The Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior (JNEB), the official journal of the
Society for Nutrition Education, 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's official journal, JNEB
also includes occasional policy statements, issue perspectives, and member communications.
By submitting a manuscript, authors certify that 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. Copyright exceptions are made as required for manuscripts submitted by employees of the US government. Permission to reprint
part or all of any article in this journal may be sought directly from Elsevier's Rights Department in Philadelphia, PA, USA: Tel: (215)
238-7869, Fax: (215) 238-2239, E-mail: healthpermissions@elsevier.com. Requests may also be completed online via the Elsevier
homepage (http://www.elsevier.com/locate/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, 9th 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, or (2) review emerging
topics as they relate to nutrition education.
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. 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. Guidelines
specific to writing GEMs are available at www.jneb.org/content/gems.
They should be used in conjunction with the general guidance provided here.
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. Letters related to articles published in JNEB will receive top priority for
publishing, and the authors of the articles will be given an opportunity to respond in a letter for simultaneous publication. Letters
are published in the eCommunicator, the e-mail newsletter of the Society for Nutrition Education.
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 introduction, abstract, main text, references, and figure legends) should be saved without a title
page as a file and are prepared with a 12-point typeface, double-spaced throughout with 1-inch margins on each side. 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 bolded. Text follows immediately on the same line.
Page limits are noted below. Page limits exclude the abstract but include all other text, acknowledgments, references, tables, figures,
and other illustrations.
Research Article: 20 pages
Research Brief: 14 pages
Report: 14 pages
Viewpoint: 12 pages
Letter to the Editor: 2 pages
Slightly longer articles will be considered in the case of
qualitative research owing to the nature of findings (words versus numbers), which require more space to report.
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: A Guide for Authors and Editors, 9th edition.
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
Title page
The full title page (save as a separate file, see note below)
includes:
the title of the manuscript; good titles are short, use active voice, and capture the 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, MS), 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
Note: Because the Journal employs a double-blinded
review process, we must ask that you include author information 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
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 (200-word limit)
Report: unstructured
abstract (100-word limit)
Viewpoint: unstructured (100-word limit)
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.
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.
Key Words
All structured and conventional 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://medline.cos.com/
). If suitable MeSH terms are not available, others may be used. Key words are presented in order from the most to least relevant for
indexing.
Text for 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.
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.
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.
Text for Research Briefs, Reports, and Viewpoints
Research Briefs, Reports, and Viewpoints include the following major sections described under Text for Research Articles: Introduction,
Discussion, and Implications for Research and Practice. Research Briefs, Reports, and Viewpoints should not include sections titled Methods
or Results. Instead, they should include alternative section headings that distinguish them from Research Articles. 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.
Acknowledgments
Place acknowledgments before the references, in a separate
section, and not as a footnote on the 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. Acknowledgments that reveal the authors'
identities or affiliations are omitted from blinded manuscripts by the author(s).
Footnotes
Footnotes are discouraged,
except in tables. In tables, footnotes are superscripted; lower case 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 in parentheses
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: A Guide for Authors and Editors, 9th
edition. 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, Calif: 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, Calif: 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).
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.
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).
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 via the WWW than in print. To cite a WWW source, provide the following information in this order and format: Name of
author/agency. Title of document. Available at: URL. Accessed month and date, year. Example: National Cancer Institute. Cancer Health
Disparities. Available at www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/types/disparities.
Accessed September 15, 2007. Avoid overly-extended URLs ending in .htm or .html.
Tables
Each table should be saved as
a separate file. Please double-space tables, provide a table number and descriptive title formatted style. Tables should be complete
enough to understand without referring to related text. Number tables consecutively in accordance with their appearance in the text.
Footnotes are included to explain any abbreviations or statistical tests.
The editors reserve the right to establish a reasonable
limit on the number of illustrations that will be reproduced free of charge.
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.
Number the illustrations
according to their sequence in the text. Provide all illustrations as separate files, using a logical naming convention.
Figure legends
should be presented at the end of the manuscript just after the references. The figure legends constitute a section of the manuscript
and should start on a new page. Ensure that each illustration has a legend. Supply legends as part of the article manuscript, not attached
to the figure. A legend should comprise a brief title (not on the figure itself) and a description of the illustration. Keep text
in the illustrations themselves to a minimum but explain all symbols and abbreviations used.
If figures are not in line with these
guidelines and do not appear to be clearly reproducible, they will be returned to you with a request for new ones. In order to maintain
a clear separation between the author and any other agency, the editors require that all figures, tables, and photographs must 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 but not to related or overlapping manuscripts.
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. For more detailed instructions please visit
our artwork instruction pages at http://www.elsevier.com/artworkinstructions .
MANUSCRIPT SUBMISSION AND REVIEW
All new and revised manuscripts are sent to JNEB through an online system 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 their manuscript as to author names and institutions, including
reference to Institutional Board approval and acknowledgments of funding. Authors may blind additional areas such as program title or
city/country of reference but are not required to do so. Include in the unblinded title page the name of the Institutional Review Board
and the source of funding for the study.
We accept most word processing formats, but 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 for upload)
suggested reviewers
reviewers who should not be assigned to the manuscript due to potential conflicts of interest
manuscript (including title page, abstract, main text, references, and legends for tables and figures)
tables
figures
ancillary materials (data collection instruments)
Revised manuscripts should also be accompanied by
a unique file (separate from the cover letter) with responses to reviewers' comments in tabular format with reference to the location
in the new manuscript where related revisions have been made.
Files should be labeled with appropriate and descriptive file names
(e.g., SmithText.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 that 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 that 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 goes out 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 usually takes about
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 to publish 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 that is not guaranteed.
The Editor-in-Chief may be forced to 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.
Proof
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
Offprints in multiples of 50 (up to
a maximum of 400) can be ordered on an offprint order form, which is included with the proofs.
UNESCO coupons are acceptable
in payment of offprints
Author Services
Enquiries concerning manuscripts arising after acceptance of the manuscript,
especially those related to proofs, should be directed to the Managing Editor.
Authors can also keep a track of the progress of their
accepted article, and set up e-mail alerts informing them of changes to their manuscript's status by using the "Track a Paper" feature
of Elsevier's Author Home, 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.
