* Figures including composite parts a,b,c, etc. will only be allowed if ALL of the constituting parts are
mounted into 1 image / 1 electronic file.
IMPORTANT: ALL papers submitted not-conforming to the above specifications will not be considered for review and
immediately returned to the authors - note that it saves time and effort to submit correctly the first time
around.
Subject categories.
The most appropriate subject category should be selected and indicated for your paper from the following: Aortic and aneurysmal, Arrhythmia, Assisted circulation, Cardiac general, Cardiopulmonary bypass, Carotid and imaging, Congenital, Coronary, Esophagus, Experimental, Infrainguinal, Pulmonary, Renal and visceral, Thoracic general, Transplantation, Valves, Vascular thoracic, Vascular general, Venous
Language.
Manuscripts must be written in English. Spelling can be British or American, but consistent throughout.
Layout/presentation.
The whole manuscript should be keyed double-spaced throughout. The pages should be numbered. Where appropriate
(see table), manuscripts should be organized as follows: (a) Title page; (b) Abstract and Key words; (c) text
with the following sections: Introduction, Materials and methods, Results, Discussion, Acknowledgements;
(d) Tables; (e) Figure legends; (f) Video legends; and (g) References. Any figures and videos should be
supplied as outlined below.
Title page.
The title page should include a brief and descriptive title of the article (no abbreviations allowed), the first
name and surname(s) of the author(s) (but no qualifications), and the name and location of the establishment
where the research was carried out (in English). The name, address, telephone, fax numbers and the
e-mail address of the corresponding author should be typed at the bottom of the title page. If the
manuscript was presented at a meeting, the meeting name, venue, and the date should be indicated.
An exact word count of the abstract and of the text, excluding figures, tables and references,
should be given. All sources of funding for the work should be acknowledged in a footnote.
Abstract.
The abstract is an essential and the most read part of the paper. It should be factual and free of
abbreviations except for SI units of measurement. The abstract should be printed on a separate page.
A structured abstract must have four sections: (1) Objectives: should describe the problem
addressed in the study and its purpose. (2) Methods: should explain how the study was performed
(basic procedures with study materials and observational and analytical methods). (3) Results:
should describe the main findings with specific data and their statistical significance, if possible.
(4) Conclusions: should contain the main conclusion of the study.
Key words.
Following the abstract, up to 3-6 key words should be given for subject indexing. They should be taken from
Index Medicus or composed on similar lines.
Text
Introduction: should state the purpose of the investigation and give a short review of pertinent literature.
Materials and methods: should be described in detail with appropriate information about patients or
experimental animals. Use of abbreviations renders the text difficult to read; abbreviations should be
limited to SI units of measurement and to those most commonly used, e.g. VSD, ASD, CABG. Generic names
of drugs and equipment should be used throughout the manuscript, with brand names (proprietary name) and
the name and location (place, state) of the manufacturer in brackets when first mentioned in the text.
Results: should be reported concisely and regarded as an important part of the manuscript. They should be
presented either in tables and figures, and briefly commented on in the text, or in the text alone. Repetition
of results should be avoided! For statistical analysis, follow the 'Guidelines for data reporting and
nomenclature' (Ann Thorac Surg 1988;46:260-261).
Discussion: is an interpretation of the results and their significance with reference to pertinent work
by other authors. It should be clear and concise. The importance of the study and its limitations should
be discussed.
Acknowledgements: of personal assistance should, if appropriate, be placed at
the end of the text.
Tables: should be self-explanatory, supplementing but not duplicating the text. A brief title should be
provided. Any abbreviations used in the Tables should be defined. Each Table should be keyed on a
separate page.
Legends: required for each figure and video (see also below).
References: should be arranged sequentially following appearance in the text. References should be cited
in the text as numbers in square brackets. Personal communications, websites and unpublished data should
not be included in the list of references, but can be mentioned in the text only. All authors should be
listed (use of 'et al.' is not acceptable). Journals should be indexed in, and their abbreviations conform
to, Index Medicus. Please follow this reference style carefully as the reference list will be hypertext
linked to enable the reviewers to cross-reference on-line.
Presentation examples as follows:
Journals
[1] Solaini L, Bagnioni P, Grandi U. Role of videoendoscopy in pulmonary surgery: present experience.
Eur J Cardiothorac Surg 1995;9:65-68.
Books
[2] Cooley DA. Techniques in cardiac surgery. Philadelphia: Saunders, 1984:167-176.
Multi-author books
[3] Huang GJ, Wu YK. Operative technique for carcinoma of the esophagus and gastric cardia.
In: Huang GJ, Wu YK, editors. Carcinoma of the esophagus and gastric cardia. Berlin: Springer, 1984:313-348.
On-line-only publications (note: DOI is the only acceptable on-line citation)
[4] Kazaz M, Celkan MA, Ustunsoy H, Baspinar O. Mitral annuloplasty with biodegradable ring for infective endocarditis: a new tool for the surgeon for valve repair in childhood. Interact CardioVasc Thorac Surg
doi:10.1510/icvts.2005.105833.
Authors are encouraged to cite previous key references from EJCTS/ICVTS in order to establish that their
studies are well founded.
Figures.
All artwork and lettering must be of professional quality. Artwork should be black/white where possible but necessary color figures will be considered if approved by the Editors - and then at zero cost to authors. Figures should be numbered in the order they appear in the text.
Videos.
Where appropriate, video sequences may be submitted using standard digital video formats. Videos must
be relevant and contain only vital/novel information and should ideally run no longer than 30 seconds
(see specifications below). One still image (screen shot) per video must also be submitted. Videos
will be displayed in the on-line journal only - the video URL address will be printed in the hardcopy
journal to link to the video in the on-line journal. Videos should be numbered in the order they appear
in the text.
Submissions procedure
For BETS papers, first refer to the website:
http://www.bestbets.org/background/betsformat.html
prior to submitting to ICVTS.
Electronic manuscripts - on-line submission (preferred)
Manuscripts submitted on-line can be handled much more efficiently generally resulting in a shorter reviewing process.
First time users need to register. Electronic manuscripts should be submitted via:
http://submit-ejcts.ctsnetjournals.org
Please complete the on-line submission carefully and upload the following items as specified:
- Text (including title page) and Tables (plus any embedded artwork - optional) combined into ONE word
processor file (.doc or .rtf preferred) - upload as Manuscript file.
- Artwork for on-line review (creation of optimal PDF): .jpg files preferred (specification: 72 dots per
inch/600 pixel screen width, grayscale for black and white, RGB for color). One file per figure - upload as
Image files.
- Original artwork for print (all revised manuscripts only): .tif files obligatory (specification: sized
to 8.4 cm column width, resolution: 1000 dots per inch for line art, 300 dots per inch for grayscale/combine/color,
CMYK for color) - upload as Supplemental files. This specification enables your artwork to be reproduced with the
best possible printing quality. Failure to upload print quality artwork files with the revision will delay
eventual publication. If unable to supply artwork electronically in the required format (only), post
hard-copies (GLOSSY PRINTS) to the address below for scanning.
- Video (on-line viewing only): .avi, .mov, .mpg or .rm files preferred (specification: frame size:
320 x 240 pixels, duration: maximum 30 seconds, number of frames/second: 20-30). Corresponding still
images also required: .jpg preferred (specification: 72 dots per inch) - upload as Supplemental files.
Hard-copy manuscripts
Post/courier to: Prof. L.K. von Segesser, Editor-in-Chief, c/o Editorial Office ICVTS, av. Grand-St.-Bernard
69B (app. 6), CH-1920 Martigny (VS), Switzerland. Tel: (+41) 27 7236171; Fax: (+41) 27 7236173;
e-mail: info{at}icvts.org
One complete copy of the manuscript and three sets of original illustrations - including still image(s) for any
video(s) (marked on the back to indicate the corresponding author's name, the figure number and the top edge) should
be submitted together with the electronic file of the text (and artwork/videos if possible) on disk, zip disk or CD.
Note that the review system is totally electronic so you must be prepared to register and work on-line to further
process your submission - even if you submitted on paper with disk. Also, processing of hard-copy manuscripts is
generally slower than for electronic submissions.
Revised manuscripts
Label accordingly (2nd, 3rd version) including new figures, videos and tables; provide a covering letter, replying
point-by-point to the Editor's and referees' comments, and describing the changes which have been made in the
revised version. Highlight the changes in the revised manuscript to facilitate editorial reassessment.
Copyright © 2008 European Association for Cardio-thoracic Surgery
