A Multidisciplinary Journal of Spinal Disorders
Official Journal of The North American Spine Society




The Spine Journal, the official journal of the North American Spine Society, is an international and multidisciplinary journal that publishes original, peer-reviewed articles on research and treatment related to the spine and high-quality, ethical, evidencebased spine care, including basic science and clinical investigations.The Spine Journal (TSJ) also publishes major reviews of specific topics, technical notes, editorials and special features.

TSJ publishes full-length articles (in the form of Clinical Studies and Basic Science papers), Technical Reports, Review Articles, Case Reports, Letters to the Editor and a number of other special features.

All submissions are accepted with the understanding that they have not been, and will not be, published elsewhere substantially in any format. Also, there should be no ethical concerns with the content or data collection. TSJ reserves the right to request any research materials on which the paper is based.

ONLINE MANUSCRIPT SUBMISSION & TRACKING
TSJ exclusively uses an electronic submission and tracking system, the Elsevier Electronic System, or EES. Authors may submit their articles by simply registering, logging in and uploading. After registering and submitting, authors may also track their manuscript's progress through the editorial and review process.

Detailed instructions on the use of the online submission system are available on the EES site, http://ees.elsevier.com/spinee under "Guide for Authors." Please read the helpful "Hints" for information on how to register, and review the "Tutorial for Authors" for an overview of the submission process. If you need further help, please contact the Author Support Department via e-mail atauthorsupport@elsevier.com.

On the EES front page, click the "Register" link to input your demographics and set up your account. After your registration is complete, a notice will be sent to your e-mail address indicating your username and password. Use this information to log in to the system as an author by choosing the "Login" link on the toolbar and select "Submit New Manuscript." Follow the prompts to complete your submission according to TSJ guidelines listed in these instructions. You are welcome to contact the TSJ Editorial Office if you have any problems or questions. To update any personal information including your physical or e-mail address click on the "Change Details" icon at the top of your screen.

Abstract, Manuscript, Figures and Tables, Disclosure information and Affirmation of Authorship form, must be prepared as SEPARATE files; the system requires that each of these files be uploaded separately and blocks incomplete manuscripts from being submitted to the office. Authors should use only those formats that are acceptable to the publisher, Elsevier, in order to ensure proper publication in the print issues. Please refer to the following individual sections for specific file requirements for text, tables, and figures. Each uploaded file must have a corresponding file extension (such as .doc, .tif). Adherence to the guidelines is essential, and faulty manuscripts will be returned to authors for correction before peer-review.

MANUSCRIPT PEER REVIEW PROCESS

Full length articles, Technical Reports, Review Articles and Case Studies are peer-reviewed.

The managing editor is the first-look editor for all manuscripts, evaluating text and general submission format. The managing editor makes sure all manuscripts meet TSJ's guidelines as prescribed in these author instructions. Once a manuscript has been initially evaluated, the managing editor will assign a set of appropriately chosen peer reviewers to evaluate and make comments on the manuscript. The invited reviewers are knowledgeable about the field of study being discussed, and as such are able to comment on the research and any subsequent conclusions made.

For most manuscripts TSJ is a double-blind journal, great care is taken not to reveal the identity of the reviewers or the author(s).

Once all reviews are complete, the managing editor will assign a deputy editor, who will evaluate the reviewers' comments and then make a recommendation to the editor-in-chief regarding publication. THE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF HAS FINAL SAY ABOUT THE FATE OF ALL MANUSCRIPTS. If the editors feel the manuscript could be eligible for publication following author revision-be it minor or major—the submission will be sent back to the corresponding author. The corresponding author should consider making changes suggested by the reviewers and editors and return the research back to the editorial office. The managing editor will again send the manuscript out for a second round of reviews. Whenever possible, the reviewers from the first round will be invited again, so as to encourage continuity of review.

The Spine Journal's peer-review process, from submission to decision is variable (days to months). This timeframe is dependent on a number of mitigating factors:

• Any formatting issues that must be resolved by the author before the manuscript can be sent out for peer review.
• The busy schedule of our reviewers, who we must remember are volunteers, offering their services to The Spine Journal.

EXPEDITED REVIEW
The Spine Journal now offers an expedited review process, by which manuscripts can be reviewed, accepted and published in one to two publications cycles (as little as 60 days). Those manuscripts that the editorial board feels are timely in nature, or of great importance to the field of spine care, will be managed through the peerreview process quickly and given a fast-tracked priority rating. If you have material you believe is time sensitive (eg, device complications, procedures under administrative review, etc.), please note this in the submittal letter to the editor-in-chief. We will make every effort to move these submissions to an early publication.

COPYRIGHT TRANSFER PREPARATION

Upon acceptance of an article by The Spine Journal, the author(s) will be asked to transfer copyright of the article to the publisher. This transfer will ensure the widest possible dissemination of the published material under US copyright law. Further information is available on the main page of EES once logged in. When the manuscript is sent to the publisher, Elsevier, the author will receive an email containing a link to the copyright transfer/publishing agreement. This link should be used by the author to transfer copyright.

PERMISSIONS

The author is responsible for obtaining, in writing, the permission of the publisher and/or copyright holder to reprint in TSJ any previously published material such as figures, tables and images. Quotations must be accurate and full credit given to their source. The author is responsible for any associated reprint fee. Reference to personal communication must be included in the text using the following form (name, degrees of the person(s) with whom the author has communicated, written or oral communication, month and year). Reference to unpublished data should follow a similar format (name, degree, unpublished data, month, year). The author MUST obtain written permission from the source to use such information and copies MUST be submitted with the manuscript.

All requests to reproduce or make available anything from TSJ' in whole or in part, in electronic or in any other format, including translation—must be sent to:

Elsevier Health Sciences Rights Department
1600 John F. Kennedy Blvd.
Suite 1800
Philadelphia, PA 19103-2899
Email: healthpermissions@elsevier.com
Tel: 215-239-3804

COVER LETTER

Manuscripts may be accompanied by a cover letter, to include information on the manuscript's prior publication or previous rejection by another journal. It is also meant to give the author(s) the chance to speak to the originality of the work being presented, as well as any other information the author(s) wish to convey to the editorial office staff and editor-in-chief. If the paper has been rejected previously by another journal, the author(s) should describe specifically how it has been improved since being rejected.

The Cover letter should be pasted into the box at the "Enter Comments" step, just prior to the "Attach files" section.

The First or Corresponding author of a manuscript should confirm that he/she "had full access to all the data in the study and takes responsibility for the integrity of the data and the accuracy of the data analysis as well as the decision to submit for publication." A separate cover letter, called a "Revision Notes" file, is required for revised manuscripts, and must respond to all comments made by the reviewers and editors. Even if the authors decide not to alter a part of the manuscript based on a particular revision request, there should still be a response for said comment.

GENERAL MANUSCRIPT FORMATTING

The following separate components are required (except as noted when optional):

1. Abstract (structured as stated here)
2. Keywords (6-10)
3. Classifications
4. Title Page (separate from manuscript) with all authors, affiliations and corresponding author's full contact information
5. Revision notes (revision stage only)
6. Manuscript document (blinded: no author names, headers, acknowledgements)
7. Tables (optional)
8. Figures (optional)
9. Universal Author Disclosure information (each author must upload to NASS site http://disclosure.spine.org/Tsj.aspx )
10. Affirmation of Authorship form, available online

Style

Keep to the guidelines of style, terminology, measurement and quantization as prescribed in the American Medical Association Manual of Style (10th ed. Oxford University Press, NY, 2007). TSJ can accept text files in most standard word processing formats but Microsoft Word is preferred. Manuscripts must be blind (no author names, headers, acknowledgements, imbedded comments) keyed.

Manuscript pages and text lines should be numbered. When numbering your text, begin the first line on each page with 1.

Distinguish between capital letter O and number 0, as well as capital letter I, lowercase letter l and number 1. However, authors should not attempt to determine the visual presentation of the article. All design considerations regarding typeface, page layout, artwork, etc. will be handled by the publisher; do not use any special formatting. All text should be flush left. Do not indent paragraphs. Double hard return between paragraphs and between list items. Do not use hard returns within a paragraph or list item. Tabs should not be used, except in Tables, where they should be used to align columns. Do not use your word processor's hyphenation capabilities.

Abstracts

A structured abstract must be included with all article-types and must use the following subheadings in the order shown (Subheadings may not be combined):

• Background Context
• Purpose
• Study Design/Setting
• Patient Sample (MUST be included in Clinical Studies)
• Outcome Measures (MUST be included in Clinical Studies)
• Methods
• Results
• Conclusions

Please note the Outcome Measures subheading must provide information on one or more of the following categories, listed in the following order:

• Self-report Measures, eg, validated pain rating scale, disability questionnaire, etc.
• Physiologic Measures, eg, imaging or electro diagnostic tests, aerobic capacity, range of motion or strength, etc.
• Functional Measures, eg, work status, health utilization, activities of daily living assessment, etc.

Corresponding Author

For all submissions, the corresponding author will be responsible for all questions about the manuscript and for reprint requests. Only one author can be designated as "corresponding author." The title holds no special authority or responsibility regarding contents and is rather an administrative designation for the editorial office to have consistent communication with the team of authors. As such, the first/principle author does not need to be designated as the corresponding author. Select an author who will be located at the same address for an extended period and can respond to postpublication correspondence.

Graphics and Figures

The Spine Journal publishes all its figures in full color, at no cost to the authors.

Preferred formats are TIFF, JPEG or EPS with resolutions of 300 DPI and a minimum width of 3.5 inches wide. For further information on the preparation of electronic artwork, please refer to Elsevier's Author Artwork Instructions .

Figures should be consecutively numbered (Arabic) as they appear in the text and accompanied by legends. Do not embed your labels/titles in the figures; Use the "Description" lines provided with each file at the "Attach Files" step to label. (eg, Figure 1, Figure 2, Figure 3a, etc.).

Figures must not be embedded within or attached to the manuscript;they are submitted separately, one-at-a-time, under FIGURES.

TSJ has an Artwork Quality checking system, provided through the EES system. At the time of submission, the system evaluates each figure for file type, resolution, size (width) and color scheme. The authors must confirm that the figures "pass" this verification system. Authors should understand, however, that our journal standards for art may exceed the artwork quality check tool. Certain figures will be given a "pass with warning" designation, suggesting that the publisher can work with the file despite its minor flaws. TSJ, however, will rarely accept figures with such a designation. Please be sure that your figures are the appropriate format, size and resolution before attaching them to your submission. If the authors are not able to provide sufficient digital figures, they will have to submit one 5 7-inch, high-quality print of each figure, labeled only on the back, in a separate protected envelope. Once received, the editorial office will scan the figures at the appropriate size and resolution, and upload them to your submission. Please bear in mind that this will dramatically slow the progress of your manuscript. As such, we highly recommend you utilize your institution's Information Technologies department to reformat any figures that do not meet TSJ standards.

The editor-in-chief reserves the right to withdraw a previously accepted manuscript if the author cannot produce high-quality figures in a timely manner to accompany the text.

Figures that have been previously published must be submitted with a letter of permission to reprint from the original publisher.

Figure Legends

Legends should be double-spaced, numbered corresponding to the Figures. The Legend must appear within the main manuscript, immediately following the References. Please use lowercase letters to label multipart figures. When symbols, arrows, numbers or letters are used for identification, each should be explained clearly in the Legend. For microphotographs, internal scale marks should be defined and the method of staining given. If the figure has been previously published, a credit line should be included and a Letter of Permission from the previous publisher must accompany manuscript submission.

Tables

All Tables should be typed, double-spaced and be numbered consecutively with descriptive titles. Do not place table titles and descriptions on your Figure Captions page, or any other separate legend page. All abbreviations used must be defined in footnotes at the bottom of the Table. Acknowledgement of previously published material should be given in a footnote to the Table, and the source should be included in the Reference list. Footnotes should be ordered as they appear in the Table with superscript Arabic numerals.

Tables must not be imbedded within or attached to the manuscript; they are submitted separately, one-at-a-time, under TABLES.

References

References must be identified in the text by Arabic numerals in the order in which they are cited in the text (alphabetical order is not accepted). Personal communications and unpublished data should be mentioned in the text in parentheses rather than being included in the Reference list.

Do not use the linked endnote feature in your word processing program when formatting your references. However, other reference manager programs can be used.

Authors are responsible for the accuracy and completeness of References. References from journals should include the first four authors. If there are more than four authors, list the first three, followed by "et al", the full title of the article, the name of the journal abbreviated according to Index Medicus, year of publication, volume number and inclusive page numbers. Reference style and punctuation must follow the Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals prepared by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors as shown in the following examples. Extensive examples of citation formats for all types of referenced material can be found at the National Library of Medicine's National Institutes of Health Web site (www.nlm.hih.gov).

Examples:

Article
King W, Lau P, Lees R, Bogduk N. The validity of manual examination in assessing patients with neck pain. Spine J 2007;1;22-6.

Book
Fast A, Goldsher D. Navigating the adult spine, bridging clinical practice and neuroradiology. New York: Demos Medical Publishing, 2007:140-9.

Chapter in a Book
Ozonoff MD, Burrows EH. Intracranial calcification. In: Newton TH, Potts DG, eds. Radiology of the skull and brain, vol 1, book 2. St. Louis: CV Mosby, 1974:323-73.

Abbreviations

Restrict abbreviations to those that are commonly used and understood. Avoid abbreviations that have meaning only with the context of the specific manuscript. Acronyms and other abbreviations should be first defined and then remain consistent throughout the manuscript. Any reference in the text to manufacturers or commercial products or equipment must include the manufacturer's name and location in parentheses.

Revisions

Revisions should be submitted to the TSJ Editorial Office as soon as possible. The standing deadline is 21 days. It is the corresponding author's responsibility to request more time if necessary, and to keep the editorial office abreast of the manuscript's progress. If after six months we do not hear from the corresponding author, the submission in question will be scheduled for deletion from the system. A final disposition of "withdrawn" will be given to the manuscript.

ARTICLE TYPES

Clinical Studies (full-length articles)

Clinical studies are previously unpublished manuscripts that include clinical investigations, clinical observations and clinically relevant trials. Abstracts for Clinical Studies are required to have all eight (8) structured subheadings: background context, purpose, design, patient sample, outcome measures, methods, results and conclusions.

The Spine Journal is pleased to offer a new feature with published clinical studies. An analytical text box discussing the evidencebased medicine components of clinical studies published in theJournal will appear amidst the articles' pages. The new feature, titled "Evidence & Methods," provides brief synopses of fulllength studies' context, contribution and implication to the field of spine care. The one-column breakout box is meant to facilitate inquiry and spark discussion on the most important topics of a given paper.

Basic Science (full-length articles)

Basic science papers are previously unpublished manuscripts that include laboratory work in areas ranging from basic lab work, cadaver studies, cellular mechanisms, molecular biology, novel imaging (as related to the basic sciences rather than clinical imaging), growth factor work, and preclinical animal studies. Structured abstract is required.

Technical Reports

The manuscript should deal with newer material of interest. The text length may vary from 10-25 double-spaced pages and should include a minimum of 15 references. Ample illustrations (radiographs,photographs and original art) should be used to clearly show the devices/equipment, technique and pictorial evidence. A structured abstract is required.

Review Articles

The manuscript should cover an established but controversial area of multidisciplinary spine care with the goal of updating and consolidating knowledge and the conceptual framework. It should include a minimum of 50 references with 20-30 pages of doublespaced text, 3-5 explanatory tables, and appropriate artwork. A structured abstract is required.

Case Reports

Beginning in January 2009, case reports will be published online only. The table of contents page in each issue will list those case reports that will be available in that issue's online version at www.thespinejournalonline.com.

The manuscript should report on a specific case or series of related cases of interest, with limited references to the literature. Text length should be relatively brief (8-10 double-spaced pages.) Illustrations (radiographs, photographs) should be included. A structured abstract is required.

Special Features

Authors are encouraged to submit material for publication in any of the following special features sections of The Spine Journal. All should follow the general format of instructions to authors provided above.

Letters to the Editor (correspondence). These are strongly encouraged to foster open dialogue between our readers, authors, and editors. These should be addressed ?To the Editor? and submitted with the understanding that the material may be shortened or otherwise edited. Letters should be kept to 500 words and include a reference list, if applicable. Letters that address material previously published inThe Spine Journal may be followed by responses from the author of the work being discussed and/or the Editor. All reasonable efforts will be made to ensure the original manuscript authors are given an opportunity to reply to any comments expressed about their work. Replies to letters to the editor must also be less than 500 words and include a reference list if applicable.

Commentaries. These are solicited pieces, the material for which should reference current topics in spine care, or a concurrently published article. Unlike letters to the editor, these pieces will typically be about 1500 words (excluding tables, figures, and references) and provide more indepth discussion on the research in the accompanied article or a topic suggested by the Executive Editorial Board. These manuscripts need to be composed as standalone articles, with appropriate tables, figures, and references (limited to 30).

Journal Reports. A review of one to three articles selected from a monthly survey of medical journals that contain content relevant to TSJ readers. Articles will be chosen by the Special Features Editor and Editor-in-Chief. The Spine Journal would like to encourage readers to submit their recommendations for this feature. You can do so by contacting the editorial office at (630) 230- 3646, or by email at spinejournal@spine.org.

Topics in Clinical Practice. These recurring topic articles will serve as an updated curriculum of evidence-based reviews of topics relevant to practicing clinicians in spinal disorders (both primary care providers and specialists). Articles in this series should include the following sections: the clinical problem, new evidence, areas of uncertainty, critique of current established guidelines, and the authors' conclusions and recommendations. The text is limited to 2500 words plus references, figures, and tables. These articles do not include an abstract, but will include a section box of key advances.

Images of Spine Care. Brief presentations of material in which the dominant interest is in the visual image(s), including radiographic and MRI images, histo-pathology, photographs or electro-diagnostic tracings; should be submitted as high quality images (TIFF, JPEG or EPS format only) and accompanied by legends, very brief explanatory text, and 1-8 references.

Book and Media Reviews. Reviews of books and other instructional material, including clinical websites, blogs and other webcontent. May be submitted unsolicited or assigned. Any content submitted for review should be sent to:

TSJ Editorial Office
7075 Veterans Blvd.
Burr Ridge, IL 60527
Email: spinejournal@spine.org

FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE AND AFFIRMATION OF AUTHORSHIP PROCESS

A North American Spine Society (NASS) Disclosure Statement and Affirmation of Authorship are prompted automatically during the online submission process. Universal disclosure for each author must be uploaded to NASS' universal disclosure site. ( http://disclosure.spine.org/tsj.aspx ). At the end of the process, the site will provide an opportunity for the author to email a copy of the final record to himself/herself. Each author must forward a copy of that record to the corresponding author, who will in turn be responsible for uploading it to the list of submission files. One Affirmation of Authorship form should be completed by the corresponding or first author, providing each author's name and their involvement in the research, development and writing process.

CHECKLIST FOR TSJ SUBMISSION

Below is a checklist of items required by TSJ for evaluation of a submission. These items should be included in each submission. Please be sure that you have thoroughly read the instructions for preparation of your manuscript before approving it for submission.

• Universal Disclosure uploaded to NASS site (each author must provide finished PDF copy of record to the corresponding author, who must then attach to the list of submission files). Available at: http://disclosure.spine.org/tsj.aspx .
• Affirmation of Authorship Form (completed and uploaded).
• Permission for represented figures, tables, materials, and photographs.
• One copy of the manuscript, blinded, and formatted according to the instructions.
• Title page including:
  

  – Title;
  – Each author's complete name and academic or scientific affiliation.
  – The complete and correct address, phone number, fax number, and e-mail address of the corresponding author.

• Structured abstract.
• References properly formatted.
• Figure Captions (in the manuscript file, following the references section).
• Tables (optional).
• Figures (properly formatted and labeled according to the instructions).

PUBLICATION PROCESS

Once an article has been accepted, it will be processed into page proofs, with all art and tables in place. The journal manager will send the corresponding author a galley proof by e-mail, which should be corrected and returned within 48 hours. Authors must check their proofs very carefully, because the approval indicates that all copyediting changes have been accepted unless corrections are returned to the journal manager. Authors must also answer any copyediting queries listed inquery PDF that accompanies the proof. An email with a link to the copyright transfer/publishing agreement and an order form for article reprints will be sent to the corresponding author before publication. Reprints should be ordered prior to publication.

Keep a copy of the proof for your records.

TSJ POLICIES

Financial and FDA Disclosure

All analysis of data, manuscript preparation and presentation will be free of commercial input, influence or bias. It will be the work solely of authors and colleagues. Authors will be forthright about disclosing all relevant data. All relevant findings regarding benefits, risks, complications and related issues will be disclosed in all prepared materials.

The North American Spine Society has adopted a uniform disclosure policy for all office holders, committee members, authors andpresenters. As the official journal of NASS, The Spine Journal adheres to this uniform policy. NASS recognizes that professional relationships with industry are essential for development of new spinal technologies and medical advancement. These relationships do not in any way reflect negatively on the character of an individual. The intent of this policy is to encourage disclosure of situations in which there is even the potential for bias without any implications regarding actual bias. The establishment of uniform disclosure requirements frees individuals from having to decide which relationships might influence his or her decision-making and which are irrelevant; transparent disclosure allows the audience to participate in the interpretation of significance.

As a sponsor accredited with commendation by the ACCME, the North American Spine Society must ensure balance, independence, objectivity and scientific rigor in all its individually or jointly sponsored educational activities. All faculty participating in a sponsored activity are expected to disclose to the activity audience all financial interests or other relationships with industry that they have. The intent of this disclosure is to ensure that all conflicts of interest, if any, have been identified and have been resolved prior to the speaker's presentation. By doing so, NASS has determined that the speaker's or author's interests or relationships have not influenced the presentation with regard to exposition or conclusion; nor does NASS view the existence of these interests or commitments as necessarily implying bias or decreasing the value of the presentation.

All grants and/or research funding must state full name of donor and include grant number(s). FDA approval status is required for any devices and/or drugs identified as an important component within the manuscript.

Elsevier and the TSJ Editors believe it is useful to outline our expectations of authors and procedures that the journal will employ in the event of questions concerning author conduct. Procedures and guidelines with respect to such queries and investigations are outlined in the Elsevier position on Ethical Guidelines for Journal Publication and should be reviewed by authors.

Affirmation of Authorship

Every person listed as an author should qualify for authorship. Each author must affirm that they participated and contributed sufficiently to the work to take public responsibility for the appropriateness of the experimental design and method, and the collection, analysis and interpretation of the data and that this final version has been reviewed and approved for submission and/or publication.

Authors listed on the required TSJ Affirmation of Authorship form should be in the order in which they are meant to appear. All authors must agree on this order. Once a manuscript has been submitted, the order of authorship (including adding or removing authors) should remain unchanged. Exceptions must be approved by the TSJ editorial office. The corresponding author is responsible for assuring all the involved authors agree with the change.

In multicenter trials, the writing group authors should be listed along with the group name (e.g., Jameson RK, Smith MS, on behalf of the *group name*). Other group members should be listed in an appendix before the references.

Duplicate Publication To protect the integrity of The Spine Journal, as a peer-reviewed journal, only original material will be published in TSJ. Authors who distribute e-prints, preprints, reprints, or substantive content in any format, including digital, of an article into the public domain before publication risk losing the opportunity to publish inTSJ. When authors submit material for publication in TSJ, they must claim the copyright and must transmit copyright of their material to TSJ. Publication of the material elsewhere without permission is a copyright infringement.

Rejection by Previous Journal

If the manuscript in question has been previously rejected or evaluated in any form by another journal, the authors should note that in the cover letter and indicate how it has been improved since being rejected. This information will not be seen by the reviewers, and will not influence the peer-review process. This information will be used for quality assurance and improvement by the TSJ Editorial Board.

Statements of Priority

TSJ discourages statements of priority—claiming to be the first to report on a particular procedure, treatment, etc.—because of the inability to be aware of all available work on the subject. Please delete any such statements, or consider using softer language, such as 'we are unaware of previous reports of this finding, and could find no reference to it in a computerized search utilizing MEDLINE.'

Use of Animals in Biomed Research
The Spine Journal condemns unethical treatment of subjects in laboratory research, human and animal. TSJ expects that authors submitting their work do so with the utmost care to ensure that all research was approved by their Institutional Review Board or Animal Research Committee.

Practices Proposed for Articles on Unapproved Uses of Medical Products
FDA is proposing 'Good Reprint Practices' for industry use in the distribution of medical or scientific journal articles and reference publications that involve unapproved uses of FDA-approved drugs and medical devices. The proposed practices include ensuring that the article or reference be published by an organization that has an editorial board. The organization also should fully disclose any conflicts of interest or biases for all authors, contributors or editors associated with the journal article.

QUESTIONS?

If you have any general questions, please contact: Robin Campbell, Managing Editor; e-mail: rcampbell@spine.org; tollfree phone (866) 960-6277; or direct (630) 230-3646.

If you have questions related to the electronic submission process or uploading your files, please contact the Author Support Department via e-mail at: authorsupport@elsevier.com.



Updated June 2009