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Call for Papers
Papers are invited for the American Journal of Critical Care (AJCC), a peer-reviewed multidisciplinary journal. AJCC publishes papers in all areas of high acuity, progressive, and critical care. The following topic areas are provided as a general guide, 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 (AJCC) invite authors to submit original manuscripts describing investigations, advances, or observations from all specialties related to the care of critically and acutely 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 AJCC. (This restriction does not apply to abstracts.)
Manuscripts should be submitted online via the AJCC online manuscript submission and review system at www.editorialmanager.com/ajcc. At the time of submission, complete contact information (postal address, e-mail address, telephone and fax numbers) for the corresponding author is required. First and last names, e-mail addresses, and institutional affiliations of all coauthors also are required, (Print copies of the journal will be sent only to those coauthors who provide their postal address.) Manuscripts submitted through the online system should not also be submitted by mail or e-mail
After the manuscript is submitted online, the corresponding author will receive a manuscript number. Each author should complete an "Authorship, Financial Disclosure, Copyright Transfer, and Acknowledgement Form" and submit the completed forms by fax or e-mail as a [ PDF ] attachment. Please include the manuscript number on the Authorship Form in the space provided.
Quality improvement studies help maximize the integrity and safety of critical care. AJCC welcomes such articles. However, due to their subjective relationship to context and social processes, such articles are difficult to evaluate using traditional empirical standards. For this reason, AJCC asks that quality improvement studies adhere to the Standards for Quality Improvement Reporting Excellence (SQUIRE) Guidelines. For more information about SQUIRE, please see http://qshc.bmj.com/content/vol17/Suppl_1 or doi:10.1136/qshc.2008.029058.
Editorial Office Contact Information
AJCC Editorial Office
Attn.: Peer Review Coordinator
Phone: (949) 448-7340 or (800) 394-5995, ext 242
Fax: (949) 448-6633
E-mail: ajcc.editorialoffice@aacn.org
For help submitting your manuscript online, visit www.editorialmanager.com/ajcc and click "Author Tutorial." For technical help or questions not addressed by the Author Tutorial document, e-mail ajcchelp@aacn.org.
AJCC cannot accept responsibility for lost or mislaid manuscripts; please keep a copy for your files.
The following types of manuscripts are published in AJCC:
• Research articles (1500-4000 words)
• Review articles (1500-4000 words)
• Case reports (500-1500 words; no more than 1 table, 1 figure)
• Letters (250-500 words)
• Guest editorials (500-1000 words)
• Commentaries (500-1000 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 after the title page. 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 accepted or rejected, or requires revision before publication.
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 www.icmje.org.
Authorship, Financial Disclosure, Copyright Transfer, and Acknowledgment Form [ PDF ]
Please include a cover letter with the AJCC Authorship, Financial Disclosure, Copyright Transfer, and Acknowledgment Form, signed and dated by each author. Be sure to fill in the title of your manuscript and the manuscript number 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, should occupy only 1 page, 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:
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. Laboratory values may be reported in conventional units.
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
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 often is given the opportunity to respond to published comments about that article. Letters should be sent via e-mail (ajcc@aacn.org). Electronic letters (eLetters) can be sent to the editors by clicking "Respond to This Article" on either the full-text or PDF view of each article on the AJCC Web site, www.ajcconline.org
Figures and Tables
Accepted manuscripts must be submitted with artwork (figures and photographs) in a high-resolution format (300 dpi or above). We cannot use artwork that is embedded in PowerPoint, Word, or Excel files. For printing purposes, the original art that was placed into these applications is required. Figures such as graphs and data points should be provided in the file along with the other parts of the manuscript (as a Microsoft Word text file). 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. Photographs in which the patient could be recognized 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 omitted or cropped to ensure that the patient’s identity is not disclosed.
Legends for Illustrations—Figure legends should begin on a new manuscript page, after the tables. They should be inserted 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 place more than 1 table on a page.
Checklist for Authors
Manuscripts should be submitted online via Editorial Manager, the AJCC online manuscript submission and review system, at www.editorialmanager.com/ajcc. Editorial Manager will combine your submission into a single PDF file for purposes of blinded peer review, but the manuscript you submit online should contain the following components:
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 [ PDF ] signed by each author.
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
American Journal of Critical Care
Authorship, Financial Disclosure, Copyright Transfer, and Acknowledgment Form
[ PDF ]
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
_____________________________________________________________
Manuscript Number
1. Authorship.
All persons listed as authors must meet all of the following
criteria for authorship:
_____________________________________________________________
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 (AJCC). 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.
NIH Funding/PubMed Central. For those authors whose research was funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the editors and publishers acknowledge that the authors retain the right to provide a copy of the final manuscript to the NIH upon acceptance for journal publication for archiving in the PubMed Central database as soon as possible, but no later than 12 months after publication by the journal. (For NIH reporting purposes, AJCC defines “acceptance” of a manuscript as occurring at the time the editors have approved the final page proof as accurate and ready for public release.) Please note, however, that submission of the manuscript to PubMed Central is the author’s responsibility.
_____________________________________________________________
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:
_____________________________________________________________
Corresponding Author Signature/ Date Signed
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