Manuscripts submitted to the Bulletin should be original work that has not been previously submitted or accepted for publication. The content of manuscripts should be aligned with the scope of the Bulletin.
- How do I submit a manuscript?
- What format does my manuscript need to be in?
- What types of papers are accepted by the Bulletin?
- Is there a conflict of interest?
- Do I need to acknowledge that the work has been funded?
- How should I prepare my manuscript?
- How should I present the tables?
- How should I present the figures?
- When should I use boxes to present information?
- What is the peer review process?
- Do I receive page proofs and corrections?
- Will I receive a copy of my published paper?
How do I submit a manuscript?
Send your manuscript in a Word for Windows format as an email attachment to:
phbulletin@doh.health.nsw.gov.au
Alternatively, send one hard copy of your manuscript along with an electronic copy on a disk to:
Editor
Beth Stickney
NSW Public Health Bulletin
Locked Mail Bag 961
North Sydney, NSW 2059
Australia
The manuscript should be accompanied by a covering letter listing the names, institutional affiliations, addresses and contact numbers of all the authors. All authors should sign the covering letter. The letter should either be sent in hard copy to the editor or scanned and sent as an email attachment. Authors from NSW Health should obtain the appropriate clearances for the material contained in their paper from their directors or supervisors before submission. Authors reporting on data obtained from the Health Outcomes Information Statistical Toolkit (HOIST) must adhere to the conditions relating to the release of this data as detailed in the HOIST confidentiality agreement form.
The letter should also contain a statement that the manuscript has not been submitted or accepted for publication elsewhere. Suggestions of possible reviewers are welcome and their contact details should be provided to the editor.
What format does my manuscript need to be in?
Papers must be submitted with double spacing throughout. A recommended text size is 12-point Times New Roman. All pages of the manuscript must be numbered consecutively, including those carrying references, tables and figures, all of which are to be placed after the text.
Please remove all Track Changes, mark-up alterations, style codes and footnotes. Graphs from Excel or statistical analysis programs should not be embedded in the Word document but presented separately at the end of the manuscript.
What types of papers are accepted by the Bulletin?
The Bulletin accepts proffered and commissioned papers along with short reports.
Submitted/Proffered papers. Manuscripts should be about 1500 to 2000 words, excluding tables, figures and references.
Commissioned papers. For themed issues of the Bulletin, the editor along with the guest editorial team identifies authors who are invited to submit papers. Authors are provided with advice on the focus of the issue and the manuscript requirements. These commissioned papers are also peer reviewed. If you would like to offer a paper for a themed issue, then please refer to Call for Papers with a list of proposed upcoming topics.
Short reports. News, comments and other reports should be 500 to 600 words.
Is there a conflict of interest?
All authors must disclose any financial and personal relationships with organisations or people that could inappropriately influence their work, under a subheading ´Conflicts of Interest´ at the end of the text. If there are no conflicts of interest, authors should state that none exist.
Do I need to acknowledge that the work has been funded?
All sources of funding should be declared in the Acknowledgments.
How should I prepare my manuscript?
General presentation. The work should be presented clearly and concisely in English. The Bulletin is accessible to a broad readership and favours jargon free articles. Where appropriate, manuscripts should follow the standard article format of: abstract, introduction, methods, results and discussion.
The Bulletin conforms to the recommendations in:
International Committee of Medical Journal Editors. Uniform requirements for manuscripts submitted to biomedical journals. [http://www.icmje.org/icmje.pdf]
Articles on clinical trials should contain abstracts that include items the CONSORT group has identified as essential. When reporting a randomised controlled trial (RCT) include the trial registration number at the end of the abstract. When reporting on a RCT, list the trial registration number at the first instance of using the trial acronym whenever a registration number is available.
Title. The title should be concise and informative and should contain keywords to assist with electronic searching for the article. An abridged title suitable for use as a running head at the top of the printed page should also be supplied.
Abstract. The abstract should be 100 words for proffered and commissioned papers. The Bulletin prefers unstructured abstracts that provide a concise description of the work and report on the main findings. It is important that the abstract accurately reflects the content of the paper. The following questions provide a guide in preparing an unstructured abstract:
If your manuscript suits a standard scientific abstract structure then we suggest using the following headings: objectives, methods, results, and conclusions.
References. References should be in the Vancouver style. Each citation should be marked in the text as a superscript number. The reference list should be presented in numerical order at the end of the manuscript. Authors should consult the National Library of Medicine website, for examples of citation formats (see http://www.nlm.nih.gov/bsd/uniform_requirements.html).
Authors are responsible for the accuracy of their references. Names of journals no longer published or not listed by Index Medicus should be given in full.
How should I present the tables?
Tables should be simple without any distracting elements such as lines and shading. Use lines at top and bottom and below the heading row only. Do not use vertical lines or boxes. The table should have a title, which should clearly describe what the table is about. Each column and row should have a heading. Abbreviations should be explained in a footnote. The source data used to generate the content of any tables should be referenced at the end of the table, for example, Source: New South Wales Adult Health Survey 2002.
Tables should be provided after the references. The text of the manuscript should be clearly marked to indicate where the table is to be inserted, for example [Insert Table 1]. Tables should be numbered consecutively. Tables should be referred to in the text; however, information that the table contains does not need to be repeated in the text.
How should I present the figures?
Figures should be simple. Every line should have a purpose and should be part of the message of the graph. Do not use three-dimensional boxes or unnecessary shading. If you need to distinguish columns in a histogram, use a pattern rather than a colour or shading. Do not enclose graphs in boxes.
Graphs need a figure legend (which should include all explanatory text: that is, avoid displaying stray text on the graph itself), and both axes should be labelled. Make sure that text on the graph is large enough to be legible.
Figures should be provided after the references. The text of the manuscript should be clearly marked to indicate where the figure is to be inserted, for example [Insert Figure 1]. Figures should be referred to in the text; however, repetition of the content should be avoided.
When should I use boxes to present information?
Boxes are useful for separating different types of information and are usually independent of the rest of the text. Boxes can be used for highlighting examples or summarising recommendations. As for tables and figures the text should be clearly marked to indicate where the box should be inserted.
What is the peer review process?
The editorial team manages the peer review process of papers submitted to the Bulletin. Peer review is used to maintain standards and to ensure relevance. Not all material submitted to the Bulletin is accepted. Articles must provide new information and be scientifically valid. Authors of highly clinical papers are referred to other journals.
For each proffered and commissioned paper, two peers in the area are invited to review the paper. Some papers require an additional review. Most papers require some revision by the authors, and depending upon the level of revision may be reviewed again upon resubmission.
Each referee is provided with a link to the Referee Report Form and Guidelines for Referees. Referees regularly request feedback on their reviews and commencing in 2007, we will send referees a copy of the other reviews of the paper they reviewed. This process will remain anonymous and referees will not be identified.
The time between submission of a manuscript and a decision by the editor regarding publication depends on the nature of the manuscript, and the availability and other commitments of suitable referees. The Bulletin follows a standard protocol for administering the peer review process. This includes sending manuscripts for review, following up late reviews, and forwarding referees´ comments to authors.
Do I receive page proofs and corrections?
CSIRO PUBLISHING produces the printed and electronic versions of the Bulletin. Consequently, page proofs are sent from CSIRO PUBLISHING to the corresponding author for checking prior to publication. At this stage of production only essential alterations and correction of printer errors may be carried out.
Will I receive a copy of my published paper?
The first author of a paper will be sent a PDF of their paper and the issue of the Bulletin that it appears in will also be sent electronically. Authors can also generate links from their own website to the PDF version on the CSIRO PUBLISHING website.
