Submissions

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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.
  • Editorial Fees are due after your paper has been accepted. The journal will not issue refunds of any kind after the acceptance of the manuscript.
  • The submission has not been previously published, nor is it before another journal for consideration.
  • The submission file is in Microsoft Word document format.
  • Where available, URLs for the references have been provided.
  • The text is single-spaced; uses a 12-point font; employs italics, rather than underlining (except with URL addresses); and all illustrations, figures, and tables are placed within the text at the appropriate points, rather than at the end.
  • The text adheres to the stylistic and bibliographic requirements outlined in the Author Guidelines shown below.
  • If submitting to a peer-reviewed section of the journal, the instructions in Ensuring a Blind Review have been followed.
  • All tables will be uploaded as separate Microsoft Word or RTF files
  • All figures are in JPEG or TIFF file format and will be uploaded as separate, supplemenatary files.

Author Guidelines

Submit a Manuscript to the Heart Surgery Forum

The Heart Surgery Forum is seeking original investigative and clinical work on any subject germane to the science or practice of modern cardiac care. The HSF publishes original scientific reports, collective reviews, case reports, editorials, and letters to the editor, as well as Learning Center presentations for the non-medical public. New manuscripts are reviewed by the Editorial Board for originality, content, relevancy, and adherence to scientific principles. The HSF features a streamlined submission and peer review process with an anticipated completion time of 30 to 60 days from the date of receipt of the original manuscript. Authors are encouraged to submit full-color images and videos that will be included in the web version of the journal at no charge.

If you are interested in contributing, please review the sections at our online submission and review portal that describe the procedures for composition, citations, references and submission. Potential authors are requested to carefully review the entire Disclaimers and Conditions section of the journal.

Rapid Submission Process

The Heart Surgery Forum® (HSF, Print ISSN: 1098-3511, Electronic ISSN: 1522-6662) requires that all new submissions be uploaded to our online submission and review portal as Microsoft  Word documents.

All manuscripts should be divided into the following key sections, separated only by a blank line:

  1. Title
  2. Authors (listed as First, Middle, Last Name) by order of contribution to the paper
  3. Institutions of each author (listed in order of priority) with their degrees  (MD, PhD, etc.)
  4. Keywords
  5. Abstract (with Background, Methods, Results, and Conclusion sections)
  6. Introduction
  7. Materials and Methods
  8. Results
  9. Discussion
  10. References (in alphabetical order of authors last names)
  11. Figure Legends
  12. Tables
  13. Abbreviations
  14. Reprint the address, phone, and email address of the corresponding author

Case reports may substitute a section called “Case Report” for the Materials/Methods and Results sections listed above. The format for Editorials and Collective Reviews is open and unstructured.

To facilitate easy submission, several common steps should be avoided when submitting to the HSF:

  1. Do not double space.
  2. Do not separate sections onto individual pages. Only place a blank line or two between sections.
  3. Do not indent paragraphs; just separate them by a blank line.
  4. DO NOT CAPITALIZE in an attempt to create emphasis.
  5. Avoid fancy fonts, sizes, special kerning or leading in the text.
  6. Avoid superscripts or subscripts, and include any such information within square brackets.
  7. Do not attempt to make your document “photo-ready” or create any special formatting, pagination or page layout. All this will be reformatted for the Web and your special layouts will be discarded.

References

  • Reference list is sorted numerically. The reference list should be limited to only those citations essential to the presentation.
  • Please verify the accuracy of all references and check that all references have been cited in the text.
  • Please list all authors’ names if the authors number less than 6. For the authors of more than 6, please list the first six authors’ names, then use "et al.".
  • Please list the standard journal title, do not abbreviate the page number.
  • Use the [number] for the references in the text.

Sample reference citation (Download EndNote style).

(1) Journal:

① Less than 6 authors

[1] Costantino M. The rhinogenic deafness and SPA therapy: clinical-experimental study. La Clinica Terapeutica. 2008; 159: 311–315.

② More than 6 authors

[1] Bonfils P, François M, Aidan D, Avan P, Parat S, Boissinot C, et al. Deafness in the neonatal period: basis for screening. Archives De Pediatrie. 1995; 2: 685–691.

(2) Book:

[1] American College of Sports Medicine. Guidelines for Exercise Testing and Prescription. 10th edn. Wolter Klower: Philadelphia, USA. 2018.

[2] Lang TA, Secic M. How to report statistics in medicine. American College of Physicians: Philadelphia. 1997.

(3) Patent:

[1] Myers K, Nguyen C, inventors; 3F Therapeutics, Inc., assignee. Prosthetic heart valve. USA: United States patent US 6,911,043. 28 Jun 2005.

(4) If there are non-English journals in the reference, please insert the journal language as the ending:

[1] Tan Y, Miao TG, Feng, DY. Evaluation of clinical efficacy of three Chinese patent medicines in convalescent stage of cerebral apoplexy. Journal of Liaoning University of Traditional Chinese Medicine. 2012; 014: 34–35. (In Chinese)

(5) Website:

[1] Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS. Phase II Study on Carboplatin- Paclitaxel-Pembrolizumab in Neoadjuvant Treatment of Locally Advanced Cervical Cancer. Clinical trial registration, study/NCT04238988, clinicaltrials.gov, 24 August 2021. clinicaltrials.gov. Available at: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/study/NCT04238988 (Accessed: 7 September 2022).

In-text citations

When citing articles from other authors, a citation in the manuscript text should be notated with a superscript number corresponding to its number in the reference list. For example:

Diabetes mellitus is associated with a high risk of foot ulcers.1-3

Figures, Photographs, and Artwork

Figures, photographs, and any artwork must be submitted with the manuscript as separate “supplemental files” via our online submission and review portal. When preparing images for submissions, it is important that the authors save the images at 300 dots per inch (dpi) or greater. If less than 300 dpi, images can only be used in the web component of the HSF journal. These files can be saved as .tiff or .jpg file formats.

Since the HSF publishes images in color (on the web), authors are encouraged to take color photographs of their surgical cases or techniques. The patient’s name must not appear on any submitted photo, x-ray, or angiogram.

Tables

Tables should be submitted electronically via our online submission and review portal as separate supplemental files in either .rtf or .doc file formats.

Author's Photographs

The lead author may send a color portrait-style photograph of him/herself along with the manuscript. This photograph is used in the masthead of the manuscript and serves to identify the author in a more personal manner to the readership. Casual photographs are not acceptable. Please use a business appearance suitable for a scientific publication.

Copyright Notice

Author Disclosure & Copyright Transfer Agreement

In order to publish the original work of another person(s), The Heart Surgery Forum® must receive an acknowledgment of the Author Agreement and Copyright Transfer Statement transferring to Forum Multimedia Publishing, L.L.C., a subsidiary of Carden Jennings Publishing Co., Ltd. the exclusive rights to print and distribute the author(s) work in all media forms. Failure to check Copyright Transfer agreement box below will delay publication of the manuscript.

A current form follows:

The author(s) hereby transfer(s), assign(s), or otherwise convey(s) all copyright ownership of the manuscript submitted to Forum Multimedia Publishing, LLC (Publisher). The copyright transfer covers the exclusive rights to reproduce and distribute the article and the material contained therein throughout the world in all languages and in all media of expression now known or later developed, including but not limited to reprints, photographic reproduction, microfilm, electronic data processing (including programming, storage, and transmission to other electronic data record(s), or any other reproductions of similar nature), and translations.

However, Publisher grants back to the author(s) the following:

  1. The right to make and distribute copies of all or part of this work for use of the author(s) in teaching;
  2. The right to use, after publication in The Heart Surgery Forum, all or part of the material from this work in a book by the author(s), or in a collection of work by the author(s);
  3. The royalty-free right to make copies of this work for internal distribution within the institution/company that employs the author(s) subject to the provisions below for a work-made-for-hire;
  4. The right to use figures and tables from this work, and up to 250 words of text, for any purpose;
  5. The right to make oral presentations of material from this work.

Publisher reserves the right to grant or refuse permission to third parties to republish all or part of the article or translations thereof. To republish, such third parties must obtain written permission from the Publisher. (This is in accordance with the Copyright Statute, United States Code, Title 17. Exception: If all authors were bona fide officers or employees of the U.S. Government at the time the paper was prepared, the work is a “work of the US Government” (prepared by an officer or employee of the US Government as part of official duties), and therefore is not subject to US copyright; such exception should be indicated on signature lines. If this work was prepared under US Government contract or grant, the US Government may reproduce, royalty-free, all or portions of this work and may authorize others to do so, for official US Government purposes only, if the US Government contract or grant so requires.

I have participated in the conception and design of this work and in the writing of the manuscript and take public responsibility for it. Neither this manuscript nor one with substantially similar content under my authorship has been published, has been submitted for publication elsewhere, or will be submitted for publication elsewhere while under consideration by The Heart Surgery Forum, except as described in an attachment. I have reviewed this manuscript (original version) and approve its submission. If I am listed above as corresponding author, I will provide all authors with information regarding this manuscript and will obtain their approval before submitting any revision. I attest to the validity, accuracy, and legitimacy of the content of the manuscript and understand that Publisher assumes no responsibility for the validity, accuracy, and legitimacy of its content. I warrant that this manuscript is original with me and that I have full power to make this Agreement. I warrant that it contains no matter that is libelous or otherwise unlawful or that invades individual privacy or infringes any copyright or other proprietary right. I agree to indemnify and hold Publisher harmless of and from any claim made against Publisher that relates to or arises out of the publication of the manuscript and agree that this indemnification shall include payment of all costs and expenses relating to the defense of any such claim, including all reasonable attorney’s fees.

I warrant that I have no financial interest in the drugs, devices, or procedures described in the manuscript (except as disclosed in the attached statement).

I state that the institutional Human Subjects Committee and/or the Ethics Committee approved the clinical protocol reported in this manuscript for the use of experimental techniques, drugs, or devices in human subjects and appropriate informed consent documents were utilized.

Furthermore, I state that any and all animals used for experimental purposes received humane care in USDA registered facilities in compliance with the “Principles of Laboratory Animal Care” formulated by the National Society for Medical Research and the “Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals” prepared by the Institute of Laboratory Animal Resources and published by the National Institutes of Health (NIH Publication No. 85-23, revised 1985).

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