Journal of the Australian College of Midwives (ACM)
Former title: Australian Midwifery

General Information
Women and Birth invites authors to submit articles, case studies, book reviews, major conference reviews, and correspondence on all facets of pregnancy, birth and the early postpartum period with particular emphasis on midwifery care during the childbearing year. The majority of submissions are peer reviewed but book and conference reviews, along with letters to the editor are reviewed only by the Editor in Chief or the Deputy Editor.

Peer review (independently reviewed by specialists in the appropriate field)
Research article
Literature Review
Theoretical paper
Professional opinion / discussion paper
Case study which is linked to the literature

Peer review process
Each paper is allocated to two reviewers who are asked assess the paper against one of the Journal's three sets of reviewing criteria:

• Quantitative Research Review Criteria
• Qualitative Research Review Criteria
• Scholarly Paper Review Criteria

The review criteria can be viewed at http://www.ees.elsevier.com/wombi/img/ReviewCriteria.doc
Articles submitted for review must be original works, and may not be submitted for review elsewhere whilst under review for the Journal. After review, the Editor-in-Chief will write to the corresponding author to let them know whether the paper has been accepted, rejected, or needs revision.

Categories of decision

• Accept
• Minor revisions (accept with revisions as advised by Editors)
• Major revisions (possible acceptance following major revision and resubmission)
• Reject

All efforts are made to provide fair and thorough reviews as speedily as possible. If an author(s) believes that a manuscript has been wrongly rejected, a detailed appeal letter that responds point-by-point to the reviewers' comments should be sent to the Editor who, having reviewed the referees' reports, will make the final decision.

Reviewed by Editor-in-Chief or Editorial Team only
Communication - letter to the Editor or a short comment on any topic of current interest to readers of the Journal
Book review
Major conference review
For these materials, the corresponding author will receive a fairly rapid decision on publication

Production
Following acceptance of a manuscript; it will be transmitted to Elsevier's Production department. The corresponding author will receive an acknowledgement. The paper will then be edited to comply with house style, and typeset.

The Publisher will send a proof by email to the corresponding author for checking before it is published.

The corresponding author is responsible for checking proofs thoroughly. By approving the proofs any editorial changes are being accepted.

Submission of Manuscripts
All manuscripts, correspondence and editorial material for publication should be submitted online via the Elsevier Editorial System at http://www.ees.elsevier.com/wombi. Authors simply need to "create a new account" (i.e., register) by following the instructions at the website, and using their own e-mail address and selected password. Authors can then submit manuscripts containing text, tables, and images (figures) online. The entire peer-review process will then be managed electronically to ensure timely review and publication. Authors can expect an initial decision on their submission within 6 weeks.

Following Registration, click on "Author begin" and follow the instructions for submitting "Entry data" and a complete manuscript, including abstract, tables, figures and the cover letter.

Under "Entry data," indicate the number of authors in the box and justify more than 7 authors. If you wish to publish colour figures and agree to pay the "colour charge" check the appropriate box. Colour illustrations incur a colour charge of US$ 312 for the first page and US$ 208 for every additional page containing colour. Figures can be published in colour at no extra charge for the online version. If you wish to have figures in colour online and black and white figures printed, please submit both versions.

Every submission, regardless of category, must include the following. Please have these items ready before you logon to the system.

A cover letter, stating:

• Conflict of Interest: when the proposed publication concerns any commercial product, either directly or indirectly, the author must include in the cover letter a statement (1) indicating that he or she has no financial or other interest in the product or distributor of the product or (2) explaining the nature of any relation between himself or herself and the manufacturer or distributor of the product. Other kinds of associations, such as consultancies, stock ownership, or other equity interests or patent-licensing arrangements, also must be disclosed. If, in the Editor's judgment, the information disclosed represents a potential conflict of interest, it may be made available to reviewers and may be published at the Editor's discretion; authors will be informed of the decision before publication.
• Sources of outside support for research: including funding, equipment, and drugs.

The letter can be attached during the submission process, or keyed or pasted in during submission.

The complete manuscript, including title page, abstract, text, tables, acknowledgments, required disclosures (see below), references and illustrations.

In addition, the following must be submitted in Hard Copy direct to the Editorial Office if applicable:

• Two sets of original illustrations labelled with manuscript number, first author and figure number on back.
• Written permission from the publisher (copyright holder) to reproduce any previously published table(s), illustration(s) or photograph(s) in both print and electronic media.
• Written permission from unmasked patients appearing in photographs.

Preparation of Manuscript
In general, papers should not exceed 4000 words plus supporting tables and figures (excluding abstract and references). However, longer papers will be considered where the extra length is warranted by the subject and/or scope of the paper. For papers over 4,500 words please ask the editor for approval prior to submitting by emailing Kathleen.Fahy@newcastle.edu.au

First time authors are directed to the following presentations for further guidance on preparation of a paper for publication:
• Writing for Publication: The basics and
• Writing for Publication: Argument and Evidence.
First time authors are also strongly advised to co-author with an academic supervisor or senior colleague who has been successful in writing for publication.

Microsoft Word is the preferred software program. Manuscripts written in 11 point Arial or Times New Roman fonts are preferred and more reliably convert to PDF files during electronic submission.

Manuscripts should be typed double-spaced throughout (including title page, abstract, text, references, tables, and legends) with one (1) inch (2.5 cm) margins all around.

Arrange manuscript as follows: (1) title page, (2) abstract, keywords and total words, (3) manuscript, including references, (4) tables (each complete with title) and (5) Figures. Number pages consecutively, beginning with the title page as page 1.

Sections of the Manuscript

(Items in order from top to bottom)• Title Page (first page) should contain:

1. Title. Short and informative (abbreviations should not be used in title).
2. Running Head. Short title of 30 characters and spaces.
3. Authors. List all authors by first name, all initials, family name and highest academic degree only using "RM, PhD" for holders of both qualifications.
4. Institution and Affiliations. List the name and full address of all institutions where the work was done. List departmental affiliations of each author affiliated with that institution after each institutional address. Connect authors to departments using numbered superscripts.
5. Corresponding Author. Provide the name, exact postal address with zip or postal code, telephone number, fax number and e-mail address of the author to whom communications, proofs, and requests for reprints should be sent.

• Abstract & Keywords and Total words The abstract should be brief - between 100-250 words. It should pull out the highlights from each section of the paper. For both quantitative and qualitative research articles the structure of the abstract should be:

• Background (optional)
• Research Question or Problem
• Subject or Participants and Methods
• Results
• Discussion (interpretations)
• Conclusion (Implications)

For all other types of scholarly papers, (including quality assurance projects that were not developed fully as research projects and do not have full ethics approval) the abstract structure should be:

• Background (optional)
• Question or problem
• Method (what was done to answer the question)
• Findings including a thesis statement
• Discussion
• Conclusions

The abstract must not include references. Avoid abbreviations and acronyms.

Keywords: Provide up to six keywords, at least three of which should be selected from those recommended by the Index Medicus Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) browser list ( http://www.nlm.nih.gov/meshhome.html).

Word Count: Please state the number of total words, excluding abstract and references.

• Main Text


For Original Research Articles, text should be organized as follows:

Introduction (including hypothesis or guiding question and outline of the paper)
Literature Review (critical but brief review of directly related literature)
Subjects (or Participants) and Methods (described in detail). Ethics approval statement.
Results: for qualitative research results should be concisely reported in tables and figures, with brief text descriptions. For qualitative research a balance must be struck between conciseness and sufficient data to support the discussion and conclusion.
Discussion (clear and concise interpretation of results)
Conclusion (summarise key points)
Cite references, illustrations and tables in numeric order by order of mention in the text.
Avoid abbreviations. Define abbreviations at first appearance in the text.
Measurements and weights should be given in standard metric units.


For Original Literature Review Articles, text should be organized as follows:

Introduction (problem or guiding question and outline of the paper)
Literature Search Strategy and Data Bases Searched
Review of the literature related to the problem or question of the paper
Discussion (clear and concise interpretation of the literature)
Conclusion (summarise key points)

• Acknowledgments

This field is compulsory. Grants, financial support and technical or other assistance are acknowledged at the end of the text before the references. All financial support for the project must be acknowledged. If there has been no financial assistance with the project, this must be clearly stated. The role(s) of the funding organization, if any, in the collection of data, its analysis and interpretation, and in the right to approve or disapprove publication of the finished manuscript must be described in the Methods section of the text.

• References

Consecutive numbers in square brackets should be used to indicate references in the text, e.g., [1,2], as part of the text and not raised above it.

The full reference should be cited in a numbered list essentially according to the Vancouver Uniform Requirements (5th ed., Ann Intern Med 1997;126(1):36-47).

Journal References should contain names of all authors in small letters (surnames first followed by initials), title of communication in lower case lettering, title of Journal in italics [abbreviated according to International Serials Data System-List of Serial title Word Abbreviations, 1985 (ISDS-ISO International Centre, 20 rue Bachaumont, 75002 Paris, France)], year of publication; volume number: first and last page number. For communications which have been accepted for publication, but not yet printed, the reference must contain the journal name and year.
Book References should contain Author Name(s) in the same format as above: Title. Publisher's location: Name; Year of publication. Page range.
References to multi-author books with editor(s) should contain Author Name(s) in the same format as above: Title of contribution. In: Name(s) of editor(s). Title of book. Publisher's location: Name; Year of publication. If necessary page range (see Ref. 4) Material referred to by the phrase "personal communication" or "submitted for publication" are not considered full references and should only be placed in parentheses at the appropriate place in the text, e.g., (Hessel 1997 personal communication).

Examples of references are shown below.
1.Homer C, Farrell T, Davis G, Brown M. Women's worry in the antenatal period. British Journal of Midwifery 2002; 10:356-359.
2. Copley AL. The endoendothelial fibrin lining. Thromb Res 1983;(SV):1-154.
3. Davies JT, Rideal EK. Interfacial Phenomena. New York-London: Academic Press; 1961. p. 110-30.
4. Battistutta D, McDowell J. Quantitative research designs. In: Courtney M (Ed.), Evidence for Nursing Practice. Sydney: Elsevier; 2005. p. 50-62.


Internet address
3. Health Care Financing Administration. 1996 statistics at a glance. Available at: http://www.hcfa.gov/stats/stathili.htm. Accessed December 2, 1996.

• Tables

Tables should be typewritten double-spaced on separate sheets (one to each page). Do not use vertical lines. Each table should be numbered (Arabic) and have a title above. Legends and explanatory notes should be placed below the table. Abbreviations used in the table follow the legend in alphabetic order. Lower case letter superscripts beginning with "a" and following in alphabetic order are used for notations of within-group and between-group statistical probabilities. Tables should be self-explanatory, and the data should not be duplicated in the text or illustrations. Tables must be submitted as part of the text file and not as illustrations.

• Figure Legends

Figure legends should be numbered (Arabic) and typed double-spaced in order of appearance beginning on a separate sheet. Identify (in alphabetic order) all abbreviations appearing in the illustrations at the end of each legend. Give the type of stain and magnification power for all photomicrographs. All abbreviations used on a figure and in its legend should be defined in the legend. Cite the source of previously published (print or electronic) material in the legend.

• Illustrations

Images or figures are submitted online as one or more separate files that may contain one or more images. Within each file containing images, use the figure number (eg, Figure 1A) as the image filename. The system accepts image files formatted in TIFF and EPS. Powerpoint (.ppt) files are also accepted, but you must use a separate Powerpoint image file for each Powerpoint figure.
Symbols, letters, numbers and contrasting fills must be distinct, easily distinguished and clearly legible when the illustration is reduced in size.
Black, white and widely crosshatched bars are preferable; do not use stippling, gray fill or thin lines.
Written permission from unmasked patients appearing in photographs must be obtained by the authors and must be surface mailed or faxed to the editorial office once the manuscript is submitted online.

Regulatory Requirements

• Research Protocol
  Authors must state that the protocol has been approved by the appropriate Ethics Committee (state which)
• Human Investigation
  The ethical guidelines that were followed by the investigators must be included in the Methods section of the manuscript. In Australia, all work should conform to the "Statement on Human Experimentation" by the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia. State clearly that the subject gave informed consent. Anonymity should be preserved.
• Humane Animal Care
  The Methods section must contain a statement assuring that all animals received humane care in accordance with the "Statement on Animal Experimentation" by the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia, or its equivalent in other Countries (for example the "Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals" published by the National Institutes of Health).

Copyright

Papers accepted for publication become the copyright of the Australian College of Midwives, and authors will be asked to sign a transfer of copyright form, on receipt of the accepted manuscript by Elsevier. This enables the Publisher to administer Copyright on behalf of the Authors and the Society, whilst allowing the continued use of the material by the Author for Scholarly communication.