Instructions to Authors

Editorial Policy
Ambulatory Surgery publishes original research, reviews, quality improvement studies, case reports and educational articles relevant to ambulatory and day surgery practice. Manuscripts should be prepared in accordance with international standards for biomedical publishing, including ICMJE recommendations and COPE ethical guidance.Refereeing

All contributions are read by two or more referees to ensure both accuracy and relevance. As a result, amendments to the script may be required before final acceptance. On acceptance, contributions are subject to editorial amendment to suit house style.
Submissions
All papers should be submitted by e-mail as a single Microsoft Word document to the Editor-inChief:

By submitting a manuscript by email to Ambulatory Surgery, you, the corresponding author agrees that the manuscript has been approved by all authors, has not been published or submitted for consideration for publication elsewhere and following acceptance for publication will not be published elsewhere, in any language. By submitting via email, the authors agree to assign Copyright to the Publisher (International Association of Ambulatory Surgery) to sanction reprints and to authorise the reprinting of complete issues or volumes according to demand. Authors’ traditional rights will not be jeopardised by assigning Copyright in this manner, as they will retain the right to re-use and veto third party publications. It is the corresponding author’s responsibility to obtain written permission to quote material that has appeared in another journal. The corresponding author takes responsibility for the published manuscript including authorship details, academic content and disclosures.
Peer-review process
All manuscripts are reviewed by two or more referees to ensure both accuracy and relevance. Manuscripts may be accepted pending minor or major revision. Authors will be notified of rejection if manuscripts are not suitable for publication in Ambulatory Surgery. On acceptance, contributions are subject to editorial amendment to suit house style.

Preparation of Manuscripts
Papers should be written in clear and concise English. Authors whose native tongue is not English are assured that in-house editorial attention to their contributions will improve clarity and acceptability to readers. Manuscripts should be prepared using a standard sans-serif typeface (e.g. Aptos, Calibri or Arial) in 11- or 12-point font. Double-spacing or page numbering is not required. Where relevant, authors should follow relevant EQUATOR reporting guidelines where appropriate, including: CONSORT for randomised controlled trials; STROBE for observational studies; PRISMA for systematic reviews; CARE for case reports; SQUIRE for quality improvement studies
Manuscripts should be arranged according to the sections below:

Title Page 
Title of Manuscript 
Author Names Author affiliations (Institutions with addresses) 
Corresponding author name 
Corresponding author email address 

Abstract
An abstract (maximum 250 words) should be included. Structured abstracts should contain the headings: Background, Methods, Results and Conclusions. 

Keywords 
Include up to 5 keywords separated by semicolons 

Introduction 
Describe background information on the research topic, identifies gaps in existing knowledge, explain the significance of the study, and state the research aim or objectives.

Methods 
Describes how the study was conducted, including the study design, participants or data sources, materials, procedures, and methods of analysis, sufficiently detailed to allow replication of the study. 

Results 
Presents the findings of the study objectively, using tables and figures if required, without interpreting their meaning. Avoid duplication of data presented in tables or figures. 

Discussion 
Use the discussion section to detail your interpretation of the study findings (explain the results you found), compare them with existing literature, explain their significance, acknowledges limitations, and consider the implications for practice, policy, or future research. 

Conclusions 
Include a simple conclusion summarising the main findings of the study. If relevant, explain the implications and discuss the significance of the research, making recommendations for areas of future study. Only make statements that are backed up by the study findings.

Acknowledgements 
For the recognition of individuals, organisations, or funding bodies that contributed to the research but did not meet the criteria for authorship.

Author Contributions
Identify by initials of each author, e.g.
AA: Conceptualisation, methodology, and writing–original draft
BB: Data collection & analysis, and methology
CC: Supervision, and critical revision of manuscript

Funding
Detail any grants or funding used to support the work.

Ethics Approval and Consent to Participate
For studies involving patients or human subjects, please include a statement including the name of the ethics committee/institutional review board (IRB), awarding approval, ethics approval number (if applicable), a statement of informed consent where relevant and a declaration of compliance with the Declaration of Helsinki.

Disclosures / Conflicts of Interest Statement
A statement must be including declaring any conflicts of interest that may relate to affiliations, funding sources and competing interests that might be seen as potential sources of bias related to reported content. If none, state ‘None’.

References
Referencing should follow the Vancouver style with sources cited in the text using numbers (in square brackets, e.g. [1]) in the order they appear and should be fully listed in a numbered reference list at the end. References should take the following form. PubMed ID (PMID) and / or PubMed Central ID (PMCID) can be included if relevant:

Journal article: (Authors, Title, Journal Title, Year, Volume number, Issue Number, Pages, doi reference if relevant.)
1. Bunting D, Adesuyi A, Findlay J, Pawlak M, Sanders D. Management of intraoperatively identified small bile duct stones in patients undergoing cholecystectomy. Langenbecks Arch Surg 2024;409(1):70. doi: 10.1007/s00423-024-03260-9. PMID: 38386114; PMCID: PMC10884054.
Book Chapter: (Chapter authors, Book Title, Chapter Title, Publisher, Year of Publication, Pages)
2. Bickler SN, Weiser TG, Kassebaum N, Higashi H, Chang DC, Barendregt JJ et al. Essential surgery: disease control priorities. In Global Burden of Surgical Conditions. Washington DC: World Bank 2015, 279–285.
Website / report: (Organisation, Title, Year of production, URL website address, when accessed)
3. WHO. Number of clinical trials by year, country, WHO region and income group (1999–2025). https://www.who.int/observatories/global-observatory-on-health-research-and-development/monitoring/number-of-clinical-trials-by-year-country-who-region-and-income-group (accessed 6 February 2026)
Please ensure that references are complete i.e. that they include, where relevant, author’s name, article or book title, volume and issue number, publisher, year and page reference.

Tables and Figures
Tables and Figures (diagrams, graphs, and illustrations) should be numbered consecutively when referenced in the text referring to them in the text as Table 1, Table 2 and/or Figure 1, Figure 2 etc. They should be included after the References section. Tables should ideally be created within MS Word with the same typeface and standard font. Table titles should appear above the table and figure legends below the figure. Figures should be submitted in high-resolution format (minimum 300 dpi)

References

Indicate references to the literature in the text by Arabic numerals in square brackets that run consecutively through the paper. Where a reference is cited more than once in the text, use the same number each time. References should take the following form:
  1. Paterson HM, McMillan R, Nixon SJ. True day surgery or 23-hour admission for unselected elective laparoscopic cholecystectomy? Ambulatory Surgery 2006;12: 177–180.
  2. Hunt SM, McEwan J, McKenna SP. Measuring Health Status. London: Croom Helm, 1986.
  3. Reich H. New techniques in advanced laparoscopic surgery. In: Sutton C. ed. Bailliere’s Clinical Obstetrics and Gynecology. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Vol 3, 1989:655-681.
Please ensure that references are complete i.e. that they include, where relevant, author’s name, article or book title, volume and issue number, publisher, year and page reference.