Get your Foot and Ankle Surgery paper right the first time: a ready-made structure with the right abstract and citations, so editors see your science, not formatting slips.
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Authored by Sumalatha Gangadhar | Published on 11 August, 2026
Submitting to Foot and Ankle Surgery goes smoothly when your draft already matches the journal's own rules. Editors screen new manuscripts against the Foot and Ankle Surgery 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 template sets that structure up for you.
It is a manuscript shell aligned to Foot and Ankle Surgery. 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 Foot and Ankle Surgery journal page before you draft.
Prepare the title, authors, affiliations, and ORCID iDs. 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 Foot and Ankle Surgery 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 Foot and Ankle Surgery 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 | Foot Ankle Surg requirement |
|---|---|
| Abstract | Structured abstract required for full papers with mandatory headings: Background, Methods, Results, Conclusions. Maximum 150 words. Authors encouraged to include Levels of Evidence following JBJS guidelines |
| Main text | Original research: up to 3000 words including the abstract. Review articles: up to 4000 words. Manuscripts should be double-spaced with wide margins and consecutive page numbering. Structure: Title page, abstract, keywords, introduction, methods, results, discussion, acknowledgements, references, figures/tables |
| Declarations | Ethics approval/consent as applicable; competing interests; funding; data availability |
| Figures/tables | Publication-ready; cited in order |
| Supplemental | Upload separately when used |
| Keywords | Keywords required immediately after abstract. No specific count specified. Authors should avoid general and plural terms and multiple concepts (avoid 'and', 'of'). Use abbreviations sparingly - only those firmly established in the field. Keywords used for indexing purposes |
| References | Numbered references in square brackets in order of appearance in text. Vancouver style (based on 'Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts submitted to Biomedical Journals'). Journal abbreviations according to ISSN LTWA. Up to 50 references for both original research and review articles |
| Peer review | Double anonymized review (double-blind). Identities of authors concealed from reviewers and vice versa. Papers initially assessed by editor, then typically sent to minimum of two independent expert reviewers |
| Submission | www.editorialmanager.com/fas |
Read the Foot and Ankle Surgery 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 Foot and Ankle Surgery in under a page.
Skim two or three recent Foot Ankle Surg 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 Foot and Ankle Surgery journal page requires it. Disclose any preprint or conference version with identifiers in the cover letter.
Do one focused pass against the Foot and Ankle Surgery guide for authors: scope, length, reference style, required declarations, and figure quality. Then submit through Editorial Manager.