Information for contributors

Article Outline

• Editorial policies
  • Expedited review
• Preparing the manuscript
• References
• Examples of references
• Preparing figures and tables

The Journal of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Anesthesia will consider for publication suitable articles on all topics related to anesthesia for cardiac, vascular, and thoracic surgery. The scope of the Journal is broad and seeks to consolidate all material pertinent to cardiothoracic and vascular anesthesiology, including topics from critical care medicine, pharmacology, monitoring, perfusion technology, internal medicine, and surgery. All submissions should be sent to:

Questions may be directed to the editorial office, by mail, by calling (502) 852-0141, by fax to (502) 852-0290, or by e-mail to dwalk@louisville.edu.

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Editorial policies 

Effective immediately, the Journal of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Anesthesia will accept manuscripts online via the Elsevier Editorial System (EES). To submit a manuscript, go to the Journal’s web site, www.jcardioanesthesia.com, and select “Submit Manuscript.” All correspondence regarding manuscripts submitted online will be handled by e-mail.

As of November 1, 2004, manuscripts received at the Editorial Office at the University of Louisville will not be processed, and authors will be advised to re-submit electronically.

Authors are cautioned to pay particular attention to the online requirement to separate their manuscripts into the smaller electronic files appropriate to the type of article they are submitting. Signed cover letters and glossy photographs of figures must be scanned into .tif files. Tables can be submitted in Word or Excel. No duplicate copy of a submission should be sent to the Editorial Office. Authors’ questions pertaining to electronic issues, particularly navigation and data entry on the web site, may best be directed to authorsupport@elsevier.com. The Editorial Office welcomes e-mail or telephone inquiries on any issues of concern.

Manuscripts are accepted for consideration on the condition that they are contributed solely to the Journal of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Anesthesia. No substantial part of a paper may have been published elsewhere, except for a scientific abstract. Manuscripts will be reviewed by the Editor in Chief, Associate Editors, members of the Editorial Board, and appropriate independent referees. Acceptance of a paper for publication is based on the originality of the observation or investigation, the quality of the work described, and the clarity of the presentation. Clinically relevant material is especially desirable. All manuscripts submitted to the Journal must be accompanied by a signed cover letter in which all the coauthors state that they agree with and are responsible for the data presented. The signed cover letter should also acknowledge any potential conflicts of interest including commercial relationships such as consultation arrangements and equity interests. Authors in doubt about what may constitute a conflict of interest should consult the Editor in Chief. If the article is accepted for publication, editorial revisions may be made to aid clarity and understanding without altering the meaning.

Expedited review 

Although the online submission and review process should result in significantly more rapid editorial decisions, the Journal of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Anesthesia will continue to consider reports of original investigations of scientific importance in the field of cardiothoracic and vascular anesthesia for rapid editorial review and decision. The purpose of this type of review is to allow publication of important new information in the shortest possible time. The value to the readership of rapid publication is a major criterion for acceptance by expedited review. The corresponding author of the manuscript may request an expedited review in his/her cover letter; the Editor in Chief may also initiate a rapid review process for any submission. The Editor in Chief will provide decisions on expedited reviews submitted by mail to the Journal office as soon as practicable; decisions on manuscripts submitted via EES should be made within 2 weeks. Notification of this decision may not be accompanied by detailed reviews or comments.

Articles, editorials, letters to the Editor, and other text material in the Journal of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Anesthesia represent the opinion of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the Editor, Editorial Board, or Publisher. The Editors and Publisher deny any responsibility or liability for statements and opinions expressed by the authors. Neither the Editor nor the Publisher guarantees, warrants, or endorses any product or service advertised in this publication, nor do they guarantee any claim made by the manufacturer of such product or service.

Authors submitting a manuscript do so with the understanding that if it is accepted for publication, copyright of the article, including the right to reproduce the article in all forms and media, shall be assigned exclusively to the Publisher. To comply with United States copyright law and the requirements of the insurance carrier, authors of accepted manuscripts and letters will be requested to sign a copyright release form.

Papers reporting human experimentation will be reviewed in accordance with the precepts established by the Helsinki Declaration (available at http://www.wma.net/e/policy/b3.htm). Copies of this declaration may also be obtained by writing to the American Medical Association, 535 N Dearborn St, Chicago, IL 60610. Such papers must include a statement that human investigations were performed after approval by a local Human Investigations Committee and after obtaining informed consent from a patient or other responsible individuals. All experimental work in animals must conform to American Physiological Society standards for animal care.

The following types of manuscripts may be submitted: original articles, case reports, state-of-the-art review articles, articles on emerging technology, case conferences, pro and con articles, diagnostic dilemmas, literature reviews, special articles, and letters to the Editor. Potential authors are invited to e-mail the Editorial Office to establish a consultation with our Editor in Chief, Associate Editors, or a Section Editor in regard to possible submissions. In all cases the authors must accept the responsibility of conforming to the instructions in the sections below. Manuscripts must conform fully before reviewers will be assigned. Substantial nonconformity may result in outright rejection.

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Preparing the manuscript 

All manuscripts should be prepared in Microsoft Word for Windows. Good English usage is essential. Word limits are not imposed on any manuscript types, but all papers should be concise, yet complete. The name of the author(s) or affiliated institution(s) should not be identified in the text, header, or footer in the original submission except on the title page. The title page should be numbered as page 1, and each page containing the abstract, main text, or references should be numbered consecutively, within the margins. Figures may be submitted electronically (see below) or as glossy photos (preferably at least 5 in/12 cm on each side).

The process for online submissions is described fully on the Journal’s web site and in many respects differs substantially from that for mailed manuscripts.

If the paper is submitted by mail, send a disk copy and a well-printed paper copy of the manuscript, along with a cover letter, to the Editor in Chief by mail or express delivery service. Manuscripts sent directly to the Editor in Chief or the Editorial Office by e-mail will not be accepted. Manuscripts must be double-spaced, on good quality white paper 8 × 11 inch or A4. A margin of at least 1 inch should be provided on all sides. All type should be 11-13 points in size, except as appropriate in illustrations. The disk version must exactly duplicate the content of the paper manuscript. Most submissions will consist of 4 files, on the same disk: (1) the title page (see below), (2) the structured abstract (if required—see below), (3) text (including references, tables and figure legends—in that order), and (4) figures, if submitted.

Mailed submissions conforming to all requirements will be transferred by the Editorial Office to EES. Reviewing and subsequent correspondence with corresponding authors (including transmission of galley proof) will be handled online only.

The TITLE PAGE should contain the following information: (1) title of paper; (2) authors’ full names with advanced degrees; (3) name(s) of institution(s) in which work was done; (4) acknowledgment of research support, if any; (5) information on the corresponding author: full name and advanced degrees, a reliable e-mail address, complete street address (not only P.O. box), telephone and fax numbers.

The STRUCTURED ABSTRACT must be limited to 250 words (including section headings) in order to avoid truncation in Index Medicus computer searches. The abstract should consist of seven paragraphs that list the following:

No references or abbreviations should be used in the abstract. Key words should be listed. Do not include a summary at the end of the paper.

TEXT. Papers should be written as concisely as possible. Start the text on a new page and arrange it in four parts for all research reports: Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion. Describe the statistics used in the Methods section. Use generic drug names throughout; the name and city/state location of the manufacturer must be included. Brand names may be inserted in parentheses following the generic names.

CASE REPORTS. These should not include an abstract but should have a summary in the last paragraph of the paper.

CASE CONFERENCES. There are three parts to each case conference: (1) case presentation, (2) case discussion, and (3) commentary(ies). The case presentation and discussion will originate from one institution. The authors of these two portions of the case conference are additionally encouraged to solicit authors for commentary(ies). Please note the submission checklist in a section below. The following format is desirable in preparation of a case conference.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. These should be brief and concisely focused. They should have a title. Cited works must have full, accurate references. A cover letter should be provided with full information on the author(s), as in the cover page described above. Figures and tables may be included.

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References 

Please refrain from using end notes as references or automatic list numbering because these features are lost in conversion; simply insert the reference number in parentheses in the text and type the reference list. Formatting, such as Greek letters, italics, super- and subscripts, may be used, but the coding scheme for such elements must be consistent throughout.

References must be numbered with Arabic numerals, and cited in the text in numerical order. The reference list at the end of the article must also be in numerical order (do not list references in alphabetical order). The list should be double spaced, under the heading REFERENCES. Abbreviations for titles of medical periodicals must conform to those used in Index Medicus (http://www.nlm.nih.gov/tsd/serials/lji.html). References to abstracts, supplements, and letters to editors must be identified as such. Inclusive page numbers of references are required.

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Examples of references 

Journal article, one to four authors

1. Beutler E: The effect of methemoglobin formation on sickle cell disease. J Clin Invest 40:1856-1858, 1961

2. Karpatkin S, Smith K, Charmatz A: Heterogeneity of human platelets. III. Glycogen metabolism in platelets of different sizes. Br J Haematol 19:135-137, 1970

Journal article, more than four authors

3. Golomb HM, Vardiman J, Sweet DL, et al: Hairy cell leukemia: Evidence for the existence of a spectrum of functional capabilities. Br J Haematol 38:161-162, 1968

Journal article in press

4. O’Malley JE, Eisenberg L: The hyperkinetic syndrome. Semin Psychiatry (in press)

(Note: A copy of the manuscript must be included.)

Complete book

5. Lillie RD: Histopathologic Technic and Practical Histochemistry (ed 4). New York, NY, Blakiston, 1965, pp 39-41

Chapter of book

6. Moore G, Minowada J: Human hemopoietic cell lines: A progress report, in Farnes P (ed): Hemic Cells in Vitro, vol 4. Baltimore, MD, Williams & Wilkins, 1969, pp 100-105

Chapter of book that is part of published meeting

7. Hatvg JB, Kunkel HG, Gedde-Dahl T Jr: Genetic studies of the heavy chain sub-groups of gamma globulin, in Killander J (ed): Gamma Globulins, Proceedings of the Third Nobel Symposium. New York, NY, Wiley, 1967, pp 19-26

Chapter of book that is part of unpublished meeting

8. Polliak A. A morphologic study of the lymphoproliferative lesions induced by excess vitamin A. First Meeting, European Division, International Society of Hematology, Milan, Italy, 1971, p 181

Abstract

9. Curnutte JT, Karnovsky ML, Babior BM: Manganese-dependent NADPH oxidation by a particulate preparation from guinea pig granulocytes: An alternative interpretation. Clin Res 23:371A, 1975

Letter to Editor

10. Seeler RA: Sickle cell anemia monthly variations. Blood 47:879, 1976

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Preparing figures and tables 

For all submissions, electronic figures should be provided in EPS or TIF format on Zip disk, CD, floppy, Jaz, or 3.5 MO. Graphics software such as Photoshop and Illustrator, not presentation software such as PowerPoint, CorelDraw, or Harvard Graphics, should be used to create the art. Color images must be CMYK, at least 300 DPI, with a digital color proof, not a color laser print or color photocopy (this proof will be used at press for color reproduction). Gray scale images should be at least 300 DPI and accompanied by a proof. Combinations of gray scale and line art should be at least 1200 DPI and accompanied by a proof. Line art (black and white or color) should be at least 1200 DPI and accompanied by a proof. Please include hardware and software information, in addition to the file names.

Figures must be cited in order in the text using Arabic numerals, e.g. Figure 1. All line drawings should be submitted as clear, glossy, black and white photographs or electronic images. Legends for illustrations should be double-spaced, on a separate sheet, and included at the end of the manuscript. A legend must be provided for each illustration. The legend should not be copied to a page containing the figure.

Color figures are acceptable for papers dealing with color imaging; however, as color printing is costly, it will be used at the discretion of the Editor. Submit all color prints and positive color transparencies between sheets of cardboard for protection. If color images are to be reproduced in black and white, the contributor should submit the prints in black and white for best results.

Figures, especially charts, graphs, and line drawings, are generally reduced in size for publication. To maintain legibility, all numbers, letters, and symbols should be large enough originally so that when reduced they will remain at least inch (2 mm) high. Figures not properly prepared will be returned to the contributor for revision or will be relettered by the printer and the cost charged to the contributor.

Tables must also be cited in order in the text using Arabic numerals, e.g. Table 1. Each table should be inserted on a separate sheet and appropriately numbered, titled, and labeled. Abbreviations used in the table should be defined in the legend to the table; legends should be typed on the same sheets as the tables. If necessary, a table may be continued on additional pages.

Any figure or table that has been previously published must be accompanied by a letter of permission to reprint, signed by the publisher, at the time of submittal. It is the responsibility of the author to obtain such permission.

See the publisher’s guidelines for preparing and submitting either art or manuscript on disk at www.elsevierhealth.com/subguide.