Echocardiography

A Journal of Cardiovascular Ultrasound and Allied Techniques

The official journal of the International Society of Cardiovascular Ultrasound (ISCU)

Edited by:
Navin C. Nanda

Print ISSN: 0742-2822
Online ISSN: 1540-8175
Frequency: Ten times a year
Current Volume: 27 / 2010
ISI Journal Citation Reports® Ranking: 2008: 52/78 Cardiac & Cardiovascular Systems
Impact Factor: 1.429

TopAuthor Guidelines

NEW: Online production tracking is now available for your article through Wiley-Blackwell's Author Services.

Author Services enables authors to track their article - once it has been accepted - through the production process to publication online and in print. Authors can check the status of their articles online and choose to receive automated e-mails at key stages of production so they don't need to contact the production editor to check on progress. Visit http://authorservices.wiley.com/bauthor/ for more details on online production tracking and for a wealth of resources including FAQs and tips on article preparation, submission and more.

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INSTRUCTIONS FOR AUTHORS

Echocardiography: A Journal of Cardiovascular Ultrasound and Allied Techniques publishes peer-reviewed articles dealing with all aspects of cardiovascular ultrasound and allied techniques.

Editorial communications should be addressed to: Navin C. Nanda, M.D., University of Alabama at Birmingham, Heart Station, SW-S102, 619 19th Street South, Birmingham AL 35249-6846. Phone number: (205) 934-8256; Fax number: (205) 934-6747; E-mail: cchapman@uabmc.edu.

Manuscripts submitted to Echocardiography: A Journal of Cardiovascular Ultrasound and Allied Techniques must not be under simultaneous consideration by any other publication and should not have been published elsewhere in substantially similar form in any language. No part of a paper including illustrations that have been published by Echocardiography: A Journal of Cardiovascular Ultrasound and Allied Techniques may be reproduced or published elsewhere without the written permission of the author(s) and the publisher.

Copyright Transfer: Publication in the journal is subject to the condition that the article (as a whole or in part) has not been published or submitted for publication elsewhere. In submitting the manuscript to the publisher, the author certifies that neither the author's contribution nor any text or figures procured and included by the author infringes upon the rights of a third party, and that the author alone is authorized to dispose of the existing right of utilization. The author will refrain from any other duplication and distribution or digital transfer and reproduction (e.g., on the Internet) during the period of the contract. In order for an article to be distributed as widely as possible in the journal, the author must assign to Wiley-Blackwell the copyright in and to the article, and all rights therein, including but not limited to the right to publish, republish, transmit, sell, distribute and otherwise use the article in whole or in part in electronic and print editions of the Journal and in derivative works throughout the world, in all languages and in all media of expression now known or later developed, and to license or permit others to do so. Reproduction, posting, transmission or other distribution or use of the final article in whole or in part in any medium by the author as permitted by this Agreement requires a citation to the Journal and an appropriate credit to Wiley-Blackwell as Publisher, and/or the Society if applicable, suitable in form and content as follows: (Title of Article, Author, Journal Title and Volume/Issue, Copyright © [year], copyright owner as specified in the Journal). Links to the final article on Wiley-Blackwell's website are encouraged where appropriate.

Copyright Transfer Agreement (CTA)
Authors will be required to sign a Copyright Transfer Agreement (CTA) form. The CTA will allow the publisher to publish the article in print and online, to administer rights, and to follow up on any infringements of copyright. Manuscripts will not be sent to the publisher for production until a CTA form has been signed and submitted. Please submit a completed, signed Copyright Transfer Agreement form when submitting an article for publication. The CTA can be found by clicking on the link http://www.wiley.com/go/ctaaus.

Early View

Echocardiography is covered by Wiley-Blackwell's Early View service. Early View articles are complete full-text articles published online in advance of their publication in a printed issue. Articles are therefore available as soon as they are ready, rather than having to wait for the next scheduled print issue. Early View articles are complete and final. They have been fully reviewed, revised and edited for publication, and the authors' final corrections have been incorporated. Because they are in final form, no changes can be made after online publication. The nature of Early View articles means that they do not yet have volume, issue or page numbers, so Early View articles cannot be cited in the traditional way. They are therefore given a Digital Object Identifier (DOI), which allows the article to be cited and tracked before it is allocated to an issue. After print publication, the DOI remains valid and can continue to be used to cite and access the article.

Indexed/Abstracted In

Adonis, CINAHL, Current Contents/Clinical Medicine, EMBASE/Excerpta Medica, Index Medicus/MEDLINE, INSPEC, ISI Alerting Services, Reference Update, Science Citation Index Expanded, CAB Abstracts, Global Health, EBSCO

Disclaimer

The author(s) are responsible for all material presented in a paper. The journal disclaims all responsibility for such material. No product or service advertised in this publication is guaranteed or warranted either by the editors or the publisher. Neither the editors nor publisher guarantee any claims made by a manufacturer or an author in regard to a product or service. If a trademark item is named, the name(s) and address(s) of the manufacturer(s) or supplier(s), in addition to the generic product name, should be supplied.

Online Manuscript Submission

Authors with internet connections should submit manuscripts, including figures and tables, to the ECHO submission website, http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/echo. Loading instructions are given at this site. For assistance, please contact Scholar One technical support at 434-817-2040, ext. 167 or email support@scholarone.com. If you are not able to submit online, please contact the Editorial Office for instructions.

Manuscripts

All manuscripts should include: Title Page, Abstract (not required for Image Section), and Keywords to be chosen from the list provided in the online submission process to be placed at the end of the abstract. Additional keywords may be submitted to the Editor-in-Chief for consideration.

Categories

Original Investigations. These should be of reasonable length and include new information which would be of interest to the medical community. Only those manuscripts meeting these criteria are forwarded to reviewers for peer review.

Case Reports. The text is limited to three (3) typed double spaced pages. This excludes the Title Page, abstract, references (maximum of 10), illustrations (maximum 6 per page), and figure legends.

Images. No abstract required. The text is limited to 1 typed, double-spaced page (excluding Title Page, a maximum of 4 references, 4 illustrations and figure legends).

Echo Rounds. These are geared toward teaching and the manuscript should be of reasonable length. The format of the manuscript text could be a brief clinical presentation followed by discussion, references, figure legends, and figures, clearly illustrating a teaching point.

Review Articles. These should be of reasonable length and focus on subjects of interest to the readers.

Editorials. While the Editor normally invites editorials, unsolicited editorials will be considered for publication. Reviewers are encouraged to write editorials on any manuscript they may have recently reviewed.

Letters to the Editor. The Journal will consider for publication letters sent to the Editor pertaining to an article published in Echocardiography. The letter should be no more than 500 words and no figures or tables should be included. The author(s) of the article cited in the letter will be invited to reply and both letters will be published in the same issue.

Manuscript Preparation Instructions

Manuscripts must be submitted as a WORD document in English in the following format: Typed double-spaced, page size 22 cm. x 29 cm. (8 1/2 in. x 11 in.), page margins 2.54 cm (1 in), font size 11 or 12 pt. All material should be submitted in a run-in style (do not use double columns). All print commands (e.g., superscript, subscript, italics) should be included. Tables may be included in the WORD document or submitted as separate files. Figures are not to be included in the WORD document; see instructions for figure submission. Page numbering begins on the Title Page and should include the senior author's surname and page number typed in the upper, right hand corner. An excellent reference is A SPECIAL REPORT: UNIFORM REQUIREMENTS FOR MANUSCRIPTS SUBMITTED TO BIOMEDICAL JOURNALS. N Engl J Med 1997; 3336:309-315 and Ann Intern Med 1997; 126:36-47. Where uniform requirements differ; the Echocardiography instructions prevail. The AMA Style Manual is a useful reference.

Please note that Word 2007 is not yet compatible with journal production systems. Unfortunately, the journal cannot accept Microsoft Word 2007 documents until such time as a stable production version is released. Please use Word's 'Save As' option therefore to save your document as an older (.doc) file type.

The manuscript document should be submitted in the following order:

Title Page

Title of manuscript limited to 50 words, names and highest academic degree of each author, affiliation(s) of each author and name, address, fax number, and email address of corresponding author. Include a running head [shortened title] limited to 50 characters. At the bottom of the page, include information about grants if applicable. If two or more authors contributed equally to the manuscript, their names should precede the names of the other co-authors and a note placed on the title page specifying this. Upon publication, a footnote will be added at the bottom of the first page indicating "These authors contributed equally to this work."

Abstract

- Original Investigations, Review Articles, and Echo Rounds limited to 250 words

- Case Reports limited to 100 words

- Not needed for the Image Section

Keywords

Provide a maximum of 6 keywords/phrases suitable for indexing and place after the Abstract. For the Image Section, place keywords on Title Page.

Text

- The text should begin on a new page

- Metric, Sl units, and Celsius measurements should be used throughout.

- Abbreviations should be explained when they first appear in the text.

- References should be cited in numerical order, as should tables and figures.

- Personal Communications (written) may be used as references; unpublished data may not be used.

References

- References should begin on a new page

- Number in the order in which they appear in the text.

- Abbreviate titles of periodicals according to the style of the Index Medicus.

- Follow the format (arrangement, punctuation, inclusive pages) shown below:

Periodicals

1. Sadaniantz A, Burtt D, Nanda N, et al: Three-Dimensional Echocardiography of Right Heart Pathology. Echocardiography 1998:15:795-806. (if more than three authors, use "et al")

Books (edited by other than author of article)

2. Myerberg RJ, Mitrani R, Interain A, et al: Identification of Risk of Cardiac Arrest and Sudden Death in Athletes. In Estes NAM, Salem DM, Wang PJ (eds): Sudden Cardiac Death in the Athlete. Armonk, NY: Futura Publishing Co., Inc; 1999, p. 25-27.

Books (identical author and editor)

3. Kerut K, McIlwain EF, Plotnick GD: Handbook of Echo-Doppler Interpretation. Armonk, NY: Futura Publishing Co., Inc; 1996, p. 137.

Personal Communications

4. Smith l: personal communication, December 10, 1976.

Abstracts

5. Same as periodicals and followed by "(Abstract)."

Tables

- Each Table should begin on a separate page

- Tables should supplement, but not duplicate, the text.

- Tables should be numbered consecutively in order of appearance in the text.

- Each table must be given a Roman numeral and a title, placed at the top of the page.

- Abbreviations used in the table should be footnoted and explained in the order in which they appear in the table, if they have not been used previously.

- Any material that is not self-explanatory should be footnoted as well.

Figure Legends

- Figure Legends should begin on a separate page and run consecutively.

- Be sure that legend number and figure numbers correspond.

- Identify all abbreviations used in a figure at the end of each legend in alphabetical order.

Figure Submission

Each illustration must be submitted as a separate figure file capable of being sized. The file name should be the same as the figure number.

There are three preferred formats for digital artwork submission: Encapsulated PostScript (EPS), Portable Document Format (PDF), and Tagged Image Format (TIFF). We suggest that line art be saved as EPS files. Alternately, these may be saved as PDF files at 600 dots per inch (dpi) or better at final size. Tone art, or photographic images, should be saved as TIFF files with a resolution of 300 dpi at final size. For combination figures, or artwork that contains both photographs and labeling, we recommend saving figures as EPS files, or as PDF files with a resolution of 600 dpi or better at final size. More detailed information on the submission of electronic artwork can be found at http://authorservices.wiley.com/bauthor/illustration.asp

Each illustration (echo or other images, graphs, etc.) is expected to be printed no larger than 1/6 of the size of a Journal page so that, if necessary, up to a maximum total of 6 such illustrations (each to fit 1 column in width) can be accommodated in one Echocardiography Journal page. The Editor and the Production Department at Blackwell Publishing reserve the right to enlarge any illustration, if space permits. Photographs in which a patient or other person is identifiable must have written permission from that person. The consent must state specifically what the person is consenting to and what restrictions, if any, the person has placed upon the publication of the photograph. All restrictions must be strictly observed.

Author costs

Color illustrations. Cost for color illustrations must be made paid by the author(s) at a cost of $375 per page. A maximum of 6 illustrations can be printed on 1 page. If the author(s) are not agreeable to covering the cost, the illustrations will be printed in greyscale (black and white). Authors will not be billed for color illustrations until the issue in which the article appears has been printed.

Reprints. Price list is sent with author proofs.

Revised Manuscripts

Revisions must be submitted within 180 days of the decision letter. If the revision is received after this time period, it will be considered "de novo."

Submit revised manuscripts through the Echocardiography online submission site at http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/echo. Log in to your account and enter your Author Center where you will find the manuscript title listed under "Manuscripts with Decisions." Under "Actions," click on "Create a Revision" and continue the submission process. The manuscript number will be appended to denote a revision.

Accepted Manuscripts

Video (movie) Clips
Authors are encouraged to submit video clips. Video clips should be downloaded as the last file(s) at the time of manuscript submission and marked as supplementary material. Submit as MPG/MPEG or AVI and clips must be created with commonly-used codecs, and the codec used should be noted in the supplementary material legend. Video files should be tested for playback before submission, preferably on computers not used for its creation, to check for any compatibility issues. Wiley-Blackwell will not host codec files, or be responsible for supporting video supplementary material where the codec used is non-standard. The video clip file name(s) should refer to the corresponding Figure number and must be supplied with a legend at the end of the References as follows:

Supplementary Material: The following supplementary material is available online - Movie Clips: Indicate the Figure number(s). Codec used should be noted in the supplementary material legend.

File Sizes
Individual file sizes are restricted to 5Mb maximum. Files over 5Mb will be rejected outright unless special arrangements have been made with the Echocardiography Journal and approved prior to submission. Authors will find additional information online at http://authorservices.wiley.com/bauthor/suppmat.asp.

Author Services
Author Services enables authors to track their article, once it has been accepted, through the production process to publication online and in print. Authors can check the status of their articles online and choose to receive automated e-mails at key stages of production so they do not need to contact the production editor to check on progress. Visit http://authorservices.wiley.com/bauthor/ for more details on the online production tracking.

Author Editing Services
Authors for whom English is a second language may choose to have their manuscript professionally edited before submission or during the review process. Authors wishing to pursue a professional English-language editing service should make contact and arrange payment with the editing service of their choice. For more details regarding the recommended services, please refer to http://authorservices.wiley.com/bauthor/english_language.asp