Women's Health Issues is the peer-reviewed, bimonthly, multidisciplinary journal of the Jacobs Institute of Women's Health.
It publishes original research, rigorous scientifically-based review articles (e.g., literature syntheses), and invited editorials and
commentaries related to women's health care and policy. The journal gives priority to scholarly articles that report the results of original
research and that improve understanding of how social, health care, and policy factors relate to women's health. Please note that we
do not accept for review clinical case reports or standard literature reviews. All manuscripts are subject to peer-review under the
direction of the editors. Published manuscripts are abstracted and indexed in leading services, including Cumulative Index to Nursing
and Allied Health Literature, EMBASE/Excerpta Medica, Index Medicus, ISI's Current Contents/Social & Behavioral Sciences Research
Alert and Social SciSearch, Sociological Abstracts, and Studies on Women Abstracts. Unsolicited manuscripts are invited that address
women's health issues relating to the mission of the journal. Further information is available at www.jiwh.org.
The Journal is available online at http://whijournal.com
and on www.ScienceDirect.com.
SUBMISSION
Online Electronic Submission: If you wish to submit a manuscript or commentary to be considered for
publication, you must do so via the Journal's submission/peer-review website (http://ees.elsevier.com/whi) . You will be
asked to create a unique login ID (free). Once created, your login stays in the system permanently. Please follow the instructions
regarding file format submission of your manuscript, abstract, tables, and figures carefully. We ask that you submit your manuscript
(abstract through references and any figure legends) as a Microsoft® Office Word file, with the title page saved as a separate file.
Figures and tables must be uploaded as separate files. If you have multiple figures, consider compressing them into one .zip file for
easier upload (see www.WinZip.com for a free trial). A tutorial for authors
is available at the website and online technical assistance is available at authorsupport@elsevier.com. You will be able
to track the status of your manuscript throughout the entire editorial process. You will also communicate with the Editorial Office
via the website.
Please note that online electronic submission is the method preferred by the Editorial Office. Use of the
online submission site will expedite editorial decisions and communications with authors.
Hard Copy Submission: If
you do not have Internet access manuscripts may be delivered to the following address:
Anne R. Markus, JD, PhD, MHS
Editor, Women's
Health Issues
Jacobs Institute of Women's Health
GW SPHHS Dept. of Health Policy
2021 K Street, NW, Suite 800
Washington,
DC 20006
Manuscripts submitted in hard copy must be submitted with an electronic copy in Microsoft Office Word format on
disk. The hard copy and electronic copy must match exactly. We do not accept submissions by hard copy only.
MANUSCRIPT PREPARATION
In general, full-length article manuscripts should contain 2,000 to 4,000 words, excluding front matter, references, and tables and
figures. Commentaries/editorials cannot exceed 2,000 words. Letters to the Editor cannot exceed 1,000 words. Manuscripts should be double-spaced,
using a font no smaller than 12 point. Pages should be numbered. Sections should include: title page, abstract page, manuscript text,
acknowledgments, references, tables and illustrations.
The title page should provide a descriptive title for the manuscript; the names,
academic degrees, affiliations, and contact information (mailing address, email address, phone and fax numbers) for all authors; designation
of the corresponding author; and a statement of any funding sources for the work reported in the manuscript, with disclosure of any financial
conflicts of interest involving any of the co-authors. Each author of an accepted manuscript will be asked to submit a one-sentence
statement of research interests or areas of expertise for publication with the manuscript.
The second page should provide an abstract
no longer than 250 words including the following information: the paper's purpose or research question; the methods used; the main findings;
and conclusion. The abstract page should not include the names of the authors. The manuscript text should be organized using subheads,
with the following sections as a guide: introduction and background; methods; results; conclusions and discussion.
Manuscript
Style: The text and references of the manuscript must conform in style to the Publication Manual of the American Psychological
Association: Fifth Edition.
Visit http://apastyle.apa.org/ for more information about the APA Guidelines.
Note to Authors from Non-English Speaking Countries:Women's Health Issues publishes manuscripts only in English. To
assist you in preparing your manuscript in its best possible form- that includes the quality of the written English, adherence to our
Guide for Authors, and the presentation of factual, accurate data - we recommend you take advantage of online resources provided by our
publisher, Elsevier, Inc. Please visit "Language Editing Checklist" online at http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/authorsview.authors/languageediting/editchecklist
Ethical Approval of Studies and Informed Consent: If applicable, all manuscripts reporting data from studies involving human
participants should include a statement that the research protocol was approved by the relevant institutional review boards or ethics
committees. State in the Methods section the manner in which informed consent was obtained from the study participants (i.e., oral or
written). For those investigators who do not have formal ethics review committees, the principles outlined in the Declaration of Helsinki
of 1975 and as revised in 2000, should be followed. This requirement is in compliance with "Protection of Human Subjects and Animals
in Research" described by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (http://www.icmje.org/#protect ).
Preparing
Electronic Files. Text and graphics may be submitted as separate files in the following formats:
Text: Use Microsoft
Word, with the title page saved as a separate file. Graphics: Create digital artwork after consulting the Elsevier Electronic
Artwork website; http://www.elsevier.com/locate/authorartwork , which contains appropriate instructions.
Please note
that all images submitted in color will be converted to grayscale, but will appear in color on the Journal's website (http://www.whijournal.com),
free of charge.
Please note that Elsevier allows the submission of MS Office files (Word, PowerPoint, Excel) provided that they meet
certain criteria (see information given on Electronic Artwork website). It is preferred to save files in JPEG or TIFF format. Label figures
as referenced in text and include a list of figure legends.
PEER REVIEW
The journal uses blind peer review: authors' names
are removed from manuscripts when they are sent for peer review, and the names of reviewers are not disclosed to authors. All manuscripts
will be reviewed by at least two reviewers selected by the editors. Authors are encouraged to submit suggestions for appropriate peer
reviewers for their manuscripts. (Please include names and contact information for potential reviewers.) Authors will receive copies
of the reviewers' comments. The journal strives to provide reviews to the authors within three months of the date of submission. Possible
editorial decisions that may result from the peer review are: accept as written; accept with minor revisions; revise and resubmit; reject.
When revisions are requested, the editor will specify the time frame for resubmission.
COMMENTARIES/LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Commentaries and Letters to the Editor commenting on a journal article or on an issue in women's health care or policy will be considered
for publication, space permitting. Please note that Commentaries cannot exceed 2,000 words. Letters to the Editor cannot exceed 1,000
words. The Editor reserves the right to shorten letters and to make minor editorial revisions. Only a selection of letters submitted
will be published.
AUTHORS' CERTIFICATION
Women's Health Issues publishes only original reports of research findings
that have not been previously published and are not under consideration by another journal. Each and every author must attest to the
statement below:
"I certify that this material has not been published previously and is not under consideration by another
journal. I further certify that I have had substantive involvement in the preparation of this manuscript and am fully familiar with its
content."
If you are using the online submission site, you must answer this certification in the affirmative in
order to proceed with your submission.
Funding/Support and Roles of Sponsors. All financial and material support for
the research and the work should be clearly and completely identified in the Acknowledgements section on the Title Page of your
manuscript. In addition, the Cover Letter that accompanies your manuscript should address the specific role(s) of the funding
organization or sponsor in each of the following areas:
design and conduct of the study;
collection, management,
analysis, and interpretation of the data; and,
preparation, review, or approval of the manuscript.
Data
Access and Responsibility. For all reports (regardless of funding source) containing original data, at least one (1) named author
(e.g., the principal investigator) who is independent of any funder or sponsor should indicate that she or he "had full access to all
the data in the study and takes responsibility for the integrity of the data and the accuracy of the data analysis." This exact statement
should be included in the Acknowledgments section on the Title Page of the manuscript. Modified statements or generic statements
indicating that all authors had such access are not acceptable.
These requirements are consistent with "Potential Conflicts of Interest
Related to Project Support" described by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (http://www.icmje.org/#conflicts
).
If you are not using the online submission site, author certifications can be submitted as PDF files or hard copies can be
faxed to (202) 296-0025 or mailed at the same
time as the manuscript submission.
Elsevier will send to PubMed Central the author's
manuscript on behalf of authors reporting research supported by an NIH grant. The author manuscript reflects any author-agreed changes
made in response to peer-review comments. Elsevier will authorize its public access posting on PubMed Central 12 months after final publication.
Authors will receive further correspondence from PubMed Central after the manuscript is deposited.
