The APSF Newsletter is the official journal of the Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation. It is widely distributed to a variety of anesthesia professionals, perioperative providers, key industry representatives, and risk managers, and is available free of charge in digital format to other interested persons, including members of the public. The content of the Newsletter typically focuses on anesthesia related perioperative patient safety issues.

The Newsletter is published three times a year (February, June, and October). Deadlines for each issue are as follows: November 10th for the February issue, March 10th for the June issue, and July 10th for the October issue but feel free to submit manuscript at any time for review.

Decisions regarding content and acceptance of submissions for publication are the responsibility of the editors. Some submissions may be published in future issues, even if the deadline is met. At the discretion of the editors, submissions may be considered for publication on our APSF website and social media pages earlier than the deadlines above. Articles (case reports, editorials, letters) that are intended to provide our authorship/readership with more rapid information will be posted on our online website section under “Articles between issues”. These articles could be considered for APSF Newsletter publication at the discretion of the Editor Group and based on their importance and current relevance to perioperative patient safety.

Articles submitted that are not in accordance with the following instructions may be returned to the author prior to being reviewed for publication. [DOWNLOAD the APSF Newsletter Checklist for Authors in PDF Format]

1. All submissions should be emailed to [email protected]
2. All submission must include a title page which includes:
   1. Submission’s title
   2. Full name(s) of the author(s),
   3. Affiliations-Please use the following format:
      1. First and Last Name is an associate professor of Anesthesiology at the X Medical Centre, City, State, Country.
   4. Summary of your submission (3 – 5 sentences) that can be used on the APSF website as a way to publicize your work
   5. Word count (not including references).
3. The manuscript should be completed in the following fashion:
   1. On the first line of the first page of the manuscript please write the title of the article.
   2. On the second line, please write the authors names followed by their degree.
      1. First and Last name, PhD
   3. Before the references but after the manuscript, please include the name of each authors along with their titles.
      1. First and Last Name is an associate professor of Anesthesiology at the X Medical Centre, City, State, Country.
   4. After a list of authors and titles, please include any conflicts of interest.
      1. First and Last name, MD has no conflicts of interest.
      2. The authors have no conflict of interest.
      3. First and Last name, MD receives royalties from XX.
4. All submissions should be written in Microsoft Word in Times New Roman, double- spaced, size 12 font.
5. Please include page numbers on the manuscript.
6. References: Authors are responsible for the accuracy and completeness of their references and for correct text citation. Please number references in the order they appear in the text; do not alphabetize. In text, tables, and legends, identify references with superscript arabic numerals. References should be placed after the punctuation.
   1. When listing references, follow AMA style and abbreviate names of journals according to the journals list in PubMed. List all authors and/or editors up to 6; if more than 6, list the first 3 followed by “et al.” For Example:
      1. Magill SS, Edwards JR, Bamberg W, et al. Multistate point-prevalence survey of health care–associated infections. N Engl J Med. 2014;370:1198-1208.
      2. Krediet AC, Kalkman CJ, Bonten MJ, Gigengack AC, Barach P. Hand-hygiene practices in the operating theatre: an observational study. Br J Anaesth. 2011;107:553-558.
   2. Please include in your title page if Endnote or another software tool for references is used in your submission. If using endnote the citation style is: “JAMA”.
7. Authors must submit written permission from the copyright owner (usually the publisher) to use direct quotations, tables, figures, or illustrations that have appeared elsewhere, along with complete details about the source. Any permission fees that might be required by the copyright owner are the responsibility of the authors requesting use of the borrowed material, not the APSF. Unpublished figures require permission of the author.

Types of Articles

(1) Review Articles (2) Case Reports (3) Questions and Answers Articles (4) Letters to the Editor (5) Rapid Response (6) Editorials

1. Review article (invited or unsolicited)
   1. All submissions should focus on perioperative patient safety issues.
   2. Articles preferentially will focus on our top 10 APSF safety initiatives see APSF Newsletter).
   3. The articles should be limited to 2,000 words.
   4. Figures and/or tables are strongly encouraged.
   5. Please provide no more than 25 references.
2. Case Reports
   1. Case reports should focus on novel perioperative patient safety cases.
   2. The case report should be limited to 750 words.
   3. Please provide no more than 10 references for case reports.
   4. Authors should follow the CARE guidelines and the CARE checklist should be provided as an additional file.
3. Question and Answer articles
   1. Perioperative patient safety questions can be posed to the APSF Foundation. Our Foundation will attempt to answer these questions and those that are novel will be considered for publication.
   2. Please limit the question to 500 words or less.
   3. Please provide no more than 5 references.
4. Letters to the Editor
   1. A letter to the editor can either comment on a past article or a current perioperative patient safety issue.
   2. A letter to the editor should be limited to 500 words.
   3. Please provide no more than 5 references.
5. Rapid Response (formerly Dear SIRS “Safety Information Response System”)
   1. The purpose of this column is to allow expeditious communication of technology-related safety concerns raised by our readers, with input and response from manufacturers and industry representatives.
   2. Please limit the word count to fewer than 1000 words.
   3. Please provide no more than 15 references.
6. Editorials
   1. All submissions should focus on perioperative patient safety issues, preferably a recently published article.
   2. The articles should be limited to 1,500 words.
   3. Figures and/or tables are welcomed.
   4. Please provide no more than 20 references.

Commercial products are not advertised or endorsed by the APSF Newsletter. However, upon exclusive consideration from the editors, articles about certain novel and important safety related technological advances may be published. The authors should have no commercial ties to, or financial interest in, the technology or commercial product.

If accepted for publication, copyright for the accepted article is transferred to the APSF. Except for copyright, all other rights such as for patents, procedures, or processes are retained by the author. Permission to reproduce articles, figures, tables, or content from the APSF Newsletter must be obtained from the APSF.

Additional information:

1. Please use metric units whenever possible.
2. Please introduce an abbreviation only if it is used in the manuscript 3 times. Please define all abbreviations the first time it is used.
3. Please use generic drug names.
4. Please be aware patient privacy regulations and avoid using patient name or personal identifiers.
5. Plagiarism (including self-plagiarism) is strictly prohibited.
6. Please use only one space after a period (or other punctuation mark at the end of a sentence).

[DOWNLOAD the APSF Newsletter Checklist for Authors in PDF Format]