docx) or Excel (.xls/.xlsx). Image formats are not accepted.
  • Layout must be horizontal.
  • The Table titles should be understandable without reference to the text.
  • Numbered in the order they are cited. Use Arabic numerals (e.g. Table 1, Table 2) in bold fonts.
  • Column headings should be brief and indicate units.
  • Footnotes should be labeled a), b), c), etc.

Supplementary Materials

Surgery Today publishes supplementary materials that may contain additional figures, tables or supporting movies.

  • Submit the supplementary materials as “Supplemental File” in the manuscript submission system.
  • All video files should be submitted in MPEG-4 (.mpg) format.
  • Use S1, S2 (e.g. Fig. S1, Table S1, Movie S1) in the manuscript’s main text.
  • Supplementary materials will not be edited by the journal published exactly as they are received and not edited by the journal.

Mini-abstract/Graphical Abstract or Key Figure/Table

This information will be used for PR purposes and the official Surgery Today social media posts to promote your published article.

Authors must obtain written consent from all participants (or their parent or legal guardian) for publication of any data, images, or information for publication in both academic formats and the Society’s promotional channels (including social media).

  1. Mini-abstract:
    • Summarizing the article in short sentences
    • No more than 230 characters (including spaces)
    • A Mini-abstract​ must​ be​ provided​ via​ the​ online​ submission​ system, ​ not within the manuscript file, at​ the​ time​ of​ initial​ submission.
  1. Graphical Abstract or Key Figure/Table:
    • Please prepare and provide this information for revised manuscript only.
    • Graphical​ Abstract​​ is​ mandatory​ for​ all​ revised​ manuscripts;​ however,​ it​ is​ not​ necessarily​ required​ for​ Review​ Articles​ and​ Letters​ to​ the​ Editor.
    • Single, concise, and self-explanatory visual summary of the main findings of the article
    • Format:​ .jpg​ only
    • You must not use any copyrighted or previously published material (whether edited or unedited) for Graphical Abstract.
    • Authors​ may​ use​ icons​ available​ on​ our​ Icon​ Page​ to​ assist​ in​ creating​ the​ Graphical​ Abstract.
    • Submit the Graphical Abstract as “Graphical Abstract” in the manuscript submission system.

For Review Articles and Letters to the Editor:

    • If​ you​ do​ not​ provide​ a​ Graphical​ Abstract,​ you​ must​ select​ one​ representative​ figure​ or​ table​ from​ your​ manuscript​ to​ serve​ as​ the​ Key​ Figure/Table.
    • This​ selection​ is required​ during​ the​ galley​ proof​ stage.
    • You must not select any copyrighted or previously published material (whether edited or unedited).

Use of Copyrighted Materials

  • If any copyrighted or previously published material (whether edited or unedited) is used in the manuscript, the author is responsible for obtaining permission from the copyright owner(s) prior to submission.
  • Authors must properly cite the source and clearly indicate that permission has been obtained in the corresponding figure or table caption, in accordance with the requirements of the copyright owner(s).

Clinical Trials

In accordance with ICMJE’s policy on trial registration, Surgery Today requires all clinical trials to be registered with a public trials registry before the time of first patient enrollment.

All clinical trials must be registered in a publicly accessible, free-of-charge, not-for-profit registry that ensures data validity and is electronically searchable.
The manuscript must include the registry name and the unique registration number in the abstract.

The journal accepts registration from the following list of registries as well as others listed at ICMJE site:

Reporting Guidelines

Authors must follow the EQUATOR Network’s reporting guidelines appropriate to their study type, such as:

  • CONSORT for randomized trials
  • STROBE for observational studies
  • PRISMA for systematic reviews and meta-analyses
  • STARD for diagnostic accuracy studies
  • SAGER for sex and gender reporting

For a comprehensive list, visit: https://www.equator-network.org

Authors must use the appropriate reporting guideline not only to complete the checklist but also to revise their manuscript accordingly. The checklist is intended as a tool to improve the completeness, clarity, and transparency of reporting. Proper adherence will enhance the quality of the manuscript and may increase its chances of acceptance.

 

4. Online Manuscript Submission

Submissions will open on June 15, 2026.

Manuscripts must be submitted online via the journal’s ScholarOne submission system. All correspondence will be conducted through the submission system and via the corresponding author.

Maximum file size: The maximum file size for upload is 100 MB total per submission.

e-form
Following successful submission, an e-form will be sent to all authors via the submission system for individual completion. Publication may be delayed until all required disclosures are completed.

Technical check and plagiarism screening
All submissions are subject to an initial technical check. Manuscripts may also be screened using plagiarism detection software to assess potential text overlap. Submissions that do not comply with the journal requirements may be returned to the authors for correction.

Contact
For submission-related inquiries, please contact the Editorial Office at surgtoday@seekl.jp.

 

5. Peer Review Process

All manuscripts submitted to Surgery Today are subject to a single-anonymized peer review process, in which the identities of the reviewers are concealed, while the authors’ identities are known to the reviewers. All manuscripts sent for full peer review will undergo a thorough, fair, and unbiased evaluation.

Peer Review Process

  1. Technical Checks
    After submission, the Editorial Office reviews the manuscript to ensure that its formatting and style conform to the
  1. Initial Editorial Screening
    The Editor-in-Chief (EIC) screens the manuscript and decides whether or not to send it for full peer review. If the decision is not to send the manuscript for review, the EIC will send an e-mail to notify the author of rejection.
  1. Editor Assignment
    If the EIC decides to send the manuscript for a full peer review, the EIC assigns an Associate Editor who will be responsible for selecting reviewers and evaluating the manuscript.
  1. Reviewer Assignment
    The Associate Editor selects, in general, two independent reviewers who are experts in the relevant field to evaluate the manuscript.
  1. Peer Review
    Reviewers, who agreed to review the manuscript, submit their review comments to the Associate Editor.
  1. Recommendation
    The Associate Editor reviews the reviewers’ reports and recommends to the EIC whether the manuscript is suitable for publication. The recommendation may include suggestions such as changing the manuscript type.
  1. Decision
    The EIC reviews the reviewers’ and the Associate Editors’ reports and makes a final decision.
  1. Revision and Resubmission
    If the authors are given the opportunity to revise the paper, authors must revise the manuscript in accordance with the reviewers’ comments and provide a response indicating where changes were made or explaining any disagreements. The revised manuscript should be marked or highlighted to indicate changes. The paper then goes through the same process above, but the EIC may choose to accept the paper without further review by the reviewers.

Surgery Today adheres to Committee on Publication Ethics’ Ethical Guidelines for Peer Reviewers. Reviewers are required to maintain strict confidentiality of all manuscripts and related information and must not contact authors regarding manuscript content at any stage of the peer review process. The guidelines for the reviewers are available here.

Revised Manuscript

Manuscripts invited for revision should be thoroughly revised in accordance with the comments of the reviewers and editors. Authors are asked to:

  • Provide a detailed, point-by-point response to all comments.
  • Mark or highlight revised sentences to indicate changes.
  • Submit the revised manuscript within 2 months of the decision date.
  • Ensure that all authors have approved the revised manuscript before resubmitting.

See “Mini-abstract/Graphical Abstract or Key Figures” section for the information of Graphical abstract or Key Figures.

Editors and Journal Staff as Authors

  • Manuscripts submitted by editors, Editorial Board members, or journal staff will follow the same process as outlined above.
  • They are excluded from any editorial decision process of their own manuscript and have neither access to that manuscript nor any information about the review process other than what is provided in the editor’s decision letter.
  • ScholarOne, the journal’s online submission and peer review system is designed to anonymize a person in other roles (editor/reviewer) from any paper he/she has authored.
  • The manuscript submitted by editors, Editorial Board, and journal staff of Surgery Today should include a statement that declares their personal conflict of interest with the journal.

 

6. Editorial Policy and Publication Ethics

Surgery Today upholds the highest standards in journal publication. The journal supports and adheres to the guidelines and best practices including Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals by the International Committee of Medical Journals Editors (ICMJE) and the Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing (a joint statement by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), the World Association for Medical Editors (WAME) and the Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association (OASPA); (https://doaj.org/apply/transparency/)).

Authorship/Contributorship

All authors listed in the manuscript must meet the following four ICMJE criteria:

1) Substantial contributions to the conception or design of the research or the acquisition and analysis of data; and

2) Drafting the work 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.

  • The corresponding author must ensure that a manuscript is read and approved by all authors prior to submission.
  • The type of contribution of each author must be disclosed on the title page under the heading “Type of contribution of the authors”.
  • Individuals who do not meet all four authorship criteria should not be listed as authors, but may be acknowledged in the Acknowledgments section for contributions, such as funding acquisition, supervision, administrative support, technical or language editing, and proofreading. Guest or honorary authorship is not permitted.
  • Authors should resolve any disagreements about the order of authorship before submission.
  • Any changes in authorship such as order, addition, and deletion of authors must be approved by all authors and are not allowed after acceptance.

Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)-Assisted Tools/Technologies

In line with COPE, WAME, and ICMJE guidelines, Surgery Today adopts the following policy regarding the use of artificial intelligence (AI)–assisted technologies in manuscript preparation and authorship.

AI and Authorship Policy

  • Artificial intelligence (AI)–assisted technologies, including large language models, chatbots, and image generation tools, do not qualify for authorship.
  • AI tools must not be listed as authors or co-authors, nor cited as authors, because they cannot assume responsibility for the accuracy, integrity, and originality of the work.
  • Authorship is limited to human contributors who meet the authorship criteria defined by the ICMJE.

Responsibilities of Human Authors

  • Authors are fully responsible for the accuracy, integrity, originality, and validity of all aspects of the submitted work, including any content generated or assisted by AI technologies.
  • Authors should carefully review, edit, and verify all AI-assisted outputs, recognizing that such outputs may be incorrect, incomplete, or biased.
  • Authors should be able to explain, defend, and take public responsibility for the entire content of the manuscript.
  • Authors must ensure that that no plagiarism is present in the manuscript, including in text, images, or other materials generated or assisted by AI.
  • Authors must ensure appropriate attribution and full citation of all quoted or referenced material, including material generated with the assistance of AI.
  • Authors remain responsible for addressing any questions, concerns, corrections, or post-publication issues, regardless of the use of AI-assisted technologies.

Acknowledgment of AI Use

At the time of submission, authors must disclose whether AI-assisted technologies were used in the preparation of the manuscript. Authors must describe how AI-assisted technologies were used in both the cover letter and the appropriate section of the manuscript.

  • If AI was used for writing assistance, describe this in the Acknowledgment section.
  • If AI was used for data collection, analysis, or figure generation, describe this in the Methods Include sufficient detail to allow replication, including the tool name and version, and how it was used (e.g., prompts and workflow).

Confidentiality

All manuscript details, author information, reviewer identities, comments to the editors and the authors, and the content of the decision letter are considered privileged information and will never be disclosed to third parties.

Conflicts of Interest and Sources of Funding

Conflict of Interest (COI) / Disclosure of Interests
All authors are required to disclose any potential conflicts of interest (COIs), including financial and non-financial relationships, activities, affiliations, or personal relationships with any commercial organizations, groups, institutions, or other entities that could influence the work, or could reasonably be seen as influencing the content of the manuscript.
Authors must disclose relevant relationships and activities from the past 36 months. Support directly related to the work reported in the manuscript must be disclosed regardless of time limit. Disclosures must be updated if any changes occur during peer review or prior to publication.

COIs include, but are not limited to:

  • Research support (including funding and provision of equipment or materials)
  • Honoraria, consulting, employment, or advisory roles
  • Stock/share ownership, patents, royalties, or licensing fees
  • Travel or accommodation expenses
  • Other financial relationships
  • Institutional relationships, personal relationships or rivalries, academic competition, or intellectual beliefs that may be relevant

If no COIs exist, authors should include the following statement: “The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest.”

The journal requires completion of a COI disclosure e-form. Following submission, the COI form will be sent to all authors via the submission system for individual completion. Purposeful failure to disclose relevant interests may be considered misconduct and may result in editorial action.

Funding Sources
Authors must provide a Funding Statement describing all sources of direct support for the work reported in the manuscript. Funding disclosure is distinct from COI disclosure. All relevant funding for the study, including support from government, institutional, or non-profit organizations, must be acknowledged in the manuscript. Funding sources and affiliations that have not contributed to the work should not be listed as listing them would be misleading.

The Funding Statement must include:

  • Funding sources, including grant numbers (if applicable), and whether the funder provided equipment, materials, or other support;
  • The role of the funder/sponsor, if any, in study design; data collection; analysis and interpretation; manuscript preparation; and the decision to submit for publication; and
  • Any publication restrictions, or a statement confirming that the sponsor had no such role or restrictions.

For funded work, use the following format:
“This work was supported by [name of funder] (grant number [xxx]).”

If no funding was received, include one of the following statements (as applicable):
“This research received no external funding.” or “This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.”

Research Ethics
A) Human Research Approval

Clinical research involving human subjects or materials of human origin must comply with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki. The Methods section must state that the study was approved by the Institutional Review Board (IRB) or equivalent ethics committee of the authors’ affiliated institution. If your research does not require a review by IRB, you must clearly state the reason for such waiver and a statement of adherence to the Declaration of Helsinki must be included in the Methods section.

B) Participant Consent and Anonymity:

For studies involving human subjects, written consent must be obtained from all participants (or their parent or legal guardian) for publication of any data, images, or information. Identifiable information such as names, initials, specific dates, or other personal data must not be included unless essential for scientific purposes and with participant consent. Any data or information such as patient names, initials, hospital patient identification codes (patient IDs), specific dates, or any other information which may identify patients must not be presented anywhere in the manuscript, including the Figures and Tables unless the information is essential for scientific purposes and the patient (or parent or legal guardian). All pictures should focus on the affected areas only.

C) Animal Research Approval

Articles reporting on data from animal testing must indicate in the Methods section the approval of the testing design by the affiliated institution’s Animal Care and Use Committee.

D) Data Availability and Reporting

Authors must provide clear and transparent reporting of data. Where appropriate, datasets (e.g., DNA sequences, protein structures) must be deposited in recognized public repositories (e.g., GenBank), and accession numbers must be included in the manuscript.

The manuscript must include a Data Availability Statement, including links to repositories and availability of supplementary data/materials/methods for verification.

Clinical trials must be registered in a public trials registry at or before first participant enrollment, and the registration number must be provided in the manuscript. For clinical trials, authors may be required to include a Data Sharing Statement in accordance with ICMJE policy.

Misconduct and Breach of Publication Ethics

All members of the Editorial Board of Surgery Today promote and abide by the COPE International Standards for responsible research publication for authors, reviewers and editors when dealing with allegations of misconduct.

1. Misconduct
1.1 Prohibited practices

The following may be considered misconduct or breaches of publication ethics, including but not limited to:

  • Duplicate/Redundant publication: Submitting work that duplicates previously published work in any language, including manuscripts under consideration elsewhere or published as “in press” or “Epub ahead of print.”
  • Simultaneous submission: Submitting the same manuscript to more than one journal at the same time.
  • Data fabrication/falsification: Presenting inaccurate records or data, including fabrication, manipulation, or falsification.
  • Salami publication: Intentionally dividing a single research project or dataset into multiple manuscripts to increase the number of submissions/publications over time.
  • Citation misconduct: Citation practices intended to inflate citation counts, including excessive or irrelevant self-citation and coercive citation.

1.2 Exceptions and Permitted Secondary Publication

  • Meeting abstracts/posters: Abstracts and posters presented at scientific meetings are not considered prior publication.
    If a study has been presented previously, authors should acknowledge this in the manuscript, e.g.:
    “A part of this study was presented at the XXth Annual Meeting of XXXXX (Month Year, City).”
  • Secondary publication: Surgery Today may accept secondary publications only if they meet the criteria described in the ICMJE Recommendations.

2. Similarity Screening (Text Overlap)

Surgery Today may screen manuscripts for text overlap to assess potential redundancy and plagiarism. Consistent with COPE guidance, overlap is evaluated by nature and context, not by numeric similarity thresholds alone.

  • Minor, dispersed overlap (e.g., standard methodological phrases) may be acceptable.
  • Substantial or concentrated overlap, especially in the Results/Discussion or in novel content, requires editorial review.
  • Disciplinary norms and article type may be considered.
  • Use of content from student theses/dissertations may be permitted depending on the journal’s policy and prior publication status.
  • Authors must clarify copyright and intellectual property ownership where relevant (e.g., student, research team, institution).

3. Author Notification

Corresponding authors must notify the Editor of:

  • Previously submitted, posted, or published reports that may be redundant or duplicative
  • Manuscripts containing overlapping data, methods, or findings

Authors must submit copies of related materials for editorial assessment and appropriately cite and reference such materials in the new submission.

4. Handling Allegations of Misconduct

Surgery Today investigates all allegations in accordance with the COPE flowcharts and journal policies. Misconduct or breach of publication ethics, regardless of severity, may result in editorial action.

4.1 During submission and peer review

  • Ethical concerns may be raised by editors, reviewers, authors, or journal staff.
  • The manuscript may be placed on hold pending investigation.
  • The EIC conducts a preliminary review and may request an explanation and supporting documents from the corresponding author.
  • If concerns remain unresolved or evidence suggests misconduct, the case will be referred to the Editorial Board to determine appropriate actions.

4.2 Editorial actions and sanctions

Actions may include, but are not limited to:

  • Official warning to the author(s)
  • Immediate rejection of the submitted manuscript
  • Publication of a formal notice (e.g., notice of violation)
  • Revocation of publishing privileges
  • Embargo on future submissions to Surgery Today
  • Notification to the author’s institution and/or relevant authorities (as appropriate)

 

7. After Acceptance

Copyright
Copyright to articles and their contents published in Surgery Today belong to the Authors. However, Surgery Today applies the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) to all works published by the journal. Anyone may download, reuse, copy, reprint, distribute, or modify articles published in the journal, if they cite the original authors and source. No permission is required from the publisher. The license can be found on the last page of the published PDF of the article.

Article Processing Charge (APC)
The​ APC​ is​ 560,000​ JPY.​ A​ discount​ is​ available​ if​ the​ corresponding​ author​ of the manuscript is​ a​ MEMBER​ of​ the​ Japan​ Surgical​ Society. There​ is​ no​ APC for​ Letters to the Editor.

Once your manuscript is accepted for publication in Surgery Today, you will receive a confirmation e-mail which contains the instructions for making a payment. The APC is NON-REFUNDABLE.
The manuscript will be published only after the payment has been received.

Waiver policy
The publication charge is determined by the corresponding author’s country, as classified by the World Bank (The World by Income and Region).

For corresponding authors from low-income countries, the fee is fully waived.
For those from lower-middle-income countries, it is reduced by 50%.

In cases of demonstrated financial hardship, the journal will consider a pre-submission application for a waiver from any corresponding author to the Editorial Office. Applications cannot be made after the peer review process has begun.

The ability of an author to pay the publication charge does not influence editorial decisions. To avoid any possibility of undue influence, Editors involved with the decision-making process for articles are not involved in any deliberations on waivers.

Proofreading (Galley Proofs)
After a manuscript is accepted for publication:

  • The Editorial Office will perform a proof check of the accepted manuscript and may indicate portions requiring correction or rewriting.
  • Galley proofs will be provided to the authors for review.
  • Authors must carefully review the proofs and return corrections to the Editorial Office within the specified timeframe.

Permitted Corrections

At the proof stage, authors may make minor corrections only, such as:

  • Typographical errors (spelling mistakes, missing characters/letters)
  • Formatting errors
  • Minor factual corrections that do not affect the scientific content

Substantial changes (e.g., changes to results, interpretations, conclusions, authorship, or additional data/analyses) are not permitted after acceptance.
Any other corrections and revisions after acceptance are not allowed unless requested by the Editorial Board of Surgery Today.

Corrections After Publication

After publication, changes can be made only through an Erratum, which will be published and hyperlinked to the original article, in accordance with the journal’s editorial policies.

To preserve the integrity of the scholarly record, Surgery Today follows the COPE Retraction Guidelines.

  1. Corrections (Errata)
    An erratum may be issued to correct important errors that could mislead readers (e.g., incorrect data, terminology, typographical errors, figure/table errors, omissions, or incorrect author/contributor information). The Editorial Office will evaluate whether the error affects the integrity of the work and, if necessary, publish an erratum linked to the original article.
  1. Expressions of Concern
    An Expression of Concern may be issued when:
  • there is a strong suspicion of unreliability or misconduct, but evidence is not yet conclusive, and/or
  • investigation is expected to take considerable time and readers should be alerted to potentially misleading information.
  1. Retractions
    Surgery Today may retract an article to alert readers to major errors or ethical misconduct that invalidate the findings or conclusions. Retractions may be issued for reasons including (but not limited to):
    1. Unreliable or misleading findings/data (including honest error or misconduct)
    2. Plagiarism
    3. Duplicate publication without permission
    4. Unethical research

Retraction process

    1. Cases requiring investigation are brought to the attention of the EIC.
    2. The EIC investigates following COPE flowcharts and may request an explanation from the authors.
    3. The final decision is communicated to the author(s) and, when appropriate, relevant bodies such as the authors’ institution.
    4. A retraction statement is posted online and published in the next available issue.

Retraction notice and article status
The retraction notice will include:

  • Article title and author list
  • A link to the retracted article
  • The reason(s) for retraction

To preserve the integrity of the published record, retracted articles will not be removed. The PDF will be replaced with a version watermarked “Retracted”, while the original content remains accessible. A retraction notice will also be published in the next available issue.

Complaints and Appeals

1. Complaints about journal policies or ethical issues

Complaints about journal policies, editorial handling, or staff actions should be submitted by e-mail to:  surgtoday@seekl.jp.

  • Allegations involving fabrication, falsification, plagiarism, copyright infringement, authorship disputes, COI breaches, or other ethical violations must be submitted in writing with supporting evidence.
  • Upon receipt, the EIC will review the complaint and refer it for investigation as appropriate. The complainant will be informed of progress when feasible.

2. Appeals of editorial decisions

  • Authors may submit one formal appeal if they believe a decision was made in error.
  • Appeals must clearly state the reasons and include supporting information.
  • Appeals should be sent to: surgtoday@seekl.jp
  • The EIC and Editorial Board will review the appeal and may request re-review. The post-appeal decision is final.

Post-Publication Discussion

Readers may raise concerns about published articles by submitting a Letter to the Editor. The editor may seek expert input and invite the original authors to respond. Where appropriate, the letter and the authors’ reply may be published.

8. Archiving Policy

Self-archiving Policy
The Journal allows authors to deposit various versions of their articles in institutional or subject-specific repositories immediately after publication.

Versions Eligible for Archiving:

  • Preprint: The initial version of the manuscript submitted before peer review and any editorial changes.
  • Author’s accepted manuscript: The version of the manuscript that has been peer-reviewed and revised but has not yet undergone final formatting by the Journal.
  • Published article: The peer-reviewed, edited, and formatted version of the article as published by the Journal.

Authors must provide the bibliographic information (authors, article title, journal title), the name of the copyright holder, the DOI and/or URL to the original publication.

Dark Archiving / Long-term Preservation Policy
To ensure long-term preservation and continued access to published content, Surgery Today participates in PORTICO. In the event of publisher disruption or journal discontinuation, archived content will remain accessible to the scholarly community.


For inquiries:
Surgery Today Editorial Office
Emi Jimoto / Sakiko Tanaka, Editorial Office Manager
E-mail: surgtoday@seekl.jp