Submissions

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Author Guidelines

Author Guidelines
Submissions to QHC must not have been previously published, or be under consideration for publication with other journals or similar. In order to ensure the double-blind review process, be sure to remove any author information from your file before submission. To ensure a smooth review process, authors are encouraged to suggest names of suitable reviewers in the Cover letter.

Please ensure that it is clear from your article how communication plays a role in your study. While our understanding of communication is broad, we are receiving submissions where the communication angle is difficult to spot. You could also include this information in your Comments for the Editor. Please also indicate the proposed paper’s contribution and importance for the field of health communication in the discussion or practice implications.

Article length and structure
Article length should be a maximum of 6000 words including title and endnotes, but excluding abstract and references. Please try to use the following headings: Introduction, Literature Review, Methods, Results, Discussion, Conclusions.

Please provide a structured abstract of maximum 200 words. Please make a structured abstract using the following sub-headings: Background, Aim, Methods, Results, Discussion, Conclusions.

Please provide 4-7 keywords.

Abstract and keywords must be included in the article text as well as be inserted in the relevant box during the submission process. 

Formatting

  • Language: English (either British or American English may be used, but only one of these within each article)
  • The article should be submitted as a Microsoft Word file
  • Use Times New Roman, font size 12 point
  • Spacing should be 1.5 throughout (including references)
  • All text and headings should be left-justified
  • Please include page numbers
  • Emphasis should be marked in italics, not bold
  • Titles and foreign words in the text should be in italics
  • Concepts, terms etc. should be marked with single quotation marks.
  • Short quotations within the text itself should be marked as such with “double quotation marks”
  • Quotations within quotations should be indicated by '...'. In quotations, an omitted section should be indicated by square brackets: [...].
  • Longer quotations (around 40 words or more) should be indented and presented without quotation marks, with an extra empty line before and after the quotation.
  • Notes should be avoided if possible. If necessary, they should be indicated by superscript numbers and presented as endnotes.
  • The use of subheadings is encouraged where it will enhance clarity of presentation. Use bold for headings, italics for level 2 subheadings, and no formatting for for level 3 subheadings, i.e.:
    • Heading 1
    • Heading 2
    • Heading 3
  • Avoid using more than 3 levels of subheadings. Headings should not be numbered.

Figures and tables
Please embed figures and tables into the manuscript itself.  Please make sure you have the right to publish illustrations etc. Written confirmation needs to be provided upon submission.

References
For references, please use the most recent APA style. When available, please provide the URLs for online references. When available, the DOI-number of a publication must be provided at the end of the reference. 

Artificial intelligence (AI)
Generative artificial intelligence (AI) and AI-assisted technologies should only be used to improve readability and language, and only with human oversight. This means that authors should carefully review and edit the AI-generated suggestions. Authors should disclose the use of AI and AI-assisted technologies in the writing process. If AI has been used, please add the following statement to your manuscript just before the Reference list:

“During the preparation of this article, the author(s) used [NAME OF TOOL] in order to [REASON]. After using this tool, the author(s) reviewed and edited the content as needed and take(s) full responsibility for the content of the article”.

The statement will appear in the published work. This statement does not apply to the use of basic tools for checking grammar, spelling, references etc.

Copyright Notice

Articles submitted to Qualitative Health Communication should not be submitted to or published in other journals.
Articles published in Qualitative Health Communication may be used (downloaded) and reused (distributed, copied, cited) for non-commercial purposes with reference to the authors and publication host.

For all publications published in the first four issues, i.e. 1(1), 1(2), 2(1) and 3(1), copyright is shared between the author and QHC. For all future publications, the author is the sole copyright holder.

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