Operating regulation

Article 1. Name, definition, and scope
Article 2. Duration Article 3. Aims
Article 4. Management
Article 5. Editorial team of REC: CardioClinics. Regulations and responsibilities Article 6. Editor-in-Chief
Article 7. Associate Editors
Article 8. Advisory Board, Editorial Board, and Consulting Editor
Article 9. Order of substitutions The journal REC: CardioClinics is an official scientific publication of the Spanish Society of Cardiology (SEC), within the family of publications of Revista Española de Cardiología, devoted to the study, prevention, and treatment of cardiovascular disease. REC: CardioClinics aims to be a long-lasting journal, and consequently its duration is indefinite, unless there is disagreement with the running of the journal, expressed in writing by more than 100 associate members to the Executive Committee of the SEC or when considered desirable by this Committee, as long as this decision is endorsed at the General Assembly of the SEC, as established in article 14.2 of its statues.

1. REC: CardioClinics is a 3-monthly international scientific journal devoted to promoting and disseminating the study, prevention, and treatment of cardiovascular disease.
2. The journal will publish scientific studies accepted by the Editorial Board from national and international authors in their language of submission (Spanish or English), including title, abstract, and key words in both languages. The contents and editorial policy of the journal agree with and will be adapted to the aims and scope expressed in its instructions to authors. Modifications or revisions to the aims and scope can be proposed by the SEC, the journal’s Editorial Team, the Editorial Team of Revista Española de Cardiología, and the publisher printing, publicizing, and disseminating the journal, with any changes being subject to prior agreement among these entities.
3. The journal will liaise with the editors of Revista Española de Cardiología and with other national and international journals.
4. The journal will monitor and use all reasonable methods at its disposal to guarantee the integrity of the research published and ensure that the contents of the journal are not defamatory or illegal and nor could they give rise to a legal claim or appeal; that they do not violate or infringe authors’ rights or other intellectual or industrial property rights or privacy rights of natural or legal persons and that neither the journal nor material submitted for publication in the journal violate or diverge from the general ethical principles of academic publication, in agreement with international ethics regulations and the guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

The running of the journal is entrusted to: an Editor-in-Chief and 2 Associate Editors, appointed by the Editor-in-Chief and ratified by the Executive Committee of the SEC. The Executive Committee of the SEC may assess any changes to the composition of the Editorial Team.

When taking decisions and running the journal, management will be assisted by an editorial office, an Advisory Board, a Consulting Editor, and an Editorial Board with national and international members.

1. The Editorial Team is composed of an Editor-in-Chief and Associate Editors.
2. The Editorial Team will hold monthly teleconferences and a mandatory annual face-to-face meeting.

The Editorial Team will carry out the following duties:

• a) Be responsible for running the journal and defining its scope and editorial policies.
• b) Implement agreements with Revista Española de Cardiología and the SEC, while guaranteeing the Team’s editorial independence.
• c) Select manuscripts suitable for publication, based on their originality, impartiality, objectivity, and confidentiality and act transparently with all the agents involved in the process.
• d) Ensure the quality of the double-blind peer-review process.
• e) Commit to strict observance of international regulations on the ethics of scientific publications and the integrity of published research.
• f) Establish the process of handling complaints and appeals on editorial decisions and investigate any ethical infractions, taking all reasonable measures for their prompt resolution, acting impartially and involving authors’ affiliated institutions, if necessary. The Editorial Team will reconsider editorial decisions if requested by authors and will publish corrections or retractions, when appropriate.
• g) Decide which policies should be applied if there are conflicts of interest concerning any of the agents involved in the process (authors, reviewers, Editorial Team) or processing of manuscripts submitted to the journal for review by members of the Editorial Team, ensuring the impartiality of decisions.
• h) Annually publish and update conflicts of interest for each member of the Editorial Team.
• i) Appoint members of the Advisory Board and Editorial Board, without gender bias, and promoting participation of young researchers.
• j) Be responsible for the exchange of publications and topics of editorial interest between the SEC and other societies of cardiology.
• k) Inform the Executive Committee of the SEC and the General Assembly of its activities and the direction of the journal through the Editor-in-Chief of Revista Española de Cardiología.

6.1. The Editor-in-Chief of REC: CardioClinics will be selected by the Executive Committee of the SEC, based on the nomination of the Editor-in-Chief of Revista Española de Cardiología and with the approval of the Scientific Committee of the SEC.

6.2. The Editor-in-Chief of REC: CardioClinics will be appointed every 3 years and may be reappointed for another 3-year term at the proposal of the Executive Committee of the SEC. An exception is the first term, starting in May 2018, which will last for 2 years.

6.3. The Editor-in-Chief will propose to the Executive Committee of the SEC the selection or removal of Associate Editors and the appointment of the Deputy Editor, with the aim of substituting all the functions carried out by the Editor-in-Chief, when, for justified reasons, the Editor-in-Chief cannot fulfill his or her duties. This assignment should be effective from the time of appointing the Associate Editors.

6.4. If there is disagreement about the running of the journal, expressed in writing to the Executive Committee of the SEC and signed by more than 100 associate members, or when the Executive Committee of the SEC considers that the Editor-in-Chief has been negligent or unsatisfactory in fulfilling his/her duties, it may terminate his/her position and assign his/her functions to the Deputy Editor until the next meeting of the General Assembly, which must select another Editor-in-Chief.

The dismissed Editor-in-Chief may appeal to the General Assembly, following the procedure specified in article 8 d) of the Statutes of the SEC for cases of disciplinary expulsion of members of the SEC.

7.1. For issues distributed from 2019 onwards, the Editorial Team of the journal will be composed of an Editor-in-Chief and 2 Associate Editors, with at least 1 member of the Team being appointed by the Andalusian Society of Cardiology in agreement with the Editorial Team of Revista Española de Cardiología. This agreement will be revised before each change of Editorial Team by the Executive Committee of the SEC.

7.2. The Deputy Editor will substitute the Editor-in-Chief temporarily in the case of absence, illness, leave or termination, until the appointment of a replacement.

7.3. If the Editor-in-Chief resigns or is dismissed, the Associate Editors may continue to perform their duties, if they wish, until the end of their appointed terms.

7.4. Associate Editors will be appointed for a 3-year term, renewable for another 3 years if proposed by the Editor-in-Chief and ratified by the Executive Committee of the SEC. An exception is the first term, starting in May 2018, which will last for 2 years. To ensure continuity, the Editor-in-Chief may propose to the Executive Committee, through the Editor-in-Chief of Revista Española de Cardiología, prolonging the appointment of one of the associate editors for a maximum of another 3 years.

7.5. A change of Editorial Team will be followed by a minimum 45-day handover period, during which both teams will coexist.

8.1. The role of the Advisory Board consists of collaborating with the management of REC: CardioClinics in drafting scientific guidelines and in the strategy of producing and distributing the journal.

8.2. The Editorial Board (national and international) will collaborate with the management of the journal in evaluating articles submitted for publication. Partial renewal of the Editorial Board is recommended every 3 years, with special attention being paid to retirement age and acceptance of less than 25% of invitations to review manuscripts. The journal aims to appoint men and women to the Editorial Board on an equal footing and encourage participation among young researchers.

8.3. The Consulting Editor will assess and guide the editorial process to guarantee maximum scientific quality in line with the criteria established by the review systems of national and international journals and will propose steps and strategies to improve the journal. One of the requirements for selecting a Consulting Editor, proposed by the Editorial Team, must be prior personal experience as an editor of a scientific publication.

The resignation or dismissal of the Editor-in-Chief will be covered by the Deputy Editor until a new Editor-in-Chief, proposed by the Scientific Committee, is designated by the Executive Committee.

If an Associate Editor resigns or is dismissed, the Editor-in-Chief will nominate a substitute to the Executive Committee as soon as possible, through the Editor-in-Chief of Revista Española de Cardiología.