Instructions for Manuscript Preparation

When preparing articles, the authors should follow the instructions listed below should and the international requirements described in the standards summarized by NLM's International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE): Recommendations for the Preparation, Reporting, Editing and Publication of Academic Works in Medical Journals Sample References
(www.nlm.nih.gov/bsd/uniform_require-ments.html) web page and in detail in the NLM’s Citing Medicine, 2nd edition (www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK7256/)

Original articles and brief reports, systematic reviews and meta-analyses will normally (but not necessarily) be divided into sections: heading, introduction, methods, results and discussion. Longer articles may need subheadings in some sections (results and conclusions) to clarify their content. This format is not required when preparing case reports, updates and editorials. The manuscript should be submitted in MS Word format. Pages should be numbered consecutively, beginning with the title page, in the upper right-hand corner of every page. The size of the pages should be letter size, including figure text and legends. Use a 12 pt. font size.

• TITLE

1. a) Title of the article, concise but informative. b) Name, middle initial and last name of each author and institutions with which the authors are affiliated. c) ORCID ID (Open Researcher and Contributor ID, obtained at http://orcid.org) of each author. d) Name of the department or institution to which the work should be attributed. e) Name and address of the author to whom correspondence about the article should be sent. f) Sources of funding (donations, equipment, etc.). f) On the page with the manuscript title, include the word count for the text only and exclude word count of abstract, references, tables and figure legends.

• ABSTRACT AND KEY WORDS

Page 2 of the manuscript of original articles, brief reports and reviews should contain an abstract (see table). The abstract should describe the objectives of the study or investigation, the basic procedures (patient selection or selection of laboratory animals for the study, and observational, analytical and statistical methods), main findings (specific data and their statistical significance, if possible) and main conclusions. It should emphasize the important and new aspects of the study or observation. Below the abstract, the authors should provide or identify no more than 6 key words for indexing purposes. Keywords should be consulted in the Medical Subject Heading (MeSH) of the National Library of Medicine (available on www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/meshbrowser. cgi) or its Spanish version, DECS available on www.decs.bvs. br/E/homepagee.htm.

• TEXT

 

As previously stated, original articles, brief reports, and systematic reviews and meta-analyses will be divided into sections called: a) Introduction, b) Methods, c) Results and d) Discussion. For wound count, number of references, tables and figures, see Table.

Introduction

The Introduction section establishes the objective of the article, summarizes the rationale for the observation of the study and provides only references which are strictly pertinent and should not include data regarding the study conclusion.

Methods

This section clearly describes the selection of subjects for observation and experimentation (patients or laboratory animals, including a control group). It should provide the age, sex and other important characteristics of the subjects, describe the methods, equipment (provide the manufacturer’s name and address) and procedures with sufficient detail to allow other investigators to reproduce the results, and identify the statistical methods used, and the drugs and chemical substances, including the chemical name, dose and route of administration. Randomized clinical trials should provide information on the most important elements of the study, including the protocol and patient inclusion flow chart, and should also follow CONSORT guidelines (http:// www.consort-statement.org). Authors submitting reviews should include a section describing the methods used for data location, selection and synthesis; these methods should be included in the abstract in an abbreviated manner.

Statistical analysis

Statistical methods should be sufficiently described to allow readers to verify the results. When possible, quantify findings and present them with appropriate indicators of measurement, error or uncertainty (such as confidence intervals). Avoid relying solely on statistical hypothesis testing, such as p values, which fail to convey important quantitative information. P values up to 0.001 should be reported with the exact value (e.g., p = 0.234 or 0.003). P values smaller than 0.001 should be reported as p < 0.001. Authors should also provide details about randomization, descriptions of the method ensuring blind observation, and the presence of complications during treatment. If data are summarized under the Results section, the analytical method used for the analysis should be described.  Statistical terms, abbreviations and symbols should be defined.

Ethical considerations

Include all the ethical considerations in a separate section at the end of Methods. Approval by the Institutional or Local Review Board should be clearly indicated, as well as adherence to the Declaration of Helsinki, the Personal Data Protection Law and, when indicated, to the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals. Refer to the corresponding sections in Editorial Policies.

Results

Results should be presented in a logical sequence in the text, tables and illustrations. Do not repeat in the text all data in the tables or illustrations; emphasize or summarize only important observations.  The number of tables and figures used should be restricted to those necessary to explain and support the material presented. Graphs can be used as an alternative for tables with numerous entries.

Measures of length, weight, height and volume should be expressed in the metric system, temperature in degrees Celsius and blood pressure in mm Hg. All clinical, hematological and chemical measurements should be expressed in the metric system or IU.

Use standard abbreviations only. Do not use abbreviations in the title or abstract; when they are used in the text, the complete word should be spelled out before the abbreviation, unless it is a standard measurement unit.

Discussion

The Discussion section should emphasize the new and important aspects of the study and the conclusion thereby derived. Do not repeat data already included in the Introduction or in the Results section. Include the findings, and their implications and limitations, even those for future research. Relate the observations made with those of other important studies. The conclusions should be related with the objectives of the study. Avoid unqualified reports and conclusions that are not completely supported by the data. The authors should avoid providing information about economic cost-benefit relations unless the manuscript includes economic data and their analysis. Avoid claiming priority or referring to other studies that have not been completed. Consider other hypotheses when justified but define them clearly as such. Recommendations may be included, when appropriate.

Conflicts of interest

At the end of the text, under the subtitle Conflicts of interest statement, all authors (of original articles, reviews, editorials or any other type of article) must disclose the presence of conflicts of interest. Refer to the corresponding sections in Editorial Policies.  

Acknowledgments

Acknowledgments should be included in the appendix of the text and should specify: 1) contributions that merit acknowledgment but do not justify authorship, such as the general support of the chair or department. 2) acknowledgment for material and financial support, specifying the nature of the support. Persons who have contributed intellectually to the material but whose involvement does not justify authorship may be named; their role and contribution may also be described. For example: "scientific advisor", "critical review of the purposes of the study", "data collection", or "participation in clinical work". Such persons must give their written consent to be mentioned. It is the authors' responsibility to obtain written permissions from the persons mentioned in the acknowledgments’ section because readers may infer their approval of the data and conclusions. The technical legend should be acknowledged in a separate paragraph. 

Appendix-Supplementary Material

If any material cannot be included in the main text, they can be listed in an Appendix as Supplementary Material. This material includes the questionnaire used for a survey audio or video files or databases.

Funding

Disclosure of funding sources, if present, should be included in this section. Include grant reference number, or numbers of other funding sources of the manuscript, and name of granting agencies.

References

References in text, tables, and legends should be numbered consecutively in the order they are cited in the text using Arabic numbers in parentheses. The maximum number of references for each type of article is presented above in the section "Different articles considered for publication" and in the Table. References should be cited following the style of the examples, which are based on the style used by the Index Medicus.

Articles. The order indicated is: Authors. Title. Journal. Year. Volume. First page number-last page number.   For citations with six (6) or more authors, list the first six authors (last name followed by the initial of the first name for each author) followed by "et al." Example: Enríquez-Sarano M, Tajik AJ, Schaff HV, Orszulak TA, McGoon MD, Bailey KR, et al. Echocardiographic prediction of left ventricular function after correction of mitral regurgitation: results and clinical implications. J Am Coll Cardiol 1994;24:1536-43. For publications in Spanish, use y cols instead.

Book chapter. In this case, the order is: Authors. Title. Editors. Book name. Edition number (if more than one). City. Publisher Year. First page number-last page number. Example: Phillips SJ, Whisnant JP. Hypertension and stroke. En: Laragh JH, Brenner BM, editors. Hypertension: pathophysiology, diagnosis, and management. 2nd ed. New York: Raven Press; 1995. p. 465-78. For publications in Spanish, use 2a ed. y editores.

Avoid citing abstracts. Accepted but not yet published references or material will be designated in press" or "in preparation"; the authors should provide the corresponding written permissions to cite such material. Information from articles that have been submitted but not yet accepted is cited in the text as "unpublished observations" with written permission from the source. Avoid citing "personal communication" unless it contains essential information not available from another source. The name of the person and the date of the communication will be quoted in the text in parentheses. Authors must obtain written permission and confirmation of accuracy of a personal communication. Authors should verify and check references against the original documents.

The Argentine Journal of Cardiology understands as fundamental role to contribute to reflecting the local and regional reality of cardiovascular disease, from pathophysiology of the typical clinical pictures or presentations of this reality to the distinctive diagnostic and therapeutic modalities as a way of contributing to universal knowledge. Therefore, we promote and stimulate the presentation of original articles and references to previous publications that express this reality.

• TABLES AND FIGURES

Tables should be submitted in editable files in MS Word format or MS Excel format so that they can be modified according to the style of the RAC. They should be numbered consecutively in the order in which they were previously cited in the text and with a brief title for each one. Place in each column an abbreviated heading and the explanatory notes should be placed at the foot of the table (not in the headings). All non-standard abbreviations in the table should be placed in alphabetical order at the bottom of the table with their corresponding explanation. For footnotes, use the following symbols in this sequence: *, †, ‡, §, ¶, ¶, **, †††, ‡‡, etc. Statistical measures, as standard deviation and standard error of the mean should be identified. Ensure each table was cited in the text. If you use data from another published or unpublished source, obtain permission and acknowledge fully. The maximum number of tables/figures (in total) for each type of article is presented above in the section "Different articles considered for publication" and in the Table.

Numbers, letters and symbols must be clear and their size appropriate so that even after being reduced for publication all items remain legible. Titles and detailed explanations are placed in the legend text and not in the illustration itself. If photographs of persons are used, either the person should not be identified, or the authors should obtain written permission to use the photograph (see Protecting Patient Privacy).

Figures should be submitted in editable format (MS Power Point or similar) and in .jpg format. They should be numbered consecutively in the order in which they have been previously cited in the text. If a figure has already been published, indicate the original source and attach written permission for its publication. Obtain permission from all authors and publisher, except if the documents are in the public domain. Figures and illustrations are preferred in color.