Basic elements

Each submission should include a cover letter, manuscript and accompanying tables and figures, electronic files matching these (see "Research Articles" and "Format Requirements") and any Supplemental Data Sheets.

Where to submit

All submissions and correspondence should be sent to the following address:

Christopher Doyle, Associate Editor
Adolescent and Family Health
P.O. Box 16560
Washington, DC 20041

E-mail: cdoyle@youthdevelopment.org

Inquiries may be made by telephone at 703-433-1640 ext 103 or email at
cdoyle@youthdevelopment.org.

General Requirements

Topics of Interest

Adolescent and Family Health, a Journal of the Institute for Youth Development, is an interdisciplinary, peer-reviewed ("closed" system protocol) publication for original, scientific research that focuses primarily on the common factors influencing adolescent adoption or avoidance of alcohol, drugs, sex, tobacco, and violence. The Journal seeks articles based on original research and/or evaluations of programs that illuminate the relationships between adolescent risk behavior and the influence of such factors as parents and family, religiosity, other adult authority figures, extracurricular activities, sports, academic achievement, peer groups, and the media. As an interdisciplinary publication, the Journal invites contributions from researchers in the fields of addiction therapy, family medicine, preventive medicine, anthropology, biology, public and private education, public health, health education, nursing, pediatrics, physiology, psychology, and sociology, as well as from the humanities and the arts. The Journal accepts research articles, review articles, and commentary (the latter by invitation of the Editor). The following sections apply to research articles. Guidelines for review articles, commentaries, and letters are in a separate section ("Other Articles, Letters").

Originality

All research articles submitted must be original work that has not been published, accepted for publication, or simultaneously submitted to other journals or publications (either print or electronic). These restrictions will generally not apply to the following if authors disclose (see Cover Letter) and supply copies of them to the editors:

1. Papers presented at a scientific meeting or conference that are elaborated extensively in the submitted manuscript.
2. Publications in un-refereed proceedings of such meetings.
3. Abstracts of the paper.
4. Posting of previously unpublished data or other material by the author or personal or academic or research sponsored web sites.

Authors will be expected to disclose in the cover letter accompanying the manuscript any previous publications or submissions that might be regarded as redundant or very similar to their submission to the Journal (see Cover Letter).

Simultaneous submission

Manuscripts submitted simultaneously to another journal or publisher will not be considered for publication in the Journal.

Peer review policy

The Journal uses a "closed" system review protocol. Authors may suggest reviewers, but the Editor will select two or more reviewers based on their expertise and interest in the primary subject matter presented.

Reviewers will be instructed to make one of the following recommendations: that the article (1) be accepted (2) accepted but conditioned on incorporation of recommended revisions or (3) rejected.

Articles must be recommended for publication by a minimum of two reviewers. In the event of contrary recommendations from two reviewers, the Editor may assign additional reviewers and/or make the final decision on acceptance. The Editor may also decide not to submit it for peer review based on relevance to the Journal's interests or other factors. The identity of reviewers will not be disclosed to authors.

Editing

Authors are asked to follow the formatting and style guidelines set forth and to revise their manuscripts, if they have been conditionally accepted, in response to peer review comments as well as any suggestions from the Editor on how to handle them. The Journal staff will copyedit final manuscripts submitted to conform to Journal style and will resolve any issues of clarity or consistency with authors.

Research Articles

The elements of a Research Article submission are described below with the specifications the author should follow.

Cover letter

The cover letter accompanying the manuscript should cover the information and statements indicated below:

1. Name, address, institution, telephone, fax, email, and Internet URL. Include for the submitting author or research facility if available. ONLY THE COVER LETTER should carry such identifying information.
2. A list of joint authors (maximum of six). List them in alphabetical order by last name with their degrees, positions, and university or institutional affiliations. If an alternate order is used, the letter should explain the reasons for using it. Only list authors that have contributed substantially to the writing of the article. Others participating in research or providing assistance may be listed in the Acknowledgements section. (For a definition of what constitutes authorship, see in Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts endnote.)
3. Originality. Please affirm that the manuscript has not been submitted or published simultaneously elsewhere. Give precise and detailed information on any prior public disclosure or publication of data, text, abstract, or other material from the manuscript (attach references and photocopies thereof).
4. Potential conflict of interest. State the precise nature of any financial support or promise thereof the author has received from any entity or organization that has a financial interest in the subject matter of the accompanying manuscript.
5. Copyright transfer. Indicate the willingness of the author(s) to promptly sign an agreement transferring all copyright ownership to the publisher in the event that the article is accepted.
6. Permissions. Confirm that the author accepts responsibility for obtaining any permissions for use of copyright material and for forwarding them to the Journal within 30 days of acceptance of the manuscript.
7. Patient privacy and informed consent. If applicable, state that all identifying information regarding individuals that are subjects of a study has been omitted unless the individuals have given written consent for such disclosure (see Permissions and Informed Consent).

Length

Overall length of the entire manuscript including references generally should not exceed 18 double-spaced pages or about 4,500 words (see Formats for Submission). No more than five tables and figures should be needed to present findings.

Abstract (unstructured) and key words

The abstract should not exceed 250 words. Cover as much of the purpose and methodology as necessary but focus on the new and important aspects of findings, analysis, and conclusions. For use as metadata and indexing, list three to ten key words and place them below the abstract. Try to select the most frequently used terminology in the discipline or specialty. For medical terms, consult the Medical Subject Headings list of Index Medicus.

Title pages and running head

First title page carries the main title (not to exceed 20 words), names of all authors, degrees and institutional affiliations at the time of the work, date of submission, and key words (repeat from the abstract page). Second title page contains nothing except the title. A running head conveying substance of title no longer than 20 characters should go at the top of the second page of the text only (the typesetting feature will incorporate it on all the print pages). Do not use an automated feature for the running head; type it in manually.

Acknowledgements

Place acknowledgements on a separate page. The authors should obtain and maintain in their files signed hard copies of permissions (faxes accepted if originals are preserved by the sender) from individuals or institutions or other entities acknowledged.

Main sections

The presentation should include the standard matter for scholarly papers usually found in the following order: Introduction, Methodology (IRB status should be included), Results, and Discussion. A heading should precede each section if there is sufficient text to justify it. Text should illuminate the key findings, but not repeat data that is self-explanatory in tables or illustrations. Emphasize the new and important aspects and conclusions of the study. Any observations or recommendations for further research may be included here. The Journal is interdisciplinary and should communicate methods and findings in a readable manner for the educated public. Terms, phrases, and acronyms which are unique to a particular discipline are discouraged. If such terms are necessary to the text, they must be clearly defined or explained.

References

References should follow the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (Sixth Edition).

Supplemental data (optional)

These may be supplied if the author refers to them in the text or wishes the reviewers to have them. These may be used to support data in tables, for example.

Other Articles, Letters

Format Requirements

General guidance

For writing style, grammar, syntax, compound words, punctuation, capitalization, language, consult the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, (Sixth Edition). For usage of technical terms in medicine the American Medical Association Manual of Style (5th edition) is the most authoritative and contains guidance on style and avoidance of sexist or other discriminatory language. For technical terms in psychology, consult the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, (Sixth Edition), which also has extensive guidance on avoidance of sexist language

Manuscript style

In general, the simpler the manuscript is formatted, the quicker and less costly it will be to prepare it for publication. Please, therefore, follow these specifications:

1. Word processing. Use Windows 95 or later version of Microsoft Word to fit 8-1/2 by 11 inch (216x279mm) bond with minimum margins of 1 inch (25mm) all around. Type flush left and double-space throughout, including references, tables, and figure legends.

Tables and figures

1. Formats. Table formats in Microsoft Word are acceptable.

Figures

1. Size. Inside charts and drawings, use sufficiently large type, arrows, and lines, to assure that reduction by 50 percent will leave them legible. Hairlines do not show up on negatives for typesetting, so use not less than 3 pixels or .75 of a point for lines.

Illustrations

1. Quality. Only professionally drawn or photographed art should be provided. Submit 5" x 7" (17x22 cm) glossy prints suitable for black and white reproduction.

Permissions and Informed Consent

The submitting author is responsible for obtaining permissions for use of copyright material in connection with publication of a manuscript and forwarding it to the Journal within 30 days of acceptance of the manuscript. In general, short quotations (roughly up to 250 words) clearly credited from copyrighted material may be used without permission. Any table, chart, figure, graph, or illustration carrying a copyright requires permission.
Authors should follow the Uniform Guidelines for "Informed Consent" (see endnote) policy regarding protection of patient rights to privacy when describing individual or groups who are subjects of a research project. If consent is obtained, this must be noted in the cover letter, and such note will be published as a footnote in your article.

Post-submission Process for Research Articles

The Journal review and production process generally requires a minimum of eight to ten months from submission to publication.

Notification

Authors can expect to hear whether research articles have been accepted for peer review within three to four weeks of submission. Peer review comments will be available within four to six months after submission. Review articles and commentaries submitted for quarterly issues will be accepted or rejected no later than two months prior to publication. The milestones in the process are described below.

1. Acceptance notice. Authors will be informed through written notification whether their manuscript has been (a) accepted (b) accepted conditioned on incorporation of recommended revisions or (c) rejected.

These guidelines are generally consistent with the Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals prepared by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors which can be viewed at the American College of Physicians Web site www.acponline.org. The ACP document defines the qualifications for claiming authorship as "substantial contributions to all of the following: 1) conception and design, or analysis and interpretation of data; 2) drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content, and 3) final approval of the versions to be published." The Journal will assume that condition three is met if the corresponding author obtains author colleague approvals of the final manuscript submitted after peer review.