Table 1 'Instruction to Authors' and editorial policy for journals from which reviewed articles were obtained.

Circulation

American Heart Association

'Experimental animals: State the species, strain, number used and pertinent descriptive characteristics.'

J Am Coll Cardiol

Official Journal of the American College of Cardiology/Elsevier

'Manuscript submissions should conform to the guidelines set forth in the "Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted Biomedical Journals: Writing and Editing for Biomedical Publication"... Animal investigations must conform to the "Position of the American Heart Association on Research Animal Use"'

Eur Heart J

Official Journal of European Society of Cardiology/Oxford Journals

No specific information in Instruction to Authors

Circ Res

American Heart Association

'Expanded Methods section must... be detailed enough to enable readers to replicate the experiments without consulting previous articles... For animals used in experiments, state the species, strain, number used and other pertinent descriptive characteristics.'

Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol

American Heart Association

'...state the species, strain, number used and other pertinent descriptive characteristics.'

Cardiovasc Res

Oxford Journals

'....procedures with animals or animal tissues, investigations conform to either the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals... or the Directive 2010/63/EU.'

J Mol Cell Cardiol

Official Journal of the International Society for Heart Research/Elsevier

'the use of animals...the authors should ensure that the manuscript contains a statement that procedures were performed in compliance with relevant laws and institutional guidelines... '

Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol

American Physiological Society

'Describe techniques, cell/animal models used'

J Heart Lung Transplant

Elsevier

'All manuscripts reporting experiments using animals must include a statement in the Methods section giving assurance that all animals received humane care in compliance with the "Principles of Laboratory Animal Care" formulated by the National Society for Medical Research and the "Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals" prepared by the Institute of Laboratory Animal Resources and published by the National Institutes of Health (NIH Publication No.86-23, revised 1996).'

J Cardiovasc Pharmacol

Wolters Kluwer/Lippincott/

Williams & Wilkins

'... studies on experimental animals have been conducted under protocols reviewed and approved by the author's institutional animal care and use committee and to adhere to generally accepted international guidelines for animal experimentation.'