Submissions

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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.
  • The manuscript has not been previously published, nor is it under review with another journal. If another manuscript drawing on the same dataset has been submitted or published previously, please explain how it differs from this manuscript in your comments to the editor.
  • The manuscript file (including abstract, tables, figures, and references) is in OpenOffice, Microsoft Word, or RTF document file format.
  • All submission files (manuscript file and online supplement files) are fully anonymised.
  • The manuscript is written in British English spelling style consistently throughout the paper.
  • The manuscript does not exceed the word limits as listed for the respective article types.
  • The manuscript is prepared in strict accordance with the latest edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA), except of using British English.
  • The manuscript adheres to the requirements regarding the structure of the manuscript outlined in the Author Guidelines.
  • Please make sure to include all contributing authors when entering the meta data of the article.

Author Guidelines

Peer Review Process

All articles undergo a rigorous peer review process. Once the paper has been assessed as appropriate by the editorial management team (with regard to form, content, and quality), it will be peer-reviewed by at least two reviewers in a double-blind review process, meaning that reviewers are not disclosed to authors, and authors are not disclosed to reviewers. To ensure timely review and publication processes, EJHC builds on a broad editorial structure and immediately publishes articles online after their acceptance.

Article Types

EJHC publishes the following types of articles:

  • Original research papers report empirical studies (based on quantitative and/or qualitative methods) and range between 4,000 and 7,000 words (excluding abstract, notes, tables and figures, references, and supplements).
  • Theoretical papers present innovative thoughts on existing theories and models for health communication, or present new theoretical considerations. The specifications are the same as for original research papers.
  • Methodological papers focus on methodological issues relevant for the discipline (e.g., tracking health data). The specifications are the same as for original research papers.
  • Review articles systematise the existing literature or present a meta-analysis of published results or multiple data sets. The specifications are the same as for original research papers.
  • Living reviews are updated versions of review articles. They need to incorporate the research that has been published since its original/last publication and underline the development and its relevance to the field. The updated version will also be peer reviewed (single blind) and published as new article with its own DOI.
  • Brief research reports focus on methods, such as the development of a new questionnaire, or they may feature small empirical studies. They contain up to 3,000 words, excluding abstract, notes, tables and figures, references, and supplements.

Online Supplements

As an online journal, EJHC can publish all types of supplemental material. The idea of online supplements is to provide information that is not essential for the basic understanding of the article but nevertheless offers additional insight to instruments, measures, datasets, statistical models, etc.
Supplements will be published online as received from the author(s) without any conversion, testing, or reformatting. They will not be checked for typographical errors or functionality. The responsibility for the content and functionality remains entirely with the author(s).

Supplement files will be subjected to peer review along with the article itself. The number of supplement files is limited to 10. The file size should be kept as small as possible, not exceeding 10 MB in total. All file formats are accepted with the exception of executable files (e.g., .exe, .com, or .msi). Following the online instructions, submit the supplement files in a single zip file separate from the other files that are part of your submission.

Formatting Guidelines

Please follow the instructions below when submitting your manuscript. Feel free to contact us at contact@ejhc.org for any questions about scope, format, or submission procedures.

  • Page 1 should include the title, an abstract (maximum of 200 words), and selected keywords (at least 5 of author's own choosing).
  • Page 2 should start with the main text.
  • The main text must be formatted as follows:
    • Font: 11-point Calibri, 11-point Arial, 12-point Times New Roman or 11-point Georgia
    • Line-spacing: double-space
  • Tables and figures must be placed at the end of the manuscript file and numbered in the order they appear in the text. An in-text callout (example: “[Figure 1 here]”) should be inserted on a separate line just after the paragraph where each figure or table appears.
  • Include page numbers

Original Research Paper

Original research papers report empirical studies (based on quantitative and/or qualitative methods) and range between 4,000 and 7,000 words (excluding abstract, notes, tables and figures, references, and supplements).

Theoretical Paper

Theoretical papers present innovative thoughts on existing theories and models for health communication, or present new theoretical considerations. Theoretical papers range between 4,000 and 7,000 words (excluding abstract, notes, tables and figures, references, and supplements).

Methodological Paper

Methodological papers focus on methodological issues relevant for the discipline (e.g., tracking health data). Methodological papers range between 4,000 and 7,000 words (excluding abstract, notes, tables and figures, references, and supplements).

Review Article

Review articles systematize the existing literature or present a meta-analysis of published results or multiple data sets. Review articles range between 4,000 and 7,000 words (excluding abstract, notes, tables and figures, references, and supplements).

Living Reviews

Living reviews are updated versions of review articles. They need to incorporate the research that has been published since its original/last publication and underline the development and its relevance to the field. The updated version will also be peer reviewed (single blind) and published as new article with its own DOI.

Brief Research Reports

Brief research reports focus on methods, such as the development of a new questionnaire, or they may feature small empirical studies. They contain up to 3,000 words, excluding abstract, notes, tables and figures, references, and supplements.

Special Issue: Social Aspects of Health Communication

This section covers all submissions to the special issue on social aspects of health communication. All submissions that fit any of the EJHC formats are welcome: original research papers, theoretical papers, methodological papers, review articles, brief research reports. The submission deadline for this section has passed.

Copyright Notice

The authors agree to the following license and copyright agreement:

a. Authors retain copyright in their work.

b. Authors grant the European Journal of Health Communication the right of first publication online on the internet (on the publication platform HOPE of the Main Library of the University of Zurich).

c. The electronic contributions on the internet are distributed under the „Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International“- License (CC BY 4.0). This license allows others to copy and redistribute the work in any medium or format, to remix, transform and build upon the material with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in the European Journal of Health Communication . These conditions are irrevocable. The full text of the license may be read under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

d. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of their work, as long as the conditions of the CC BY 4.0 License are fulfilled and initial publication in the European Journal of Health Communication is acknowledged.

e. Authors grant the Editors commercial rights, using a publishing house, to produce hardcopy volumes of the journal for sale to libraries and individuals, as well as to integrate the manuscript, its title, and its abstract in databases, abstracting and indexing services, and other similar information services.

f. This agreement is subject to possible legal disclosure obligations.

g. This agreement is governed by Swiss law. Court of jurisdiction is Zürich.

Privacy Statement

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