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Information for Authors

OPEN ACCESS OPTION FOR AUTHORS

Health Policy and Planning's aim is to improve the design and implementation of health policies in low- and middle-income countries through providing a forum for publishing high quality research and original ideas, for an audience of policy and public health researchers and practitioners. HPP is published six times a year (bimonthly).

Specific objectives are to:

  • Attract high quality research papers, reviews and debates on topics relevant to health policies in low- and middle-income countries;
  • Ensure wide geographical coverage of papers including coverage of the poorest countries and those in transition;
  • Encourage and support researchers from low- and middle-income countries to publish in HPP;
  • Ensure papers reflect a broad range of disciplines, methodologies and topics;
  • Ensure that papers are clearly explained and accessible to readers from the range of disciplines used to analyse health policies; and
  • Provide a fair, supportive and high quality peer review process.

Health Policy and Planning welcomes submissions of the following types: original articles, review papers, short reports, commentaries, and papers in our series 'How to do (or not to do)...' [for example, see Hutton & Baltussen, HPP, 20(4): 252-9] and '10 best resources' [for example, see David & Haberlen, HPP, 20(4): 260-3].

Authors should pay close attention to the factors that will increase likelihood of acceptance. As well as the high overall quality required for publication in an international journal, authors should address HPP's readership: national and international policy makers, practitioners, academics and general readers with a particular interest in health policy issues and debates in low- and middle-income countries. Manuscripts that fail to set out the international debates to which the paper contributes, and to draw out policy lessons and conclusions, are more likely to be rejected, returned to the authors for redrafting prior to being reviewed, or undergo a slower acceptance process. In addition, economists should note that papers accepted for publication in HPP will consider the broad policy implications of an economic analysis rather than focusing primarily on the methodological or theoretical aspects of the study.

Public health specialists writing about a specific health problem or service should discuss the relevance of the analysis for the broader health system. Those submitting health policy analyses should draw on relevant bodies of theory in their analysis, or justify why they have not, rather than only presenting a narrative based on empirical data.

The editors cannot enter into correspondence about papers considered unsuitable for publication and their decision is final. Neither the editors nor the publishers accept responsibility for the views of authors expressed in their contributions. The editors reserve the right to make amendments to the papers submitted although, whenever possible, they will seek the authors' consent to any significant changes made.

Manuscripts must be submitted online. Once you have prepared your manuscript according to the instructions below please visit the online submission website. Instructions on submitting your manuscript online can be viewed here.

Manuscripts containing original material are accepted for consideration with the understanding that neither the article nor any part of its essential substance, tables, or figures has been or will be published or submitted for publication elsewhere. This restriction does not apply to abstracts or short press reports published in connection with scientific meetings. Copies of any closely related manuscripts should be submitted along with the manuscript that is to be considered by HPP. HPP discourages the submission of more than one article dealing with related aspects of the same study.

HPP only accepts online submission of papers, except in exceptional circumstances—where authors experience difficulties when trying to submit online (e.g. poor internet connection), papers can be emailed to the Editorial Office at Tamsin.Kelk@lshtm.ac.uk, for online submission to be carried out by proxy.

During the online submission procedure, authors are asked to provide: a) information on prior or duplicate publication or submission elsewhere of any part of the work; b) a statement of financial or other relationships that might lead to a conflict of interest or a statement that the authors do not have any conflict of interest; c) a statement that the manuscript has been read and approved by all authors; d) the name, address, telephone and fax number of the corresponding author who is responsible for negotiations concerning the manuscript. The manuscript must be accompanied by copies of any permissions (see heading Permissions below) to reproduce already published material, or to use illustrations or report sensitive personal information about identifiable persons.

All papers submitted to HPP are checked by the editorial office for conformance to author and other instructions all specified below. Non-conforming manuscripts will be returned to authors.

FORMAT OF CONTRIBUTIONS

Only articles in English are considered for publication

Prepare your manuscript, including tables, using a word processing program and save it as a .doc, .rtf or .ps file. Use a minimum font size of 11, double-spaced and paginated throughout including references and tables, with margins of at least 2.5 cm. The text should be left justified and not hyphenated. Number pages consecutively.

Manuscripts should preferably be a maximum of 5000 words, excluding tables, figures/diagrams and references (review papers can be longer).

The title page should contain:

  • Title - please keep as concise as possible and ensure it reflects the subject matter;
  • Corresponding author's name, address, telephone/fax numbers and e-mail address;
  • Each author's affiliation and qualifications;
  • Keywords and an abbreviated running title;
  • 2-4 Key Messages, detailing concisely the main points made in the paper;
  • A word count of the full article.

The manuscript will generally follow through sections: Abstract (no more than 300 words), Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion, Conclusion, References. However, it may be appropriate to combine the results and discussion sections in some papers. Tables and Figures should not be placed within the text, rather provided at the end of the paper or in separate file/s.

In the acknowledgements, all sources of funding for research must be explicitly stated, including grant numbers if appropriate. Other financial and material support, specifying the nature of the support, should be acknowledged as well.

Figures should be designed using a well-known software package for standard personal computers. If a figure has been published earlier, acknowledge the original source and submit written pemission from the copyright holder to reproduce the material. Colour figures are permitted but authors will be required to pay the cost of reproduction.

All measures should be reported in SI units, followed (where necessary) by the traditional units in parentheses. There are two exceptions: blood pressure should be expressed in mmHg and haemoglobin in g/dl. For general guidance on the International System of Units, and some useful conversion factors, see 'The SI for the Health Professions' (WHO 1977).

References must follow the Harvard system and must be cited thus:

Baker and Watts (1993) found...

In an earlier study (Baker and Watts 1993), it...

Where works by more than two authors are cited, only the first author is named followed by 'et al.' and the year. The reference list must be typed double-spaced in alphabetical order and include the full title of both paper (or chapter) and journal (or book), thus:

Baker S, Watts P. 1993. Paper/chapter title in normal script. Journal/book title in italics Volume number in bold: page numbers.

Baker S, Watts P. 1993. Chapter title in normal script. In: Smith B (ed). Book title in italics. 2nd edn. Place of publication: Publisher's name, page numbers.

Up to five authors should be cited. If there are more, cite the first three authors and follow with 'et al.', e.g.:

Baker S, Watts P, Smith B et al. 1993. Paper title in normal script. Paper presented at meeting/conference title, place, date. Unpublished document.

AUTHORSHIP

A description is required of each author's role in the research process and in preparing the manuscript such as conception and design of the study; analysis and interpretation of the data; and drafting the paper or revising it critically for substantial intellectual content. Authorship is constituted by participating in writing and in one of the other categories. Signed or emailed approval of the submitted paper by all authors is mandatory (a signature or an email from each author). We suggest the following wording for this declaration: "I declare that I participated in the [state contribution/s to the manuscript] and that I have seen and approved the final version. I also declare that I have no conflict of interest in connection with this paper, other than any noted in the covering letter to the editor."

CONFLICT OF INTEREST

Authors must declare in the covering letter any potential conflict of interest, such as having received funds or fees from, or holding a financial interest in, an organization that may profit or lose through publication of the paper. All sources of funding must be disclosed as an acknowledgement in the text.

ETHICAL APPROVAL

A requirement of publication is that research involving human subjects was conducted with the ethical approval of the appropriate bodies in the country where the research was conducted and of the ethical approval committees of affiliated research institutions elsewhere. A clear statement to this effect must be made in any submitted manuscript presenting such research, specifying that the free and informed consent of the subjects was obtained.

PERMISSIONS

Authors are reminded that it is their responsibility to comply with copyright laws. It is essential to ensure that no parts of the submission have or are due to appear in other publications without prior permission from the copyright holder and the original author. Materials, e.g. tables, taken from other sources must be accompanied by a written statement from both author and publisher giving permission to HPP for reproduction.

COPYRIGHT

It is a condition of publication in Health Policy and Planning that authors assign licence to publish to Oxford University Press. This ensures that requests from third parties to reproduce articles are handled efficiently and consistently and will also allow the article to be as widely disseminated as possible. In assigning licence to publish, authors may use their own material in other publications provided that the Journal is acknowledged as the original place of publication, and Oxford University Press is acknowledged as the original Publisher.

OFFPRINTS

All authors are supplied with a free URL linking you to a press ready PDF version of your article. If you wish to order offprints please complete the offprint form which comes with the proof email and return directly to Oxford University Press.

CHANGE OF ADDRESS

Please notify the editors of any change of address. After manuscript acceptance, please also notify the publishers: Journals Production Department, Oxford University Press, Great Clarendon Street, Oxford, OX2 6DP, UK. Telephone +44 (0) 1865 556767, Fax +44 (0) 1865 267773.

IMPORTANT NOTES TO AUTHORS

The manuscripts will not be returned to authors following submission unless specifically requested.

To avoid delays in the production of the journal, proofs will be sent to the corresponding author for information only - only errors of fact should be corrected at this stage; the editors will be responsible for checking, correcting and passing all proofs to press.

Any amendments or corrections to accepted papers should be sent to the editors as soon as possible.

LANGUAGE EDITING

Particularly if English is not your first language, before submitting your manuscript you may wish to have it edited for language. This is not a mandatory step, but may help to ensure that the academic content of your paper is fully understood by journal editors and reviewers. Language editing does not guarantee that your manuscript will be accepted for publication. If you would like information about one such service please click here. There are other specialist language editing companies that offer similar services and you can also use any of these. Authors are liable for all costs associated with such services.

OXFORD OPEN ACCESS

OPEN ACCESS OPTION FOR AUTHORS
Health Policy and Planning authors have the option, at an additional charge, to make their paper freely available online immediately upon publication, under the Oxford Open initiative (see http://www.oxfordjournals.org/oxfordopen/). After your manuscript is accepted, as part of the mandatory licence form required of all corresponding authors, you will be asked to indicate whether or not you wish to pay to have your paper made freely available immediately. If you do not select the Open Access option, your paper will be published with standard subscription-based access and you will not be charged.

For those selecting the Open Access option, the charges for Health Policy and Planning vary depending on the institution at which the Corresponding author is based:

Optional Oxford Open charges:
For a Corresponding author based at an institution with an online subscription to Health Policy and Planning:

  • Regular charge - £900 / $1800 / €1350
  • List B developing country charge** - £450 / $900 / €675
  • List A developing country charge** - £0 / $0 / €0

For a Corresponding author based at an institution that does not subscribe to the online journal:

  • Regular charge - £1500 / $3000 / €2250

  • List B developing country charge** - £750 / $1500 / €1125
  • List A developing country charge** - £0 /$0 / €0

*Visit http://www.oxfordjournals.org/jnls/devel/ for list of qualifying countries.

The above Open Access charges are in addition to any page charges and colour charges that might apply.

Orders from the UK will be subject to a 17.5% VAT charge. For orders from elsewhere in the EU you or your institution should account for VAT by way of a reverse charge. Please provide us with your or your institution’s VAT number.

If you choose the Open Access option you will also be asked to complete an Open Access charge form online. You will be automatically directed to the appropriate version of the form depending on whether you are based at an institution with an online subscription to Health Policy and Planning. Therefore please make sure that you are using an institutional computer when accessing the form. To check whether you are based at a subscribing institution please use the Subscriber Test link for Health Policy and Planning.

AUTHOR SELF-ARCHIVING/PUBLIC ACCESS POLICY FORM MAY 2005

For information about this journal's policy, please visit our Author Self-Archiving policy page.