1. PUBLICATION RULES
1.1. All manuscripts submitted to the journal undergo anonymous peer review. Approval by the Editorial Board, after any required revisions, is necessary for publication. The Editorial Board reserves the right to publish a commentary following the article, which will be submitted to the author along with the proof.
1.2. Articles must not have been previously published or be simultaneously submitted to another journal, except by special agreement between the respective editorial boards.
1.3. Submission of an article implies that the work described has been approved by all authors and — tacitly or explicitly — by the responsible authorities under whose auspices it was carried out. Upon acceptance, the article shall not be published elsewhere in any form or language without the written consent of the publisher. Some articles accepted in RENICOT may, upon proposal by the editorial board, be translated into English for publication in a partner international journal.
1.4. If excerpts from other copyrighted works are included in the article, authors must provide written permission from the copyright holders and cite the sources of the original publication (princeps) in the article.
1.5. Submitted work must comply with applicable laws on biomedical experimentation and with the ethical recommendations of the Declaration of Helsinki.
1.6. RENICOT follows international practices regarding conflicts of interest in relation to submitted publications.
1.7. RENICOT adheres to the rules established by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). Its publication practices are also governed by the rules set out by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) and the International Association of Scientific, Technical and Medical Publishers (STM Association).
Authors are requested to comply with the editorial and formal guidelines set out herein.
2. MANUSCRIPT SUBMISSION
Online submission only
Manuscripts (including text, tables and figures) must be submitted online via the journal platform at: https://www.editorialmanager.com/RENICOT
– one file for the article title page;
– one file for the complete manuscript (without figures);
– one file per figure.
Our online submission platform guides you step by step through entering your article information and uploading your files. The system converts your files into a single PDF for peer review. Editable files (e.g., Word format) must be used for final publication. All correspondence, including editorial decisions and revision requests, is conducted by email.
3. TYPES OF ARTICLES PUBLISHED IN RENICOT
When submitting their manuscript, authors must indicate the desired section: Original Article, Technical Note, Review Article, Systematic Review, Letter to the Editor, Professional Practice. The Editorial Board reserves the right to publish the article in a different section. The final publication decision is based on: strict compliance with the Instructions for Authors, conformity with the journal's style, originality, novelty, and impact on the medical or scientific community.
3.1. Original Article
An original article is a scientific report that must observe the methodological and editorial rigour of an experimental research protocol. It presents new or comprehensive findings, and either challenges or confirms existing knowledge. For clinical research, it must indicate the impact of its conclusions on medical decision-making. Original articles must follow the international IMRaD structure (Introduction, Material and Methods, Results, Discussion).
– Introduction (500 words): state of the art and study justification; working hypothesis; precise statement of the primary and secondary objectives.
– Methods (1,000 words): study population with inclusion/exclusion criteria; protocol and study type; evaluation methods; primary and secondary endpoints; statistical tools used.
– Results (500 words): expressed precisely and concisely.
– Discussion (900 words): strengths and limitations of the study; comparison with the literature; possible recommendations for practice.
– Conclusion (100 words): one to three sentences summarising the core findings and clinical relevance.
An original article must not exceed 3,500 words in total (title, abstract, text, references, tables and legends). It must be accompanied by a structured abstract of < 500 words (Introduction – Material and Methods – Results – Discussion) with a level of evidence statement:
– I: high-powered randomised prospective study or meta-analysis
– II: low-powered randomised prospective study
– III: case-control study
– IV: retrospective study or historical series
– V: expert opinion
3.2. Professional Practice Article
Relates to professional practice without being strictly a research study. Must not exceed 3,500 words.
3.3. Review Article / Systematic Review
A work based on an extensive critical analysis of the literature. Must not exceed 6,000 words including an abstract of < 500 words. The review must be organised around one to four specific questions posed in the introduction.
3.4. Technical Note
Intended to present a genuinely new technique, instrument or method of investigation. Must not exceed 1,500 words including an abstract of 150 words maximum. A minimum follow-up of 5 years is required for articles on total arthroplasty.
3.5. Letter to the Editor
A reader's comment on a published article. Must be brief (500 words) and precise.
Maximum article length (title, abstract, text, references and legends included):
– 3,500 words — Original Article
– 3,500 words — Professional Practice
– 6,000 words — Review / Systematic Review
– 1,500 words — Technical Note
– 500 words — Letter to the Editor
4. MANUSCRIPT PRESENTATION
Accepted text file formats are MS Word and WordPerfect. Submissions must include:
4.1. A title page file containing the article title (as short and precise as possible) and its translation into English, the authors' full first names and surnames, the institution address, city and country where the work was carried out, and the name and contact details (email) of the corresponding author.
4.2. A file containing the structured abstract with keywords, followed by the body of the article. The abstract must be:
· Original Articles: < 500 words (Introduction/Hypothesis, Material and Methods, Results, Discussion, Level of Evidence)
· Review Articles: < 500 words
· Technical Notes: 150 words
An English abstract (translation of the French abstract) must also be provided. Three to five keywords in both French and English must be listed immediately after the abstract, chosen from the MeSH terms of the Index Medicus.
5. MAIN BODY OF THE MANUSCRIPT
The manuscript must feature clearly defined and numbered sections. Sub-sections are numbered 1.1, 1.1.1, 1.2, etc. Each sub-section may have a brief title on a separate line.
5.1. Bibliographic References
Authors are responsible for the accuracy of all references. Each reference is numbered and cited in brackets in order of appearance in the text. When a reference has more than six authors, the first six are listed followed by et al. Journal titles must be abbreviated according to the US National Library of Medicine.
Reference formats:
Journal article: Author A, Author B, et al. Article title. Orthop Traumatol Surg Res 2023;95:210-9.
Book: Author A. Book title. 1st ed. Paris: Publisher; 2023.
Book chapter: Author A. Chapter title. In: Director B, editor. Book title. Paris: Publisher; 2023. p. 21-48.
5.2. Authorship, Contributions and Acknowledgements
Authors must carefully review the author list and order before submission. Any addition, removal or rearrangement may only be made before acceptance and with the Editor-in-Chief's approval. All authors must have made a substantial contribution to: (1) study conception and data acquisition, (2) drafting or critical revision, (3) final approval of the submitted version.
5.3. Funding
All sources of funding for the study must be stated. The absence of specific funding must also be mentioned.
5.4. Conflict of Interest Declaration
All authors must declare any relationships that could be considered a potential conflict of interest with the published text. Main conflicts of interest include financial interests, clinical trials, ad hoc activities and family relationships.
5.5. Declaration of Generative AI Use
The use of generative AI in the writing process is permitted solely to improve the readability and language of the text, under human supervision. AI cannot be listed as an author. Authors must declare the use of AI tools by adding a statement in a section entitled: "Declaration of use of generative AI and AI-assisted technologies in the writing process".
6. FIGURES
Illustrations must not be embedded in the text. They are numbered in Arabic numerals in order of appearance. Accepted formats: TIFF (.tif), EPS (.eps), PDF (.pdf), Word, PowerPoint, Excel. Minimum resolution: 300 DPI for photographs, 500–1,000 DPI for graphs and diagrams. Colour illustrations are reproduced in colour both online and in print at no cost to authors.
– Name files logically: e.g., "fig1.tif" for Figure 1 in TIFF format.
– Provide a legend for each figure in the text file, after the reference list.
– Use only the following fonts: Arial, Courier, Helvetica, Symbol, Times.
7. SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL
Supplementary documents (applications, images, audio clips) may be submitted for publication. The journal particularly encourages the submission of surgical technique videos. Maximum size: 150 MB per file, 1 GB in total. A thumbnail image must be provided for each video.
8. MANUSCRIPT PROCESSING
RENICOT operates a double-blind peer review process. Each article is first assessed by an editor, then sent to at least two independent expert reviewers. An acknowledgement of receipt is sent to the corresponding author and, within 6 to 8 weeks, authors are notified of acceptance, rejection, or a request for revision. In the latter case, authors have 2 months to submit the revised manuscript. The editorial decision is final.
9. PRODUCTION, PROOF CORRECTION AND RIGHTS
9.1. Production and Copyright
Upon acceptance, authors are asked to complete a "Journal Publication Agreement". Any resale or distribution outside the institution, as well as derivative works, requires the publisher's authorisation.
9.2. Publication Options
– Open access: articles are freely accessible to the public with reuse options. Publication fees may apply.
– Subscription: articles are available to subscribers. After an embargo period of 6 months (publicly funded research) or 12 months, articles may be self-archived.
9.3. Proof Correction
Proof correction is the sole responsibility of the authors. Corrections must be returned within 3 days. Only typographical and spelling corrections are accepted at this stage.
9.4. Contact
Instructions for authors are available on the journal website.