Guide for Authors

 

 

Table of Content:

 

Introduction

International Journal of Health Policy and Management (IJHPM) is an international and multidisciplinary peer-reviewed journal that considers any original contribution improving or shedding lights on health policy research and practice, or providing evidence about developing, implementing, and analyzing health policies. IJHPM is intended to enhance communication among health system researchers, policy and decision-makers, legislators, professionals, and practitioners. IJHPM publishes diverse categories of articles. All types of articles are subject to double-blind peer-review. The journal publishes the following types of contribution: 

IJHPM Article Types:

Editorial

Editorials are the message of the IJHPM and are written in-house by the journal's Editorial Board members. These provide state of the art discussions on the IJHPM main scopes. The title should be short and not descriptive. We prefer this kind of articles written by few authors (maximum 3 authors). Please find further details in Table 1.

Viewpoint

These articles are opinion-based and present a new and unique viewpoint on existing problems, fundamental concepts, or prevalent notions of health policy and management interest. The title should be short and not descriptive. We prefer this kind of articles written by few authors (maximum 3 authors). Please find further details in Table 1

Review Article

These articles consist of Systematic Review, Meta-Analysis, Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis, Meta-Synthesis, and Scoping Reviews. Inclusion and exclusion criteria for these studies should be described clearly. The specific type of study or analysis, intervention, population, exposure, outcomes or tests should be described for each data source or article. Authors should clearly cover the following topics in the method section: search strategy and selection criteria, data extraction, quality assessment, and data analysis. A structured abstract is required that should include: Background, Methods, Results, Conclusion, and Registry Name and Number (if the protocol of these articles had been registered in a registry system). Please see the details in Table 1. It is highly recommended that review protocols be submitted to OSF or PROSPERO.

To conduct a systematic search for review articles, we suggest using PRESS Peer Review of Electronic Search Strategies: 2015 Guideline Statement (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0895435616000585).

Note: Authors should upload the checklist as a supplementary file. Authors must ensure that all points included in the checklist are reflected in the text. Please also state page numbers where each item can be found in the text.

Original Article

These articles must be of primary research, methodologically accurate, and relevant to the international health policy and management. Each manuscript should clearly state an objective or hypothesis; the design of study and methodology (including study setting, research participants, inclusion and exclusion criteria, sampling and data source); data analysis and interpretations; the main results of the study, discussing the results; addressing study limitations and the conclusion. For all original articles, a structured abstract is required (please see instructions for preparing Abstracts). Authors should include the Ethical Issues/Statement in both the main manuscript under the method section (it should be blind) and the Title Page. If pursuing the ethical approval was not necessary for the study (eg, using secondary data), authors are still required to declare the reasons.

As part of IJHPM Knowledge Translation imitative, all original articles should report Key Messages under two separate headings namely: Implications for Policy Makers and Implications for Public (please see instructions for preparing Key Messages). Please find further details in Table 1.

Note: Only original articles require Key Messages.

You can submit your manuscript using the Sample Word Template provided here.

Short Communication

Short communications are short articles (mini original articles) that present original and important preliminary findings that do not warrant publication as a full-length article but are still worthy of publication. The main text should be sub-divided into background, methods, results, and discussion, but should be written as concisely as possible. To maintain brevity, these articles do not need key messages, however, they should include the Ethical Issues/Statement in both the main manuscript under method section (it should be blind) and the Title Page.  Please see the details in Table 1.

Commentary

Commentaries, which draw attention to or present criticism on selected IJHPM publications, are the IJHPM signature. We aim to strike a balance between rigour and relevance through inviting not only leading scholars in the field (academic/research community) but other key stakeholders in the health system to comment on our selected publications. We strive to spark healthy constructive debates and discussions among key stakeholders and bring about a diversity of perspectives. Authors of the lead/source article and editors decide whom to invite to comment. Please see the details in Table 1.

Correspondence

These articles are invited only and are written in response to published commentaries by authors whose articles have been subject to commentaries. Please see the details in Table 1.

Letter to Editor

We welcome short letters with topics of interest to the IJHPM readership. Please see the details in Table 1.

  • IJHPM acceptable checklists:
  1. CASP: https://casp-uk.net/casp-tools-checklists/
  2. COREQ: https://academic.oup.com/intqhc/article/19/6/349/1791966
  3. CHEERS: https://www.ispor.org/heor-resources/good-practices/article/consolidated-health-economic-evaluation-reporting-standards-(cheers)---explanation-and-elaboration
  4. CROSS: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33886027/
  5. ENTREQ: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23185978/
  6. GRADE-CERQual: https://www.cerqual.org/
  7. GRIPP2: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28768629/
  8. PRISMA (2020): http://prisma-statement.org/prismastatement/Checklist.aspx
  9. PRISMA-ScR: http://www.prisma-statement.org/Extensions/ScopingReviews
  10. SRQR: https://journals.lww.com/academicmedicine/fulltext/2014/09000/Standards_for_Reporting_Qualitative_Research__A.21.aspx
  11. STROBE: https://www.equator-network.org/reporting-guidelines/strobe/
  12. TIDieR-PHP: https://www.bmj.com/content/361/bmj.k1079
  13. TRIPOD: https://www.tripod-statement.org/resources/

IJHPM Business Model

IJHPM follows a Gold Open Access business model. IJHPM levies article-processing charges (APCs) for accepted articles. APC ranges between $700-$1500 (USD), plus VAT or local taxes where applicable, depending on the article type (see Table 1).

 

APC covers all prices for editorial works, administrative support, technical works, and indexing services. The publication fee should be paid by authors or their research funder before article acceptance and prior to online publication. APC price is applied for all types of articles except those invited including editorial, commentary, and correspondence. The details of publication fee for each article type are listed in the Table 1.

 

Table 1: Types of articles and APC prices

 

Article type

Submission by

Abstract type/word limit

Main text word limit*

Max No of Figure/Table

Max No of Authors

No of Ref

APC (USD)**

Editorial

Editorial Board Members

Unstructured/100-150

1500-2000

2

3

Max 20

free

Viewpoint

All authors

No abstract

1500-2000

2

3

Max 20

700

Review Articles

All authors

Structured/250-300

7000

6

No limit

No limit

1500

Original Articles 

(Quantitative)

All authors

Structured/250-300

6000

5

No limit

No limit

1500

Original Articles

(Qualitative)

All authors

Structured/250-300

7000

6

No limit

No limit

1500

Original Articles

(Mixed method)

All authors

Structured/250-300

7000

6

No limit

No limit

1500

Short Communication

All authors

Unstructured/200-250

4000

3

No limit

No limit

1400

Commentary

Invitation only

Unstructured/100-150

1500-2000

2

No limit

Max 15

free

Correspondence

Invitation only

No abstract

1000

1

No limit

Max 15

free

Letter to Editor

All authors

No abstract

700

1

3

Max 15

700

             *excluding abstract, keywords, references, Tables, and captions.

             **excluding VAT and bank transfer charges.

 

Waiver and discount

Article Processing Charge (APC) waivers or discounts will be considered for author/s (only corresponding author) who are based in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs), and reviewers who have performed 5 high-quality peer-reviews (quality of review is determined by editors) for the IJHPM.

Important note: After the first decision is made and before submitting the revised manuscript, authors should send a discount/waiver request to the journal office ([email protected]). All requests will be considered on a case-by-case basis. We do not consider any waiver or discount requests before the first decision is made on the manuscript.

 

How to pay the publication fee?

  • The corresponding author will receive an invoice with all available methods of payment and information via email.
  • The payment should be remitted by the due date on the invoice.
  • The corresponding author should upload the payment receipt file (eg, screenshot) on the IJHPM portal.
  • Once the editorial office receives the payment receipt and confirms it, the author accepted manuscript (AAM) will be published online.

Note: If you have any questions about the APC payment process, please contact the IJHPM editorial office at [email protected].

 

APC refund policy

As the APC will be received after acceptance, IJHPM will not refund any publication fees. Additionally, APCs will not be refunded for articles that are retracted because of author/s’ error or misconduct.

 

APC withdraw policy 

The authors are not under any obligation to pay if they withdraw the manuscript before receiving the first decision. The author/s who withdraw after receiving the first decision must pay 50% of the APC as a withdrawal fee.

 

* APC prices and guidelines are subject to change.


Pre-publication Guidelines

A. If authors have already published a research document (eg, conference paper, working paper, discussion paper, technical report, and so on) prior to submission to the IJHPM, the submitted manuscript must:

 1. Have at least 30% new material/content.

2. Discuss the pre-published document and cite it in the manuscript.

3. Inform the editorial team of the pre-publication in any form at the time of submission.

4. Have a new title.

5. Have a new abstract.

6. Have a new theory or a new idea.

7. Include information in the IJHPM Authorship Form and the Acknowledgements section that the manuscript is based on a pre-published document, and provide a link to the pre-published document.

B. If authors decide to publish a research document (eg, conference paper, working paper, discussion paper, technical report, and so on) while their work is under review at the IJHPM, they need to address the following points:

1. Inform IJHPM editorial team of their decision and describe clearly the purpose of pre-publication.

2. Provide the link of pre-publication server (where they want to publish the research document) to the IJHPM office.

3. Provide the draft of research document to the IJHPM office.

4. Make sure the content of research document is at least 30% different from the manuscript under review at the IJHPM.

5. Cite the research document in the IJHPM article at the later stages of the peer-review process if the manuscript is not rejected. 


Sex and Gender in Research (SAGER Guidelines)

We encourage our authors to follow the Sex and Gender in Research (SAGER) guidelines to standardize sex and gender reporting in scientific publications. SAGER guidelines recommend careful use of the terms ‘sex’ and ‘gender’ in order to avoid confusing both terms. The term ‘sex’ should be used as a classification of male or female based on biological distinction to the extent that this is possible to confirm. ‘Gender’ refers to the socially constructed roles, behaviours and identities of female, male and gender-diverse people. Please find recommendations from the Table below:

Table 2. SAGER general principles

Authors should use the terms sex and gender carefully in order to avoid confusing both terms.

Where the subjects of research comprise organisms capable of differentiation by sex, the research should be designed and conducted in a way that can reveal sex-related differences in the results, even if these were not initially expected.

Where subjects can also be differentiated by gender (shaped by social and cultural circumstances), the research should be conducted similarly at this additional level of distinction.

Recommendations per section of the article

Title and abstract

If only one sex is included in the study, or if the results of the study are to be applied to only one sex or gender, the title and the abstract should specify the sex of animals or any cells, tissues and other material derived from these and the sex and gender of human participants.

Introduction

Authors should report, where relevant, whether sex and/or gender differences may be expected.

Methods

Authors should report how sex and gender were taken into account in the design of the study, whether they ensured adequate representation of males and females, and justify the reasons for any exclusion of males or females.

Results

Where appropriate, data should be routinely presented disaggregated by sex and gender. Sex- and gender-based analyses should be reported regardless of positive or negative outcome. In clinical trials, data on withdrawals and dropouts should also be reported disaggregated by sex.

Discussion

The potential implications of sex and gender on the study results and analyses should be discussed. If a sex and gender analysis was not conducted, the rationale should be given. Authors should further discuss the implications of the lack of such analysis on the interpretation of the results.

Citation: Heidari, S., Babor, T.F., De Castro, P. et al. Sex and Gender Equity in Research: rationale for the SAGER guidelines and recommended use. Res Integr Peer Rev 1, 2 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1186/s41073-016-0007-6


 

Ethics in Publishing

Please visit our full ethics guidelines in the Publication Ethics page. 


Language (usage and editing services)

All IJHPM publications are in English. Authors whose first language is not English should make sure their manuscript is written in idiomatic English before submission. Please write your text in good English (American or British usage is accepted, but not a mixture of these). No language and copy-editing services are provided by the IJHPM. Hence, authors who feel their manuscript may require editing to eliminate possible grammatical or spelling errors are encouraged to obtain such services prior to submission. Authors are responsible for all costs associated with such services.


Submission Declaration and Verification

By submitting an article, you ensure that your work has not been published previously, except in the form of a conference abstract or as part of a published lecture or thesis for an academic qualification (please see the Pre-publication Guidelines). This implies that the manuscript is not under consideration for publication elsewhere and its submission is approved by all authors and responsible authorities where the work was carried out. It is highly important that if an acceptance is offered, your work will not be published elsewhere in the same form, in English or in any other languages, including electronically without the written consent of the Kerman University of Medical Sciences as the Publisher. Authors should not submit the same manuscript, in the same or different languages, simultaneously to more than one journal (For further information please visit ICMJE Recommendation).  


Manuscript Submission

Submission to this journal occurs online. Manuscripts submitted via email are not processed. Please read the following instructions carefully and follow them closely to ensure that the review and publication of your article is as efficient and quick as possible. International Journal of Health Policy and Management only considers the materials submitted in electronic form via the journal's online submission system. The editorial office reserves the rights to return manuscripts that are not in accordance with the IJHPM instructions for authors. Once you have prepared your manuscript according to the instructions below, you can then submit your work via our online submission platform.

During the online submission process, authors are asked to provide:

1) Manuscript Type: please see the details from here

2) Manuscript Title: authors need to insert the main and running title

3) Journal section: It includes Health Policy, Health Management, Global Health, Politics of Health, Health Policy Ethics, Health Economics, and Epidemiology

4) Abstract: please see the details from here  

5) Keywords: please see the details from here  

6) Related Subjects: authors need to insert the related subject

7) Additional Comments: authors can mention any concern or issue that editorial office need to know in this section

8) Suggested Reviewers: authors can provide the names and email addresses of potential reviewers. Please note that the editors retain the right to decide whether or not the suggested reviewers are invited

9) Attach Files: authors MUST upload the following four mandatory files and forms:

          a) Title Page: please find details from here

          b) Main Manuscript: please find details from here 

          c) Authorship Form: please find details from here

          d) Conflict of Interest Disclosure Form: please find details from here

Note: uploading the supplementary files (eg, excel sheets) are optional. Please find the details from here.

10) Cover Letter & Checklist: uploading cover letter is optional

11) Finish Submission: authors need to review the submission before clicking the submit button.

All manuscripts submitted to the IJHPM are checked by the editorial office for conformance to the IJHPM instructions. Non-conforming manuscripts are returned to authors.  

Please find the IJHPM Submission Tutorial from here

Note: All incomplete submissions will be automatically deleted after 90 days. 

Note: All correspondence, including editor's decisions, revision requests, and etc., is sent to the lead corresponding author.


Title Page

The title page should include:

1. Manuscript Type: please find details from here

2. Manuscript Title: please use initial upper case

3. Authors’ Information: please add the authors’ information according to the Authorship Form (find it from here).

4. Disclaimers

5. Source(s) of Support:  Authors are requested to clearly identify sources who provided financial support for the conduct of research and/or preparation of the manuscript. Authors have to briefly describe the role of the funder/sponsor in any part of the work including design and conduct of the study, data collection, data management, data analysis and interpretation, preparation, review and approval of the manuscript. The following rules should be followed:  

      - The sentence should begin with: ‘This work was supported by …’.

      - The full official funding agency name should be given, i.e. ‘the National Cancer Institute at the National Institutes of Health’ or simply 'National Institutes of Health' not          ‘NCI'(one of the 27 sub-institutions) or 'NCI at NIH’. 

      - Grant numbers should be complete and accurate and provided in brackets as follows: ‘[grant number ABX CDXXXXXX]’

      - Multiple grant numbers should be separated by a comma as follows: ‘[grant numbers ABX CDXXXXXX, EFX GHXXXXXX]’

      - Agencies should be separated by a semi-colon (plus ‘and’ before the last funding agency)

6. Word Count

7. Disclosure of Relationships and Activities: This form must be completed by the corresponding author only. Please report the authors' relationships/activities/interests based on the instruction provided on form and upload it once you submit the manuscript.

8. Ethical Issues: Please identify the ethics committee/board that has approved the research. If the manuscript is Original Article or Short Communication this field should be filled.

9. Acknowledgements

10. Authors’ Contributions

Please describe the contribution of each author according to the CRediT (Contributor Roles Taxonomy) author statement. CRediT is a high-level taxonomy, including 14 roles (see Table 3), that can be used to represent the roles typically played by contributors to research outputs. The roles describe each contributor’s specific contribution to the scholarly output.

Table 3. CRediT roles

Role

Definition

Conceptualization

Ideas; formulation or evolution of overarching research goals and aims.

Data curation

Management activities to annotate (produce metadata), scrub data and maintain research data (including software code, where it is necessary for interpreting the data itself) for initial use and later re-use.

Formal analysis

Application of statistical, mathematical, computational, or other formal techniques to analyse or synthesize study data.

Funding acquisition

Acquisition of the financial support for the project leading to this publication.

Investigation

Conducting a research and investigation process, specifically performing the experiments, or data/evidence collection.

Methodology

Development or design of methodology; creation of models.

Project administration

Management and coordination responsibility for the research activity planning and execution.

Resources

Provision of study materials, reagents, materials, patients, laboratory samples, animals, instrumentation, computing resources, or other analysis tools.

Software

Programming, software development; designing computer programs; implementation of the computer code and supporting algorithms; testing of existing code components.

Supervision

Oversight and leadership responsibility for the research activity planning and execution, including mentorship external to the core team.

Validation

Verification, whether as a part of the activity or separate, of the overall replication/reproducibility of results/experiments and other research outputs.

Visualization

Preparation, creation and/or presentation of the published work, specifically visualization/data presentation.

Writing – original draft

Preparation, creation and/or presentation of the published work, specifically writing the initial draft (including substantive translation).

Writing – review & editing

Preparation, creation and/or presentation of the published work by those from the original research group, specifically critical review, commentary or revision – including pre- or post-publication stages.

Please find more information about each section by visiting the ICMJE recommendations.

You can submit your title page using the Sample Word Template provided here

Important Note: While submitting your manuscript please bear in mind to upload the Authorship From.  This form must be completed by the corresponding author and signed digitally by all authors. Please find the instructions below:

 

Authorship

All contributing authors should qualify for authorship. The order of authorship should be a joint decision of the co-authors. Sufficient participation in the work is of utmost importance. Authorship credit should be based on substantial contribution to conception and design, execution, or analysis and interpretation of data. All authors should be involved in drafting the manuscript or revising it critically for important intellectual content, must have read and approved the final version of the manuscript and approve of its submission to the IJHPM. Any change in authorship following initial submission would have to be agreed by all authors as would any change in the order of authors (For further information please visit ICMJE).

Important Note: The Authorship Form (please find it from here) should be signed digitally by ALL AUTHORS. Please find the tutorial on how to sign the Authorship Form from here.

 

Changes to authorship

This statement concerns the addition, deletion, or rearrangement of author names in the authorship of submitted manuscripts as described below:

During the peer-review process if any change/s in the authorship is requited, the corresponding author should send a request to add or remove an author, or to rearrange the author names of the submitted manuscript. The corresponding author must include: (a) the reason the name should be added or removed, or the author names rearranged and (b) a signed IJHPM Change to Authorship Form by all authors that they agree with the addition, removal or rearrangement. Requests that are not sent by the corresponding author will be forwarded by the Journal Managing Editor to the corresponding author, who must follow the procedure as described above. No authorship change is allowed after acceptance and publication of the manuscript. 

 

Multiple First and Corresponding Authors

Authors are allowed to designate maximum two first authors or two corresponding authors. In such cases, the lead corresponding author has to justify the reason. Please find more details below:

 

Co-first Author

If two first authors have equal contribution, authors can be indicated the joint first authors by using ¶ symbol with the caption ‘Both authors contributed equally to this paper’ immediately under the address list in the Title Page. More than two first authors are not allowed. Authors have to decide on the order of the two first authors (e.g. alphabetically).

Please see the sample Title Page from here

Co-Corresponding Author

If two co-authors have equal contribution, authors can be indicated the co-corresponding authors by using * symbol with the caption ‘Both authors contributed equally to this paper’ immediately under the address list in the Title Page and provide the email and full address of both. More than two corresponding authors are not allowed. Only one of the corresponding authors, who is designated at the time of submission as the lead corresponding author, should accept the contact responsibility. The Disclosure Form should be completed by the lead corresponding author.

Please see the sample Title Page from here.  

Note: we do not accept co-last authors. 

 


Main Manuscript

 

File Format

Acceptable manuscripts' file formats include Microsoft Word and WordPerfect. Please do not submit your manuscripts in PDF format.

 

Text Style

Use A4 size. Text should be left-justified. Use 12-point font size. Use preferably Times and New Romans font. Use 1.5 line spacing. Use line and page number. Use Initial Upper Case for Title, Headings and Subheadings, Keywords. Make the titles, headings and subheadings bold or use different colour. Use footnote at the end of manuscript before references (no footnote for each page). Make the files anonymous; please find the guide for Office below:

Open your word file-- Clink on “File” button—“Check for Issues” section-- Select “Inspect Document”-- Click on “Inspect” button-- Click “Remove All” next to Document Properties and Personal Information-- Finally save the changes.

 

Main Manuscript Sections

The manuscript should follow through these sections: Abstract, Key Messages (only for Original Articles), Keywords, Background, Methods, Results, Discussion, Conclusion, and References. However, it may be appropriate to combine the discussion and conclusion sections in some articles. Tables and Figures should be inserted within the text as close as possible to where they are referenced. Authors should not upload them as separate files. Please add page numbers and line numbers for your manuscript.

 

Abstract

Include a structured abstract of no more than 300 words for original articles and reviews. The abstract should state briefly and clearly the purpose and setting of the research, the principal findings and major conclusions, and the article's contribution to knowledge. Abstracts should be prepared in IJHPM style including background, methods, results, and conclusion. For other manuscript types (see Table 1), include an unstructured abstract of no more than 250 words that summarizes the objectives and background, main points and conclusions of the article. Abstracts are not required for correspondence and letters to editor. 

 

- Key Messages (only for Original Articles)

In line with the knowledge translation activities of the IJHPM, authors of original articles MUST include the following two sections after abstract: 

1. Implications for policy makers

For this section, authors should provide a minimum of 3 and maximum 5 bullet-points as practical recommendations for policy makers; i.e. how policy makers could benefit from the results of their research.

2. Implications for public

For this section, authors should write a short summary/story, 100-150 words, and let the public know how your research results could possibly benefit them.

 

Keywords

Authors need to add up to 6 keywords separately into the online system during submission, and should accurately reflect the content of the article. Abbreviations/acronyms could be used with their expansions. The keywords will be used for indexing purposes. 

Please prepare the keywords according to the following instructions:

  • 3-6 Keywords (single or phrases with no more than 3 words)
  • Contain words and phrases that suggest what the topic is about
  • Use variants terms or phrases that readers are likely to use
  • If the article focuses on a particular region (geographic, climatic, etc.), use that as a keyword
  • Use specific phenomena or issues as keywords (climate change, air pollution, etc.)

You can submit your Original Article using the Sample Word Template provided here

 

Formulas 

  • Equations must be typed only in MathType (Download the software from https://www.dessci.com/en/products/mathtype/).
  • Graphical objects should not be used.
  • Your equations should be editable.
  • If you have used built-in equation editing tool in Microsoft Word, the equations will become unusable during the typesetting process. To resolve this problem, please re-key your equations using MathType.
  • Long equations should be set off from the text and numbered sequentially.
  • If you cannot avoid using many equations or schemes, you can collect them in a table of equations and shot them as a framed figure to avoid typesetting errors.   

 

Tables 

  • Should be cited in numerical order upon their first mention.
  • Should be prepared left to right and cell-based (i.e., created in Word with the Tables tool).
  • Table number and caption always appear above the table. Leave 2 line spaces between the table and the caption.

 TableGuide4Authors

  • Should be editable and upright on the page, not on sideways.
  • Should be prepared with real rows and columns and not aligned with tabs, returns, or spaces.
  • Multi-part tables with varying numbers of columns or multiple footnotes should be organized as separate tables.
  • Should be plain with NO colors, shading, or graphics.
  • Should not contain inserted text boxes, tables within tables or cells within cells.
  • Symbols and abbreviations should be defined immediately below the table, followed by essential brief description.
  • All tables should be inserted within the text as close as possible to where they are referenced. Authors should not upload them as separate files. 

 

Figures/illustrations 

  • All figures/images must be cited within the main text in numerical order.
  • All figures/images must be centered. Figure number and legend always appear below the figure. Leave 2 line spaces between the figure and the legend.
  • Figures must be prepared in one of the following formats: Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) for photography or microscopy, Encapsulated PostScript (EPS) for illustrations or diagrams, Tagged Image File Format (TIFF), EPS, or PS. Files prepared with Adobe Illustrator, Corel Draw or Adobe Photoshop should be uploaded in these native file formats.
  • All digitized images must be of high quality; that is, resolutions of at least 300 dpi for color figures, 600 dpi for greyscales and 1200 dpi for line arts.
  • Histograms should be prepared in a simple, two-dimensional format, with no background grid.
  • Make sure that any specific patient/hospital details are removed or blacked out (e.g., X-rays, MRI scans, etc).
  • If photographs of patients are used, they should not be identifiable. However, do not use a black bar to obscure a patient’s identity.
  • Original data from which the images were prepared should be available, as the editors may request to see these data (e.g., Office, SPSS and other line art images).
  • Lettering in figures (e.g., labeling of axes) should be in lower-case type, with the first letter capitalized and no full stop. All text should be in a sans-serif typeface, preferably Arial with size 8 pt.
  • Avoid using the touch-up tools, such as cloning and healing tools in Photoshop, or any feature that deliberately obscures manipulations.
  • Graphics downloaded from Web pages should not be used.
  • Please remember that vector drawing data is absent from these files: png, jpeg, tiff, or bmp. Subsequently resaving any of these files as a PDF or EPS will not produce a vector drawing in these files. Please supply the original EPS, Ai, or PDF file versions of artwork.
  • Figures/images should be inserted within the text as close as possible to where they are referenced. Authors should not upload them as separate files.

  

Note: Each table, figure, and box should have a brief, specific, descriptive title, usually written as a phrase rather than as a sentence, that distinguishes the table from other data displays in the article. The capitalization style used in article titles should be followed for tables, boxes and figures titles.

 

References  

  • Arrange references as a simple list at the end of your manuscript based on our EndNote and Mendeley style which is downloadable through IJHPM EndNote Style and IJHPM Mendeley Style.
  • Authors are responsible for the accuracy of cited references and these should be checked before the manuscript is submitted.
  • Only one publication can be listed for each number.
  • Published conference abstracts, numbered patents and preprints on recognized servers may be included in reference lists, but grant details and acknowledgements may not be cited in the text.
  • Cite references in the text, tables, or figures in consecutively numerical order by means of superscript Arabic numerals. It is acceptable for a reference to be cited only in a table or a figure legend and not in the text if it is in sequence with references cited in text.
  • Use Arabic superscript numerals outside periods and commas, inside colons and semicolons.
  • Two references are cited with a comma and no space. Three or more consecutive references are cited in a range with dashes.
  • References in tables, figures, and panels should be in numerical order according to where the item is cited in the text.
  • Please note that if references are not cited in order the manuscript may be returned for amendment before it is passed on to the Editor for assessment.
  • Only articles published or in press should be included in the reference list. Personal communications or unpublished data must be cited in parentheses in the text with the name(s) of the source(s) and the year. Authors should request permission from the source to cite unpublished data.  
  • Please do not use footnotes or endnotes as a substitute for a reference list.
  • In reference list: List the surnames and initials of first names of all authors if there are 6 or fewer; otherwise list the first 3 and add ‘et al.’ Use one space only between words up to the year and then no spaces. The journal title should be in italic and abbreviated according to the style of PubMed. If the journal is not listed in PubMed, then it should be written out in full. Check journal abbreviations using PubMed.

 

NOTE: IJHPM follows AMA style (American Medical Association Manual of Style, 10th Edition) since May 2015. 

  • General rules from the 10th edition of AMA
                -Items are listed numerically in the order they are cited in the text.
                -Include up to 6 authors.
                -For more than 6, provide the names of the first 3 authors and then add et al.
                -If there is no author, start with the title.
  • Examples of IJHPM End Note Style:
                 - Journal article (1-6 authors)

Michaud J, Kates J. Global health diplomacy: Advancing foreign policy and global health interests. Glob Health Sci Pract. 2013;1(1):24-28. doi:10.9745/GHSP-D-12-00048

                 - Journal article (more than 6 authors)

Hu WS, Ting WJ, Chiang WD, et al. The heart protection effect of alcalase potato protein hydrolysate is through IGF1R-PI3K-Akt compensatory reactivation in aging rats on high fat diets. Int J Mol Sci. 2015;16(5):10158-10172. doi: 10.3390/ijms160510158

                 - Journal article (non-English title)

1-     If non-English language titles are translated into English, bracketed indication of the original language should follow the title:

Richartz E, Schott KJ, Wormstall H. Psychopharmakotherapie bei Demenzerkrankungen [in Japanese]. Dtsch Med Wochenschr. 2004;129(25/26):1434-1440.

2-     If both the non-English language title and the translation are provided, both may be given with the non-English title given first, followed by the English Translation in brackets:

 Camici M. Cancro prostatico e screening con test PSA [Prostate cancer and prostate specific antigen screening]. Minerva Med. 2004;95(1):25-34.

                 - Book

Reuter T. Sharing the Earth, Dividing the Land: Land and Territory in the Austronesian World. Canberra: Australian National University Press; 2006.

                 - Book Section

Meltzer PS, Kallioniemi A, Trent JM. Chromosome alterations in human solid tumors. In: Vogelstein B, Kinzler KW, eds. The Genetic Basis of Human Cancer. New York: McGraw-Hill; 2002:93-113.

                 - Newspaper article – in print

Wolf W. State’s mail-order drug plan launched. Minneapolis Star Tribune. May 14, 2004:1B. 

                 - Newspaper article – online

Pollack A. FDA approves new cystic fibrosis drug. New York Times. January 31, 2012. https://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/01/business/fda-approves-cystic-fibrosis-drug.html?ref=health. Accessed February 1, 2012.

                 - Websites

Outbreak notice: Cholera in Haiti. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website. https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/notices/outbreak-notice/haiti-cholera.htm. Updated January 9, 2012. Accessed February 1, 2012.

                 -Thesis

Weisbaum LD. Human sexuality of children and adolescents: a comprehensive training guide for social work professionals [thesis]. Long Beach (CA): California State University; 2005.

                 -Conference proceedings 

Chu H, Rosenthal M. Search engines for the World Wide Web: a comparative study and evaluation methodology. Paper presented at: American Society for Information Science 1996 Annual Conference; October 19 24, 1996; Baltimore, MD. https://www.asis.org/annual-96/electronicproceedings/chu.html. Accessed February 26, 200

 

Statistics

For the reporting of statistical analyses please consider the following points:

  • Report descriptive statistics as N (%) for categorical and mean (SD) for continuous variables. In the case of non-normal variables report median (IQR).
  • Provide information about participation and missing data.
  • Display the flowchart of the study by which cases are excluded from analysis
  • Start with Univariate analysis before building multivariable/ multivariate models.
  • As much as possible, describe results using meaningful phrases (eg, do not say "beta" or "regression coefficient", but "mean change in Y per unit of X"). Provide 95% confidence intervals for point estimates.
  • Maintain the consistency of reporting all decimal places across the manuscript (either one decimal or two decimal places).
  • values should be expressed to 2 digits to the right of the decimal point unless the first 2 digits are zeros, in which case 3 digits to the right of the decimal place should be provided (eg, instead of < .01, report as = .002). However, values close to .05 may be reported to 3 decimal places because the .05 is an arbitrary cut point for statistical significance (eg, = .053, = .047). 
  • values less than .001 should be designated as “< .001” rather than exact values (eg, = .00006). 
  • Report p values with 2 digits after the decimal. eg, 0.54 or .54.

 

Abbreviations and Symbols

1. Use only standard abbreviations such as AIDS, HIV, WHO, IQ.

2. Do not use non-standard abbreviations unless they appear at least 3 times in the text.

3. Avoid abbreviations in the title of the manuscript, table, figure, and box.  

4. The spelled-out abbreviation followed by the abbreviation in parenthesis should be used upon first appearance in the text unless the abbreviation is a standard unit of measurement (For further information please visit ICMJE Recommendation).  

5. Keep abbreviations to a minimum.


Supplementary File Guideline

Authors should provide the Supplementary Information (SI) as supplementary files once they submit the main manuscript. Authors are not allowed to change the content of supplementary files following acceptance. The supplementary files will be published exactly as they are received from the authors without any editing or reformatting. IJHPM does not take responsibility for any information provided in the supplementary files. We accept no more than 5 files (each file maximum 10 pages). Please prepare the supplementary files based on the following instructions:

- Content

Each supplementary file should include:

1. Article title

2. Journal name

3. Authors information including author names, affiliation, and email address of the corresponding author.

4. Main content such as tables, figures, description method.

5. We suggest not adding references to the supplementary files since we do not activate the links and they are not counted as citation. However, if you need to insert the references within the supplementary file, they should be cited in order following the references in the main text as per IJHPM style. Please find the IJHPM style for references from here.

6. Please insert page number for all supplementary files.

- Numbering

1. Please use separate numbering system for tables and figures eg, Table S1, Table S2.

2. Please cite all supplementary files’ material in the main manuscript based on the numbering order.

- Captions

Please provide a concise, descriptive caption for each supplementary material eg, Tables and Figures.

- Format

1. Please choose an appropriate title (precise and concise) for each supplementary file eg, Supplementary File 1. Search Strategy.

2. We accept .pdf, .doc, .xls and .ppt formats.

- Size

Please decrease the files’ size as small as possible so that they can be downloaded easily.

 

Please see the sample Supplementary File from here.  


 

How to Submit the Revision

The corresponding author should submit the revisions via the IJHPM portal according to the following instruction: 

Please go to your profile (Author section)--"Submissions Needing Revision" section--Click on your manuscript ID--Upload the correct version and delete any old versions (you can change all information eg, title, abstract, etc.)--and push the "submit" button. 

Please Do NOT start a New Submission and Do NOT send the revisions via email. 


Proofs

The latest peer-reviewed version of a manuscript will be published as an author accepted manuscript (AAM) under the in-press section of the journal. The AAM is not the final version and would be replaced by the official proof-read version. IJHPM technical team will provide the proof to authors via email and the corresponding author is responsible to check the PDF proof for accuracy and respond to author queries, and return an annotated PDF to the journal office in a timely manner. Adobe Acrobat Reader or Foxit Reader software, which are freely available, are needed to open the PDF file. 

It is important to ensure that all of your corrections are sent back to us in a single email. Please note that rephrasing sentences, additions, or omissions are not allowed at the proof stage.Not meeting the deadline for checking the PDF proof could lead to significant delays in the publication. Please note that no further edits/corrections are accepted after publication and authors MUST check the PDF proof very carefully.


Video Summary Guideline (not part of submission process)

As another IJHPM knowledge translation activity, we invite authors of selected publications to prepare a video summary of their articles to be published on the IJHPM YouTube Channel.

Note: Video summary is not part of submission process. Only after publication, editors select some articles and invite authors for a video summary, which is optional and authors can decline the invitation.

Our video summaries present the summary of our recently published articles, filmed by articles’ authors. By video summaries we aim to help both academics and non-academics to scan the literature promptly and understand quickly the key themes of an article without going through pages of an article. We hope that our video summaries will help our articles to be more visible, reachable, and discoverable. We also hope to provide a personalized forum for our authors to simply convey their article messages to the IJHPM global readership. 

To prepare video please kindly consider the following points:

  • The length of video should be maximum 4 minutes.
  • The video should present the summery of article.
  • The authors are encouraged to use images, animations, and slides to increase visibility of their videos.
  • The speaker should seat at the center of the frame.
  • The camera or the smart phone must be at the same level as the speaker, not higher or lower.
  • The space at both top and bottom of the screen should be 20 cm.
  • The speaker should leave enough pauses (5-6 seconds) before starting and after finishing the talk.
  • To avoid camera shake, we recommend using a tripod.
  • The speaker should not seat in a place with a window at the background; we recommended seating in a place with a wall at the background.
  • The speaker should keep the noise down at the time of recording.
  • We recommend using the MP4 format.
  • We recommend a landscape mode with the frame size of 1280*720 pixels
  • IJHPM Copyright Statement is applied for the use and distribution of video summaries. 

 

How to share the video with IJHPM:

  • Authors can upload the video in Dropbox and share the link with us via [email protected].
  • Once we receive your video, it will be checked and if there is no technical problem, we will edit and then publish it on the IJHPM YouTube channel and also our videocast page.

You can watch our published videos by visiting IJHPM YouTube Channel and also by clicking here



Special Issue Proposal Template

In order to promote scientific discourse on attractive topics globally, IJHPM accepts with interest any requests from scientific bodies to coordinate the tasks of special issues. Each special issue is a package of relevant articles (minimum 5 ones), an editorial paper to present the main concepts of the papers, and a video-cast to introduce the package and its main messages. You may find some examples in the following links:

https://www.ijhpm.com/article_4176.html

https://www.ijhpm.com/article_4167.html

https://www.ijhpm.com/article_4139.html

The coordinator of a team may submit his/her request and address the following issues:

  1. The title of the special issue,
  2. Themes,
  3. The rationale, including the importance of the suggested themes, their scientific contribution to the papers at the international level, and their relation to the IJHPM scope,
  4. Information about the team members and their roles with title, email address, affiliation, research interest, and academic profile. A short biography, including their qualifications for editing the special issue’s contributors, is recommended. Based on the IJHPM policies, a balance of geographical spread and author gender is also important,
  5. If possible, a list of potential manuscripts (includes titles, abstracts, authors’ list, etc.),
  6. The plan for receiving manuscripts (call for paper, or invited authors), reviewing process (selection of independent reviewers based on the IJHPM policies), finalizing the manuscripts, and an initial timetable,
  7. The source of financial support to cover the publication fees,

The received request will be reviewed by the IJHPM editorial team within two working weeks. In positive cases, for further coordination between the journal and the team, in a series of communications, the exact tasks and responsibilities will be defined. 


Additional Resources

Pleases download the additional resources for further consideration. These include:

Authorship Form

Change Authorship Form

IJHPM EndNote Style

IJHPM Mendeley Style

Title Page Word Template

Original Article Word Template

Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journal


Author Enquiries

For inquiries relating to the submission of articles please contact the editorial office at: 

E-mail: [email protected]

Phone: +98-34-31325400  

You can also follow us on: 

LinkedIn

YouTube

Twitter

ResearchGate

Academia 

Facebook 

 

Scholarly Collaboration and Partnership with Australian International Academic Center
The Australian International Academic Center collaborates with the IJHPM in order to facilitate the publication process after the peer review process. The journal takes the advantage of AIAC assistantship and continuous support in offering their viable solutions for open access publishing. Both parties are highly confident that through partnership they will expand their networking and eventually, a wider variety of communities can be reached out about the activities of both entities.

 

Updated: April 15, 2023