Instructions to authors
The Portuguese Journal of Cardiology only publishes original papers related to the cardiovascular system. Editorials, tributes, reviews and updates are published at the request of the Board of the Journal. The Board is responsible for deciding the number of sections into which each issue is divided.
The articles submitted must not have been published previously in any form. The opinions therein are the full responsibility of the authors. Published articles will remain the property of the Journal and may not be reproduced, in full or in part, without the prior consent of the editors.
Articles may be:
- accepted without modification;
- accepted after corrections or modifications proposed by referees or by the Editorial Committee have been accepted by the authors;
- published in summary form, with the consent of the authors;
- rejected.
The authors will in all cases be informed of the reasons for rejection and of the comments of the referees.
The Portuguese Journal of Cardiology complies with the requirements for the submission of manuscripts to biomedical journals established by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (N Eng J Med 1991;324:424-8). These requirements are published by the Journal in the first issue of each year.
To submit an article through the Journal’s website, select “Submit article” and complete the submission form, including the paper’s title, authors’ names, and address, phone, fax and email of the corresponding author.
In the appropriate spaces insert the abstract of the paper and its proposed classification, according to the categories of the Portuguese Journal of Cardiology.
Online submission of papers
The following conditions must be met when submitting papers:
- All the components of the paper, including images, must be submitted in electronic form.
- The initial version of the paper should be submitted in a Microsoft Word file in any format. However, the final paper must be submitted in a fixed format, using the Word template on the Journal’s website. Images must be submitted in jpg format.
- The paper’s sections must be presented in the following order, as laid out in the template:
1 - title in Portuguese and English and authors’ names;
2 - key words and abstract in Portuguese and English;
3 - text;
4 - acknowledgements;
5 - references;
6 - legends to figures and tables;
7 - figures in jpg format;
8 - tables.
- Pages should be numbered according to the above sequence. If a second version of the paper is submitted, this should also be sent in electronic form.
- When the paper is accepted for publication, a declaration signed by all the authors should be sent, stating that the paper is original and waiving copyright, based on the model letter published in the first issue of each year. This model letter is also available on the Journal’s website.
- All papers published in the online version of the Journal will also be published in the paper version.
Title and Authors
The title, which should appear on the first page, should be as concise and explicit as possible. The authors must be indicated by their clinical titles. The authors’ institutional affiliations, the center in which the work was carried out, and the address, email and mobile phone of the corresponding author should be listed at the bottom of the page.
Abstract and Key Words
The abstract should be written in the same language as that of the text and always in Portuguese and English. The abstract should consist of 350 to 400 words for original papers and approximately 150 words for case reports, and should be written according to the requirements published in the first issue of each year. It should be followed by a list of 3 to 10 key words which will be used for indexing the article. The terms used must be as listed in the Index Medicus: Medical Subject Headings (MeSH).
Text
The text may be written in Portuguese, English, French or Spanish. It must be laid out according to the format in the template. It should not exceed twelve pages for original articles and six pages for case reports. The text should be subdivided into: Introduction; Methods; Results; Discussion; and Conclusions.
Any abbreviations used should be spelled out the first time they are used. Abbreviations are not accepted in the titles of papers. Parameters or values measured should be expressed in international units (SI units, The SI for the Health Professions, WHO, 1977), using the corresponding abbreviations adopted in Portugal.
Numbers from one to ten should be written in full, except in the case of decimals or units of measurement. Numbers above ten are written as figures, except at the beginning of a sentence. Figures are numbered with Arabic numerals while tables are numbered with Roman numerals.
Acknowledgements should be placed at the end of the text.
References
References should be typed in the same format as the text and should be numbered in the order in which they appear in the text; each reference number should be inserted in the text. No more than 30 references for original articles and 11 for case reports will be accepted.
The following details should be given in references to (a) journals, (b) chapters of books by other authors, or (c) books written or edited by the same authors:
a)
Journals: Names of all authors (except if there are more than six, in which case the first three are listed followed by “et al.”), the title of the article, the name of the journal (using the abbreviations in Index Medicus), year, volume and pages. Example: Klein LW, Pichard AD, Holt J, Smith H, Gorlin R, Teichholz LE. Effects of chronic tobacco smoking on the coronary circulation. J Am Coll Cardiol 1983;1:421-6.
The abbreviations used to designate the most commonly cited journals are listed in the first issue of each year. Definite articles, indefinite articles and conjunctions are omitted in these citations. In the case of an abstract presented during a scientific meeting and only published in the form of an abstract, the abbreviation “abst.” should be used.
b)
Chapters of books: Name(s) and initials of the author(s) of the chapter or contribution cited. Title and number of the chapter or contribution. Name and initials of the medical editors, title of book, city and name of publisher, year of publication, first and last page of the chapter. Example: Schiebler GL, Van Mierop LHS, Krovetz LJ. Diseases of the tricuspid valve. In: Moss AJ, Adams F, eds. Heart Disease in Infants, Children and Adolescents. Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins, 1968; 134-9.
c)
Books: Name(s) and initials of the author(s). Title of book. City and name of publisher, year of publication, page. Example: Berne E. Principles of Group Treatment. New York: Oxford University Press, 1966:26.
Legends
The legends to figures should be typed with double spacing and on separate sheets, numbered in sequence after the last page of the references. They should be as concise as possible. Abbreviations used in the figures should be spelled out in alphabetical order. Figures are numbered in Arabic numerals in the order in which they appear in the text.
Figures
All figures presented in the paper (in .jpg format) should be of a suitable definition and size to transmit all the information with the greatest possible detail and accuracy. Figures should have a meaningful title and be located at the appropriate point in the file.
The total number of figures or tables must not exceed eight for original articles and five for case reports. Figures or tables in color, or those in excess of the specified numbers, will be published at the authors’ expense in the paper version.
Letters or symbols in the figures should be large enough to allow the figure to be reduced in size without becoming illegible. Diagrams, graphs, charts, etc., must have a line width of at least 1 pt. In vectorcardiograms the loops must be black on a white background. Echocardiograms will be reduced to the width of a column (72 mm) whenever possible.
The figure must contain all the information required for its interpretation. Angiograms should show contrast substances in white. In the case of electrocardiograms, pressure curves and other recordings, the details mentioned in the text or in the legend should be clearly visible with no ambiguity.
When reproducing figures taken from other publications (books or journals), authors must obtain the required authorization in advance from the publishers, according to copyright laws.
A figure presented in the Word document must be associated with a jpg file via a hyperlink. If the authors also wish the figure to be available at a larger size in a web browser, another jpg file should be attached containing the bigger image. This file must have the same name as the file of the original figure but with the extension -b (eg. figure1.jpg and figure1-b.jpg). These two jpg files, with the original and expanded images, should be uploaded to the Journal’s website together with the Word file.
The definition and size of these images should be selected bearing in mind the need to balance the accuracy and detail of the information with the requirements of presenting it using a web browser within an acceptable loading time. The authors should remember that many readers of the Journal may still have dial-up connections (56 kbp/s) and it is therefore recommended that the original jpg file should not exceed 20 kbytes and the larger figure file should not exceed 100 kbytes.
Tables
The authors should insert tables at the appropriate points in the text. Each table should be sufficiently large to ensure that all the information is legible and should be typed with double spacing. All tables should have an informative title at the top and be numbered in Roman numerals according to the order in which they appear in the text. Abbreviations used should be spelled out below each table. Vertical separating lines should not be used and horizontal lines should be limited to headings and subheadings.
Modifications and Revisions
If the paper is accepted subject to modifications, these must be submitted within twenty days of notification. Proof copies will be sent to the authors in electronic form together with an indication of the time limit for revisions, which will depend on the Journal’s publishing schedule. Failure to comply with this deadline will mean that the authors’ revisions may not be accepted, any further revisions being carried out by the Journal’s staff.
Reprints
Twenty-five reprints will sent free of charge to the corresponding author. Reprints in excess of 25 may be provided at the authors’ expense if a request is made before printing.
Letters to the Editor
Letters to the editor should consist of critical comment on an article published in the Journal and must not exceed 300 words, with a maximum of six references. This also applies to authors’ responses.