Journal focus

Education for Health: Change in Learning and Practice (EfH) is the scholarly, peer-reviewed journal of The Network: Towards Unity for Health. Our readers are health professionals, health professions educators and learners, healthcare researchers, policymakers, community leaders and administrators from all over the world. We publish original studies, reviews, think pieces, and commentaries on current trends, issues, and subjects of educational debate and discourse. We especially want to provide our international readers with fresh ideas and innovative models of education and health services delivery to help them be maximally responsive to the healthcare needs of their communities. We are interested in manuscripts that include, but are not limited to, the following topics:

• Innovative models of education for health professions students and practitioners to help them provide high quality healthcare that meets the needs of individuals, families and communities;
• Innovative models of community-based healthcare delivery and studies of the impact and effectiveness of these models;
• Collaborations between academia and community health services, with the goal of community health improvement;
• Interdisciplinary approaches to health professions education and service delivery;
• Models and systems of education, research, and service delivery that link, and have implications for, both economically advantaged and economically disadvantaged countries.

The content of the journal is freely available on-line to all interested readers. There are no subscription fees for readers, nor are there manuscript submission fees for authors. Readers may register to receive email notifications of journal issues as they are published.

Manuscript submission

All manuscripts must be submitted on-line through the website https://review.jow.medknow.com/efh. First time users will have to register at this site. Registration is free but mandatory. Registered authors can keep track of their articles after logging into the site using their user name and password. Authors do not have to pay for submission, processing or publication of articles. If you experience any problems, please contact the journal's editorial team at [email protected]. 

The submitted manuscripts that are not as per the “Instructions to Authors” would be returned to the authors for technical correction, before they undergo editorial/ peer-review. Generally, the manuscript should be submitted in the form of two separate files:

[1] Title Page/First Page File/covering letter:

This file should provide

1. The type of manuscript (original research article,Brief communication, Letter to editor, Practical advice paper etc.) title of the manuscript, running title, names of all authors/ contributors (with their highest academic degrees, designation and affiliations) and name(s) of department(s) and/ or institution(s) to which the work should be credited, . All information which can reveal your identity should be here. Use text/rtf/doc files. Do not zip the files.
2. The total number of pages, total number of photographs and word counts separately for abstract and for the text (excluding the references, tables and abstract), word counts for introduction + discussion in case of an original article;
3. Source(s) of support in the form of grants, equipment, drugs, or all of these;
4. Acknowledgement, if any. One or more statements should specify 1) contributions that need acknowledging but do not justify authorship, such as general support by a departmental chair; 2) acknowledgments of technical help; and 3) acknowledgments of financial and material support, which should specify the nature of the support. This should be included in the title page of the manuscript and not in the main article file.
5. If the manuscript was presented as part at a meeting, the organization, place, and exact date on which it was read. A full statement to the editor about all submissions and previous reports that might be regarded as redundant publication of the same or very similar work. Any such work should be referred to specifically, and referenced in the new paper. Copies of such material should be included with the submitted paper, to help the editor decide how to handle the matter.
6. Conflicts of Interest of each author/ contributor. A statement of financial or other relationships that might lead to a conflict of interest, if that information is not included in the manuscript itself or in an authors' form
7. Criteria for inclusion in the authors’/ contributors’ list
8. A statement that the manuscript has been read and approved by all the authors, that the requirements for authorship as stated earlier in this document have been met, and that each author believes that the manuscript represents honest work, if that information is not provided in another form (see below); and
9. The name, address, e-mail, and telephone number of the corresponding author, who is responsible for communicating with the other authors about revisions and final approval of the proofs, if that information is not included on the manuscript itself.

[2] Blinded Article file: The main text of the article, beginning from Abstract till References (including tables) should be in this file. The file must not contain any mention of the authors' names or initials or the institution at which the study was done or acknowledgements. Page headers/running title can include the title but not the authors' names. Manuscripts not in compliance with the Journal's blinding policy will be returned to the corresponding author. Use rtf/doc files. Do not zip the files. Limit the file size to 1 MB. Do not incorporate images in the file. If file size is large, graphs can be submitted as images separately without incorporating them in the article file to reduce the size of the file. The pages should be numbered consecutively, beginning with the first page of the blinded article file.

[3] Images: Submit good quality color images. Each image should be less than 2 MB in size. Size of the image can be reduced by decreasing the actual height and width of the images (keep up to 1600 x 1200 pixels or 5-6 inches). Images can be submitted as jpeg files. Do not zip the files. Legends for the figures/images should be included at the end of the article file. 

Types of contributions

All submissions should have a structured abstract, with the exception of Letters to the Editor.
The number of references should be appropriate to the length and depth of the manuscript.
References should be international and should justify points made, but not be exhaustive.
The type of submission determines the allowable word count of the abstract and text of the body of the paper, and the number of tables and/or figures.

Original Research Papers:
Research papers present original research or reviews of the literature on topics relevant to the journal’s foci. Generally, research reports are no longer than 3,000 words; however, longer papers are sometimes acceptable if warranted by the content. Reports of qualitative research can be up to 4,000 words in length. Final length and format of the manuscripts will be determined by the co-editors during the review process. Research articles should contain no more than six tables and/or figures.

The abstract of a research article should not exceed 300 words and generally is best structured using the following headings: Background, the background and aims of the study; Methods, how the study was performed, including statistical tests used; Results, the main findings; Discussion, brief summary and potential implications.
Please minimize the use of abbreviations and do not cite references in the abstract.

Organize the main text of the research article by using the same headings. Background: Should be written from the standpoint of researchers without specialist knowledge in the specific area and must clearly state the background to the research and its aims. Reports of clinical research should, where appropriate, include an overview of key points from the literature to justify why this study was necessary and what it is intended to contribute to the field. The section should end with a clear statement of the study’s aims or goals. Methods: Should include the design of the study, the setting, the type of participants or materials involved, a clear description of all interventions and comparisons. Add detailed explanations of methodologies not commonly used, including references that support these methodologies. Given the importance of the political, cultural and institutional context within which health sciences are taught and practiced, this background should be provided to characterize study settings. Results: Should first present basic descriptive information about study subjects, followed by information to answer the study’s aims/questions. Findings should directly relate to the study aims and should be presented in the order in which the aims are listed. Tables and Figures should be referenced within the text. Subsections should generally be created to help guide the reader. Discussion: Should first briefly summarize the study’s main findings, and most importantly to answer the study’s aims. Subsequent paragraphs (or subsections) should explain the findings, relate them to prior literature and discuss their implications. There should be a section outlining key limitations and a final Conclusions section to summarize one or two key findings and implications.

Brief Communications:
Brief Communications are descriptions of projects and research that are early in their implementation or limited in scope, such as descriptions of innovations with implications for other health professions educators. Brief Communications can combine elements of research and description, where the research is not sufficiently robust or central enough to the article’s message to constitute a full-fledged research report.
Structured abstracts of no more than 250 words are required. Brief Communications can include up to three tables and/or figures, and up to 10 references. Brief Communications are limited to 1,500 words.

Practical Advice Papers:
Practical Advice papers are informative articles on topics that present practical tips and lessons learned for other health professions educators. These papers are limited to 2,000 words with an abstract of up to 250 words. No more than four tables and/or figures are permitted.

Position Papers:
Position Papers are carefully argued and appropriately referenced statements of a point of view. Typically, these papers are between 1,000 and 2,000 words with an abstract of up to 250 words. No more than four tables and/or figures are permitted.

General Articles:
General Articles present and analyze broad topics, such as education and health policies and trends that have implications for health professions education and service delivery. General articles are limited to 2,500 words, with an abstract of up to 250 words. They generally have few tables and figures, if any.

Student Contributions:
Student contributed articles are encouraged as a special journal feature. Submissions will be reviewed by a select members of the Education for Health Editorial Board and external reviewers. Submissions should follow the same specifications listed above, with a notation that the paper has mainly been written by a student.

Letters to the Editor:
Letters to the Editor are accepted on topics determined to be of interest to the journal’s readers. This includes comment on another paper recently published in the journal. There is a limit of 500 words, with one table and/or figure, and up to five references. There is no abstract.

Articles in other specific formats:
Education for Health regularly publishes additional papers in other specific formats, including Special Communications, Commentaries, Interviews, Personal Views, Book Reviews, Conference Reports, Obituaries, etc. Authors should contact the journal office for further details on how to construct these articles.
Book reviews should begin by citing the book reviewed, with full bibliographic information including full title and subtitle, authors and/or editors (including first names), publisher, place of publication, copyright date, number of pages, ISBN number, price if available, and whether the book is case bound or soft covered. Please include in the file the name and institutional address of the book reviewer.

General requirements of manuscripts

Any word-processing package may be used to prepare your manuscript, but files in Microsoft Word are preferred. Avoid using automatic formatting such as footnotes, endnotes, headers or footers.

A. Style

Manuscripts should be prepared in accordance with the guidelines of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) as described in the ‘Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals’, available at: www.icmje.org. The journal used the Vancouver style as detailed in: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/bsd/uniform_requirements.html.
Nevertheless, please be aware that Education for Health varies from some elements of the style as described on the ICMJE site. For example, in the reference list EfH articles present journal names in full (not abbreviated) and in italics. Therefore, please carefully read the journal’s style notes.

Article length:
The word limit mentioned below does not include the abstract, acknowledgements, references, tables or figures.

• Original research paper: less than 3,000 words
• Qualitative research paper: less than 4,000 words
• Brief communication: less than 1,500 words
• Practical advice: less than 2,000 words
• Position paper: less than 2,000 words
• General article: less than 2,500 words
• Student contribution: less than 2,000 words
• Commentary: less than 2,000 words
• Conference report: less than 800 words
• Personal view: less than 1,500 words
• Interview: less than 3,000 words
• Biography, Tribute or Obituary: less than 800 words
• Book review: less than 800 words
• Editorial: less than 2,000 words
• Letter to the Editor: less than 500 words
• Letter via on-line forum: less than 500 words

Spelling: Authors may use UK, US or Australian spelling, but should not use a mixture of spelling styles within a given paper.

Abbreviations: All abbreviations and acronyms should be spelled out at first use. Abbreviations should not be used in the Abstract unless the term is used there more than once.

Units of measure: In accordance with international scholarly convention, all units must be given as Système Internationale (SI) units http://physics.nist.gov/cuu/Units/index.html.

Special characters: Because non-keyboard characters may corrupt during electronic transfer, the use of special characters/symbols in the text should preferably be accompanied by a spell-out of that character in parentheses, for example, c (chi), a (alpha). The bracketed text will be removed during the editing process.

Statistics: Please describe statistical methods with enough detail to enable a knowledgeable reader with access to the original data to verify your reported results. Provide actual numbers as well as percentages in both text and tables, and wherever possible include row and column totals. For surveys and intervention studies/trials, ensure that the response/participation rate is described and, if necessary, any biases due to low participation discussed. A justification for sample size based on the required accuracy of the results should be provided. 95% confidence intervals for the main results should be given. All statistical tests should be described. If parametric analyses (e.g. t-test, analysis of variance or multiple regression) have been undertaken, make sure that you have first checked the dependent variable for normality. Specify in the text the statistical software used, giving company detail (names and address).

Writing and organizing manuscripts for online publication:

• Keep in mind that readers will view your article on a computer screen. Therefore avoid unnecessarily long papers.
• Write clear, short sentences.
• When appropriate, provide section headings that alert readers to the content of the paragraphs that follow.
• The introduction builds a logical case and context for the article, the purpose of which is clear and well articulated.
• Historical background is given, where appropriate.
• Key concepts and terms are defined.
• The paper is logically organized, well written, and easy to follow.
• The conclusions directly address the study aims and follow from the premises and data presented.
• Participants (institutions, organizations, committees, individuals, etc.) are clearly identified.
• Suggestions for future study or implementation are concrete, practical, and short.
• Contrasting points of view or counterarguments are considered.
• The relation of figures and tables (if applicable) to the text is evident and necessary.
• Figures and tables (if applicable) are clear; data are relevant with the paper’s aims.
• The literature review—mainly of primary sources—is up-to-date and well integrated.
• The literature is analyzed and critically appraised.
• The number of references is appropriate and their selection is judicious.
• Ideas are acknowledged appropriately (scholarly attribution) and accurately; there are no instances of plagiarism, and reference citations are complete and accurate.

B. Sections of the article

Include a title page, abstract, body of text, acknowledgements as appropriate, list of references, tables and figures, and appendices as appropriate.
Start each of these sections on a new page, numbered consecutively, beginning with the title page.< br /> Articles should be double-spaced throughout.

Title page: A seperate title page should be added as per the instructions mentioned earlier. On the first page, identify the type of article being submitted and indicate the paper's full title. Concise titles are easier to read than long, complex ones; however, titles should include enough information so that electronic retrieval of the article can be both sensitive and specific. Capitalize each word of the title, except for prepositions and articles.
Provide the names of all authors, their position titles and highest academic degrees, their email addresses and current institutional affiliations as they will be listed if the paper is published. If any of their institutional affiliations were different at the time that the work of the reported project was carried out, also indicate that prior affiliation. Indicate the name and full contact information (email address, postal address as well as fax and phone numbers) of the corresponding author. Include a word count for the abstract and also for the text of the body of the paper alone (not including abstract, acknowledgements, tables, figures or list of references.).

Abstract: Provide a structured abstract with headings for all types of articles, with the exception of Letters to the Editor and a few other less common article formats.
Original research articles should include a structured abstract of no more than 300 words, generally using the following headings: Background, Methods, Results, and Conclusions. (These headings should also be used in the main text of the article to facilitate linking). Papers that describe educational or service interventions often benefit from a separate “Intervention” section between the Background and Methods sections.
Abstracts of other types of articles may have different headings, but the headings should give the readers a sense of the article’s organization. Abstracts are the only substantive portion of the article indexed in many electronic databases. To increase the likelihood that readers will grasp the primary issues presented in the article or even decide to read the entire article, the abstract needs to reflect the content of the text clearly and accurately, highlighting new findings and strategies and other intriguing information.
Abstracts of research articles can have up to 300 words. The abstracts of all other articles are limited to 250 words.

Keywords: Immediately after the abstract, list up to 10 keywords (or phrases) for indexing purposes. Keywords may be selected from the journal’s manuscript submission system when prompted, and also from Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) http://www.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/introduction2004.html. Keywords will be used by readers as they search for articles of interest and also assist in cross-indexing articles by abstracting services.

Main text: Within the body of the text, make headings and subheadings following the journal’s standards. For greater clarity and for linking purposes, use the same headings of the abstract as the main headings in the text. Guidance on structuring the sections 'Background', 'Methods', 'Results' and 'Conclusions' is provided at http://www.icmje.org. Papers that describe educational or service interventions often benefit from a separate “Intervention” section between the Background and Methods sections. For these papers, ‘Methods’ then address only the approaches used to evaluate the intervention; the steps/processes (“methods”) of the intervention itself are described within the ‘Intervention’ section.
Explain all technical terms the first time they are used. Also, spell out abbreviations and acronyms at first use.

Acknowledgements: Immediately after the text, name all persons who have contributed to the work reported in the manuscript but who do not qualify as authors. Indicate their contributions. If applicable, cite sources of funding or other resources for the reported work. Also, cite any conflicts of interest, if applicable.

References:
Authors are responsible for the accuracy and completeness of their references and for correct text citations. Education for Health uses the Vancouver style for all references, as detailed in: www.nlm.nih.gov/bsd/uniform_requirements.html. Some elements of the style described on the ICMJE site are different for our journal. Therefore, please carefully read the following notes.

- References within the text:
Number the reference citations according to the order in which they occur in the text. Do not Use superscript numbers in the body of the text. Instead, Place citation numbers for references in square brackets. (The brackets also will be removed during the editing process and replaced by superscript numbers in the published article.) Unpublished sources and personal communications should not be listed as references, but instead should be noted in parentheses within the text of the manuscript, at the end of the sentence they support, e.g: (J Hudson, personal communication, 2010). Likewise, any statistical software used to process your data should be cited in parentheses in the text, providing the name and version of the package and the name, city, state and country of the company that produced it. In the Vancouver style of referencing, footnoted material is placed in parentheses in the text at the appropriate place.

- List of references:
The numbered reference list follows the order in which references appear in the text. (Do not list alphabetically).
Journal names need to be in italics and spelled out in full (not abbreviated).
Page ranges for journal articles need to be given in full, e.g. 124-129 (do not use: 124-9)
List all named authors, regardless of how many there are (e.g., do not use “et al.” if an article has more than six authors).
When citing books, the title of the book needs to be in italics.
Web links and URLs should be included in the reference list. Please check all URLs for accuracy.

Examples of the Education for Health reference style are shown below.
For a more comprehensive list, please view the examples at: www.icmje.org
Please make sure to follow the reference style precisely; references not in the correct style need be retyped.

1. Standard journal article
Roff S. The Dundee Ready Educational Measurement (DREEM): a generic instrument for measuring students’ perceptions of undergraduate health professions curricula. Medical Teacher. 2005; 27(4):322-325.

2. Journal article with more than six authors
Hojat M, Paskin DL, Callahan CA, Nasca TJ, Louis DZ, Veloski J, Erdmann JB, Gonnella JS. Components of postgraduate competence: analyses of thirty years of longitudinal data. Medical Education. 2007; 41:982-989.

3. Journal article published in electronic journal Burdick WP, Morahan PS, Norcini JJ. Capacity building in medical education and health outcomes in developing countries: the missing link. Education for Health. 2007; 20(3). Available from http://www.educationforhealth.net/publishedarticles/article_print_65.pdf

4. Online communication
Nichani MR. Learning through social interactions (Online communities). Elearningpost.com. Retrieved September 10, 2009, from http://www.elearningpost.com/images/uploads/comm.pdf

5. Book
O’Connor-Fleming ML, Parker E. Health promotion: Principles and practice in the Australian context. 2nd ed. Crows Nest: Allen & Unwin; 2001.

6. Chapter within a book
Fuller J, Edwards J, Procter N, Ross J. Mental health in rural and remote Australia. In: Wilkinson D, Blue I, editors. The new rural health. Oxford: Oxford University Press; 2002. p. 171-185.

7. Conference proceedings
McKibbon KA, Hayne RB, Johnston ME, Walker CJ. A study to enhance clinical end-user MEDLINE search skills: design and baseline findings. Proceedings of the Fifteenth Annual Symposium on Computer Applications in Medical Care. November 17-20, New York, USA; 1991.

Tables and figures: Include tables and figures after the references at the end of your submitted manuscript. Use Arabic numerals to number the tables and figures, according to their sequence of citation. Provide a short, self-explanatory title for each table and figure: the title should allow the reader to understand the table/figure without referring back to the text of the body of the paper.
Within the body of your manuscript, indicate where each table and figure belongs (for example, "Insert Table X about here"). Typically tables and figures belong after the paragraph where they are first cited.
Integrate the tables and/or graphs into the same file as that of the contribution, figures then the figures can be added separately during the online submission process. Please note, however, that only files in jpg-, png- and gif-format can be uploaded separately.
It is the responsibility of the author(s) to obtain permission from the copyright holder to reproduce figures or tables that have previously been published elsewhere. Manuscript acceptance will not be granted until permission is received by the authors and sent to journal staff.

Tables: Use the tables feature of your word processing program to create the tables, rather than using the space bar or tabs and tab stops to separate columns of data. Excessive tabular data are discouraged. Do not use vertical rules to separate columns.
Spell out abbreviations or acronyms, even if you have already done so in the text; if absolutely necessary, footnote abbreviations for the reader.
Figures: All illustrations (photographs, graphs, and diagrams) should be called 'Figures'. Make sure that figures can be interpreted without reference to the text. Include keys to symbols in the captions. Figures should be professionally drawn, of publication quality, and capable of proportional reduction. Keep in mind that figures should be meaningful, rather than decorative. If you have figures or photos in jpg, gif or png format that are not included in your article, these can be submitted in a separate submission area during the article submission process. Always keep a copy of what you submit in case of file corruption.

Presubmission checklist

Before uploading your article onto the journal’s website, please ensure that you have completed all the items in this checklist. If you have any questions at this stage, please contact [email protected] and we will be pleased to assist you.

• Carefully read the manuscript submission requirements in these Instructions for Authors.
• Designate a corresponding author and provide complete postal address, telephone number and email address
• Supply full names and affiliations details of all authors, including degrees, institutional and current addresses.
• On the title page, include a word count for the abstract and then also a word count for the text only, exclusive of title, abstract, references, tables and figures.
• Indicate the type of article you are submitting.
• Double space your manuscript throughout
• Provide a structured abstract that conforms to the required abstract format.
• Organize the main text of your article by using the same headings as in the abstract.
• Explain all abbreviations and technical terms the first time they are used.
• Observe the appropriate word limit for the type of submission.
• Assign up to 10 keywords (or phrases) for indexing purposes.
• Use the journal’s style of referencing.
• List references in numerical order, making sure each is cited in sequence in the text.(Do not list alphabetically.)
• Do not use superscript numbers in the body of the text. Instead, place citation numbers for references in square brackets.
• Check all references for completeness and accurateness.
• Include up to six tables and/or figures after the references, and add explanatory legends as needed. Non-research submissions may have fewer tables and figures.
• Within the text, indicate where each table and figure belongs.
• For studies using human participants, state in your manuscript the status of ethical approval from the institutional review board/ethics committee of the study and explain any related circumstances.
• In the Acknowledgements section, cite sources of funding and conflicts of interest, if applicable.
• After submission, make sure that all authors confirm co-authorship of the paper in an email message to the journal office.

Ethical and legal considerations

Submission of a manuscript to Education for Health implies that all authors have read and agreed to its content, and that approval of research has been obtained from an ethics committee (where appropriate), in compliance with the Helsinki Declaration http://www.wma.net/e/policy/b3.htm.

Authorship
Education for Health follows the “Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals” of the ICMJE for determining authorship. An "author" is generally considered to be someone who has made substantive intellectual contributions to the article. To qualify as an author you should 1) have made substantial contributions to conception and design, or acquisition of data, or analysis and interpretation of data; 2) have been involved in drafting the manuscript or revising it critically for important intellectual content; and 3) have given final approval of the version to be published. Each author should have participated sufficiently in the work to take public responsibility for appropriate portions of the content. Acquisition of funding, collection of data, or general supervision of the research group, alone, does not justify authorship. All contributors who do not meet the criteria for authorship should be listed in the Acknowledgements section. Examples of those who might be acknowledged include a person who provided purely technical help, writing assistance, or a department chair who provided only general support. For a full definition of authorship, please access the ICMJE website.
The corresponding author takes responsibility for the article during the submission and review process.
All authors should be listed on the title page or first page of your manuscript. Each author should have participated sufficiently in the work to take responsibility for some part of the content. One (or more) author(s) should take responsibility for the integrity of the work as a whole. Usually, this is the corresponding author’s responsibility.
Immediately after submission of your article, all co-authors will be requested by email to confirm authorship of the article, and thereby acknowledging that they qualify as an author for this manuscript.

Terms of consideration
The manuscript must be the authors' original work, not previously published in the same or substantially similar form previously, nor under consideration by any other print or electronic journal. Manuscripts that are derived from papers presented at conferences can be submitted unless they have been published as part of the conference proceedings in a peer-reviewed journal. Submissions of articles based on published abstracts, or verbal or poster presentations at conferences or meetings, are also welcomed. Authors are required to ensure that no material submitted as part of a manuscript infringes existing copyrights, or the rights of a third party.

Conflict of interest

Authors: Authors are required to fill out the ICJME disclosure form at the time of submission of their manuscript. A conflict of interest exists when your interpretation of data or presentation of information may be influenced by your personal or financial relationship with other people or organizations. Authors should disclose any financial competing interests but also any non-financial competing interests that may cause them embarrassment were they to become public after the publication of the manuscript. We ask authors of Education for Health to list all competing interests at the end of their article, in the Acknowledgements section. If there are no competing interests, you should state that: 'The author(s) declare that they have no competing interests'. Reviewers and Editors: Reviewers and editors are required to declare any and all potential conflicts of interest. If an author of a manuscript under consideration has a primary appointment at the institution of one of the two Co-Editors, decisions regarding that manuscript will generally be made by the second Co-Editor.

Copyright
Authors who publish in Education for Health retain copyright to their work.
They are required to have obtained permission to use any copyright-protected material in their submitted paper, including material in the form of figures or tables. Please ensure that you have avoided any libelous statements because authors are liable for any subsequent legal action.
While you retain copyright of your original material, by publishing on the EfH site you will have agreed to the following contractual terms:

• The article is the original work of the stated author(s)
• The work has not been published previously
• The journal Education for Health may use the article for publicity purposes
• The journal Education for Health may publish the article on third-party sites
• Any subsequent publication of the article by the authors will carry the acknowledgement: ‘First published in Education for Health http://www.educationforhealth.net’

Prior to publication of your manuscript, you will be requested to log in to the journal site, accept and agree to the final, edited version of your article and also indicate agreement to these terms. 

At the time of manuscript submission on https://review.jow.medknow.com/efh, complete details with correct email addresses of all contributors are required. The application will send a digital copyright form link to receive consent from all co-authors and contributors included in the submitted manuscript.

Permissions
Enquiries regarding reproduction and re-use of the material contained in this site should be directed to the Journal office at [email protected] regarding permission to use the journal’s version of the material.

Ethical approval for studies involving human participants
For all manuscripts reporting data from studies involving human participants, formal review and approval, or formal review and waiver, by an appropriate institutional review board or ethics committee is required and should be described, preferably in the Methods section of the manuscript. Also, the manner in which informed consent was obtained from the study participants (i.e., oral or written) should be stated. For those investigators who do not have formal ethics review committees, the principles outlined in the Declaration of Helsinki should be followed.

Protection of Patients’ Right to Privacy

Identifying information should not be published in written descriptions, photographs, sonograms, CT scans, etc., and pedigrees unless the information is essential for scientific purposes and the patient (or parent or guardian, wherever applicable) gives informed consent for publication. Authors should remove patients' names from figures unless they have obtained informed consent from the patients. The journal abides by ICMJE guidelines:

1) Authors, not the journals nor the publisher, need to obtain the patient consent form before the publication and have the form properly archived. The consent forms are not to be uploaded with the cover letter or sent through email to editorial or publisher offices.                                    

2) If the manuscript contains patient images that preclude anonymity, or a description that has obvious indication to the identity of the patient, a statement about obtaining informed patient consent should be indicated in the manuscript.

Plagiarism
Plagiarism is the use of someone else’s published and unpublished ideas or words (intellectual property) without explicit attribution (referencing). This applies to all instances of another’s work, including abstracts, reports, grant applications and unpublished or published manuscripts in any form (from oral presentations to electronic and print publications). If intentional, such wrongful use of another’s intellectual property amounts to serious scientific misconduct. Intentional or unintentional plagiarism may represent a potentially costly copyright infringement.
Education for Health’s policy on plagiarism is based on a commitment to the highest standard of peer-reviewed publication. Plagiarism is always a serious issue, and authors are cautioned to take extreme care in manuscript preparation, being vigilant about what they present as their own work, and scrupulously referencing the words and ideas of others. Any detected instances of plagiarism in submitted, reviewed or published manuscripts will be dealt with rigorously, following the pathway suggested by the Committee on Publication Ethics (www.publicationethics.org.uk).
For further information and guidance about citation of other’s work, authors are referred to the Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals: Writing and Editing for Biomedical Publication, by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors at http://www.icmje.org/  

Publication

Once the manuscript has been submitted, you will be able to check its progress by logging in to the article submission site http://www.journalonweb.com/efh
Editing: All accepted manuscripts will be edited for clarity and overall presentation, so authors should be prepared for further revisions during editing. The authors are responsible for the accuracy of the final, edited version, which the corresponding author approves of on behalf of all authors, either after consulting with all co-authors, or by obtaining their advance authority to approve the final version on their behalf.
Proofreading: Prior to publication, the corresponding author will receive email notification when electronic and print proofs are ready for their review. Authors are required to provide corrections promptly. If the corresponding author is going to be out of email contact for an extended period, she/he needs to supply the contact details of someone who can attend to the proofs. The corresponding author will be requested to agree to the journal's copyright conditions.
The article will be published in both fully browseable web form, and as a formatted Acrobat PDF.

Review process

Education for Health uses online peer review to speed up the publication process.
The journal treats all submitted manuscripts as confidential documents and also expects reviewers to treat manuscripts as confidential material.
Education for Health has a double blinded peer-review process, concealing the identities of authors from reviewers and reviewers from authors. If you want your identity concealed from the reviewers of your paper, please do not provide any authors’ names, institutions, or other identifying information on any page after the first page of your manuscript.
Once your manuscript has been submitted it will be streamed into our journal's reviewing process. Please view the journal’s review process diagram: http://www.educationforhealth.net/contributenew/flowchart.gif
You are expected to prepare your manuscript according to our journal’s guidelines and requirements as detailed in these instructions. Papers that fail to conform to these instructions will be returned for revisions before they are processed.
Each submission that meets the journal’s guidelines is initially reviewed by one of our Associate Editors, who decides whether it is ready for external peer review. Some manuscripts are first returned to authors with recommended revisions before it can be sent out for review. Manuscripts ready for external review are sent to at least three peer reviewers.
All submitted articles are rated on each of the following criteria:

1. The focus of this paper is consistent with the mission of EfH.
2. This paper presents useful ideas/lessons for readers of EfH and a significant contribution to the literature.
3. The abstract accurately reflects the text.
4. The context/rationale for the program/study is clear.
5. Credit is given to the relevant work of others.
6. The paper's objectives/purposes are clear.
7. The paper's objectives/purposes are worthy.
8. The paper is clearly written.
9. The project or study is well-designed.
10. The findings/ideas/recommendations are original.
11. Any research reported was appropriate and well-conducted.
12. For quantitative studies, any statistics reported are appropriately used.
13. For qualitative studies, methods are valid and findings are grounded in the data.
14. For innovative programs, the process of innovation is clearly described.
15. Limitations/problems are reported and addressed.
16. The conclusions are consistent with the study results.
17. The presentation is sensitive to the journal’s international audience.

Reviewers provide a detailed report to the editors and recommend one of the following outcomes:

1. Accept the paper.
2. Accept after minor modifications
3. Reconsider after major revisions
4. Reject the paper

Following the external reviews, most authors are asked to undertake one or more revisions. One of our Co- Editors makes a final decision on each paper’s acceptability for publication in EfH based on his own review, the Associate Editor’s review and the external peer reviews. This decision and detailed feedback related to required revision(s) of your article will be provided online. You will be notified by email whenever a decision on your article is available on your status page at the journal website.
The ultimate responsibility for any decision lies with the Co-Editor, to whom any appeals should be addressed.

Communicating with the journal staff

All email communications should be sent to the journal office at: [email protected]
 

Books reviews and books to be reviewed for Education for Health should be sent to the Book and Electronic Media Review Editor:

Karen Peters, DrPH
Institute for Health Research and Policy
University of Illinois at Chicago (MC 275)
349 Westside Research Office Bldg.
1747 West Roosevelt Road
USA
[email protected]

Useful websites for authors

Research and statistical support for authors can be found at the following websites:
The Statistics Homepage: http://www.statsoft.com/textbook/stathome.html
Research Methods Knowledge Base: http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/contents.php
Survey & Questionnaire Design: http://www.statpac.com/surveys/
Research Methods Tutorials: http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/tutorial/tutorial.htm
DMAA Research Documents: http://www.dmaa.org/research_documents.asp
The Academic Phrasebank http://www.phrasebank.manchester.ac.uk/ is a general resource for academic writers. It provides examples of some of the phraseological "nuts and bolts" of writing. It was designed primarily with international students whose first language is not English in mind. Native English speakers may still find parts of the material helpful.
AuthorAID http://www.authoraid.info/ is a global research community that provides networking, mentoring, resources and training for researchers in developing countries

Open Access The Budapest Open Access Initiative was started at a meeting in Budapest in 2001 convened by the Open Society Institute. The aim of the initiative was to accelerate progress in making research articles freely available on the Internet, using two strategies: (1) Self-archiving, where researchers can upload the results of their research, to certain prescribed standards, on the Internet; (2) The establishment of open access peer-reviewed Internet journals.

The CONSORT site is a resource for those interested in randomized controlled trial (RCT) methodology, either as author or reader. CONSORT provides a checklist and flow diagram for RCT. The checklist includes items that need to be addressed; the flow diagram gives a clear picture of the progress of participants in a trial. The CONSORT site also has links to PDFs of similar guidelines for QUOROM (systematic reviews and meta-analyses), MOOSE (meta-analysis of observational studies)
and STARD (studies of diagnostic accuracy).

The Cochrane Library, published quarterly and available on CD-ROM and the internet, is a regularly updated collection of high quality, evidence-based medicine databases, including The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews.
International Council of Medical Journal Educators provides "Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals". The basis for these guidelines was the 1978 Vancouver Group meeting of medical journal editors. These guidelines are regularly updated and are accepted by many as the industry standard. An article prepared to these requirements would be acceptable to any biomedical peer-reviewed journal.
The World Association of Medical Editors site has a collection of articles on journal writing and editing - click on "Resources for Editors" in the side panel of the home page and then select "Journal resources".
Système Internationale (SI) units, or the International System of units, is the modern metric system of measurement and is used universally in scientific and biomedical publications.
MEDLINE. MEDLINE's "Citation Matcher for Single Articles" allows a search for the abstract of any article in any journal indexed by MEDLINE.

The British Medical Journal site has a free access collection of archived articles. Click on "Collected Resources", scroll down to "Non-clinical" resources and under "History" select "Journalology" for articles on many aspects of peer-review publication. From the Home page click on "Netprint" for an example of Open Access's self-archiving.