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Key Points

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1. The Main file must start with the Title Page, and the manuscript must contain all figures and tables where they belong within the text rather than at the end.

2. Use Times New Roman font, size 12.

3. Double-spaced lines.

4. Use continuous line numbering.

5. Margins should be set at 2.5 cm and left-hand justified only.

6. All pages should be numbered, with the page number at the bottom and center of the page.

7. Use a page break to separate each section: Title Page, Abstract, Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion, Conclusion, and References.

8. Add "Keywords" and "Level of Evidence" at the end of the Abstract.

9. Define an exact number for the level of evidence. (See: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4671889/)

10. Remove colons or periods from the end of section headers (i.e., use “Introduction” rather than “Introduction:”).

11. Use bold text in brackets for figure and table callouts (e.g., [Table 1, Figure 1]), placed at the end of the relevant sentence before the period.

12. Tables and figures must be inserted within the manuscript text where they belong. (A separate submission of these files is optional).

13. Place table titles and notes directly in the document, above or below the table. Table titles and notes should not be contained within the table cells themselves.

14. Separate the label and title by a period, rather than a colon (e.g., “Table 1. Title of Table 1.”).

15. Add gridlines to all tables (vertical and horizontal).

16. Remove any styling (e.g., bold or italic font) applied to the title of tables and figures.

17. Each figure (including charts and graphs) should consist of exactly one high-resolution JPEG, PNG, or TIFF file inserted into the docx. If a figure consists of multiple parts/pictures, they should be combined into a single image. Figures should not be left as editable Word objects; if they are created using Word tools, they should be exported and re-inserted as images.

18. Equations should be created using Word’s equation builder. (See: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/word/equation-editor

19. Use italic style for P values with a CAPITAL P.

20. et al. within the text should be italicized.

21. Reference style must be AMA style. Reference numbers must be superscript Arabic numerals. Use superscript numerals outside periods and commas, and inside colons and semicolons without space. References must be in numerical order in the text.

22. Examples:

    1. The two largest studies to date included 35 patients  and 40 patients.

    2. The derived data were as follows

    3. As reported previously,

23. The order of the authors during submission must match the order on the submitted Title Page.

24. Provide the ORCID for the first author and corresponding author based on the uploaded Title Page. (Register at: https://orcid.org/register )