Journal of Advanced Spine Surgery (JASS) is an open access, peer-reviewed, online journal published biannually on the last day of June and December. As the official journal of The Korean Society for the Advancement of Spine Surgery, JASS aims to promote communications among spine surgeons especially who are interested in advanced spine surgery and its related basic research.
Manuscripts should adhere to the Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals, issued by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE; http://www.icmje.org/recommendations/), unless otherwise specified.

Table of Contents

• 1. Article Processing Charge
• 2. Research and Publication Ethics
• 3. Editorial Policies
• 4. Submission and Peer Review Process
• 5. Manuscript Preparation
• 6. Processing After Acceptance
• 7. Post-Publication Corrections

1. Article Processing Charge

There are no author submission fees or other publication-related charges. All cost for the publication process is supported by the Publisher.

2. Research and Publication Ethics

It is available at: https://e-jass.org/policy/ethics.php

3. Editorial Policies

It is available at: https://e-jass.org/policy/publishing.php

4. Submission and Peer Review Process

A. Submission

Authors should submit their manuscripts online through the JASS submission system at https://submit.e-jass.org/. Once logged in, the system will guide you through the submission process step-by-step. Detailed submission instructions are available on the website, and all manuscripts must comply with these guidelines. Failure to do so may result in the return of the manuscript and potential delays in publication.

B. Peer review process

JASS reviews all submitted manuscripts. Each manuscript is first assessed for format and relevance to the journal’s aims and scope. If it meets these criteria, it is sent to two experts in the relevant field for review. JASS uses a double-blind process, where reviewer identities are concealed from the author, but both are visible to the decision-making editor. Reviewers make one of four recommendations: accept, minor revision, major revision, or reject. A first decision is typically made within an average of 2 months of receiving the manuscript. In cases of review discrepancies, the editorial board will conduct an additional review to make a final determination. Authors are expected to revise their manuscripts based on reviewer feedback and provide explanations for any feedback they choose not to implement. The editorial board makes the final publication decision and may request further changes. For more information, please refer to our peer review policy at https://e-jass.org/policy/publishing.php

5. Manuscript Preparation

A. Article types

• • Original articles: Original articles present results of research investigations related to basic and clinical research of fields of advanced spinal surgery.
• • Review articles: Review articles should provide a comprehensive analysis of specific topics.
• • Systematic reviews and Meta-analyses: Systematic reviews and Meta-analyses should follow the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines. These reviews should rigorously assess and synthesize quantitative or qualitative data to answer specific research questions.
• • Case reports: Case reports are published under exceptional circumstances to illustrate rare occurrences of clinical significance. They should address important issues for medical researchers and preferably include helpful illustrations. Informed consent from the patient is mandatory.
• • Technical notes: Technical notes provide a brief description of a novel or modified surgical technique, instrumentation, or procedure. These should focus on the technical aspects and clinical utility of the innovation.
• • Editorial: Editorials are most commonly invited by the editorial board. These provide a brief review of the articles in the journal and comment on recent developments and events in the field of spine surgery.
• • Correspondence: Correspondences provide a platform for discussing current issues in the spine, sharing brief observations, and offering professional opinions. Submissions may include short reports on novel findings, discussions on timely issues, or other scholarly contributions that do not fit the structure of full-length articles. If submitted as a Letter to the Editor, it presents opinions, findings, or responses directly related to articles published in the journal, fostering focused discussions.

Key features and limits of articles are summarized in Table 1 below. However, the limits are negotiable with the editor.

Table 1. Key features and limits of articles

Type of article	Word count*	Abstract	Text structure	References	Tables and figures
Original article	≤4,000	≤350 words (structured)	Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion	30	8
Review article	≤5,000	≤350 words (unstructured)	Introduction, Body text, Conclusion	100	No limit
Systematic review and Meta-analysis	≤5,000	≤350 words (structured)	Follow the PRISMA guidelines	100	No limit
Case report	≤2,000	≤200 words (unstructured)	Introduction, Case report, Discussion	20	5
Technical note	≤2,000	≤200 words (unstructured)	Introduction, Technical note, Discussion	20	5
Editorial	≤1,000	Not required	Single section with no headings	10	2
Correspondence	≤1,000	Not required	Single section with no headings	10	2

*Excluding abstract, references, tables, and figure legends.

B. Reporting guidelines

For specific study designs, such as randomized controlled trials, diagnostic accuracy studies, meta-analyses, observational studies, and non-randomized studies, authors should follow the relevant reporting guidelines. Recommended sources include the EQUATOR Network (https://www.equator-network.org/) and the National Library of Medicine (https://www.nlm.nih.gov/services/research_report_guide.html). Table 2 summarizes reporting guidelines for listed article types.

Table 2. Reporting guidelines for specific study designs

Initiative	Type of study	Source
CONSORT	Randomized controlled trials	https://www.equator-network.org/reporting-guidelines/consort/
TREND	Non-randomized controlled studies	https://www.cdc.gov/hivpartners/php/trend-statement/index.html
STROBE	Observational studies	https://www.equator-network.org/reporting-guidelines/strobe/
STARD	Diagnostic/prognostic studies	https://www.equator-network.org/reporting-guidelines/stard/
PRISMA	Systematic reviews and meta-analyses	https://www.equator-network.org/reporting-guidelines/prisma/
CARE	Case reports	https://www.equator-network.org/reporting-guidelines/care/

C. General requirements

• • Language: Manuscripts should be submitted in English or Korean. Medical terminology should be written based on the most recent edition of Dorland’s Illustrated Medical Dictionary or the medical terminology published by the Korean Medical Association.
• • Cover letter: The cover letter must confirm that all authors approved the final manuscript, that the work is original and not under review elsewhere.
• • Format: Manuscripts should be prepared using Microsoft Word (doc or docx format). Texts should be double-spaced with the same normal, plain font throughout, preferably 11-point Times New Roman. Manuscripts should include continuous line numbers and page numbers to facilitate the review process.
• • Anonymization: Submit the title page and manuscript as separate files. The manuscript must be anonymized for double-blind peer review; do not include authors’ names or affiliations.
• • Abbreviations: Abbreviations should be avoided as much as possible. Abbreviations should be defined at their first occurrence in the text and used consistently thereafter. Abbreviations should not be present in the title. Common abbreviations, such as DNA or COVID-19, however, may be used.
• • Units: The use of International Standardized (SI) units (https://www.nist.gov/pml/owm/metric-si/si-units/) is encouraged.
• • Machines and equipment: When the use of reagents or devices is reported in the text, the name of the manufacturer should be indicated.
• • Statistics: Statistical methods must be described and the program used for analysis and its source should be stated. P-values should be reported to three decimal places (e.g., P=0.005).
• • Use of generative artificial intelligence (AI): Please refer to our AI policy at https://e-jass.org/policy/publishing.php

D. Manuscript structure and format

• Organize your manuscript file as follows:

• - Title page
• - Manuscript file: (1) Abstract & keywords, (2) Body text, (3) References list (4) Tables (each beginning on a new page), (5) Figures legends (upload figures in separate files)
• - Supplementary materials (upload separately)

• Title page

• Title: The article title should be concise and precise. The title should also indicate the study design. If the study involved human participants, the country where the study was conducted should be included.
• Running title: Less than 50 characters.
• Authors names: Each author’s full given name, surname and degrees–MD, PhD, etc. should be provided. All authors must meet the authorship criteria of the ICMJE (www.icmje.org).
• Affiliations: Departments and institutions of the authors. If from multiple institutions, use superscript numbers (e.g., ¹), ²), ³)) to indicate specific affiliations.
• Corresponding author: Full name, institutional affiliation, postal address, and email address.
  Co-first authors and co-corresponding authors may be designated when applicable. Such designations must be explicitly stated on the title page at submission. However, the designation of an excessive number of authors may not be permitted.
• ORCID: Providing ORCID iDs for all authors is required (https://orcid.org/).
• Authors' contributions: Describe contributions using the Contributor Roles Taxonomy (CRediT; https://credit.niso.org/). Contributors must meet at least one core role (conceptualization, data curation, formal analysis, investigation, methodology, software, validation) and one writing role (original draft preparation, review, and editing). Authors who do not meet these requirements will not qualify for authorship.
• Conflict of interest: Disclose any potential conflicts of interest, including employment, consultancy, ownership, or close relationships with organizations affected by the manuscript.
• Funding: Funding for the research should be detailed here. Provision of a FundRef ID is recommended, including the name of the funding agency, country, and (if available) the number of the grant provided by the funding agency. If the funding agency lacks a FundRef ID, please ask that agency to contact the FundRef registry (email: fundref.registry@crossref.org).
• Data availability: Include a statement indicating where the data supporting the article’s results can be found, with hyperlinks to publicly archived datasets if applicable.
• Acknowledgments: List individuals who contributed to the work but do not meet authorship criteria, and specify their contributions (e.g., technical assistance, data collection, analysis, or editorial support). Disclose any writing assistance and the entity that funded it.

If any of the sections are not relevant to the manuscript, please include the heading and write “Not applicable.” for that section.

• Abstract and keywords
Abstract: For original articles and systematic reviews, provide a structured abstract of less than 350 words. The abstract must include the following headings: Purpose, Methods, Results, and Conclusion. Study Design and Overview of Literature may be included, if applicable.. For review articles, provide an unstructured abstract of up to 350 words. For case reports, provide an unstructured abstract of up to 200 words.
- Keywords: List up to three to five keywords at the bottom of the abstract. Refer to Medical Subject Headings (MeSH, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/MBrowser.html) for keyword selection.

• Main Text
The main text of an original article should be divided into 4 sections: Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion.
Introduction: State the background or problem that led to the initiation of the study. Lead systematically to the hypothesis of the study and finally, to a restatement of the study objectives, which should match that in the abstract. Do not include conclusions in the Introduction.
Methods:

• - Ethics: Statement of Ethics Committee/IRB approval and informed consent must be included.
• - Study design: Describe the design (e.g., prospective, retrospective, randomized controlled), inclusion/exclusion criteria, and study period.
• - Procedures: Provide enough detail to enable replication. Reference reporting guidelines such as CONSORT for clinical trials or STROBE for observational studies are encouraged.
• - Statistical analysis: Clearly describe the statistical methods used, including the software and the level of significance (e.g., p<0.05).

Results: Present the findings in a logical sequence. Avoid repeating all the data from tables or figures in the text; instead, emphasize or summarize the most important observations.
Discussion: Data should be interpreted to demonstrate whether they affirm or refute the original hypothesis. Discuss elements related to the purpose of the study and present the rationales that support the conclusion drawn by referring to relevant literature. Care should be taken to avoid information obtained from books, historical facts, and irrelevant information. A discussion of study weaknesses and limitations should be included. Conclusions derived from the results should be described in one to two sentences and must match the study objectives.

• References
All references should be listed in the order of citation in the text, with corresponding numbers.

• - Identify references in the main text by superscript Arabic numerals and numbered in consecutive order, as they appear in the main text. Use “-” when there are more than 3 references to be cited; for example, ^4-7).
• - In the references section, list all authors’ names for a reference with up to 6 authors; list first 3 authors’ names followed by ‘et al.’ if more than 6 authors.
• - Journals should be abbreviated according to the style used in the list of journals indexed in the NLM Journal Catalog (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/nlmcatalog/journals/). Journal titles that are not listed in the Catalog should follow the ISO abbreviation as described in Access to the LTWA (List of Title Word Abbreviations; https://www.issn.org/services/online-services/access-to-the-ltwa/).
• - References should follow the NLM Style Guide for Authors, Editors, and Publishers (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK7256/) if not specified below.

Journal articles

• 1. Park TG, Baek SN, Kim MS, Choi YS. The interplay between frailty, skeletal muscle mass, and bone mineral density in osteoporotic vertebral fractures. J Adv Spine Surg 2024;14:41-7.
• 2. Feng C, Wang L, Yang S, et al. A new pilot hole preparation system for percutaneous pedicle screw placement: a randomized controlled study. Spine (Phila Pa 1976) 2025;50:115-21.

Books

• 3. Baaj AA, Mummaneni P, Uribe JS, Vaccaro AR, Greenberg MS. Handbook of spine surgery. 3rd ed. Thieme; 2025.
• 4. Kim SW, McAfee PC. Cervical disc replacement combined with cervical laminoplasty. In: Yue JJ, Bertagnoli R, editors. Motion preservation surgery of spine. Saunders Elsevier; 2008. p. 595-603.

Online sources

• 5. World Health Organization (WHO). World health statistics 2023: a visual summary [Internet]. WHO; 2023 [cited 2025 Feb 1]. Available from: https://www.who.int/data/stories/world-health-statistics-2023-a-visual-summary
• 6. Sharma N, Sharma P, Basu S, et al. The seroprevalence and trends of SARS-CoV-2 in Delhi, India: a repeated population-based seroepidemiological study [Preprint]. Posted 2020 Dec 14. medRxiv 2020.12.13.20248123. https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.12.13.20248123

• Tables
Each table should begin on a new page, with the table number and title above the table and explanatory notes below. Tables should be self-explanatory, and the data presented should not be duplicated in the text or figures.

• - Table numbers must correspond to the order in which they are cited in the text.
• - Designate all units of measurement and concentration.
• - Indicate footnotes with symbols in the following order: ^a), ^b), ^c), ^d).
• - List abbreviations in the footnote under the table.
• - Use only horizontal lines; longitudinal (vertical) lines must be avoided. A standard three-line format (top line, line below column headings, and bottom line) is highly encouraged.
• - When reporting data, specify the measures of variability (e.g., mean±SD or median [IQR]).
• - If using previously published tables, the original source must be cited in the footnote. For copyrighted materials, authors are responsible for obtaining official permission from the copyright holder.

• Figures

• - Each figure should be submitted as a separate file. Preferred formats are TIFF, EPS, or high-quality JPG. Figures must have a minimum resolution of 300 DPI for color/grayscale images and 600–1,200 DPI for line art. GIF format is not recommended.
• - All identifying information (e.g., patient names, hospital IDs, dates) must be removed from radiographs, scans, and clinical photographs.
• - Citations: Figure numbers must correspond to the order in which they are mentioned in the text.
• - If a figure consists of multiple panels, label them with upper-case letters (A, B, C, etc.) in the top-left corner.
• - Figure legends should be listed on a separate page after the reference list. Abbreviations used in the figure must be defined in alphabetical order at the end of each legend.
• - All symbols used (e.g., arrows, asterisks) must be clearly explained in the legend.
• - For previously published figures, the original source must be cited in the legend, and authors are responsible for obtaining and submitting official written permission from the copyright holder.

• Supplementary materials

• - Supplemental materials (e.g., extra tables, appendices, or video clips) that enhance the article but are not essential for understanding the main text may be published online.
• - Supplemental files should be named and cited in the text as Supplementary Table S1, Supplementary Fig. S1, etc.
• - List all supplemental materials at the end of the manuscript file. These materials are subject to peer review and should be provided in their final form at the time of submission.

6. Processing After Acceptance

A. Manuscript corrections

Before publication, the manuscript editor will correct the manuscript such that it meets the standard publication format. The author(s) must respond within 2 working days when the manuscript editor contacts the author for revisions. If the response is delayed, the manuscript’s publication may be postponed to the next issue.

B. Galley proofs

Once all corrections have been completed, the corresponding author will receive the final version of the manuscript in PDF format.
Within 3 working days of receipt, authors must reply to the printing office of any errors found in the file. The proof may be revised more than once by the corresponding author, if needed. Authors should double-check for corrections in the content, title, affiliation, capitalization, locations of figures, and references.

7. Post-Publication Corrections

To correct errors in published articles, the corresponding author should contact the journal’s editorial office with a detailed description of the proposed correction. Corrections that profoundly affect the interpretation or conclusions of the article will be reviewed by the editors. Corrections will be published as author correction or publisher correction in a later issue of the journal.
Minor errors will be corrected directly in the online version of the article. An indication of the correction, along with the date it was made, will be added to the article information in both the HTML and PDF versions. A separate correction note will not be published.

Contact Us

Editor-in-Chief: Jae Keun Oh, MD, PhD
Email: ohajekeun@gmail.com

Editorial Office: The Korean Society for the Advancement of Spine Surgery, 50-1, Yonsei-ro, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul 03722, Korea
Tel: +82-2-2228-0582
Email: office@e-jass.org

NOTICE: These instructions to authors will be effective from the June 2026 issue.