The Editors of The Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery aim to promote excellence in the discipline and educate those practicing and interested in our specialty. To this end, the Journal accepts submissions in the form of original articles, brief communications, clinical-pathological conferences, and letters to the Editor on topics pertaining to the most recent developments in cardiothoracic transplantation, general thoracic surgery, surgery for acquired and congenital cardiovascular disease, and technical and physiologic issues as they relate to the specialty. The Journal commits to rigorous peer review, freedom from commercial influence, and promotion of the highest ethical and scientific standards in our specialty.
Three or more referees review each article. Acceptance is based on significance, originality, and validity of the material presented. If the article is accepted for publication, editorial revisions may be made to aid clarity and understanding without altering the meaning. Authors are given the opportunity to name a reviewer whom they believe is expert and impartial in their area of interest.
Because more papers are submitted to the Journal than can be published, only the very best papers should be recommended for publication. Accordingly, a manuscript should be evaluated not only with respect to its scientific competence and accuracy, but also its relative importance in the field of thoracic and cardiovascular surgery and for its probable interest to our readership. Among the issues to consider are:
What is the importance of the research question or subject field study? Are the methods and experimental techniques adequate? Do the results seem to be reliable and presented clearly? Is the discussion relevant? Are the conclusions reasonable? Are the illustrations and references appropriate and necessary?Is the abstract informative and written in a style that will make it intelligible to readers who do not work in the specific area addressed by the abstract?
Is the writing clear and the organization of the paper sound? What is the originality of the work?If you recommend that a paper be shortened, you should indicate on the form “Comments to Authors” in which places it could be abbreviated and which figures or tables could be omitted. Please remember that it is the job of the copy editor to identify typographical and syntactic errors. Please focus your “Comments to Authors” on queries and constructive criticism. Do not put statements in the “Comments to Authors” form regarding the acceptability of the paper. If the editorial office or the other reviewers decide to reject the paper, such statements could be problematic.
Only those individuals who made direct contributions to the intellectual content of the paper may be listed as authors. Persons designated as authors should meet all of the following criteria:
Conceived and planned the work that led to the paper or interpreted the evidence presented, or both. Wrote the paper, or reviewed successive versions and took part in the revision process. Approved the final version. The authors should describe the role of the study’s sponsors in the following areas: Designing the study Collecting, analyzing, and interpreting the data Writing the report Making the decision to submit for publicationThe JTCVS editorial staff will not consider for publication a report in which the researcher did not have full access to the data, the ability to analyze them independently from the sponsor, and sole authority to make the final decision regarding publication. The Editor may, if he deems it necessary, require a copy for verification of its content.
After a manuscript is accepted for publication, no author can be removed from the author list without the written permission of that author.
When the proposed publication concerns any commercial product, either directly or indirectly, the author must include in the cover letter a statement (1) indicating that he or she has no financial or other interest in the product or distributor of the product or (2) explaining the nature of any relation between himself or herself and the manufacturer or distributor of the product. Other kinds of associations, such as consultancies, stock ownership, or other equity interests or patent-licensing arrangements, also must be disclosed. If, in the Editor’s judgment, the information disclosed represents a potential conflict of interest, it may be made available to reviewers and may be published at the Editor’s discretion; authors will be informed of the decision before publication.
Sources of outside support for research, including funding, equipment, and drugs, must be named in the cover letter. The role(s) of the funding organization, if any, in the collection of data, its analysis and interpretation, and in the right to approve or disapprove publication of the finished manuscript must be described in the Methods section of the text.
The Journal adheres to the principles set forth in the Helsinki Declaration (http://www.wma.net/e/policy/b3.htm) and holds that all reported research conducted with human participants should be conducted in accordance with such principles. Reports describing data obtained from research conducted in human participants must contain a statement in the Methods section indicating approval by the institutional review board and affirmation that informed consent was obtained from each participant. If patients are identifiable from illustrations, photographs, case reports, or other study data, release forms (or copies of the figures with the appropriate release statement) giving permission for publication must be submitted with the manuscript.
All papers reporting experiments using animals must include a statement in the Methods section giving assurance that all animals have received humane care in compliance with the “Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals” (www.nap.edu/catalog/5140.html). Papers submitted from outside the United States must be in compliance with the guidelines established by their country’s government or those of the National Institutes of Health and must include a statement to that effect in the Methods section.
All manuscripts with statistical analysis are required to undergo biostatistical review to ensure adequate and appropriate study design, analysis, interpretation, and reporting. The Journal requires that a biostatistician review these manuscripts prior to submission. The most appropriate way to involve a biostatistician is as a consultant or coauthor from the investigators’ home institution or collaborative group. The individual must complete and sign the Statistical Collaboration/Review Release Statement, available online (www.ctsnet.org/journals/jtcsstatisticalmethods.pdf) and published twice yearly (January and July issues) in the Journal. Manuscripts may undergo further biostatistical review by the Journal after submission. Additional information on statistical methods can be found in “Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals” (www.icmje.org).
According to the Copyright Act of 1976, all manuscripts must be accompanied by the Copyright Transfer and Author Declaration Statement form that is available online at www.ctsnet.org/journals/jtcscopyrightform.pdf and in each issue of the Journal following the Information for Authors section. All authors must sign this statement.
The “received for publication” date is the date when the editorial office receives the complete manuscript via Editorial Manager. The “accepted for publication” date is the date when the manuscript has met all of the requirements of the editorial office regarding provision of the final revised manuscript on disk and all camera-ready figures.
Manuscripts must be written so that a reasonably well-informed member of the thoracic surgical community can understand them. The primary goal of the Journal is the dissemination of information and education. Arcane content must be explained and considered understandable by the editorial staff. Articles are chosen based on their probability of achieving this goal. Authors are encouraged to follow the principles of clear scientific writing, such as those described by Gopen and Swan. 1
All manuscripts must adhere to the length requirements outlined below.NOTE: To allow all manuscripts to be judged fairly, manuscripts exceeding length limitations will be returned for shortening prior to review.
The Journal publishes original research in surgery and translational physiology as it relates to acquired and congenital cardiovascular disease, cardiothoracic transplantation, and general thoracic surgery. Meritorious work from closely related specialties, such as anesthesiology, molecular biology, pathology, pulmonary medicine, cardiology, and perfusion, will receive appropriate consideration if the linkage to our specialty is clear.
Original research articles are grouped in the Journal according to one of the following categories: Surgery for Acquired Cardiovascular Disease; Surgery for Congenital Heart Disease; General Thoracic Surgery; Cardiopulmonary Support and Physiology; Evolving Technology; Cardiothoracic Transplantation. Authors are asked to self-categorize their articles during the submission process.
Original research articles may not exceed 6 printed pages, including title and abstract. Additional content may be designated as online only, for example, appendices, tables, figures, video clips. The following approximations between printed pages and typed pages are offered to help you calculate the number of printed pages your typed manuscript will translate to: