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Veterinary Anaesthesia and Analgesia

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Guide for authors

Introduction



Veterinary Anaesthesia and Analgesia (VAA) publishes original, peer-reviewed articles covering all branches of anaesthesia and the relief of pain in animals. Articles concerned with the following subjects related to anaesthesia and analgesia are also welcome:
  • the basic sciences,
  • pathophysiology of disease as it relates to anaesthetic management,
  • equipment,
  • intensive care,
  • chemical restraint of animals including wildlife and exotic animals,
  • welfare issues associated with pain and distress,
  • education in veterinary anaesthesia and analgesia.

VAA is making an effort to avoid publication bias and will publish negative studies that have been well-designed and conducted. VAA uses plagiarism-detection software.

Types of article

Full length article These articles usually should aim to be approximately 3500 words with a maximum word count (after review) of 4000 words (introduction through discussion). Normally there should not be more than 30-40 references and 4-6 tables and/or figures. These articles include original experimental or clinical research and meta-analyses. They require a structured abstract with a maximum of 300 words containing the following headings: Objective, Study design, Animals or Animal population, Methods, Results, Conclusions and clinical relevance.

Review articles. Review articles are papers which clarify, summarize and critically evaluate the current literature and should usually have <5000 words. These will normally be invited by the Editors or a member of the Editorial Board, although unsolicited, acceptable material will be considered for publication. Databases and literature search strategy used should be defined in the Material and methods. The abstract should contain no more than 300 words and be structured with the following headings: Objective, Databases used, Conclusions.

Short Reviews--"What is the Evidence?" These are short review articles designed as a platform for discussion and debate of a specific topic or question. They should be from 1500 - 3500 words with approximately 20 references and up to four tables and/or figures (if needed). The abstract should contain no more than 300 words and be structured with the following headings: Objective, Databases used, Conclusions.

Short communications. Short communications describe small experiments and the results. They should have a maximum of 2000 words; have twelve or fewer references and no more than one figure or table. They require a structured abstract with a maximum of 300 words containing the following headings: Objective, Study design, Animals or Animal population, Methods, Results, Conclusions and clinical relevance.Letters. Letters should not exceed 900 words and no more than 7 references, with one figure or table. These may be descriptions of new equipment, clinical observations, short case reports or comments that the correspondent believes to be of general interest to the readership. VAA does not routinely accept letters for publication criticizing existing publications. Where a reader feels such criticism is justified, they should write (by e-mail) directly to the Editors and they should aim to make their point in an objective, positive and constructive manner. The Editors will decide if or what action is required. The Editors' decision is final.

Other types. Historical notes, editorials, obituaries and book reviews are also published. These are generally invited by the Editors, but potential topics are accepted by readers. Editorials usually should contain no more than 2500 words, 25 references and one table and/or figure. Please contact the Editors for more information.

If you need any further help, please visit our Support Center.

Submission checklist

You can use this list, to download as a PDF here, to carry out a final check of your submission before you send it to the journal for review. To avoid unnecessary errors you are strongly advised to use the 'spell-check' and 'grammar-check' functions of your word processor. Please check the relevant section in this Guide for Authors for more details.

Before you begin

Ethics in publishing

Please see our information on Ethics in publishing.

A manuscript will be considered for publication only if the work detailed therein:

Human and animal rights

All animal experiments should comply with and be reported according to the ARRIVE guidelines. If the work involves the use of human subjects, the author should ensure that the work described has been carried out in accordance with The Code of Ethics of the World Medical Association (Declaration of Helsinki) for experiments involving humans; Uniform Requirements for manuscripts submitted to Biomedical journals. Authors should include a statement in the manuscript that informed consent was obtained for experimentation with human subjects. The privacy rights of human subjects must always be observed.

Declaration of generative AI in scientific writing

The below guidance only refers to the writing process, and not to the use of AI tools to analyse and draw insights from data as part of the research process.

Where authors use generative artificial intelligence (AI) and AI-assisted technologies in the writing process, authors should only use these technologies to improve readability and language. Applying the technology should be done with human oversight and control, and authors should carefully review and edit the result, as AI can generate authoritative-sounding output that can be incorrect, incomplete or biased. AI and AI-assisted technologies should not be listed as an author or co-author, or be cited as an author. Authorship implies responsibilities and tasks that can only be attributed to and performed by humans, as outlined in Elsevier’s AI policy for authors.

Authors should disclose in their manuscript the use of AI and AI-assisted technologies in the writing process by following the instructions below. A statement will appear in the published work. Please note that authors are ultimately responsible and accountable for the contents of the work.

Disclosure instructions
Authors must disclose the use of generative AI and AI-assisted technologies in the writing process by adding a statement at the end of their manuscript in the core manuscript file, before the References list. The statement should be placed in a new section entitled ‘Declaration of Generative AI and AI-assisted technologies in the writing process’.

Statement: During the preparation of this work the author(s) used [NAME TOOL / SERVICE] in order to [REASON]. After using this tool/service, the author(s) reviewed and edited the content as needed and take(s) full responsibility for the content of the publication.

This declaration does not apply to the use of basic tools for checking grammar, spelling, references etc. If there is nothing to disclose, there is no need to add a statement.

Use of inclusive language

Inclusive language acknowledges diversity, conveys respect to all people, is sensitive to differences, and promotes equal opportunities. Content should make no assumptions about the beliefs or commitments of any reader; contain nothing which might imply that one individual is superior to another on the grounds of age, gender, race, ethnicity, culture, sexual orientation, disability or health condition; and use inclusive language throughout. Authors should ensure that writing is free from bias, stereotypes, slang, reference to dominant culture and/or cultural assumptions. We advise to seek gender neutrality by using plural nouns ("clinicians, patients/clients") as default/wherever possible to avoid using "he, she," or "he/she." We recommend avoiding the use of descriptors that refer to personal attributes such as age, gender, race, ethnicity, culture, sexual orientation, disability or health condition unless they are relevant and valid. When coding terminology is used, we recommend to avoid offensive or exclusionary terms such as "master", "slave", "blacklist" and "whitelist". We suggest using alternatives that are more appropriate and (self-) explanatory such as "primary", "secondary", "blocklist" and "allowlist". These guidelines are meant as a point of reference to help identify appropriate language but are by no means exhaustive or definitive.

Reporting sex- and gender-based analyses

Reporting guidance
For research involving or pertaining to humans, animals or eukaryotic cells, investigators should integrate sex and gender-based analyses (SGBA) into their research design according to funder/sponsor requirements and best practices within a field. Authors should address the sex and/or gender dimensions of their research in their article. In cases where they cannot, they should discuss this as a limitation to their research's generalizability. Importantly, authors should explicitly state what definitions of sex and/or gender they are applying to enhance the precision, rigor and reproducibility of their research and to avoid ambiguity or conflation of terms and the constructs to which they refer (see Definitions section below). Authors can refer to the Sex and Gender Equity in Research (SAGER) guidelines and the SAGER guidelines checklist. These offer systematic approaches to the use and editorial review of sex and gender information in study design, data analysis, outcome reporting and research interpretation - however, please note there is no single, universally agreed-upon set of guidelines for defining sex and gender.

Definitions
Sex generally refers to a set of biological attributes that are associated with physical and physiological features (e.g., chromosomal genotype, hormonal levels, internal and external anatomy). A binary sex categorization (male/female) is usually designated at birth (""sex assigned at birth""), most often based solely on the visible external anatomy of a newborn. Gender generally refers to socially constructed roles, behaviors, and identities of women, men and gender-diverse people that occur in a historical and cultural context and may vary across societies and over time. Gender influences how people view themselves and each other, how they behave and interact and how power is distributed in society. Sex and gender are often incorrectly portrayed as binary (female/male or woman/man) and unchanging whereas these constructs actually exist along a spectrum and include additional sex categorizations and gender identities such as people who are intersex/have differences of sex development (DSD) or identify as non-binary. Moreover, the terms ""sex"" and ""gender"" can be ambiguous—thus it is important for authors to define the manner in which they are used. In addition to this definition guidance and the SAGER guidelines, the resources on this page offer further insight around sex and gender in research studies.

Reporting clinical trials
Randomized controlled trials should be presented according to the CONSORT guidelines. At manuscript submission, authors must provide the CONSORT checklist accompanied by a flow diagram that illustrates the progress of patients through the trial, including recruitment, enrollment, randomization, withdrawal and completion, and a detailed description of the randomization procedure. The CONSORT checklist and template flow diagram are available online.

Other reporting guidelines
Please refer to the STROBE statement for observational studies and PRISMA for systematic reviews and meta-analyses. Further information regarding reporting guidelines for specialized studies can be found on the website of the Equator Network.

Declaration of interest

All authors must disclose any financial and personal relationships with other people or organizations that could inappropriately influence (bias) their work. Examples of potential conflicts of interest include employment, consultancies, stock ownership, honoraria, paid expert testimony, patent applications/registrations, and grants or other funding. If there are no conflicts of interest, then please state this: 'The authors declare no conflict of interest' (if there are multiple authors) or 'The author declares no conflict of interest' if there is one author only. Please include this statement on the title page upon submission. View this link for more information: About Conflict of Interest Statements.

Submission declaration

Submission of an article implies that the work described has not been published previously (except in the form of an abstract, a published lecture or academic thesis, see 'Multiple, redundant or concurrent publication' for more information), that it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere, that its publication is approved by all authors and tacitly or explicitly by the responsible authorities where the work was carried out, and that, if accepted, it will not be published elsewhere in the same form, in English or in any other language, including electronically without the written consent of the copyright-holder.

Authorship

Each author is required to declare his or her individual contribution to the article: all authors must have materially participated in the research and/or article preparation, so roles for all authors should be described. The statement that all authors have approved the final article should be true and included in the disclosure.

VAA refers to The International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) for the definition of authorship. ICMJE defines authors as those who:

  1. Made substantial contributions to the conception and design of, or acquisition of data or analysis and interpretation of data;
  2. Drafted the article or revised it critically for important intellectual content;
  3. Approved the final version to be published.

Authors should meet conditions 1, 2 and 3. Otherwise they should be mentioned in acknowledgements. Participation in the acquisition of funding alone, translation and/or editing of the manuscript alone or data collection alone does not merit authorship. Except in the case of complex large-scale or multi-center research, the number of authors should normally not exceed six. Please provide a statement on the title page defining the role of each author. For example:

Authors' contributions
MD: data interpretation, statistical analysis and preparation of manuscript; RG: design, data management, and preparation of manuscript.

Changes to authorship

Authors are expected to consider carefully the list and order of authors before submitting their manuscript and provide the definitive list of authors at the time of the original submission. Any addition, deletion or rearrangement of author names in the authorship list should be made only before the manuscript has been accepted and only if approved by the journal Editor. To request such a change, the Editor must receive the following from the corresponding author: (a) the reason for the change in author list and (b) written confirmation (e-mail, letter) from all authors that they agree with the addition, removal or rearrangement. In the case of addition or removal of authors, this includes confirmation from the author being added or removed.
Only in exceptional circumstances will the Editor consider the addition, deletion or rearrangement of authors after the manuscript has been accepted. While the Editor considers the request, publication of the manuscript will be suspended. If the manuscript has already been published in an online issue, any requests approved by the Editor will result in a corrigendum.

Copyright

Upon acceptance of an article, authors will be asked to complete a 'Journal Publishing Agreement' (see more information on this). An e-mail will be sent to the corresponding author confirming receipt of the manuscript together with a 'Journal Publishing Agreement' form or a link to the online version of this agreement.

Subscribers may reproduce tables of contents or prepare lists of articles including abstracts for internal circulation within their institutions. Permission of the Publisher is required for resale or distribution outside the institution and for all other derivative works, including compilations and translations. If excerpts from other copyrighted works are included, the author(s) must obtain written permission from the copyright owners and credit the source(s) in the article. Elsevier has preprinted forms for use by authors in these cases.

Author rights
As an author you (or your employer or institution) have certain rights to reuse your work. More information.

Elsevier supports responsible sharing
Find out how you can share your research published in Elsevier journals.

Role of the funding source

You are requested to identify who provided financial support for the conduct of the research and/or preparation of the article and to briefly describe the role of the sponsor(s), if any, in study design; in the collection, analysis and interpretation of data; in the writing of the report; and in the decision to submit the article for publication. If the funding source(s) had no such involvement, it is recommended to state this.

For anonymous review, this information should appear on the title page.

Open access

Please visit our Open Access page for more information about open access publishing in this journal.

This journal has an embargo period of 12 months.

Elsevier Researcher Academy
Researcher Academy is a free e-learning platform designed to support early and mid-career researchers throughout their research journey. The "Learn" environment at Researcher Academy offers several interactive modules, webinars, downloadable guides and resources to guide you through the process of writing for research and going through peer review. Feel free to use these free resources to improve your submission and navigate the publication process with ease.

Language (usage and editing services)
Please write your text in good English (American or British usage is accepted, but not a mixture of these). Authors who feel their English language manuscript may require editing to eliminate possible grammatical or spelling errors and to conform to correct scientific English may wish to use the Language Editing service available from Elsevier's Language Services.

Submission

Our online submission system guides you stepwise through the process of entering your article details and uploading your files. The system converts your article files to a single PDF file used in the peer-review process. Editable files (e.g., Word, LaTeX) are required to typeset your article for final publication. All correspondence, including notification of the Editor's decision and requests for revision, is sent by e-mail.

Submit your article
Please submit your article via https://www.editorialmanager.com/vaa/

Preparation

Queries

For questions about the editorial process (including the status of manuscripts under review) or for technical support on submissions, please visit our Support Center.

Double-blind review
This journal uses double-blind review, which means that both the reviewer and author name(s) are not allowed to be revealed to one another for a manuscript under review. The identities of the authors are concealed from the reviewers, and vice versa. More information is available on our website. To facilitate this, please include the following separately:
Title page (with author details): This should include the title, authors' names and affiliations, a complete address for the corresponding author including an e-mail address, Acknowledgements (including funding), Authors' contributions and Conflict of Interest Statement.
Blinded manuscript (no author details): The main body of the paper (including the references, figures, and tables) should not include any identifying information, such as the authors' names or affiliations. Equipment sources should be included but may be removed for review at the Editor's discretion.

Use of word processing software
Regardless of the file format of the original submission, at revision you must provide us with an editable file of the entire article. Keep the layout of the text as simple as possible. Most formatting codes will be removed and replaced on processing the article. The electronic text should be prepared in a way very similar to that of conventional manuscripts (see also the Guide to Publishing with Elsevier). See also the section on Electronic artwork.
To avoid unnecessary errors you are strongly advised to use the 'spell-check' and 'grammar-check' functions of your word processor.

Article structure

Subdivision - unnumbered sections
Divide your article into clearly defined sections. Each subsection is given a brief heading. Each heading should appear on its own separate line. Subsections should be used as much as possible when cross-referencing text: refer to the subsection by heading as opposed to simply 'the text'.

Sections in the body of the manuscript (introduction to discussion) should not be separated by page breaks.

Introduction
State the objectives of the work and provide an adequate background, avoiding a detailed literature survey or a summary of the results.

Material and methods
Provide sufficient detail to allow the work to be reproduced. Methods already published should be indicated by a reference: only relevant modifications should be described. Excessive recycling of words from previous manuscripts, including the methods section, will not be allowed. See Elsevier's Ethics in Research & Publication brochure.

Specify in Materials and methods the ethical review committee approval process and the international, national, and/or institutional guidelines followed. Provide evidence in Materials and methods that the principles of reduction, refinement, and replacement have been met.

Statistics
For help with statistical reporting please refer to the SAMPL Guidelines which are available on the Equator Network. Further useful information on best practices in reporting sample size calculations in Randomized Controlled Trials in the field of anaesthesia can be found in the following British Journal of Anaesthesia article: 'Pitfalls in reporting sample size calculation in randomized controlled trials published in leading anaesthesia journals: a systematic review'.

Results
Results should be clear and concise.

Discussion
This should explore the significance of the results of the work, not repeat them. A combined Results and Discussion section may be appropriate. Avoid extensive citations and discussion of published literature.

Conclusions
The main conclusions of the study may be presented in a short Conclusions section, which may stand alone or form a subsection of a Discussion or Results and Discussion section.

Appendices
If there is more than one appendix, they should be identified as A, B, etc. Formulae and equations in appendices should be given separate numbering: Eq. (A.1), Eq. (A.2), etc.; in a subsequent appendix, Eq. (B.1) and so on. Similarly for tables and figures: Table A.1; Fig. A.1, etc.

Essential title page information

  • Title. Concise and informative. Titles are often used in information-retrieval systems. Avoid abbreviations and formulae where possible. Ideally 12 words or fewer
  • Author names and affiliations. Please clearly indicate the given name(s) and family name(s) of each author and check that all names are accurately spelled and in the correct order. Present the authors' affiliation addresses (where the actual work was done) below the names. Indicate all affiliations with a lower-case superscript letter immediately after the author's name and in front of the appropriate address. Provide the full postal address of each affiliation, including the country name and, if available, the e-mail address of each author.
  • Corresponding author. Clearly indicate who will handle correspondence at all stages of refereeing and publication, and which author will be the corresponding author post-publication. Ensure that the e-mail address is given and that contact details are kept up to date by the pre-publication corresponding author.
  • Present/permanent address. If the first author who is not the corresponding post-publication author has moved since the work described in the article was done, or was visiting at the time, a 'Present address' (or 'Permanent address') may be indicated as a footnote to that author's name. This information should be provided on the title page upon manuscript submission. The address at which the author actually did the work must be retained as the main, affiliation address. Superscript Arabic numerals are used for such footnotes.
  • Acknowledgments (including sources of funding)
  • Authors' contributions
  • Conflict of interest statement

Abstract

A concise and factual abstract is required. The abstract should state briefly the purpose of the research, the principal results and major conclusions. An abstract is often presented separately from the article, so it must be able to stand alone. For this reason, references should not be included in the abstract. Also, non-standard or uncommon abbreviations should be avoided, but if essential they must be defined at their first mention in the abstract itself. The abstract should be on a separate page and should not exceed 300 words. For original research articles and short communications, a structured abstract should be used with the following titles: Objective, Study design, Animals or Animal population, Methods, Results, Conclusions and clinical relevance. For review articles and "What is the Evidence?" articles the abstract should be structured and usually should have the following headings: Objective, Databases used and Conclusions.

Keywords

Up to six keywords or phrases should be listed immediately after the abstract. Ideally, they should be MeSH headings.

Please use either British English or American English spelling (ensuring that this is consistent with the spelling used throughout the body of your manuscript) and avoiding general and plural terms and multiple concepts (avoid, for example, 'and', 'of'). Be sparing with abbreviations: only abbreviations firmly established in the field may be eligible. These keywords will be used for indexing purposes.

Abbreviations
Define abbreviations at their first mention in the body of the manuscript (introduction through discussion). Ensure consistency of abbreviations throughout the article. A list of commonly used abbreviations is available here.

Formatting of funding sources
List funding sources in this standard way to facilitate compliance to funder's requirements:

Funding: This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health [grant numbers xxxx, yyyy]; the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Seattle, WA [grant number zzzz]; and the United States Institutes of Peace [grant number aaaa].

It is not necessary to include detailed descriptions on the program or type of grants and awards. When funding is from a block grant or other resources available to a university, college, or other research institution, submit the name of the institute or organization that provided the funding.

If no funding has been provided for the research, it is recommended to include the following sentence:

This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

Math formulae
Please submit math equations as editable text and not as images. Present simple formulae in line with normal text where possible and use the solidus (/) instead of a horizontal line for small fractional terms, e.g., X/Y. Powers of e are often more conveniently denoted by exp. Number consecutively any equations that have to be displayed separately from the text (if referred to explicitly in the text).

Footnotes
Footnotes should rarely be used. If used, indicate the position of the footnote in the text and present the footnote separately at the end of the article.

Artwork

Electronic artwork
General points
  • Make sure you use uniform lettering and sizing of your original artwork.
  • Preferred fonts: Arial (or Helvetica), Times New Roman (or Times), Symbol, Courier.
  • Number the illustrations according to their sequence in the text.
  • Use a logical naming convention for your artwork files.
  • For Word submissions only, you may still provide figures and their legends, and tables within a single file at the revision stage.
  • Please note that individual figure files larger than 10 MB must be provided in separate source files.

A detailed guide on electronic artwork is available.
You are urged to visit this site; some excerpts from the detailed information are given here.

Formats
Regardless of the application used, when your electronic artwork is finalized, please 'save as' or convert the images to one of the following formats (note the resolution requirements for line drawings, halftones, and line/halftone combinations given below):
EPS (or PDF): Vector drawings. Embed the font or save the text as 'graphics'.
TIFF (or JPG): Color or grayscale photographs (halftones): always use a minimum of 600 dpi.
TIFF (or JPG): Bitmapped line drawings: use a minimum of 1000 dpi.
TIFF (or JPG): Combinations bitmapped line/half-tone (color or grayscale): a minimum of 600 dpi is required.

Please do not:

  • Supply files that are optimized for screen use (e.g., PowerPoint, GIF, BMP, PICT, WPG); the resolution is too low.
  • Supply files that are too low in resolution.
  • Submit graphics that are disproportionately large for the content.

Color artwork
Please make sure that artwork files are in an acceptable format (TIFF (or JPEG), EPS (or PDF), or MS Office files) and with the correct resolution. If, together with your accepted article, you submit usable color figures then Elsevier will ensure, at no additional charge, that these figures will appear in color online (e.g., ScienceDirect and other sites) regardless of whether or not these illustrations are reproduced in color in the printed version. For color reproduction in print, you will receive information regarding the costs from Elsevier after receipt of your accepted article. Please indicate your preference for color: in print or online only. Further information on the preparation of electronic artwork.

Figure captions
Ensure that each illustration has a caption. A caption should comprise a brief title (not on the figure itself) and a description of the illustration. Keep text in the illustrations themselves to a minimum but explain all symbols and abbreviations used in the legend.

Tables

Please submit tables as editable text and not as images, Excel files, or embedded in Word files. Tables should be placed on separate page(s) at the end after the references list or in a separate file. Number tables consecutively in accordance with their appearance in the text. The caption should be placed above the table and explain the origin of the data and any table notes should be placed below the table body. Be sparing in the use of tables and ensure that the data presented in them do not duplicate results described elsewhere in the article. Please avoid using vertical rules.

References

Citation in text
Please ensure that every reference cited in the text is also present in the reference list (and vice versa). Unpublished results and personal communications are not recommended in the reference list, but may be mentioned in the text. If these references are included in the reference list they should follow the standard reference style of the journal and should include a substitution of the publication date with either 'Unpublished results' or 'Personal communication'. Citation of a reference as 'in press' implies that the item has been accepted for publication.

Reference links
Increased discoverability of research and high quality peer review are ensured by online links to the sources cited. In order to allow us to create links to abstracting and indexing services, such as Scopus, CrossRef and PubMed, please ensure that data provided in the references are correct. Please note that incorrect surnames, journal/book titles, publication year and pagination may prevent link creation. When copying references, please be careful as they may already contain errors. Use of the DOI is encouraged.
A DOI can be used to cite and link to electronic articles where an article is in-press and full citation details are not yet known, but the article is available online. A DOI is guaranteed never to change, so you can use it as a permanent link to any electronic article. An example of a citation using DOI for an article not yet in an issue is: Clutton RE (2017) Recognizing the boundary between heroism and futility in veterinary intensive care. Vet Anaesth Analg, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.vaa.2016.11.004 Please note the format of such citations should be in the same style as all other references in the paper.

Web references
As a minimum, the full URL should be given and the date when the reference was last accessed. Any further information, if known (DOI, author names, dates, reference to a source publication, etc.), should also be given. Web references can be listed separately (e.g., after the reference list) under a different heading if desired, or can be included in the reference list.

Preprint references
Where a preprint has subsequently become available as a peer-reviewed publication, the formal publication should be used as the reference. If there are preprints that are central to your work or that cover crucial developments in the topic, but are not yet formally published, these may be referenced. Preprints should be clearly marked as such, for example by including the word preprint, or the name of the preprint server, as part of the reference. The preprint DOI should also be provided.

Reference style
Please follow the following guidelines when formatting the reference list in your manuscript:
  • Abstracts that are more than 2 years old should not be used as references. Avoid abstracts as references when at all possible.
  • Proceedings should not be used as references.
  • References cited within the text that are 'unpublished observations' or 'personal communications' should not be included in the reference list. Authors are responsible for verifying that the information provided under these headings is accurate and approved by the persons concerned. Information from manuscripts that have been submitted but not accepted should be cited as unpublished observations.
  • A modified Harvard style should be used in the reference list.
  • Cite the author names followed by year of publication: (Jones 1997; Gregory 1999).
  • Where there are two authors, they should both be included with an ampersand: (Pascoe & Bennett 1999)
  • Where there are three or more authors, the first author's name followed by et al. should be used: (Williams et al. 2016).
  • If there is more than one reference per year from an author then distinguish with a letter: (Williams et al. 2016a) (Jones et al. 2016a,b)
  • A detailed reference list should be supplied on a separate page, listed in alphabetical order of first author names.
  • Journal titles should be abbreviated according to the standard forms in the National Library of Medicine, USA, database (MEDLINE or PubMed).
  • Book titles should be written out in full.
  • An EndNote style download is available here.
  • The following are examples of style:


Journal

Argraves WS, Suzuki S (1987) Amino acid sequence of the human fibronectin receptor. J Cell Biol 105, 1183-1190.

Andrade C, Sandarsh S, Chethan KB, Nagesh KS (2010) Serotonin reuptake inhibitor antidepressants and abnormal bleeding: a review for clinicians and a reconsideration of mechanisms. J Clin Psychiatry 71, 1565-1575.

Young LE, Blissitt KJ, Clutton RE et al. (1998) Temporal effects of an infusion of dobutamine hydrochloride in horses anesthetized with halothane. Am J Vet Res 59, 1027-1032.

Campagna I, Schwarz A, Keller S et al. (2015) Comparison of the effects of propofol or alfaxalone for anaesthesia induction and maintenance on respiration in cats. Vet Anaesth Analg 42, 484-492.

Larenza MP, Ringer SK, Kutter AP et al. (2009a) Evaluation of anesthesia recovery quality after low-dose racemic or S-ketamine infusions during anesthesia with isoflurane in horses. Am J Vet Res 70, 710-718.

Larenza MP, Peterbauer C, Landoni MF et al. (2009b) Stereoselective pharmacokinetics of ketamine and norketamine after constant rate infusion of a subanesthetic dose of racemic ketamine or S-ketamine in Shetland ponies. Am J Vet Res 70, 831-839.

Conde Ruiz C, Del Carro A, Rosset E et al. (2015) Alfaxalone for total intravenous anaesthesia in bitches undergoing elective caesarean section and its effects on puppies: a randomized clinical trial. Vet Anaesth Analg. https://doi.org/10.1111/vaa.12298 [Epub ahead of print].

Moher D, Liberati A, Tetzlaff J et al. (2009) Preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses: the PRISMA statement. PLoS Med 6, e1000097.

[No authors listed] (2013) Notice of formal retraction of articles by Dr. Y. Fujii. Br J Anaesth 110, 669.

Book

Hall LW, Taylor PM (1994) Anaesthesia of the Cat (1st edn), Balliere Tindall, London, UK, pp. 189-193.

Pascoe PJ, Bennett RC (1999) Thoracic Surgery. In: Manual of Small Animal Anaesthesia and Analgesia (1st edn). Seymour C, Gleed R (eds). BSAVA, UK. pp. 183-196.

Abstract

Portela D, Campoy L, Otero P et al. (2015) Ultrasound-guided thoracic paravertebral injection in dog cadavers. Vet Anaesth Analg 42, A55 (abstract).

Web address

Seeler DC, Turnwald GH, Bull KS (1999) From teaching to learning:Part III. Lectures and approaches to active learning. J Vet Med Educ 21 http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/JVME/V21-1/Seeler1.html Last accessed 1 January 2017.

Thesis

Smith GY (1978) Title of thesis. PhD thesis, University. pp. 97-112.

Journal abbreviations source
Journal names should be abbreviated according to the List of Title Word Abbreviations.

Video

Elsevier accepts video material and animation sequences to support and enhance your scientific research. Authors who have video or animation files that they wish to submit with their article are strongly encouraged to include links to these within the body of the article. This can be done in the same way as a figure or table by referring to the video or animation content and noting in the body text where it should be placed. All submitted files should be properly labeled so that they directly relate to the video file's content. In order to ensure that your video or animation material is directly usable, please provide the file in one of our recommended file formats with a preferred maximum size of 150 MB per file, 1 GB in total. Video and animation files supplied will be published online in the electronic version of your article in Elsevier Web products, including ScienceDirect. Please supply 'stills' with your files: you can choose any frame from the video or animation or make a separate image. These will be used instead of standard icons and will personalize the link to your video data. For more detailed instructions please visit our video instruction pages. Note: since video and animation cannot be embedded in the print version of the journal, please provide text for both the electronic and the print version for the portions of the article that refer to this content.

Supplementary material
Supplementary material can support and enhance your scientific research. Supplementary files offer the author additional possibilities to publish supporting applications, high-resolution images, background datasets, sound clips and more. Please note that such items are published online exactly as they are submitted; there is no typesetting involved (supplementary data supplied as an Excel file or as a PowerPoint slide will appear as such online). Please submit the material together with the article and supply a concise and descriptive caption for each file. If you wish to make any changes to supplementary data during any stage of the process, then please make sure to provide an updated file, and do not annotate any corrections on a previous version. Please also make sure to switch off the 'Track Changes' option in any Microsoft Office files as these will appear in the published supplementary file(s). For more detailed instructions please visit our artwork instruction pages.

After acceptance

Online proof correction

To ensure a fast publication process of the article, we kindly ask authors to provide us with their proof corrections within two days. Corresponding authors will receive an e-mail with a link to our online proofing system, allowing annotation and correction of proofs online. The environment is similar to MS Word: in addition to editing text, you can also comment on figures/tables and answer questions from the Copy Editor. Web-based proofing provides a faster and less error-prone process by allowing you to directly type your corrections, eliminating the potential introduction of errors.
If preferred, you can still choose to annotate and upload your edits on the PDF version. All instructions for proofing will be given in the e-mail we send to authors, including alternative methods to the online version and PDF.
We will do everything possible to get your article published quickly and accurately. Please use this proof only for checking the typesetting, editing, completeness and correctness of the text, tables and figures. Significant changes to the article as accepted for publication will only be considered at this stage with permission from the Editor. It is important to ensure that all corrections are sent back to us in one communication. Please check carefully before replying, as inclusion of any subsequent corrections cannot be guaranteed. Proofreading is solely your responsibility.

Offprints

The corresponding author will, at no cost, receive a customized Share Link providing 50 days free access to the final published version of the article on ScienceDirect. The Share Link can be used for sharing the article via any communication channel, including email and social media. For an extra charge, paper offprints can be ordered via the offprint order form which is sent once the article is accepted for publication. Corresponding authors who have published their article gold open access do not receive a Share Link as their final published version of the article is available open access on ScienceDirect and can be shared through the article DOI link.

Author inquiries



Visit the Elsevier Support Center to find the answers you need. Here you will find everything from Frequently Asked Questions to ways to get in touch.
You can also check the status of your submitted article or find out when your accepted article will be published.