Get your Circulation: Heart Failure paper right the first time: a ready-made structure with the right abstract and citations, so editors see your science, not formatting slips.
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Authored by Sumalatha Gangadhar | Published on 3 August, 2026
Submitting to Circulation: Heart Failure goes smoothly when your draft already matches the journal's own rules. Editors screen new manuscripts against the Circulation: Heart Failure guide for authors before peer review, so formatting, structure, and required statements should be right on the first draft rather than repaired during upload. This template sets that structure up for you.
It is a manuscript shell aligned to Circulation: Heart Failure. It covers front matter, the abstract the journal expects, a body organized to the journal's article types, and a reference list in the journal's required style. Confirm current scope and article types on the Circulation: Heart Failure journal page before you draft.
Prepare the title, authors, affiliations, and ORCID iDs. Write the abstract to the journal's rule and word limit, organize the body to the article type, and apply the required reference style from the first citation. Complete every declaration (ethics, competing interests, funding, data availability) the Circulation: Heart Failure guide for authors lists, and cite figures and tables in order.
The common failure modes are formatting or reference style that does not match the guide for authors, missing required statements, and an incomplete portal checklist. Clear all three against the Circulation: Heart Failure guide for authors before you submit.
The shell mirrors what editorial staff check first: article-type fit, the abstract rules, required declarations, and the journal's reference style. For more detail see the author resources. When your draft is ready, upload it through the journal's submission system.
| Element | Circ Heart Fail requirement |
|---|---|
| Abstract | Structured abstract required with 4 sections: (1) Background - rationale for the study, (2) Methods - brief description of methods, (3) Results - presentation of significant results, (4) Conclusions - interpretation and significance emphasizing new information. Word limit: 300 words for Original Research Articles and Methods Papers (Methods Papers: 250 words); 250 words unstructured for Advances in Heart Failure/Mechanical Circulatory Support/Transplant review articles; no abstract for Research Letters, Images and Case Reports, Under Pressure, On My Mind, and eLetters |
| Main text | Original Research Articles and Emerging Investigators: ≤4000 words (exclusive of title page, abstract, references, figure legends, and tables), maximum 8 display items (tables and figures), maximum 50 references. Methods Papers: ≤4000 words (exclusive of title page, abstract, references, figure legends, and tables), maximum 2 display items, maximum 25 references. Advances in Heart Failure review articles: ≤6000 words (exclusive of title page, abstract, references, figure legends, and tables), minimum 4 figures and maximum 10 display items, maximum 100 references. Research Letters: ≤800 words, maximum 5 references, 1 figure or table only, no supplemental materials. Images and Case Reports: ≤800 words descriptive text, maximum 10 references. Under Pressure: ≤300 words with clinical vignette and discussion, 5 references. On My Mind: ≤1200 words (1000 words if including a table or figure), maximum 20 references, maximum 1 display item. Letters to the Editor: ≤500 words, 3 authors maximum, 5 references maximum |
| Declarations | Ethics approval/consent as applicable; competing interests; funding; data availability |
| Figures/tables | Publication-ready; cited in order |
| Supplemental | Upload separately when used |
| Keywords | 1 to 8 key words required after the abstract for use as indexing terms. Authors are encouraged to consider using Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) database terms |
| References | Numbered endnote style. References should be cited in numerical order according to first mention in the text. List the first 10 author names, followed by 'et al.' Format follows AHA/ASA style (available for download on endnote.com under 'Stroke'). Example: Smith VA, Zhang J, Jones K. Article Title. Journal Name. 2015;100:555–559. Maximum references: 50 for Original Research Articles and Emerging Investigators; 25 for Methods Papers; 100 for Advances in Heart Failure review articles; 20 for On My Mind; 10 for Under Pressure and Implementation Perspectives; 5 for Research Letters and Images/Case Reports; 10 for eLetters; 3 for Letters to the Editor |
| Peer review | Authors have the option of choosing either single-anonymous peer review (standard) or double-anonymous peer review. Beginning in 2022, the journal offers optional double-anonymous review where both authors and reviewers are blinded to each other's identities. If not selecting double-anonymous review, the journal uses standard single-anonymous peer review where reviewers' identities remain anonymous to authors |
| Submission | circheartfailure-submit.aha-journals.org/cgi-bin/main.plex |
Read the Circulation: Heart Failure guide for authors once before drafting and once before upload. Draft the abstract after results are stable. Set the reference style before adding citations. Keep a cover letter that states your contribution and fit to Circulation: Heart Failure in under a page.
Skim two or three recent Circ Heart Fail papers to calibrate depth and figure style. Make the novelty clear in the first two pages. Deposit data and code when the policy on the Circulation: Heart Failure journal page requires it. Disclose any preprint or conference version with identifiers in the cover letter.
Do one focused pass against the Circulation: Heart Failure guide for authors: scope, length, reference style, required declarations, and figure quality. Then submit through the journal's submission system.