The most frequently published article types, and guidelines for each, are as follows.

Original articles
Titles
General requirements:
? Titles should be concise and informative, emphasize what is new or distinctive.
? Focus on the microcosmic characteristics of “neural regeneration”.
? All unnecessary words should be removed, such as investigation, research/study, analysis, observation, survey.
? Should be unique and easy to retrieve, suggesting the uniqueness of this article.
Detail information:
? Avoid using abbreviations, punctuation, Greek letters, and mathematic formulas.
? Avoid using trade names of drugs and agents.
? Declarative sentences are commonly used in titles. Interrogative and negative sentences should be used carefully.
? Do not begin titles with Arabic numerals, “the”, or “a”.

Abstracts
The general rules for abstracts in NRR are as follows:
? Should be concise and understandable independent of the main text.
? Objectively summarize the content of primary documents; do not declare authors’ opinions.
? Should be complete, concise, formal, and independent.
? The active voice is preferred over the passive voice.
Detail information:
? Abstracts do not need references.
? Avoid abbreviations.
Abstracts for the original research formats should be structured with sections entitled as follows: BACKGROUND, OBJECTIVE, DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, INTERVENTIONS/METHODS, MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S), RESULTS, and CONCLUSION. Don't use the same sentence as title in the Objective and Conclusion. Questions in the OBJECTIVE should be solved in the CONCLUSION, i.e. state clearly whether the objective has been reached or not. If the answer is yes, there should be a summary of experience, and if not, seek for causes of failure to warn readers.
The detailed requirements and standard format for each section are:

BACKGROUND: A concise statement of the history and significance of the study, as well as the inspirations it can give.
OBJECTIVE: State the precise objective or study question addressed in the report (e.g., “To determine whether…”). If more than one objective is addressed, the main objective should be indicated and only key secondary objectives stated. If an a priori hypothesis was tested, it should be stated.
DESIGN: Describe the basic design of the study. For clinical research please state patient grouping method .i.e. blind or not.
SETTING: Describe the properties and characteristics of the study setting.

? Concrete statement: Five patterns are included: study objects, study timelines, study indexes, study purposes, and study forms. The clinical study, basic study and investigation or surgey are used in appropriate combination to explain the design idea of the studies to a maximal extent.
? Study objects: ① patients, ② healthy populations in a community, ③ healthy people for examination, ④ animals, ⑤ cells, etc.
? Timeline of the study: prospective study, retrospective study, or cross-sectional study.
? Study indexes: ① Clinical trials include single-variable and multivariable study; randomized, controlled and blinded study; non-randomized synchronic controlled study; case-control study; and case report. ② Basic trials include completely randomized grouping design, randomized block design, paired design, Latin square design, factorial design, orthogonal design, crossover design, split-plot design, single sample study, and repetitive measurement design. ③ Survey and investigation: mass survey, sample survey, typical survey, cross-sectional survey, case-control study, and cohort study.
? Study purpose: ① Exploratory research, and ② confirmatory research.
? Study form: ① Basic study: randomized, controlled and so on ② Comparative observation or observation, and ③ Prevalence study / Cross-sectional study.

SETTING: Describe the unit where the experiment was performed.
PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS:
Taking human beings as participants, the inclusive criteria should be referred, i.e. whether they are selected randomly or matched.
For clinical research please give criterion standards for diagnostic tests and state the patients’ clinical manifestations. Clearly state how patient grouping, how many patients were followed up, and how many patients withdrew from the study due to adverse reactions. Provide information about informed consent and approval evidence of the ethical committee. For basic research please describe the main materials and their sources. An approval for animal disposal by the ethics committee is required.
INTERVENTIONS/METHODS: For clinical research it is important to provide the study setting and dates. Describe the time for blood or biochemical sampling and the use of measuring scales. For therapeutic intervention it is important to state the main therapeutic method, including frequency and course. For animal experiments the study setting and dates are also required. Focus on the neuroanatomical and neurohistopathological characteristics related to neural regeneration.
MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Indicate the primary study outcome measurement(s) as planned in the protocol.
RESULTS:
① The main outcomes of the study should be reported and quantified, including main data, new discoveries as well as its significance and limits, and must include measures of absolute risks, along with confidence intervals (for example, 95%) and statistical values of significance test; (P or t values).
② State faithfully, accurately and clearly.
③ Make clear of the statistical methods used.
④ Confidence intervals and exact statistical values of significance tests should be given, and possibilities must be followed with corresponding values of significance tests.
CONCLUSION: Provide only conclusions which are directly supported by the results, avoiding speculating and forejudging. Questions in the OBJECTIVE should be solved in the CONCLUSION.

Key words
Please list three to six key words sourced from Mesh vocabulary of Index Medicus which reflect the content of the study. The conventional free words can be used in the end when necessary.

Introduction
The introduction should tell readers why the study was performed, explain the necessities of the study and the differences compared to previous studies, and give a brief review of previous findings which are relevant. Avoid using abbreviations. Describe the design but not conclusion, and do not list study data.
At last, necessary citations must be given to support all views, especially when claiming “new discoveries” or “new reports”.

Materials/participants and methods
General guidelines:
① This part should be concise, and written so that other experienced researchers can repeat the experiment.
② Describe new methods in detail, and giver references for previously described methods.
Detail information:
Materials/participants: Offer the total number and the time /place when/where the experiment was performed.
① Offer the inclusive criteria of participants such as age and gender.
② Elucidate an objective diagnostic criterion, gold standard and exclusive criterion.
③ For the clinical research, the patients should sign informed consents.
④ State grouping design.
⑤ For the clinical research, the approval of the hospital ethical committee is required.
⑥ Use nonproprietary names of drugs, devices and other products, with trade names in brackets. For manuscripts about traditional Chinese medicine, the drug name, component, producing setting, dosage, and batch number, etc., are required. 
⑦ For basic research, an approval for animal disposal by the ethics committee is required.
Methods:
① Only here can appear trade names of drugs, tools or any other products, labeled within brackets.
② Well-known methods could be introduced briefly, while novel ones in details.
③ For any experiment, the agentias, conditions, methods and procedures should be detailed and complete enough so that other experienced researchers can be repeat and reviewers can judge its originality accordingly.
Follow-up visit: Normally, a follow-up evaluation after at least six months but preferably one year is recommended. To ensure consistency in reporting of results of clinical research, when follow-up is reported censored patients should be indicated as having been lost to follow-up or dead. The cause of death and method of ascertainment should be identified. All participants should be followed up within the same period of time to avoid any deviation and the time for an individual participant should be identified.
Statistical analysis: State the statistical software’s name, version, analyzer, and statistical methods.

Results
Quantitative analysis: All clinical research and animal experiments should include the result analysis, and state whether participants or animals were withdrawn from the study and whether an intention-to-treat analysis was performed.
Effectiveness analysis: Describe the results based on descriptive statistics and statistical inference.
Descriptive statistics: Include baseline data and observational results under microscope.
① Baseline data: For randomized control clinical study, there should be a control of baseline data between the experimental group and the control group.
② Observational results under microscope: the description of the histological results under microscope.
Statistical inference: The main outcomes of the study should be reported and quantified, along with P values and other statistical values.
Follow-up results:
Adverse reactions/side effects: Adverse reactions and side effects resulting from instruments, drugs and intervention methods should be reported.
Analyze any factors which could have caused a deviation or deficiency during the study.

Discussion
Provide only conclusions of the study directly supported by the results. Reveal the differences and similarities in comparison with other relevant studies. Indicate whether additional research is required, and suggestions for how to research unsolved problems. Give equal emphasis to positive and negative findings of equal scientific merit.

Acknowledgments
The Acknowledgments section is the general term for the list of contributions, credits, and other information included at the end of the text of a manuscript but before the references. Authors should obtain written permission to include the names of individuals in the Acknowledgments.

References
There should be more than 30 references provided. Fifty-percent of the references should be for research published within the past three years.

Funding
Sources, numbers and subject topics of all funding are required.

Authors and units
General guidelines:
Authorship credit should be based only on
① substantial contributions to conception and design, acquisition of data, and analysis and interpretation of data;
② drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content; and
③ implementing editors and reviewers’ opinions, and making certain of the final manuscript version for publication.
Detail information:
① Authors are required to identify their contributions to the work described in the manuscript.
② Authors’ specific contributions will be published in the Acknowledgments section.
③ The listing of one corresponding author is required.
④ Editors have the right to ask authors for the approval of qualification.
⑤ There should be no more than six authors from a single institution or organization.
⑥ If any author is of different nationality, a formal letter of his/her approval is required.
⑦ The format of the introduction for the first or the correspondence author should be: Jessica, Female, Born in April 23rd 1983, Graduated from China Medical University in 2001, Physician, Associate professor, Research interest is brain surgery, followed by E-mail, fax number and telephone number.
Units: Full names of working units, as well as department are preferred. It could be better if the detailed address and postal code are offered.  

General
? A few items (objective, design, setting) do not need to form full sentences.
? Numbers over 100 do not need spelling out at the start of sentences.
? Spaces, not commas, should be used to separate thousands.
? Use past tense in METHODS and RESULTS (mostly).
? Use present tense in BACKGROUND and CONCLUSION (mostly).

Systematic reviews

Abstract
Abstracts for systematic reviews should consist of BACKGROUND, OBJECTIVE, RETRIEVAL STRATEGY, LITERATURE EVALUATION, DATA SYNTHESIS, and CONCLUSION.

? BACKGROUND: Explain the importance of the review question.
? OBJECTIVE: State the precise objective of the review.
? RETRIEVAL STRATEGY: Summarize retrieval methods, retrieval staff, years searched, keywords, language, databases, whether manual search was used , and information about relevant experts. Describe inclusion and exclusion criteria used to select studies.
? LITERATURE EVALUATION: State the proportion of studies initially identified which met selection criteria, categories of articles, and the numbers for each category.
? DATA SYNTHESIS: State the data of retrieval if possible. Details should include concrete interventions, outcomes, adverse events, side effects, etc.
? CONCLUSION: The conclusions and their applications should be clearly stated, limiting interpretation to the domain of the review.

Text
Academic background: This section should begin with a brief introduction of the study purpose, necessity, relevant concepts, and review range. Explain the development, current situation, and existing problems related to the review topics.

Objective: State the primary objective of the review in detail.

Materials and methods:
? Data retrieval: searcher, search time, key words, search databases, searching software, and manual searching.
? Retrieval methods: inclusion and exclusion criteria, literature classification and data analysis.

Technique routine evaluation: validity evaluation, safety evaluation, ethics evaluation, and health economics evaluation are required.

Comprehensive evaluation:

Conclusion:

References: More than 30 references should be given. Fifty percent of the references should be from research published within the past three years.

Supplementary
? Contributors: state authors’ contributions to the work described in the manuscript.
? Funding and support: funding source and grant number.
? Conflict of interest statement
? Ethics approval
? What is already known on this topic: state acknowledged findings
? What this study adds: state new points or conclusion of the study
 
Academic discussion
These manuscripts focus on several problems running through the papers.
Rapid communication
Refer to guidelines for original articles.
Case report
If less than 5 cases, the writing out of a list (e.g. “case 1, case 2, …”) is recommended. For more than 5 but less than 30 cases, a table is recommended. Explain the clinical manifestation of patients in the table, and intervention and follow-up in the results. Image discussion: Case reports are described using imaging and photos. Brief words are used to explain the photos.
Case discussion
These papers summarize the data of a certain typical disease, often with novel diagnosis or therapeutic methods.
Experimental record
These manuscripts record how to establish an applied experimental model, or use a novel technique during an experiment.