Author Submission Guidelines

All material to be considered for publication in the Journal of the Saudi Heart Association should be submitted electronically via the journal's online submission system before submission.

UPDATE FOR AUTHOR SUBMISSIONS
Authors must now submit using the JSHA editorialmanager.com site at the following URL:
https://www.editorialmanager.com/JSHA/default.aspx
JSHA will require authors to re-submit via the JSHA editorialmanager.com site for any submissions using a previous submission system.

Our online submission system guides you stepwise through the process of entering your article details and uploading your files. All correspondence, including notification of the Editor's decision and requests for revision, is sent by e-mail.

Peer review

This journal operates a single-blind review process. All contributions will be initially assessed by the editor for suitability for the journal. Papers deemed suitable are then typically sent to a minimum of two independent expert reviewers to assess the scientific quality of the paper. The Editor is responsible for the final decision regarding acceptance or rejection of articles. The Editor's decision is final.

Before submission, please read carefully below the journal policy and the author submission guideline and have the following documents ready to be upload to the online submission system.

Title Page
Author Contribution and Licensing Agreements
Cover Letter
Main Manuscript

Please submit your article via JSHA's online submission system.

MANUSCRIPT TYPES
SPECIFICATIONS FOR EACH ARTICLE TYPE
MANUSCRIPT STRUCTURE AND STYLE
COVER LETTER
TITLE PAGE
AUTHOR CONTRIBUTION AGREEMENT
ABSTRACT
THE MAIN MANUSCRIPT
ABBREVIATIONS
DISCLOSURE OF ANY FUNDING TO THE STUDY
DISCLOSURE OF ANY CONFLICT OF INTEREST
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
FIGURE AND TABLE LEGENDS
ARTWORT
REFERENCES
AUTHORSHIP
COPYRIGHT
JSHA POLICY AND ETHICS IN PUBLISHING
SUBMISSION DECLARATION AND VERIFICATION
USE OF INCLUSIVE LANGUAGE
CLINICAL TRIAL RESULTS
OPEN ACCESS
ONLINE PROOF CORRECTION
ARTICLE PROCESSING CHARGE

MANUSCRIPT TYPES

The journal publishes the following types of papers:

Original Articles
Review Articles
Case Reports
SHA Recommendations
News from Saudi Heart Association
Letters to the Editors (should comment on recent JSHA articles only).
Guidelines
Editorials
Editorial Comments
Conference Abstract

SPECIFICATIONS FOR EACH ARTICLE TYPE

Total number of words specified below comprises words on the title page, abstract, keywords, main text, figure and legends and tables. All manuscripts must adhere to the following specifications.

Original Article

Authors: unlimited
Abstract (structured): 350 words (sections should be: Objectives, Methods, Results and Conclusions)
Figures/tables combined: 10
References: 40
Total number of words: 4000

Review Article (a review article should not include unpublished cases/data)

Authors: 8 maximum
Summary (unstructured): 300 words
Figures/tables combined: 10
References: 80
Total number of words: 6000

Case Report

Single case reports only. No case series.
Authors: 5 maximum
Abstract (unstructured): 50-100 words
Figures/tables combined: 6
References: 10
Total number of words: 1000

Please prepare the case report like the followings:

Title: 15 words or less.
Unstructured abstract: 100 words or less.
History of presentation: How the patient was admitted, physical examination
Past Medical History
Differential diagnosis
Investigations
Management (medical/interventions)
Discussion: Association with current guidelines/position papers/current practice
Follow-up
Conclusion(s)
Learning Objectives

SHA Recommendations

Authors: Limited to 10
Abstract (structured): < 300 words
Figures/tables combined: 15
References: 50
Total number of words: 5000

News from Saudi Heart Association

Authors: Limited to 10
Abstract (structured): < 300 words
Figures/tables combined: 15
References: 50
Total number of words: 5000

Letters to the Editor (should comment on recent JSHA articles only).

Authors: 4 maximum
Abstract: none
Figures/tables: none
Videos: none
References: 6
Total number of words: 1000

Guidelines

Authors: Limited to 10
Abstract (structured): < 300 words
Figures/tables combined: 15
References: 50
Total number of words: 5000

Editorial

Authors: unlimited
Abstract: none
Figures/tables combined: 4
References: 10
Total number of words: 4000

Editorial Comment

Authors: 4 maximum
Abstract: none
Figures/tables: none
Videos: none
References: 10
Total number of words: 2000

MANUSCRIPT STRUCTURE AND STYLE

Manuscripts should be prepared using a word-processing package and save in .doc or docx format.

Font type: Arial or Calibri
Font size: 11 or 12 points
Double-spacing for the main text and NO column

COVER LETTER

Please download the Cover Letter and fill it out and upload it all as ONE file at the cover page area during the online submission process.

Make sure the purpose of your research, main research findings and the implication of your findings are stated in the cover letter.

TITLE PAGE

All the author details should be included here:

Title: should be brief and descriptive (and limited to 30 words) - no abbreviations are allowed.
Authors: list all authors by full first name, full middle name and surname name. Qualifications followed after the name. All authors must have substantially contributed.
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. PLEASE DO NOT INCLUDE THE INSTITUTION WHERE THE WORK IS NOT ATTRIBUTED.
Corresponding author: the full name, current title in the department, full postal address, telephone/fax numbers and the e-mail address should be typed at the bottom of the title page.
Co-author: the full name, current title in the department, and the e-mail address should be included.
Present/permanent address. If an author has moved since the work described in the article was done, or was visiting at the time, a 'Present address' (or 'Permanent address') may be indicated as a footnote to that author's name. The address at which the author actually did the work must be retained as the main, affiliation address. Superscript Arabic numerals are used for such footnotes.

AUTHOR CONTRIBUTION AGREEMENT

All the author contribution should be included here only

Please download the JSHA Author Contribution Agreement Template and fill it out.

ABSTRACT

An abstract should be a concise summary of the manuscript. The abstract should be factual and free of abbreviations, except for SI units of measurement. A structured abstract must have four sections:

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 with specific data and their statistical significance, if possible.
Conclusions: should contain the main conclusion of the study.

Include 3-6 Keywords following the abstract for subject indexing.

THE MAIN MANUSCRIPT

The main manuscript must be saved in WORD (.doc).

The main manuscript should include the below items and organized in the following order:

MainText with the following sections:Title, Author details, Abstract, keywords, Total word counts, Abbreviation List, Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion, Conclusion, Disclosure of Funding, Disclosure of any Conflict of interest, Acknowledgement (optional).
Figure and table legends followed by figures and tables
References with DOI in each reference
Please make sure to include a page number at the bottom of your main manuscript.

Main text-DO NOT repeat any author information in the main text.

Divide your article into clearly defined sections. Each subsection is given a brief heading. Each heading should appear on its own separate line. Subsections should be used as much as possible when cross-referencing text: refer to the subsection by heading as opposed to simply 'the text'.

Subdivision - unnumbered sections

Total word count

Please include the total number of words in the manuscript and display it before the abbreviation. Total number of words specified below comprises words on the abstract, keywords, main text, figure and legends and tables.

ABBREVIATIONS

A list of abbreviations used should be included before the introduction. Ensure consistency of abbreviations throughout the article.

Introduction

State the objectives of the work or investigation and provide an adequate background, avoiding a detailed literature survey or a summary of the results.

Material and methods

Manuscripts should include a detailed statistic method and explain the method chosen.

Method should provide in details to allow the work to be reproduced by an independent researcher.Use of abbreviations renders the text difficult to read; abbreviations should be limited to SI units of measurement and to those most commonly used. 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.

Methods that are already published should be summarized, and indicated by a reference. If quoting directly from a previously published method, use quotation marks and also cite the source. Any modifications to existing methods should also be described.

When reporting on human subjects, authors should indicate whether the procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the Helsinki Declaration (1964, amended most recently in 2008) of the World Medical Association. Manuscripts should include a statement that the patient’s written consent was obtained and any information should be as anonymized as much as possible. Authors should indicate that the design of the work has been approved by local ethical committees or that it conforms to standards currently applied in the country of origin. The name of the authorizing body should be stated in the paper.

Informed consent and patient details

Studies on patients or volunteers require ethics committee approval and informed consent, which should be documented in the paper. Appropriate consents, permissions and releases must be obtained where an author wishes to include case details or other personal information or images of patients and any other individuals in the publication. Written consents must be retained by the author but copies should not be provided to the journal. Only if specifically requested by the journal in exceptional circumstances (for example if a legal issue arises) the author must provide copies of the consents or evidence that such consents have been obtained. Unless you have written permission from the patient (or, where applicable, the next of kin), the personal details of any patient included in any part of the article and in any supplementary materials (including all illustrations and videos) must be removed before submission.

Results

Results should be clear and concise. 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!

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

This should discuss and interpret the results and significance of the work. It should be clear and concise. Avoid extensive citations and discussion of published literature. The importance of the study and its limitations should be discussed.

Conclusions

A short and concise conclusion for the investigation should be included. Repetition of results and discussion should be avoided!

DISCLOSURE OF ANY FUNDING TO THE STUDY

Any funding and conflict of interest should be disclosed.

If no funding has been provided for the research, please include the following sentence: This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors OR Conflict of interest: none declared.

List funding sources in the standard way and it should separately appear before the 'Acknowledgements' section. And the following rules should be followed:

The sentence should begin: ‘This work was supported by …’
The full official funding institution name should be given, i.e. ‘the National Institute of Health xxxx’
Grant numbers should be complete and accurate and provided in brackets as follows: ‘[grant number ABXXXXXXX]’
Multiple grant numbers should be separated by a comma as follows: ‘[grant numbers ABXXX, CDXXXX]’
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 [AB123 and CD456 to Adam Jones]

DISCLOSURE OF ANY CONFLICT OF INTEREST

Any conflict of interest should be disclosed. Please include the section even if none are declared, using the following format:
Conflict of interest: none declared.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Acknowledgements and details of non-financial support must be included at the end of the text before the references and not in footnotes. Personal acknowledgements should precede those of institutions or agencies.

FIGURE AND TABLE LEGENDS

A list with legends for each figure and table must be included.

Figures and Tables NO figures and tables are allowed in the main text.All figures and tables must be included in the manuscript file, as part of the text, not as images. All figures and tables should start on separate pages and be accompanied by a title, and footnotes (use superscript a,b,c….) where necessary. The figures and tables should be numbered consecutively using Arabic numerals. Abbreviations and their full definitions should be listed in alphabetical order at the bottom of the table. Limit the use of words. Please be certain that the data given in each figure and table is correct. All figures and tables must be cited in the text. Please avoid using vertical rules and shading in table cells.

Math formulae Please submit math equations as editable text and not as images. Present simple formulae in line with normal text where possible and use the solidus (/) instead of a horizontal line for small fractional terms, e.g., X/Y. In principle, variables are to be presented in italics. Powers of e are often more conveniently denoted by exp. Number consecutively any equations that have to be displayed separately from the text (if referred to explicitly in the text).

Footnotes Footnotes should be used sparingly. Number them consecutively throughout the article. Many word processors can build footnotes into the text, and this feature may be used. Otherwise, please indicate the position of footnotes in the text and list the footnotes themselves separately at the end of the article. Do not include footnotes in the Reference list.

ARTWORK

Electronic artwork
General points

Make sure you use uniform lettering and sizing of your original artwork.
Embed the used fonts if the application provides that option.
Aim to use the following fonts in your illustrations: Arial, Courier, Times New Roman, Symbol, or use fonts that look similar.
Number the illustrations according to their sequence in the text.
Use a logical naming convention for your artwork files.
Provide captions to illustrations separately.
Size the illustrations close to the desired dimensions of the published version.
Submit each illustration as a separate file.
Ensure that color images are accessible to all, including those with impaired color vision.

A detailed guide on electronic artwork is available.
You are urged to visit this site; some excerpts from the detailed information are given here.

Formats

If your electronic artwork is created in a Microsoft Office application (Word, PowerPoint, Excel) then please supply 'as is' in the native document format. Regardless of the application used other than Microsoft Office, when your electronic artwork is finalized, please 'Save as' or convert the images to one of the following formats (note the resolution requirements for line drawings, halftones, and line/halftone combinations given below):
EPS (or PDF): Vector drawings, embed all used fonts.
TIFF (or JPEG): Color or grayscale photographs (halftones), keep to a minimum of 300 dpi.
TIFF (or JPEG): Bitmapped (pure black & white pixels) line drawings, keep to a minimum of 1000 dpi.
TIFF (or JPEG): Combinations bitmapped line/half-tone (color or grayscale), keep to a minimum of 500 dpi.

Please do not:

Supply files that are optimized for screen use (e.g., GIF, BMP, PICT, WPG); these typically have a low number of pixels and limited set of colors;
Supply files that are too low in resolution;
Submit graphics that are disproportionately large for the content.

Color artwork

Please make sure that artwork files are in an acceptable format (TIFF (or JPEG), EPS (or PDF) or MS Office files) and with the correct resolution.

Figure captions Ensure that each illustration has a caption. Supply captions separately, not attached to the figure. A caption should comprise a brief title (not on the figure itself) and a description of the illustration. Keep text in the illustrations themselves to a minimum but explain all symbols and abbreviations used.

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.Reference styleText: Indicate references by number(s) in square brackets in line with the text. The actual authors can be referred to, but the reference number(s) must always be given.

List: Number the references (numbers in square brackets) in the list in the order in which they appear in the text.

Examples:
Reference to a journal publication:
As per the journal style, reference to a journal publication with more than 6 authors/editors, the first 6 author names are listed followed by ‘et al.’ if the author group consists of 6 authors or fewer, all author names should be listed. DOI should be added at the end of each reference unless there is not any.

[1] Van der Geer J, Hanraads JAJ, Lupton RA. The art of writing a scientific article. J Sci Commun 2010;163:51–9.

Reference to a book:
[2] Strunk Jr W, White EB. The elements of style. 4th ed. New York: Longman; 2000.

http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/aboutcancer/statistics/cancerstatsreport/

[5] Oguro M, Imahiro S, Saito S, Nakashizuka T. Mortality data for Japanese
oak wilt disease and surrounding forest compositions, Mendeley Data, v1;
2015. https://doi.org/10.17632/xwj98nb39r.1.
Note shortened form for last page number. e.g., 51–9, and that for more than 6 authors
the first 6 should be listed followed by 'et al.' For further details you are referred to
'Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts submitted to Biomedical Journals' (J Am Med
Assoc 1997;277:927–34) (see also Samples of Formatted References).

Journal abbreviations sourceJournal names should be abbreviated according to the List of Title Word Abbreviations.

Citation in text Please ensure that every reference cited in the text is also present in the reference list (and vice versa). Any references cited in the abstract must be given in full. Unpublished results and personal communications are not recommended in the reference list, but may be mentioned in the text. If these references are included in the reference list they should follow the standard reference style of the journal and should include a substitution of the publication date with either 'Unpublished results' or 'Personal communication'. Citation of a reference as 'in press' implies that the item has been accepted for publication.

Web references As a minimum, the full URL should be given and the date when the reference was last accessed. Any further information, if known (DOI, author names, dates, reference to a source publication, etc.), should also be given. Web references can be listed separately (e.g., after the reference list) under a different heading if desired, or can be included in the reference list.

Data references This journal encourages you to cite underlying or relevant datasets in your manuscript by citing them in your text and including a data reference in your Reference List. Data references should include the following elements: author name(s), dataset title, data repository, version (where available), year, and global persistent identifier. Add [dataset] immediately before the reference so we can properly identify it as a data reference. The [dataset] identifier will not appear in your published article.

References in a special issue Please ensure that the words 'this issue' are added to any references in the list (and any citations in the text) to other articles in the same Special Issue.

Reference management software Most Elsevier journals have their reference template available in many of the most popular reference management software products. These include all products that support Citation Style Language styles, such as Mendeley. Using citation plug-ins from these products, authors only need to select the appropriate journal template when preparing their article, after which citations and bibliographies will be automatically formatted in the journal's style. If no template is yet available for this journal, please follow the format of the sample references and citations as shown in this Guide. If you use reference management software, please ensure that you remove all field codes before submitting the electronic manuscript. More information on how to remove field codes from different reference management software.

Mendeley Users of Mendeley Desktop can easily install the reference style for this journal by clicking the following link:http://open.mendeley.com/use-citation-style/journal-of-the-saudi-heart-association.
When preparing your manuscript, you will then be able to select this style using the Mendeley plug-ins for Microsoft Word or LibreOffice.

AUTHORSHIP

All authors should have made substantial contributions to all of the following: (1) the conception and design of the study, or acquisition of data, or analysis and interpretation of data, (2) drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content, (3) final approval of the version to be submitted.

Changes to authorship

Authors are expected to consider carefully the list and order of authors before submitting their manuscript and provide the definitive list of authors at the time of the original submission. Any addition, deletion or rearrangement of author names in the authorship list should be made only before the manuscript has been accepted and only if approved by the journal Editor. To request such a change, the Editor must receive the following from the corresponding author: (a) the reason for the change in author list and (b) written confirmation (e-mail, letter) from all authors that they agree with the addition, removal or rearrangement. In the case of addition or removal of authors, this includes confirmation from the author being added or removed. Only in exceptional circumstances will the Editor consider the addition, deletion or rearrangement of authors after the manuscript has been accepted. While the Editor considers the request, publication of the manuscript will be suspended. If the manuscript has already been published in an online issue, any requests approved by the Editor will result in a corrigendum.

COPYRIGHT

On acceptance, transfer of copyright to The Journal of the Saudi Heart Association will be required. The Journal of the Saudi Heart Association will maintain copyright agreement and records signed by the authors.

The Author grants the Journal of the Saudi Heart Association (JSHA) full and exclusive rights to the manuscript, all revisions, and the full copyright. The Journal of the Saudi Heart Association (JSHA) rights include but are not limited to the following: (1) to reproduce, publish, sell, and distribute copies of the manuscript, selections of the manuscript, and translations and other derivative works based upon the manuscript, in print, audio-visual, electronic, or by any and all media now or hereafter known or devised; (2) to license reprints of the manuscript to third persons for educational photocopying; (3) to license others to create abstracts of the manuscript and to index the manuscript; (4) to license secondary publishers to reproduce the manuscript in print, microform, or any computer-readable form, including electronic on-line databases; and (5) to license the manuscript for document delivery. These exclusive rights run the full term of the copyright, and all renewals and extensions thereof.

The Author has the following nonexclusive rights: (1) to use the manuscript in the Author's teaching activities; (2) to publish the manuscript, or permit its publication, as part of any book the Author may write; (3) to include the manuscript in the Author's own personal or departmental (but not institutional) database or on-line site; and (4) to license reprints of the manuscript to third persons for educational photocopying. The Author also agrees to properly credit the Journal of the Saudi Heart Association (JSHA) as the original place of publication.

JSHA POLICY AND ETHICS IN PUBLISHING

The journal and its editorial board fully adhere and comply to the policies and principles of Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

The work described in your article must have been carried out in accordance with The Code of Ethics of the World Medical Association (Declaration of Helsinki) for experiments involving humans http://www.who.int/bulletin/archives/79%284%29373.pdf; EC Directive 86/609/EEC for animal experiments http://ec.europa.eu/environment/chemicals/lab_animals/legislation_en.htm; Uniform Requirements for manuscripts submitted to Biomedical journals http://www.icmje.org. The manuscript should contain a statement that the work has been approved by the appropriate ethical committees related to the institution(s) in which it was performed and that subjects gave informed consent to the work (see declarations section above). Studies involving experiments with animals must state that their care was in accordance with institution guidelines.

SUBMISSION DECLARATION AND VERIFICATION

Submission of an article implies that the work described has not been published previously (except in the form of an abstract, a published lecture or academic thesis, see 'Multiple, redundant or concurrent publication' for more information), that it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere, that its publication is approved by all authors and tacitly or explicitly by the responsible authorities where the work was carried out, and that, if accepted, it will not be published elsewhere in the same form, in English or in any other language, including electronically without the written consent of the copyright-holder. To verify originality, your article may be checked by the originality detection service Crossref Similarity Check.

USE OF INCLUSIVE LANGUAGE

Inclusive language acknowledges diversity, conveys respect to all people, is sensitive to differences, and promotes equal opportunities. Articles should make no assumptions about the beliefs or commitments of any reader, should contain nothing which might imply that one individual is superior to another on the grounds of race, sex, culture or any other characteristic, and should use inclusive language throughout. Authors should ensure that writing is free from bias, for instance by using 'he or she', 'his/her' instead of 'he' or 'his', and by making use of job titles that are free of stereotyping (e.g. 'chairperson' instead of 'chairman' and 'flight attendant' instead of 'stewardess').

CLINICAL TRIAL RESULTS

In line with the position of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors, the journal will not consider results posted in the same clinical trials registry in which primary registration resides to be prior publication if the results posted are presented in the form of a brief structured (less than 500 words) abstract or table. However, divulging results in other circumstances (e.g., investors' meetings) is discouraged and may jeopardise consideration of the manuscript. Authors should fully disclose all posting in registries of results of the same or closely related work.

OPEN ACCESS

Every peer-reviewed research article appearing in this journal will be published open access. This means that the article is universally and freely accessible via the internet in perpetuity, in an easily readable format immediately after publication. The author does not have any publication charges for open access.

ONLINE PROOF CORRECTION

To ensure a fast publication process of the article, we kindly ask authors to provide us with their proof corrections within two days. Corresponding authors will receive an e-mail with a link to our online proofing system, allowing them to revise article metadata and upload correction of proofs online via their My Account. An Article Proof and Query Formwill allow you to comment on figures/tables and answer questions from the Copy Editor.

If preferred, you can still choose to annotate and upload your edits on the PDF version. All instructions for proofing will be given in the e-mail we send to authors, including alternative methods to the online version and PDF.

We will do everything possible to get your article published quickly and accurately. Please use this proof only for checking the typesetting, editing, completeness and correctness of the text, tables and figures. Significant changes to the article as accepted for publication will only be considered at this stage with permission from the Editor. It is important to ensure that all corrections are sent back to us in one communication.

Please check carefully before replying, as inclusion of any subsequent corrections cannot be guaranteed. Proofreading is solely your responsibility.

ARTICLE PROCESSING CHARGE

There is no article processing charge (APC) for this journal.

AUTHOR INQUIRES

You can track your submitted article by clicking the My Account link.

You are also welcome to contact Client Services for technical support at .

For journal related information, please contact Miriam at .