As a provider jointly accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), the American College of Cardiology Foundation (ACCF) must ensure balance, independence, objectivity, and scientific rigor in all of their directly provided or jointly provided/co-provided educational activities. Planners, presenters, and other contributors, in a position to control the content are required to disclose to the audience all relevant financial relationships he/she and/or his/her spouse or domestic partner may have, occurring within the past 24 months, with any entity producing, marketing, re-selling, or distributing health care goods or services consumed by, or used on, patients. When an unlabeled use of a commercial product or an investigational use not yet approved for any purpose is discussed during an educational activity, the contributor should disclose that the product is not labeled for the use under discussion or that the product is still investigational.

ACCF is committed to providing its learners with high-quality activities and materials that promote improvements and quality in health care and not a specific proprietary business or commercial interest. The intent of this disclosure is not to prevent participation in educational activities by persons with a financial or other relationship, but rather to provide learners with information on which they can make their own determination whether financial interests or relationships may influence the education activity.

ACCF assesses conflicts of interest (COI) with its faculty, planners, managers, staff, and other individuals who are in a position to control the content of certified activities. All relevant potential conflicts of interest that are identified are thoroughly vetted by course directors, ACCF education staff, and members of the Accreditation Compliance Workgroup (ACWG) through a process that includes appropriate peer review for fair balance, scientific objectivity and validity, and patient care and safety recommendations.

ACCF has taken the necessary steps to ensure that all relevant financial relationships have been mitigated.

Please note ACCF staff and the ACWG members involved with this activity have nothing to disclose.

This program is limited to 80 participants in 2024.

The JACC Peer Review Certificate Program creates a pipeline of trained peer reviewers who will actively contribute to the editorial process for JACC. As such, the program is offered to potential peer reviewers who meet the eligibility criteria below.

Eligible participants:

1. Are an MD or PhD.
2. Are currently undergoing or have previously completed cardiology training.
3. Have a career interest in Academic Publishing.
4. When invited, intend to contribute peer reviews for JACC.
5. Have completed fewer than ten peer reviews for JACC to date.
6. Are committed to completing all required components of the JACC Peer Review Certificate Program by Dec. 20, 2024.

Interested learners who do not meet the above eligibility criteria may submit a written request to the program chair to be considered for inclusion in the program. Learners will be asked to address which of the criteria do not apply to them, describe what interests them about the program and why the certificate would benefit them, and how they plan to apply the learnings in their career and in service of JACC.

Overall Goal:
Participants will demonstrate the characteristics of a high-quality peer review including assessing data validity, evaluating conclusions, perspective on impact and written communication.

Learning Objectives:

1. Demonstrate essentials of statistical analysis including statistical controversies in RCT reporting and interpretation, the fundamentals of study design, and statistical challenges in design and monitoring
2. Assess the validity of the data and the science
3. Determine whether the conclusions are supported by the results
4. Identify criteria on the JACC Reviewer Template Rubric
5. Provide constructive written communication of how the manuscript can be improved
6. Offer perspective on whether the findings are novel, important, and likely to advance the field
7. Explain special considerations for sponsored research for peer review
8. Identify the considerations for reviewing a case report and its multimedia

Joint Accreditation for Physicians:
The American College of Cardiology Foundation (ACCF) is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

The ACCF designates this enduring material for a maximum of 7.5 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

While offering CME credits noted above, this activity is not intended to provide extensive training or certification in the field.

MOC Information:
Successful completion of this CME activity, which includes participation in the evaluation component, enables the participant to earn up to 7.5 MOC points in the American Board of Internal Medicine's (ABIM) Maintenance of Certification (MOC) program. Participants will earn MOC points equivalent to the amount of CME credits claimed for the activity. It is the CME activity provider's responsibility to submit participant completion information to ACCME for the purpose of granting ABIM MOC credit.

Target Audience:
Individuals interested in fast-tracking their ability to be a peer reviewer for suite of the JACC journals.

Date of Release: Sept. 11, 2024

Term of CME/MOC Approval: All topics in the product will offer credit at any given time, but certificate seekers must complete all components of the program by Sept. 9, 2025.

This information is provided for general medical education purposes only and is not meant to substitute for the independent medical judgment of a clinician relative to diagnostic and treatment options for a specific patient's medical condition.

The American College of Cardiology Foundation (ACCF) does not warrant the completeness, accuracy or usefulness of any opinions, advice, services or other information provided through this activity. In no event will ACCF be liable for any decision made, or action taken, in reliance upon the information provided through this activity.

Accredited status does not imply endorsement by ACC of any commercial products displayed in conjunction with this activity.

ACCF reserves the right to modify faculty and program without notice.

Participation in this program includes access to confidential JACC documents, and observation of sensitive discussions between JACC Editorial Leaders. As such, participants are required to accept a Confidentiality Agreement upon beginning the program. Details of this confidentiality agreement are below:

JACC Peer Review Certificate Program
Confidentiality Agreement

This Confidentiality Agreement ("Agreement") constitutes a legal agreement between the American College of Cardiology Foundation ("ACCF") and each participant ("Participant" or "You") of the ACCF's Peer Review Certificate Program (the "Program"). By participating in the Program, You accept and agree to be bound by all of the terms and conditions set forth in this Agreement. If You do not wish to accept the terms and conditions of this Agreement, You may not participate in the Program.

1. As a participant of the Program, You may have access to materials and information about the ACCF's Editorial Boards, peer review operations, its members, and other potentially sensitive, confidential, and/or embargoed materials. You may also have access to, learn about, and participate in discussions regarding confidential and/or proprietary matters before the ACCF. The terms and conditions of this Agreement are intended to ensure the confidentiality of all such matters, information, and materials unless specifically informed or directed otherwise by the Program faculty.
2. The term "Confidential Information" shall mean any and all ACCF information and materials, including, but not limited to, tangible and intangible information and materials regarding products, methods, events, software, business plans, finances, operations, personnel, membership, business information, non-public and/or embargoed manuscripts, any other information relating to the peer review operations and/or businesses of ACCF generally whether in oral, written, or electronic form provided to You or to which You have been exposed. Confidential Information shall not mean any information which: (i) is or becomes generally available to the public other than as a result of a breach of an obligation under this Agreement; (ii) is rightfully acquired from a third party having the right to disclose such Confidential Information and without an obligation of confidentiality; (iii) is or has been independently developed by You without violation of this Agreement; or (iv) is disclosed pursuant to a court order or other administrative body or government agency of competent jurisdiction.
3. You agree to hold Confidential Information received from ACCF in strict confidence and will exercise the highest degree of care to prevent disclosure to others. You will not disclose or divulge either directly or indirectly the Confidential Information to others unless first expressly authorized to do so in writing by the Program faculty.
4. You will not reproduce or use the Confidential Information for any purpose whatsoever other than for purposes of participating in the Program. You shall not use or exploit such Confidential Information for your or any third party's benefit in any manner.
5. Upon the request of ACCF, You shall promptly return to ACCF, or destroy (and certify in writing as to such destruction) any materials or documents that have been furnished to You by ACCF as part of the Program, along with all copies thereof.
6. You agree that your obligations hereunder are necessary and reasonable in order to protect ACCF and ACCF's business, and expressly agree that monetary damages would be inadequate to compensate ACCF for any breach of this Agreement by You. Accordingly, You acknowledge and agree that any such violation or threatened violation will cause irreparable injury to ACCF and that, in addition to any other remedies that may be available at law, in equity or otherwise, ACCF shall be entitled to obtain injunctive relief against the threatened breach of this Agreement or the continuation of any such breach, without the necessity of proving actual damages.
7. Nothing in this Agreement shall grant any rights to You in or to any patent, trademark, copyright, or proprietary property of ACCF, and this Agreement shall not grant any rights to You in or to any Confidential Information disclosed by ACCF, except as expressly set forth herein.
8. ACCF reserves the right to take disciplinary action, up to and including terminating You from the Program, for violations of this Agreement.
9. This Agreement shall be interpreted under and governed by the laws of the District of Columbia, without reference to conflict of laws principles.
10. This Agreement contains the entire agreement between the Parties with respect to the subject matter hereof.  Any failure to enforce any provision of this Agreement shall not constitute a waiver thereof or of any other provision hereof. This Agreement may not be amended, nor any obligation waived, except by a writing signed by both Parties hereto. 

We are thrilled to celebrate certificate awardees for their hard work and contributions to JACC!

• Awardees will be recognized at the JACC Journals Reception at ACC's Annual Scientific Sessions
• Prominent listing on the certificate program page on ACC.org
• Integration into the JACC Peer Review system used by Editors when they make assignments for manuscript review

We extend our heartfelt congratulations to the past awardees of the JACC Peer Review Certificate, whose dedication and contributions will help the JACC Family of Journals efficiently support authors to produce high-quality science to advance cardiovascular care.