Author Guidelines

Double-Blind Peer Review Guidelines

This journal uses double-blind review, which means that both the reviewer and author identities are concealed from the reviewers, and vice versa, throughout the review process.  

To facilitate this, authors need to ensure that their manuscripts are prepared in a way that does not give away their identity.  To help with this preparation please ensure the following when submitting to PHPMA: 

Submit the Title Page containing the authors details and Blinded Manuscript with no author details as 2 separate files.

Information to help prepare the Title Page

This should include the title, authors' names and affiliations, and a complete address for the corresponding author including telephone and e-mail address.

Information to help prepare the Blinded Manuscript

Besides the obvious need to remove names and affiliations under the title within the manuscript, there are other steps that need to be taken to ensure the manuscript is correctly prepared for double-blind peer review.  To assist with this process the key items that need to be observed are as follows:

1. Use the third person to refer to work the Authors have previously undertaken, e.g. replace any phrases like “as we have shown before” with “… has been shown before [Anonymous, 2007]”.

2. Make sure figures do not contain any affiliation related identifier

3. Do not eliminate essential self-references or other references but limit self-references only to papers that are relevant for those reviewing the submitted paper.

4. Cite papers published by the Author in the text as follows:  ‘[Anonymous, 2007]’.

5. For blinding in the reference list:  ‘[Anonymous 2007] Details omitted for double-blind reviewing.’

6. Remove references to funding sources

7. Do not include acknowledgments

8. Remove any identifying information, including author names, from file names and ensure document properties are also anonymized.

 

Authorship

Authorship should be based on: a) Substantial contributions to conception and design, acquisition of data, or analysis and interpretation of data, b) Drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content, c) Final approval of the version to be published, d) Agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.

All persons designated as authors should qualify for authorship, and all those who qualify should be listed. 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 constitute authorship.

All contributors who do not meet the criteria for authorship should be listed in an Acknowledgments Section. Examples of those who might be acknowledged include a person who provided purely technical help, writing assistance, or a department chairperson who provided only general support.

The journal currently does not permit the changing/adding/deleting of authors after submission of the paper. Changing the author sequence after the manuscript is submitted also prohibited. So write down the author sequence wisely. Those who made the greatest contribution are generally listed first, and if all co-authors contribute similarly in the manuscript alphabetical order may also be used.

 

Instructions for authors

1. Manuscript must be written in English of maximum of 4000 words (not includes abstract) and consists of 3-4 key arguments, and 5 tables and or graphs. It must be written in Microsoft Word with the line numbers and maximum file capacity of 5 MB. Manuscript must be submitted online. Editors can change the format of the manuscripts but not the content.

2. Title must be concise and ensure it reflects the subject matter. Title page should be no longer than 18 words.

3. Authors’ name and affiliation must be placed under the title. Corresponding author’s email address must be stated to allow further discussion and interaction with the audience.

4. Abstract should be no longer than 300 words and must reflect the subject matter which includes: background and purpose, methods, results, and conclusion. It should also be accompanied by 3-5 key words.

5. Introduction must concisely address the existing gaps in the literature and state precisely study objectives.

6. Methods must clearly outline the study design, population, sample, source of data, data collection techniques, research instruments, and data analysis.

7. Results present findings of the study without opinion of the authors. Findings should be concise and can be presented using tables, graphs, and narratives. Table must be single space on separate pages and included at the end of the text document and must be numbered based on its occurrence in the text. The maximum of four tables and/or graphs are allowed which must contain a short self explanatory title. The title of table is placed above the table with left alignment, single space. The title of graph is placed under the graph with centre alignment, single space.

8. Discussion explains precisely findings of the study supported by sound theoretical and evidence from previous studies. Specific to qualitative studies, findings can be presented along with the discussion.

9. Conclusion should answer the research questions and can include a brief recommendation.

10. Acknowledgements should be addressed to related stakeholders who had supported the study, including respondents.

11. Reference lists. It contains all references cited in the text. Referencing format must follow the Vancouver style (superscript without bracket), and should refer to the most up-to-date available evidence. Author’s last name followed by the initials of their first and middle name should be consistently used. When the authors are up to six, all authors should be written, but when those are more than six, the first six authors should be written followed by et al. The title of article must be written in sentence case. If the journal acronim is used, it should confirm to Medicus Index. Examples of referencing styles of different sources can be seen in the appendix.

12. Authors should pay attention on their writing structure, including sentence structure, accuracy of the text, table or graph. All accepted manuscripts will be provided back to the authors if the format has not complied with the instruction guidelines.

13. Authors must state their full name, qualifications, corresponding address, and affiliations. They should also complete the agreement form of right transfer for publication purposes only.

14. All manuscripts are subject to peer review processes and reviewed by editors. Further revision is requested prior to publication, or rejected for publication. Editors will provide the final decision and notify the authors whether the manuscript is accepted for publication.

15. Submission declaration. Authors are required to declare that the manuscript has not been published previously or is considered for publication elsewhere. If accepted, it will not be published elsewhere in the same form (including electronically) in English or in any other language.

 

 

Referencing guidelines

Every cited reference must appear in the reference lists and vise versa. The citation in the text should be numbered, for example: 1 or 2. If the citation is more than two references, only the first and the last number are written separated by ‘dash’, for example 1-3 or 3-8. The citation must be superscript and must be placed after the text, for example: Nutritional assessments can be done by several methods which are anthropometric¹, dietetic², and biochemistry tests.³ 

Original article

Example:

Vega KJ, Pina I, Krevsky B. Heart transplantation is associated with an increased risk for pancreatobiliary disease. Ann Intern Med 1996 Jun 1;124(11):980-3.

 

Organisation as the author

Example:

The Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand. Clinical exercise stress testing. Safety and performance guidelines. Med J Aust. 1996; 164: 282-4.

 

No authors’ name

Example:

Cancer in South Africa [editorial]. S Afr Med J 1994; 84: 15.

 

Volume with supplement

Example:

Shen HM, Zhang QF. Risk assessment of nickel carcinogenicity and occupational lung cancer. Environ Health Perspect 1994; 102 Suppl 1:275-82.

 

Edition or issue with supplement

Example:

Payne DK, Sullivan MD, Massie MJ. Women’s psychological reactions to breast cancer. Semin Oncol 1996; 23 (1 Suppl 2):89-97.

 

Single author

Example:

Ringsven MK. Gerontology and leadership skills for nurses. 2^nd ed. Albany (NY): Delmar Publishers; 1996.

 

Editors, compilers as the authors

Example:

Norman IJ, Redfern SJ, editors. Mental health care for elderly people. New York: Churchill Livingstone; 1996.

 

Organisation as the author and publisher

Example:

Institute of Medicine (US). Looking at the future of the medicaid program. Washington: The Institute; 1992.

 

Book chapter

Example:

Phillips SJ, Whisnant JP. Hypertension and stroke. In: Laragh JH, Brenner BM, editors. Hypertension: pathophysiology, diagnosis, and management. 2^nd ed. New York: Raven Press; 1995.p.465-78.

 

Conference paper

Example:

Sungkar S. How to write a publication paper. Presented in Continuing Medical Education: Publishing Paper Course, Jakarta, 24th Febrary, 2006.

 

Scientific or technical report

Example:

Smith P, Golladay K. Payment for durable medical equipment billed during skilled nursing facility stays. Final report. Dallas (TX): Dept. of Health and Human Services (US). Office of Evaluation and Inspections; 1994 Oct. Report No: HHSIGE14567894532.  

 

Thesis (PhD, Master or Undergraduate)

Example:

Kaplan SJ. Post-hospital home health care: the elderly’s access and utilization [PhD Thesis]. St. Louis (MO): Washington Univ.; 1995.

 

Electronic journal article

Example:

Morse SS. Factors in the emergence of infectious diseases. Emerg Infect Dis [serial online] 1995 Jan-Mar [cited 1996 June 5];1(1):[24 screens]. Available from URL: http:/www.cdc.gov/ncidod/EID/eid.htm

 

THIS JOURNAL DOES NOT LEVY AUTHORS ANY ARTICLE PROCESSING  OR PUBLICATION CHARGES

 

Screening for Plagiarism Policy

PHPMA has a policy of screening for plagiarism. We use Anti-Plagiarism Software "iThenticate" to check the authenticity article

Copyright and License