Author Guidelines
Interdisciplinary CardioVascular and Thoracic Surgery (ICVTS) is a fully Open Access, online-only journal that seeks to foster collaborative relationships across the multidisciplinary teams in Cardiac, Thoracic and Vascular Surgery. ICVTS aims to publish cutting-edge interdisciplinary research from cardiovascular and thoracic surgeons, clinical perfusionists, cardiologists, anaesthetists, nurses, radiologists, pharmacists, computer scientists, healthcare engineers and beyond to drive development of cardio-thoracic surgery in practice, promote interdisciplinary knowledge, interaction and education related to surgery.
This page outlines instructions for submitting your manuscript to ICVTS. The journal is published monthly online-only. For information on journal policies, please visit our policies page.
EACTS resources for authors and reviewers can be found here.
Open Access
As a fully open access journal all articles publish under an open access licence immediately upon publication. You will need to pay an open access charge (APC).
Details of the open access licences and open access charges.
Full price APC articles (unless otherwise specified below):
- CC BY or CC BY-NC licence - EUR 1,998
- CC BY or CC BY-NC licence EACTS member discount – 30%
Lower price APC article types
- CC BY or CC BY-NC licence – Case reports; Brief communications – EUR 724
- CC BY or CC BY-NC licence EACTS member discount – Case reports; Brief communications – 30%
The journal publishes the following article types by invitation only, which do not incur an APC charge:
- Editorials
- Invited Commentaries
- In Memoriam
If you select a CC BY licence, you grant OUP a non-exclusive licence. For the CC BY-NC licence, you grant OUP an exclusive licence to publish and distribute the content. For all licences you, the author, retain copyright for the content and have the reuse rights described therein.
Corresponding authors based in countries and regions, that are part of the developing countries initiative are eligible for a full waiver of publishing fees in our fully open access journals. For further details, please see our APC Waiver Policy.
OUP has a growing number of Read and Publish agreements with institutions and consortia which provide funding for open access publishing. This means authors from participating institutions can publish open access, and the institution may pay the charge. Find out if your institution is participating.
Authors may be asked to prove eligibility for the EACTS member discount.
Table of Contents
Redundant (duplicate) submission
Statistical and data reporting guidelines
Availability of Data and Materials
Language editing pre-submission
Permission to reproduce figures and extracts
Funding and conflict of interest
Contacts
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Submission
All material to be considered for publication in Interdisciplinary CardioVascular and Thoracic Surgery should be submitted electronically via the journal's online submission system.
Revised manuscripts
When submitting revised manuscripts, label the files accordingly (2nd version, 3rd version, etc.). Respond to all points raised by the Editors, Reviewers and Statistician in the ‘Respond to Reviewers’ field in the Metadata, outlining any changes that have been made. All changes should be marked in red in the revised manuscript to facilitate editorial reassessment.
Authorship
Authorship is limited to those who have made a significant contribution to the design and execution of the work described. Any contributors whose participation does not meet the criteria for authorship should be acknowledged but not listed as an author. The Journal will contact all listed authors at the point of submission to confirm their role. For a detailed definition of authorship, please see the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) definitions of authors and contributors.
The Journal does not allow ghost authorship, where an unnamed author prepares the article with no credit, or guest/gift authorship, where an author who made little or no contribution is listed as an author. The Journal follows Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidance on investigating and resolving these cases. For more information, please see the OUP Publication Ethics page.
Natural language processing tools driven by artificial intelligence (AI) do not qualify as authors, and the Journal will screen for them in author lists. The use of AI (for example, to help generate content or images, write code, process data, or for translation) should be disclosed both in cover letters to editors and in the Methods or Acknowledgements section of manuscripts. Please see the COPE position statement on Authorship and AI for more details.
After manuscript submission, no authorship changes (including the authorship list, author order, and who is designated as the corresponding author) should be made unless there is a substantive reason to do so. The editor and all co-authors must agree on the change(s), and neither the Journal nor the publisher mediates authorship disputes. If individuals cannot agree on the authorship of a submitted manuscript, contact the editorial office at [email protected]. The dispute must be resolved among the individuals and their institution(s) before the manuscript can be accepted for publication. If an authorship dispute or change arises after a paper is accepted, contact OUP’s Author Support team. COPE provides guidance for authors on resolving authorship disputes.
After submission, changing who is designated as the corresponding author will be permitted only where there is a substantive reason to do so. For the avoidance of doubt, changing the corresponding author in order to access Read and Publish funding is not permissible.
ORCID
Authors are encouraged to provide their ORCID iDs (Open Researcher and Contributor IDs) at submission and take advantage of the benefits of participating in ORCID. If you do not already have an ORCID iD, you can register for free via the ORCID website.
As ORCID identifiers are collected, they are included in papers and displayed online, both in the HTML and PDF versions of the publication, in compliance with recommended practice issued by ORCID.
ORCID functionality online allows users to link to the ORCID website to view an author’s profile and list of publications. ORCID iDs are displayed on web pages and are sent downstream to third parties in data feeds, where supported.
If you have registered with ORCID, you can associate your ORCID iD with your submission system account by going to your account details, entering your ORCID iD, and validating your details. Learn more about ORCID and how to link it to your account.
CRediT
The Journal uses the contributor roles taxonomy (CRediT), which allows authors to describe the contributor roles in a standardized, transparent, and accurate way. Authors should choose from the contributor roles outlined on the CRediT website and supply this information upon submission. You may choose multiple contributor roles per author. Any other individuals who do not meet authorship criteria and made less substantive contributions should be listed in your manuscript as non-author contributors with their contributions clearly described. Following manuscript submission, any changes to contributor roles require the approval of the editor.
Group Authorship
Groups (also known as corporate, organization, or collective names) who meet authorship criteria should be included in the main author list. Every individual in the group should fully meet the criteria for authorship. At least one individual must be designated on behalf of the group as the primary point of contact during the peer-review and production processes, as well as for correspondence following publication. You may list this individual separately in the main author list if desired. A complete list of the individual members of the group must be included in the manuscript.
The group name will be entered for a PubMed citation. The names of the individual members of the group will be entered as collaborator names for PubMed citation, in the order in which they are published in the paper. If an individual is named both in the main author list and as a member of the group, they will appear in PubMed as both an author and a collaborator.
Redundant (Duplicate) Submission
It is recommended that Authors read the updated version of the statement on redundant submission, jointly published with other journals in 2015.
ICVTS reserves the right to use plagiarism detection software on any submitted material.
Statistical and Data Reporting Guidelines
It is highly recommended that Authors consult the guidelines on Statistical and data reporting; see also the corrigendum.
Raw Data
The full set of raw data must be made readily available upon the request of reviewers or editors during the review process and/or after publication.
Availability of Data and Materials
Where ethically feasible, we strongly encourage authors to make all data and software code on which the conclusions of the paper rely available to readers. We suggest that data be presented in the main manuscript or additional supporting files, or deposited in a public repository whenever possible. Information on general repositories for all data types, and a list of recommended repositories by subject area, are available on the Research Data Policy page.
Data Availability Statement
Authors are required to include a Data Availability Statement to their manuscript file. The statement will be included in the published article.
More information and example Data Availability statements.
Data Citation
We support the Force 11 Data Citation Principles and require that all publicly available datasets be fully referenced in the reference list with an accession number or unique identifier such as a digital object identifier (DOI).
Data citations should include the minimum information recommended by DataCite:
- [dataset]* Authors, Year, Title, Publisher (repository or archive name), Identifier
*The inclusion of the [dataset] tag at the beginning of the citation helps us to correctly identify and tag the citation. This tag will be removed from the citation published in the reference list.
Clinical Trials
Registering Clinical Trials
In accordance with the Clinical Trial Registration Statement from the ICMJE all clinical trials published in the journal must be registered in a WHO-approved public trials registry or in ClinicalTrials.gov at or before the onset of participant enrolment. For any clinical trials commencing prior to 1 July 2005, retrospective registration will be accepted.
The registry must be accessible to the public at no charge, searchable, open to all prospective registrants, managed by a not-for-profit organization, and include all the necessary information as specified by the ICMJE. Results posted in the same clinical trials registry in which the primary registration resides will not be considered prior publication if they are presented in the form of a brief abstract (<500 words or less) or a table. Authors are requested to provide the exact URL and unique identification number for the trial registration at the time of submission on the manuscript’s title page. This information will be included in the published article.
Reporting Clinical Trials
Clinical trials should comply with the Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials Statement (CONSORT), which is available here. Authors reporting on randomized clinical trials (RCTs) should consult the CONSORT checklist when preparing their manuscript. All RCT data will be evaluated in accordance with the rules and checklist of the CONSORT statement.
Other types of studies should follow guidelines where available. These include:
- STARD (Standards for the Reporting of Diagnostic accuracy studies)
- STROBE (Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology)
- PRISMA (Transparent Reporting of Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses)
- MOOSE (Meta-analyses of observational studies)
- CONSORT-AI (CONSORT-artificial intelligence extension)
For further information on good reporting of health research studies please go to the EQUATOR network. The relevant checklist should be duly filled in and uploaded as ‘Prisma/Consort checklist’.
Language Editing Pre-Submission
If you are not confident in the quality of your English, you may wish to use a language-editing service to ensure that editors and reviewers understand your paper. Oxford University Press partners with Enago, a leading provider of author services. Prospective authors are entitled to a discount of 30% for editing services at Enago, via this link: https://www.enago.com/pub/oup.
Enago is an independent service provider, who will handle all aspects of this service, including payment. As an author you are under no obligation to take up this offer. Language editing is optional and does not guarantee that your manuscript will be accepted. Edited manuscripts will still undergo peer review by the journal.
Article Types
The journal publishes the following types of papers:
- Brief Communications
- Case Reports
- Letters to the Editors
- Original Articles
- Reviews & Meta-Analysis: only on multidisciplinary or interdisciplinary subjects
And by invitation only:
- Editorials
- Invited Commentaries
- In Memoriam
See section below for details on the format for each of these article types.
Manuscript Format and Style
Manuscripts should be prepared using a word-processing package.
- Font type: Arial or Calibri
- Font size: 11 or 12 points
- Double-spacing for the main text
- Pages and lines should be numbered consecutively
Order of the manuscript contents
Manuscripts should be organized as follows: (a) Title page; (b) Graphical abstract; (c) Abstract and keywords; (d) Text with the following sections (not applicable for article types with unstructured abstracts): Introduction, Material and Methods (or Patients and Methods), Results, Discussion, Conclusion, Acknowledgement (optional), Funding statement, Conflict of interest statement, Author contribution statement, (e) Figure (and Video) legends; (f) Tables; (g) References.
Specifications for each article type
Each article type must include a title page and 3-6 keywords. Important: the total number of words specified below comprises words in the abstract, keywords, main text, figure and video legends, and tables. All submissions must adhere to the following specifications.
Brief Communication
- Authors: unlimited
- Abstract (unstructured): 200 words
- Figures/tables combined: 2 (a total of 6 figure parts is permitted)
- Videos: 4 (total playback time: 20 min)
- References: 10
- Total number of words: 2000
Case Report
- Authors: 4 maximum
- Abstract (unstructured): 200 words
- Figures/tables combined: 2 (a total of 6 figure parts is permitted)
- Videos: 4 (total playback time: 20 min)
- References: 5
- Total number of words: 1000
Letters to the Editor (should comment on recent ICVTS articles within 3 months after publication only)
- Authors: unlimited
- Abstract: none
- Figures/tables: none
- Videos: none
- References: 6
- Total number of words: 500
Original Article
- Authors: unlimited
- Abstract(structured): 250 words (sections should be: Objectives, Methods, Results and Conclusions)
- Figures/tables: Maximum limit of 7 (preferably no more than 6 parts/graphs – at the discretion of the Editor-in-Chief)
- Videos: No limit to the number of videos an author can submit
- References: 40 maximum
- Word Count Maximum: 4,500 (this includes all elements of the manuscript)
- Strict adherence to the AMA Manual of Style for citations
Review Article & Meta-analysis
- Authors: unlimited
- Abstract (structured): 250 words (sections should be: Objectives, Methods, Results and Conclusions)
- Figures/tables combined: 8 (preferably no more than 6 parts/graphs – at the discretion of the Editor-in-Chief)
- References: 80
- Total number of words: 6500
By Invitation only
Editorial Comment
- Authors: 4 maximum
- Abstract: none
- Figures/tables: none
- Videos: none
- References: 10
- Total number of words: 1000
Invited Commentary
- Authors: 4 maximum
- Abstract: none
- Figures/tables: none
- Videos: none
- References: 10
- Total number of words: 1000
In Memoriam
- Authors: Unlimited
- Abstract: none
- Figures/tables combined: 4
- Videos: 4 (total playback time: 20 min)
- References: 10
- Total number of words: 3000
Pathology
During the submission process, you will be asked to select from a drop-down list the pathology that your article relates to. This list will include the following pathologies:
- Coronary Disease
- Valvular Heart Disease
- Vascular Disease
- Heart Failure
- Cardiac Arrhythmia
- Congenital Disease
- Thoracic Oncology
- Thoracic Non-oncology
Once you have selected the relevant pathology, you will then be asked to confirm your area of expertise from a drop-down list, that include the following options:
- Anaesthesiology
- Biomedical and Mechanical Engineering
- Cardiology
- Pulmonology
- Surgery
This allows us to ensure that the most appropriate Associate Editor oversees the peer review of your article.
Submissions to the Residents Corner Section
This section of the journal is designed to promote the scientific/academic work relevant for cardiothoracic training or produced by resident surgeons. We encourage submissions on the following:
- Scientific/academic work performed primarily by resident surgeons
- Articles related to education and training in cardiothoracic surgery
- Articles relevant to resident surgeons
Submissions to this section can include any of the above-mentioned article types. Please refer to the relevant requirements for the article type you plan to submit.
Graphical Abstract
A graphical abstract is required for Original Articles and Review/Meta-analysis Articles. The first versions of submitted articles will be allowed to enter the review process with a graphical abstract that does not conform fully with our requirements, but revised versions will not enter the review process unless the graphical abstract is suitably formatted. Therefore, we encourage authors to format their graphical abstract correctly as early in the editorial process as possible.
The graphical abstract should consist of two parts:
- A summary of the study characteristics and core findings written as a few sentences. Use the PICO (Population, Intervention, Comparison, and Outcome) checklist to ensure you include the key points (max. 380 characters including the spaces)
- A graphical representation of the core findings (illustrate the findings with a graph or diagram emphasizing numbers/statistics etc).
You must follow the prescribed template, which can be found by clicking the following link: Example Graphical Abstract Template.
Images used within the graphical abstract must be high-quality illustrations that summarize the main findings of the article concisely. Due to space restrictions this should be a single image and preferably should be created for this purpose only.
To facilitate understanding of the graphic, a 120-character legend can be included.
Specifications for the central image:
- Resolution: minimum 600 dots per inch
- Font type/size: Arial/10 points minimum
- File format: A PowerPoint slide is preferable, .tif, .eps or .PDF are acceptable.
- 120-character legend on the top of the figure.
The image should be uploaded as a ‘Central image’ in the online submission system.
The manuscript should be organized as follows:
Title page
Title
Should be descriptive and follow PICO (Population, Intervention, Comparison, and Outcome) process. Should be brief and descriptive (100 characters) - no abbreviations are allowed, even if well known.
Authors
List all authors by full first name, initial of or full middle name and family name. Qualifications are not required. Ensure the author names correspond (in spelling and order of appearance) with the metadata of the system. Remember that all authors must have substantially contributed to the article - see criteria in the authorship section above.
Institution(s)
Include the name of all institutions with the location (department, institution, city, country) to which the work should be attributed (in English). Use superscript numbers to connect authors and their department or institution.
Corresponding author
The full name, full postal address, telephone and the e-mail address should be typed at the bottom of the title page.
Meeting presentation
If the manuscript was (or will be) presented at a meeting, include the meeting name, venue, and the date on which it was (or will be) read; also indicate if you have submitted an abstract of this manuscript for the EACTS or ESTS annual meeting and whether it has been accepted (if known).
Word count
The total number of words of the whole article (including abstract, main text, legends, and tables) must be specified on the title page.
Clinical registration number
Include the name of the registry and registration number.
Abstract
An abstract should be a concise summary of the manuscript. Reference citations are not allowed. The abstract should be factual and free of abbreviations, except for SI units of measurement. A structured abstract must follow the PICO process and include:
- Objectives: should describe the problem addressed in the study and its purpose.
- Methods: should explain how the study was performed (basic procedures with study materials and observational and analytical methods).
- Results: should describe the main findings in numbers with specific data and their statistical significance, if possible.
- Conclusions: should contain the main conclusion of the study, but no discussion.
Keywords
Following the abstract, 3-6 keywords should be given for subject indexing.
Main text
Abbreviations and acronyms
For Original Articles, Meta-Analysis Articles, State-of-the Art and Work-in-Progress reports, abbreviations and acronyms used in the text should be gathered in a list and included at the beginning of the article before the introduction.
Use of abbreviations renders the text difficult to read so they should be limited to SI units of measurement and to those widely used in text of the article. Full definitions should be given at first mention in the text and in the tables and figures. Abbreviations should not be included in headings.
Introduction
Should state the purpose of the investigation and give a short review of pertinent literature.
Materials and methods
Should be described in detail with appropriate information about patients or experimental animals.
Human subjects
When reporting on human subjects, you should indicate whether the procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the Helsinki Declaration, which were developed by the World Medical Association. For non-interventional studies, where ethical approval is not required or where a study has been granted an exemption by an ethics committee, this should be stated within the manuscript with a full explanation. Otherwise, manuscripts must include a statement in the Methods section that the research was performed after approval by a local ethics committee, institutional review board and/or local licensing committee, or that such approval was not required. The name of the authorizing body and any reference/permit numbers (where available) should also be stated there. Please be prepared to provide further information to the editorial office upon request.
Human subjects must give written informed consent, or if they are minors or incapacitated, such consent must be obtained from their parents or guardians. Consent forms should cover not only study participation but also the publication of the data collected. Also, any patient or provider information should be anonymized to the extent possible; names and ID numbers should not be used in the text and must be removed from any images (X-rays, photographs, etc.). Please note blanking out an individual’s eyes in a photograph is not an effective way to conceal their identity. In studies where verbal, rather than written, informed consent was obtained, this must be explained and stated within the manuscript. If informed consent is not required or where a study has been granted an exemption, this must be included in the Methods section along with the name of the authorizing body. The Journal does not routinely collect consent forms, but authors should be prepared to provide written consent forms signed by the participants or other appropriate documentation to the editorial office upon request. For further guidance and examples, please refer to COPE’s guidance on consent.
Generic names of drugs and equipment should be used throughout the manuscript, with brand names (proprietary name) and the name and location (city, state, country) of the manufacturer in brackets when first mentioned in the text.
Results
Results should be reported concisely and regarded as an important part of the manuscript. They should be presented either in tables and figures, and briefly commented on in the text, or in the text alone. Repetition of results should be avoided! For statistical analysis, follow the Statistical and data reporting guidelines. The full set of raw data must be available at any time should reviewers or editors request these for more in-depth review during the review process and/or after publication.
Discussion
The discussion is an interpretation of the results and their significance with reference to pertinent work by other authors. It should be clear and concise. The importance of the study and its limitations should be discussed.
Acknowledgements
Acknowledgements and details of non-financial support must be included at the end of the text before the references. Personal acknowledgements should precede those of institutions or agencies.
Funding statement
See Funding and Conflict of interest section below.
Conflicts of interest statement
See Funding and Conflict of interest section below.
Author contributions statement
The contribution/role of each author will be disclosed at the end of published Original Articles, Meta-Analyses, State-of-the-Art and Work in Progress Reports. For this purpose we will use the ‘CRediT’ taxonomy terms available in the online submission system, which the corresponding author selects for each author during the submission process. Each named author will be requested to approve his/her contributions.
Figure (and video) legends
A list with legends for each figure (and each video) must be included.
Tables
All tables must be included in the manuscript file as part of the text, not as images. All tables should start on separate pages and be accompanied by a title, and footnotes where necessary. The tables should be numbered consecutively using Arabic numerals. Avoid overcrowding the tables and the excessive use of words. The format of tables should be in keeping with that normally used by the journal. Please be certain that the data given in tables are correct. All tables must be cited in the text. Data given in tables should not be repeated in the text.
References
Authors are responsible for checking the accuracy of all references. If you use EndNote or Reference Manager to facilitate referencing citations (not required for submission), this journal's style is available for use. References should be numbered in order of appearance in the text (in Arabic numerals in parentheses) and must be listed numerically in the reference list. Journal titles and author initials should be abbreviated and punctuated according to PubMed. If an automatic referencing system has been used in the preparation of the paper, the references must not be left embedded in the final text file submitted. The citation of journals, books, multi-author books and articles published online should conform to the following examples:
Journals
[1] Sousa-Uva M, Head SJ, Milojevic M et al. 2017 EACTS Guidelines on perioperative medication in adult cardiac surgery. Eur J Cardiothorac Surg 2018;53:5-33
Books
[2] Cooley DA. Techniques in cardiac surgery. Philadelphia: Saunders, 1984:167-76.
Multi-author books
[3] Rastan AJ, Borger MA, Haensig M, Kempfert J, Mohr FW. Recent developments in transcatheter aortic valve implantation in Moorjani N, Ohri SK, Wechsler A (eds). Cardiac Surgery: Recent Advances and Techniques. CRC press 2013.
Online-only publications (please give the doi wherever possible)
[4] Durko A, Mahtab E, Romeo J, Bogers A. Skeletonized internal mammary artery harvest with diathermy and cold dissection. Multimed Man Cardiothorac Surg 2017; doi: 10.1510/mmcts.2017.023
or
[5] National Comprehensive Cancer Network. NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology: Cancer-associated Venous Thromboembolic Disease; Version 2.2018. 2018 https://www.nccn.org/professionals/physician_gls/pdf/vte.pdf (10 July 2019, date last accessed).
Preprints
[6] Morales, F. The unusual habits of Mexican hummingbirds. bioRxiv, doi:XXXXX, 2 July 2017, preprint: not peer reviewed.
For references with more than 6 authors, the first 3 authors should be listed, followed by et al. Personal communications (Jones, personal communication) must be authorized in writing by those involved, and unpublished data should be cited in the text as (unpublished data). References to manuscripts submitted, but not yet accepted, should be cited in the text as (Jones and Smith, manuscript in preparation) and should not be included in the list of references. Authors are encouraged to cite web URLs in parentheses at the appropriate mention in the text.
Manuscript Instructions revised 30 May 2021
Figures and Videos
All figures and videos require a legend and must be cited in the text.
Figures
Each figure should contain no more than 4 parts for Original Articles, Meta-Analyses, State-of-the-Art and Work-in-Progress Reports. For Brief Communications and Case Reports a maximum of 6 parts in total is allowed. The journal accepts figures formatted as .eps, .tif or PDF. The minimum resolution for photos should be 300 dots per inch and for line drawings 1000 dots per inch at a width without borders of 16.8 cm.
ICVTS does not redraw figures of accepted manuscripts. Figure preparation is the author's responsibility. See guidelines.
The journal reserves the right to reduce the size of illustrative material. Any photomicrographs, electron micrographs or radiographs must be of high quality. Photomicrographs should provide details of staining technique and a scale bar and must be in colour. Patients shown in photographs should have their identity concealed (names and ID numbers should not be used in the text and must be removed from any images (X-rays, photographs, etc.). Please note blanking out an individual’s eyes in a photograph is not an effective way to conceal their identity. Patients should give explicit written consent to publication of their image. When creating figures, make sure any embedded text is large enough to read. Many figures contain miniscule characters such as numbers on a chart or graph. If these characters are not easily readable, they will most likely be illegible in the final version.
Colour Illustrations
ICVTS encourages the use of colour figures when colour helps with the understanding of the figures and does not charge for the publication of colour figures.
Figure accessibility and alt text
Incorporating alt text (alternative text) when submitting your paper helps to foster inclusivity and accessibility. Good alt text ensures that individuals with visual impairments or those using screen readers can comprehend the content and context of your figures. The aim of alt text is to provide concise and informative descriptions of your figure so that all readers have access to the same level of information and understanding, and that all can engage with and benefit from the visual elements integral to scholarly content. Including alt text demonstrates a commitment to accessibility and enhances the overall impact and reach of your work.
Alt text is applicable to all images, figures, illustrations, and photographs.
Alt text is only accessible via e-reader and so it won’t appear as part of the typeset article.
Detailed guidance on how to draft and submit alt text.
Videos
Recording
Use the highest possible resolution when creating the original. The use of a standard thoracoscopic camera (digital preferred) fixed on the table and manipulated by an assistant gives excellent magnification and high quality recording. Filming with a head-mounted recording camera is not recommended.
Audio
To improve the understanding of the procedure described, short and clear commentaries can be incorporated into the video file. Commentaries should supplement the complete description given in the legend of the video.
Format
Videos can be submitted in any standard format: wmv, avi, mpeg, mov, etc. Videos must be of high quality and must have a minimum size of 640x480 (preferably higher as all videos will be converted to MP4 to ICVTS specifications). The aspect ratio can be: 4:3 or 16:9.
Video size
The maximum file size of a video submitted for review in the online submission system is 100 MB. If your article is accepted and you have a higher resolution version of the video, please send it to the Editorial Office via a transfer service such as WeTransfer.
Permission to Reproduce Figures and Extracts
Permission to reproduce copyright material, for print and online publication in perpetuity, must be cleared and, if necessary, paid for by the author; this includes applications and payments to DACS, ARS and similar licensing agencies where appropriate. Evidence in writing that such permissions have been secured from the rights-holder must be made available to the editors. It is also the author's responsibility to include acknowledgements as stipulated by the particular institutions. Please note that obtaining copyright permission could take some time. Oxford Journals can offer information and documentation to assist authors in securing print and online permissions: please see Rights & permissions.
For a copyright prose work, it is recommended that permission is obtained for the use of extracts longer than 400 words; a series of extracts totalling more than 800 words, of which any one extract is more than 300 words; or an extract or series of extracts comprising one-quarter of the work or more.
For more details about obtaining third party permission please download our Guidelines for Author Permissions.
Supplementary Data
Supporting material that is not essential for inclusion in the full text of the manuscript, but would nevertheless benefit the reader, can be made available by the publisher as online-only content, linked to the online manuscript. The material should not be essential to understanding the conclusions of the paper, but should contain data that is additional or complementary and directly relevant to the article content. Such information might include more detailed methods, extended data sets/data analysis, or additional figures. All material to be considered as supplementary data must be submitted at the same time as the main manuscript for peer review.
All supplementary text, figures and tables must be submitted in suitable electronic formats in preferably one file. However, if there are several supplemental figures and tables as well as supplementary text material, these can be provided in a maximum of 3 files. Each individual file should be clearly named (e.g. Supplementary Tables S1 to S6, Supplementary Figures S1 to S4, Supplementary material. For a quick download, the file size should not exceed 5 MB.
All material to be considered as supplementary data must be submitted at the same time as the main manuscript for peer review. Supplementary material must be referred to in the main manuscript where necessary, for example as '(see Supplementary material)' or '(see Supplementary Figure S1)'. Supplementary material should be uploaded as ‘Supplemental files’ only.
Please ensure that the supplementary material is referred to in the main manuscript where necessary, for example as '(see Supplementary data)' or '(see Supplementary Figure S1)'. Supplementary material should be uploaded as ‘Supplementary material’ only.
Authors should make sure that supplementary material is clearly and consistently presented and that the final version is unmarked. Supplementary material cannot be altered or replaced after the paper has been accepted for publication. It is recommended that authors spell-check all supplementary files before submission as no editing will be done by the typesetter.
Funding and Conflict of Interest Statements
Funding statement
Details of all funding sources for the work in question should be given in a separate section entitled 'Funding'. This should appear before the 'Acknowledgements' section. The following rules should be adhered to:
- The sentence should begin with: ‘This work was supported by …’
- The full official funding agency name should be given, i.e. ‘the National Cancer Institute at the National Institutes of Health’ or simply 'National Institutes of Health' not ‘NCI' (one of the 27 subinstitutions) or 'NCI at NIH’ (full RIN-approved list of UK funding agencies)
- Grant numbers should be complete and accurate and provided in brackets as follows: ‘[grant number ABX CDXXXXXX]’
- Multiple grant numbers should be separated by a comma as follows: ‘[grant numbers ABX CDXXXXXX, EFX GHXXXXXX]’
- Agencies should be separated by a semi-colon (plus ‘and’ before the last funding agency)
- Where individuals need to be specified for certain sources of funding the following text should be added after the relevant agency or grant number 'to [author full name]'.
An example is given here: 'This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health [P50 CA098252 and CA118790 to John Smith] and the Alcohol & Education Research Council [HFY GR667789].
Crossref Funding Data Registry
In order to meet your funding requirements authors are required to name their funding sources, or state if there are none, during the submission process. For further information on this process or to find out more about CHORUS, visit the CHORUS initiative.
Conflict of interest statement
Declarations of conflicts of interest must be included in the manuscript. Place them at the end of the text before the references, and include the section even if none are declared, using the following format: Conflict of interest: none declared. Further guidance on conflicts of interest are available on the Journal Policies page.
Copyright and License
Upon receipt of accepted manuscripts at Oxford Journals authors will be required to complete an online copyright licence to publish form. Please note that by submitting an article for publication you confirm that you are the corresponding/submitting author and that Oxford University Press (OUP) may retain your e-mail address for the purpose of communicating with you about the article. You agree to notify OUP immediately if your details change. If your article is accepted for publication OUP will contact you using the e-mail address you have used in the registration/submission process.
Proofs
Corresponding authors are sent a link to their page proofs by email, here they may download the proof, make corrections, answer any queries and then upload the annotated PDF. Corrections should be returned within 3 working days (further details are supplied with the proof). It is the author's responsibility to check proofs thoroughly and to ensure that the first name and surname of all authors are correctly formatted and spelt.
Advance Access
Advance Access articles are published online soon after they have been accepted for publication, in advance of their appearance in an issue of the journal. Appearance in Advance Access constitutes official publication, and the Advance Access version can be cited by a unique DOI (Digital Object Identifier). When an article appears in an issue, it is removed from the Advance Access page.
Articles posted for Advance Access have been copyedited and typeset and any corrections included. This is before they are paginated for inclusion in a specific issue of the journal. Once an article appears in an issue, both versions of the paper continue to be accessible and citable.
Preprint Policy
Authors retain the right to make an Author’s Original Version (preprint) available through various channels, and this does not prevent submission to the journal. For further information see our Online Licensing, Copyright and Permissions policies. If accepted, the authors are required to update the status of any preprint, including your published paper’s DOI, as described on our Author Self-Archiving policy page.
If the paper has been deposited on a preprint server, the authors are requested to mention this on the title page of their manuscript file upon submission.
This page was updated on 06 January 2023.
