Author Guide
Updated 1/22/2019
1. Purpose of the Journal
The primary objective of The Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing (JCN) is to foster expert, evidence-based clinical practice of cardiovascular nurses by publishing outstanding cardiovascular research with clinical relevance, and state-of-the art, systematic reviews of the cardiovascular research literature. Issues address physiological, psychological and social responses, and the prevention and management of cardiovascular disease among individuals, families and communities in a variety of environments.
2. Types of Publications Accepted for Review
JCN publishes unsolicited full-length articles and brief reports on any cardiovascular topic. In the full-length article category, authors are encouraged to submit (1) original quantitative, qualitative and mixed-methods research articles; (2) analytical, systematic reviews or integrative reviews in which existing knowledge is codified; (3) instrument development papers and psychometric testing of new instruments; and (4) clinical articles in which information in a specific area or guiding the practice of specialists in the field is synthesized. We do not publish quality improvement projects because the knowledge gained is not generalizable beyond the local setting.
In the brief report category, we ask authors to submit innovative (1) pilot studies, (2) studies with negative findings, (3) descriptions of study designs from ongoing investigations that include descriptions of novel methods or interventions from unique clinical trials, and (4) validation of an existing instrument.
The decision to accept or reject any article before or after review is based on the judgment of the editors and of peer reviewers.
3. Manuscript Submission Instructions Common to Full-Length Articles and Brief Reports
A. Online manuscript submission: All manuscripts must be submitted online through the Web site at http://jcn.edmgr.com/. First-time users: Please click the Register button from the menu on the Web site and enter the requested information. After successful registration, you will be sent an e-mail indicating your user name and password. If you have received an e-mail from us with an assigned user ID and password, or if you are a repeat user, do not register again, just log in. Once you have an assigned ID and password, you do not have to reregister, even if your status changes (i.e., author or reviewer). If you are submitting a manuscript for the first time please review the Author Tutorial.
Once ready to submit your manuscript, please click the Log-In button from the menu at the top of the page and log in to the system as an author. Submit your manuscript according to the author instructions. You will be able to track the progress of your manuscript through the system. If you experience any problems, please contact the JCN Editorial Manager, Jeanine Vezie at jdvezie@outlook.com.
B. Manuscript Contents: Every manuscript must include the following upon submission or the manuscript will be returned to the author for correction:
Title page that includes (1) title of the article, (2) author names (with highest academic degrees) and affiliations (including titles, departments, and name and location of institutions of primary employment), (3) corresponding author’s name and complete address including email, and phone number, (4) any acknowledgments, credits, or disclaimers, including funding sources and conflicts of interest, and (5) number of words in the text; number of tables and figures. PLEASE NOTE: acknowledgments, credits, or disclaimers, including funding sources and conflicts of interest MUST ONLY BE LOCATED on the title page. Please do not put any of this information on the manuscript to keep your manuscript blinded as we use a blinded review process.
Abstract describing the main points of the article. If your submission is a research article (including psychometric studies), in either the full-length or brief report category, prepare a structured abstract with the following headings: (1) background; (2) objective; (3) methods; (4) results; and (5) conclusions. If the article is not a research article, please prepare a structured abstract with the following headings: (1) background; (2) purpose; (3) conclusions; and (4) clinical implications.
Keywords: Include 3 to 5 key words that describe the contents of the article. To identify key words that help readers find your article, look in the National Library of Medicine's Medical Subject Headings (MeSH). Using keywords that are compatible with MeSH will help people find your article, identify it as relevant, and increase your citations.
Each manuscript submitted must include a section entitled, “What’s New?” that includes in bullet point form (2-3 short bullets only) a summary of the findings that address conclusions and implications for practice. Place this section on a separate page after the references. Use this section to address the “so what?” of your findings.
Written permission, including complete source, for any borrowed text, tables, or figures (form attached to the end of this file).
EACH AUTHOR on the paper must answer all the authorship verifications/copyright transfer questions after submission. The corresponding author completes this when submitting during the "additional information step." The corresponding author provides this information for each coauthor upon submission. Information the corresponding author must provide includes a legitimate coauthor email to ensure each coauthor receives the email asking them to verify authorship. Each coauthor is emailed a hyperlink to verify their co-authorship and complete the questionnaire transferring copyright. The questions all must be answered before the manuscript will be processed.
Every manuscript must follow the following additional guidelines:
4. Manuscript Submission Instructions Specific to Full-Length Articles
Prepare an abstract as described above that is 250 words or less in length
The word limit is 4500 words for the text only. The word limit does not include the title page, abstract, references, tables or figures.
Use no more than 75 references and be sure to include up to date references as well as important earlier work.
5. Manuscript Submission Instructions Specific to Brief Reports
Prepare an abstract as described above that is 150 words or less in length
Word limit is 3000 words, excluding title page, table, figure and references, tables or figures.
Only 1 table and 1 figure can be included.
Use 25 or fewer references.
6. Author’s Manuscript Checklist for Submission
The manuscript preparation guidelines below must be followed carefully. We are sorry, but your manuscript will be returned to you if instructions are not followed, thus, delaying the publication process.
The manuscripts must be prepared in accordance with the style guidelines of the 10th edition of the AMA Manual of Style.
Avoid the use of excessive abbreviations, particularly non-standard abbreviations.
Do not use abbreviations in the title or any headings.
Please take care to prepare your references in the correct format (examples shown below).
Number each page of the manuscript.
Manuscripts must be created using Microsoft Word or RTF. Do not submit PDFs.
Manuscripts should be entirely double spaced (including quotations, abstract, lists, and references, footnotes, figure captions, and all parts of tables).
Leave 1" margins throughout.
Minimize creative formatting and avoid varying spacing between headings and paragraphs.
Manuscripts should be ordered as follows: title page, abstract, text, references, “What’s New?” bullet points, tables, figure legends and any figures.
The generic (nonproprietary) name of a drug should be used throughout a manuscript. Use the complete name of a drug, including the salt or ester (e.g., tetracycline hydrochloride) at first mention and elsewhere in contents involving dosage. When no generic name exists for a drug, give the chemical name or formula or description of the names.
If English is not your first language, has this manuscript been reviewed by a native English speaker? If not, you may want to use Chapter Editing at www.chapterediting.org, Scientific-Editor at www.scientific-editor.com or Journal Consortium at articles@journalsconsortium.org.
JCN or WK/LWW does not have an affiliation with these companies. These resources are offered only as a suggestion.
References
References must be cited in text and styled in the reference list according to the American Medical Association Manual of Style, Ed. 10.
References should be included on a separate page at the end of the article and should be completely double-spaced.
References should be numbered consecutively in the order they are cited; if a reference is cited more than once, use the original reference number. Cite personal communications in text only and give source, date, and type of communication. Do not use footnotes, except in tables.
Only 75 references are allowed for full-length manuscripts and only 25 are allowed for brief reports.
Examples of correctly styled reference entries:
Journals: Using the punctuation indicated below, include the following items: author, article title, journal, year, volume, issue number in parentheses following the volume number (this element is new with the 10th edition of the AMA guidelines), and inclusive pages. Always give the volume number and the issue number. Abbreviate journal titles per the List of Journals Indexed for Medline, which can be found on the National Library of Medicine website or here: ftp://nlmpubs.nlm.nih.gov/online/journals/ljiweb.pdf
For six or fewer authors, list all authors.
Doe JS, Lister FG, Lise JK, Kellert JL. Allied medical education. JAMA. 1975; 23(3):170–184.
For more than six authors, list the first three followed by et al.
Doe JS, Justin MN, Gum KL, et al. Drug use during high school. Am J Public Health. 1976;64(1):12–22.
Reference to an Entire Book: Author, book title, place of publication, publisher, year.
Farber SD, Ball WD. Neurorehabilitation: A Multisensory Approach. Philadelphia, Pa: Saunders; 1982.
Chapter in an Edited Book:
Winawar S, Lipkin M. Proliferative abnormalities in the gastrointestinal tract. In: Card WI, Creamer B, eds. Modern Trends in Gastroenterology. 4th ed. London, England: Butterworth & Co; 1970.
Tables
We prefer that you do not include lengthy tables of evidence within the manuscript. Lengthy tables can be made available as supplemental digital content (see below for more detail) that will be published online only.
Tables should be on separate pages placed after the references.
Numbers tables consecutively and supply a brief, but fully descriptive title for each. Remember the principle that tables should be able to stand alone, so supply a title that fully explains the content in the table.
For footnotes to appear in the legend, use roman superscript alphabets.
Abbreviations should be defined in a legend at the bottom of the table, even if they have already been defined in the text. List abbreviations in alphabetical order; do not include the word "and" before the last abbreviation.
Cite each table in the text in consecutive order.
If you use data from another published or unpublished source, obtain permission and acknowledge fully.
Figures
Learn about the publication requirements for Digital Artwork: http://links.lww.com/ES/A42
Artwork should be saved as TIFF, EPS, or MS Office (DOC, PPT, XLS) files.
Crop out any white or black space surrounding the image.
Diagrams, drawings, graphs, and other line art must be vector or saved at a resolution of at least 1200 dpi. If created in an MS Office program, send the native (DOC, PPT, XLS) file.
Photographs, radiographs and other halftone images must be saved at a resolution of at least 300 dpi.
Photographs and radiographs with text must be saved as postscript or at a resolution of at least 600 dpi.
Each figure must be saved and submitted as a separate file to Editorial Manager in conjunction with your manuscript. Figures should not be embedded in the manuscript text file.
Cite figures consecutively in your manuscript.
Number figures in the figure legend in the order in which they are discussed.
Upload figures consecutively to the Editorial Manager web site and enter figure numbers consecutively in the Description field when uploading the files.
7. Supplemental Digital Content
Authors may submit Supplemental Digital Content (SDC) for online posting via Editorial Manager that enhance their article's text. SDC may include standard media such as text documents, graphs, audio, video, and the like. On the Attach Files page of the submission process, please select Supplemental Audio, Video, or Data for your uploaded file as the Submission Item. If an article with SDC is accepted, our production staff will create a URL with the SDC file. The URL will be placed in the call-out within the article. SDC files are not copy-edited by LWW staff, they will be presented digitally as submitted. For a list of all available file types and detailed instructions, please visit http://links.lww.com/A142.
SDC Call-Outs
Supplemental Digital Content must be cited consecutively in the text of the submitted manuscript. Citations should include the type of material submitted (Audio, Figure, Table, etc.), be clearly labeled as "Supplemental Digital Content," include the sequential list number, and provide a description of the supplemental content. All descriptive text should be included in the call-out as it will not appear elsewhere in the article.
Example: We performed many tests on the degrees of flexibility in the elbow (see Video, Supplemental Digital Content 1, which demonstrates elbow flexibility) and found our results inconclusive.
List of SDC
A listing of SDC must be submitted at the end of the manuscript file. Include the SDC number and file type of the SDC. This text will be removed by our production staff and not be published.
Example: Supplemental Digital Content 1.wmv
SDC File Requirements
All acceptable file types are permissible up to 10 MBs. For audio or video files greater than 10 MBs, authors should first query the journal office for approval. For a list of all available file types and detailed instructions, please visit http://links.lww.com/A142.
8. Conflicts of Interest
Authors must state all possible conflicts of interest only on the title page, including financial, consultant, institutional and other relationships that might lead to bias or a conflict of interest. If there is no conflict of interest, this should also be explicitly stated as none declared. All sources of funding should be acknowledged on the title page. All relevant conflicts of interest and sources of funding should be included on the title page of the manuscript with the heading “Conflicts of Interest and Source of Funding:” For example:
Conflicts of Interest and Source of Funding: A has received honoraria from Company Z. B is currently receiving a grant (#12345) from Organization Y, and is on the speaker’s bureau for Organization X – the CME organizers for Company A. For the remaining authors none were declared.
In addition, each author must complete and submit the journal's copyright transfer agreement, which includes a section on the disclosure of potential conflicts of interest based on the recommendations of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors, "Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals" (www.icmje.org/update.html). A copy of the form is made available to the submitting author within the Editorial Manager submission process. Co-authors will automatically receive an Email with instructions on completing the form upon submission.
9. Permissions
Authors are responsible for obtaining signed letters from copyright holders granting permission to reprint material being borrowed or adapted from other sources, including previously published material of your own or from Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. This includes forms, checklists, cartoons, text, tables, figures, exhibits, glossaries, and pamphlets; concepts, theories, or formulas used exclusively in a chapter or section; direct quotes from a book or journal that are over 30% of a printed page; and all excerpts from newspapers or other short articles. Without written permission from the copyright holder, these items may not be used. Authors are responsible for any permission fees to borrow reprinted material.
10. Open access
Authors of accepted peer-reviewed articles have the choice to pay a fee to allow perpetual unrestricted online access to their published article to readers globally, immediately upon publication. Authors may take advantage of the open access option at the point of acceptance to ensure that this choice has no influence on the peer review and acceptance process. These articles are subject to the journal's standard peer-review process and will be accepted or rejected based on their own merit.
The article processing charge (APC) is charged on acceptance of the article and should be paid within 30 days by the author, funding agency or institution. Payment must be processed for the article to be published open access. For a list of journals and pricing please visit our Wolters Kluwer Open Health Journals page.
Authors retain copyright for open access articles: Authors retain their copyright for all articles they opt to publish open access. Authors grant Wolters Kluwer an exclusive license to publish the article and the article is made available under the terms of a Creative Commons user license. Please visit our Open Access Publication Process page for more information.
Creative Commons license: Open access articles are freely available to read, download and share from the time of publication under the terms of the Creative Commons License Attribution-NonCommerical No Derivative (CC BY-NC-ND) license. This license does not permit reuse for any commercial purposes nor does it cover the reuse or modification of individual elements of the work (such as figures, tables, etc.) in the creation of derivative works without specific permission.
Compliance with funder mandated open access policies: An author whose work is funded by an organization that mandates the use of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license is able to meet that requirement through the available open access license for approved funders. Information about the approved funders can be found here: http://www.wkopenhealth.com/inst-fund.php
FAQ for open access: http://www.wkopenhealth.com/openaccessfaq.php
