Submissions

Author Guidelines

General article format/layout

Submitted manuscripts that are not in the correct format specified in these guidelines will be returned to the author(s) for correction prior to being sent for review, which will delay publication.

General:

• Manuscripts must be written in UK English (this includes spelling).
• The manuscript must be in Microsoft Word or RTF document format. Text must be 1.5 line spaced, in 12-point Times New Roman font, and contain no unnecessary formatting (such as text in boxes). Pages and lines should be numbered consecutively.
• Please make your article concise, even if it is below the word limit.
• Qualifications, full affiliation (department, school/faculty, institution, city, country) and contact details of ALL authors must be provided in the manuscript and in the online submission process.
• Include sections on Acknowledgements, Conflict of Interest, Author Contributions and Funding sources. If none is applicable, please state ‘none’. 
• Abbreviations should be spelt out when first used and thereafter used consistently, e.g. 'intravenous (IV)' or 'Department of Health (DoH)'.
• Numbers should be written as grouped per thousand-units, i.e. 4 000, 22 160.
• Quotes should be placed in single quotation marks: i.e. The respondent stated: '...'
• Round brackets (parentheses) should be used, as opposed to square brackets, which are reserved for denoting concentrations or insertions in direct quotes.

If you wish material to be in a box, simply indicate this in the text. You may use the table format –this is the only exception. Please DO NOT use fill, format lines and so on.

Illustrations/photos/scans

• If illustrations submitted have been published elsewhere, the author(s) should provide evidence of consent to republication obtained from the copyright holder.
• Figures must be numbered in Arabic numerals and referred to in the text e.g. '(Fig. 1)'.
• Each figure must have a caption/legend: Fig. 1. Description (any abbreviations in full).
• All images must be of high enough resolution/quality for print.
• All illustrations (graphs, diagrams, charts, etc.) must be in PDF form.
• Ensure all graph axes are labelled appropriately, with a heading/description and units (as necessary) indicated. Do not include decimal places if not necessary e.g. 0; 1.0; 2.0; 3.0; 4.0 etc.
• Each image must be attached individually as a 'supplementary file' upon submission (not solely embedded in the accompanying manuscript) and named Fig. 1, Fig. 2, etc.

Tables

• Tables should be constructed carefully and simply for intelligible data representation. Unnecessarily complicated tables are strongly discouraged.
• Large tables will generally not be accepted for publication in their entirety. Please consider shortening and using the text to highlight specific important sections, or offer a large table as an addendum to the publication, but available in full on request from the author.
• Embed/include each table in the manuscript Word file - do not provide separately as supplementary files.
• Number each table in Arabic numerals (Table 1, Table 2, etc.) consecutively as they are referred to in the text.
• Tables must be cell-based (i.e. not constructed with text boxes or tabs) and editable.
• Ensure each table has a concise title and column headings, and include units where necessary.
• Footnotes must be indicated with consecutive use of the following symbols: * † ‡ § ¶ || then ** †† ‡‡ etc.

References

NB: Only complete, correctly formatted reference lists in Vancouver style will be accepted. If reference manager software is used, the reference list and citations in text are to be unformatted to plain text before submitting..

• Authors must verify references from original sources.
• Citations should be inserted in the text as superscript numbers between square brackets, e.g. These regulations are endorsed by the World Health Organization,^[2] and others.^[3,4-6]
• All references should be listed at the end of the article in numerical order of appearance in the Vancouver style (not alphabetical order).
• Approved abbreviations of journal titles must be used; see the List of Journals in Index Medicus.
• Names and initials of all authors should be given; if there are more than six authors, the first three names should be given followed by et al.
• Volume and issue numbers should be given.
• First and last page, in full, should be given e.g.: 1215-1217 not 1215-17.
• Wherever possible, references must be accompanied by a digital object identifier (DOI) link). Authors are encouraged to use the DOI lookup service offered by CrossRef:
  • On the Crossref homepage, paste the article title into the ‘Metadata search’ box.
  • Look for the correct, matching article in the list of results.
  • Click Actions > Cite
  • Alongside 'url =' copy the URL between { }.
  • Provide as follows, e.g.: https://doi.org/10.7196/07294.937.98x