3. General Instructions

• Type manuscripts double-spaced including title page, abstracts, text, references, figure legends, and tables, on one side of the page only. Original contributions generally should not exceed 5000 words. There generally should be no more than six figures and tables. Complex or multipanel figures should be counted as more than one figure. Eliminate redundancy, emphasize the central message, and provide only the data necessary to convey that message.
• Leave 1-inch margins on all sides. Do not use justified margins.
• Cite references, figures, and tables in numeric order. If any material has been published previously (figures, tables, etc), provide written permission from the copyright holder to use such material.
• Use SI units of measure. Conventionally used measurement may follow in parentheses. Make all conversions before manuscript submission.
• Consult the American Medical Association Manual of Style, 9th ed, Baltimore, MD, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 1998, for style.
• Clinical trials should be registered with a publicly accessible clinical trial registry, such as (http://www.clinicaltrials.gov).
Registration number and registry URL should be supplied when submitting the manuscript online. A clinical trial is defined as any research study that prospectively assigns human participants or groups of humans to one or more health-related interventions to evaluate the effects on health outcomes.. Studies that are designed for other purposes, such as to study pharmacokinetics or major toxicity (e.g., phase 1 trials), are exempt.
• Assemble the manuscript in this order: title page, abstract, condensed abstract, text, acknowledgments, references, figure legends, tables, and figures.
• Consult current issues for guidance on format.

4. Title Page
Title page must include:

• Full title, limited to 120 characters. Farther down on the page, the first author's surname and a short title (total characters must not exceed 50, including spaces) to be typeset at the top of the journal page.
• Authors' names, authors' affiliations, name and complete address for correspondence (be sure to include street address, post office box, fax number, telephone number, and email address for corresponding authors), and address for reprints if different than address for correspondence.
• Word count of body, including references, figure legends, and tables; word count of abstract; and total number of figures and tables.
• ATVB recognizes and acknowledges "equal contributions" by the first two authors on a list of multiple authors. Note this equal contribution on the title page.

5. Abstract

• Do not cite references in abstract.
• Limit use of acronyms and abbreviations.
• Be concise - 200 words maximum.
• Use the following headings: Objective (rationale for study), Methods and Results, Conclusions.
• Provide five key words for use as indexing terms. These key words or phrases may repeat words in the title.

5. Condensed Abstract

• Do not cite references in condensed abstract.
• Limit use of acronyms and abbreviations.
• The condensed abstract is a concise paragraph describing the article.
• Please limit to 50 words or less.

6. Text

• Follow the guidelines in "General Instructions."
• Page numbers need to be included.
• The following headings should be used for Brief Reports and Original Contributions: Methods, Results, and Discussion. There are no separate headings for introduction and summaries.
• Abbreviations must be defined at first mention in the text.
• Methods section.Please note that the print version of the Methods and Results should be able to stand alone and should provide sufficient information for the reader to understand the basic methods of the study and to review the fundamental findings in a mechanistic way. A brief Methods section (one to two pages) is recommended, with supplementary information to be published online only. For animals used in experiments, state the species, strain, number used, and other pertinent descriptive characteristics. When describing surgical procedures on animals, identify the preanesthetic and anesthetic agents used and state the amount or concentration and the route and frequency of administration for each. The use of paralytic agents, such as curare or succinylcholine, is not an acceptable substitute for anesthetics. For other invasive procedures on animals, report the analgesic or tranquilizing drugs used. If none were used, provide justification for such exclusion. Generic names of drugs must be given. Manuscripts that describe studies on humans must indicate that the study was approved by an institutional review committee and that the subjects gave informed consent. Please provide sex-specific and/or racial/ethnic-specific data, when appropriate, in describing outcomes of epidemiologic analyses or clinical trials; or specifically state that no sex-based or racial/ethnic-based differences were present. Reports of studies on both animals and humans must indicate that the procedures followed were in accordance with institutional guidelines.
  • Guidelines for Deposition of Protein and Nucleic Acid Data
  • Preparation of Data: Submitted data should follow the MIAME checklist (for more information see http://www.mged.org/Workgroups/MIAME/miame_checklist.html).
  • Accessibility of Data: Authors of papers that include genomic, proteomic, or other high-throughput data are required to make their data easily accessible for the reviewers and the editors during the review process. You may submit your data to the NCBI gene expression and hybridization array data repository (GEO, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/geo) and provide the GEO accession number; or, you may provide a link to a secure or publicly accessible website which hosts the data. Prior to publication, the data must be submitted and an accession number obtained. Access to the information in the database must be available at the time of publication. GEO has a web-based submission route, suitable for a small number of samples, or a batch submission tool (called SOFT). GEO is accessible from http://ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.geo/. Submission FAQ is at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/projects/geo/info/faq.html.
  • Newly reported nucleotide or protein sequences must be deposited in GenBank (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Genbank/index.html), EMBL (http://www.ebi.ac.uk), or DNA Data Bank of Japan (http://www.ddbj.nig.ac.jp) databases, and an accession number must be obtained. Access to the information in the database must be available at the time of publication. Authors are responsible for arranging release of data at the time of publication. The authors must also provide a statement in the manuscript that this sequence has been scanned against the database and all sequences with significant relatedness to the new sequence identified (and their accession numbers included in the text of the manuscript).
• Please provide sex-specific and/or racial/ethnic-specific data, when appropriate, in describing outcomes of epidemiologic analyses or clinical trials; or specifically state that no sex-based or racial/ethnic-based differences were present.See the Uniform Requirements for more details.
• Acknowledgments. The Acknowledgments section will be sectioned into three parts: a)Sources of Funding – which recognizes all sources of support for research b)Acknowledgements – which highlights substantive contributions of individuals. When expressing appreciation to another scientist for assistance with research or manuscript, enclose written permission since such an acknowledgment may imply endorsement of data and conclusions. All persons acknowledged must have seen and approved mention of their names in the article, as readers may infer their endorsement of data and conclusions. Use this form to capture signature of persons mentioned in Acknowledgments AND c)Disclosure - Authors must disclose any and all relationships that could be perceived as real or apparent conflict(s) of interest.Conflict of Interest Disclosure Questionnaire Form

7. References

• Accuracy of references is the author's responsibility. Verify all entries against original sources, especially journal titles, inclusive page numbers, publication dates, accents, diacritical marks, and spelling in languages other than English.
• All authors must be listed in references. Shortened lists of author names followed by "et al" must be replaced with complete information.
• Cite references in numerical order according to first mention in text.
• Ensure accuracy in spelling and details of publication.
• Personal communications, unpublished observations, and submitted manuscripts are not legitimate references. They must be cited in the text as "(unpublished data, 200X)."
• Abstracts may be cited only if they are the sole source and must be identified in the reference as "Abstract."
• "In press" citations must have been accepted for publication and the name of the journal or book publisher included.
• Full page numbers should be listed: Authors. Article title. Journal. Year;volume:full page number--full page number.

8. Figures and Legends

• The total number of figures and/or tables is limited to six (4 or 5 complex figures count as more than six). Additional figures may be submitted for publication online.
• Digital art submission:
1. Artwork should be submitted in final size and should be cropped as needed.
2. Files should be saved as and submitted in TIFF, EPS, or PowerPoint format.
3. Color files should be submitted as CMYK (not RGB).
4. Files downloaded from the Web or Internet (JPEG or GIF) will NOT reproduce well in print. Therefore we cannot accept JPEG or GIF files or files downloaded from the Internet for publication
5. Line art should be saved at a resolution of at least 1200 dpi; photographs, CT scans, radiographs, etc. should be saved at a resolution of at least 600 dpi. Images saved at 72 dpi are not acceptable for printed publications.
6. Save each figure in a separate file.
7. Please use information on submitting digital art to Cadmus Journal Services at http://cjs.cadmus.com/da/.
• Figures are either black and white line drawings, graphs, color, or halftones (photographs). Authors are responsible for the cost of printing color illustrations. Authors' costs for color illustrations can be reduced by publication of the color figures as an online data supplement. Figures published as online data supplements, however, will not be included in reprints.
• Artwork must be prepared using professional standards, and photographed as camera-ready, unmounted, glossy prints if line drawings, photomicrographs, color, or halftones.
• Please identify on the figure any lanes, bars, panels, etc. Do not, as an alternative, designate those lanes, bars, or panels by an alphanumeric code. In addition, letters and locants must be uniform in size and color.
• Supply a scale bar with photomicrographs.
• Provide double-spaced copy for figure legends on a separate page in the manuscript. Limit figure legends to fewer than 50 words each.
• If there are any abbreviations that are not defined in the main text, they must be defined in the figure legend.
• Artwork Guidelines (PDF)

9. Cover Figures

• Authors are encouraged to submit a color figure for consideration as a potential cover illustration. The figure should illustrate a major finding or concept.
• The figure may consist of a figure or a portion of a figure in the manuscript or may be entirely different. A photograph or diagram is appropriate.
• A very brief caption (generally less than 10 words) should be included.

10. Tables

• Each table must begin on a separate page, double-spaced. The table number should be Arabic followed by a period and a brief informative title.
• Use same size type as in text.
• Supply a brief heading for each column.
• Indicate footnotes in tables by symbols in this order: *,† , ‡, §, ||, ¶, #, **.
• Do not use vertical lines in the tables. Use horizontal lines above and below the column headings and at the bottom of the table only. Use extra space to delineate sections within the table.
• If there are abbreviations or symbols in the tables that are not defined in the main text, they must be defined in the table legend.

11. Online Publication Information

• Online publication provides an opportunity for authors to present additional information and/or information not geared to text. Material to be published as an online-only data supplement must be supplied as a separate file with a .pdf file extension. The editorial office is not responsible for converting files to a suitable format or for extracting data supplement material from the print manuscript files. Please number items to be published in print using the Arabic system (1 to 5) and items to be published online only using the Roman system (I to V). When referring to online-only material in the print version of the manuscript, use the phrase "please see http://atvb.ahajournals.org." If citations are made in a data supplement, the data supplement must contain its own independent reference section. Data supplements appear only online and will not appear in reprints of the article.
• Color reprints are not available for articles that appear online only.

12. Permissions

• Address requests for permission to reproduce figures, tables, or portions of articles originally published in Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology to: Permissions & Rights Desk, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a division of Wolters Kluwer Health, 351 West Camden Street, Baltimore, MD 21201-2436; Phone 410-528-4050; Fax 410-528-8550; E-mail: journalpermissions{at}lww.com

13. Costs to Authors

• $70 per printed page of an article to defray costs of publication (information is sent with author's proof) or $70 per page in the case of copyedited online-only material.
• Expense for replacing poor-quality art
• Expense for reprints (price lists are sent with author's proof), $50 per printed page for excessive author alterations
• $100 per page for printing a correction (erratum) after publication of the article that results from an author's error

14. Abstracts and Webcasts

If some or all of the work in the manuscript has been published or submitted in abstract form, and/or overlapping data exists, the following rules apply:
• The published or submitted abstract must accompany the submitted manuscript.
• The abstract cannot itself have been referenced in MEDLINE or PubMed.
• The potentially overlapping work and a separate explanation of the nature of any possible overlap with the submitted manuscript must accompany the submitted manuscript.
• These restrictions generally do not apply to presentations or press reports published in connection with scientific meetings, or to poster presentations at scientific meetings that are videotaped, provided that the material has not been widely circulated, copyrighted or sold. Posting an audio recording, video recording, or short summary of a presentation made at a professional meeting on the Internet would be considered as a meeting presentation by the American Heart Association and would not compromise consideration of a submission. Direct release of information through press releases or media briefings may preclude publication.

15. Criteria for SNP/ Whole Genome Association Studies

• There must be a clearly defined phenotype or trait using standard criteria
• There must be a clear description of the study population including stratification, if introduced
• Study population must be large enough for robust power (typically >100 samples)
• Analysis of data must be clear with evidence of multiple testing for statistical significance
• Findings must be replicated in independent population using same study design and analyses
• A linkage disequilibrium structure with position of studied SNPs must be provided
• Insight into biology of SNP (e.g., altered gene expression if non-coding) should be discussed
• Data must be made publicly available (e.g., http://view.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/dbgap)
• A negative finding can and should be reported if above criteria are followed
• For further reading on these guidelines, please see: http://atvb.ahajournals.org/cgi/content/full/22/7/1058

16. Embargo Policy

• All information regarding the content and publication date of accepted manuscripts is strictly confidential. Any information about or contained in an accepted paper cannot appear in the media (in print or electronic form) before its publication date and, if it does, it may preclude publication.

17. Deposits of Manuscripts to Repositories such as PubMed Central

• All rights, title, interest and copyright ownership in a manuscript submitted to the American Heart Association is conveyed by the author(s) to the American Heart Association. If a manuscript is supported in whole or part by a funding body, such as the NIH, then authors are authorized to deposit the manuscript in the funding body’s designated repository but must specify that it be made public no earlier than 6 months after publication in Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology.
• As of May 2, 2005, the NIH has requested that manuscripts funded in whole or part by NIH funds be deposited in PubMedCentral (PMC). The manuscript to be deposited is the “preprint” form of the manuscript.
• When authors deposit their manuscript on the PMC site, authors must designate when the manuscript will be available in the PMC repository. The American Heart Association permits, and requires, that when submitting the manuscript to PMC that authors designate a 6-month delay from the date of final publication by The American Heart Association.
• Additionally, the AHA requests that in your final submission to a repository the following disclaimer be added to your manuscript:

1. This is an un-copyedited author manuscript that was accepted for publication in Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology, copyright The American Heart Association. This may not be duplicated or reproduced, other than for personal use or within the “Fair Use of Copyrighted Materials” (section 107, title 17, U.S. Code) without prior permission of the copyright owner, The American Heart Association. The final copyedited article, which is the version of record, can be found at Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology. The American Heart Association disclaims any responsibility or liability for errors or omissions in this version of the manuscript or in any version derived from it by the National Institutes of Health or other parties.
• For more information about author’s rights and responsibilities, please see the AHA Authorship Responsibility Copyright Transfer Agreement.
• For more information on PubMedCentral please visit http://nihms.nih.gov.
• A Permissions and Rights Question and Answer is also available (http://www.ahajournals.org/rights/).

AHA Scientific Publishing Ethical Conduct Policy

Conflict of Interest Disclosure Questionnaire Form

Artwork Guidelines (PDF)

Authorship Responsibility and Copyright Transfer Agreement Form

Journal Subject Heads for Article Collections Feature on Journals Web Site

Journal Permissions (PDF)