Table of Contents

AUTHOR GUIDELINES
SUBMISSION OF MANUSCRIPTS
DISCLOSURE OF POTENTIAL CONFLICTS OF INTEREST
TYPES OF MANUSCRIPTS CONSIDERED
PREPARATION OF MANUSCRIPTS
- General Style
ORGANIZATION AND CONTENT OF MANUSCRIPTS AND ACCOMPANYING MATERIALS
- Cover letter
- Title page
- Abstract page
- Structured Abstracts
- Unstructured Abstracts
- Key words
- Manuscript text
- Basic Style Requirements
- Footnotes
- References
- Tables
- Figures
- Ancillary Material
- Supplementary Data
- Practice Points
MANUSCRIPT SUBMISSION AND REVIEW
- Proofs
- Offprints
- Author Services

AUTHOR GUIDELINES

The Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior (JNEB), the official journal of the Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior, is a refereed, scientific periodical that serves as a resource for all professionals with an interest in nutrition education and dietary/physical activity behaviors. The purpose of JNEB is to document and disseminate original research, emerging issues, and practices relevant to nutrition education and behavior worldwide.

The Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior welcomes evidence-based manuscripts that provide new insights and useful findings related to nutrition education research, practice, and policy. The content areas of JNEB reflect the diverse interests of health, nutrition, education, Cooperative Extension and other professionals working in areas related to nutrition education and behavior. As the Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior's official journal, JNEB also includes occasional policy statements, issue perspectives, and member communications.

SUBMISSION OF MANUSCRIPTS

All new and revised manuscripts are sent to JNEB through the Elsevier Editorial System, an online system available at http://ees.elsevier.com/JNEB .

By submitting a manuscript, authors certify they are reporting original work not previously published, in review, or in press and that, if the paper is accepted for publication in the Journal, the copyright will be transferred to the Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior. Copyright exceptions are made as required for manuscripts submitted by employees of the US government. Work published in abstract form or presented orally is not considered previously published. Permission to reprint part or all of any article in this journal may be sought directly from Elsevier's Global Rights Department in Oxford, UK: Tel: (215) 239-3804 or +44 (0) 1865 843830, Fax: +44 (0) 1865 853333, E-mail: healthpermissions@elsevier.com. Requests may also be completed online via the Elsevier homepage (http://www.elsevier.com/permissions ).

DISCLOSURE OF POTENTIAL CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

The Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior is committed to preserving objectivity by identifying and acknowledging potential conflicts of interest, both real and perceived, among all persons involved in the publication process, including authors. This ethics policy is in keeping with current standards in the scientific literature, supported by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors, and recommended in the American Medical Association Manual of Style, 10th edition.Examples of financial interests include employment, consultancies, stock ownership, honoraria, expert testimony, royalties, patents, grants, and material or financial support from industry, government, or private agencies. Nonfinancial interests include personal or professional relationships, knowledge, or beliefs that might reduce one's objectivity.1

When submitting a manuscript at http://ees.elsevier.com/jneb/ , please disclose all potential conflicts in the space provided for that purpose. When citing the sources of funding for your research, please include the date and source. All information regarding funding sources reported in this form is confidential. It will be available only to JNEB's editors.

TYPES OF MANUSCRIPTS CONSIDERED

Research Articles are concise reports of original research on any aspect of nutrition education. Papers based on the results of preliminary research are not acceptable.

Research Briefs are (1) articles that describe development and validation of new measures and methods for research and/or (2) articles that satisfy all criteria for a Research Article but report results from a small or non-representative sample, report on secondary or ancillary results from a larger study, or report on a topic that is considered low priority but would be of interest to some readers of JNEB.

Reports are articles that (1) discuss policy issues relevant to nutrition education and behavior, or (2) review emerging topics as they relate to nutrition education and behavior. Reports reflect newly proposed models or processes with relevance to policy or research methodology. Reports are not reviews of the literature without critical evaluation and interpretation. To decide whether your manuscript is a Report, Research Brief, or Research Article, consider the topic itself, and whether it reflects the prior definitions. It may be helpful to read some Reports as you decide.

Examples of Reports include:

• Cost-Effectiveness Model for Youth EFNEP Programs: What Do We Measure and How Do We Do It? Serrano et al, JNEB 2011;43:295-302. This Report presents the results of an expert panel related to a national program, and policy implications of creating model for determining costs and effects of the program.
• Best Practices Models for Implementing, Sustaining, and Using Instructional School Gardens in California. Hazzard et al. JNEB 2011;43:409-413. This Report contains the results of interviewing key members in schools who had exemplary school garden programs, with the synthesis into best practices, which could lead to policy changes.
• Obesity in Rural Youth: Looking Beyond Nutrition and Physical Activity . Reed et al. JNEB 2011;43:401-408. This Report presents emerging ideas concerning traditional and nontraditional factors contributing to childhood obesity in rural youth within an expanded Social Ecological Framework that the authors have developed.
• Nutrition Program Quality Assurance through a Formalized Process of On-Site Program Review . Paddock, Dollahite. JNEB 2012; 44:183-188. This Report describes the development and lessons learned from implementing a nutrition program quality assurance process, which could be replicated with other state nutrition programs, and whose goal was to influence policies on programming to ensure excellence.

Reports are up to 14 double-spaced pages [no more than 3,000 words, including references]; have an unstructured abstract (100-word limit); and usually have the major sections: Introduction, Discussion, and Implications for Research and Practice.

Viewpoints are articles communicating opinions on current issues and controversies in the field. Opinions expressed in Viewpoint articles are supported by references. Opposing viewpoints are acknowledged. For controversial issues, the Editor-in-Chief may invite articles from others holding alternative opinions for simultaneous or sequential publication.

Great Educational Materials (GEMs) are brief descriptions of innovative and useful approaches to nutrition education and behavior. A GEM includes a description of the approach (teaching technique, activity, or material), the objective(s), intended audience, implementation procedures, and evidence of usefulness or impact. Photographs or other visual materials may be included to enhance the description.

Letters to the Editor are timely and succinct expressions of responsible criticism or reaction to material published in recent issues. Letters to the Editor may also call attention to topics of general interest to readers. Submission of a Letter to the Editor constitutes permission for the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior to publish it with or without editing and abridgment. Authors of Letters to the Editor must acknowledge financial and other conflicts of interest within the letter. Authors of the articles referred to in Letters to the Editor will be given an opportunity to respond in a letter for simultaneous publication. Letters are published online, in the print issue's table of contents, and may also be shared in the eCommunicator, the e-mail newsletter of the Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior.

PREPARATION OF MANUSCRIPTS

General Style

The primary responsibility for preparing the manuscript in a form suitable for publication lies with the authors. Manuscripts (including the main text, references, and figure legends) should be saved without a title page as a single file, and should be prepared in a 12-point typeface, double-spaced and with 1-inch margins throughout. Beginning with the Introduction, each manuscript page is numbered in the upper right-hand corner and each line is numbered consecutively.

First-level headings are centered on the page, typed in all-capital letters, bolded, and followed by two blank lines. Second-level headings begin flush with the left margin, have each word capitalized, are bolded, and are followed by one blank line. Third-level headings begin flush with the left margin, are written sentence style with a period at the end, and are bolded. Text follows immediately on the same line. (Third level headings are only used in Research Articles.)

Page limits are noted below. Page limits exclude the abstract but include all other text, acknowledgments, references, tables, figures, and other illustrations. Manuscripts must not exceed word count limits or page limits.

• Research Article: 20 double-spaced pages [no more than 4,500 words, including references]
• Research Brief: 14 double-spaced pages [no more than 3,000 words, including references]
• Report: 14 double-spaced pages [no more than 3,000 words, including references]
• Viewpoint: 12 double-spaced pages [no more than 3,000 words, including references]
• GEMs: 4 double-spaced pages [no more than 900 words, including references]
• Letter to the Editor: 2 double-spaced pages [no more than 400 words]

Slightly longer articles (up to approximately 5 additional pages) may be considered in the case of qualitative research owing to the nature of findings (words versus numbers), which require more space to report. Deviation from page guidelines may result in a request to shorten a manuscript before it is sent to reviewers or in a decision to decline further consideration of a manuscript.

The past tense of verbs is used to discuss methods and results. Present tense is used to refer to existing literature or general truths and to state conclusions. Active voice is preferred. Jargon and sexist language are avoided. For preferred usage of terms related to race and ethnicity, see the American Medical Association Manual of Style, 10th edition. Authors have access to reviewer guidelines for both quantitative and qualitative research.

ORGANIZATION AND CONTENT OF MANUSCRIPTS AND ACCOMPANYING MATERIALS

Cover letter

The cover letter (save as a separate file for submission)
• indicates the type of manuscript being submitted (see the categories described above)
• describes why the manuscript would be of interest to JNEB readers
• specifies that the manuscript, or parts of it, have not been and will not be submitted elsewhere for publication
• notes overlapping or related manuscripts under review, in press, or published
• identifies the corresponding author
• states that all authors have reviewed and approved the complete manuscript (including tables, figures and ancillary material where applicable)
• indicates the manuscript's complete page count (including text, acknowledgments, references, tables, figures, and other illustrations)

Title page

The title page includes:

• the title of the manuscript; good titles are short, use the active voice, and capture key findings. Avoid trite titles.
• the section of the Journal for which the manuscript is intended
• the names of all authors, their academic degrees (eg, PhD, listing only the highest degree), professional credentials (eg, RD), and affiliations
• the name, address, telephone number, fax number, and e-mail address of the corresponding author
• the name and address of the institution at which the work was conducted if it differs from the present affiliation of the first author
• the acknowledgments section (for Research Articles, Briefs, Reports, and Viewpoints only). Title 'Acknowledgments' on your title page. Acknowledgments identify sources of financial support for the work reported in the manuscript, sources of substantial technical assistance, and sources from which some or all of the data were taken (eg, a thesis, dissertation, presentation, or report). Acknowledgments should not be numbered or referred to in the text.
• the notes section (for GEMs only). Title "Notes" on your title page.
- The notes must include approval from a human subjects committee if the GEM report evaluation results involve subjects. If no institutional review board (IRB) approval was necessary for this research, please add a statement about this instead. In this statement, include which institution reviewed the study and decided that it was exempt from IRB review (institution should be blinded for review). If it was not reviewed by your university or institution, please provide the documentation that pertains to this type of study, deeming it unnecessary to have it reviewed. An example of this may be:
- Review by the institutional review board was not required for this study because human subjects were not involved, as per US Department of Health and Human Services guidelines (ref: http://www.hhs.gov/ohrp/policy/checklists/decisioncharts.html#c1)
- Notes may also include information on how to obtain materials, acknowledgement of technical assistance, sources of financial support, and collaborators.

Note: Because the Journal employs a double-blinded review process, we must ask that you include author information and acknowledgments only on the title page of your manuscript. Save this title page as a separate file. You will be asked to upload the title page file as you submit your manuscript on our Web-based system.

Abstract page

The abstract page should contain the abstract, abstract word count, and key words (saved as a separate file). Formats and word limits for abstracts are summarized, below, according to the type of article submitted:

• Research Article: structured abstract (200-word limit)
• Research Brief: structured abstract (150-word limit)
• Report: unstructured abstract (100-word limit)
• Viewpoint: unstructured abstract (100-word limit)
• GEM: no abstract. However, please provide 2 to 3 sentences summarizing the educational program or tool being evaluated and the results of the evaluation (50-word limit). This summary will be sent to reviewers and will not be part of the GEMs' publication.

Structured Abstracts

Research Articles

A structured abstract organizes information with descriptive headings that begin flush with the left margin. Incomplete sentences are acceptable in a structured abstract for the sake of brevity. To facilitate selective electronic searches, structured abstracts include the following subheadings (verbatim), bolded and presented in the order shown here:

Objective: Specifies the primary purpose or objective(s) of the study and/or hypotheses tested.

Design: Describes the basic research design, methods used to collect data, timing and sequence of intervention, and data collection.

Setting: Describes the study setting.

Participants: States the number of participants or subjects/objects of observation by group and subgroup, describes how they were selected, specifies the response rate for participants, summarizes key demographic characteristics for each study group and subgroup, and describes the extent to which they represent the population from which they were drawn.

Intervention(s): Describes the essential features of the intervention(s) including setting, methods, and duration. If no intervention was conducted, omit this subheading from the abstract.

Main Outcome Measure(s): Specifies dependent and independent variables and describes how each variable was measured. In the case of descriptive research, replace this subheading with "Variables Measured." In the case of qualitative research, replace this subheading with "Phenomenon of Interest."

Analysis: Summarizes how data were analyzed quantitatively and/or qualitatively; specifies the level used to determine statistical significance of quantitative results.

Results: Summarizes primary results reported in the manuscript; includes the number of participants, the direction of change, and the variance and level of statistical significance for each quantitative result; includes confidence intervals or effect sizes wherever appropriate.

Conclusions and Implications: Specifies study conclusions directly supported by results reported in the abstract and specifies implications for research, practice, and policy making.

Research Briefs

Structured abstracts for Research Briefs include the following subheadings (verbatim), bolded and presented in the order shown here:

Objective: Specifies the primary purpose or objective(s) of the study and/or hypotheses tested.

Methods: Describes the basic research design, methods used to collect data, timing and sequence of intervention, and data collection.

Results: Summarizes primary results reported in the manuscript; includes the number of participants, the direction of change, and the variance and level of statistical significance for each quantitative result; includes confidence intervals or effect sizes wherever appropriate.

Conclusions and Implications: Specifies study conclusions directly supported by results reported in the abstract and specifies implications for research, practice, and policy making.

Unstructured Abstracts

Reports and Viewpoints

An unstructured (conventional) abstract is written in paragraph form. It provides a brief overview of all key aspects of the manuscript. Topics covered in a conventional abstract depend on whether the manuscript describes a program and its evaluation, a new research method, or a review of literature or policy issues. All abstracts begin with a clearly defined purpose or objective and end with conclusions and implications for research, practice and policy making.

GEMs

GEMs do not require abstracts. However, please provide 2 to 3 sentences summarizing the educational program or tool being evaluated and the results of the evaluation (50-word limit). This summary will be sent to reviewers and will not be part of the GEMs' publication.

General Abstract Formatting

All manuscripts must include an abstract word count. This should be written in parentheses immediately following the abstract's last line. Sentences in both structured and unstructured abstracts may not begin with a numeral. Example: "435 parents were surveyed..."

Key words

All structured and unstructured abstracts are accompanied by a list of 3 to 5 key words for indexing. Key words are selected from the listing of Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) outlined by MEDLINE (http://www.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/2010/mesh_browser/MBrowser.html ). MeSH key words are used for indexing in PubMed. To maximize the likelihood that your paper will be identified appropriately by other researchers, educators, or administrators, it is important to choose MeSH key words whenever possible. Choosing non-MeSH words will make it more difficult for your article to be appropriately cited.

Manuscript text

The manuscript text should be saved as a separate file. Text guidelines for each manuscript type are as follows:

Research Articles
Research articles include the following major sections:
• Introduction: concisely describes the issue addressed in the manuscript, explains its importance in relation to existing literature, describes the theoretical or conceptual foundation on which the study is based, states the objectives of the article, specifies hypotheses tested.
• Methods: describes the research design, sampling methods, recruitment strategies, measurement instruments, methods used to test instruments for validity and reliability, data collection procedures, and statistical analyses in enough detail for replication. The Methods section specifies the level used to determine statistical significance for each test. Confidence intervals and standard errors of the mean, effect sizes, or other statistical results that may be used for post hoc analyses comparing program results are encouraged. For general statistical guidelines, go to Guidelines for Statistical Methods for JNEB. The Methods section provides rationale for analyzing data by race or ethnicity (if applicable). It also specifies that the project was reviewed and approved by an Institutional Review Board or similar human studies review board, with a full, expedited, or limited review and that written, oral, or implied consent and/or assent was obtained. Alternately, if no institutional review board (IRB) approval was necessary for this research, please add a statement about this instead. In this statement, include which institution reviewed the study and decided that it was exempt from IRB review (institution should be blinded for review). If it was not reviewed by your university or institution, please provide the documentation that pertains to this type of study, deeming it unnecessary to have it reviewed. An example of this may be:
- Review by the institutional review board was not required for this study because human subjects were not involved, as per US Department of Health and Human Services guidelines (ref: http://www.hhs.gov/ohrp/policy/checklists/decisioncharts.html#c1)
• Results: outlines results clearly and systematically, mentioning or highlighting—but not duplicating—information displayed in tables; specifies the direction and magnitude of each statistically significant difference reported. Carefully designed tables and figures are encouraged to showcase results.
• Discussion: provides an in-depth interpretation of results reported, compares and discusses results in relation to those from similar studies reported in the literature and in relation to theory, outlines limitations of the study, describes how study limitations influence interpretation of results, and offers alternative explanations for the findings.
• Implications for Research and Practice: specifies how researchers, practitioners, and policy makers could apply results to future work.

Research Articles may include second-level sections to clarify or enhance readability within major sections. At times, Research Articles may require second-level sections that are specific to the research being reported. However, the following second-level sections are generally recommended, if necessary, for these major sections:
• Methods-Study Design; Participants and Recruitment (includes descriptions of sampling methodology and ethical approval/human subjects consent); Instruments; Measures; Procedures; Data Analysis
• Discussion-Limitations

Research Briefs
Research briefs include the same major sections as Research Articles. Use of second-level sections is allowed but overuse is discouraged. Third-level sections are not permitted in Research Briefs.

Reports and Viewpoints
Reports and Viewpoints include the following major sections: Introduction, Discussion, and Implications for Research and Practice. They should not include sections for Methods or Results. Instead, they should employ alternately titled headings that distinguish them from Research Articles and Research Briefs. Examples include "Description of the Intervention," "Description of the Evaluation," and "Lessons Learned." Reports developing new concepts or reviewing topics may include additional major sections as needed. Second-level sections are allowed but over-use is discouraged. Reports and Viewpoints do not include third-level sections.

GEMs
• Introduction: describes why the program/activity is worth reading about.
• Body/Content: states the target audience and notes the adaptability of the program to different audiences. It also states the purpose/objective of the program/activity, describes how one would implement the program/activity, and describes how the program/activity has been evaluated and with what results. If applicable, it also describes plans for future refinement/use and the application or use of theory and/or models to program design and/or evaluation.

Basic Style Requirements

JNEB adheres to the style recommendations outlined in the American Medical Association Manual of Style, 10th edition. Authors also are asked to make note of the following style requirements and format manuscripts accordingly before submitting:
• Abbreviations, acronyms, and initialisms should be spelled out on first use, with the shortened versions immediately following in parentheses. Example: Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Manuscripts should be limited to a total of five acronyms, abbreviations, and initialisms to limit reader confusion. Beyond this, all terms must be spelled out. A list of approved terms that may be used in their abbreviated forms on first use is available here.
• Behavior theories or models mentioned frequently in a manuscript should be abbreviated whenever possible. Example: Social Cognitive Theory (SCT).
• "N" and "n" should be used as follows: "N" indicates a whole population or an epidemiological study; "n" indicates a sample or subpopulation.
• Decimals should be used only to 1 degree more than the unit of measurement. For whole numbers, decimals need to be rounded to tenths; if precision of measurement is in the tenths, may use hundredths, eg, weight measured to the tenth of a pound, means may be expressed as hundredths. Please be sure of your precision: while most software will express results greater than the precision, it is not appropriate to use these figures in tables, eg, 34.1 mg niacin.
Decimals should be used only to 1 degree more than the unit of measurement. The exception to this is percentages concerning people. For fewer than 100 people, please round to the nearest whole percentage, eg, 95% of participants (n = 80) rather than 95.3% of participants (n = 80).
• When reporting P values, values less than .001 should be reported as such: P <.001. Actual values for P should be expressed to 2 digits for P ≥ .01, whether or not P is significant. If the P value is < .01, there should be 3 significant figures reported (ie, P = .008). Use P values rather than alpha values. For general statistical guidelines, go to Guidelines for Statistical Methods for JNEB.

Footnotes

Footnotes are discouraged, except in tables. In tables, footnotes are superscripted; lowercase letters (or other common designators) are used to indicate significant differences within rows. If absolutely necessary, footnotes should appear before the reference list under the subheading Footnotes.

References

Each new reference introduced in the text is numbered sequentially. The reference number appears superscripted immediately following related text. The reference list is double-spaced and numbered to correspond with citations in text. Reference style follows the system described in the American Medical Association Manual of Style, 10th edition, with the exception of not including issue numbers for Journal references. MEDLINE abbreviations are used for periodical titles. If a standard abbreviation is not available, cite the full title.

Journal Article
Olson CM. Tracking of food choices across the transition to motherhood. J Nutr Educ Behav. 2005;37:129-136.

Book
Glanz K, Rimer BK, Lewis FM, eds. Health Behavior and Health Education: Theory, Research, and Practice. 3rd ed. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Publishers; 2002.

Book Chapter
Baranowski T, Perry CL, Parcel GS. How individuals, environments, and health behavior interact. In: Glanz K, Rimer BK, Lewis FM, eds. Health Behavior and Health Education: Theory, Research, and Practice. 3rd ed. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Publishers; 2002:165-184.

Government documents are referenced no matter how well known they may be to readers (eg, Dietary Guidelines for Americans). References for government documents include, in this order, the name(s) of author(s) if specified in the document; title; place of publication; name of the issuing bureau, agency, or department; date of publication; publication number (if any); and series number (if any).

Published, peer-reviewed sources are always preferred, but World Wide Web (WWW) resources may be used, especially in cases in which government documents are more readily available online than in print. All web links and URLs, including links to the authors' own websites, should be given a reference number and included in the reference list rather than within the text of the manuscript. To cite an online source, provide the following information in this order and format: Name of author/agency. Title of document. URL. Accessed month and date, year. Example: National Cancer Institute. Cancer Health Disparities. www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/types/disparities. Accessed September 15, 2008.

If the URL is to a pdf owned by the author(s), the pdf may be submitted as supplementary material (see Supplementary Data section).

Unpublished material and personal communications are cited in text only with the source and date indicated in parentheses immediately following related material. Examples: (J. A. Doe, unpublished data, 2007); (J. A. Doe, oral communication, 2007).

Software used for data analysis also should be cited in text only. Citations should include the software's name and developer, the developer's location, and the year the version used was released. Example: (SPSS version 15.0, SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, 2007).

Likewise, equipment used in data collection should be cited in text only. Citations should include the equipment's model name and developer, the developer's location, and the year the model used was released. Example: stadiometer (SECA model 222, SECA Corp., Hamburg, Germany, 2008).

Authors are responsible for the accuracy of references. References should be up to date (with the exception of older, seminal sources) and readily available to readers. Avoid secondary sources.

Relevant JNEB references should be included in citations. Search http://www.jneb.org/home for specific topics.

Guidelines for Tables

Table Submission:
Each table should be saved and uploaded as a separate file.

Number tables consecutively in accordance with their appearance in the text. If there is only 1 table, then no number is assigned (eg. Table).

Table Format:
Title: Provide a table number and a descriptive title. Words in the title are capitalized. The title should describe the type of data included and should give the sample size (n) unless it varies by measure/variable (in which case, then n should be included within the table content).
Example of unacceptable table title: Descriptive DemographicsExample of acceptable table title: Anthropometric and Socioeconomic Data for Adults Enrolled in Healthy Eating Programs (n = 40).

Content: All data included in Tables should not all be included within the text of the manuscript. The most important results should be included in the narrative (text), but repeating results that will not be discussed is not encouraged. Within the table, do not use bullets. For qualitative tables, indentation of text may also be used within a section.

Footnotes: The order of items within the footnote are abbreviations, then statistical significance, then the statistical test used. Any abbreviation used in the table should be spelled out in the footnote Statistical significance, if not included in the table content, should be identified with an asterisk (eg. *P<.05; P<.01; P<.001 or *Significance based on 95% CI). Statistical test used (ie, chi-square, logistic regression, etc.) and statistical adjustments made to models should also be identified.

Table title, data/content, and footnotes should be complete enough to understand without referring to related text.

Table Data/Content:
Report means and standard deviations if the data have a normal distribution; report the interquartile range (IQR) and the median if the data are not normally distributed. Standard Error of the Mean (SEM) should only be used if multiple samples are gathered, eg groups of schools. Confidence intervals (CI) should be included if relative risk or odds ratios are in the table. The statistical significance (P) may be included as the number (eg, P<.05), or indicated by an asterisk and footnote (see Table Format for Footnotes). Superscripted lower case letters may be used if differences among several groups are to be shown. Differences between 2 or more groups should include a column for P or the asterisk to indicate significance (please refer to the Author Guidelines on how to report P).

Decimals should be used only to 1 degree more than the unit of measurement. For whole numbers, decimals need to be rounded to tenths; if precision of measurement is in the tenths, may use hundredths (eg weight measured to the tenth of a pound, means may be expressed as hundredths). Please be sure of your precision: while most software will express results greater than the precision, it is not appropriate to use these figures in tables, eg 34.1 mg niacin. The exception to this is percentages concerning people with n ≥ 100; however, for fewer than 100 people, please round to the nearest whole percentage, eg 95% of participants (n=80) rather than 95.3% of participants (n=80).

Guidelines for Figures

Figures Submission:
Each figure should be saved and uploaded as a separate file.

Number figures consecutively in accordance with their appearance in the text. If there is only 1 figure, then no number is assigned (eg. Figure).

Figure Format:
Legend: Figure legends should be presented at the end of the manuscript, just after the references (Legends should not be attached to figures themselves.). Legends constitute a distinct section of the manuscript and should start on a new page. Ensure that each illustration has a legend. A legend should be comprised of a brief title (not placed on the figure itself) and a description of the illustration. Figure titles should be written in sentence format.
Example of acceptable figure title: Body Mass Index (BMI) versus calories consumed after 3-month intervention with 10- to 12-year-olds.Example of unacceptable figure title: Body Mass Index (BMI) versus calories.

Figure legends should also explain any abbreviations or statistical tests (ie, chi-square, logistic regression, etc.). Keep text in figures to a minimum; instead, use figure legends to explain all symbols and abbreviations used.

Content: Lettering and identifying characters must be clear and consistent on each figure. Make sure you use uniform lettering and sizing of your original artwork. Save text in illustrations as “graphics” or enclose the font. Only use the following fonts in your illustrations: Arial, Courier, Helvetica, Times, Symbol. Titles, explanations, and definitions of abbreviations must be noted in the legends, not on the figures themselves.

Figure Data/Content/Image:
A detailed guide on electronic artwork is available at http://www.elsevier.com/artworkinstructions.
If figures do not meet these guidelines and do not appear to be clearly reproducible, they will be returned to authors with a request for new figures at any stage of publication.

Consort diagrams should be used to explain recruitment/enrollment/retention of subjects for any intervention ((see Williams-Piehota et al, JNEB 41(6), 2009). Other appropriate figures include maps (see Stone, JNEB 43 (4S2), 2011), scatter grams for continuous data; bar graphs for categorical data (body mass index by gender, for example), and diagrams for spatial and conceptual relationships, such as you may see with the Social Ecological Model.

For GEMs, it is preferred that authors use 1 to 2 figures that enhance the GEM description (photos should meet this requirement and not simply show authors or participants). Figures must also be referred to within the text. For recognizable photo(s), you must have release form(s) from subject(s).

In order to maintain a clear separation between the author and any other agency, the editors require that all figures, tables, and photographs be submitted directly by the contributing author and no other source.

Ancillary Material

Data collection instruments such as tests, surveys, interview scripts, and observation forms used in the study are included with submissions along with overlapping or related manuscripts in review, in press, or published. Including these materials with the original submission will expedite review of the manuscript. Reviewers will have access to data collection materials (ie, ancillary materials) but not to related or overlapping manuscripts included in the submission. It should be noted that Ancillary Materials are for review process only, they will not be published.

Supplementary Data

Elsevier accepts electronic supplementary material to support and enhance your scientific research. Supplementary files offer the author additional possibilities to publish supporting applications, movies, animation sequences, high-resolution images, background datasets, sound clips, and more. Supplementary files supplied will be published online alongside the electronic version of your article in Elsevier Web products, including ScienceDirect (http://www.sciencedirect.com ). In order to ensure that your submitted material is directly usable, please ensure that data is provided in one of our recommended file formats. Authors should submit the material in electronic format together with the article and supply a concise and descriptive caption for each file. It should be noted that this material will be reviewed and published online, but will not be copyedited or typeset, therefore, reference to supplementary material needs to be made within the manuscript text and an additional section should be added before the References titled "Supplementary Material." For more detailed instructions please visit our artwork instruction pages at http://www.elsevier.com/artworkinstructions.

Practice Points

Practice Points are used to highlight the application of the research being presented. Within the manuscript, the Practice Point is identified by enlarged text. During submission, on the 'Practice Point' file, the approximate location of where the 'Practice Point' should be set needs to be indicated (ie, lines 100-110). Up to three separate Practice Points are allowed for Research Articles and Briefs, Reports, and Viewpoints. The length of each Practice Point is limited to 140 characters with spaces. Please include the character count of each Practice Point on the submitted file along with the location of each Practice Point. Practice Points are not required as part of the submission.

MANUSCRIPT SUBMISSION AND REVIEW

All new and revised manuscripts are submitted through the Elsevier Editorial System, available at http://ees.elsevier.com/JNEB. Authors are prompted to upload and name various files containing text, tables, and artwork. PDF files cannot be used.

JNEB uses a double-blind review system. For this purpose, authors should blind all authors' names and their corresponding institutions from the manuscript, including references to Institutional Board approval. If an author's name appears within a reference, all authors' names should be blinded from that reference (all other information within the reference should remain as is). Authors may blind additional areas such as program titles or cities/countries of reference but are not required to do so.

JNEB accepts most word processing formats, though Microsoft Word is preferred. Always keep a backup copy of the electronic file for reference and safety. Save your files using the default extension of the program used.

Items (and the preferred order of files) when submitting a manuscript for review include:

• cover letter (save as a separate file)
• suggested reviewers (included in cover letter)
• reviewers who should not be assigned to the manuscript due to potential conflicts of interest (included in cover letter)
• title page (save as a separate file)
• abstract (save as a separate file)
• manuscript (main text, references, and figure legends; save as separate file)
• tables (save as individual files)
• figures (save as individual files)
• ancillary materials (tests, surveys, interview scripts, observation forms, etc.; must be blinded for review)

Revised manuscripts also should be accompanied by a unique file type called 'Detailed Response to Reviewers' (separate from the cover letter). This file should include a response to address each reviewer and editor's comment in a tabular format. Line numbers where the change appears in the revised manuscript should also be included whenever possible.

Files should be labeled with appropriate and descriptive file names (e.g., Manuscript.doc, Fig1.eps, Table3.doc). Upload text, tables and graphics, (figures) as separate files. You can compress multiple figure files into a Zip file and upload it in one step; the system will then unpack the files and prompt you to name each figure. Do not import figures or tables into the text document and do not upload your text as a PDF. Complete instructions for electronic artwork are available at http://ees.elsevier.com/jneb .

Authors who are unable to provide an electronic version or have other circumstances that prevent online transmission of manuscripts must contact the editorial office prior to submission to discuss alternate options. The publisher and editors regret they are not able to consider submissions that do not follow these procedures.

When a manuscript arrives at the JNEB office, an e-mail confirming receipt is sent to authors. The handling editor may return a manuscript to the author without review if it does not conform to the guidelines presented here, is outside the scope of the Journal, or overlaps substantially with related manuscripts in review, in press, or published.

Manuscripts meeting basic requirements are distributed to a panel of 2 to 3 reviewers. Replacement reviewers are assigned as needed.

The review process takes approximately 7 weeks, depending on the availability of reviewers. Authors receive blinded reviewer comments along with a letter from the handling editor. The editor may accept or reject a manuscript or request that it be revised prior to making a final decision.

The corresponding author of accepted manuscripts receives the typeset pages from the publisher for final proofreading along with an order form for reprints. The author returns corrections and reprint orders (if applicable) to the publisher. Journal staff also review typeset pages and return corrections to the publisher.

Manuscripts ready for publication enter a queue. The Editor-in-Chief draws on this queue for each new issue. Typically, manuscripts are published in the approximate order in which they enter the queue, but this is not guaranteed. The Editor-in-Chief may delay publication of a manuscript owing to practical considerations or move a manuscript up in the queue if it is particularly timely or fits the theme of a special issue.

Proofs

One set of page proofs in PDF format will be sent by e-mail to the corresponding author (if we do not have an e-mail address then paper proofs will be sent by post). Elsevier now sends PDF proofs which can be annotated; for this you will need to download Adobe Reader version 7 (or higher), available free from http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html .

Offprints

The corresponding author, at no cost, will be provided with a PDF file of the article via e-mail. The PDF file is a watermarked version of the published article and includes a coversheet with the journal cover image and a disclaimer outlining the terms and conditions of use. Additional paper offprints can be ordered by the authors. An order form with prices will be sent to the corresponding author.

Author Services

Enquiries concerning manuscripts arising after acceptance of the manuscript, especially those related to proofs, should be directed to the Managing Editor.

Authors also can keep track of the progress of their accepted article and request e-mail alerts informing them of changes to their manuscript's status by using the "Track a Paper" feature of Elsevier's Author Home at http://www.elsevier.com/authors .

Thank you for considering the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior for potential publication of your work. We look forward to receiving your manuscript.

For more information, contact:

Kristin Faust, M.S., R.D., L.D.N.
Managing Editor
Tel: (217) 244-7878
E-mail: managingeditor@JNEB.org
Web site: www.JNEB.org

Updated November 2012