LACES welcomes scientific contributions in the field of cardiovascular and thoracic surgery. All submissions are subject to review by the Editor-in-Chief, Associate Editors, Invited Reviewers and a Statistician when appropriate. Acceptance is based on the originality, significance, and validity of the material presented.
INSTRUCTIONS FOR AUTHORS:
The LACES Publications Platform is the official electronic site endorsed by LACES to publish all content meeting the criteria by Instructions for Authors.
Submissions in English, Spanish and Portuguese can be evaluated and considered for publication.
The LACES online scientific platform publishes articles of different types, all of them related to diverse topics about cardiovascular, endovascular and thoracic surgery.
LACES Website Publications is adapted to the indications by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors, in accordance with the Uniform Requirements for Sending Manuscripts to Biomedical Journals, available at: www.icmje.org. All manuscripts, editorial material and correspondence should be properly submitted through the LACES Website.
Each submission, regardless of its category, must include:
- Title page, an abstract and keywords (in English, Spanish and Portuguese, in this order), text, acknowledgments, declarations, references, tables, images and / or figures.
- Written permission from the editor for any table, image or illustration that has been previously published in print or electronic media.
- All authors must sign the Copyright Transfer Agreement.
General Guidelines
No Protected Health Information. Your submission must not contain any individual identifying information from which a patient could reasonably believe they might be identified. Examples of information that should not be visible in any part of a submission include but are not limited to: images of a patient’s face or other identifiably distinctive feature, names, birth date, admission or discharge date, and hospital identification numbers. For additional information on how one might de-identify patient information, view the US HIPAA guidelines here. Copyright. If you are not the copyright holder of any portion of your submission (e.g., illustrations, images, cartoons, music, video snippets, etc.), you must obtain permission to publish the item(s) from the copyright holder before proceeding with your submission. Written permission to publish copyrighted item(s) must be included with submission materials.
Text: In general, both the summary and narrative portions of your submission should be pasted into the LACES content submission form (you may submit a Word document to demonstrate suggested figure and/or video locations, if you wish).
Figures/Images. Please submit any figures/images as high-quality files with adequate pixel density (of at least 480 x 480 pixels) to facilitate good rendering on the screen.
Figure/Video Legends. When submitting the narrative portion of your submission, please ensure that explanatory legend(s) are provided for all accompanying figure(s) and/or video(s).
Video. When utilized as part of a larger manuscript, videos should generally be brief and must always contain voice narration (unless they are less than 15 seconds in length).
Audiovisual content (images and videos) will be submitted using WeTransfer after an initial editorial review of the manuscript. Instructions will be sent by the Editor to proceed with the submission of audiovisual content.
Submission categories
- Surgical techniques (video- and image-centered submission of interesting surgical techniques or clinical cases).
- Original articles / Case reports-series / Commentaries / Reviews
- Expert techniques (only by invitation)
- Invited commentaries / Interviews (only by invitation)
Video-Centered Submissions
- Any submitted video must be of high quality and must include voice narration (In English, Spanish or Portuguese).
- Videos should generally not exceed 10 minutes; the ideal duration is typically 5-10 minutes.
- Background music should not be used.
- LACES will accept video submissions in a variety of different formats, but the .mp4, .mov, and .wmv formats are preferable.
- The minimum accepted video resolution is 480 pixels with an 854x480 aspect ratio.
Surgical technique
The text of an Surgical technique submission should provide sufficient detail to permit an experienced surgeon to follow the proposed guidelines, while including no extraneous background material. Please write to the level of the practicing cardiothoracic surgeon. Special headings are recommended to standardize the presentation and to ensure that specific points are addressed in each description. For most headings, a single paragraph or a number of bullet points should suffice. Headings to use include:
- Patient selection. A brief paragraph describing which patients are particularly good candidates for the procedure. When appropriate, specific exclusion criteria should be listed.
- Operative steps. List as completely as possible the unique operative steps that are required to successfully perform the procedure.
- Preference card. List any unusual instrumentation, specific suture material, instructions for the allied health staff, etc.
- Tips and pitfalls. This section involves perhaps the most personal expression of the author and is often the most useful to the reader. Tricks of the trade and potential challenges to be aware of are very important. Describe what you look for that determines whether things are going well, or whether the procedure should be altered or aborted.
- References or Suggested Reading. A short list (5-10) of recently published and important articles should be provided and cited/listed as described below in the references section. Please be sure to include appropriate articles from your own bibliography. Please reference other LACES published articles/videos, if appropriate and pertinent.
- Images and videos. Images and/or video clips are an essential component of surgical technique submissions. Surgical technique submissions should typically include no more than five video clips and eight images. A video clip included with an surgical technique should feature narration, unless it is less than 15 seconds in length. Please suggest where illustrations, images, and/or video clips should be placed within in the published text.
Manuscript Preparation
Official language can be in English, Spanish or Portuguese, according to the preferences of the authors. All manuscripts must be prepared using Microsoft Word, 12-point Times New Roman or Arial font, single line spacing, letter size with 2.5 cm margins on all sides.
The manuscript should be arranged as follows:
- Title page
- Abstract and keywords (English, Spanish, and Portuguese)
- Text, acknowledgments, disclosure, references.
- Tables
- Figures
- Figures Legends
All pages must be consecutively numbered at the center at the top, starting with the title page and ending with the figure legends. Do not include the tables inside the text.
Original articles: Include title page, structured abstract including any background if necessary, objective, material, results and conclusions (maximum 250 words) and key words (3 to 6), text (introduction, material, results and discussion), tables, figures and legends of figures. Number of references: Maximum 50. Number of figures and / or tables: maximum 8 (altogether).
Review articles: Title page, non-structured abstract (maximum 250 words) and key words (3 to 6), text (divided into sections depending on the case), tables, figures and figures legends. Number of references: maximum 50.
Case report: Title page, non-structured abstract (maximum 75 words) and key words (3 to 6), text (introduction, clinical case, comment), tables, figures and figures legends. Number of references: Maximum 10. Number of figures and / or tables: maximum 4 (altogether).
Images in Cardiac Surgery: Title page, abstract no necessary, key words (3 to 6), text as short description about the exposed images, limited to 500 words. References and figures are not allowed.
Commentary (Letter to the editor): Title page, key words (3 to 6), text (free style, limited to 500 words (only including the main text, excluding references and all the rest). Does not include any abstract, tables or figures. The commented article must be cited as Reference Num. 1. Number of references: maximum 5.
Editorial (by invitation): Title page, key words (3 to 6), text (free style, divided into sections as considered). Does not include any abstract, tables or figures. Number of references: Maximum 10.
IMPORTANT NOTE:
Every submission, without exception, must meet each and every one of the aforementioned requirements. Any failure to follow the aforementioned instructions will be grounds for impediment or even rejection of the manuscript or video.
TITLE PAGE
Must include Title (English, Spanish and Portuguese) of up to 80 characters including spaces, Short title: up to 30 characters including spaces, Authors: list of all authors, starting with the first name, middle initial, last names (in case of two surnames, both of them should be joined by an en dash -), Institution where the study was conducted (Department and Hospital Center; City and Country), connect the authors with the Departments by using superscripts if necessary, include if it has been presented at any congress, number of words in the abstract (not including key words), corresponding author (full name , phone number and contact email).
ABSTRACT
It must be provided in English, Spanish and Portuguese. See specifications in each item according to the type of article involved. It must be followed by the key words.
TEXT
See specifications accordingly the type of article above.
ABBREVIATIONS
Abbreviations are not accepted in the abstract. Abbreviations in the text are allowed by using in parentheses after being cited the first time. Only 4 abbreviations per manuscript will be accepted. Use abbreviations only if the term is repeated more than 4 times in the text.
REFERENCES
Note the references by using arabic numbers between brakets [ ] at the end of the quote and before the point signal. DO not use superscripts.
List the references according the order they appear in the text. Journals abbreviations should be written according to the Index Medicus. Cite the authors (surname and initial of the name (s), title, abbreviated title of the Journal, year, volume, and initial and final pages (abbreviated).
Example: Cox JL. Mechanical closure of the left atrial appendage: Is it time to be more aggresive? J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 2013;146: 1018-27. DOI is required to be included. Just if the authors are more than six, cite only the first 3 and include the suffix "et al".
Book References: Write down the author (s), book title, Publisher, year, and consulted pages. Example: Bonser RS, Pagano D, Haverich A. Mitral valve surgery. London: Springer Science & Business Media, 2010: 70-4.
Book chapter references: Write down the author (s) of the chapter, title of the chapter; then write “In” followed by the book reference (see book references). Example: Perier P. How I assess and repair the Barlow mitral valve: the respect rather than resect approach. In: Bonser RS, Pagano D, Haverich A. Mitral valve surgery. London: Springer Science & Business Media, 2010: 69-76.
Electronics references. Author, "Title of the contribution", availability and online access, and, date of consultation. Example: Gavela B. "The asymmetries of nature." www.elpais.com/articulo/futuro/asimetrias/naturaleza/elpepusocfut/20081015elpepifut_1/ Tes. Last accessed: October 15, 2008.
TABLES
Each table must be numbered consecutively with Arabic numerals, and accompanied by a title. Explanatory notes should appear at the bottom, as well as the abbreviations used into, if any. You should avoid supersaturation of information in it. They must be sent as part of the text, after the references, NOT as supplementary images.
FIGURES
Please submit any figures/images as high-quality files with adequate pixel density (of at least 480 x 480 pixels) to facilitate good rendering on the screenColor images must be sent in JPG or PNG format. Power point will not be accepted. For color images, a width size greater than 16.8 cm is recommended, File Format: RGB, resolution: 300 DPI. For drawings or graphic images, it is recommended to send in JPG or PNG format, width greater than 16.8 cm, File Format: RGB color space, resolution: 1000 DPI. File Size must be under 2MB.
The reproduction of the images will preferably be in color. Each of the images will be sent as a separate file, not as part of the text.
FIGURE LEGENDS
They should properly describe the figures. Each legend will correspond to the image described. It will consist of a title, and if the author considers it pertinent, a brief explanation. If any abbreviation, these should be included at the end of the legend text.
SUBJECT/CLASSIFICATION TERMS
Please add 3-5 key words that describe your submission.
RESIDENT FOCUSED CONTENT
Please specify in the submission form if the content is especially useful for residents. Resident focused content are submissions that cover core skills relevant to the basic education of residents.
SUBMISSION
All manuscripts, including the AUTHOR COPYRIGHT TRANSFER AGREEMENT form must be sent through the official LACES Website submission form.