Instructions to Authors
- The Acta Orthopaedica et Traumatologica Hellenica welcomes articles that contribute to orthopaedic knowledge from all sources in all countries.
- Articles are accepted only for exclusive publication in the Acta Orthopaedica et Traumatologica Hellenica.
- Publication does not constitute official endorsement of opinions presented in articles. Published articles and illustrations become the property of the journal.

SUBMISSION OF MANUSCRIPT
When you send an article, the following items must be submitted:
1. The original manuscript and three duplicate manuscripts complete with illustrations. These four complete sets are necessary for reviewers. The editorial process cannot begin unless they are received. Manuscripts of accepted articles will not be returned.
2. A copy of the letter granting approval from the institutional review board or the animal utilisation study committee.
3. Two cover sheets, to comply with our policy of blinded peer review. The first sheet must contain the title of the manuscript, the name and the address of each author; the second must include only the title of the manuscript. Page headers can include the title but not the authors' names. The institution at which the study was done cannot be mentioned in the text.

PREPARATION OF MANUSCRIPT
Manuscripts must be typewritten, double-spaced with wide margins. In general, an article should consist of the following:
1. A structured abstract of no more than 200 to 300 words, consisting of four paragraphs, with the headings Background (the hypothesis of the study must be clearly stated here), Methods, Results, and Conclusions. A fifth paragraph, headed Clinical Relevance, should be added for basic-science articles. The abstract will precede the text of the published paper. An abstract is not needed for case reports.
2. The body, which consists of:
Introduction: State the problem that led to the study, including a concise review of only the relevant literature. State your hypothesis and the purposeof the study.
Materials and Methods: Describe the study design (prospective or retrospective, inclusion and exclusion criteria, duration of study) and the study population (demographics, length of follow-up).
Results: Provide a detailed report on the data obtained during the study. All data in the text must be consistent throughout the manuscript, includingany illustrations, legends, or tables.
Discussion: Be succinct. What does your study show? Is your hypothesis affirmed or refuted? Discuss the importance of this article with regard to the relevant world literature; a complete literature review is unnecessary. Analyse yourdata and discuss its strengths, its weaknesses and the limitations of the study.
3. Illustrations, which can be photographs or black-on-white drawings and which should be professionally drawn or photographed. Each illustration should have a label on the back that indicates the number of the figure, the title of the article (but not the authors' names or the name of the institution) and the top of the figure. Do not write directly on the back of a figure anddo not scratch a figure by using paperclips.
Colour illustrations will be considered. If colour is desired, you must pay their price of 100.000 dr. If you are submitting illustrations electronically,files must be in PC format, not Macintosh, and submitted on a 3.5-inch floppy disk, standard 100MB Zip disk, or CD-ROM or sent by e-mail. If submitting by e-mail, please use ZIP compression. Images must be in TIFF, EPS, or PSDformat. Halftone images must have a minimum resolution of 300 ppi (pixels per inch) and line-art drawings must have a minimum resolution of 1200 ppi.
Do not submit colour figures electronically; we cannot vouch for the quality of the colour reproduction. The journal discourages submission of illustrations that have been published elsewhere. When such illustrations are deemed essential, the author must include a letter, from the original holder of the copyright, granting permission to reprint the illustration. Give full information about the previous publication, including the page on which the illustration appeared.
4. Legends for all illustrations submitted, listed in order and typed double-spaced. Explain what each illustration shows.
5. A bibliography, double-spaced, of references made in the text. All references must be cited in the text. The references should have the follow format, (look at the Greek instructions).
a. The numerator and denominator should be included for all percentages. Round off percentages when the denominator is less than 200. Percentages should not be used when the value of n is less than twenty.
b. All measurements should be given in metric or SI units, which are abbreviated.
c. No other abbreviations or acronyms should be used.

AUTHORSHIP
The order of names reflects only the preference of the authors. Each author must have participated in the design of the study, in the collection of the data, in the writing of the manuscript and must also assume full responsibility for the content of the manuscript. No more than six authors should be listed; individuals who have only contributed to one segment of the manuscript or have contributed to only cases should be credited in a footnote. If there are more than six authors, the letter of transmittal must detail why the authors have taken exception to these recommendations and should state how each author has contributed to the manuscript.

REVIEW OF MANUSCRIPTS
Manuscripts are evaluated by the editorial staff of the journal and are sent to outside reviewers. A manuscript that has been rejected is usually returned in approximately two months. It may take more time to make a decision regarding a paper being considered for publication.

SUBMISSION OF ARTICLES FOR COUNTRIES BESIDES GREECE
The publishing board accepts the original articles in English form from countries besides Greece throught e-mail in the electronic address: kafkas@otenet.gr
The above original articles should be in .doc or .txt format and the photo/pictures should be in jpeg format and high resoloution.