Surgery in Africa Monthly Review publishes a Review each month on
a topic of interest to surgeons and surgical trainees in Africa and
the developing world. These Reviews aim to provide surgeons with access
to up to date medical information and to apply this information to
the conditions of Africa and the developing world. Reviewers should
therefore pay attention to the following requirements in their submissions:
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Reviewers are recommended to contact the editors
of Surgery in Africa Monthly Review, Dr. Brian Ostrow at
brian@bookshelf.ca
or Prof. Pankaj Jani at
janipg@wananchi.com,
prior to beginning their Review.
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Each Review should be based on a literature
search of a surgical topic using an internet search engine such
as Medline or PubMed.
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The Review format is a discussion of the topic
through citing the literature. See already published Reviews
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The Review should focus on applying this literature
to the conditions of Africa and the developing world, indicating
where it is and is not appropriate.
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Where possible the literature should be critically
appraised using evidence-based medicine principles.
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Reviewers are advised to store their search
and selected citations, including abstracts and full text articles
in a format accessible by the editors. Assistance can be provided.
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Each Review should aim for a significant number
(40-60) up to date references the majority of these being available
as full text online. Attention should be paid to this in selecting
the references and saving them in appropriate databases as the abstracts
and full text articles will be made available on the website.
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As of August 2007 access to full text material
will require the use of a Ptolemy account or other access to the
University of Toronto library. Reviewers are eligible for Ptolemy
accounts. The links to full text will be via “simplelinks”
– U of T Library hyperlinks to full text online material.
Reviewers should consult with the editors at
brian@bookshelf.ca
to receive instruction in creating these links.
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The Review itself should be 5000-7000 words.
See previous Reviews for the
specific stylistic format. The Bibliography format is Vancouver.
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Extensive copying of material directly from
other publications, even if appropriately cited, is strongly discouraged.
This kind of material is better referred to in the text and the
reader advised to read it directly via links. Whole sentences rather
than bullet points are preferred.
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The Review should conclude with a list of Recommendations
which might be seen as best-practice guidelines in the conditions
of Africa and the developing world.
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The Reviewer should submit a list of 10 multiple
choice questions and their answers which summarize the topic material.
The format will be best of 4-5 possible answers.
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Surgery in Africa reserves the right to edit
submitted Reviews in consultation with the Reviewer for format,
content and relevance.
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The Reviewer is responsible for conducting a
focused Discussion for the month of publication at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Surgery-in-Africa/
on the material discussed in the Review, the Recommendations and
their applicability to the conditions of Africa and the developing
world.
