Policies & Development

The American Heart Association and American Stroke Association are pleased to make public our processes and policies for developing AHA and ASA scientific documents. We've developed scientific documents for more than 50 years and published them in one or more of the AHA/ASA journals. Such documents include scientific statements, guidelines, science advisories, statistical advisories/alerts, policy statements, conference proceedings, performance measures, and clinical data standards.

Guideline and Statement Development

The AHA guideline and statement development process contains a process overview and related forms.

You can also find an explanation of the types of scientific documents published by AHA.

Readers are referred to the Methodology Manual for ACC/AHA Guideline Writing Committees for more information specific to ACC/AHA practice guideline development.

The Stroke Guideline Development Manual gives instructions for writing groups on developing stroke guidelines and statements for AHA/ASA.

Pharmacology Policy

The AHA Pharmacology Policy explains how pharmaceutical product names are used in our statements.

Copyright Permissions Policy

To request permission to reproduce AHA or AHA/ASA guidelines or statements, visit and complete the copyright request form.

Reprints of AHA or AHA/ASA Guidelines and Statements

To purchase additional reprints of an AHA or AHA/ASA guideline or statement, call 843-216-2533 or e-mail [email protected]

Letters to the Editor Regarding Guidelines and Statements

Letters to the Editor and writing group responses regarding AHA guidelines and statements are reviewed by the AHA Manuscript Oversight Committee. If approved for posting, letters are posted on the Correspondence page.