Submission guidelines

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Please read the guidelines in full before submitting your manuscript.
Manuscripts not conforming to these guidelines may be returned.

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This Journal is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics.

The Journal recommends that authors follow the Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals formulated by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE).

Sage is committed to upholding the integrity of the academic record. We encourage authors to refer to the Committee on Publication Ethics’ International Standards for Authors and view the author responsibilities section on the Sage Journal Author Gateway.

We also encourage you to familiarize yourself with our Editorial Policies and our Publication Ethics Policies.

Sage Publishing disseminates high-quality research and engaged scholarship globally, and we are committed to diversity and inclusion in publishing. We encourage submissions and peer review from a diverse range of authors and reviewers from across all countries and backgrounds. Read our diversity, equity, and inclusion pledge.

There are no fees payable to submit or publish in this journal. Open access options are available – see below.

Please read the guidelines below then submit your manuscript here.

Access: Subscription
Accepts preprints? Yes
Identity transparency: Double anonymized

As of August 1, 2025, authors will need to submit a USD 100.00 submission fee electronically for Case Reports. This is a non-refundable submission fee to accompany all Case Report manuscripts to help offset editorial office and review costs. There will be no other charges apart from the submission fee. If the corresponding author of the article is from a Research4Life country (either Group A or Group B), this fee will be waived. To learn more about Research4Life and determine if you qualify, please visit http://www.research4life.org/institutions/.

For other article types, there are no fees payable to submit or publish in this journal.

Figures submitted in color will be published in color in the online version of the journal at no cost. If you wish to have color figures in the printed version, you will receive information regarding the costs during production.

Optional open access publishing is available for a fee via the Sage Choice program, and Open Access agreements, where authors can publish open access either discounted or free of charge depending on the agreement with Sage. Find out if your institution is participating by visiting Open Access Agreements at Sage. Open Access agreement eligibility is determined by the corresponding author’s affiliation matching an agreement at acceptance. For more information on Open Access publishing options at Sage please visit Sage Open Access.

For information on funding body compliance, and depositing your article in repositories, please visit Sage’s Author Archiving and Re-Use Guidelines and Publishing Policies.

Open access fees do not cover color charges and are charged separately.

Your article must be within the scope of the journal and be of sufficient quality. If not, it will not be reviewed. Please read the journal’s Aims and Scope to see if your article is appropriate.

The manuscript must be your original work, you must have the rights to the work, and you must have obtained and be able to supply all necessary permissions for the reproduction of any copyright works not owned by you, including figures, illustrations, tables, lengthy quotations, or other material previously published elsewhere.

Article types

HAND accepts manuscripts in each of the following categories related to the management of pathologies in the hand and upper extremity.

  • Original clinical and basic science research articles
  • Comprehensive critical reviews (review articles, meta-analyses, and systematic reviews are all considered for publication)
  • Case reports
  • Letter to the Editor
  • Commentary
  • Multimedia articles

Manuscripts containing original material are accepted for consideration if neither the article nor any part of its essential substance, tables, or figures has been or will be published or submitted elsewhere before appearing in the Journal (in part or in full, in other words or in the same words, in English or in another language), and will not be submitted elsewhere unless rejected by the Journal or withdrawn by the author. If an author violates this requirement or engages in similar misconduct, the Journal’s Editorial Board may reject the manuscript or impose a moratorium on acceptance of new manuscripts from the author. If it deems the misconduct sufficiently serious, the Editorial Board can refer the matter for investigation to the author’s academic institution or hospital, to the appropriate state or local disciplinary body, and/or to the Ethics Committee of the society and publisher.

All published material becomes the sole property of the Journal, copyrighted by the American Association for Hand Surgery. By submitting an article, letter to the Editor, or brief communication, all authors agree to each of these conditions.

Article types, descriptions, length, formatting

1. Original Research: Report of research conducted to increase the body of knowledge of a particular area of concern in hand or upper extremity injuries.
  • Number of words/tables/figures
    • Should not exceed 3,500 word limit (excluding Abstract and References)
    • Submitted in an editable Word document
    • Contain continuous line numbering and page numbers, double-spaced
    • No more than 7 figures or tables. (Any figures beyond 7 should be designated as Supplemental Material.)
  • Title Page
    • Title of the article
    • Author list. Include first and last names for each contributing author [first name, middle initial(s), surname, degree(s)]. Please ensure the accuracy of the author order, spelling, and appearance of all author names.
    • For all contributing authors, indicate the departmental and institutional affiliation(s) for each author.
    • Corresponding author must provide up-to-date email address and the complete mailing address (including the city, state or province, and country) where the work was performed.
    • At the bottom, indicate any Acknowledgments of Grant Support or other Acknowledgments
  • Manuscript Format
    • Structured Abstract
    • Introduction
    • Methods
    • Results
    • Discussions
    • Conclusions
    • Statements
    • References (not to exceed 40)
    • Figure(s)
  • Peer Review
    • Initial review by the Editor-in-Chief or an Associate Editor. Some manuscripts that are deemed inappropriate for the journal or very low priority by the editorial staff may be returned without review. If eligible for publication, the manuscript will be reviewed by 2 or more external reviewers with the final decision made by the Editor-in-Chief.
2. Comprehensive Critical Reviews:A thorough review of the literature presenting new relevant information to the areas of hand and upper extremity injuries. Review articles, meta-analyses, and systematic reviews are all considered for publication.
  • Number of words/tables/figures
    • Should not exceed 3,500 word limit (excluding Abstract and References)
    • Submitted in an editable Word document
    • Contain continuous line numbering and page numbers, double-spaced
    • No more than 5 figures or tables. (Any figures beyond 5 should be designated as Supplemental Material.)
  • Title Page
    • Title of the article
    • Author list. Include first and last names for each contributing author [first name, middle initial(s), surname, degree(s)]. Please ensure the accuracy of the author order, spelling, and appearance of all author names.
    • For all contributing authors, indicate the departmental and institutional affiliation(s) for each author.
    • Corresponding author must provide up-to-date email address and the complete mailing address (including the city, state or province, and country) where the work was performed.
    • At the bottom, indicate any Acknowledgments of Grant Support or other Acknowledgments
  • Manuscript Format
    • Abstract
    • Introduction
    • Methods
    • Results
    • Discussions
    • Conclusions
    • Statements
    • References (not to exceed 40)
    • Figure(s)
  • Peer Review
    • Initial review by the Editor-in-Chief or an Associate Editor. Some manuscripts that are deemed inappropriate for the journal or very low priority by the editorial staff may be returned without review. If eligible for publication, the manuscript will be reviewed by 2 or more external reviewers with the final decision made by the Editor-in-Chief.
3. Case Reports:The presentation of a case that describes the signs, symptoms, diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up of a patient. Case reports should be unique in nature and provide readers with educational insights and value.Please note Case Reports require a submission fee; see the "Publishing fees and open access" section above for current information on the submission fee for Case Reports.

*Limited Acceptance: approximately 10% of case report submissions are accepted. All accepted Case Reports are published online only.

  • Number of words/tables/figures
    • Should not exceed 2,000 word limit (excluding Abstract and References)
    • Submitted in an editable Word document
    • Contain continuous line numbering and page numbers, double-spaced
    • No more than 7 figures or tables
  • Title Page
    • Title of the article
    • Author list. Include first and last names for each contributing author [first name, middle initial(s), surname, degree(s)]. Please ensure the accuracy of the author order, spelling, and appearance of all author names.
    • For all contributing authors, indicate the departmental and institutional affiliation(s) for each author.
    • Corresponding author must provide up-to-date email address and the complete mailing address (including the city, state or province, and country) where the work was performed.
    • At the bottom, indicate any Acknowledgments of Grant Support or other Acknowledgments
  • Manuscript Format
    • Abstract
    • Introduction
    • Methods
    • Results
    • Discussions
    • Conclusions
    • Statements
    • References (not to exceed 20)
    • Figure(s)
  • Peer Review
    • Initial review by the Editor-in-Chief or an Associate Editor. Some manuscripts that are deemed inappropriate for the journal or very low priority by the editorial staff may be returned without review. If eligible for publication, the manuscript will be reviewed by 2 or more external reviewers with the final decision made by the Editor-in-Chief.
4. Letter to the Editor: Comments on a published manuscript to expand on or clarify a particular subject of interest.
  • Number of words/tables/figures
    • Should not exceed 500 word limit (excluding References)
    • Submitted in an editable Word document
    • Contain continuous line numbering and page numbers, double-spaced
    • No more than 2 figures or tables.
  • Title Page
    • Title of the article
    • Author list. Include first and last names for each contributing author [first name, middle initial(s), surname, degree(s)]. Please ensure the accuracy of the author order, spelling, and appearance of all author names.
    • For all contributing authors, indicate the departmental and institutional affiliation(s) for each author.
    • Corresponding author must provide up-to-date email address and the complete mailing address (including the city, state or province, and country) where the work was performed.
    • At the bottom, indicate any Acknowledgments of Grant Support or other Acknowledgments
  • Manuscript Format
    • Unstructured format (no abstract required)
    • No more than 5 relevant references
  • Peer Review
    • Decision made at the discretion of the HAND Editor-in-Chief.
5. Multimedia article submission requirements: Multimedia articles are papers where the video is the heart of the article. The video should contain the original content of the article and the text should be used to supplement the video.

For multimedia articles, the text will be published in the print version of the Journal and both the text and video will be published in the electronic version of the Journal. The text of the multimedia article should contain a clear reference to the video available electronically and consist of the following:

  • Abstract (please follow the instructions for abstract organization in the Files section)
  • A brief, bulleted list giving an overview of the main points contained within the video
  • A reference list if needed (please follow the instructions for reference organization in the Files section)

The author(s) will be required to submit the video in the following format:

  • Video clips should not exceed 9 minutes
  • Multimedia file for review and submission: submit videos as either .mp4 or .mov
  • All narration should be in English

Please follow the manuscript and title page formatting instructions found in the Files section when submitting the manuscript.

Clinical trial registration

The journal conforms to the ICMJE requirement that clinical trials are registered in a WHO-approved public trials registry at or before the time of first participant enrollment as a condition of consideration for publication. The trial registry name and URL, and registration number must be included at the end of the abstract.

All clinical trials, regardless of when they were completed, and secondary analyses of original clinical trials must be registered before submission of a manuscript based on the trial. Phase I trials designed to study pharmacokinetics or major toxicity are exempt.

Include the registry information on a separate page, immediately following the authors’ financial disclosure information.

Reporting guidelines

Your manuscript must follow the relevant EQUATOR Network reporting guidelines, depending on the type of study. The EQUATOR wizard can help identify the appropriate guideline. You will need to upload the appropriate checklist with your submission.

Other resources can be found at NLM’s Research Reporting Guidelines and Initiatives.

If your research involves animals, you will be asked to confirm that you have carefully read and adhered to the ARRIVE guidelines.

Formatting your manuscript

Accepted file types

The preferred format for your manuscript is Word. You do not need to follow a template, but please ensure your heading levels are clear, and the sections clearly defined.

Your article title, keywords, and abstract all contribute to its position in search engine results, directly affecting the number of people who see your work. For details of what you can do to influence this, visit How to help readers find your article online.

Title

Your manuscript’s title should be concise, descriptive, unambiguous, accurate, and reflect the precise contents of the manuscript. A descriptive title that includes the topic of the manuscript makes an article more findable in the major indexing services.

Abstract

Please include an abstract between the title and main body of your manuscript that concisely states the purpose of the research, major findings, and conclusions.Submissions that do not meet these requirements will not be considered.

Original Research: 250 words structured as: background, methods, results and conclusions.

Reviews and Case Reports: 200 words unstructured.

Letters to the Editor:  Abstract is not required.

For clinical trials, the trial registry name and URL, and registration number must be included at the end of the abstract.

Keywords

Please include a minimum of 5 keywords, listed after the abstract. Keywords should be as specific as possible to the research topic.

Artwork, figures, and other graphics

For guidance on the preparation of illustrations, pictures, and graphs in electronic format, please read Sage’s artwork guidelines.

Figures supplied in color will appear in color online regardless of whether or not these illustrations are reproduced in color in the printed version. If you have requested color reproduction in the print version, we will advise you of the costs on receipt of your accepted article.

Please ensure that you have obtained any necessary permission from copyright holders for reproducing any illustrations, tables, figures, or lengthy quotations previously published elsewhere. For further information including guidance on fair dealing for criticism and review, please see the Frequently Asked Questions page on the Sage Journal Author Gateway.

Acknowledgments

If you are including an Acknowledgements section, this will be published at the end of your article. The Acknowledgments section should include all contributors who do not meet the criteria for authorship. Per ICMJE recommendations, it is best practice to obtain consent from non-author contributors who you are acknowledging in your manuscript.

Writing assistance and third party submissions: if you have received any writing or editing assistance from a third-party, for example a specialist communications company, this must be clearly stated in the Acknowledgements section and in the covering letter. Please see the Sage Author Gateway for what information to include in your Acknowledgements section. If your submission is being made on your behalf by someone who is not listed as an author, for example the third-party who provided writing/editing assistance, you must state this in the Acknowledgements and also in your covering letter. Please note that the journal editor reserves the right to not consider submissions made by a third party rather than by the author/s themselves.

Author contributions

You will be asked to list the contribution of each author as part of the submission process. Please include the Author Contributions heading within your submission after the Acknowledgements section. The information you give on submission will then show under the Author Contributions heading later at the proofing stage.

Statements and declarations

To ensure proper anonymization, please include a section with the heading ‘Statements and Declarations’ on your title page, after the Acknowledgements section [and Author Contributions section if applicable] including each of the sub-headings listed below. If a declaration is not applicable to your submission, you must still include the heading and state ‘Not applicable’ underneath. Please note that you may be asked to justify why a declaration was not applicable to your submission by the Editorial Office. This information will be added to the end of your published paper.

Ethical considerations

Please include your ethics approval statements under this heading, even if you have already included ethics approval information in your methods section. If ethical approval was not required, you need to explicitly state this. You can find information on what to say in your ethical statements as well as example statements on our Publication ethics and research integrity policies page.

All papers reporting studies involving human participants, human data or human tissue must state that the relevant Ethics Committee or Institutional Review Board approved the study, or waived the requirement for approval, providing the full name and institution of the review committee in addition to the approval number. If applicable, please also include this information in the Methods section of your manuscript.

Please include any participant consent information under this heading and state whether informed consent to participate was written or verbal. If the requirement for informed consent to participate has been waived by the relevant Ethics Committee or Institutional Review Board (i.e. where it has been deemed that consent would be impossible or impracticable to obtain), please state this. If this is not applicable to your manuscript, please state ‘Not applicable’ in this section. More information and example statements can be found on our Publication ethics and research integrity policies page.

Submissions containing any data from an individual person (including individual details, images or videos) must include a statement confirming that informed consent for publication was provided by the participant(s) or a legally authorized representative. Non-essential identifying details should be omitted. Please do not submit the participant’s actual written informed consent with your article, as this in itself breaches the patient’s confidentiality. The Journal requests that you confirm to us, in writing, that you have obtained written informed consent to publish but the written consent itself should be held by the authors/investigators themselves, for example in a patient’s hospital record. The confirmatory letter may be uploaded with your submission as a separate file in addition to the statement confirming that consent to publish was obtained within the manuscript text. If this is not applicable to your manuscript, please state ‘Not applicable’ in this section.

Declaration of conflicting interest

The journal requires a declaration of conflicting interests from all authors so that a statement can be included in your article. For guidance on conflict of interest statements, see our policy on conflicting interest declarations and the ICMJE recommendations.

If no conflict exists, your statement should read: ‘The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article’.

Funding statement

All articles need to include a funding statement, under a separate heading, even if you did not receive funding. You’ll find guidance and examples on our Funding page.

Additional Guidance and Requirements for HAND submissions

Declaration of conflicting interests

When making a declaration the disclosure information must be specific and include any financial relationship that all authors of the article have with any sponsoring organization and the for-profit interests the organization represents, and with any for profit product discussed or implied in the text of the article. Any commercial or financial involvements that might represent an appearance of a conflict of interest need to be additionally disclosed in the covering letter accompanying your article to assist the Editor in evaluating whether sufficient disclosure has been made within the Declaration of Conflicting Interests provided in the article.

Authors must disclose all relationships or interests that could influence or bias the work. Although an author may not feel there are conflicts, disclosure of relationships and interests affords a more transparent process, leading to an accurate and objective assessment of the work. Awareness of real or perceived conflicts of interests is a perspective to which the readers are entitled and is not meant to imply that a financial relationship with an organization that sponsored the research or compensation for consultancy work is inappropriate. Examples of potential conflicts of interests that are directly or indirectly related to the research may include but are not limited to the following:

  • Research grants from funding agencies (please give the research funder and the grant number)
  • Honoraria for speaking at symposia
  • Financial support for attending symposia
  • Financial support for educational programs
  • Employment or consultation
  • Support from a project sponsor
  • Position on advisory board or board of directors or other type of management relationships
  • Multiple affiliations
  • Financial relationships, for example equity ownership or investment interest
  • Intellectual property rights (e.g., patents, copyrights and royalties from such rights)
  • Holdings of spouse and/or children that may have financial interest in the work

In addition, interests that go beyond financial interests and compensation (non-financial interests) that may be important to readers should be disclosed. These may include but are not limited to personal relationships or competing interests directly or indirectly tied to this research, or professional interests or personal beliefs that may influence your research.

The corresponding author collects the conflict-of-interest disclosure forms from all authors. In author collaborations where formal agreements for representation allow it, it is sufficient for the corresponding author to sign the disclosure form on behalf of all authors. Please use the ICMJE Form for Disclosures of Potential Conflicts of Interest and upload all copies with the submitted manuscript.

Examples of disclosure statements:

  • Funding: This study was funded by X (grant number X).
  • Conflict of Interest: Author A has received research grants from Company A. Author B has received a speaker honorarium from Company X and owns stock in Company Y. Author C is a member of committee Z.
  • If no conflict exists, the authors should state: Conflict of Interest: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Research ethics and patient consent

Authors are required to ensure the following guidelines are followed, as recommended by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors, Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals. Patients have a right to privacy that should not be infringed without informed consent. Identifying information, including patients' names, initials, or hospital numbers, should not be published in written descriptions, photographs, and pedigrees unless the information is essential for scientific purposes and the patient (or parent or guardian) gives written informed consent for publication. Informed consent for this purpose requires that a patient who is identifiable be shown the manuscript to be published.

Identifying details (names, dates of birth, identity numbers and other information) should be omitted if they are not essential. Complete anonymity is difficult to achieve, however, and informed consent should be obtained if there is any doubt. For example, masking the eye region in photographs of patients is inadequate protection of anonymity. If identifying characteristics are altered to protect anonymity, such as in genetic pedigrees, authors should provide assurance that alterations do not distort scientific meaning and editors should so note. When informed consent has been obtained it should be indicated in the submitted article.

  • The following statement should be included: Informed consent: “Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.”
  • If identifying information about participants is available in the article, the following statement should be included: “Additional informed consent was obtained from all individual participants for whom identifying information is included in this article.”

Statement of Animal and Human Rights

We accept manuscripts that report human and/or animal studies for publication only if it is made clear that investigations were carried out to a high ethical standard. Studies in humans which might be interpreted as experimental (e.g. controlled trials) should conform to the Declaration of Helsinki and typescripts must include a statement that the research protocol was approved by the appropriate ethical committee. In line with the Declaration of Helsinki 1975, revised Hong Kong 1989, we encourage authors to register their clinical trials (at http://clinicaltrials.gov or other suitable databases identified by the ICMJE). If your trial has been registered, please state this on the Title Page. When reporting experiments on animals, indicate on the Title Page which guideline/law (i.e., ARRIVE guidelines) on the care and use of laboratory animals was followed.

All papers reporting animal and human studies must include whether written consent was obtained from the local Ethics Committee or Institutional Review Board. Please ensure that you have provided the full name and institution of the review committee and an Ethics Committee reference number.

  • For studies with human subjects, please include the following sentence: All procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation (institutional and national) and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2008 (5). Informed consent was obtained from all patients for being included in the study.

If doubt exists whether the research was conducted in accordance with the Helsinki Declaration, the authors must explain the rationale for their approach, and demonstrate that the institutional review body explicitly approved the doubtful aspects of the study.

  • If any identifying information about patients is included in the article, the following sentence should also be included: Additional informed consent was obtained from all patients for which identifying information is included in this article.
  • For studies with animals, please include the following sentence: All institutional and national guidelines for the care and use of laboratory animals were followed.
  • For articles that do not contain studies with human or animal subjects: Authors must include the following sentence, so that readers are aware that there are no ethical issues with human or animal subjects: This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects.
Data availability

The Journal is committed to facilitating openness, transparency and reproducibility of research, and has the following research data sharing policy. For more information, including FAQs please visit the Sage Research Data policy pages.

Subject to appropriate ethical and legal considerations, authors are encouraged to:

  • Share your research data in a relevant public data repository
  • Include a data availability statement linking to your data. If it is not possible to share your data, use the statement to confirm why it cannot be shared.
  • Cite this data in your research

Reference style and citations

The journal follows the AMA Manual of Style. View the AMA Manual of Style to ensure your manuscript conforms.

Every in-text citation must have a corresponding citation in the reference list and vice versa. Corresponding citations must have identical spelling and year.

Authors should update any references to preprints when a peer reviewed version is made available, to cite the published research. Citations to preprints are otherwise discouraged.

Supplemental material

This Journal can host additional materials online (e.g. datasets, podcasts, videos, images etc.) alongside the full text of the article. Your supplemental material must be one of our accepted file types. For that list and more information please refer to our guidelines on submitting supplemental files.

English language editing services

Authors seeking assistance with English language editing, translation, or figure and manuscript formatting to fit the journal’s specifications should consider using Sage Author Services. Visit Sage Author Services for further information.

As part of the submission process you will need to confirm that this is your original work, that you have the rights in the work, that this is for first publication in this Journal, that it is not being considered for/has not already been published elsewhere, and that you have obtained and can supply all necessary permissions for the reproduction of any copyright works not owned by you.

Please see our guidelines on prior publication and note that the journal may accept submissions of manuscripts that have been posted on preprint servers.

Preprints

The journal will consider submissions of manuscripts that have been posted on preprint servers.

Please enter the preprint DOI in the designated field when submitting your manuscript. We advise that you inform the Journal Editorial office about your posted preprint at submission.

Note that you should not post an updated version of your manuscript on a preprint server while it is being peer reviewed.

Learn more about our preprint policy.

Submission site

Submit your manuscript online via Sage Track.

IMPORTANT: Please check whether you already have an account in Sage Track before trying to create a new one. If you have reviewed or authored for the journal in the past year it is likely that you will have had an account created. For further guidance on submitting your manuscript online please visit ScholarOne Online Help.

Manuscripts should only be submitted with the consent of all contributing authors. The individual responsible for submitting the manuscript should carefully check that all those whose work contributed to the manuscript are listed as authors.

Ensure you upload all relevant manuscript files, including any additional supplemental files (including reporting guidelines where relevant).

Authorship

Please view our authorship policies, which includes information on criteria for authorship, who should be the corresponding author and more.

Please note that AI chatbots, for example ChatGPT, should not be listed as authors. For more information see the policy on Use of ChatGPT and generative AI tools.

Files

HAND follows the American Medical Association (AMA) style. Please refer to the AMA Manual of Style 11th Edition. Please type manuscripts (including references) double-spaced with one-inch-wide margins, on one side of 21.5 x 28 cm (8 1/2 x 11 inch) paper. All submissions must contain continuous line and page numbering. Manuscripts without line and page numbering will be returned to the authors for immediate revision. The manuscript must be organized in the order indicated below.

1. Title Page:The Title Page must be uploaded as a separate document and not included in the anonymized manuscript text.

*All information below is required to be on your Title Page. If any information is missing, your submission will be returned to you for correction.

  • Title of the article
  • Author list. Include first and last names for each contributing author [first name, middle initial(s), surname, degree(s)]. Please ensure the accuracy of the author order, spelling, and appearance of all author names.
  • For contributing authors, indicate the departmental and institutional affiliation(s) for each author.
  • Corresponding Author must provide up-to-date email address and the complete mailing address (including city, state or province, and country) where the work was performed.
  • At the bottom, indicate any Acknowledgements of Grant Support. All contributors who do not meet the criteria for authorship should be listed in an "Acknowledgements" section. Examples of those who might be acknowledged include a person who provided purely technical help, writing assistance, or a department chair who provided only general support. Authors should disclose whether they had any writing assistance and identify the entity that paid for this assistance. Individuals, other than authors, who were of direct help in the reported work should be acknowledged by a brief statement.

2. Main Manuscript Structure

Structured abstract (for Original Research). On the first page of the main manuscript document, include a structured abstract of not more than 250 words. The abstract should be written under the headings: Background, Methods, Results and Conclusions and should not cite any references. The first time an abbreviated term is used, spell it out in full and follow with the abbreviation in parentheses (e.g., ultrasound (US)). Abstracts for Case Reports and Reviews should not be structured and may not exceed 200 words.

Main Text. Must contain continuous line numbers and page numbers. Organize the text into an Introductory section that conveys the background and purpose of the report, and then into sections titled “Materials and Methods,” “Results,” and “Discussion.” When required by the nature of the report, manuscripts that do not follow this specific format may be accepted. Authors are asked to report all P values whenever statistical analysis results are reported. (Additional details for main manuscript preparation for each article type can found further down.)

Statements. Every manuscript must have the following statements included in the main manuscript text before the References. A manuscript missing any of the statements will be returned for correction. Kindly note that this journal follows a double-anonymized policy and use only Author Initials when listing potential conflicts in the main document.

  • Conflict of Interest Statement
  • Statement of Informed Consent
  • Statement of Human and Animal Rights
  • Statement of Funding
  • Disclosure of AI Use

References. Citations to references in the text should be identified by superscript numbers. References must be numbered consecutively in ascending order as they are cited. Once a reference is cited, all subsequent citations should be to the original number. References may not appear in your Reference List unless they have been cited in the text or tables. Papers that have been accepted for publication or are in press may be listed as references, but the Journal does not reference unpublished data and personal communications. Use the format for references according to the AMA Manual of Style 11th Edition. For each reference, show inclusive page ranges (e.g., 7-19).

In references to journal articles, please include:

  1. surname and initials (without periods) of the first three authors and et al. for all others,
  2. article title
  3. abbreviated journal name
  4. year
  5. volume number
  6. inclusive page numbers, in that order.

An example follows:

Honda T, Nozaki M, Isono N, et al. Endoscope-assisted facial fracture repair. World J. Surg 2001;25:1075-1083

In references to books, please include:

  1. surname and initials (without periods) of the first three authors and et al. for all others,
  2. chapter title, if any
  3. editor(s), if any
  4. title of book
  5. city of publication
  6. publisher
  7. year published
  8. inclusive page numbers. Volume and edition numbers, and name of translator should be included when appropriate.

Examples follow:

Harlan BJ, Starr A, Harwin FM. Anesthesia for cardiac surgery. Illustrated Handbook of Cardiac Surgery, New York, Springer-Verlag, 1996;6-12

Jones MC, Smith RB. Treatment of gastric cancer. In Ford TL, editor, Cancer of the Digestive System, Berlin, Springer-Verlag, 1976;140-154

3. Tables

  • Please ensure that tables are editable in either Word or Excel. Do not submit images of tables. Tables should be uploaded as separate files and not embedded in the manuscript.
  • All tables are to be numbered using Arabic numerals.
  • Tables should always be cited in text in consecutive numerical order.
  • For each table, please supply a table heading.
  • The table title should explain clearly and concisely the components of the table.
  • Identify any previously published material by giving the original source in the form of a reference at the end of the table heading.
  • Footnotes to tables should be indicated by superscript lowercase letters (or asterisks for significance values and other statistical data) and included beneath the table body.

4. Figures

  • All figures are to be numbered using Arabic numerals.
  • Figure parts should be denoted by lowercase letters in the captions and on the image files themselves.
  • Figures should always be cited in text in consecutive numerical order.
  • For each figure, please supply a figure caption at the end of the manuscript file.
  • Make sure to identify all elements found in the figure in the caption.
  • Identify any previously published material by giving the original source in the form of a reference at the end of the caption.
  • Please ensure figures are in high resolution. Rasterized based files (e.g., TIF or JPEG) require a resolution of at least 300 dpi. Line art should be supplied with a minimum resolution of 800 dpi.
  • Do not embed figures into the Word document. Figures should be submitted separately as TIF or JPEG for pictures containing no text or graphs, or EPS files for graphs and line arts (retaining quality when enlarging/zooming in)

5. Permissions

Authors are responsible for obtaining permission from copyright holders for reproducing any illustrations, tables, figures or lengthy quotations previously published elsewhere. For further information including guidance on fair dealing for criticism and review, please visit our Frequently Asked Questions on the Sage Journal Author Gateway.

Examples of material requiring permission from the copyright holder for both print and online formats:

  • Photographs in which a person is identifiable must either have the face masked out or be accompanied by written permission for publication from the individual in the photograph.
  • Text passages
  • Illustrations or tables from other works.

Please be informed that we will not be able to refund any costs that may have occurred in order to receive these permissions from other publishers. Please be aware that some publishers do not grant electronic rights for free (an example is Thieme Publishers). In these cases we kindly ask you to use figures from other sources.

6. Supplemental Materials

Supplemental material is published electronically on the journal website and does not appear in the print version of the journal, but is readily accessed from the journal’s table of contents. In general, supplemental materials may include information that is of value but is not critical for readers to understand the main outcomes of the study, and may also include results that enhance or extend the findings.

Reference to supplemental material should be made in the main text of the paper (e.g., Supplemental Material, Supplemental Figure S1, Supplemental Table S1, Supplemental Video), and their legends/titles should be labeled in the same way. Supplemental Materials should be submitted in the final format for publication because Supplemental Materials are not typeset or edited by Sage and are not provided to the author for review with the page proofs. Figure size and formatting are as described above.

Any text that acts as Supplemental Material should be submitted separately as a Word doc or pdf and labeled “Supplemental Material.” Supplemental figures legends should be grouped and submitted as a separate Word doc or pdf. Any Supplemental tables must each fit on one page; larger tables should be divided. Supplemental tables should be single spaced and may include borders as needed for clarity, and the layout provided should be in the final form for publication.

Supplemental videos are also accepted in Quicktime, MPEG, and AVI. All video clips must be created with commonly used codecs, and the codec used should be noted in the supplementary material legend. Video files should be tested for playback before submission, preferably on computers not used for its creation, to check for any compatibility issues.

Sage will not host codec files, or be responsible for supporting video supplementary material, where the codec used is non-standard.

Other information required for submission

  • ORCID ID of the submitting author.
    • It is strongly encouraged that all co-authors ensure their ORCID IDs are linked to their accounts in the submission system prior to article acceptance, as this is the only way to have their ORCID ID present on the published article. ORCID IDs cannot be added to manuscripts after acceptance/publication. Please note that each co-author must log in to the submission system to add their own ORCID ID to their account. To add an ORCID ID, edit your account, click the link when prompted, and sign into your ORCID account to validate your ID. You will then be redirected back to the submission system and your ORCID ID will become part of your accepted publication’s metadata.
    • Please create an ORCID ID if you do not already have one or visit our ORCID homepage to learn more.
  • Complete list of authors, with their institutional affiliations.
    • The author information you enter at submission must exactly match what is included on your manuscript and/or title page, including full names, academic affiliations, and corresponding author contact details.
    • The listed affiliation should be the institution where the research was conducted. If an author has moved to a new institution since completing the research, the new affiliation can be included in a note at the end of the manuscript.
    • All listed authors must meet the criteria for authorship (above).
    • All persons eligible for authorship must be included at the time of submission.
    • All authors must have given consent for the manuscript to be submitted in its current form.
  • Keywords: During submission, you may be asked to select or enter keywords for your manuscript. These keywords are used to match appropriate reviewers to your manuscript.
  • The number of figures, tables, and words in your manuscript.
  • Funder information: Name, grant/award number.
  • You may be required to enter your declaration of conflicting interest as part of the submission process, in addition to listing it on your manuscript and/or title page. Please have it on hand.
  • If you have posted your manuscript to a preprint server, you will be asked to supply the DOI (this does not prohibit submission, but no changes should be made to the preprint version while your manuscript is under evaluation in this journal). Please see our guidelines on prior publication. If the article is accepted for publication, the author may re-use their work according to the journal's author archiving policy. If your manuscript is accepted, you must include a link in your preprint to the final version of your published article.
AAHSk

The American Association for Hand Surgery (AAHS) facilitates a weekly quiz program, The Weekly AAHSk. Please submit a detailed and challenging question, five answer choices (of which one is the correct answer), and a brief, but detailed explanation related to your manuscript submission. If your article is selected for publication and your Q/A selected by the Weekly AAHSk team, AAHS will publish your Q/A by email and on social media linking back to your article published in HAND!

A high qualify Q/A submission may look like this:

For an acute scaphoid fracture stabilized with a single headless compression screw (HCS), what percentage of fracture union is necessary for the scaphoid-HCS construct to be at least as strong as the native scaphoid?

    A. 90-100%
    B. 70-80%
    C. 50-60%
    D. 30-40%
    E. 10-20%

Answer: C - In a biomechanical study utilizing a cadaver model of a midline waist scaphoid fracture, a centrally placed HCS within a scaphoid with a 50% osteotomy had a higher mean load to failure to cantilever bending then an intact scaphoid. This biomechanical study indicates that a scaphoid fracture with 50% union after single axial HCS fixation is stronger than the native scaphoid.

Ref: Guss MS, Mitgang JT, Sapienza A. Scaphoid healing required for unrestricted activity: a biomechanical cadaver model. J Hand Surg Am. 2018;43(2):134-138.”

Please submit the following elements of your Weekly AAHSk Q/A related to your HAND article submission:

  • Challenging question (open text box)
  • 5 answer choices, one being the correct answer (open text box)
  • Brief but detailed explanation (open text box)
  • A reference will be added if your submission and AAHSk Q/A are selected for publication.

The following summary describes the peer review process for this journal:
Identity transparency:Double-anonymized
Reviewer interacts with: Editor
Review information published: None

Your manuscript will undergo an initial evaluation. If it does not conform to the requirements laid out in these guidelines, it will be returned to you for amendments prior to peer review. Manuscripts may be desk rejected without peer review at this point if they are out of scope for the journal or otherwise unsuitable.

After passing the initial evaluation, your manuscript will then be peer reviewed. You can log in at any time to check the status of your manuscript. We will notify you when a decision has been reached.

HAND adheres to a rigorous double-anonymized reviewing policy in which the identity of both the reviewer and author are always concealed from both parties. Two independent reviews are required for a manuscript to reach a Revise or Accept decision, with the exception of case reports. All case report submissions are handled by the Editor-in-Chief and, due to very low acceptance rates, may receive less than two expert reviews.

To ensure the integrity of the peer review process we assign reviewers and cannot accept author recommendations.

All manuscripts are reviewed as rapidly as possible, while maintaining rigor. Reviewers make comments to the author and recommendations to the Editor who then makes the final decision on all manuscripts, including those appearing in a special issue or special collection. The Editor or members of the Editorial Board may occasionally submit their own manuscripts for possible publication in the Journal. In these cases, the peer review process will be managed by alternative members of the Board and the submitting Editor/Board member will have no involvement in the decision-making process.

As a COPE member we engage with multiple forms of post-publication discussion in line with wider guidance from Sage: Commentaries, Critiques and Responses.

You can view our complaints and appeals policy here.

Read Sage's complete peer review policy.

Plagiarism

The journal and Sage take issues of copyright infringement, plagiarism or other breaches of best practice in publication very seriously. Please read Sage's complete policy on plagiarism and the actions we may take.

Contributor’s Publishing Agreement

Before publication, we require the author as the rights holder to sign a Journal Contributor’s Publishing Agreement. Sage’s Journal Contributor’s Publishing Agreement is an exclusive license agreement which means that the author retains copyright in the work but grants Sage the sole and exclusive right and license to publish for the full legal term of copyright. Exceptions may exist where an assignment of copyright is required or preferred by a proprietor other than Sage. In this case copyright in the work will be assigned from the author to the society. For more information please visit the Sage Journal Author Gateway.

Preprints

If your manuscript was posted on a preprint server prior to acceptance, you must include a link in your preprint to the final published version of your published article.

Production

Your Sage Production Editor will keep you informed as to your article’s progress throughout the production process. Proofs will be made available to the corresponding author via our editing portal, Sage Edit, or by email, and should be returned promptly to avoid delaying publication. Authors are reminded to check their proofs carefully to confirm that all author information, including names, affiliations, sequence, and contact details are correct, and that Funding and Conflict of Interest statements, if any, are accurate. This is the final opportunity to make changes to your manuscript. Further corrections will not be possible after publication. Changes to the author list are not permitted at this stage.

Publication

OnlineFirst publication: This enables us to publish final articles online immediately, without waiting for assignment to a future issue of the Journal. This usually significantly reduces publication lead time. Visit the Sage Journals help page for more details, including how to cite OnlineFirst articles.

Access to your published article: We provide you with online access to your published article. The online access link is provided to the corresponding author for sharing with their co-authors.

Promoting your article

Publication is not the end of the process. Between us, we can ensure that your article is found, read, downloaded and cited as widely as possible. Many of the most effective tactics are those you can do quickly and easily to your network of contacts and peers. Visit the Promote Your Article page on the Sage Journal Author Gateway for numerous resources to help you promote your work.

The Sage Journal Author Gateway has some general advice on how to get published, plus links to further resources. Sage Author Services also offers authors a variety of ways to improve and enhance your article including English language editing, plagiarism detection, and video abstract and infographic preparation.

If you have any questions about publishing with Sage, please visit the Sage Journals Solutions Portal.

You can view our complaints and appeals procedure.

Contact us

You can direct any questions to the journal’s editorial office:

Editor-in-Chief 
Michael Neumeister, MD, FRCSC, FACS 
Southern Illinois University School of Medicine 
Springfield, IL, USA 

Managing Editor 
Karen Doyle 
Managing Editor 
HAND Editorial Office 
kdoyle12@verizon.net 
610-431-3963