Oxford Journals

Instructions to authors

New from July 2nd 2007 - OPEN ACCESS OPTION FOR AUTHORS

New from January 2008 until June 2008 - no charges for colour figures, see below for further information

Scope of the Journal

The European Heart Journal aims to publish the highest quality material, both clinical and scientific, on all aspects of Cardiovascular Medicine. It includes articles related to research findings, technical evaluations, and reviews. In addition it provides a forum for the exchange of information on all aspects of Cardiovascular Medicine, including educational issues.

The European Heart Journal is an international, English language, peer-reviewed journal concerned with Cardiovascular Medicine. It is an official Journal of the European Society of Cardiology and is published twice monthly. Papers submitted to this journal which do not adhere to the Instructions for Authors will be returned for appropriate revision to be in line with the Instructions for Authors. They may then be re-submitted.

Article categories

The European Heart Journal accepts the following categories of articles:

Clinical papers Clinical studies based on either normal subjects or patients. It is the editorial policy not to accept case studies/reports.

Pre-clinical papers The results of cardiovascular pre-clinical research will be considered for publication provided they have an obvious clinical relevance.

Reviews The European Heart Journal publishes a limited number of scholarly, comprehensive reviews whose aims are to summarize and critically evaluate research in the field addressed and identify future implications. Reviews should not exceed 5000 words.

Editorials All editorials should be limited to 1500 words, 15 references.

Current opinion Papers in this section will provide our readers with focused coverage of topical issues in cardiovascular medicine and related disciplines which are of high current interest and potential.

Correspondence Letters to the Editor must not exceed 500 words and should focus on a specific article published in the European Heart Journal within the preceding 12 weeks. No original data may be included. Authors will receive pre-publication proofs, and the authors of the article cited will be invited to reply.

Clinical vignettes This category is intended for striking, illustrative, or rare clinical images such as electrocardiograms, echocardiograms, tomographs, x-rays or pathology specimens. Images in this category may be published on the cover of the Journal and should be submitted as one figure, with separate lettered panels if required. The complete image should also have an Aspect Ratio 1:1. The image should be submitted with the names of no more than three authors and the clinical message contained in the picture should be amplified in a 250 word description (no references) which will be included with the image. Please also include a short title with the submission. Normal publication charges apply to this category.

Submission of manuscripts

The European Heart Journal uses a web-based submission and review system at http://www.editorialmanager.com/eurheartj/. Online submission facilitates the submission of manuscripts from authors and streamlines the reviewing and publication process.

Should you presently be unable to take advantage of online submission and review, please fax the Editorial office on (+32)16 342 119 for further instructions.

Authors may send queries concerning the submission process to editorialoffice@eurheartj.org. For enquiries about the review process and journal procedures, the editorial office can be contacted at editorialoffice@eurheartj.org. As a matter of policy, the status of documents will not be discussed by telephone.

Once you have prepared your manuscript according to the instructions below, please go to the online submission system by clicking here. First-time users must click "Register" on the navigation menu at the top of the screen. The system will send an automatic e-mail with your user name and password. Detailed guidelines for authors and reviewers are available at the submission site.

Review of manuscripts

All manuscripts correctly submitted to the European Heart Journal will first be reviewed by the Editors. Some manuscripts will be returned to authors at this stage if the paper is deemed inappropriate for publication in the European Heart Journal, if the paper does not meet submission requirements, or if the paper is not deemed to have a sufficiently high priority. All papers considered suitable by the Editors to progress further in the review process will undergo appropriate peer review and all papers provisionally accepted for publication will undergo a detailed statistical review.

Fast track publication

(1) Authors must send their manuscript by e-mail to: fasttrack@eurheartj.org, ensuring that the manuscript adheres to the European Heart Journal's Instructions for Authors. The accompanying cover letter should detail why the authors think the manuscript would be suitable for fast track publication.

(2) The Editorial Office will communicate whether fast track assessment is appropriate within 48 hours. If the Editors decide not to accept fast track assessment, the paper may be considered for the normal review process. Authors will also have the opportunity to withdraw their submission. Please note that fast track assessment does not in any way guarantee acceptance of the manuscript.

(3) For manuscripts entering fast-track assessment, the first Editorial decision will be made within 5 working days. If provisionally accepted, a revised manuscript must be returned to the Editorial Office as soon as possible.

(4) If the manuscript is accepted for publication, the Editors will aim to publish it online 10 days after acceptance and in print within the following 6 weeks, provided galley proofs are returned within 48 hours.

Please note: all authors of accepted articles are required to sign an authorship statement. If your article is accepted for Fast Track Publication you will be required to submit this form immediately: a delay in submitting the form signed by ALL authors will result in a delay in publication.

Preparation of manuscripts

All submitted manuscripts must not exceed 5000 words (or for Editorials 1500 words and Correspondence 500 words), including References, Figure Legends and Tables. The number of Tables, Figures and References should be appropriate to the manuscript content and should not be excessive. Style and spelling Oxford English spelling should be used. Authors whose first language is not English are requested to have their manuscripts checked carefully before submission. This will help expedite the review process and avoid confusion.

Abbreviations of standard SI units of measurement only should be used. Declaration of Helsinki The authors should state that their study complies with the Declaration of Helsinki, that the locally appointed ethics committee has approved the research protocol and that informed consent has been obtained from the subjects (or their guardians).

Sections of the manuscript Clinical and Pre-clinical papers should be divided into the following sections: (1) Title page, (2) Abstract and Keywords, (3) Introduction, (4) Methods, (5) Results, (6) Discussion, (7) Acknowledgements, (8) References, (9) Figure legends, (10) Appendices, (11) Text tables, (12) Figures.

General format Prepare your manuscript text using a Word processing package (save in .doc or .rtf format). Submissions of text in the form of PDF files are not permitted. Manuscripts should be double-spaced, including text, tables, legends and references.

Number each page. Please avoid footnotes; use instead, and as sparingly as possible, parenthesis within brackets. Enter text in the style and order of the journal. Type references in the correct order and style of the journal. Type unjustified, without hyphenation, except for compound words. Type headings in the style of the journal. Use the TAB key once for paragraph indents. Where possible use Times New Roman for the text font and Symbol for the Greek and special characters. Use the word processing formatting features to indicate Bold, Italic, Greek, Maths, Superscript and Subscript characters. Clearly identify unusual symbols and Greek letters. Differentiate between the letter O and zero, and the letters I and l and the number 1. Mark the approximate position of each figure and table.

Check the final copy of your paper carefully, as any spelling mistakes and errors may be translated into the typeset version.

Title page The title page should include the following: (1) the title, (2) the name(s) of authors (no more than 12 authors are acceptable), (3) the institution(s) where work was performed, (4) the position, institution, and location of all authors, (5) the telephone number, fax number and e-mail address of the corresponding author (6) the institutional affiliations of the authors (including corporate appointments) should be acknowledged in a footnote. Abstract All abstracts may not contain more than 200 words and should also be submitted as a separate file. The abstract should be formatted with the following heading: (1) Aims, (2) Methods and Results, (3) Conclusion. Keywords A maximum of six keywords may be submitted.

Figures The review process will not begin until all figures are received. Figures should be limited to the number necessary for clarity and must not duplicate data given in tables or in the text. They must be suitable for high quality reproduction and should be submitted in the desired final printed size so that reduction can be avoided. Figures should be no larger than 125 (height) x 180 (width) mm (5 x 7 inches) and should be submitted in a separate file from that of the manuscript.

Electronic submission of figures. Figures should be saved in TIFF format at a resolution of at least 300 pixels per inch at the final printed size for colour figures and photographs, and 1200 pixels per inch for black and white line drawings. Although some other formats can be translated into TIFF format by the publisher, the conversion may alter the tones, resolution and contrast of the image. Digital colour art should be submitted in CMYK rather than RGB format, as the printing process requires colours to be separated into CMYK and this conversion can alter the intensity and brightness of colours. Therefore authors should be satisfied with the colours in CMYK (both on screen and when printed) before submission. Please also keep in mind that colours can appear differently on different screens and printers. Failure to follow these guides could result in complications and delays.

Where there is difficulty submitting the figures electronically, they may be sent, separately from the manuscript, by post to:

European Heart Journal - Figures, Department of Cardiology, Herestraat 49, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium

Photographs: Photographs should be of sufficiently high quality with respect to detail, contrast and fineness of grain to withstand the inevitable loss of contrast and detail inherent in the printing process. Please indicate the magnification by a rule on the photograph.

NEW For articles published in print between January 2008 and June 2008 there will be no charge for colour figures. Colour normally costs Eur 500 per page. Colour figures can be uploaded as online Supplementary data at no charge.

Line drawings: Please provide these as clear, sharp illustrations, suitable for reproduction as submitted. All labelling should be on the original. Faint and grey shading or stippling will be lost upon reproduction and should be avoided. Where various shadings are used within one figure please ensure that it is easy to differentiate between them, using standard shadings (see the hard copy of the journal for examples). There should be sufficient white space between lines and dots to ensure the areas will not fill in and look grey. If stippling is used, this should be made up of clear black dots with visible white space between them.

Ensure that the size of the lettering is in proportion with the overall dimensions of the drawing. Ideally, the drawings should be submitted in the desired final printed size to avoid reduction. If submitting line drawings which require reduction, please check that the lettering will be clearly legible after the drawing has been reduced to the size at which it will be printed. After reduction, letters should not be smaller than 2 mm in height.

Figure legends. These should be on a separate, numbered manuscript sheet grouped under the heading "Legends" on a separate sheet of the manuscript after the References. Define all symbols and abbreviations used in the figure. Common abbreviations and others in the preceding text should not be redefined in the legend.

Tables Tables should be typed with double spacing, but minimising redundant space, and each should be placed on a separate sheet. Tables should be submitted, wherever possible, in a portrait, as opposed to landscape, layout. Each Table should be numbered in sequence using Arabic numerals. Tables should also have a title above and an explanatory footnote below.

Acknowledgements Substantive contributions of individuals, should be noted in the Acknowledgements, positioned before the conflict of interest statement.

Conflict of interest All authors must make a formal statement indicating any potential conflict of interest that might constitute an embarrassment to any of the authors if it were not to be declared and were to emerge after publication. Such conflicts might include, but are not limited to, shareholding in or receipt of a grant or consultancy fee from a company whose product features in the submitted manuscript or which manufactures a competing product. The statement should be positioned before the list of references. If there are no conflicts of interest, please insert the wording 'Conflict of Interest: none declared'.

Reference format

References should be identified in the text by Arabic numerals and numbered in the order cited. All references should be compiled at the end of the article in the Vancouver style.

Complete information should be given for each Reference including the title of the article, abbreviated journal title and page numbers. All authors should be listed.

Personal communications, manuscripts in preparation and other unpublished data should not be cited in the reference list but may be mentioned in parentheses in the text. Authors should get permission from the source to cite unpublished data. Titles of journals should be abbreviated in accordance with Index Medicus (see list printed annually in the January issue of Index Medicus). If a journal is not listed in Index Medicus then its name should be written out in full.

Article citation example:

1. Schroeder S, Baumbach A, Mahrholdt H. The impact of untreated coronary dissections on the acute and long-term outcome after intravascular ultrasound guided PTCA. Eur Heart J 2000;21:137-145.

Chapter citation example: 2. Nichols WW, O'Rourke MF. Aging, high blood pressure and disease in humans. In: Arnold E, ed. McDonald's Blood Flow in Arteries: Theoretical, Experimental and Clinical Principles. 3rd ed. London/Melbourne/Auckland: Lea and Febiger; 1990. p. 398-420.

Webpage citation example: 3. Panteghini M. Recommendations on use of biochemical markers in acute coronary syndrome: IFCC proposals. eJIFCC 14. http://www.ifcc.org/ejifcc/vol14no2/1402062003014n.htm (28 May 2004)

Where the date in parenthesis refers to the access date.

Supplementary data

Supporting material that is not essential for inclusion in the full text of the manuscript, but would nevertheless benefit the reader, can be made available by the publisher as online-only content, linked to the online manuscript. The material should not be essential to understanding the conclusions of the paper, but should contain data that is additional or complementary and directly relevant to the article content. Such information might include more detailed methods, extended data sets/data analysis, list of Investigators, or colour/additional figures.

All text and figures must be provided in suitable electronic formats (instructions for the preparation of Supplementary data can be viewed here). All material to be considered as Supplementary data must be submitted at the same time as the main manuscript for peer review. It cannot be altered or replaced after the paper has been accepted for publication. Please indicate clearly the material intended as Supplementary data upon submission. Also ensure that the Supplementary data is referred to in the main manuscript where necessary.

Statistics

All manuscripts selected for publication will be reviewed for the appropriateness and accuracy of the statistical methods used and the interpretation of statistical results. All papers submitted should provide in their Methods section a subsection detailing the statistical methods, including the specific method used to summarize the data, the methods used to test their hypothesis testing and (if any) the level of significance used for hypothesis testing.

Sources of funding

Details of all funding sources for the work in question should be given in a separate section entitled 'Funding'. This should appear before the 'Acknowledgements' section.

The following rules should be followed:

The sentence should begin: ‘This work was supported by …’
The full official funding agency name should be given, i.e. ‘National Institutes of Health’, not ‘NIH’ (full RIN-approved list of UK funding agencies) Grant numbers should be given in brackets as follows: ‘[grant number xxxx]’
Multiple grant numbers should be separated by a comma as follows: ‘[grant numbers xxxx, yyyy]’
Agencies should be separated by a semi-colon (plus ‘and’ before the last funding agency)
Where individuals need to be specified for certain sources of funding the following text should be added after the relevant agency or grant number 'to [author initials]'.

An example is given here: ‘This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health [AA123456 to C.S., BB765432 to M.H.]; and the Alcohol & Education Research Council [hfygr667789].’

Conflict of interest

All authors must make a formal statement at the time of submission indicating any potential conflict of interest that might constitute an embarrassment to any of the authors if it were not to be declared and were to emerge after publication. Such conflicts might include, but are not limited to, shareholding in or receipt of a grant or consultancy fee from a company whose product features in the submitted manuscript or which manufactures a competing product. All authors must submit a statement of Conflict of Interest to be published at the end of their article. If no Conflict of Interest is declared, this will be stated in the article using the following wording:
'Conflict of Interest: none declared'
It is a condition of publication that a statement declaring any conflict of interest is included in the manuscript on first submission. Failure to insert a statement for all authors will delay the review process.

Open access option for authors

NEW! OPEN ACCESS OPTION FOR AUTHORS
Starting in July 2007, European Heart Journal authors have the option, at an additional charge, to make their paper freely available online immediately upon publication, under the Oxford Open initiative. After your manuscript is accepted, as part of the mandatory licence form required of all corresponding authors, you will be asked to indicate whether or not you wish to pay to have your paper made freely available immediately. If you do not select the Open Access option, your paper will be published with standard subscription-based access and you will not be charged.

For those selecting the Open Access option, the charges for European Heart Journal vary depending on the institution at which the Corresponding author is based:

Optional Oxford Open charges:
For a Corresponding author based at an institution with an online subscription to European Heart Journal:
Regular charge per paper – £800 / $1500 / €1200
List B developing country charge* – £400 / $750 / €600
List A developing country charge* – £0 / $0 / €0

For a Corresponding author based at an institution that does not subscribe to the online journal:
Regular charge per paper – £1500 / $2800 / €2250
List B developing country charge* – £750 / $1400 / €1125
List A developing country charge* – £0 / $0 / €0

Orders from the UK will be subject to a 17.5% VAT charge. For orders from elsewhere in the EU you or your institution should account for VAT by way of a reverse charge. Please provide us with your or your institution’s VAT number.

*Visit http://www.oxfordjournals.org/jnls/devel/ for list of qualifying countries.

Please note that from July 2008 the new open access charges will be:

Regular Subscribers - £900/€1350/$1800
Regular Non-subscribers - £1500/€2250/$3000

The above Open Access charges are in addition to any page charges and colour charges that might apply.

If you choose the Open Access option you will also be asked to complete an Open Access charge form online. You will be automatically directed to the appropriate version of the form depending on whether you are based at an institution with an online subscription to European Heart Journal. Therefore please make sure that you are using an institutional computer when accessing the form. To check whether you are based at a subscribing institution please use the Subscriber Test link for European Heart Journal.

Self-archiving and post-print policy

Authors may deposit the post-print of their article into PubMedCentral, other subject repositories or institutional repositories, but must stipulate that public availability be delayed until 12 months after the first online publication. For further details of this policy please visit: Author Self-archiving Policy

Copyright information

When papers are provisionally accepted, the corresponding author will be asked to return a signed letter (including signatures of all co-authors) by fax to (+32) 16 342 119 stating that all authors have seen and approved the paper and that the work has not been, and will not be, published elsewhere. Papers will not be published until the Editorial Office has received this faxed letter.

It is a condition of publication in the Journal that authors grant an exclusive licence to The European Society of Cardiology. This ensures that requests from third parties to reproduce articles are handled efficiently and consistently and will also allow the article to be as widely disseminated as possible. As part of the licence agreement, authors may use their own material in other publications provided that the Journal is acknowledged as the original place of publication and Oxford University Press is notified in writing and in advance.

Permissions information

If illustrations or figures are to be duplicated from previously published work, written permission must be obtained both from the publisher and the author, and a credit line giving the source added to the relevant Figure Legend. If text material (250 to 300 words) is to be reproduced from published sources, written permission is required from both publisher and author. For shorter quotations, it is sufficient to add a bibliographic credit. The Letters containing the permission for the reproduction of either text or illustrations must accompany the manuscript. If you have been unable to obtain permission, please indicate this.

Proofs

Page proofs will be sent to the corresponding author. Please provide an e-mail address to enable page proofs to be sent as PDF files via e-mail. These should be checked thoroughly for any possible changes or typographic errors. Significant alterations instigated at this stage by the author will be charged to the author.

It is the intention of the Editor to review, correct and publish your article as quickly possible. To achieve this it is important that all of your corrections are returned to us in one all-inclusive mail or fax. Subsequent additional corrections will not be possible, so please ensure that your first communication is complete.

Online access and offprints

Details of free online access will be sent to the corresponding author, who may then circulate them to co-authors. If the purchase of offprints is required, a completed offprint order form must be returned with the proofs. Late orders submitted after the journal is in press are subject to increased prices.

Orders from the UK will be subject to a 17.5% VAT charge. For orders from elsewhere in the EU you or your institution should account for VAT by way of a reverse charge. Please provide us with your or your institution’s VAT number.