Submissions

Author Guidelines

Format and Layout 

Manuscripts in English from authors from any institution in any country are welcomed. The manuscripts should be typed and submitted in Microsoft Word (.docx) or RTF document file format.

The font of the manuscripts should be Times New Roman, with a font size of 12. The text should be aligned left and page size A4, in portrait

The document's margins should be set at 1 inch on all sides.

Line spacing should be double-spaced except for References, Tables and Figures, which should be single-spaced.

The author should limit her/himself to five levels of headings (as shown in the following table), including the title of the manuscript.

1^st Level Heading= Centered, Bold, Uppercase and Lowercase Heading

2^nd Level Heading = Flush Left, Bold, Uppercase and Lowercase Heading

3^rd Level Heading = Bold, Italic, Uppercase and Lowercase Heading

4^th Level Heading = Indented, Bold, Uppercase and Lowercase Heading Ending with a Period.

5^th Level Heading = Indented, Uppercase and Lowercase Heading Ending with a Period.

For lists, please use numbers or standard bullet points. However, try avoiding long lists of bulleted and numbered points.

For emphasis, please use italics, not bold. Italics should also be used for non-English words, titles of books, films, plays, etc.

Indent every paragraph except in the (first paragraph of) the abstract.

For short quoted language (not citations), use single quotes. For example, the noun ‘head’ has several meanings.

Words to be abbreviated should be spelt out in full the first time they appear in the text with the abbreviation in brackets. After that, the abbreviation should be used.

Title of the Papers

• The title of the article: The title should be concise, informative, simple, and should be written in sentence case
• Authors’ names with the highest academic degrees.
• The affiliation of each author, including the institution at the time the work was done.
• The mailing address, work telephone and fax number, and e-mail address of the corresponding author.

Types of Articles

Original Research Articles

Length of the Manuscript

• Research articles to 15 to 20 double-spaced typed pages, or not exceeding 4000-6000 words.

Abstract

• All manuscripts must include an abstract containing a maximum of 250 words typed on a separate page.
• The abstract should be concise and complete without reference to the body of the paper.
• It should contain a brief description of the study objectives, design, methods, analysis, results and conclusion in an unstructured format.
• The in-text citation is not allowed in the abstract.

Key Words

• A list of 5 to 7 keywords or short phrases needs to be provided directly below the abstract.
• Keywords should express the precise content of the manuscript, as they are used for indexing purposes.

Main Body
The main body of the paper must include the following headings and subheadings:

• Introduction: This should include background information, the rationale of the study and a brief account of previous studies (literature review) along with research objective and hypotheses (if any)
• Methods and materials: Study design: (descriptive, comparative, analytical, randomized trial, quasi-experimental (Interventional), community trial, qualitative, content analysis, meta-analysis), sample(s), participants, data collection and analysis including statistical tests used.
• Results: Findings should be presented logically and supported by tables and figures, statistical tests (if hypotheses are developed) in quantitative research papers, and by verbatim narration and thematic analysis in a qualitative research paper.
• Discussion and conclusion: Main findings presented in the “result section” should be discussed systematically, comparing them with the findings of other related research and the study's limitations and implications. It should emphasize the new and important aspects of the study. Statements and conclusions that are not completely supported by the findings should be avoided.

Review Articles

Abstract

• Prepare an abstract of no more than 250 words. In your abstract, please include the following: objective, data source, study inclusion and exclusion criteria, data extraction, data synthesis, results, and conclusions.

Length

• Limit review articles to no more than 15 double-spaced typed pages, or about 3000-5000 words (Including references).

Text Format

• Include the following headings and subheadings: objective, methods (data sources, inclusion and exclusion criteria, data extraction, and data synthesis), results, and conclusions.

Short Communication

Short communication provides readers with pertinent research findings in a condensed format. These include original studies that are not appropriate for full-length manuscripts but relevant to health promotion practice. The study findings should be concise, focused, and provide a clear message about possible applications for the practitioner. The brief report is appropriate for studies including but not limited to: preliminary studies; simple comparisons between two or more program alternatives; and studies that have methodological flaws, such as small sample sizes or lack of a control group, yet convey important findings.

Criteria

• Short communication undergoes a review process similar to but less rigorous than full-length manuscripts. To merit acceptance, the manuscript should address an important issue, be of interest to practitioners, illustrate good research in a practice setting, clearly describe the implications of methodological limitations, be well written and presented, and be within length guidelines.

Length

• The manuscript should be no longer than 2000 words of text, plus no more than ten references and two tables or illustrations.

Text Format

• Include the following headings, subheadings, and word counts introduction and purpose, methods (design, sample, measures, and analysis), results, discussion, and limitations.

Acknowledgements

• If applicable, place the acknowledgements after the discussion section and before the references.

Citation and Referencing Style 

The citation should be done at the beginning of the sentence or at the end. References should be listed at the end of the main text using the APA format (7^th edition), whereby the author's surname and year of publication of the reference are used in the text. There should be proper citations and references while preparing the manuscript. The list of references should be in alphabetical order of surnames.

Tables and Figures 

• Up to 5 tables, figures, graphs, and illustrations are allowed. Refer to all tables, figures, graphs, and illustrations by number within the text and include them at the end of the article, after the list of references, in the order in which they were cited in the text. If a table or figure is adapted from elsewhere, cite the adaptation source.
• Tables should supplement, not duplicate, the text. Prepare table files in Word format. Number tables in the order in which they are mentioned in the text. Place each table on a separate page. Save large tables in separate files. Explain in footnotes all non-standard abbreviations used in each table. When p values are reported, use the asterisk (*) for the p values.