Editorial Policies
The Journal of Cardiac Failure publishes peer-reviewed manuscripts of interest to clinicians and researchers in the field of heart failure and related disciplines. Theseinclude original communications of scientific importance and review articles involving clinical research, health services and outcomes research, animal studies, and bench research with potential clinical applications to heart failure. The Journal also publishes manuscripts that report the design of ongoing clinical trials and editorial perspectives that comment on new developments pertinent to the field of heart failure or manuscripts published in other journals.

Published research must be in compliance with human studies guidelines and animal welfare regulations. Authors should indicate in the manuscript that human subjects have given informed consent and that the institutional committee on human research has approved the study protocol. Similarly, they should indicate that studies involving experimental animals conform to institutional standards.

Manuscripts
The Journal of Cardiac Failure uses an online, electronic submission system. By accessing the website http://ees.elsevier.com/cardfail authors will be guided stepwise through the creation and uploading of the various files. When submitting a manuscript to the Elsevier Editorial System, authors need to provide an electronic version of their manuscript. For this purpose original source files, not PDF files, are preferred. The author should specify a category designation for the manuscript (original investigation, review article, brief communication, etc.) and choose a set of classifications from the prescribed list provided online. Authors may send queries concerning the submission process, manuscript status, or journal procedures to the Editorial Office, schristiansen@hfsa.org. Once the submission files are uploaded, the system automatically generates an electronic (PDF) proof, which is then used for reviewing. All correspondence, including the Editor's decision and request for revisions, will be by e-mail.

Original works will be accepted with the understanding that they are contributed solely to the Journal of Cardiac Failure, are not under review by another publication, and have not previously been published except in abstract form. Accepted manuscripts become the sole property of the journal and may not be published elsewhere without the consent of the Journal of Cardiac Failure. A form stating that the authors transfer all copyright ownership to the journal will be sent from the publisher when the manuscript is accepted; this form must be signed by all authors of the article.

Submission Form
The submission form includes three statements: (1) that there has been no duplicate publication or submission elsewhere of any part of the work (excluding abstracts),(2) that all authors have read and approved the manuscript, and (3) that there are no financial or other relations that could lead to a conflict of interest. This form mustbe downloaded, signed by all authors, and faxed to the editorial office.

If a potential conflict exists, its nature should be stated for each author. When there is a stated potential conflict of interest and the Editors consider that it may have relevance tothe accompanying paper, a footnote will be added indicating the author(s)' equity interest in or other affiliation with the identified commercial firms.

Title Page
The title page should include a brief and descriptive title of the article, a short title of less than 40 characters, the authors' names and academic degrees, hospital and academic affiliations, acknowledgment of grants and other support, and the name and address (including zip code), telephone, fax and e-mail address of the individual responsible for editorial correspondence.

Abstracts
Each article should include a brief abstract of no more than 200 words. The abstract should be structured with the following headings: Background, Methods and Results,and Conclusions. In the Background section, describe the rationale for the study. In Methods and Results, briefly describe the methods and present the significant results. In Conclusions, state succinctly the interpretation of the data.

Key Words
Authors should supply a list of up to four key words not appearing in the title, which will be used for indexing.

Text
The text should be organized as follows: Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion. The Introduction should describe the purpose of the study and its relation to previous work in the field; it should not include an extensive literature review. Methods should be concise but sufficiently detailed to permit repetition by other investigators. Previously published methods and modifications should be cited by reference. Results should present positive and relevant negative findings of the study, supported when necessary by reference to tables and figures. The Discussion should interpret the results of the study,with emphasis on their relation to the original hypotheses and to previous studies. The importance of the study and its limitations should also be discussed.

Disclosures
All potential conflicts of interest must be identified within the text of the manuscript, under this heading. This includes relationships with pharmaceutical and biomedical device companies or other corporations whose products or services are related to the subject matter of the article. Such relationships include, but are not limited to, employment by an industrial concern, equity or stock ownership by authors or family member, membership on a standing advisory council or committee, being on the board of directors or publicly associated with the company or its products. Other areas of real or perceived conflict of interest could include receipt of honoraria or consulting fees or receiving grants or funds from such corporations or individuals representing such corporations. If there are "none" this should be stated in the Disclosure section.

Acknowledgments
Acknowledgment of those who contributed to the research or preparation of the paper should follow the text.

References
References should be double-spaced in numerical sequence according to standard Vancouver style, using Index Medicus abbreviations for journal titles. The first6 authors should be listed in each reference citation (if there are more than 6 authors, "et al" should be used following the sixth). Periods are not used in author's initials or journal abbreviations.

Journal Article
Parkin DM, Clayton D, Black RJ, Masuyer E, Friedl HP, Ivanov E, et al. Childhood leukemia in Europe after Chernobyl: 5 year follow-up. Br J Cancer 1996;73:1006-12.
Book
Ringsven MK, Bond D. Gerontology and leadership skills for nurses. Albany (NY): Delmar Publishers; 1996.
Chapter in Edited Book
Phillips SJ, Whisnant JP. Hypertension and stroke. In: Laragh JH,Brenner BM, editors. Hypertension: pathophysiology, diagnosis, and management. New York: Raven Press; 1995. p. 465-78.
References should be typed superscripted and cited in numerical order in the text and listed at the end of the article in citation order. References to unpublished materialsor personal communications should be cited in the text in parentheses and include relevant researchers.For further information about Vancouver reference style, visit www.icmje.org.

Figures and Legends
Illustrations should be numbered in the order of their mention in the text.
Color illustrations are not accepted for publication unless the author agrees to pay all costs associated with producing color art. The issue manager will provide a quote for such costs.
Legends should be supplied for each figure and shouldbe brief and not repetitive of the text. All figures should be cited in the text and numbered in order of appearance. Any source notation for borrowed figures should appear at the end of the legend. Omit the magnification of any photograph unless not generally apparent (as in an electron photograph). Legends should be double-spaced on a separate sheet of paper with all abbreviations and symbols appearing on the illustration described.

Video and Audio Clips
Electronic publication permits the display of dynamic images: Illustrations that show inherently moving information may be presented as video clips. Video clips should be submitted as MPG, MOV, AVI, or GIF files. The authors should verify that all video clips take less than a minute to load and that they play properly. To limit the loading time the clips should preferably contain only one cardiac cycle and the file size should be less than 1.5 megabytes. Slightly larger clips are permissible with 3-D images.

Tables
Tables should be comprehensible without reference to the text and should not be repetitive of descriptions in the text. Every table should consist of two or more columns;tables with only one column will be treated as lists and incorporated into the text. Cite all tables in the text, number them in order of appearance, and provide a short heading. Each table submitted should be doublespaced, each on its own page. Explanatory matter andsource notations for borrowed tables should be placed in the table footnote.

Supplemental Materials
Supplemental materials - documents, tables, figures, audio clips, and video clips - may be submitted to appear online only. Such content should be cited consecutively within the text. These materials will not be copyedited, typeset, or altered in any way by the publisher. Text and tables must be provided as PDFs.

Permissions
To use tables or figures borrowed from another source, permission must be obtained from the copyright holder, usually the publisher. Authors are responsible for applying for permission for both print and electronic rights for all borrowed materials and are responsible for paying any fees related to the applications of these permissions. This is necessary even if you are an author of the borrowed material. It is essential to begin the process of obtaining permission early; a delay may require removing the copyrighted material from the article. Give the source of a borrowed table in a footnote and ofa borrowed figure in the legend. Use the exact wording required by the copyright holder. E-mail a copy of the letter granting permission, identified by table or figure number, along with the manuscript. Abbreviations should appear in parentheses immediately after the term first appears in the text.

Letters to the Editor
The editor invites brief letters commenting on papers appearing in the journal and on other issues.

Page Proofs
Page proofs are sent from the publisher electronically and must be returned promptly to avoid delay of publication. Reprints are ordered from the publisher at the time pageproofs are returned.

Open Access
This journal offers you the option of making your article freely available to all via the ScienceDirect platform. To prevent any conflict of interest, you can make this choice only after receiving notification that your article has been accepted for publication. The fee of $3,000 excludes taxes and other potential author fees such as color charges. In some cases, institutions and funding bodies have entered into agreement with Elsevier to meet these fees on behalf of their authors. Details of these agreements are available at http://www.elsevier.com/fundingbodies. Authors of accepted articles who wish to take advantage of this option should complete and submit the order form (available at http://www.elsevier.com/locate/openaccessform.pdf. Whatever access option you choose, you retain many rights as an author, including the right to post a revised personal version of your article on your own website. More information can be found here: http://www.elsevier.com/authorsrights.

Updated November 2012