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Policies

Contents

Philosophy of International Undergraduate Journal of Health Sciences

The overarching aim of the IUJHS is to enrich undergraduate learning through engagement with the entire process of Scholarly Communications through running a journal – whether as an editor, a member of the editorial board, an author, a reviewer or a reader. Publication in the IUJHS does not carry a fee or payment for author, editor, reviewer or anyone associated with the IUJHS..

Who Can Submit?

Submissions are welcomed from undergraduate students within Munster Technological University or from other third level institutions internationally, once submissions are within the remit of the journal.

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General Submission Rules

Submissions cannot have been previously published, nor be forthcoming in an archival journal or book (print or electronic). Please note: "publication" in a working-paper series does not constitute prior publication. In addition, by submitting material to International Undergraduate Journal of Health Sciences, the author is stipulating that the material is not currently under review at another journal (electronic or print) and that they will not submit the material to another journal (electronic or print) until the completion of the editorial decision process at International Undergraduate Journal of Health Sciences. If you have concerns about the submission terms for International Undergraduate Journal of Health Sciences, please contact the editors.

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Types of Submissions Accepted

Below are the different types of manuscripts accepted by IUJHS for publication.

Note that those manuscripts requiring abstracts (listed below) must have abstracts that include an introductory sentence or two, the method used, the results obtained and a brief discursive summary, all within 250 words.

Research paper

This is a report of original research that was conducted by the author or authors. This must include:

  • Abstract (maximum 250 words)
  • Introduction (including as a last sentence or two a clear statement of the purpose of the research)
  • Methods
  • Results
  • Discussion/Conclusion, where the author includes a brief mention of the limitation of the current research and future scope for research arising from the work
  • Should use figures and tables where appropriate, taking care not to duplicate what is presented in these in the text of the manuscript
  • 3,500 words maximum, excluding abstract or references

    • Short communication

    Short communication articles are preliminary reports of original research that are limited in scope and as a result do not warrant publication in the form of a research paper. They must:

  • Contain 1,200 words maximum (not counting abstract or references) and having 15 or fewer references
  • An Abstract (maximum 250 words) and References, but the body of the manuscript does not need to be divided into Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion
  • Not contain more than two figures or tables

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    Review paper

    It is recommended that before embarking on this type of paper the author should contact the editor with their proposed subject for approval in principle. The objective of a review is to provide a critical account of what has been published by peer-reviewed researchers and to assimilate the work of many researchers into one cohesive document that enhances the current body of knowledge.

  • Reviews should have a maximum length of 5,000 words, excluding abstract and references
  • A maximum of 100 references is allowed
  • Should contain an abstract (maximum 250 words)
  • Should contain an introduction section and subheadings throughout the manuscript
  • Should contain a conclusion section

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    Mini-review Paper

    Similarly to a review paper, a mini-review should provide a critical account of what has been published by peer-reviewed researchers and to assimilate the work of many researchers into one cohesive document that enhances the current body of knowledge. Mini-reviews should adhere to the following guidelines:

  • Maximum length of 2,500 words, excluding abstract and references
  • A maximum of 60 references is allowed
  • Should contain an abstract (maximum 250 words)
  • Should contain an introduction section and subheadings throughout the manuscript
  • Should contain a conclusion section

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    Letter to the Editor

    Letters to the editor should provide respectful, critical, and constructive commentary and/or analysis on an IUJHS publication.

  • Letters should be concise and should not exceed more than 700 words of text, excluding references
  • Should be written in narrative style and not contain any headings or subheadings

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    Conference proceedings

    This is limited to any health science-associated seminar or conference. The purpose of this submission is to provide a brief but informative summary of scientific presentations that were made at a conference to a maximum word count of 2,000 words. It is advisable for prospective authors to contact the editor before preparing this this type of submission.

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    Headings to be included in all types of submission except for letters to the editor and conference proceedings:

    References

    Use consistent formatting throughout in the Harvard style of referencing (see formatting guidelines)

    Conflict of Interest

    If there is any conflict of interest associated with publishing the work this needs to be stated.

    Acknowledgements

    A brief acknowledgement of those who helped you, including sources of funding (funder name, funding programme and grant number to be included) for the work, if any.

    Ethics

    If ethical approval is appropriate for the work, this should have been sought and received before the work is conducted. It needs to be included under its own separate heading.

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    Formatting Requirements

    Please read these instructions carefully before submitting to the International Undergraduate Journal of Health Sciences.

    A template is provided for submission purposes, please ensure you have completed all fields as requested.

    General requirements

  • All submissions should be double-spaced, have 1 inch (2.54 cm) left right, top and bottom margins, using 12 point Times New Roman font.
  • Page numbers, headers and footers should not be added, these will be included by the editors.
  • Use a single column layout with both left and right margins justified.
  • Figures should be high resolution. If the manuscript is accepted the editor reserves the right to request figures in an alternative format for publication. See further instructions below.
  • Submissions must be written in English.
  • Submissions will not be accepted if they are over the outlined word counts.
  • Manuscripts must be submitted as a single file in a .doc, .docx or RTF format. This should include all sections of the paper even those that have been used to complete sections in the template separately such as title, abstract, acknowledgements, ethical approval and conflict of interest.
  • Label your file submission with the lead author’s last name in capital letters e.g. MURPHY_paper.doc.

    • Additional requirements

    Indenting, line spacing and justification

  • All paragraphs should be indented unless directly following a section break.
  • No extra line spaces should be included between paragraphs. .
  • “Widowing” or “orphaning” of text should be avoided whereby the end of a page has the first line of a new paragraph or the beginning of a page has the last line of a paragraph. .
  • All text should be left and right justified except where indented. Exceptions can be made with the right justification where justification causes the text spacing to become awkward. .
  • Submissions should include line numbers for ease of review.

    • Language and grammar

    English must be used for all submissions and foreign words and phrases should be avoided unless they are commonly used.

    Personal pronouns should not be used in submitted manuscripts. Therefore, sentences should be constructed in the following manner: “data are presented as a mean…” as opposed to “I present data as a mean…” or “we present data as a mean…”.

    Coloured Text

  • The font colour should be set to black for the majority of the text. .
  • Colour can be incorporated in figures but author should consider how this would translate to black and white print prior to submission. .

    • Emphasised text

    Italics should be used to emphasise text rather than underlining. Colour should not be used for this purpose.

    Font faces and sizes

    Time New Roman 12 point should be used for the main body of text. For headings, an alternative sans serif font, such as Arial, can be used. The same font should be used for all headings and hierarchy should be indicated by reducing font size.

    Footnotes and endnotes

  • Footnotes should appear at the bottom of the page on which they are referenced and endnotes should appear at the end of the paper before the references In text footnote and endnote symbols should follow rather than precede punctuation symbols e.g. This is an example. .
  • Both should be single spaced 10pt Time New Roman font. These should be left and right justified unless this creates awkward spacing. .

    • Tables and figures

    Tables and figures should appear in the submitted manuscript near where they are referenced in the text. Large tables or figures should be put on separate pages. Avoid overly small font in table. All tables and figures must fit within the defined 1 inch margin of the manuscript whether portrait or landscape.

    Title page and abstract

    • A title page should not be part of the initial submitted document.
    • Authors Names, Submission Title and Abstract should only be added directly to the fields provided by the system at submission stage.

      • Cover letter

      A cover letter can accompany the manuscript but should not form part of the main document for submission to the journal. The online submission platform provides a field for upload of this letter. This letter should

    • include a brief summary of the manuscript submitted.
    • indicate the type of article being submitted.
    • verify that the lead author(s) are undergraduates.
    • confirm that all the co-authors of the manuscript have agreed to be included in the manuscript and that no major contributor has been excluded.

      • For guidance on writing of a cover letter see the following

      https://www.aje.com/dist/docs/Writing-a-cover-letter-AJE-2015.pdf

      References

      It is the author's obligation to provide complete references with the necessary information. After the last sentence of your submission, please insert a line break—not a page break—and begin your references on the same page, if possible. References should appear at the end of the document. References should have margins that are both left and right- justified. You may choose not to right-justify the margin of one or more references if the spacing looks too awkward. Each reference should give the last names of all the authors, their first names or first initials, and, optionally, their middle initials. The hierarchy for ordering the references is:

    • Last name of first author.
    • First name of first author.
    • Last name of second author (if any). Co-authored work is listed after solo-authored work by the same first author (e.g., Edlin, Aaron S. would precede Edlin, Aaron S. and Stefan Reichelstein). .
    • First name of second author.
    • Publication date.
    • Order cited in text.

      • The information to be given with each citation in the references is as follows:

      Articles in traditional journals:

      Required: Author's (authors') name(s), title of article, name of journal, year of publication (or "n.d." if no date), volume number, page numbers.

      Optional (but desirable): issue number and month/season of publication. For forthcoming (in press) articles, put expected year of publication and substitute "forthcoming" for the volume and page numbers.

      Optional (but desirable): A hyperlink to the article.

      Books:

      Required: Author's (authors') name(s), title of book, year of publication (or "n.d." if no date), publisher, publisher's address, edition (if not first). For forthcoming (in press) books, put expected year of publication and add "forthcoming."

      Chapters in collections or anthologies:

      Required: Name(s) of author(s) of chapter, name(s) of editor(s) of book, title of chapter, title of book, year of publication (or "n.d." if no date), publisher, publisher's address, and edition (if not first). For forthcoming (in press) books, put expected year of publication and add "forthcoming."

      Working papers:

      Required: Author's (authors') name(s), title of working paper, year (or "n.d." if no date), location (e.g., "Department of Economics Working Paper, University of California, Berkeley" or "Author's web site: http://www.someurl.edu/author." If the working paper is part of series, then the series name and the number of the working paper within the series must also be given.

      Other works:

      Required: Author's (authors') name(s), title of work, year (or "n.d." if no date), and information about how the reader could obtain a copy.

      Within the references section, the citations can be formatted as you like, provided (i) the formatting is consistent and (ii) each citation begins with the last name of the first author. That is, the following would all be acceptable:

    • Smith, Adam (1776) The Wealth of Nations, . . . .
    • Smith, A., The Wealth of Nations, . . . , 1776. .
    • Smith, Adam: The Wealth of Nations, 1776, . . . .

      • Use hanging indents for citations (i.e., the first line of the citation should be flush with the left margin and all other lines should be indented from the left margin by a set amount). Citations should be single-spaced with extra space between citations.

      When works by the same author are listed in a row, use “—“ instead of writing the name again. Hence, one might have

    • Smith, Adam: The Wealth of Nations, . . . .
    • —: The Theory of Moral Sentiments, . . . .

      • Similarly, instead of repeating two names use

    • "— and —."

      • For instance,

    • Edlin, A. and S. Reichelstein (1995) . . . .
    • — and — (1996) . . . .

      • Within the text of your manuscript, use the author-date method of citation. For instance,

    • "As noted by Smith (1776)."

      • When there are two authors, use both last names. For instance,

    • "Edlin and Reichelstein (1996) claim . . . "

      • If there are three or more authors give the last name of the first author and append et al. For instance, a 1987 work by Abel, Baker, and Charley, would be cited as

    • "Abel et al. (1987)."

      • If two or more cited works share the same authors and dates, use "a," "b," and so on to distinguish among them. For instance,

    • "Jones (1994b) provides a more general analysis of the model introduced in Example 3 of Jones (1994a)."

      • After the first cite in the text using the author-date method, subsequent cites can use just the last names if that would be unambiguous. For example, Edlin and Reichelstein (1996) can be followed by just Edlin and Reichelstein provided no other Edlin & Reichelstein article is referenced; if one is, then the date must always be attached.

      When citations appear within parentheses, use commas—rather than parentheses or brackets—to separate the date from the surrounding text. For instance,

    • " ...(see Smith, 1776, for an early discussion of this)."

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      Rights for Authors and SWORD - South West Open Research Deposit

      Authors who publish in International Undergraduate Journal of Health Sciences retain full copyright of their research.

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      Attribution and Usage Policies

      The International Undergraduate Journal of Health Sciences is an open access publication and distributes its contents under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

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      General Terms and Conditions of Use

      Users of the SWORD - South West Open Research Deposit website and/or software agree not to misuse the SWORD - South West Open Research Deposit service or software in any way.

      The failure of SWORD - South West Open Research Deposit to exercise or enforce any right or provision in the policies or the Submission Agreement does not constitute a waiver of such right or provision. If any term of the Submission Agreement or these policies is found to be invalid, the parties nevertheless agree that the court should endeavor to give effect to the parties' intentions as reflected in the provision, and the other provisions of the Submission Agreement and these policies remain in full force and effect. These policies and the Submission Agreement constitute the entire agreement between SWORD - South West Open Research Deposit and the Author(s) regarding submission of the Article.

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