Innovations
Technology and Techniques in Cardiothoracic and Vascular SurgeryInnovations: Technology and Techniques in Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery, the official journal of the International Society for Minimally Invasive Cardiothoracic Surgery, aims to disseminate information globally about innovations and advances in technology and techniques that might lead to less invasive treatment of cardiothoracic and vascular disease than measures regularly used.
| Niv Ad, MD | Division of Cardiac Surgery, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA |
| Sari D. Holmes, PhD | Division of Cardiac Surgery, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA |
| Abbas E. Abbas, MD | Providence, RI, USA |
| Mara Antonoff, MD | Houston, Texas, USA |
| Tohru Asai, MD, PhD | Tokyo, Japan |
| Gry Dahle, MD | Oslo, Norway |
| Marek Ehrlich, MD | Vienna, Austria |
| Mattia Glauber, MD | Milano, Italy |
| David J. Kaczorowski, MD | Pittsburgh, PA, USA |
| Donna E. Maziak, MD | Ottawa, ON, Canada |
| Spencer J. Melby, MD | St. Louis, Missouri, USA |
| Stephanie L. Mick, MD | New York, NY, USA |
| Piotr Suwalski, MD, PhD | Warsaw, Poland |
| Joseph W. Turek, MD, PhD, MBA | Durham, North Carolina, USA |
| Grayson H. Wheatley, III, MD | Nashville, Tennessee, USA |
| Bobby Yanagawa, MD, PhD | Toronto, ON, Canada |
| Busra Cangut, MD | New York, NY, USA |
| William Frankel, MD | Cleveland, OH, USA |
| Fabian Jimenez, MD | Gainesville, FL, USA |
| Sufina Shales, DrNB | Kolkata, India |
| Husam H. Balkhy, MD | Chicago, Illinois, USA |
| Sharon Ben-Or, MD | Kansas City, Kansas, USA |
| Daniel M. Bethencourt, MD | Long Beach, California, USA |
| Gianluigi Bisleri, MD | Toronto, ON, Canada |
| Nikolaos Bonaros, MD | Innsbruck, Austria |
| Johannes O. Bonatti, MD | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA |
| Vito D. Bruno, MD, PhD | Milan, Italy |
| Suchart Chaiyaroj, MD | Bangkok, Thailand |
| Giovanni A. Chiariello, MD, PhD | Rome, Italy |
| Jennifer C-Y Chung, MD | Toronto, ON, Canada |
| Robert W. Emery, Jr., MD | Tucson, Arizona, USA |
| Arnar Geirsson, MD | New Haven, Connecticut, USA |
| Donald D. Glower, MD | Durham, North Carolina, USA |
| Paul F. Gründeman, MD, PhD | Utrecht, The Netherlands |
| Michael E. Halkos, MD | Atlanta, Georgia, USA |
| Steven Hunter, MD | Sheffield, UK |
| Marjan Jahangiri, MD | London, UK |
| Vivek S. Jawali, MD | Bangalore, India |
| Bob B. Kiaii, MD | Sacramento, California, USA |
| Young Tae Kim, MD, PhD | Seoul, Korea |
| Eric J. Lehr, MD, PhD | Seattle, Washington, USA |
| Virginia R. Litle, MD | Murray, Utah, USA |
| Jessica G.Y. Luc, MD | Vancouver, BC, Canada |
| Paul Modi, MD | Liverpool, United Kingdom |
| Simon C. Moten, MD | Melbourne, Australia |
| Nahum Nesher, MD | Tel Aviv, Israel |
| Calvin S. H. Ng, MD | Hong Kong, China |
| Tom C. Nguyen, MD | San Francisco, California, USA |
| Takashi Nitta, MD, PhD | Tokyo, Japan |
| Nirav C. Patel, MD | New York, New York, USA |
| Robinson Poffo, MD | São Paulo, Brazil |
| Hermann Reichenspurner, MD, PhD | Hamburg, Germany |
| Scott I. Reznik, MD | Dallas, Texas, USA |
| Harold G. Roberts, MD | St. Louis, Missouri, USA |
| Evelio Rodriguez, MD | Nashville, Tennessee, USA |
| Chawannuch Ruaengsri, MD | Stanford, California, USA |
| Ricardo Sales dos Santos, MD, PhD | São Paulo, Brazil |
| Sahin Senay, MD | Istanbul, Turkey |
| Vinod H. Thourani, MD | Atlanta, Georgia, USA |
| Gregory D. Trachiotis, MD | Washington, DC, USA |
| P. James Villeneuve, MDCM, PhD | Ottawa, ON, Canada |
| Huishan Wang, MD | Shenyang, China |
| Go Watanabe, MD, PhD | Tokyo, Japan |
| Benny Weksler, MD | Memphis, Tennessee, USA |
| Zhe Zheng, MD, PhD | Beijing, China |
Innovations: Technology and Techniques in Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics
Please read the guidelines below then visit the Innovations submission site https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/inv to upload your manuscript. Please note that manuscripts not conforming to these guidelines may be returned.
Innovations recommends that authors follow the Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals formulated by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE).
Only manuscripts of sufficient quality that meet the aims and scope of Innovations will be reviewed.
As part of the submission process you will be required to warrant that you are submitting your original work, that you have the rights in the work, and that you have obtained and can supply all necessary permissions for the reproduction of any copyright works not owned by you, that you are submitting the work for first publication in the Journal and that it is not being considered for publication elsewhere and has not already been published elsewhere. Please see our guidelines on prior publication. Please note that Innovations does not accept submissions of papers that have been posted on preprint servers.
There is no fee for publication in our journal, assuming your manuscript is accepted following peer review.
2.5 Declaration of conflicting interests
3.2 Contributor’s publishing agreement
3.3 Open access and author archiving
4.2 Artwork, figures, and other graphics
4.3 Submitting additional material
4.4 Manuscript submission requirements
4.7 English language editing services
5.1 Title, keywords and abstracts
5.2 Information required for completing your submission
6. On acceptance and publication
6.2 Access to your published article
7.1 Appealing the publication decision
Before submitting your manuscript to Innovations please ensure you have read the Aims & Scope.
1.2 Types of articles considered
The editor invites submission of 1) original articles, based on observation or experimentation that add new knowledge to the field of cardiothoracic and vascular surgery, especially if it might lead to less invasive treatment, 2) review articles, which codify existing knowledge or throw light on the present and future roles of minimally invasive cardiothoracic and vascular surgery, 3) How-To-Do-It articles, presenting a new technique with enough detail to allow replication by colleagues, 4) brief communications and case series, describing a unique aspect of cardiothoracic or vascular surgery not previously described in the literature, 5) pictorial essays, which primarily utilize images to review a specific subject, and 6) editorials reflecting the opinions of authorities in the field. The Journal will publish papers in the areas of cardiothoracic and vascular surgery, medicine, physiology, pathology, and imaging technology.
The Sage Author Gateway has some general advice and on how to get published, plus links to further resources. Sage Author Services also offers authors a variety of ways to improve and enhance their article including English language editing, plagiarism detection, and video abstract and infographic preparation.
1.3.1 Make your article discoverable
For information and guidance on how to make your article more discoverable, visit our Gateway page on How to Help Readers Find Your Article Online.
Three independent peer reviewers are assigned by an associate editor, except for brief communications and case series where there may be two peer reviewers. The Editor is responsible for all final decisions regarding acceptance or rejection, recommendations for revision, and final editing. Manuscripts will be evaluated according to various criteria, including an ethics check. The time from submission to first decision is typically 28 days. Innovations strives to maintain a fast review process.
All submitted articles are fully anonymous to ensure an unbiased review. Reviewers will not have access to author names or affiliations. Authors will not have access to reviewer names or affiliations.
Papers should only be submitted for consideration once consent is given by all contributing authors. Those submitting papers should carefully check that all those whose work contributed to the paper are acknowledged as contributing authors.
The list of authors should include all those who can legitimately claim authorship. This is all those who:
Made a substantial contribution to the concept or design of the work; or acquisition, analysis or interpretation of data,
Drafted the article or revised it critically for important intellectual content,
Approved the version to be published,
Each author should have participated sufficiently in the work to take public responsibility for appropriate portions of the content.
Authors should meet the conditions of all of the points above. When a large, multicentre group has conducted the work, the group should identify the individuals who accept direct responsibility for the manuscript. These individuals should fully meet the criteria for authorship.
Acquisition of funding, collection of data, or general supervision of the research group alone does not constitute authorship, although all contributors who do not meet the criteria for authorship should be listed in the Acknowledgments section. Please refer to the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) authorship guidelines for more information on authorship.
Any acknowledgments should be listed on the Title Page.
All contributors who do not meet the criteria for authorship should be listed in an ‘Acknowledgments’ section. Examples of those who might be acknowledged include a person who provided purely technical help, writing assistance, or a department chair who provided only general support. Authors should disclose whether they had any writing assistance and identify the entity that paid for this assistance.
Individuals who provided writing assistance, e.g. from a specialist communications company, do not qualify as authors and so should be included in the Acknowledgements section. Authors must disclose any writing assistance – including the individual’s name, company and level of input – and identify the entity that paid for this assistance. It is not necessary to disclose use of language polishing services.
To comply with the guidance for Research Funders, Authors and Publishers issued by the Research Information Network (RIN), Innovations additionally requires all Authors to acknowledge their funding in a consistent fashion under a separate heading on the Title Page. Please visit Funding Acknowledgements on the Sage Journal Author Gateway to confirm the format of the acknowledgment text in the event of funding or state in your acknowledgments that: This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.
2.5 Declaration of conflicting interests
It is the policy of Innovations to require a declaration of conflicting interests from all authors enabling a statement to be carried within the paginated pages of all published articles.
Please ensure that a ‘Declaration of Conflicting Interests’ statement is included on the Title Page. If no conflict exists, please state that ‘The Author(s) declare(s) that there is no conflict of interest’. For guidance on conflict of interest statements, please see the ICMJE recommendations here.
Medical research involving human subjects must be conducted according to the World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki.
Submitted manuscripts should conform to the ICMJE Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals, and all papers reporting animal and/or human studies must state in the methods section that the relevant Ethics Committee or Institutional Review Board provided (or waived) approval.
On the Title Page, please ensure that you have provided the full name and institution of the review committee, in addition to the approval number. For research articles, authors are also required to state in the methods section whether participants provided informed consent and whether the consent was written or verbal.
Information on informed consent to report individual cases or case series should be included in the manuscript text. A statement is required regarding whether written informed consent for patient information and images to be published was provided by the patient(s) or a legally authorized representative. Please do not submit the patient’s actual written informed consent with your article, as this in itself breaches the patient’s confidentiality. The Journal requests that you confirm to us, in writing, that you have obtained written informed consent but the written consent itself should be held by the authors/investigators themselves, for example in a patient’s hospital record. The confirmatory letter may be uploaded with your submission as a separate file.
Please also refer to the ICMJE Recommendations for the Protection of Research Participants.
Authors are required to ensure the following guidelines are followed, as per the IJMCE’s recommendations. Patients have a right to privacy that should not be infringed without informed consent. Identifying information, including patients' names, initials, or hospital numbers, should not be published in written descriptions, photographs, and pedigrees unless the information is essential for scientific purposes and the patient (or parent or guardian) gives written informed consent for publication. Informed consent for this purpose requires that a patient who is identifiable be shown the manuscript to be published.
Identifying details should be omitted if they are not essential. Complete anonymity is difficult to achieve, however, and informed consent should be obtained if there is any doubt. For example, masking the eye region in photographs of patients is inadequate protection of anonymity. If identifying characteristics are altered to protect anonymity, such as in genetic pedigrees, authors should provide assurance that alterations do not distort scientific meaning and editors should so note. When informed consent has been obtained it should be indicated in the submitted article.
Innovations conforms to the ICMJE requirement that clinical trials are registered in a WHO-approved public trials registry at or before the time of first patient enrolment as a condition of consideration for publication. The trial registry name and URL, and registration number must be included on the Title Page.
The relevant EQUATOR Network reporting guidelines should be followed depending on the type of study. For example, all randomized controlled trials submitted for publication should include a completed CONSORT flow chart as a cited figure and the completed CONSORT checklist should be uploaded with your submission as a supplementary file. Systematic reviews and meta-analyses should include the completed PRISMA flow chart as a cited figure and the completed PRISMA checklist should be uploaded with your submission as a supplementary file. The EQUATOR wizard can help you identify the appropriate guideline.
Other resources can be found at NLM’s Research Reporting Guidelines and Initiatives.
The journal is committed to facilitating openness, transparency and reproducibility of research, and has the following research data sharing policy. For more information, including FAQs please visit the Sage Research Data policy pages.
Subject to appropriate ethical and legal considerations, authors are encouraged to:
- share your research data in a relevant public data repository
- include a data availability statement linking to your data. If it is not possible to share your data, we encourage you to consider using the statement to explain why it cannot be shared.
- cite this data in your research
Sage is committed to upholding the integrity of the academic record. We encourage authors to refer to the Committee on Publication Ethics’ International Standards for Authors and view the Publication Ethics page on the Sage Author Gateway.
Innovations and Sage take issues of copyright infringement, plagiarism or other breaches of best practice in publication very seriously. We seek to protect the rights of our authors and we always investigate claims of plagiarism or misuse of published articles. Equally, we seek to protect the reputation of the journal against malpractice. Submitted articles may be checked with duplication-checking software. Where an article, for example, is found to have plagiarized other work or included third-party copyright material without permission or with insufficient acknowledgement, or where the authorship of the article is contested, we reserve the right to take action including, but not limited to: publishing an erratum or corrigendum (correction); retracting the article; taking up the matter with the head of department or dean of the author's institution and/or relevant academic bodies or societies; or taking appropriate legal action.
If material has been previously published it is not generally acceptable for publication in a Sage journal. However, there are certain circumstances where previously published material can be considered for publication. Please refer to the guidance on the Sage Author Gateway or if in doubt, contact the Editor at the address given below.
3.2 Contributor’s publishing agreement
Before publication, Sage requires the author as the rights holder to sign a Journal Contributor’s Publishing Agreement. Sage’s Journal Contributor’s Publishing Agreement is an exclusive licence agreement which means that the author retains copyright in the work but grants Sage the sole and exclusive right and licence to publish for the full legal term of copyright. Exceptions may exist where an assignment of copyright is required or preferred by a proprietor other than Sage. In this case copyright in the work will be assigned from the author to the society.
For more information please visit our Frequently Asked Questions on the Sage Journal Author Gateway.
Innovations and Sage take issues of copyright infringement, plagiarism or other breaches of best practice in publication very seriously. We seek to protect the rights of our authors and we always investigate claims of plagiarism or misuse of articles published in the journal. Equally, we seek to protect the reputation of the journal against malpractice. Submitted articles may be checked using duplication-checking software. Where an article is found to have plagiarized other work or included third-party copyright material without permission or with insufficient acknowledgement, or where authorship of the article is contested, we reserve the right to take action including, but not limited to: publishing an erratum or corrigendum (correction); retracting the article (removing it from the journal); taking up the matter with the head of department or dean of the author’s institution and/or relevant academic bodies or societies; banning the author from publication in the journal or all Sage journals, or appropriate legal action
3.3 Open access and author archiving
For more information on the open access options for Innovations, funding body compliance, and depositing your article in repositories, please visit Sage Publishing Policies on our Journal Author Gateway.
Please also ensure that you have obtained any necessary permission from copyright holders for reproducing any illustrations, tables, figures or lengthy quotations previously published elsewhere. For further information including guidance on fair dealing for criticism and review, please see the Copyright and Permissions page on the Sage Author Gateway
Only electronic files conforming to the journal's guidelines will be accepted. Preferred formats for the text and tables of your manuscript are Word DOC, RTF, XLS. The text should be double-spaced throughout and with a minimum of 3cm for left and right-hand margins and 5cm at head and foot. Text should be standard 10 or 12 point font.
4.2 Artwork, figures, and other graphics
Illustrations, pictures, and graphs should be supplied in the highest quality and in an electronic format that helps us to publish your article in the best way possible. Please follow the guidelines below to enable us to prepare your artwork for the printed issue as well as the online version.
Format
TIFF, JPEG: Common format for pictures (containing no text or graphs).
EPS: Preferred format for graphs and line art (retains quality when enlarging/zooming in).
Resolution
Rasterized based files (i.e., with .tiff or .jpeg extension) require a resolution of at least 300 dpi (dots per inch).
Line art should be supplied with a minimum resolution of 800 dpi.
Fonts
The lettering used in the artwork should not vary too much in size and type (usually sans serif font as a default).
Figure part labels should use lower case letters in bold font (i.e., a b c d).
Image Integrity
Figures should be minimally processed and should reflect the integrity of the original data in the image. Adjustments to images in brightness, contrast, or color balance should be applied equally to the entire image, provided they do not distort any data in the figure, including the background. Selective adjustments and touch-up tools used on portions of a figure are not appropriate. Images should not be layered or combined into a single image unless it is stated that the figure is a product of time-averaged data. All adjustments to image date should be clearly disclosed in the figure legend. Images may be additionally screened to confirm faithfulness to the original data. Authors should be able to supply raw image data upon request. Authors should also list tools and software used to collect image data and should document settings and manipulations in the Methods section.
4.3 Submitting additional material
This journal is able to host additional materials online (e.g. datasets, AV files) alongside the full-text of the article. These will be subjected to peer-review alongside the article. For more information please refer to Sage’s Guidelines for Authors on Supplemental Files.
4.4 Manuscript submission requirements
Each submission should at minimum include a Cover Letter (uploaded or typed in the submission system), Title Page (not anonymous), main manuscript file (anonymous without any author/institutional information), and Visual Abstract (most article types).
The Title Page must include the title (limit of 145 characters including spaces), full author list including academic degrees and affiliations for each author, disclosure statement for all authors and any sources of funding, complete contact information for the corresponding author, presentation details for applicable national meetings (i.e., ISMICS, ECTSS, etc.), full name and institution of the ethics review committee with approval number (if applicable), and the Acknowledgment section (if applicable). For accepted articles, details reported on the Title Page will supersede metadata included in the online manuscript submission system, including order and spelling of Author names.
For Original Articles, Reviews, and How-To-Do-It Articles, there is a 3,500 word limit for body text (Introduction to Conclusions) and 40 reference limit. Brief Communications and Case Series are limited to 1,200 words for body text (including references) and 8 references. Editorials and Letters to the Editor are limited to 500 words and 10 references, unless otherwise agreed upon with the Editorial Office. Please do not include line numbers in your manuscript, as these will be added by the submission system automatically.
For Original Articles, the structure of the main anonymous manuscript file should be in the following order: Title, Abstract (Objective, Methods, Results, Conclusions; limit = 250 words), Central Message (limit = 50 words), Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion, Conclusions, References, Tables, Figure Legend, Video Legend. Figures and videos should be uploaded as separate files that meet Artwork Guidelines found in Section 4.2.
For Reviews and How-To-Do-It Articles, the structure of the main anonymous manuscript file should follow the order for Original Articles wherever possible. The abstract may be unstructured (limit = 250 words) or structured if applicable. Alternate headings, such as “Surgical Technique” and individual review topics, may be used in place of the Methods and Results sections found in Original Articles. Figures and videos should be uploaded as separate files that meet Artwork Guidelines found in Section 4.2.
For Brief Communications and Case Series, the structure of the main anonymous manuscript file should be in the following order: Title, Abstract (unstructured summary; limit = 150 words), Introduction, Case Report or Case Series, Discussion, References, Figure Legend, Video Legend. It is required to submit at least 1 surgical video with each Brief Communication or Case Series submission. Brief Communications should not include tables. Figures and videos should be uploaded as separate files that meet Artwork Guidelines found in Section 4.2.
Innovation adheres to the Sage Vancouver reference style. Click here to review the guidelines on Sage Vancouver to ensure your manuscript conforms to this reference style. Authors are responsible for the accuracy of all references and manuscript submissions may be returned for failure to comply with these guidelines.
Up to three authors may be listed. If more, then list the first three authors and represent the rest by et al.
An example of a properly formatted journal article is:
Araki C, Black TL, Patberg FT, et al. Significance of calf muscle pump function in venous ulceration. J Vasc Surg 1994; 20: 872–879.
For text citations, please use superscript numerals after the punctuation.
All submissions, except for Editorials, are required to include a Visual Abstract that will be published in the online version of each manuscript. Please download this template to create a Visual Abstract.
Placeholders have been added in the template, but Authors should add text and graphics/icons as applicable for their content. The final product should be clear and concise. Please do not include the entire abstract text, but rather present a brief summary of the key findings. The final version will be compiled by the Editorial Office to ensure journal style is achieved.
For more information on how to create an effective Visual Abstract, please visit this guide, which includes many examples of effective Visual Abstracts.
4.7 English language editing services
Authors who would like to refine the use of English in their manuscripts might consider using the services of a professional English-language editing company. Visit Sage Language Services on our Journal Author Gateway for further information.
Innovations is hosted on Sage Track. Manuscripts may be submitted at https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/inv.
5.1 Title, keywords and abstracts
Please supply a title (limit of 145 characters including spaces), keywords, and an abstract (limit of 250 words) to accompany your article. The title, keywords, and abstract are key to ensuring readers find your article online through online search engines such as Google. Please refer to the information and guidance on how best to title your article, write your abstract and select your keywords by visiting Sage’s Journal Author Gateway Guidelines on How to Help Readers Find Your Article Online.
5.2 Information required for completing your submission
You will be asked to provide contact details and academic affiliations for all co-authors via the submission system and identify who is to be the corresponding author. These details must match what appears on your manuscript. The affiliation listed in the manuscript should be the institution where the research was conducted. If an author has moved to a new institution since completing the research, the new affiliation can be included in a manuscript note at the end of the paper. At this stage please ensure you have included all the required statements and declarations and uploaded any additional supplementary files (including reporting guidelines where relevant).
6. On acceptance and publication
Your Sage Production Editor will keep you informed as to your article’s progress throughout the production process. Proofs will be sent by PDF to the corresponding author and should be returned promptly. Authors are reminded to check their proofs carefully to confirm that all author information, including names, affiliations, sequence and contact details are correct, and that Funding and Conflict of Interest statements, if any, are accurate.
6.2 Access to your published article
Sage provides authors with online access to their final article.
Online First allows final revision articles (completed articles in queue for assignment to an upcoming issue) to be published online prior to their inclusion in a final journal issue which significantly reduces the lead time between submission and publication. For more information please visit our Online First Fact Sheet.
Any correspondence, queries, or additional requests for information on the manuscript submission process should be sent to the Innovations Editorial Office as follows:
Sari D. Holmes, PhD
Managing Editor
sari.holmes@jhmi.edu
7.1 Appealing the publication decision
Editors have very broad discretion in determining whether an article is an appropriate fit for their journal. Many manuscripts are declined with a very general statement of the rejection decision. These decisions are not eligible for formal appeal unless the author believes the decision to reject the manuscript was based on an error in the review of the article, in which case the author may appeal the decision by providing the Editor with a detailed written description of the error they believe occurred.
If an author believes the decision regarding their manuscript was affected by a publication ethics breach, the author may contact the publisher with a detailed written description of their concern, and information supporting the concern, at publication_ethics@sagepub.com