Guide for Authors

       

Instructions for Authors

  1. Journal  of Cardio-Thoracic Medicine (JCTM)  accepts Original Articles, Review Articles, Short Communications , Letters  to the Editor and Image in Cardio-Thoracic Medicine in the fields of respiratory medicine, cardiology, cardio-thoracic surgery, heart and lung   transplant 

   2.  Submissionhttp://jctm.mums.ac.ir/contacts?_action=loginForm

    Manuscript must be accompanied by a covering letter to the Editor-in-Chief, including title and author(s) name and undertaking that it has not been published or submitted elsewhere. Manuscript should be typed in Microsoft Word format in double space with standard margins on both sides.

   3. The manuscript should include:

  • Title page
  • Introduction
  • Materials & Methods
  • Results
  • Discussion 
  • Conclusion
  • Acknowledgement and References
 

    - The title page: The complete title of the manuscript, the name of all the authors with their highest qualifications, the department or institution to which they are attached, address for correspondence with telephone numbers, e-mail, and Fax number. 

  -Abstract: All original articles must accompany a structured abstract up to 350 words. It should be structured as Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results and Conclusions followed by 3 to 5 Keywords. Keywords will assist indexers in cross indexing the article as they are published with abstract. Use terms from the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) list of index medicus Authors need to be careful that the abstract reflects the content of the article accurately.

  - Introduction: This should summarize the purpose and the rationale for the study. It should neither review the subject extensively nor should it have data or conclusions of the study.

   - Materials & Methods: This should include exact method or observation or experiment. If an apparatus is used, its manufacturer’s name and address should be given in parenthesis. If the method is established, give reference but if the method is new, give enough information so that another author is able to perform it. If a drug is used, its generic name, dose and route of administration must be given. For patients, age, sex with mean age ± standard deviation must be given. Statistical method must be mentioned and specify any general computer program used. The Info system used should be clearly mentioned.

     - Results: It must be presented in the form of text, tables and figure. The contents of the tables should not be all repeated in the text. Instead, a reference to the table number may be given. Long articles may need sub-headings within some sections (especially the Results and Discussion parts) to clarify their contents. 

    - Discussion: This should emphasize the present findings and the variations or similarities with other work done in the field by other workers. The detailed data should not be repeated in the discussion again. Emphasize the new and important aspects of the study and the conclusions that follow from them. It must be mentioned whether the hypothesis mentioned in the article is true, false or no conclusions can be derived. 

   - Acknowledgement: All contributors who do not meet the criteria for authorship should be covered in the acknowledgement section. It should include persons who provided technical help, writing assistance and departmental head who only provided general support. Financial and material support should also be acknowledged. 

   -  Conflicts of interest:  Authors must acknowledge and declare any sources of funding and potential conflicting interest, such as receiving funds or fees by, or holding stocks and shares in, an organization that may profit or lose through publication of your paper. Declaring a competing interest will not lead to automatic rejection of the paper, but we would like to be made aware of it.

   - Statement of Human and Animal Right for JCTM;

   All manuscripts reporting the results of experimental investigations involving human subjects should include a statement, confirming that informed written consent was obtained from each subject or the subject’s guardian. The study must also be approved by local ethics committee and the study must comply with 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its subsequent revisions.

   For animal studies, it must be in compliance with the regulation(s) of local institution and with generally accepted guideline governing such work.

    -Tables: In limited numbers should be submitted with the captions placed above. Do not submit tables as photograph. Place explanatory matters in footnotes, not in the heading. 

   - References: References should be numbered consecutively in the order of their citation in the text and should be identified by numbers in square brackets. The maximum number of references is 35 for Original Article and 20 for Case Reports. Works accepted for publication but not yet released should be indicated by "in press" in parentheses after the name of the publication concerned. Do not cite personal communications or unpublished work. Avoid using abstracts as references. References should conform to the format outlined below:

    - Journals: list the first 6 authors' surnames and initials, followed by "et al." (if more than 6 authors), full title of the article, correct abbreviation of the journal name (conform to that used in Index Medicus), year, volume number, first and last pages.

    Cutlip DE, Windecker S, Mehran R, Boam A, Cohen DJ, van Es GA, et al. Clinical end points in coronary stent trials: a case for standardized definitions. Circulation 2007;115:2344–2351.

   -Books : list authors' surnames and initials, chapter title, editor's name(s) and initial(s), book title, edition, city, publisher, date, first and last pages. Schwartz DT. Diagnostic Imaging. In: Flomenbaum NE, Goldfrank LR, Hoffman RS, Howland MA, Lewin NA, Nelson LS, editors. Goldfrank's Toxicologic Emergencies. 8th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill; 2006. p.63-87

   - Figures:  Figures and artwork should be submitted as separate files in JPG or TIFF format. Figures should be utilized only if they augment understandability of the text. Drawings and graphs should be professionally prepared in deep black and white with no shading. Professionally designed computer generated graphs with a minimum of 300 DPI laser printer output is preferable. Color photographs are welcomed. Vector graphics containing fonts must have the fonts embedded in the files. For lettering the figures, use 8-12 point (only one size)  Helvetica fonts.

    4. Preparation of Manuscripts

   Original articles: Original articles should not exceed 350 words in abstract and 3500 in main text from introduction through references. They should be compiled in the following order: Title Page, Abstract, Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion, Limitations, Conclusion, Acknowledgments, References, Tables with titles and Figures with legends (see below). The total number of tables and figures combined may not exceed 6, and the number of references may not exceed 35.

   Case Reports: Case Reports should not exceed 250-300 words in abstract and 2500 words in main text from introduction   through references. They should include following sections: Introduction, Case reports and Discussion (Comments). The total number of table and figures combined may not exceed 3-5, and the number of references may not exceed 15.

   Short communication: These are short articles of original research consistent which are not exceeding 2500 words from   introduction through references. On the second page, an abstract of fewer than 250 words should be included. The manuscript   should be divided into the following sections: Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion and Conclusion. The total number of   tables and figures combined may not exceed 3, and the number of references may not exceed 15.

 

   Letter to editor: Letters to the editor should be limited to commentaries on previous articles published in JCTM. Letters that   are commentaries on previous articles must be submitted within 6 months after publication of the article. Length of Letters to     the Editor should be no more than 2 pages, including references. Only 1 table or figure may accompany a Letter to editor.

    Image in Cardio-Thoracic Medicine: Image in Cardio‐Thoracic Medicine Should be limited to interesting images in the field of Cardio‐Thoracic Medicine with short history of patient and maximum 5 Figures.

   - Disposal of material: Once published, all copies of the manuscript, correspondence and artwork will be held for 6 months before disposal. 

   - Proof Reading: A computer printout is sent to the corresponding author for proof reading before publication in order to avoid any mistakes. Corrections should be marked clearly and sent immediately to the Journal office. 

    - Abbreviations and symbols: Use only standard abbreviations. Avoid using them in the title and abstract. The full term for which an abbreviation stands should precede its first use in the text unless it is a standard unit of measurement. 

   - corresponding author:  Will be supplied with 2 free issues. 

   5.  Page charges:  There are no charges for publication in this Journal. 

   - Copyright:The entire contents of the journal of cardiothoracic medicine are protected under international copyrights. This Journal is for your personal noncommercial use. You may not modify copy, distribute, transmit, display, or publish any materials contained on the Journal without the prior written permission of it or the appropriate copyright owner. Copyright Form

   - Authorship should reflect all 4 of the following criteria:  

   Authors contributions: 1-carried out date collection, 2-participated in date collection, 3-date analysis and study design, 4-performed Study design and writing

  •     “Revising the article” AND
  •  Final approval of the version to be published

   Supplementary materials:

   -  Copyright Form

   -  Cover letter

   -  Conflicts of Interest Form

   -  Patient consent form