Official Publication of the American College of Nurse-Midwives

The Editorial Board of the Journal of Midwifery & Women's Health (JMWH) welcomes manuscripts that address midwifery, primary care, public health and policy, and other topics relevant to women's health.

A manuscript may be accepted as a submission with the understanding that: 1) it has not been published previously; 2) it is being submitted exclusively to JMWH; 3) the content is not fraudulent; 4) the material does not infringe or violate any copyright agreements or any other personal or proprietary rights; and 5) all financial support for the work described in the article and any potential conflicts of interest are declared in an acknowledgment. Copies of articles published or in press elsewhere that have any duplicate material should be provided at the time of submission. A full description of the JMWH editorial policies regarding these conditions is available at www.jmwh.org.¹

SUBMITTING A MANUSCRIPT

JMWH uses Elsevier Editorial System (EES), an online manuscript submission and peer review system.² Please visit http://ees.elsevier.com/jmwh to submit your manuscript. Authors with queries regarding submissions may contact the editorial office at 240-485-1815 or jmwh@acnm.org.

Manuscripts must conform to the specifications of the Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals established by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE).³ Detailed instructions for authors and the a link to the ICMJE guidelines can be found at www.jmwh.org.

Manuscripts must be in English, written in Microsoft Word with a font size of 12, 1.5 spaced, and with 1-inch margins at the top, bottom, and sides. Pages should be numbered consecutively. The manuscript items will be uploaded as separate documents in the following order: 1) cover letter; 2) title page with author contact information, biosketch, acknowledgment(s), and any disclaimers; 3) précis, abstract, text, reference list, tables; and 4) figures.

Electronic Submissions
Corresponding authors must register with EES before manuscript submission. After submission, the corresponding author can check the status of the submission in EES or send e-mail to the editorial office as needed. EES converts the uploaded files into Acrobat PDF files for authors, reviewers and editors to view online. Go to http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep.html to download the free Adobe Acrobat Reader software. EES support is available at www.esupport.elsevier.com.

TYPES OF ARTICLES

Feature Article
An original article may address, but is not limited to: clinical practice; education; informatics/technology; health care administration/policy; or legal, ethical, environmental, cultural, or international issues affecting women's health. Length limit is 4000 words, 50 references.

Original Research
Original articles reporting basic, clinical, educational, or historic research should include objective(s), methods, results, clinical implications, and conclusions. Reports of research involving human subjects must state that informed consent and institutional review board (IRB) approval was obtained or an exemption was granted. JMWH may request documentation of the IRB process. Research in which participants are members of the American College of Nurse-Midwives must be conducted in accordance with the organization's policy regarding soliciting its members for research purposes, which is available at www.acnm.org. Clinical trials started after May 2005 must be registered with a central registry.⁴ Length limit is 4000 words, 50 references.

Brief Reports
Brief reports may include, but are not limited to: short reports of original research, professional affairs updates, historic perspectives, instructional techniques, technologies, and programs of interest for midwifery educators. Length limit is 2500 words, 25 references.

Global Exchange
This online column is a forum for women's health reports from settings outside of the United States. Articles are typically about specific populations and/or specific women's health issues that may not be generalizable to larger populations at this time. Length limit is 4000 words, 50 references.

Commentary
Controversial points of view cogently presented in the form of position papers or editorials may be submitted. This section provides a forum for authors to express varied points of view on issues, propose new ideas, and generate relevant debate. Length limit is 2000 words, 15 references.

Clinical Rounds
A description of a case that is unusual, educational, or highlights an area wherein the management is controversial, followed by a brief review of the evidence for management and/or discussion of the controversy. Length limit is 2000 words, 20 references.

Resources for Clinicians
This column presents assessment tools, Web or text resources, and evidence-based protocols that address a specific clinical or education topic. Length limit is 1500 words.

Personal Reflections
Stories of practice and personal vignettes that illuminate nonclinical aspects of the midwifery profession. Length limit is 1800 words.

Share With Women
Health professionals may copy and distribute this patient education page to share with clients. Limited to 2 typeset pages (front and back). Length limit is 1200 words.

Letters to the Editor
Letters to the Editor should be no longer than 400 words and must include a complete citation of the published work that generated the letter. All letters must be signed and include corresponding author's address, telephone and fax numbers, and e-mail address. A letter's submission will be viewed as de facto permission for its publication. Letters should be submitted directly to jmwh@acnm.org as Word attachments to e-mail. The editorial board reserves the right to select, edit, and condense letters for publication. If deemed appropriate, editors may publish a response or author rebuttal to selected letters.

Media Reviews
Media reviews help readers stay abreast of current books and audio/visual resources that address topics in clinical practice, education, and research that pertain to women's health, midwifery, obstetrics or primary care. For a current list of books and videos that are available for review, please e-mailjmwhmediareviews@acnm.org. Media Review Guidelines are available at www.jmwh.org under Helpful Resources. Unsolicited reviews are welcome and will be considered for publication if submitted according to Media Review Guidelines.

JMWH STYLE
The Journal of Midwifery & Women's Health Style Guide is available at www.jmwh.org. The Style Guide has examples of required formats and guidelines for writing.

Figures and Tables
Figures include diagrams, flow charts, line drawings, and photographs. Figure(s) should be high quality and submitted as a TIFF, JPEG, PDF, or EPS electronic file. Detailed instructions for artwork submission can be found at www.jmwh.org.

Legends for Figures: Do not include the figure title or legend as part of the figure itself. The title and legend for each figure should be placed on a separate page of text at the end of the manuscript.

Illustrations, Photographs, or Art: Photographs of identifiable persons must be accompanied by written permission from the subject(s).

Permission to Republish Figures
Figures or tables from another source must be accompanied by written permission for their use from the copyright holder, and the reference must be acknowledged in the legend for the figure or table.

Units of Measure:
Authors should express all measurements in conventional units with Systeme International (SI) units given in parentheses throughout the text.

Abbreviations
JMWH has a standard list of acceptable abbreviations. This list can be found in the JMWH Style Guide at www.jmwh.org. All other abbreviations are discouraged. When first used, the full term for which the abbreviation stands must be spelled out followed by the abbreviation in parentheses.

Drug names
Generic names should be used in text with the brand name following in parentheses.

References
References should be indicated in the text with superscript numbers that appear in the numeric order cited. Personal communications and unpublished data are not to be cited in the reference list, but may be mentioned in the text in parentheses. Journal titles should be abbreviated in the reference list according to MEDLINE abbreviations.Acomplete list of journals indexed forMEDLINE ( http://www.nlm.nih.gov/tsd/serials/lji.html ) and a search engine for journal abbreviations ( http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?db=journals ) are available online.

The numbered list at the end of the article should conform to the following style:

Journal (list up to 6 authors before using et al, but if more than 6 authors, list first 3 authors plus et al):
Declercq ER, Williams DR, Koontz AM, Paine LL, Streit EL, McCloskey L. Serving women in need: nurse-midwifery practice in the United States. J Midwifery Womens Health. 2001;46(1):11-16.

Nannini A, Lazar J, Berg C, et al. Injury: a major cause of pregnancy-associated morbidity in Massachusetts. J Midwifery Women's Health. 2008;53(1):3-10.

Books:
Hackley B, Kriebs JM, Rousseau ME. Primary Care of Women: A Guide for Midwives and Women's Health Providers. Boston, MA: Jones and Bartlett; 2006.

Chapter in an edited book:
Wood CL. Complications of gestational age assessment and the postdate pregnancy. In: Varney H, Kriebs JM, Gegor CL, eds. Varney's Midwifery. 4th ed. Boston, MA: Jones and Bartlett; 2004:715-733.

Institutional publication:
American College of Nurse-Midwives. Core Competencies for Basic Midwifery Practice. Silver Spring, MD: American College of Nurse-Midwives; 2007.

Online journal article:
McCook J, Reame N, Thatcher S. Health-related quality of life issues in womenwith polycystic ovary syndrome. J ObstetGynecol Neonatal Nurs. 2005; 34(1):12-20. Available at: http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/118700462/issue. Accessed December 3, 2008.

Additional examples for different types of electronic references can be found in the JMWH StyleGuide at www.jmwh.org

REFERENCES

1. Journal of Midwifery & Women's Health Editorial Board. Editorial policies for authors. Available at: http://www.jmwh.org/webfiles/images/journals/jmwh/ed_policies.pdf/. Published November 29, 2005. Accessed December 3, 2008.
2. Elsevier Editorial System. Available at: http://ees.elsevier.com/jmwh. Accessed December 3, 2008.
3. International Committee of Medical Journal Editors. Uniform requirements for manuscripts submitted to biomedical journals. Available at: http://www.icmje.org. Updated October 2008. Accessed December 3, 2008.
4. DeAngelis DC, Drazen JM, Frizelle FA, et al. Clinical trial registration: a statement from the international committee of medical journal editors. JAMA. 2004;292(11):1363?1364. Authors wishing to register a clinical trial should follow the procedures noted at http://prsinfo.clinicaltrials.gov/. General information about registered clinical trials can also be found at www.clinicaltrials.gov.

• Author's Checklist (PDF)



Updated June 2009