This policy shall apply to all advertising displayed on the website of the Journal of Heart Valve Disease.

1. The appearance of an advertisement is neither a guarantee nor an endorsement by the Journal of Heart Valve Disease of the company, product, service or the claims made for the company, product or service in such advertising. The fact that an advertisement for a product, service or company has appeared on the Journal of Heart Valve Disease website shall not be referred to in collateral advertising.
2. Decisions to sell advertising space are made independently of and without information pertinent to specific editorial content. Advertising (i.e. promotional material, advertising representatives, companies or manufacturers) cannot influence editorial decisions or content.
3. Advertising adjacent to (i.e. next to or within) the scientific content (i.e. abstracts and full text articles) of the Journal is not available.
4. Products or services advertised in the Journal of Heart Valve Disease shall be germane to, effective in, and useful in (a) the practice of medicine, (b) medical education, (c) medical research, (d) medical engineering, and/or (e) health care delivery and shall be commercially viable.
5. In addition to the above, products and services that are offered by responsible advertisers that are of interest to physicians, research scientists, and other health and health-related professionals are also eligible for advertising.
6. All advertising for products for which regulatory approval is required by any regulatory agency must comply with all relevant regulations laid down by that regulatory agency or agencies regarding advertising and promotion.
7. General purpose foods such as breads, meats, fruits and vegetables are acceptable subjects of advertising.
8. Special purpose foods (eg foods for carbohydrate restricted diets and other therapeutic diets) are eligible when their uses can be supported by acceptable data.
9. Only diet programmes prescribed and controlled by physicians may be advertised in the Journal of Heart Valve Disease.
10. Dietary supplements and vitamin preparations may only be advertised where the safety and efficacy of the product have been reviewed by any relevant regulator in the country or countries in which it is sold.
11. A copy of any book being advertised may be requested for review prior to be being advertised.
12. Claims in advertisements for insurance coverage must conform with the following criteria:

(a) Claims relating to policy benefits, losses covered, or premiums must be complete and truthful.

(b) Claims made shall include full disclosure of exclusions and limitations affecting the basic provisions of the policy.

(c)  Claims incorporating quoted testimonials must meet the same standards as other claims.

(d)  Each advertisement for insurance products and services must include a statement indicating any territorial restrictions applicable to the availability of those products.

13. Advertisements for Continuing Medical Education (CME) programs can only be accepted if the CME sponsor is properly accredited by each relevant professional body for which CME accreditation is claimed.
14. Alcoholic beverages and tobacco products may not be advertised.
15. Products or services not in the above categories may be advertised in the Journal of Heart Valve Disease at the sole discretion of ICR Publishers Limited, and so long as they satisfy the general principles governing eligibility for advertising set out in this policy.
16. It is the sole responsibility of the advertiser to ensure that any advertisement complies with the above requirements. ICR Publishers Limited reserves the right to require advertisers to provide scientific and technical data to substantiate any claim made within an advertisement.
17. Advertisements may link off-site to a commercial website. The logo of the Journal of Heart Valve Disease may not appear on any such commercial Web sites as a logo or in any other form without the prior written permission of ICR Publishers Limited.
18. Where any advertisement links off-site to any other website the URL to which the advertisement links shall contain the following elements:

(a)  The company sponsoring the website, or whose website it is, shall be clearly displayed.

(b)  No registration of personal information shall be required before reaching the website.

19. All websites to which an advertisement links shall open in a new window or tab in the viewer’s internet browser.
20. The word “Advertisement” shall appear above all advertisements within the website of the Journal of Heart Valve Disease.
21. The following standards shall apply to all advertisements:

(a)  The advertisement should clearly identify the advertiser of the product or service offered.

(b)  In the case of advertisements for pharmaceutical products, the full generic name of each active ingredient shall appear. Alternatively, where the advertisement is linked off-site, the full generic name of each active ingredient shall appear in the URL to which the advertisement is linked.

(c)   Layout, artwork, and format shall be such as to be readily distinguishable from editorial content and to avoid any confusion with the editorial content of the publication.

(d)   Unfair comparisons or unwarranted disparagement of a competitor’s products or services will not be permitted. Where price comparisons are made:

(i)    The source of all prices quoted must be identified either within the advertisement or within the URL to which the advertisement is linked, and substantiation must be available on request. If a price comparison is based on the advertiser’s own research, that research must be available on request. All advertising must contain a qualification similar to the following “Prices may vary due to location and services offered”.

(ii)   In the absence of standard retail price comparison data, the manufacturer’s suggested wholesale price may be used for comparisons.

(iii)  Where the product being advertised is an OTC product, comparisons must be based on manufacturers’ suggested retail (or resale) price.

(e)   Advertisements will not be acceptable if they conflict with generally accepted medical ethics. The decision of ICR Publishers Limited as to whether any particular advertisement conflicts with this requirement shall be final.

(f)   It is the responsibility of the manufacturer to comply with the laws and regulations applicable to the marketing and sale of its products. Acceptance of advertising in the Journal of Heart Valve Disease should not be construed as a guarantee that the manufacturer has complied with such laws and regulations.

(g)  Advertisements, and the URL to which they are linked, must not be deceptive or misleading.

(h)  Advertisements, and the URL to which they are linked, shall not be offensive in either text or artwork, or contain attacks or derogations of a personal, racial, sexual, or religious nature, or be demeaning or discriminatory toward any individual or group on the basis of age, sex, race, ethnicity, religion, physical appearance or disability.

22. ICR Publishers Limited may, in its absolute discretion, refuse to accept any advertisement which does not comply with the above requirements or which it considers contrary to the ethos, mission and standards of the Journal of Heart Valve Disease.