Submissions

Author Guidelines

Preparing a Manuscript for Submission to Chest Heart. J

Editors and reviewers spend many hours reading manuscripts, and therefore appreciate receiving manuscripts that such are easy to read and edit. Much of the information in this journal’s Instructions to Authors is designed to accomplish that goal in such a way that meet each journal’s editorial needs. The following information provides guidance in preparing manuscripts for this­­ particular journal.

Conditions for submission of manuscript:

• All manuscripts are subject to peer-review.
• Manuscripts are received with the explicit understanding that they are not under simultaneous consideration by any other publication.
• Submission of a manuscript for publication implies the transfer of the copyright from the author to the publisher upon acceptance. Accepted manuscripts become the permanent property of the Chest Heart J. Chest & Heart Journal and may not be reproduced by any means in whole or in part without the written consent of the publisher.
• It is the author's responsibility to obtain permission to reproduce illustrations, tables etc. from other publications.
  

Ethical aspects:

• Ethical aspect of the study will be very carefully considered at the time of assessment of the manuscript.
• Any manuscript that includes table, illustration or photograph that have been published earlier should accompany a letter of permission for re-publication from the author(s) of the publication and editor/publisher of the Journal where it was published earlier.
• Permission of the patients and/or their families to reproduce photographs of the patients where identity is not disguised should be sent with the manuscript. Otherwise the identity will be blackened out.
  

Preparation of manuscript:

Criteria: Information provided in the manuscript are important and likely to be of interest to an international readership.

Preparation:

1. Manuscript should be written in English and typed on one side of A4 (290 x 210cm) size white paper.
2. Margin should be 5 cm for the header and 2.5 cm for the remainder.
3. Style should be that of modified Vancouver.
4. Each of the following section should begin on separate page :

• Title page
• Summary/abstract
• Text
• Acknowledgement
• References
• Tables and legends.

Pages should be numbered consecutively at the upper right hand corner of each page beginning with the title page

A. 1: General Principles

• The text of observational and experimental articles is usually (but not necessarily) divided into the following sections: Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion. This so-called “IMRAD” structure is a direct reflection of the process of scientific discovery.
• Long articles may need subheadings within some sections (especially Results and Discussion) to clarify their content. Other types of articles, such as case reports, reviews, and editorials, probably need to be formatted differently.
• Electronic formats have created opportunities for adding details or whole sections, layering information, crosslinking or extracting portions of articles, and the like only in the electronic version.
• Authors need to work closely with editors in developing or using such new publication formats and should submit supplementary electronic material for peer review.
• Double-spacing all portions of the manuscript—including the title page, abstract, text, acknowledgments, references, individual tables, and legends—and generous margins make it possible for editors and reviewers to edit the text line by line and add comments and queries directly on the paper copy.
• If manuscripts are submitted electronically, the files should be double-spaced to facilitate printing for reviewing and editing.

• Authors should number on right upper all of the pages of the manuscript consecutively, beginning with the title page, to facilitate the editorial process.

A. 2: Title Page

The title page should have the following information:

1. Article title. Concise titles are easier to read than long, convoluted ones. Titles that are too short may, however, lack important information, such as study design (which is particularly important in identifying type of trials). Authors should include all information in the title that will make electronic retrieval of the article both sensitive and specific.
2. Authors’ names and institutional affiliations.The name of the department(s) and institution(s) to which the work should be attributed.
3. Disclaimers, if any Contact information for corresponding authors. The name, mailing address, telephone and fax numbers, and e-mail address of the author responsible for correspondence about the manuscript .
4. The name and address of the author to whom requests for reprints should be addressed or a statement that reprints are not available from the authors.
5. Source(s) of support in the form of grants, equipment, drugs, or all of these.
6. A short running head or footline, of no more than 40 characters(including letters and spaces).Running heads are published and also used within the editorial office for filing and locating manuscripts.
7. The number of figures and tables. It is difficult for editorial staff and reviewers to determine whether the figures and tables that should have accompanied a manuscript were actually included unless the numbers of figures and tables are noted on the title page.

A. 3: Abstract

• Structured abstracts are essential for original research and systematic reviews. Structured abstract means introduction, methods, results and conclusion in abstract Should be limited to 250 words.
• The abstract should provide the introduction of the study blinded state and should mention the study’s purpose, basic procedures (selection of study subjects or laboratory animals, observational and analytical methods), main findings (giving specific effect sizes and their statistical significance, if possible), principal conclusions. It should emphasize new and important aspects of the study or observations. Articles on clinical trials should contain abstracts that include the items that the CONSORT group has identified as essential (http://www.consort-statement.org ).

• Because abstracts are the only substantive portion of the article indexed in many electronic databases, and the only portion many readers read, authors need to be careful that they accurately reflect the content of the article.

A. 4: Introduction

• Provide a context or background for the study (that is, the nature of the problem and its significance). It should be very specific, identify the specify knowledge in the aspect, reasoning and what the study aim to answer.
• State the specific purpose or research objective of, or hypothesis tested by, the study or observation; the research objective is often more sharply focused when stated as a question.
• Both the main and secondary objectives should be clear.

• Provide only directly pertinent primary references, and do not include data or conclusions from the work being reported.

A. 5: Methods

The Methods section should be written in such way that another researcher can replicate the study.

A. 5. a: Selection and Description of Participants

Describe your selection of the observational or experimental participants (patients or laboratory animals, including controls) clearly, including eligibility and exclusion criteria and a description of the source population. Because the relevance of such variables as age and sex to the object of research is not always clear, authors should explain their use when they are included in a study report—for example, authors should explain why only participants of certain ages were included or why women were excluded. The guiding principle should be clarity about how and why a study was done in a particular way. When authors use such variables as race or ethnicity, they should define how they measured these variables and justify their relevance.

A. 5. b: Technical Information

• Identify the methods, apparatus (give the manufacturer’s name and address in parentheses), and procedures insufficient detail to allow others to reproduce the results. Give references to established methods, including statistical methods (see below); provide references and brief descriptions for methods that have been published but are not well-known; describe new or substantially modified methods, give the reasons for using them, and evaluate their limitations. Identify precisely all drugs and chemicals used, including generic name(s), dose(s), and route(s) of administration.
• Authors submitting review article should include a section describing the methods used for locating, selecting, extracting, and synthesizing data. These methods should also be summarized in the abstract.
  

A. 5.c: Statistics

• Describe statistical methods with enough detail to enable a knowledgeable reader with access to the original data to verify the reported results. When possible, quantify findings and present them with appropriate indicators of measurement error or uncertainty (such as confidence intervals).
• Avoid relying solely on statistical hypothesis testing, such as P values, which fail to convey important information about effect size. References for the design of the study and statistical methods should be to standard works when possible (with pages stated).
• Define statistical terms, abbreviations, and most symbols.
• Specify the computer software used.
  

A. 6: Results

• Present results in logical sequence in the text, tables, and illustrations, giving the main or most important findings first. Please keep the result the sequence of specific objective selected earlier.
• Do not repeat all the data in the tables or illustrations in the text; emphasize or summarize only the most important observations. Extra or supplementary materials and technical detail can be placed in an appendix where they will be accessible but will not interrupt the flow of the text, or they can be published solely in the electronic version of the journal.
• When data are summarized in the Results section, give numeric results not only as derivatives (for example, percentages) but also as the absolute numbers from which the derivatives were calculated, and specify the statistical methods used to analyze them.
• Restrict tables and figures to those needed to explain the argument of the paper and to assess supporting data. Use graphs as an alternative to tables with many entries; do not duplicate data in graphs and tables.
• Avoid nontechnical uses of technical terms in statistics, such as “random” (which implies a randomizing device), “normal,” “significant,” “correlations,” and “sample.” Where scientifically appropriate, analyses of the data by such variables as age and sex should be included.
  

A. 7: Discussion

• Emphasize the new and important aspects of the study and the conclusions that follow from them in the context of the totality of the best available evidence.
• Do not repeat in detail data or other information given in the Introduction or the Results section.
• For experimental studies, it is useful to begin the discussion by briefly summarizing the main findings, then explore possible mechanisms or explanations for these findings, compare and contrast the results with other relevant studies, state the limitations of the study, and explore the implications of the findings for future research and for clinical practice.
• Link the conclusions with the goals of the study but avoid unqualified statements and conclusions not adequately supported by the data. In particular, avoid making statements on economic benefits and costs unless the manuscript includes the appropriate economic data and analyses. Avoid claiming priority or alluding to work that has not been completed. State new hypotheses when warranted, but label them clearly as such.
  

A. 8: References

A. 8. a: General Considerations Related to

References

• Although references to review articles can be an efficient way to guide readers to a body of literature, review articles do not always reflect original work accurately. Readers should therefore be provided with direct references to original research sources whenever possible.
• On the other hand, extensive lists of references to original work of a topic can use excessive space on the printed page. Small numbers of references to key original papers often serve as well as more exhaustive lists, particularly since references can now be added to the electronic version of published papers, and since electronic literature searching allows readers to retrieve published literature efficiently.
• Avoid using abstracts as references. References to papers accepted but not yet published should be designated as “in press” or “forthcoming”; authors should obtain written permission to cite such papers as well as verification that they have been accepted for publication.
• Information from manuscripts submitted but not accepted should becited in the text as “unpublished observations” with written permission from the source.
• Avoid citing a “personal communication” unless it provides essential information not available from a public source, in which case the name of the person and date of communication should be cited in parentheses in the text. For scientific articles, obtain written permission and confirmation of accuracy from the source of a personal communication. Some but not all journals check the accuracy of all reference citations; thus, citation errors sometimes appear in the published version of articles. To minimize such errors, references should be verified using either an electronic bibliographic source, such as PubMed or print copies from original sources.
• Authors are responsible for checking that none of the references cite retracted articles except in the context of referring to the retraction. For articles published in journals indexed in MEDLINE, the ICMJE considers PubMed the authoritative source for information about retractions.
  

A. 8. b: Reference Style and Format

• References should be numbered consecutively in the order in which they are first mentioned in the text.
• Identify references in text, tables, and legends by arabic numerals in superscript.
• References cited only in tables or figure legends should be numbered in accordance with the sequence established by the first identification in the text of the particular table or figure.
  

A. 9: Tables

• Tables capture information concisely and display it efficiently.
• Use tables /fig that are relevant to study.
• Try to limit the number of tables/figure.
• Type or print each table with double-spacing on a separate sheet of paper. Number tables consecutively in the order of their first citation in the text and supply a brief title for each.
• Do not use internal horizontal or vertical lines. Give each column a short or an abbreviated heading. Authors should place explanatory matter in footnotes, not in the heading. Explain all nonstandard abbreviations in footnotes, and use the following symbols, in sequence:
• Identify statistical measures of variations, such as standard deviation and standard error of the mean.
• Be sure that each table is cited in the text. If you use data from another published or unpublished source, obtain permission and acknowledge that source fully.

A. 10: Illustrations (Figures)

• Figures should be either professionally drawn and photographed, or submitted as photographic-quality digital prints. In addition to requiring a version of the figures suitable for printing, (for example, JPEG / GIF)
• Authors should review the images of such files on a computer screen before submitting them to be sure they meet their own quality standards. For x-ray films, scans, and other diagnostic images, as well as pictures of pathology specimens or photomicrographs, send sharp, glossy, black-and-white or color photographic prints, usually 127-173 mm (5-7 inches)
• Letters, numbers, and symbols on figures should therefore be clear and consistent throughout, and large enough to remain legible when the figure is reduced for publication.
• Photographs of potentially identifiable people must be accompanied by written permission to use the photograph. Figures should be numbered consecutively according to the order in which they have been cited in the text.
• If a figure has been published previously, acknowledge the original source and submit written permission from the copyright holder to reproduce the figure. Permission is required irrespective of authorship or publisher except for documents in the public domain.
• For illustrations in color, Chest Heart. J accept coloured illustration but when it seems essential. This Journal publish illustrations in color only if the author pays the additional cost. Authors should consult the journal about requirements for figures submitted in electronic formats.

A. 11: Legends for Illustrations (Figures)

• Type or print out legends for illustrations using double spacing, starting on a separate page, with arabic numerals corresponding to the illustrations.
• When symbols, arrows, numbers, or letters are used to identify parts of the illustrations, identify and explain each one clearly in the legend. Explain the internal scale and identify the method of staining in photomicrographs.
  

A. 12: Units of Measurement

• Measurements of length, height, weight, and volume should be reported in metric units (meter, kilogram, or liter) or their decimal multiples.
• Authors should report laboratory information in both local and International System of Units (SI). .
• Drug concentrations may be reported in either SI or mass units, but the alternative should be provided in parentheses where appropriate.

1. A. 13: Abbreviations and Symbols

• Use only standard abbreviations; use of nonstandard abbreviations can be confusing to readers.
• Avoid abbreviations in the title of the manuscript.
• The spelled-out abbreviation followed by the abbreviation in parenthesis should be used on first mention unless the abbreviation is a standard unit of measurement.

1. B. Sending the Manuscript to the Journal

• If a paper version of the manuscript is submitted, send the required number of copies of the manuscript and figures; they are all needed for peer review and editing. The editorial office staff cannot be expected to make the required copies.
• Manuscripts must be accompanied by a cover letter, conflicts of interest form, authorship and declaration, proforma of which is available in Chest Heart. J web site.

Editing and peer review:

All submitted manuscripts are subject to scrutiny by the Editor in-chief or any member of the Editorial Board. Manuscripts containing materials without sufficient scientific value and of a priority issue, or not fulfilling the requirement for publication may be rejected or it may be sent back to the author(s) for resubmission with necessary modifications to suit one of the submission categories. Manuscripts fulfilling the requirements and found suitable for consideration are sent for peer review. Submissions, found suitable for publication by the reviewer, may need revision/ modifications before being finally accepted. Editorial Board finally decides upon the publishability of the reviewed and revised/modified submission. Proof of accepted manuscript may be sent to the authors, and should be corrected and returned to the editorial office within one week. No addition to the manuscript at this stage will be accepted. All accepted manuscripts are edited according to the Journal's style. 

Submission Preparation Checklist 

As part of the submission process, authors are required to check off their submission's compliance with all of the following items, and submissions may be returned to authors that do not adhere to these guidelines.

Check Lists

Final checklists before you submit your revised article for the possible publication in Chest & Heart journal :

1. Forwarding/Cover letter and declaration form
2. Authorship and conflicts of interest form
3. Manuscript
   • Sample of the above documents is available in the following links: http://www.chestheart.org (registration required for download)
   • If you have submitted mention document (1, 2, 3 ) above, when you first submitted your article then you don’t need to re-submit but if there is change in the authorship or related then you have to re-submit it.

General outline for article presentation and format

• Double spacing
• Font size should be 12 in arial
• Margins 5 cm from above and 2.5 cm from rest sides.    
• Title page contains all the desired information (vide supra)
• Running title provided (not more than 40 characters)
• Headings in title case (not ALL CAPITALS, not underlined)
• References cited in superscript in the text without brackets after with/without comma (,) or full stop (.)
• References according to the journal’s instructions – abide by the rules of Vancouver system. Use this link to get into the detail of Vancouver system.

Language and grammar

• Uniformity in the language
• Abbreviations spelt out in full for the first time
• Numerals from 1 to 10 spelt out
• Numerals at the beginning of the sentence spelt out

Tables and figures

• No repetition of data in tables/graphs and in text
• Actual numbers from which graphs drawn, provided
• Figures necessary and of good quality (colour)
• Table and figure numbers in Arabic letters (not Roman)
• Labels pasted on back of the photographs (no names written)
• Figure legends provided (not more than 40 words)
• Patients’ privacy maintained (if not, written permission enclosed)
• Credit note for borrowed figures/tables provided
• Each table/figure in separate page

If you have any specific queries please use at www.chestheart.org.com 

 Manuscript Format for Research Article

Title

• Complete title of your article
• Complete author information
• Mention conflict of interest if any

Abstract

• Do not use subheadings in the abstract
• Give full title of the manuscript in the Abstract page
• Not more than 200 words for case reports and 250 words for original articles
• Structured abstract (Including introduction, methods, results and discussion, conclusion) provided for an original article and (Introduction, results and discussion , conclusion) for case reports.
• Key words provided – arrange them in alphabetical order (three –five )

Introduction

• World limit 150 -200 words
• Pertinent information only

Material and Methods

• Study Design
• Duration and place of study
• Ethical approval
• Patient consent
• Statistical analysis and software used.

Result

• Clearly present the data
• Avoid data redundancy
• Use table information at the end of the sentence before full stop between the small bracket

Discussion

• Avoid unnecessary explanation of someone else work unless it is very relevant to the study
• Provide and discuss with the literatures to support the study
• Mention about limitation of your study

Conclusion

• Give your conclusion
• Any recommendation

Acknowledgement

• Acknowledge any person or institute who have helped for the study

Reference

• Abide by the Vancouver style
• Use reference at the end of the sentence after the full stop with superscript

Legends

• Table
• Figures

Authors who publish in the Chest & Heart Journal (CHJ) agree to the following terms that:

1. Journal retain copyright and grant the Chest & Heart Journal (CHJ) the right of first publication of the work.
2. 
3. Articles in Chest & Heart Journal (CHJ) are licensed under a Creative Commons CC BY-NC License Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0). This license permits Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format, Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material.