JAMWA - Open Issue. Journal of American Medical Women's Association

Information for Contributors

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General Policies
Statement of Authors’ Responsibility, Financial Disclosure and Copyright Assignment Form
Checklist
Review Process
Patient Anonymity and Protection
Preparation and Submission of Manuscripts
Format for Submitted Materials
Processing of Accepted Manuscripts
Permission to Reprint
Reprints
Preparing References for JAMWA
Addresses

General Policies

The Journal of the American Medical Women’s Association publishes new research and commentary on women’s health, the relationship of women to the medical establishment in general, and related policy issues. JAMWA welcomes submissions of articles for our theme issues as well as on other topics related to women’s health. We will consider articles of standard length (3,000 words), commentaries of no more than 1,500 words, brief reports of 1,000-1,500 words, and progress notes of 350 words. See below for specific details on format for each category. All are considered with the understanding that:

they are original contributions,
they have not been submitted to other journals,
all authors have made a significant contribution to the research reported and have read and approved the final manuscript,
all necessary permissions for publication have been secured and any conflicts of interest disclosed,
and on acceptance they become the property of AMWA.

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Statement of Authors’ Responsibility, Financial Disclosure and Copyright Assignment Form

Click here for a copy of the form.

Authors’ Responsibility Please make sure that all named authors meet qualifications for authorship as described in the Authors Responsibility section of the form.

Financial Disclosure Author(s) will be asked to sign a statement at the time of initial submission disclosing any financial arrangements they may have made with a company whose product(s) figure in the submitted manuscript or with a company making a competing product. Such information will be held in confidence while the paper is under review and will not influence the editorial decision, but if the article is accepted for publication, this information will be disclosed to the readers.

Copyright JAMWA requires express transfer of copyright to the American Medical Women’s Association so that the author(s) and AMWA are protected from misuse of copyrighted material. Please note that all authors must sign and return the statement of Authors’ Responsibility, Financial Disclosure, and Copyright Assignment with their original manuscript. If not completed in full, it will be returned to the author(s) for completion and no further processing of the manuscript will take place until we have received it.

Work done as part of an individual’s duties as a federal employee is in the public domain and therefore not protected by copyright. When appropriate, authors will be asked to sign a statement to that effect. (See statement of “Author’s Responsibility, Financial Disclosure, and Copyright Assignment” for exact wording.)

In addition, authors must obtain letters of permission from publishers for use of extensive quotations (more than 500 words) or for tables or figures that have appeared in other copyrighted publications.

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Checklist

Completed checklists should be included with all original submissions. No further processing of the manuscript will take place until the checklist has been completed. Click here for a copy of the form.

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Review Process

All submitted manuscripts are reviewed by the Editors. Those that fall outside our editorial focus or are otherwise inappropriate for publication in JAMWA will be returned promptly. Papers being considered for publication are read by at least two reviewers to determine the originality, validity, and importance of content and conclusions. Authors will usually be advised within four months of decisions on their papers, although there will be occasional delays. All reviewers will remain anonymous and are blinded to the author’s identity.

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Patient Anonymity and Protection

Ethical as well as legal considerations require careful attention to the protection of a patient’s anonymity in case reports and elsewhere. Identifying information such as names, initials, hospital numbers, and dates must be avoided. In addition, authors should disguise identifying information about a patient’s characteristics and personal history. Manuscripts reporting the results of experimental investigation with human subjects must include a statement that informed consent was obtained from patients after the procedure(s) had been fully explained and that the research was approved by the appropriate committee for research on human subjects.

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Preparation and Submission of Manuscripts

The original and three copies of the manuscript should be submitted to: JAMWA, Columbia University - CPFH, 60 Haven Avenue, B-3, New York, NY 10032. Manuscripts may also be submitted via e-mail to: , with a hard copy submitted by mail. Correspondence will be sent to the first-named author unless otherwise specified. The author will be notified of the receipt of the paper and the number assigned to it. This number must be included in all further correspondence. Corresponding authors must notify JAMWA of changes of address.

The following specifications apply to material of any type submitted to JAMWA: All parts of the paper should be printed double-spaced on 8 1/2 by 11” white paper with one-inch margins on all sides. Although hard copies are required for initial submission, if accepted, revised manuscripts should be submitted on computer disk, or via e-mail, as well. JAMWA style follows the American Medical Association Manual of Style (8th ed, Baltimore, Williams & Wilkins, 1989) and it should be consulted when style questions arise.

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Format for Submitted Materials

Manuscript Structure A manuscript submitted to JAMWA should conform to the following structure:

Title Page Each manuscript should have a separate title page that includes the title of the paper; the full names, degrees, and academic positions and affiliations of all authors; and the full address, telephone number, and e-mail address (if available) of the corresponding author. Author’s names should not be used in the running heads or anywhere else in the rest of the manuscript. Grant support should be acknowledged on a separate page and should include the full name of the granting agency and grant number. Acknowledgment of individuals may be no longer than four typed lines. Companies that supplied drugs are acknowledged only if they provided experimental drugs or drugs that are unavailable in this country.
Second Title Page This page gives the title only to protect the identity of authors during review.
Abstract For original research, review articles and policy pieces, a brief reprise of the contents of not more than 250 words should be prepared with specific discussion of objectives, method, results, and conclusions. For commentaries, abstracts may be less structured but still should include a summary of evidence for justifying central argument.
References Please see Preparing References for JAMWA. Accuracy of citation is the author’s responsibility.
Tables Tables are used for the efficient presentation of numerical data and should not be used for lists. Tables or figures that duplicate material in the text or each other or that contain data that could be given succinctly in the text will not be used. Each table and figure should be headed with a self-contained title that can stand alone without reference to the text. They should be submitted as hard copy and on disk; consult with editors for acceptable programs.
Illustrations Illustrations should be professionally prepared and submitted as glossy prints; photocopies are not acceptable. Illustrations should be numbered consecutively and each one should have a legend on a separate sheet including the figure number, author’s name, and manuscript title. The top of the illustration should be marked on the back in pencil. Photographs of patients must carry written permission for publication. Permission for reproduction of any non-original illustration must be obtained from the author and copyright holder and the illustration must be properly referenced.

Original Research Articles (3,000 words, excluding references). Original research articles should conform to the conventional format: introduction, methods, results and data, and discussion.

Policy and Review Articles (3,000 words, excluding references). Policy and review articles should include a clearly articulated central argument with background information supported by reference to published literature.

Commentaries (1,500 words, excluding references). Commentaries are opinion pieces that argue a position that is substantiated through reference to published literature.

Brief Reports (1,000-1,500 words, excluding references). Format should fol-low that of original research articles as detailed above, respecting the word limit.

Progress Notes (350 words, excluding references). Authors may report on preliminary results of research, research in progress, or research that is hypothesis generating. Progress notes follow a structured abstract format and should include information about the following, as appropriate: Hypothesis; Methods including Sample (size, selection criteria), Control (size, selection criteria), Study Design, Treatment/Intervention; Time Period; Results/Expected Results (preliminary results or date when results expected); Limitations (reliability and validity of the data, study design, etc.); Principal Investigator(s); Contact Information; Funding Sources. Click here for a copy of the form.

Letters to the Editor (maximum of 500 words and 5 references). Letters to the Editor will be considered if they include the notation “for publication.” Letters regarding articles published in JAMWA will automatically be sent to the authors for reply. All letters will be edited. Two copies of the letter typed double-spaced throughout should be submitted (word count should appear in the upper right corner).

Other Original Work If you have any questions, please contact the editorial office.

Book Reviews Books for review may be sent to the Book Review Editor, Barbara O’Sullivan, at the address below. Book reviews are usually solicited; authors interested in reviewing a particular book should contact Dr. O’Sullivan.

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Processing of Accepted Manuscripts

Manuscripts are accepted with the understanding that the editor and editorial staff have the right to make revisions aimed at greater conciseness, clarity, and conformity with JAMWA style. Revised manuscripts will be sent to the corresponding author for corrections, answers to editorial queries, and final approval. Authors will be asked to make all revisions requested and submit both a hard copy and a computer disk of the final manuscript.

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Permission to Reprint

Permission to reprint material published in JAMWA must be requested in writing and is usually granted.

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Reprints

No reprints are furnished gratis. An order form for reprints will be sent to the author before publication of the paper. Two copies of the issue in which the article appears will be sent to the corre-sponding author.

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Preparing References for JAMWA

JAMWA follows the reference style of the Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals. These detailed instructions are for authors unfamiliar with that style. Please read them through before you begin to prepare your references and follow them carefully, as you will be asked to make any corrections necessary.

References are numbered and listed by their order of appearance in the text; do not arrange the list alphabetically. References must be typed double-spaced in a separate list at the end of the article and should conform exactly to the original spelling, accents, punctuation, etc. Authors should also be sure that all references have been cited in the text.

1. Authors are responsible for the accuracy and completeness of references and will be asked to make any corrections necessary.

2. Listed references: References to articles or books published or accepted for publication or to papers presented at professional meetings are listed in numerical order at the end of the article. References to mass circulation magazines or newspapers or material not yet accepted for publication and personal communications are not listed as reference, but should be cited parenthetically in the text.

3. Numbering: References should be numbered consecutively as they appear in the text. Each source is given a single reference number, and if referred to more than once, the number is repeated; thus there is no use of ibid or op cit. Use arabic, superscript numerals placed outside periods and commas, inside colons and semicolons.

4. Authors: Use the authors' surnames followed by initials without punctuation. List all authors up to six, in which case the names of the first three authors are used followed by "et al." Use commas between the names of authors and a period at the end. Rules for authors apply regardless of the type of publication.

5. Titles: Capitalize only the initial word, the first word of a subtitle, and proper nouns in journal articles. End with a period.

Capitalize each word in a book or pamphlet title that is not an article, preposition, or conjunction of less than four letters. Italicize book and pamphlet titles. End with a period.

6. Names of Journals: Italicize and abbreviate the names of journals. Follow abbreviations used in Index Medicus; if the journal is not indexed there, do not abbreviate. Journal titles are followed by a period.

7. Dates and Page Numbers: Use the year and a semicolon, the volume number and a colon, and inclusive pages following the titles of journals consecutively paged.

Use the following style for journals not continuously paged:

8. Place and Publisher: Use both city and state of the publisher's main office. A colon separates the place of publication from the publisher.

9. Year and Page Numbers: A semicolon separates the year from the publisher and is followed by a colon and the page numbers, if they are specified.

10. Parts of Books: Capitalize the title of the chapter or part of the book as per journal articles. Page numbers must be included when citing part of a book. Follow this example for remaining particulars.

11. Government Bulletins: Include the following information, in this order, for references to publications of US government agencies: name of author (if given); title of publication; place of publication; name of issuing bureau, agency, department or division; date of publication; page numbers; publication number, if available; series number, if available.

12. Theses and Dissertations: Italicize and capitalize titles as per books; include the location and name of the university, the year, and "Thesis."

13. Unpublished Papers Delivered at Meetings: Capitalize titles of papers as per journal articles. Include name, place, and date of meeting as follows:

14. Legal References: Use standard "Blue Book" style when citing legal material with one exception: do not use periods with abbreviations.

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JAMWA is the official publication of AMWA. Click here to learn more about AMWA: