Instructions for Authors

 

 

The Heart, Vessels and Transplantation is a double -blind peer-reviewed international journal published in English language on cardiovascular surgery and transplantation, cardiovascular and internal disease and all relevant disciplines. It applies its editorial, publishing and ethics policies in compliance with international standards set by ICMJE, NLM, CSE, WMA, EASE and COPE. Journal accepts following types of articles: experimental (pre-clinical level) and clinical research articles, reviews (invited and unsolicited) with summary and critical analysis of contemporary evidence, clinical case reports shedding light and experience on the management issues of rare and challenging cases, brief reports with announcement of randomized studies and their design, reports with preliminary research results, use and experience with of advanced new technologies in medicine, public health and education projects summary on issues relevant to cardiovascular surgery, cardiology, internal medicine and all relevant disciplines, editorials and letter to the editors with critical appraisal/discussion of the published research articles, case reports and brief reports, guidelines, images, interviews, historical notes, innovative or new technologies and patents:.

Manuscript and all required documents (see below), accompanying letter must be submitted to the editorial office using Online Manuscript Submission System: www.hvt-journal.com/ submission/login  or by emails: editor@hvt-journal.com, office@hvt-journal.com .

Before submission:

Authors are required to submit a letter along with their manuscript stating that manuscript is original work, not under consideration in other journals, is solely being submitted to Heart, Vessels and Transplantation journal, optionally highlighting the novel contribution to current evidence of their research work or case report, and optionally suggest 2 reviewers` names independent of your study and institution where the study was performed (though it does not necessarily mean that article will be sent to the suggested reviewers). Authors are required to declare absence of conflict of interest between authors and fill and send the forms explained below with declaration of financial/material support if any received for study (see documents below), authorship form along with article and letter to the editor. Ethical rules must be followed as presented below, either submitting the approval of ethics committee along with the letter to the editor and manuscript, or declaration and explanation in the manuscript. Authors should declare if they used and how they used artificial intelligence-assisted (AI) technology (such Large Language Models (LLM, chatbots and image creators) in preparation of their manuscript.

Declaration of conflict of interests:

Authors are required to declare if any financial or material support was received for study, if there is any conflict of interest – please fill and sign the ICMJE form available in Authors` Corner and return to editorial office – editor@hvt-journal.com

Ethical considerations:

Author should seek the approval of institutional or local, national ethics review boards of the study protocol and the statement on compliance of planning, conducting, presenting human research and procedures used in the study are in accordance with Helsinki declaration as revised 2013 (https://www.wma.net/en/30publications/10policies/b3/index.html) should appear in the methods section of the research articles and brief reports.

For articles where any personal patient`s data (images, photographs, video, any media) is published, information that identifies a patient, hospital, institution, city, country where the examination was performed and image was acquired  should be removed  and the written permission of patient or parent if a patient is child to publish data and media material should be obtained and mentioned in the manuscript (after conclusion section).

Informed patients` consent on the procedures is required and the statement on that patients/ participants are informed on the procedures and their obtained consent should appear in the methods section of studies involving human participants and at the end-of case report, image, image with discussion manuscripts.

For animal (experimental) studies, it is necessary to indicate that the institutional, national and international standards for care and use of laboratory animals were used (International Association of Veterinary Editors` Consensus Author Guidelines on Animal Ethics and Welfare – 2010: http://www.veteditors.org/consensus-author-guidelines-on-animal-ethics-and-welfare-for-editors).

Authors should be aware that duplicate submission, plagiarism and other forms of ethical misconduct are prohibited, each manuscript is checked for matters of previous or parallel duplicate publications, plagiarism using Crossref/Ithenticate Similarity check software.

Use of artificial intelligence (AI) -assisted technologies

Authors should declare if they used and how they used AI -assisted technology (such Large Language Models (LLM, chatbots (ChatGPT) and image creators) in preparation of their manuscript: f.e. ChatGPT in writing manuscripts and image creators for in creating or editing pictures, figures and other media.

Authors should not include AI in the authors list.

Authors should acknowledge that they critically read, corrected and revised the manuscript or parts prepared by AI-assisted technology as the authors only are experts in the field and responsible for intellectual content, accuracy, integrity and originality of work not machine, that might create incorrect and incomplete content. Authors should also check for plagiarism content created by AI-assisted technology. Authors should check that all quoted material, including full citations are properly acknowledged. AI generated content cannot be used as a source in references.

 Reviewers are also required to declare if they and how they used AI-assisted technology in evaluation of manuscripts. Reviewers should be aware that confidentiality of content may be lost while uploading manuscripts in software. Reviewers should check the AI-assisted technology provided content, as it might be incorrect or incomplete.

Peer-review:

Articles submitted to the journal undergo unbiased double-blind (authors`, editors`, reviewers` names or their institutions, cities and countries of origin are not disclosed in articles, all authors, editors, reviewers participating in peer-review process are blinded ) review by editors and external international reviewers (usually 2, but in case of disparate opinions 3rd reviewer is invited) experts on the topic of the manuscripts and authors of published manuscripts in international indexed journals relevant to the topic of the submitted for consideration manuscript. The average duration of article peer-review evaluation by editors is 1 week and by reviewers – 2 weeks. Research articles and brief reports, meta-analyses and systematic reviews undergo evaluation by statistics editor of the journal. After receipt of editors`, external independent reviewers` and statistics editor`s recommendation, Editor-in-Chief makes decision based on the section editors` advice and reviewers’ reports: accept for publication, accept with minor revision, major revision with re-evaluation and reject. In cases of decisions, accept with minor revision or major revision, authors are required to submit the revised according to recommendations of editors and reviewers manuscript, highlighting changes in the articles, list of responses to comments and list of changes and letter to the editor accompanying revised manuscript with 3 weeks of receiving decision letter.

After acceptance of article for publication:

After acceptance of article for publication, authors are required to submit filled and signed the copyright transfer and agreement form to the editorial office of Heart,  Vessels and Transplantation.

Manuscript preparation:

Manuscripts should be prepared in English language in accordance with ICMJE, CSE rules and follow the rules listed below. Each manuscript should be presented according to the type of the manuscripts listed below. Each manuscript should contain the Conflict of interest and funding/ material support statements (None to declare or describe in detail), Authorship – see specific parts in Authorship form (Authors` corner) – the authors initials, Acknowledgements. These statements should be placed at the end of manuscript body before references section.

Permissions for republication, reproduction must be obtained from copyright owners and sent to the editorial office along with manuscript if authors use in their articles previously published data, tables or figure, schemas, media with proper citation of the published work in the text.

All manuscripts should be typed with 1.5 space and page numbered at the top right corner of the page.

Original research, review, brief communication articles optionally should be accompanied by graphical abstract: a graphical/pictorial summary of your study – must be 1 figure in jpeg, tiff, bmp or giff format that includes brief description and  figure.

Please provide your ORCID number and optional social media accounts as Twitter and Facebook of all authors where available. We will submit your ORCID number to databases and will copy your article`s post and tweets to you and your co- authors.

Research manuscripts: Original research manuscripts should be prepared according to the checklists and guidelines for presenting research articles and specific study design (see Authors` corner): randomized controlled studies – CONSORT, observational studies – STROBE, studies on diagnostic accuracy – STARD, experimental animal studies- ARRIVE, case series – PROCESS, meta-analysis – PRISMA,   statistical presentation – SAMPL guidelines and SAGER guideline for reporting sex and gender information in study design, data analyses, results and interpretation of findings (all these and other guidelines are available at: www.equator-network.org/reporting-guideliens/sager-guidelines/).

Authors should use proper scientific language in description and discussion of results (Editors of the Heart Group Journals. Statement of matching language to the type of evidence used in describing observational studies vs. randomized trials. Eur Heart J 2013; 34: 20-1).

Clinical trials optionally should be registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov and registration number provided in the manuscript.

Original research articles should not exceed 5000 words and number or references limited to 40. The manuscript should be structured: title, structured abstract, key words, introduction, methods, results, discussion and references, tables and figures.

Title of the manuscript should be concise, followed by author(s) names and institution(s), city (ies), country (ies), corresponding author`s name and address (postal mail, email, phone, fax).

Abstract should be structured – Objective, Methods, Results, Conclusion. Follow the specific requirements for presentation of randomized controlled trials – CONSORT statement – abstract section.

Key words: 3-6 key words according to MESH terms – see PUBMED database – www.nlm.nih.gov are required.

Introduction section should include description of the problem, rationale for the research study and hypothesis/ research question.

Methods section should include parts with subheadings with description of the study design, study population, ethical statements (patient/participant informed consent, compliance of the study with Helsinki declaration 2013 and for experimental studies using laboratory animals –standards of laboratory and animal care – see above) study variables and description of specific methods used in line with your research question/ hypothesis, statistical analysis. It is optional to present the assumptions of study power and sample size (See the specific guidelines/checklists for each study design). Statistical analysis should be presented with subheading and include description of software, data presentation and detailed description of statistical methods used to answer your research question/hypothesis.

Results section should include description of results within text, in form of tables and figures. Do not repeat the data presented in tables in the text, if data presented in tables just provide statements/description of results supporting by statistical significance and citing table number.

Discussion section should include brief summary of main original results, followed by discussion of results comparing with existing evidence, highlighting novel contributions or extension of current limited knowledge, explanation of mechanisms, and limitations of the study (with subheading) and conclusion (with subheading).

At the end of text of the article authors must provide Conflict of interest statement, Authorship (see below Authorship form), Acknowledgement and funding  – as described above.

References should comply with ICMJE rules and NLM style:

Journal article: List all authors if 6 and fewer, article title, journal abbreviation (consult www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/nlmcatalog/journal), year of publication, volume and page numbers as presented below. If more than 6 authors, list first 6 and add ``et al.``: Michael JA, Stiell IG, Agarwal S, Mandavia DP. Cardioversion of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation in the emergency department. Ann Emerg Med 1999; 33: 375-87.

Chapter in a book: Authors of the chapter, chapter title, editors of the book, book title, volume if present, edition, city, publisher name, year, page numbers: Mollnes TE. Analysis of in vivo complement activation: In: Herzenberg LA, Weir DM, Herzenberg LA, Blackwell C, eds. Weir’s Handbook of Experimental Immunology. Vol 78, 5th ed. Boston: Blackwell Science; 1997. 78.1.-78.8.

For other type of references – book with single author, group of authors, no authors, dissertation, abstracts, conference presentations, electronics resources use NLM style (www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK7256/).

Do not use conference abstracts that are not indexed in databases in reference list, rather quote in brackets in the text. Every reference must have if available unique identifier number (f.e.PMID for NLM/ PUBMED/PMC) or doi if available.

Tables should be placed at the end of the manuscript, have concise title, subheadings for columns varying according to the type of data presented, descriptive statistics or statistical analyses used for comparisons (descriptive statistics, 2 groups or more than 2 groups), rows for specific categorical (nominal, discrete) or continuous data. Each presented variable (see online article on requirements for statistical data presentation in HVT - http://hvt-journal.com/articles/art15) should be accompanied by unit of measurement (duration of hospitalization, days; ejection fraction, %; number and proportion of women in the study - women, n(%); number/ proportion of patients with advanced NYHA class - NYHA class 3-4, n(%), etc.). The statistical significance of tests should be presented in column and additional rows for advanced statistical analyses results. For tests of more than 2 groups, present the additional tests values (f.e. F-test for ANOVA in a separate column). Any additional notes regarding data or within/between multiple groups` comparisons for advanced statistical analyses tests can be denoted in the table with letter in alphabetic order with explanation in footnotes.

In the footnote of the table the data presentation type (Mean (SD) or number(proportion)), types of statistical tests used and list of used abbreviations or symbols (we use letters) should be presented. The journal uses the International Systems of Units (SI) standard – please be aware and check the data accordingly.

The tables should be cited in proper order within body of manuscript – results.

Figures  must be submitted in jpeg, jpg, tiff, giff, bmp format and should be accompanied by legend and cited in body of manuscript. In the legend of the figure the data presentation type (Mean(SD) or number(proportion)), types of statistical tests used and lists of used abbreviations or symbols (we use letters) should be presented.

The rules for references, tables and figures, required authors` statements at the end of manuscript presented above are valid for all types of articles below.

Reviews: Review articles should not exceed 6000 words and limited by 70 references. Review articles should summarize the current evidence on the topic, provide critical analysis and define the directions for future research. State-of-art review articles should analyze the latest current knowledge, define the gaps and provide perspectives on topic of interest and suggest solutions, directions for further research.  The systematic reviews and meta-analyses must be presented according to PRISMA guideline and checklist (see Authors` corner).

Articles should be structured – title, author(s) names and institution(s), city (ies), country (ies), corresponding author`s name and address (postal mail, email, phone, fax), unstructured abstract for reviews and structured abstract for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (no more 250 words); key words, introduction section, methods with description of evidence (literature, published article) collection, statistical analyses in case of systematic reviews and meta-analyses, structured sections with subheadings, limitations and directions for future research, conclusions, authors` statements, references, tables if any, figures if any.

Case reports: Case reports must be presented in format of CARE guideline/ checklist (see Authors` Corner) for presentation of clinical case report. The article should contain title, title, author(s) names and institution(s), city (ies), country (ies ), corresponding author`s name and address (postal mail, email, phone, fax), unstructured abstract (no more 150 words), introduction, case report, discussion and conclusion, authors` statements, references, tables and figures, images, video if any. Authors should state receipt of informed consent and permission to use any data/media that identifies patients in the case report.

Brief reports: Brief report should be limited by 1200 words and 10 references, 2 tables and 1 figure. It should contain - title, author(s) names and institution(s), city (ies), country (ies ), corresponding author`s name and address (postal mail, email, phone, fax), brief unstructured abstract (100 words), key words, manuscript without subheadings, authors` statements, references, tables and figures.

Editorials: Editorial manuscripts are usually written by invited by editors of the journal independent international experts to comment, critically appraise with emphasizing strength and limitations, contribution to current evidence of the original research work published in the journal. Editorial article is limited by 1200 words and 15 references, and presented in following format: title, author(s) names and institution(s), city (ies), country (ies), corresponding author`s name and address (postal mail, email, phone, fax), text of editorial, authors disclosures, references. The discussed original research article should be cited in text and properly include in list of references.

Letters to the editor: Letters to the editor with discussion of published research, review, case report, image with discussion articles; response to the letter to the editor are published upon receipt. Letters to the editor on discussion of experimental, clinical, research, education, health policies and other matters of interest are also considered for publication. Letter to the editor should not exceed 1000 words and have no more than 10 references and include title, author(s) names and institution(s), city (ies), country (ies), corresponding author`s name and address (postal mail, email, phone, fax), body of letter, authors` statements, references. The discussed article should be cited in text and properly included in the list of references.

Authors` response to the letters should follow the same above-mentioned format.

Images with discussion: This type of article should describe the interesting or diagnostically challenging images (intraoperative, diagnostic – X-ray, echocardiography, radiology - ultrasonography, computed tomography, magnetic resonance, angiography, cardiac catheterization, electrophysiology, clinical signs, etc. in all branches of relevant disciplines) from clinical practice. The number of words should not exceed 1000 words, supported by references (no more than 10), and reasonable number of images to support the full presentation of case. The images are published in color online, for printed version if authors desire to have a color image the additional charges might apply.  

The article should contain title, title, author(s) names and institution(s), city (ies), country (ies ), corresponding author`s name and address (postal mail, email, phone, fax), unstructured abstract (no more than 100 words), key words, body text, authors` disclosures, references, images with legends.

Image: This type of article should describe the interesting or diagnostically challenging images (intraoperative, diagnostic – X-ray, echocardiography, radiology - ultrasonography, computed tomography, magnetic resonance, angiography, cardiac catheterization, electrophysiology, clinical signs, etc. in all branches of relevant disciplines) from clinical practice. The number of words should not exceed 500 words, and 1-2 images. The images are published in color online, for printed version if authors desire to have a color image the additional charges might apply. The article should contain title, title, author(s) names and institution(s), city (ies), country (ies ), corresponding author`s name and address (postal mail, email, phone, fax), body text, authors` statements, images with legends.

Quiz: Quiz must be prepared in format of the case presentation including images, videos and multiple-choice questions. Authors ought to provide correct answer to quiz question supporting by images and providing reasoning and discussion for correct and incorrect answers; it must be concise and educational. The number of words is limited by 1000, references should not exceed 5. For further information on how to prepare best questions consult the literature.

The article should contain title, title, author(s) names and institution(s), city (ies), country (ies ), corresponding author`s name and address (postal mail, email, phone, fax), body text, authors` statements, references.

Innovative or new technologies and patents: This type of article should describe innovative methods and patents, with description of innovation, should be supported by images or graphics, and references. The number of words is limited to 1000 words, 10 references and reasonable number of images, graphics, formula sufficient to describe the innovation.

The article should contain title, title, author(s) names and institution(s), city (ies), country (ies ), corresponding author`s name and address (postal mail, email, phone, fax), unstructured abstract (no more than 100 words), key words, body text, authors` disclosures, references, images, figure with legends, tables.

Interviews:  This type of articles should be prepared in form of interview with prominent scientists, physicians and educators describing their substantial contribution and regional and international significance. Article should be in form of questions and answers; should not exceed 1500 words and supported by reasonable number of pictures. The article should contain title, title, author(s) names and institution(s), city (ies), country (ies ), corresponding author`s name and address (postal mail, email, phone, fax), body text, authors` disclosures, references if any, images with legends if any,

Historical notes:  This type of article describes the history of medicine (history of clinical signs, diagnostic methods, or treatment) of interest for readers and should not exceed 1000 words, and supported by no more than 2 images and 10 references. The article should contain title, title, author(s) names and institution(s), city (ies), country (ies ), corresponding author`s name and address (postal mail, email, phone, fax), unstructured abstract (no more than 100 words), key words,  body text, authors` disclosures, references, images, figures with legends if any.

Please submit article prepared according to the above-mentioned rules along with cover letter to the editor stating the absence of conflict of interest, signed and filled authorship form (it may be scanned for email submission), copyright form to editorial office: editor@hvt-journal.com, office@hvt-journal.com, Togolok Moldo St 3/1, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, phone: 996-312-881042.

The journal is published online and print version in English language (abstracts and full text).  In online version for selected articles, the abstracts can be provided also in Kyrgyz and Russian languages according to the requirements for academic advancement.

Prepared by Gulmira Kudaiberdieva - Editor-in-Chief of the Heart, Vessels and Transplantation

 

 

 

References:

1. Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals. Updated December 2016. Available at: URL: www.icmje.org.Accessed on 9.01.2017

2. Scott-Lichter D and the Editorial Policy Committee, Council of Science Editors. CSE’s White Paper on Promoting Integrity in Scientific Journal Publications, 2012 Update. 3rd Revised Edition. Wheat Ridge, CO: 2012. Available at: URL: www.councilscienceeditors.org.Accessed on 09.01.2017.

3. NLM’s Research Reporting Guidelines and Initiatives (www.nlm.nih.gov/services/research_report_guide.html).

4. COPE: Committee on publication ethics. Code of conduct and best practice guidelines for journal editors. 2011. Available at URL: www.publicationethics.org

5. World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki: http://www.wma.net/e/ethicsunit/helsinki.htm (https://www.wma.net/en/30publications/10policies/b3/index.html)

6. International Association of Veterinary Editors` Consensus Author Guidelines on Animal Ethics and Welfare – 2010: http://www.veteditors.org/consensus-author-guideli...

7. Editors of the Heart Group Journals. Statement of matching language to the type of evidence used in describing observational studies vs. randomized trials. Eur Heart J 2013; 34: 20-21.

8. EQUATOR Network. http://www.equator-network.org/reporting-guidelines/

9. Schulz KF, Altman DG, Moher D for the CONSORT Group. CONSORT 2010 Statement: Updated guidelines for reporting parallel group randomised trials. J Clin Epidemiol2010; 63: 834-40.

10. von Elm E, Altman DG, Egger M,Pocock SJ, Peter C. Gøtzsche PC, Vandenbroucke JP,for the STROBE Initiative. The Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) statement: guidelines for reporting observational studies.J Clin Epidemiol 2008; 61: 344-9.

11. Bossuyt PM, Reitsma JB, Bruns DE, Gatsonis CA, Glasziou PP, Irwig LM,et al.The STARD Statement for Reporting Studies of Diagnostic Accuracy: Explanation and Elaboration. Ann Intern Med 2003; 138: W1-W12.

12. Kilkenny C,William J. Browne WJ, Cuthill IC, Emerson M, Altman DG.Improving Bioscience Research Reporting: The ARRIVE Guidelines for Reporting Animal Research. Plos Biology 2010;8: e1000412.

13. Moher D, Liberati A, Tetzlaff J, Altman DG, The PRISMA Group. Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review s and Meta-Analyses: The PRISMA Statement. PLoS Med 2009; 6: e1000097.

14. Lang T, Altman D. Basic statistical reporting for articles published in clinical medical journals: the SAMPL Guidelines. In: Smart P, Maisonneuve H, Polderman A (eds). Science Editors’ Handbook, European Association of Science Editors, 2013.

15. NLM’s Citing Medicine, 2nd edition. Available at: URL: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK7256.

16. van der Gijp A, Ravesloot CJ, Ten Cate OT, van Schaik JP, Webb EM, Naeger DM. Tests, Quizzes, and Self-Assessments: How to Construct a High-Quality Examination. AJR Am J Roentgenol 2016; 207: 339-43.

17. Collins J. Education techniques for lifelong learning: writing multiple-choice questions for continuing medical education activities and self-assessment modules. Radiographics 2006; 26: 543-51.