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Purpose: Cardiovascular Board Review articles provide general internists and cardiologists with brief, case-based discussions of important, timely, or difficult clinical questions, with an emphasis on diagnosis, testing, and treatment issues.
Style: The article should use plain language as much as possible, with a minimum of technical jargon.
Format: Cardiovascular Board Review articles are case-based question-and-answer discussions, usually beginning with a case presentation that includes applicable signs, symptoms, and laboratory and imaging findings. This is usually followed by a series of three or four multiple-choice questions, each relating to a particular aspect of the case, such as the differential diagnosis, testing options, and treatment options. The article may conclude with a summary of the salient points. The format can be adapted to fit the specific case. Articles should be about 2,500 words long (not counting references, tables, and figures), with about 30 key references. No abstract is required.
In the discussion after each multiple-choice question, authors should explain not only why the correct answer is correct, but also why the wrong answers are wrong. The multiple-choice question format should not include "all of the above" and "none of the above" options.
Content: The case and discussion should reflect the diagnosis and treatment problems commonly encountered by internists. We are not seeking the weird or unusual, but rather common conditions or symptoms that provide diagnostic and therapeutic challenges to internists.
When discussing the results of clinical studies, the absolute risk value and the number needed to treat should be included whenever possible, rather than the relative risk and hazard ratio.
Authorship: Every person listed as an author must have contributed substantially to the paper according to the authorship criteria of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors. The criteria are as follows:
(1) Each author listed must have contributed to the conception or design of the paper, or to the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data.
(2) Each author listed must have participated in drafting the paper or revising it critically for important intellectual content.
(3) Each author listed must have given final approval of the version to be published.
(4) Each author listed must have agreed to be accountable for all aspects of the paper, ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part are appropriately investigated and resolved.
For a thorough discussion of the role of authors, visit www.icmje.org.
Example of a Cardiovascular Board Review: