Publication policy

Last updated 29 October 2026

This policy sets out how work produced by the collaborative — registry analyses, collaborative studies, guidelines, Delphi consensus statements and position papers — is written up, approved and published, how credit is shared, and how registry data may be requested. It applies to every member and participating center that contributes to collaborative work.

1. Principles

• Publish the method before the result. Every collaborative study has a written protocol, with its outcome definitions and planned analysis, before data are collected or extracted. Prospective studies are registered in a public trial or study registry.
• Publish regardless of the result. Approved studies are written up and submitted whether or not the findings are positive.
• Report transparently. Manuscripts follow the relevant reporting guideline (for example STROBE, CONSORT, PRISMA or ACCORD) and state the role of any funder.
• Independence. No sponsor or partner may review, delay or alter a manuscript. Conflicts of interest are declared by every author and recorded with the manuscript.

2. From proposal to publication

1. A member submits a proposal through the members’ area. The Research Committee reviews it for scientific merit, overlap with existing work and feasibility, and agrees a writing group and a lead author.
2. The writing group prepares the protocol and, once the study is complete, the manuscript.
3. The draft manuscript is circulated to all contributing centers, who have at least fourteen days to comment.
4. The Research Committee confirms that the manuscript matches the approved protocol and this policy. The Executive Committee gives final approval to submit any paper that carries the collaborative’s name.
5. The lead author keeps contributors informed of submission, peer review and acceptance.

3. Authorship

Named authorship follows the criteria of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors: a substantial contribution to the design, data or analysis; drafting or critically revising the manuscript; approval of the final version; and accountability for the work. Contributing data alone does not qualify for named authorship.

Papers are published under a group name such as “on behalf of the Thoracic Outlet Syndrome International Collaborative (TOSIC)”. Every contributor who does not meet the authorship criteria is listed as a collaborator, in a form that is indexed in PubMed and citable. A participating center that contributes eligible records to a registry analysis may nominate collaborators in proportion to its contribution, under the thresholds set in the study protocol. Where named authorship is shared between centers, the order is agreed by the writing group before the manuscript is circulated, normally reflecting the size of each center’s contribution.

Disputes about authorship are settled by the Research Committee, with appeal to the Executive Committee.

4. Use of the collaborative’s name

Only work approved under this policy may carry the TOSIC name or be described as a collaborative output. Members may present their own center’s results, but may not present them as the collaborative’s findings or use collaborative data for a separate publication without approval.

5. Preprints, conference abstracts and embargoes

Preprints are welcome once the Executive Committee has approved submission, and are posted with the journal’s policy in mind. Conference abstracts based on collaborative data follow the same approval route, with a shortened comment period of seven days. Contributors keep results confidential until publication or presentation, and respect any embargo the journal or meeting sets.

6. Guidelines and consensus statements

Guidelines and Delphi consensus statements are published with their method, the panel’s composition, the rating rounds and the agreement thresholds used, and every panel member’s declared interests. Each is given a review date and is updated or withdrawn when the evidence changes.

7. Registry data access

Members and external researchers may request registry data by submitting a proposal that states the question, the variables needed, the analysis plan, the investigators and evidence of ethics approval where required. The Research Committee reviews requests against scientific value, overlap with ongoing work and patient privacy. Approved data are released de-identified, limited to the variables needed, under a data use agreement that forbids any attempt at re-identification and onward sharing. Publications using registry data acknowledge the registry and the contributing centers and follow this policy.

8. Open access and data sharing

The collaborative aims to publish open access wherever funding allows, and places accepted manuscripts in a public repository when the journal permits. Summary results are posted on the Research Hub in plain language for patients.

9. Patient stories and website content

Patient stories are published only with the writer’s consent, edited for length and with identifying details removed, as described in the Privacy notice. Errors on the website are corrected as soon as they are found; corrections to published papers follow the journal’s procedure.

10. Questions

Questions about this policy, authorship or data requests go to research@tosicollaborative.org. See also the Research Hub, the TOS Registry and the Terms of use.