Any article submitted to this journal must follow the guidelines outlined in this author’s guide, so it is essential to consult it before submitting manuscripts.
FIRST PAGE
Regardless of the type of article or section of this journal, authors must always include on the first page of the manuscript, in addition to the title, authors, affiliations, and email address, declarations regarding Ethical Considerations, Informed Consent, Funding, Conflict of Interests, Use of Artificial Intelligence, and Authorship.
Declarations are required even if the author considers that such considerations do not exist or are not applicable.
Ethical Considerations. Any article involving experiments with humans will require the author to declare that all procedures were conducted in accordance with the Helsinki Declaration, relevant laws, and institutional guidelines. The reference number of the study approval by an ethics committee should be included in the Original Articles involving human experimentation. For animal experimentation, compliance with the relevant regulations must also be stated.
This declaration is mandatory in the Original Articles section.
Informed Consent. All articles containing data, photographs, or patient tests, whether anonymized or not, must explicitly mention in the body of the article that informed consent has been obtained from the patient(s) included for reproduction. It should be declared that there are no patient data in the article, or if present, that such data do not violate patient privacy and confidentiality or allow recognition, and that informed consent is in possession. Privacy rights of human subjects must always be respected.
Appropriate consent and permissions must be obtained when presenting one or more cases without experimentation or when an author wishes to include personal details, other information, or images of patients or any individuals in an Elsevier publication. The author must retain written consent forms and provide copies or proof of acquisition upon request. In clinical cases, informed consent is always required, regardless of whether images are anonymized or not, including radiographs. Any images with patient data always require this declaration.
This obligation applies to all sections except Editorials, Letters to the Editor, and Reviews.
Funding. The author must identify who provided financial support for the research and/or manuscript preparation and briefly describe the role of the sponsor(s), if applicable, in study design; data collection, analysis, and interpretation; manuscript drafting; and decision to submit for publication. If the funding source(s) did not participate in these activities, this should be declared.
This declaration is mandatory in all sections, and if there is no funding, the author must explicitly state that none exists.
Conflict of Interests. Any existing financial or personal relationships with other individuals or organizations that may have influenced your work should be specified, even if they are not directly related to the current manuscript. Examples of potential competing interests include employment, consulting, stock ownership, fees, paid expert testimony, patent applications/registrations, and other funding, as well as travel grants and participation in courses and conferences as a paid expert. If none of the above conditions apply, it should be stated: "Interest statement: none."
If a member of the Editorial Committee contributes as an author to any submitted manuscript, the responsible editor must state in the conflict of interests section: “As ABC is a member of the Editorial Committee of the journal, they have not participated in or had access to review or acceptance information related to the manuscript.”
This declaration is always mandatory and should be made for each participating author.
Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence in Scientific Writing. Any other use is not authorized. See the detailed description later in these guidelines.
This declaration is always mandatory whenever AI is used.
Authorship. Individuals listed as authors must have made substantial contributions. Changes to authorship or order of authors after submission are not allowed without prior justification and approval by the Chief Editor. Refer to the relevant sections later in these guidelines for more details.
BODY OF THE ARTICLE
In addition to including the above declarations on the first page, remember that Ethical Considerations and Consent must also be stated in the Materials and Methods section when experiments involve animals or humans and in the presentation of Clinical Cases.
If experiments involve animals or humans, certain declarations must also be included within the manuscript itself, even if they are already required on the first page. These should always be declared in the Original Articles or Brief Reports (if included), regardless of whether the author believes they do not exist or are not applicable.
Ethics and Informed Consent. In experiments involving humans or animals, the author will declare in the Materials and Methods section of Original Articles, Brief Reports, or Case Series/Reports that the guidelines on Human and Animal Rights described in the “Ethics in Publishing” section of this guide have been followed. Specifically, for human experiments, authors must confirm that the research was conducted according to the World Medical Association’s Declaration of Helsinki, and for animal experiments, that ARRIVE guidelines were followed or that they comply with the Laboratory Animal Use and Care Law and, when applicable, the Animal Welfare Law. Authors should also declare in the Materials and Methods (original or brief report) that they have informed consent and approval from the Clinical Research Ethics Committee (CREC) or the relevant ethics committee, without revealing data that could hinder blind review. Note that Spanish Biomedical Research Law mandates that ethics committees evaluate all biomedical research involving interventions in humans or the use of biological samples.
All articles containing patient data, photographs, or tests, whether anonymized or not, must explicitly state in the body of the manuscript that informed consent has been obtained from the patient(s) for reproduction. Proper consent forms and permissions should be obtained when presenting cases without experimentation or when including personal details or images of patients or individuals in an Elsevier publication. The author must keep written consent forms and provide copies or evidence of their acquisition upon request.
Originals. Empirical studies associated with any aspect of research in the field of Neurosurgery that is in the form of a scientific article, with the following sections: abstract, introduction, Material and methods, Results, and Discussion. The length of the text will be 3,000 words. Besides, it will be included a structured abstract (Spanish and English), 4-6 key words and 30-40 literature references. Besides the text, until 8 Figures or Tables will be accepted. It is recommended that the number of authors does not exceed 6.
Reviews. These types of manuscripts will be specifically commissioned by the Editorial Committee. Authors who wish to collaborate spontaneously in this section should previously consult the Journal Editors. These will be review on relevant and current topics in Neurosurgery with the following structure: Abstract, Introduction, Development and Conclusions. The maximum length of text will be 3,000 words. Besides that an unstructured abstract (in Spanish and in English) of 150 words will be included, as well as the corresponding 4-6 key words, and up to a maximum of 50 literature references will also be included. Besides the text, up to 4 Figures or Tables will be accepted. It is advisable that the number of signing authors does not exceed 3.
Clinical cases. Cases that make an important contribution to the knowledge of the pathophysiology, aetiology or other aspects of a clinical process. The structure of these articles will be the same as Originals (Introduction, Clinical Case or Cases), Discussion, and Conclusion. The maximum length of the text will be 1,500 words. Besides an unstructured abstract of 150 words will be included and a maximum of 15 literature references. It may include up to a maximum of 3 Tables and/or Figures. The recommended number of authors is 4.
Opinion articles. This section has as its purpose to publish relevant and current topics in Neurosurgery that contain novel aspects for the specialty. The text does not need to be formally structured, but should maintain the narrative logic (introduction, development of the experience and conclusions). The maximum length of text will be 2,000 words. Besides it will include an unstructured resumen/abstract (in Spanish and in English) of 150 words plus the 4-6 corresponding key words. Up to a maximum of 15 literature references will also be included. Besides the text, up to 2 Figures or Tables will be accepted.
Letters to the Editor. These will refer to works published in the Journal and will contribute opinions, observations or experiences which due to their characteristics may be summarized in a short text. The maximum length will be 1,000 words of text, with no abstract, including a maximum of 5 literature references. The maximum number of authors will be 4. One Figure or Table will be accepted.
Editorials. Opinion articles written by the request of the Editorial Committee. They must not be longer than 1,000 words and with up to 8 literature references. Its subject should be related with original articles published in the Journal, or on topics of general interest. It will include a maximum of 10 literature references. It will not contain any Figures or Tables, except in special cases where they are essential to improve the understanding of the text.
Other sections. The Journal includes other sections: Special Articles, which are commissioned by the Editorial Committee, or Clinical Practice Guidelines or Consensus Statements. Authors who wish to collaborate spontaneously in any of these sections should previously consult the Editors associated with the Journal.