Submissions

Author Guidelines

Please note: With the year 2023, the Southeastern European Journal of Public Health (SEEJPH) has been transferred from Jacobs Publishing House to the Netherlands Press and is not longer hosted by Bielefeld University Library. All information on this page reflects the status as of 2022!

Manuscript Types

The SEEJPH publishes eleven types of manuscripts: (1) Editorials; (2) Original research articles; (3) Review articles; (4) Short reports; (5) Case studies; (6) Position papers; (7) Commentaries; (8) viewpoints; (9) Letters to the editor; (10) Theses/dissertations;  (11) Books and book reviews; (12) Contributions to the Special Section on Women Health Leadership; (13) Contributions to the Special Section on Addiction & Dependency. For the two Special Sections, see additional information at the very end.

You can now connect your ORCID iD to SEEJPH, which allows immediate and automatic registration of your new publications. For details, see https://www.seejph.com/index.php/seejph/orcid.

The recommended standard formats are as follows:

1. Editorials on request by the executive editor.

2. Original research articles have as a standard a maximum of 3000 words (excluding abstract, tables/figures, and references), a maximum of 4 tables/figures, a structured abstract of no more than 250 words, and up to 30 references. Original research articles are full-length manuscripts covering different disciplines and aspects of health sciences consisting of randomized trials, intervention studies, cohort studies, case-control studies, epidemiologic assessments, other observational studies, cost-effectiveness analyses, and decision analyses as well as studies of screening and diagnostic tests. Each manuscript should clearly state an objective or hypothesis; the design and methods (including the study setting and dates, patients or participants with inclusion and exclusion criteria and/or participation or response rates, or data sources, and how these were selected for the study); the essential features of any interventions; the main outcome measures; the main results of the study; a comment section placing the results in context with the published literature and addressing study limitations; and the conclusions. Criteria include the relevance of the research question, quality of design, sound implementation procedures, thorough outcome analysis of research findings, and implications for practice and policy.

3. Review articles undergo the same peer-review and editorial process as original research articles. Review articles usually comprise up to 3000 words (excluding abstract, tables/figures, and references), up to 50 references, and a maximum of 4 tables/figures. The abstract for reviews should be unstructured and contain no more than 250 words. Reviews are to provide a clear, up-to-date account of the topic in the field being covered. The review should include a broad update of recent developments (from the past 3-5 years) and their likely public health relevance. Reviews should stimulate thinking and further reading indicating other sources of information, including web-based information.

4. Short reports typically are articles of no more than 1500 words, 10 references, and 2 tables/figures. Brief Communications begin with a brief unstructured abstract of no more than 100 words.

5. Case studies should be drawn from actual experience, rather than a composite or fictionalized description. Case studies and reports should have a maximum of 1200 words including introduction, aim, study description, discussion/conclusion, and usually up to 10 references.

6. Position papers are to express a well-argued opinion of the author(s). They usually comprise up to 3000 words (excluding abstract, tables/figures, and references), up to 50 references, and a maximum of 4 tables/figures. The abstract should be unstructured and contain no more than 250 words.

7. Commentaries include both solicited and unsolicited material, usually not more than 1000 words, and 5 references. Commentaries typically add to articles or reviews published in SEEJPH, but may also include other topics in the form of a viewpoint or public health perspective.

8. Letters to the editor typically consist of responses and reactions to articles published in SEEJPH. They should not exceed 500 words and 3 references.

9. Theses/dissertations include both, solicited and unsolicited bachelor's, master's, and Ph.D. work. A university document proving the acceptance of the thesis/ dissertation has to be provided as a scan. SEEJPH offers a unique opportunity to recent public health and medical graduates to publish in full their research work in English, which otherwise would not be visible to the broader international scientific community. Therefore, theses/dissertations will be given full consideration for publication in SEEJPH. It is also possible to submit summaries of theses, allowing usually for 6000 words (excluding abstract, tables/figures, and references), a maximum of 6 tables/figures, a structured abstract of no more than 500 words, and up to 50 references. In any case, interested authors are advised to contact Dr. Peter Schröder-Bäck (Email: peter.schroder@maastrichtuniversity.nl) before submitting a summary of their theses.

10. Book reviews (usually up to 1000 words) typically provide reviews of current books and other publications of interest to individuals involved in public health and medicine. Only reviews of recently published books will be considered. Book reviews are solicited by invitation; however, persons interested in doing a review are advised to contact the editors.

11. Special Section on Women Health Leadership: See the very end for details.
12. Special Section on Addiction & Dependency: See at the very end for details.

Manuscript Preparation

Manuscripts should meet the general requirements agreed upon by the International Committee of the Medical Journal Editors, available at www.icmje.org.

Contributions should be organized in the following sequence: title page, abstract, source of funding, acknowledgments, conflict of interest statement, authors’ contributions, text (Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion), references, tables, and figures.

Title Page

The title page should contain the following information:

• The article title (concise, yet comprehensive);

• Full names (first, middle [if applicable], and last names) of all authors;

• Names of the department(s) and institution(s) to which the work should be attributed. If authors belong to several different institutions, superscript digits should be used to relate the authors’ names to their respective institutions. Identical number(s) in superscript should follow the authors’ names and precede the institution names;

• A short running head of not more than 100 characters (count letters and spaces);

• The name and mailing address of the corresponding author, telephone and fax numbers, and email.

Abstract

The abstract for full-length articles should contain no more than 250 words structured if applicable in four headings: Aims, Methods, Results, and Conclusion. The abstract should be followed by the recommended citation and 3 to 5 keywords.

Text

• Introduction: In the Introduction section, the contributors should briefly introduce the problem, particularly emphasizing the level of knowledge about the problem at the beginning of the investigation. In the end, the authors should provide a short description of the aim of the study, specific objectives, and study hypotheses.

• Methods: In the Methods section, details regarding the material, samples, methods, and equipment used in the study should be included, so that another individual could repeat the work. The selection of the observational or experimental participants (patients or laboratory animals, including controls) should be stated clearly, including eligibility and exclusion criteria and a description of the source population.

  Subsequently, the period of research and the institution where it was conducted should be clearly mentioned. Papers covering research on human or animal subjects should contain a statement indicating patient permission and clearance by the institute research or ethics committee or animal experimentation committee.

  The methods and procedures should be given in sufficient detail to allow the reproduction of the results. Give references to established methods, including statistical methods; provide references and brief descriptions for methods that have been published but are not well known; describe new or substantially modified methods, give reasons for using them, and evaluate their limitations. Identify precisely all drugs and chemicals used, including generic name(s), dose(s), and route(s) of administration.

• Results: In this section author should describe the main findings in the text as well as the particular statistical significance of the data, and refer the reader to the tables and figures, implying that details are shown there. Information on the significance and other statistical data should preferably be given in the tables and figures. Do not combine the Results and Discussion sections for full-length papers.

• Discussion: This section should not repeat results. The discussion section should discuss study findings, and interpret them in the context of other trials reported in the literature providing evidence or counterevidence. In this way, the validity of the results and the significance of the conclusions for the application in further research are assessed, with respect to the hypothesis, relevance of methods, and significance of differences observed.

References

SEEJPH employs the ICMJE recommendations for reference formatting (“Vancouver style”) (http://www.nlm.nih.gov/bsd/uniform_requirements.html), with sequential numbering in the text, and respective ordering within the list. References cited in the manuscript are listed in a separate section immediately following the text. The authors should verify all references. Consult Index Medicus or PubMed (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/) for standard journal abbreviations.

Each reference should be numbered and ordered sequentially as they appear in the text, methods, tables, figures, and legends. When cited in the text, reference numbers are in parenthesis.

Only one publication can be listed for each number. Only articles that have been published or submitted to a named publication should be in the reference list. Published conference abstracts, numbered patents, and preprints on recognized servers are not encouraged to be included in reference lists.

All authors should be included in reference lists unless there are more than seven, in which case only the first six authors should be given followed by ‘et al.’

Examples of proper referencing:

• Journal article:

  1. Bessudnov A, McKee M, Stuckler D. Inequalities in male mortality by occupational class, perceived status and education in Russia, 1994-2006. Eur J Public Health 2012;22:332-7.

  2. Jankovic S, Vlajinac H, Bjegovic V, et al. The burden of disease and injury in Serbia. Eur J Public Health 2007;17:80-5.

• Book reference:

  Kark SL. Epidemiology and Community Medicine. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1974.

• Book chapter:

  1. Kark SL. Social disorganization and anomie: Chapter 10. In: Epidemiology and Community Medicine. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1974: 189-94.

  2. Berkman LF, Glass T. Social integration, social networks, social support, and health. In: Berkman LF, Kawachi I, editors. Social Epidemiology. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000: 137-73.

• Dissertation/Thesis:

  Jerliu N. Aging in a society in transition [dissertation]. Netherlands: University of Maastricht, 2013.

• Website:

  World Health Organization – Regional Office for Europe, Copenhagen, Denmark: http://www.euro.who.int/en/home (accessed: date).

  Please note:

• Use Basic style (name, year) for your citations and reference list, following the instructions above.

• Do not use “&”.

• Try to avoid footnotes. Essential ones should be marked by numbers in a superscript manner.

Tables

All tables must be submitted in separate original files by the authors, and not copy-pasted into the word document.

Tables should bear Arabic numerals. Each table should be put on a separate page. Tables should be self-explanatory, with an adequate title (clearly suggesting the contents), and a logical presentation of data. The title should preferably include the main results shown in the Table.

Figures

All figures, charts, and pictures must be submitted in separate original files, and not copy-pasted into the word document.

Figures should be numbered in sequence with Arabic numerals. The legend of a figure should contain the following information: (a) the word “Figure”, followed by its respective number; (b) the figure title containing major findings presented in the figure.

Figures created in an MS Office application (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) should be sent in the native document format. If other applications are employed, the images should be saved or converted into the following formats (please pay attention to the resolution requirements provided below):
EPS or PDF: Vector graphics, embed all used fonts.
TIFF or JPEG: At least 300 dpi for color or grayscale photographs (halftones).
TIFF or JPEG: At least 1000 dpi for bitmapped (black & white pixels) line drawings.
TIFF or JPEG: At least 500 dpi for combinations of bitmapped line/half-tone (color or grayscale).

Writing Style

• Articles should be written in English (spellings as in the Oxford English Dictionary), Times New Roman, size 12, double spaced, using left alignment.

• Names of authors or institutions should be spelled in standard Western Latinic, without additional signs, e.g. Kovacic.

• Set all margins to 2,54 cm.

• Format for A4 paper.

• Type with upper and lower case – do not use all capitals or small capitals.

English Proofreading

English proofreading should be done before the submission of papers.

The most recommended websites for proofreading at reasonable prices are:

• https://www.grammarly.com
• https://www.scribendi.com/service/scientific_editing
• http://www.queensenglishediting.com

Permissions

Obtaining written permissions for material such as figures, tables, art, and extensive quotes taken directly, or adapted in minor ways from another source is the author’s responsibility, as is the payment of any fees the copyright holder may require. Because permissions often take a considerable amount of time to be granted, authors should start the request process as soon as possible. Authors should never assume that material taken from software or downloaded from the Internet may be used without obtaining permission. Each source must be investigated on a case-by-case basis. Failure to obtain permission will result in either removal of the particular item or rejection of the article for publication in the journal.

Informed consent

All study participants have a right to privacy that should not be violated without informed consent. This means that all personal data disclosing participants’ names, or even initial should not be published in written descriptions, photographs, and pedigrees unless the information is essential for scientific purposes and the respective participants (or their caretakers) give written informed consent for publication. This also implies that participants who are identifiable be shown the manuscript to be published (ICMJE).

Acceptance Criteria and Conditions of Publication

Authors are encouraged to write in a scientific manner that is communicative, interesting, and informative. Manuscripts should be submitted exclusively to the SEEJPH and should not be considered for publication elsewhere, nor should they have been previously published. Consideration for publication can be given to material that has previously had limited circulation elsewhere. If an article has appeared previously in any form, authors must clearly indicate this in their cover letter. Include copies of potentially duplicative material that has been previously published and provide links to duplicative material on the Internet.

In case of accepted corrections, the original version of a publication remains available. Retractions after publication cannot be accepted except for legal reasons. In this case, an editorial note of concern may be published.

For each manuscript, before acceptance, we check via “Safe Assignment” (a special plagiarism detection software). The corresponding author will be informed online by a strictly confidential report.

Manuscript Submission

1. Online submission via OJS (you will be asked to login/register if you haven't done so)

2. Offline submission: All manuscripts should be sent to the executive editor's email.

   The submission should be accompanied by a Cover Letter stating the following aspects:

   • Manuscript type (original research article; review; short report; letter to the editor, case report; book review).
   • Major findings of the submitted article.
   • Novelty and relevance of the submitted manuscript.

All manuscripts submitted to the SEEJPH will be regularly analyzed by plagiarism detection software. The initial (in-house) decision will be within 7-10 working days.

If manuscripts are sent for external peer-review, authors will be notified about the editorial decisions no later than 8 weeks after the date of manuscript submission.

Publication Fee

To provide open access, the publisher of SEEJPH charges an article processing fee for each article published in order to provide article editing, online hosting, and archiving.

After the acceptance of an article, the author(s) will get an invoice from the publisher requesting the publication fee plus bank charges. Please, in the letter accompanying your submission you must indicate the billing address to which the invoice in case of acceptance of your paper will be sent.

• for original articles 400 EUR
• for reviews 200 EUR 
• for short reports and case studies 100 EUR
• for theses/dissertations 100 EUR (short summaries are free of charge)
• for comments (incl. letters to the editors, viewpoints, etc.) if commissioned: free of charge, if unsolicited: 50 EUR
• contributions to the two Special Sections are - for the time being - free of charge

Articles will be published online only after the payment has been received.