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• Author Guidelines for the American Journal of Critical Care (AJCC) [ PDF ]
• Authorship, Financial Disclosure, Copyright Transfer, and Acknowledgment Form [ PDF ]
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Call for Papers

The Editors of the American Journal of Critical Care encourage the submission of original manuscripts describing investigations, advances, or observations from all specialties related to the care of critically ill patients. The American Journal of Critical Care is most interested in receiving clinical studies, research studies, or case reports that emphasize and promote collaborative practice and research. Manuscripts will be considered on the understanding that they have not been published elsewhere and have been submitted solely to the American Journal of Critical Care. The following topic areas are provided as a general guideline, but authors should not feel limited to investigating these areas:

Advanced practice issues
• Collaboration with other healthcare professionals
• Effective employment of advanced practice nurses in critical care

AIDS
• Advances in the understanding of the disease and its treatment in the critical care setting

Cardiovascular medicine
• Hemodynamic monitoring
• Telemetry and progressive care
• Intra-aortic balloon pump and left ventricular assist devices
• Management of acute myocardial infarction
• Management of acute and chronic heart failure

Cardiovascular surgery
• New surgical procedures
• Use of chest tubes and drains
• Femoral sheaths

Complementary therapies
• Efficacy of complementary therapies in the care of the critically ill
• The impact of spirituality on outcome

Cultural diversity
• Cultural aspects of patient and family care
• Race-specific conditions

ECGs and pacemakers
• Unique cases

Ethics
• Ethical and legal aspects of practice
• End-of-life care issues

Geriatrics
• Special needs of the critically ill geriatric patient

Immunology
• Advances in understanding immune system disorders
• Immunosuppression
• Management of immunologic emergencies

Infection control
• Unique case studies in infectious diseases
• Antibiotic-resistant organisms

Management
• Outcomes management and research
• Case management and critical pathways for specific patient populations
• Staff education
• Staff recruitment and retention

Neonatal
• Management of neonatal emergencies
• Transport of neonates

Neurologic
• Sedation and pain management
• Acute care of the patient with stroke
• Intracranial pressure monitoring

• Nutrition
• Enteral nutrition
• Nutritional requirements of critically ill patients

Obstetrics
• Care of the critically ill obstetric patient
• Postpartum issues

Pediatrics
• Management of pediatric emergencies
• Age-related care of the pediatric patient

Pharmacology
• Pharmacological issues in the care of the critically ill

Postanesthesia recovery
• Comparisons of anesthetic agents
• Management of postanesthesia recovery emergencies

Psychiatric issues
• Family issues
• Psychiatric complications in the critically ill
• Management of substance abuse issues

Pulmonary
• Advances in the care of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma, or pneumonia
• Acute respiratory distress syndrome
• Management of patients on mechanical ventilation
• Suctioning

Toxicology
• Case studies of unique toxicology cases
• Research on the pathophysiology of toxic ingestions
• Management of toxic ingestion

Transplantation
• Advances in organ and tissue transplantation
• New pharmacologic therapies for transplant patients

Trauma
• Multisystem trauma
• Interfacility transport issues

General topic areas
• Point-of-care testing
• Multidisciplinary collaboration in patient care
• Advance directives
• Cutting-edge medical or surgical therapies

Author Guidelines for the American Journal of Critical Care (AJCC)

The Editors of the American Journal of Critical Care invite authors to submit original manuscripts describing investigations, advances, or observations from all specialties related to the care of critically ill patients. Papers promoting collaborative practice and research are encouraged. Manuscripts will be considered on the understanding that they have not been published elsewhere and have been submitted solely to the American Journal of Critical Care. (This restriction does not apply to abstracts.)

Authors from EAST of the Mississippi River should e-mail their manuscript to:

Kathleen Dracup, RN, DNSc
School of Nursing, University of California, Los Angeles
Factor Building, Box 956918, Los Angeles, CA 90095-6918
Phone: (310) 206-2644; Fax: (310) 794-7482
E-mail: ajcc@sonnet.ucla.edu

Authors from WEST of the Mississippi River should e-mail their manuscript to:

Peter E. Morris, MD
Pulmonary & Critical Care, Wake Forest University School of Medicine
3141 Gray Building, Winston Salem, NC 27157
Phone: (336) 716-8898; Fax: (336) 713-4718
E-mail: ajcc@wfubmc.edu

The Journal cannot accept responsibility for mislaid manuscripts; please keep a copy. The following types of manuscripts are published:
• Clinical studies (1500-4000 words)
• Basic research studies (1500-4000 words)
• Preliminary/short communications (500-1500 words)
• Case reports (500-1500 words; no more than 1 table, 1 figure)
• Reports on new apparatuses and techniques (500-1500 words)
• Clinical/basic science reviews, including historical material (1500-4000 words)
• Guest editorials
• Letters to the Editors (250-500 words)

Peer Review
All submissions are subject to peer review. To ensure a blinded review, do not include the author’s name or institution in the running head or anywhere in the manuscript. This includes references in the first person to the author’s own work. Manuscripts that do not meet this requirement will not be reviewed. Two or more authorities will judge the validity, originality, and significance of the work presented. This process takes roughly 3 months, but delays are sometimes unavoidable. After the manuscript has been reviewed, the author will be informed whether the manuscript has been accepted for publication, has been rejected, or requires revision.

Accepted manuscripts become the property of the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN) and may not be published without the written permission of AACN. Accepted manuscripts are subject to editing to conform to the American Medical Association Manual of Style, 10th edition (2007). Authors will be asked to review galley proofs and PDFs of page proofs prior to publication.

Manuscript Content
Manuscript content should be laid out in accordance with the Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals (N Engl J Med. 1991;324:424-428).

Microsoft Word is the preferred format. Please submit all parts of the manuscript in a single application as ONE CONTINUOUS DOCUMENT. Items such as figures or photographs created in other applications (eg, Adobe Illustrator) should be embedded in the document in low resolution. Submitting a single document facilitates the review process. Authors whose manuscripts are accepted will be asked to resumbit their tables, figures, and photographic images as separate high-resolution computer files.

Authorship, Financial Disclosure, Copyright Transfer, and Acknowledgment Form
Please include a cover letter with the American Journal of Critical Care’s Authorship, Financial Disclosure, Copyright Transfer, and Acknowledgment Form, signed and dated by each author. Be sure to fill in the title of your manuscript on the Authorship, Financial Disclosure, Copyright Transfer, and Acknowledgment Form (see below). All financial disclosures—including disclosures of no financial conflicts of interest—will be published.

Title Page
This is page 1 and should contain the following:
• Title (should be concise yet informative)
• Running title (usually 2 to 5 words)
• The authors’ full names in preferred publishing order, with degrees, credentials, ranks, and affiliations
• The name, address, e-mail address, and telephone (home and office) and fax numbers of the author to whom all correspondence and reprint requests should be addressed
• The institution(s) at which the work was performed
• Key words consistent with those found in the most recently published CINAHL Subject Heading List
• Grant or other financial support used in the study

Abstract
Abstract format varies as follows:

Review articles - abstracts need not be structured.

Clinical and basic research studies - must have structured abstracts of no more than 250 words. (Haynes RB, Mulrow CD, Huth EJ, Altman DG, Gardner MJ. More informative abstracts revisited. Ann Intern Med. 1990;113:69-76.) Abstracts must be written in the 3rd person. Abstracts for clinical studies should have the following subheadings: Background, Objectives, Methods, Results, Conclusions.

Laboratory studies and new apparatuses and techniques - a shorter form is requested (Relman AS. New “information for authors”––and readers. N Engl J Med. 1990;323:356). These abstracts should have the following subheadings: Background, Methods, Results, Conclusions.

Preliminary/short communications and case reports - an unstructured abstract of no more than 150 words is required.

Ethics
When human experimentation is being reported, a statement must be included confirming that the work was done in accordance with the appropriate institutional review body and carried out with the ethical standards set forth in the Helsinki Declaration of 1975. When laboratory animals are used, provide a statement that the work was carried out according to the National Research Council’s protocol for, or any national law on, the care and use of laboratory animals.

Releases
If any material in the manuscript is from a prior copyrighted publication, the manuscript must be accompanied by a letter of permission from the copyright holder. However, we prefer not to publish figures that have been published elsewhere. If applicable, permission to use unpublished data and personal communications must be included.

Patient Descriptions, Photographs, and Pedigrees
Include a signed statement of informed consent to publish (in print and online) patient descriptions, photographs, and pedigrees from all persons (parents or legal guardians for minors) who can be identified in such written descriptions, photographs, or pedigrees. Such persons should be shown the manuscript before its submission.

References
These should start on a separate page following the text. They must be numbered consecutively by their order of appearance in the text. References cited in figures and tables must be numbered sequentially as if they are cited where the figure or title is first cited in the text. In the text, designate reference numbers either as superscripts or on the line in parentheses. Do not use a word processor’s footnote or endnote function. Check all references for accuracy and completeness. Abbreviate journal titles as found in Index Medicus. If in doubt as to the correct abbreviation, cite the complete journal name. Do not use periods in abbreviations of journal titles. List all authors, but if the number exceeds 6, list only the first 3 authors followed by et al. Please follow the format and punctuation shown in the following examples:

• For Journals: Last name and initials (no periods) of authors, title of article (capitalize only the first word, proper names, and abbreviations normally capitalized; no quotation marks), journal title (italicize and use Index Medicus abbreviations), year of publication, volume, inclusive page numbers. Example:
  1. Reed FD, Watson NP. Nursing care of the patient withcardiomyopathy. Am J Nurs. 1985;4:121-124.

• For Books: Last name and initials of authors; title of book (italicize and capitalize all significant words); edition number (if after first edition); last name and initials of editor if any; city and state of publication; publisher; year of publication; page numbers (only if specifically cited). Example:
  2. Carlson AK. Critical Care Nursing Process. 3rd ed. Boston, MA: Beacon Hill Press; 1985:245-252.

• For Book Chapters: Last name and initials of authors; title of chapter; “In:” followed by last name and initials of editors, “ed.”; title of book, etc, as above. Example:
  3. Schiffman JD. Immunology of influenza. In: Cane MB, ed. Viruses and Influenza. Orlando, FL: Academic Press; 1990:191-196.

Drug Names
Use complete generic names only. The trade name of a particular drug may be cited in parentheses the first time the generic name appears.

Units of Measurement
Physiologic measurements should be reported in metric units (International System of Units, SI); conventional units may be placed in parenthesis after the SI units. Use metric units or decimal multiples for length, height, weight, and volume. Show temperature in degrees Celsius, blood pressure in millimeters of mercury, and volume (liquid and gas) in milliliters, not cubic centimeters.

Abbreviations and Symbols
Avoid nonstandard abbreviations. Use the full term for an abbreviation or symbol on first reference, unless it is a standard unit of measure.

Letters to the Editors
Letters to the Editors raising points of current interest or commenting on articles published in the Journal are welcome. The Editors reserve the right to accept, reject, or excerpt letters without changing the views expressed by the writer. The author of an original article will be given the opportunity to respond to published comments. Letters should be sent to Dr Dracup by e-mail (ajcc@sonnet.ucla.edu). Electronic letters (eLetters) can be sent from this Web site.

Figures and Tables (First Submissions)
Artwork such as figures and tables should be embedded as low-resolution images into a single document along with the text of the manuscript. This facilitates one-step e-mailing and simplifies the review process.

Figures and Tables (Accepted Manuscripts)
Accepted manuscripts must be submitted with artwork in high-resolution format in separate files (i.e., not embedded in PowerPoint, Word, or Excel files). For printing purposes, the original art that was placed into these applications is required. For figures such as graphs, data points should be provided in the file along with the other parts of the manuscript (eg, as a Microsoft Word text file). Figures should be submitted as original, unmounted, untrimmed black-and-white or color glossy prints. The back of each print should note the figure number and orientation of the figure (top/left/right). Write this information on an adhesive label and place the label on the back of the print. Include the name of the photographer, if applicable. In clinical photographs in which the patient could be recognized, the manuscript must be accompanied by a statement signed by the patient or patient’s guardian granting permission to publish the photograph for educational purposes. If permission is not obtained, the photograph will be cropped to ensure that the patient’s identity is not disclosed. Do not submit files downloaded from the Internet; these are low resolution and reproduce poorly. Preferred file formats are TIFF and EPS. Although JPG and BMP are acceptable, these formats are not the best to use, as they are low resolution. We can scan crisp, clean photographs if they contain no writing.

Legends for Illustrations—Figure legends should begin on a new manuscript page, after the tables. They should be typed double-spaced in consecutive order.

Tables—Each table must be numbered (consecutively in the order mentioned in the text) and titled. Each column within a table should have a heading. Abbreviations must be explained in a footnote. Please do not type more than 1 table on a page.

First submissions should be in ONE computer file. Once a manuscript has been accepted, items such as figures, illustrations, and photographs should be submitted as separate graphics files; all other parts (including tables and legends) produced in a word-processing program should be submitted as a single electronic file.

Checklist for Authors
Cover letter (include name, home and work addresses, home and work telephone numbers, fax number, and e-mail addresses of corresponding author) with Authorship, Financial Disclosure, Copyright Transfer, and Acknowledgment Form signed by each author. (The form is available online.)

Submit manuscripts by e-mail to Dr Morris at ajcc@wfubmc.edu (for manuscripts whose authors work WEST of the Mississippi River) or Dr Kathleen Dracup at ajcc@sonnet.ucla.edu (for those whose authors work EAST of the Mississippi River). Manuscript components should include the following in a single computer file:
Title page (double-spaced) includes:
• Title of manuscript
• Running title
• Name, professional credentials, institutional or academic affiliation(s), city and state of all authors in the order intended for publication
• Name, address, e-mail address, and telephone (home and work) and fax numbers of author to whom correspondence should be addressed
• Institution(s) at which the work was performed
• Grant or other financial support used for the study
• Key words for indexing: 3 to 5 CINAHL search terms
Text of manuscript (number as page 1; double-spaced; do not include authors’ names or institutions in the running head or in the manuscript)
Summary of Key Points and/or bulleted list of practical bedside clinical applications of research findings (4 to 6 items with 2 to 3 sentences serving as introduction) for Clinical Pearls page (include as numbered page; double-spaced on separate sheet)
References (include as numbered pages; double-spaced on separate sheet; follow reference style described in guidelines)
Acknowledgments, disclaimers, sources of financial support (or claim of no conflict of interest; double-spaced)
Tables (double-spaced, 1 per page; numbered consecutively; include title for each), figures, and legends embedded with manuscript for first submission; separated if manuscript accepted
Permissions to publish identifiable persons in photographs, copyrighted materials and any material not belonging to the author (2 copies)

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American Journal of Critical Care
Authorship, Financial Disclosure, Copyright Transfer, and Acknowledgment Form

Each author must read and sign the statements on (1) Authorship, (2) Financial Disclosure, and (3) either Copyright Transfer or Federal Employment. The corresponding author must sign (4) the Acknowledgment statement. You may photocopy this document to distribute to co-authors. Signed forms may be faxed to the editor's office.

_____________________________________________________________
Your name (print)

_____________________________________________________________
Phone

_____________________________________________________________
Fax

_____________________________________________________________
E-mail

_____________________________________________________________
Corresponding Author’s Name

_____________________________________________________________
Manuscript Title

1. Authorship.
All persons listed as authors must meet all of the following criteria for authorship: I certify that I have participated sufficiently in the work to take public responsibility for the content.

• I certify that (1) I have made substantial contributions to the conception and design or analysis and interpretation of data; (2) I have made substantial contributions to drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content; and (3) I have given final approval of the version of the article to be published.
• I certify that the manuscript represents valid work and that neither this manuscript nor one with substantially similar content under my authorship has been published or is being considered for publication elsewhere, except as described in an attachment.
• I certify that this manuscript consists entirely of an original work that, in whole or in part, does not copy or otherwise infringe upon the copyright or other proprietary rights of another party.
• I certify that I have obtained, and will deliver if requested, all necessary permissions in writing to use, include, reproduce, and distribute any and all portions of the manuscript owned by other parties in the manuscript, in the periodical, and in any format and/or medium now known or later conceived or developed.
• I certify that I have obtained, and will provide if requested, written authorization to disclose any identifiable or potentially identifiable private health information of patients discussed in my article.
• I attest that, if requested by the editors, I will provide the data or will cooperate fully in obtaining and providing the data on which the manuscript is based for examination by the editors or their assignees.

_____________________________________________________________
Your Signature/ Date Signed

2. Financial Disclosure. Please check the appropriate box(es):
I certify that all financial and material support for this research and work are clearly identified.
I certify that all of my affiliations with or financial involvement (eg, grants or patents received or pending, royalties, employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony) with any organization or entity with financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript are disclosed here:

_____________________________________________________________

or are disclosed in an attachment
I have no relevant financial interests in this manuscript

_____________________________________________________________
Your Signature/ Date Signed

3. Copyright Transfer. In reviewing and editing this manuscript (text, tables, and figures), I hereby transfer, assign, or otherwise convey all copyright rights and other rights incidental thereto, including reprints, electronic media, and audiovisual, exclusively to the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses, in the event that such work is published in the American Journal of Critical Care. The author(s) will have the right to use this material, provided permission is requested in writing in advance from the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses, so long as the author(s) include(s) the copyright notice that appears on the issue of the periodical in which the manuscript is first published and a full citation to the periodical on every such copy.

_____________________________________________________________
Your Signature/ Date Signed

Federal Employment. I was an employee of the US federal government when this work was conducted and prepared for publication; therefore, it is not protected by the Copyright Act, and copyright ownership cannot be transferred.

_____________________________________________________________
Your Signature/ Date Signed

4. Acknowledgment Statement. Authors should obtain written permission from all individuals named in an Acknowledgment, since readers may infer their endorsement of data and conclusions. The corresponding author must sign the following statement:

• I certify that all persons who have made substantial contributions to the work reported in this manuscript (eg, data collection, analysis, or writing or editing assistance) but who do not fulfill the authorship criteria are named in an Acknowledgment in the manuscript.
• I certify that all persons named in the Acknowledgment have provided me with written permission to be named.
• I certify that if an Acknowledgment section is not included, no other persons have made substantial contributions to this manuscript.

_____________________________________________________________
Your Signature/ Date Signed

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