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Author Guidelines

 

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AIMS AND SCOPE

The Journal of Research in Health Sciences (JRHS) is a peer-reviewed, scientific publication which is produced quarterly and is a multidisciplinary journal in the field of public health, publishing contributions from Epidemiology, Biostatistics, Public Health, Occupational Health, Environmental Health, Health Education, and Preventive and Social Medicine.

We do not publish clinical trials, nursing studies, animal studies, qualitative studies, nutritional studies, health insurance, and hospital management. In addition, we do not publish the results of laboratory and chemical studies in the field of ergonomics, occupational health, and environmental health.

MANUSCRIPT SUBMISSION

Online submission is the only mechanism for sending the manuscript to the JRHS. After registration, authors can log in and follow the submission process and upload their manuscript. The submission tool generates an automatic reply which incorporates the manuscript number for future correspondence.

If there are any problems, please contact Managing Editor of the JRHS; e-mail: jrhs@umsha.ac.ir.

MANUSCRIPT FORMAT

JRHS language is American English. Manuscript files should be provided in a standard processing format including Microsoft Word 2003 or 2007 for texts. The PDF format is not acceptable.

Manuscripts should be typewritten on A4 and justified and 1.5 lines space, using a 12-point Times New Roman and leaving 2 cm margins on all sides without headers or footers. All pages should be numbered consecutively on the bottom of the page.

ARTICLE TYPE

JRHS welcomes submissions of various types including Original Articles (OA), Review Articles (RA), Short communication (SC), and Letter to the Editor (LE).

Maximum

OA

RA

SC

LE

Length (word)a

3000

5000

2000

600

Abstract (word)

250

350

150

No

References

40

70

30

10

Tables/Figures

5

5

3

1

aNot including abstract, tables, figures, and references

All submissions should be arranged and submitted as a single file including title page, main text, tables, and figures as follows. See the template

SUGGEST REVIEWERS

Two or more foreign reviewers must be nominated and their contact information (title, first name, last name, affiliation and email address) must be provided as a supplementary file. We may or may not use the suggested reviewers.

It is also possible to provide names and contact information for reviewers whom you do not wish for us to contact about your manuscript.

HIGHLIGHTS

Highlights are a short collection of bullet points that convey the core findings and provide readers with a quick textual overview of the article. These three to five bullet points describe the essence of the research (e.g. results or conclusions) and highlight what is distinctive about it.

Highlights should be included on a separate page before abstract. Please adhere to the specifications below.

  • Include 3 to 5 highlights.
  • There should be a maximum of 85 characters, including spaces, per highlight.
  • Only the core results of the paper should be covered.

Example

  • A huge part of the cigarettes marketed in Iran is either imported or smuggled.
  • Increasing tobacco taxes, without control of illicit tobacco products, will not be effective.
  • Most smokers experienced their first smoking during their second decade of life.
  • Adolescents are the most vulnerable age group and should be the focus of smoking prevention programs.
  • Most participants believed that smoking in indoor public places is a violation of the human right.

Example

  • Intravenous acetaminophen is as effective as intravenous fentanyl in pain relief after urologic surgeries.
  • Intravenous acetaminophen needs less morphine than intravenous fentanyl after urologic surgeries.
  • Mean SaO2 that is significantly higher in patients receiving acetaminophen rather versus fentanyl.

TITLE PAGE

The title page should be included the following items:

a) Type of manuscript (Original article, Review article, Short communication, and Letter to the Editor)

b) Authors' full names in order with their last academic degree as well as full affiliations and e-mail addresses.

c) Corresponding author's name and complete contact information including mailing address, telephone and fax numbers, and e-mail address.

d) Running title (abbreviated title, up to 60 characters).

e) A word count for both the abstract and the main text, exclusive of references, tables, and figure legends.

MANUSCRIPT

The manuscript should include the following sections: Title, Abstract (250), Introduction (up to 500 words), Methods, Results, Discussion, Conclusion, Acknowledgements, Conflict of interest statement, Funding, References, Table(s), and Figure(s).

A short structured abstract with headings for "Background, Study design, Methods, Results, and Conclusions" should be provided. Study design should be explained in just a few words, such as a cross-sectional study, a case-control study, or a prospective/retrospective cohort study.

Keywords appear below the abstract and should include 3 to 5 MeSH headings selected from 'MeSH Database' available from http://www.pubmed.gov.

REFERENCES

References should be numbered consecutively and appear as superscript e.g. 1. References should be listed after funding in numbered order following the Public Health style in EndNote Software (see examples below). The titles of journals should be abbreviated according to the list of journals indexed in 'Journal Database' 'available from http://www.pubmed.gov. If the journal is not indexed in PubMed, the full name of the journal must be mentioned.

All authors should be listed when six or less; when seven or more, only the first six should be listed and followed by et al.

The unpublished data or manuscripts under review should be excluded from the reference list.

Journal article:

Kadivar MR, Moradi F, Massumi SJ, Shenavar R. Folic Acid Consumption in Fars Province, Southern Iran. J Res Health Sci. 2005; 5(2): 11-4.

Book:

Gordis L. Epidemiology. 4th ed. Philadelphia: Saunders; 2008.

Book chapter:

Greenland S. Introduction to regression modeling. In: Rothman KJ, Greenland S, Lash TL, editors. Modern epidemiology. 3rd ed. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2008. pp. 418-55.

Dissertation:

Poorolajal J. Assessing the duration of protection provided by hepatitis B vaccine and the need for booster dose: A meta-analysis [Ph.D. thesis]. Tehran: Tehran University of Medical Sciences; 2009.

Abstract:

Joffe M, Santanna J, Feldman H. Partially marginal structural models for causal inference [abstract]. Am J Epidemiol. 2001; 153(suppl): S261.

Conference:

Poorolajal J, Mahmoodi M, Haghdoost A, Majdzadeh R, Nasseri-Moghaddam S, Fotouhi A, et al. Long-term protection provided by hepatitis B vaccine and need for booster dose: a meta-analysis.  EPS Global-Shanghai 1st International Biomedicine Forum; Sep 10 - Sep 11; Shanghai 2010.

Webpage:

Chan M. Progress in public health during the previous decade and major challenges ahead. WHO; 2010 [updated 18 Jan 2010; cited 10 Jan 2011]; Available from:

http://www.who.int/dg/speeches/2010/executive_board_126_20100118/en/index.html.

TABLES & FIGURES

A maximum of five medium-sized figures and/or tables is allowed.

Particular care should be taken to make tables self-explanatory with adequate headings and footnotes without abbreviations. Footnotes to tables should be typed below the table and referred to by superscript letters (ab, etc).

Three-dimensional figures are not allowed. Figures should be provided as part of the main text and be placed after tables. The figures should be at the correct resolution. A brief title (without abbreviations) should be provided for each figure. The title should not be part of the figure.

Tables and figures should be numbered consecutively (1, 2, etc.) and be kept in the separate page(s) in the main text after the references. Tables and figures should not duplicate results presented elsewhere in the main text.

APPENDIX

Supplementary materials (if any), should be provided in the appendix. The appendix should be submitted as a separate file.

TECHNICAL INFORMATION

Abbreviations

Abbreviations and acronyms should be spelled out in full the first time they appear in the text with the abbreviations in parentheses. Abbreviations may be used in tables and figures if they are defined in the table footnotes and figure legends. Using abbreviations in the title should be avoided.

Numbers and percentages

All numbers in the text should be written in numeric form except numbers 0-10. Numbers should not be used to start a sentence. Numbers between 1000 and 9999 should not be separated while those over 10,000 should have a comma after the thousand. Percent should be written as % throughout.

P values

Note style for P values: P=0.035 or P<0.001 but not P<0.05 or P<0.000.

Confidence intervals

In the text, all confidence intervals are expressed by using a colon and with a comma instead of a dash between values, for example: [95% CI: 2.10, 2.50]. Using mean ± SD or SE may be used but should be specified which one is.

Mathematical setting

Equations and formulae should be typewritten wherever possible. Equations should be numbered consecutively in parentheses on the right-hand side of the Equations.

ETHIC

If a study has involved any contact with human subjects, authors should state in their Methods section that their institution's review board has approved the study proposal, as well as the manner in which informed consent was obtained from subjects. Authors should follow the principles outlined in the Declaration of Helsinki of the World Medical Association (www.wma.net).

PERMISSIONS

In order to use direct quotations, tables, or illustrations that have appeared in copyrighted form elsewhere, authors must submit written permission from the copyright owner (usually the original publisher), along with complete details about the source.

If photographs of patients are used, their pictures must be accompanied by written permission to use the picture.

PROOFS

The corresponding author will receive an e-mail with a PDF file of the typeset pages attached. Proofs should be checked carefully and corrected if necessary because it is the authors' responsibility to ensure there are no errors. Changes or additions to the edited manuscript cannot be allowed at this stage. The corrections should be sent to the editorial office within one week. Proofs not returned to the editorial office within one week of the date of submission may be held over to the next issue.

The Editors reserve the right to make minor grammatical and other changes at any stage before publication. These are sometimes necessary to make the paper conform to the general style of the Journal.

CHARGE

All JRHS routine publications are free of charge. The journal is fully Open Access.

 

Submission Preparation Checklist

As part of the submission process, authors are required to check off their submission's compliance with all of the following items, and submissions may be returned to authors that do not adhere to these guidelines.

  1. Manuscript: a single file including the following items

    o  Title page

    o  Abstract. This should be structured under the following headings:
    Background
    Study design
    Methods
    Results
    Conclusions

    o  Keywords. 3-6 keywords should follow the abstract

    o  Introduction

    o  Methods

    o  Results

    o  Discussion

    o  Conclusion

    o  Acknowledgements

    o  Conflict of interest statement

    o  Funding

    o  References

    o  Table(s)

    o  Figure(s)

     

  2. Plagiarism avoidance: Confirm that the manuscript has been submitted solely to this journal and is not published in any way, in press, under review, or submitted elsewhere.

  3. Ethical approval: Confirm that all the research meets the ethical guidelines, including adherence to the legal requirements of the study country.

 

Copyright Notice

  • Confirm that all authors have read and approved the submitted version of the manuscript and that appropriate credit has been given to all contributors to this research.
  • Confirm that all credit to authorship is only to those that have participated substantially in the research work and preparation of this manuscript.

Privacy Statement

The names and email addresses entered in this journal site will be used exclusively for the stated purposes of this journal and will not be made available for any other purpose or to any other party.


JRHS Office:

School of Public Health, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Fahmideh Ave. Hamadan, Iran

Postal code: 6517838695, PO box: 65175-4171

Tel: +98 81 38380292, Fax: +98 81 38380509

E-mail: jrhs@umsha.ac.ir