1. Submission: Authors must submit electronic manuscripts, funding project documentation, and ethics review materials to the journal’s online submission system or designated email address in accordance with the "Submission Guidelines" and the "Manuscript Template" (available for download from the "Author Resources" section of the official website).

2. Initial Editorial Review (3–5 working days): The editorial office conducts a preliminary evaluation, including checking manuscript formatting, detecting academic misconduct (text similarity below 15%), verifying supporting documents, and assessing the academic value of the manuscript. Manuscripts failing this initial review will be rejected immediately. If materials are missing or formatting is incorrect, authors may revise and resubmit for a second round of initial review. Manuscripts passing the initial review will be assigned a manuscript number, receive an official acceptance notice, and proceed to peer review.

3. Peer Review: A strict double-blind review process is implemented. The review period typically lasts 1–2 months; if reviewers do not respond within this timeframe, the editorial office will follow up. If reviewers request revisions, authors will be notified to supplement materials and upload a revised manuscript explanation before resubmission for re-evaluation. The revision period should generally not exceed three months (special circumstances must be explained to the editorial office); otherwise, the manuscript will be considered automatically withdrawn. Manuscripts that fail to meet revision requirements will be rejected by the system. Those not approved by reviewers will also be rejected. In cases where external reviewers’ opinions differ significantly, additional reviewers will be appointed for supplementary evaluation (1–2 months), and final decisions will be made based on a comprehensive assessment of multiple expert reviews to avoid bias from any single reviewer.

4. Final Review and Acceptance: After passing peer review, manuscripts undergo editorial re-examination. Upon approval, they enter the final review stage, conducted by the editorial director. Once accepted, authors must submit hard copies of the latest revised manuscript, author contribution statement, remuneration information form, funding project documentation, and ethics review materials to the editorial office. They must also sign the “Manuscript Submission Survey Form (Copyright Agreement)” and affix their institutional seal.

5. Editing and Production: Accepted manuscripts enter the editing phase. The chief editor assigns them periodically to responsible editors. The assigned editor performs text polishing, fact-checking, citation standardization, and formatting unification, maintaining communication with the author to confirm all revisions. After initial editing, the manuscript is sent to the typesetting department for layout and simultaneously scheduled for online first publication (pre-publication). Following typesetting, the editorial office sends the first proof to the author, who must complete corrections within 48 hours—limited to factual errors only, with no substantial additions or deletions allowed. After author feedback, the editor proceeds with second proofreading and cross-verification (third proofreading), then submits the final version to the editor-in-chief for approval. Subsequently, the finalized issue is uploaded to CNKI, and the printing house produces the blue proof (fourth proof). The entire editing and proofreading process includes at least three rounds of proofreading. The senior editor reads through the blue proof to assess overall quality and verifies all changes against the final print-ready version. Finally, the printed galley proofs are sent to the author for final written confirmation, and the method of receiving the printed journal and contact details are recorded.

6. Page Charge Payment: The editorial office calculates the page charge based on the final page count of the first proof. In-house authors may pay via internal bank transfer (after completing the internal loan procedure, submit the payment receipt to the journal editorial office and promptly deliver the issued invoice to the university finance office for clearance) or bank transfer. External authors must directly transfer the page charge to the company account of Anhui Southeast Medical Science and Technology Development Co., Ltd. After payment, retain the bank transfer receipt, mail it to the editorial office (local courier services are not accepted), and send a scanned copy to the finance email (3190878290@qq.com). Payment for page charges will be confirmed based on the deposit records received by Anhui Southeast Medical Science and Technology Development Co., Ltd. The financial information in the system is for reference only and shall not serve as any legal basis. Please ensure that you accurately fill in the remittance remarks when making payment; failure to clearly indicate the required details may result in unverifiable payments and delays in invoice processing. The designated bank account information is as follows:  

Payee: Anhui Southeast Medical Science and Technology Development Co., Ltd.  

Unified Social Credit Code: 913401001492090807  

Bank Name and Account Number: China Construction Bank Co., Ltd., Hefei Guichi Road Branch, Account No. 34001454508053001325  

Remittance Remark Format: First author's name + manuscript number + Anhui Medical University Journal page charge  

The editorial office will issue invoices collectively the month following receipt of the payment confirmation. Authors from within the university can collect their invoices in person; those outside the university will receive electronic invoices via email. For further details, please refer to the "Anhui Medical University Journal Page Charge Notice." For any financial inquiries, please contact Ms. Wang at the finance office: 0551-65167023.

7. Printing and Mailing of Print Issues: After publication, the editorial office will provide two copies of the current issue to authors (either for pickup or mailing).

8. Payment of Author Fees: Author fees will be paid within 2–3 months after publication (based on print publication; the "published" status shown on the official website is for reference only and does not constitute any legal basis).