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Submission of Papers

Social Science & Medicine uses an online submission system, the Elsevier Editorial System (EES). Click here for the website address.

Authors using the system for the first time will need to go to the above webpage and register as a new author by clicking the 'Register' link. Once registered and logged in, authors may make a submission by clicking 'Submit New Manuscript' and following the instructions. New authors who have previously reviewed for Social Science & Medicine via the online system will not need to register and may use their existing reviewer username and password to log in as an author. All correspondence between editors and authors is performed by e-mail and hardcopy manuscripts are not required.

Two types of contribution are welcomed:

1. Full papers. These are original research reports or critical reviews of a field, and may be up to 8000 words including abstract, tables, figures, endnotes and references as well as the main text. Papers below this limit are preferred. The editors are prepared to consider longer papers in exceptional cases, though justification for this must be made at submission by the author.

2. Short items. These are reports of research findings, commentaries on topical issues of between 2000 and 4000 words.

Submissions will be considered on the understanding that:
• the article comprises original, unpublished material (except in the form of a conference abstract or as part of a published lecture or a thesis submitted for an academic qualification).
• it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere.
• the studies on which it is based have been subject to appropriate ethical review.
• its publication is approved by all authors and tacitly or explicitly by the responsible authorities where the work was carried out.
• if accepted, it will not be published elsewhere in the same form, in English or in any other language, without the written consent of the Publisher.

Authors are required to confirm the above points during submission.

Social Science & Medicine does not normally list more than six authors to a paper, and special justification must be provided for doing so. Further information on criteria for authorship can be found in Social Science & Medicine, 2007, 64(1), 1-4.

We do not consider companion pieces except in special instances. Authors should approach the Managing Editor if they wish to submit companion articles.

All submissions are subject to initial assessment by the Managing Editor, the Editor-in-Chief or the appropriate Senior Editor to determine their suitability for consideration by Social Science & Medicine. Authors will normally be informed within 2 weeks if their paper is to be rejected without review, and can otherwise track its status on the online editorial system. Papers accepted for formal review will be sent anonymously to at least two independent referees with all authorship details removed. Typically the manuscript will be reviewed within 2 to 3 months. If necessary, revised manuscripts may be returned to the initial referees, usually within 1 month. Referees and Senior Editors may request more than one revision of a manuscript, and alternative referees may also be invited to review the manuscript at any time. Further information on our peer-review policy can be found here.

On average accepted papers now appear online, 'in press' and citable 7 weeks after acceptance (if proofs are returned promptly); fully published online with volume and issue number in a following 8 weeks; and in a printed and bound issue 3 weeks after that.

Please note that we may forward accepted papers for legal review if it is deemed necessary.

Manuscript Preparation

General: We accept most word processing formats, but MSWord files are preferred, with all author-identifying text removed. They are acceptable in US or UK English, but the use of either must be consistent throughout the manuscript. Submissions should be double spaced and use between 10 and 12pt font, and any track changes should be removed. The editors reserve the right to adjust style to certain standards of uniformity. Authors should retain an electronic copy of their manuscript.

Abstract: An abstract of up to 300 words must be included in the submitted manuscript. An abstract is often presented separately from the article, so it must be able to stand alone. It should state briefly and clearly the purpose and setting of the research, the principal findingss and major conclusions, and the paper's contribution to knowledge. For empirical papers the country/countries/locations of the study should be clearly stated, as should the methods and nature of the sample, and a summary of the findings/conclusion. Please note that excessive statistical details should be avoided, abbreviations/acronyms used only if essential or firmly established, and that the abstract should not be structured into subsections.

Keywords: Up to 8 keywords are entered separately into the online editorial system (EES) during submission, and should accurately reflect the content of the article. Again abbreviations/acronyms should be used only if essential or firmly established. For empirical papers the country/countries/locations of the research should be included. The keywords will be used for indexing purposes.

Author details: This information is entered into the online editorial system (EES) during submission and should not be included in the manuscript itself.

Text: In the main body of the submitted manuscript this order should be followed: abstract, main text, references, appendix, figure captions, tables and figures. Do not place tables or figures in the main text. As with author details and keywords, acknowledgements are entered separately during the online submission process. Please use a concise and informative title (avoiding abbreviations where possible), as these are often used in information-retrieval systems. During submission authors are asked to provide a word count; this should include all text, including that in the tables, figures, references etc. The use of endnotes and footnotes should be avoided if possible, though if necessary they should be listed separately at the end of the text and not at the bottom of each page. All endnotes (except for table footnotes) should be identified with superscript Arabic numbers. All pages must be numbered in the bottom right-hand corner.

References: Social Science & Medicine uses the APA referencing system, details of which can be found at http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/05/ and http://www.apastyle.org/. All publications cited in the text should be presented in a list of references following the text of the manuscript. In the text refer to the author's name (without initials) and year of publication e.g. "Since Peterson (1993) has shown that..." or "This is in agreement with results obtained later (Kramer, 1994)". For 2-6 authors all authors are to be listed at first citation, with "&" separating the last two authors, for more than six authors, use the first six authors followed by et al. In subsequent citations for three or more authors use et al. in the text. The list of references should be arranged alphabetically by authors' names. The manuscript should be carefully checked to ensure that the spelling of authors' names and dates are exactly the same in the text as in the reference list. Responsibility for the accuracy of bibliographic citations lies entirely with the author(s). Citation of a reference as "in press" implies that the item has been accepted for publication. Authors are responsible for the accuracy of the content of the references.

References should be given in the following form:

Adkins, L. (2002). Revisions: Gender and sexuality in late modernity. Buckingham: Open University Press.

Macintyre, S., & Ellaway, A. (2000). Ecological approaches: Rediscovering the role of the physical and social environment. In L. F. Berkman, & I. Kawachi (Eds.), Social epidemiology (pp. 332-348). New York: Oxford University Press.

Glenton, C. (2003). Chronic back pain sufferers-striving for the sick role. Social Science & Medicine, 57, 2243-2252.

Citing and listing of Web references: As a minimum, the full URL should be given. Any further information, if known (DOI, author names, dates, reference to a source publication, etc.) should also be given. Web references can be listed separately (e.g., after the reference list) under a different heading if desired, or can be included in the reference list.

Referencing software such as Endnote? and Reference Manager? include the Social Science & Medicine style. If your current version of such software does not include the style it can be downloaded from the software website.

Illustrations and Photographs: Details of the preferred file formats for electronically submitted illustrations and photographs can be found at http://www.elsevier.com/artworkinstructions All illustrations should be provided in camera-ready form, suitable for reproduction (which may include reduction) without retouching. Photographs, charts and diagrams should be referred to as "Figure(s)" and should be numbered consecutively in the order to which they are referred. They should accompany the manuscript, but should not be included within the text. All figures should have a caption.

Line drawings: All lettering, graph lines and points on graphs should be sufficiently large and bold to permit reproduction when the diagram has been reduced to a size suitable for inclusion in the journal. Do not use any type of shading on computer-generated illustrations.

Colour: Where printed colour figures are required, the author will be charged at the current colour printing costs. All colour illustrations will appear in colour online, via ScienceDirect, at no cost. Please note that because of technical complications which can arise when converting colour figures to greyscale (for the printed version should authors not opt for colour in print) please submit in addition usable black and white versions of all the colour illustrations. In cases where colour is paid for, authors will receive an additional one hundred offprints free of charge.

Tables: Tables should be numbered consecutively and given a suitable caption and if possible provided at the end of the same file as the main text. Footnotes to tables should be typed below the table and should be referred to by superscript lowercase letters. No vertical rules should be used. Tables should not duplicate results presented elsewhere in the manuscript (e.g. in graphs).

Supplementary data: Elsevier accepts supplementary material to support and enhance your research. Supplementary files offer the author additional possibilities to publish supporting applications, more detailed tables, background datasets etc. Supplementary files (if accepted) will be published online and linked to via the electronic version of your article. For more detailed instructions please visit our artwork instruction pages at http://www.elsevier.com/artworkinstructions

Proofs: Proofs will be sent to the corresponding author by PDF wherever possible and should be returned within 48 hours of receipt, preferably by e-mail. Corrections should be restricted to typesetting errors; any other amendments made may be charged to the author. Any queries should be answered in full. Elsevier will do everything possible to get your article corrected and published as quickly and accurately as possible. Therefore, it is important to ensure that all of your corrections are returned to us in one all-inclusive e-mail or fax. Subsequent additional corrections will not be possible, so please ensure that your first communication is complete. Proofreading is solely the responsibility of the author(s). Note that Elsevier may proceed with the publication of your article if no response is received.

Offprints: The corresponding author, at no cost, will be provided with a PDF file of the article via email or, alternatively, 25 free paper offprints. The PDF file is a watermarked version of the published article and includes a cover sheet 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.

Copyright: Upon acceptance of an article, authors will be asked to sign a 'Journal Publishing Agreement' (for more information on this and copyright see http://www.elsevier.com/copyright). Acceptance of the agreement will ensure the widest possible dissemination of information. An e-mail will be sent to the corresponding author confirming the receipt of the manuscript by production together with a 'Journal Publishing Agreement' form or a link to the online version of this agreement. Permission of the Publisher is required for resale or distribution outside the institution and for all other derivative works, including compilations and translations (please consult http://www.elsevier.com/permissions). If excerpts from other copyrighted works are included, the authors must obtain written permission from the copyright owners and credit the sources in the article. Elsevier has preprinted forms for use by authors in these cases: please consult http://www.elsevier.com/permissions.

Funding body agreements and policies: Elsevier has established agreements and developed policies to allow authors whose articles appear in journals published by Elsevier, to comply with potential manuscript archiving requirements as specified as conditions of their grant awards. To learn more about existing agreements and policies please visit http://www.elsevier.com/fundingbodies

Author's rights and services: As an author you (or your employer or institution) retain certain rights; for details go to: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/authorshome.authors/authorsrights.

For further enquiries relating to the submission of articles please contact the Managing Editor.