Writing for Annals of Thoracic Surgery Short Reports? This template gives you a submission-ready structure—sections, abstract, and references—so you focus on the research, not the formatting.
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Authored by Sumalatha Gangadhar | Published on 25 July, 2026
Submitting to Annals of Thoracic Surgery Short Reports goes smoothly when your draft already matches the journal's own rules. Editors screen new manuscripts against the Annals of Thoracic Surgery Short Reports guide for authors before peer review, so formatting, structure, and required statements should be right on the first draft rather than repaired during upload. This journal specifically expects a graphical abstract, CRediT author-contribution statements, a data availability statement; build these in from the start. This template sets that structure up for you.
It is a manuscript shell aligned to Annals of Thoracic Surgery Short Reports. It covers front matter, the abstract the journal expects, a body organized to the journal's article types, and a reference list in the journal's required style. Confirm current scope and article types on the Annals of Thoracic Surgery Short Reports journal page before you draft.
Prepare the title, authors, affiliations, and ORCID iDs. Keep the abstract within about 250 words. Write the abstract to the journal's rule and word limit, organize the body to the article type, and apply the required reference style from the first citation. Complete every declaration (ethics, competing interests, funding, data availability) the Annals of Thoracic Surgery Short Reports guide for authors lists, and cite figures and tables in order.
The common failure modes are formatting or reference style that does not match the guide for authors, missing required statements, and an incomplete portal checklist. Clear all three against the Annals of Thoracic Surgery Short Reports guide for authors before you submit.
The shell mirrors what editorial staff check first: article-type fit, the abstract rules, required declarations, and the journal's reference style. For more detail see the author resources. When your draft is ready, upload it through Editorial Manager.
| Element | ATSSR requirement |
|---|---|
| Abstract | Short Report and Mini Review: Structured abstract, 250 words maximum, with four mandatory headings: Background, Methods, Results, Conclusions. New Technology: Structured abstract, 175 words maximum, with mandatory headings: Purpose, Description, Evaluation, Conclusions. Case Report/How To Do It: Unstructured abstract, 100 words maximum. Images in Cardiothoracic Surgery: No abstract required. Editorials: No abstract required. Letters to the Editor: No abstract required. |
| Main text | Section order and length per article type |
| Declarations | Ethics, competing interests, funding, data as required |
| Figures/tables | Publication-ready; cited in order |
| Supplemental | Upload separately when used |
| Keywords | The guide does not mention traditional keywords. Instead, Short Reports and Mini Reviews require 'Key Messages/Takeaways' consisting of 2-3 items with a maximum of 75 words total (not per item). Other article types do not mention keywords or key messages. |
| References | AMA (American Medical Association) reference style. References identified in text using superscript Arabic numerals in consecutive numeric order (comma between numbers, hyphen for series of 3 or more). List all authors if 6 or fewer; otherwise list first 3 and add 'et al.' Journal abbreviations should conform to PubMed. EndNote formatting is not compatible with the journal's production process. |
| Peer review | Single anonymized review process (single-blind). All contributions are initially assessed by the Editor-in-Chief. Original research papers deemed suitable are assigned to a handling editor and/or sent to a minimum of 2 independent expert reviewers. Feature manuscripts (Case Reports, How to Do Its, Images in CT Surgery) may be reviewed by an Associate Editor alone or sent to 1-2 independent reviewers. The Editor-in-Chief makes final decisions. |
| Submission | editorialmanager.com |
Read the Annals of Thoracic Surgery Short Reports guide for authors once before drafting and once before upload. Draft the abstract after results are stable. Set the reference style before adding citations. Keep a cover letter that states your contribution and fit to Annals of Thoracic Surgery Short Reports in under a page.
Skim two or three recent ATSSR papers to calibrate depth and figure style. Make the novelty clear in the first two pages. Deposit data and code when the policy on the Annals of Thoracic Surgery Short Reports journal page requires it. Disclose any preprint or conference version with identifiers in the cover letter.
Do one focused pass against the Annals of Thoracic Surgery Short Reports guide for authors: scope, length, reference style, required declarations, and figure quality. Then submit through Editorial Manager.