Submission

Make a new submission or view your pending submissions.

Submission Preparation Checklist

As part of the submission process, authors must confirm their submission's adherence to all of the following items. Submissions that do not comply with these guidelines may be returned to authors.

  • The submission has not been previously published, nor is it currently under consideration by another journal.
  • The submission file is in Microsoft Word document format.
  • URLs for the references, where available, have been provided.
  • The text is single-spaced, uses a 12-point font, employs italics instead of underlining (except with URL addresses), and all illustrations, figures, and tables are placed within the text at appropriate points, rather than at the end.
  • 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 supplementary files.
  • 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.
  • 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.

Author Guidelines

Submit a Manuscript to JHDT

JHDT seeks original investigative and clinical work on any subject relevant to cardiac surgical science or practice. JHDT 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. 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 describing the composition procedures, citations, references, and submission. Potential authors are requested to carefully review the journal's entire Disclaimers and Conditions section.

Types of Publications

JHDT requires authors to submit original manuscripts, i.e., those not under consideration or published elsewhere. Manuscript types include, but are not limited to:

  • Original Research: Original articles generally follow a format that includes the following sections: Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion, and Conclusion (IMRAD). JHDT encourages authors to follow the guidelines for research articles. To reduce bias and increase transparency, JHDT strongly recommends that authors pre-register all clinical trials and systematic reviews.
  • Review: Reviews provide a comprehensive overview of a specific hot topic. They range from a rigorous, in-depth, systematic assessment of the literature to a less formal review based on selected evidence and expert opinion. Reviews are often widely read and highly cited. JHDT will use SANRA to evaluate narrative reviews during the editorial process and peer review. These manuscripts typically cite around 60 primary research articles. The maximum length of a review article is 8,000 words (excluding abstracts and tables).
  • Systematic Review: Systematic reviews use systematic methods to collect primary data, critically appraise research studies, and synthesize findings qualitatively or quantitatively. JHDT encourages authors to follow PRISMA guidelines. These manuscripts generally include a structured abstract of up to 100 words, 35 references, and a total word count not exceeding 2,500 words (excluding the abstract and tables).
  • Case Reports: Case Reports provide detailed and focused accounts of specific clinical cases or a small subset of cases. They share unique, interesting, or rare clinical experiences that contribute to the medical literature. JHDT encourages authors to follow CARE guidelines. These manuscripts generally include a non-structured abstract of up to 150 words, 15 references, and 6 illustrations. The total word count should not exceed 2,000 words (excluding the abstract and tables).
  • Surgical Technique: These articles provide a detailed description of a specific surgical procedure or method. They discuss indications and contraindications, surgical anatomy, procedural techniques, postoperative management, key points and pitfalls, as well as complications. These articles generally include a non-structured abstract of up to 150 words, 6 illustrations, and a maximum of 10 references. The total word count should not exceed 2,500 words (excluding the abstract and tables). Videos and/or high-resolution photos are strongly encouraged.
  • Editorial: Editorials represent important opinion articles. They may comment on one or more articles in the same JHDT issue or on an area of current interest. These types of manuscripts may have a maximum of three authors and should be brief and focused, not exceeding 1,500 words, 30 references, and one table or figure. There is no abstract. JHDT welcomes Editorials on topics of current interest.

Rapid Submission Process

JHDT requires all new submissions to be uploaded to our online submission and review portal as Microsoft Word documents. To facilitate easy submission, please avoid the following when submitting to JHDT:

  • Do not double space.
  • Do not separate sections onto individual pages. Only place a blank line or two between sections.
  • Do not indent paragraphs; just separate them by a blank line.
  • DO NOT CAPITALIZE in an attempt to create emphasis.
  • Avoid fancy fonts, sizes, special kerning, or leading in the text.
  • Avoid superscripts or subscripts; include any such information within square brackets.
  • 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.

All manuscripts should be divided into the following key sections, separated only by a blank line. For case reports, a dedicated section titled 'Case Report' may be used instead of the Materials/Methods and Results sections mentioned above. The format for Editorials and Collective Reviews remains open-ended and unstructured.

  • Title: Titles should be concise, specific, and informative. See the AMA Manual of Style for more details.
  • Authors’ Information: Complete contact information for the corresponding author and all coauthors is required at the time of submission. This includes affiliation, complete address information, first and last names, email addresses, and institutional affiliations. JHDT encourages the listing of authors’ ORCID. All authors are fully responsible for the originality, validity, and integrity of their submissions. Using AI-based tools and technologies for content generation does not comply with our authorship criteria. If AI was used for writing assistance, this should be described in the acknowledgment section. For more details, refer to our AI policy.
  • Abstract: The Abstract should not exceed 350 words. Abbreviations that appear once should be defined in full. Do not cite references, figures, tables, or websites, and do not include equations or graphical elements.
  • Keywords: Submit a short list (3-10) of keywords with the manuscript.
  • Introduction: State the objectives of the work and provide background information. Reference all relevant literature and discuss related work.
  • Materials and Methods: Describe materials and procedures in detail to allow replication. Use the International System of Units (SI). Reports involving human participants must describe ethical approval and consent. Statistical analyses should be detailed, including the name of the statistical test, sample size, comparisons of interest, alpha level, exact p-value, and statistical software used.
  • Results: Provide specific answers to the aims outlined in the introduction. Include a concise summary of data and appropriate statistical tests. Use univariate scatter plots, box plots, and histograms for data presentation.
  • Discussion: Explore the significance of the results without repeating them. A combined Results and Discussion section is often appropriate. Focus on discrepancies between results and previously published findings.
  • Conclusions: Present the main conclusions of the study.
  • Availability of Data and Materials: Provide detailed information about data access if applicable. See examples of data availability statements for more details.
  • Author Contributions: List the contributions of each author based on the provided criteria.
  • Ethics Approval and Consent to Participate: Include the Institutional Review Board Statement, approval date, and approval number for studies involving humans or animals.
  • Acknowledgment: Acknowledge any support not covered by the author contribution or funding sections.
  • Funding: List all funding sources and ensure accuracy. See more about Funding policies.
  • Conflict of Interest: Declare any conflicts of interest. If there are none, use the wording: “The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest.”
  • Supplementary Materials: Provide related supplemental data to be posted online. Central results should be in the main article.

References

  • The reference list is sorted numerically.
  • Verify the accuracy of all references and ensure all are cited in the text.
  • List all authors if there are fewer than six; if there are more than six, list the first six and then "et al."
  • Use the [number] format for references in the text.
  • Follow the provided sample reference citation format.

In-text Citations

  • Cite articles using a number corresponding to their reference list number.

**Figures, Photographs, and Artwork**

  • Submit images in .tiff or .jpg formats with 300 dpi or greater.
  • Authors are encouraged to take color photographs of surgical cases or techniques.
  • Patient names must not appear on any submitted photo, x-ray, or angiogram.
  • Images should be placed in the appropriate position within the text, not at the end.

 

**Tables**

  • Submit tables in .rtf or .doc formats.
  • Tables should be placed in the appropriate position within the text, not at the end.

 

Appeals and Complaints

  • Authors may submit an appeal to the editorial office if they believe an editor has made an error in declining a paper.

Allegations of Research Misconduct

  • JHDT adheres to COPE and WAME guidelines on misconduct. The process for handling misconduct includes contacting the corresponding author for investigation and potentially retracting the article if necessary. The complainant’s identity will be protected throughout the investigation.

Erratum, Editorial Expressions of Concern, Corrections, and Retractions

To ensure the integrity of all published or potentially published academic records, whenever it is recognized that a materially inaccurate, misleading statement, or distorted report has been published, it must be corrected promptly. Corrections to published articles that affect the interpretation and conclusions of the article, but do not completely invalidate the article, will be made through early publication of corrections or editorial expressions of concern at the editor's discretion. Retraction of a published article may be necessary if the scientific information in the article has been seriously compromised by either error or misconduct. Retraction notices will be indexed and linked back to the original article. More details about Erratum, Editorial Expressions of Concern, Corrections, and Retractions.

Copyright Notice

By submitting a manuscript to the Journal of Heart Disease and Therapy, authors agree to the following terms:

Authors retain copyright of their submitted work but grant the Journal of Heart Disease and Therapy a worldwide, royalty-free, non-exclusive license to publish, reproduce, distribute, and display the work in any medium, provided proper attribution is given and the work is shared under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0) license.

The Journal of Heart Disease and Therapy retains the right to sublicense the work, including the right to authorize others to use, reproduce, adapt, and distribute the work, under the same CC BY-SA 4.0 license terms.

Authors acknowledge that their submission complies with all applicable copyright laws and regulations and that they have obtained all necessary permissions and approvals for any third-party material included in their work.

Authors understand that manuscripts accepted for publication may undergo editing for clarity, style, and length, but substantive changes will not be made without their consent.

Authors affirm that the submitted manuscript is original, has not been previously published (in whole or in part), and is not under consideration for publication elsewhere.

Authors agree to properly attribute the Journal of Heart Disease and Therapy as the original source of publication and provide a link to the journal's website for readers to access the work under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license.

Authors acknowledge that failure to comply with these terms may result in the rejection of their submission or the withdrawal of published work from the journal.

By confirming agreement with this copyright notice, authors grant permission for their work to be published by the Journal of Heart Disease and Therapy under the terms outlined above.