The Official Journal of the American Association on Health and Disability



Author Information

Disability and Health Journal is a scientific, scholarly and multidisciplinary journal for reporting original contributions that advance knowledge in disability and health. Such contributions include:

• Reports of empirical research on the characteristics of persons with disabilities, environments, health outcomes, and determinants of health
• Systematic reviews and tightly conceived theoretical interpretations of research literatures
• Evaluative research on new interventions, technologies and programs.

Disability and Health Journal advances the conceptual framework of the international classification of functioning, disability and health to describe health and health related states, but does not limit its publications to this framework. The Journal provides a forum for peer reviewed articles that identify, evaluate and promote existing and emerging models of healthcare delivery/promotion which contribute to the improvement of healthcare across the lifespan.

The Journal focuses on public health, health promotion, health education, wellness and prevention (reducing the incidence of secondary conditions) and medical conditions. The journal also incorporates population based studies.

All manuscripts should be submitted to Disability and Health Journal via our online manuscript submission and peer review system at http://ees.elsevier.com/dhjo

Except where explicitly stated otherwise, Disability and Health Journal conforms to the guidelines set forth by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE). See Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals: Writing and Editing for Biomedical Publication (February 2006); available at http://ICMJE.org

All manuscripts considered suitable for the Journal are strictly refereed. Articles are accepted with the understanding that they are original contributions submitted solely to Disability and Health Journal and are not under consideration for publication elsewhere. Prior presentation of abstracts at meetings regarding the research is acceptable, but the abstract should be noted on the title page. Original research (including clinical reports and review articles), brief reports (including relevant preliminary research reports) may be submitted.

Submission Guidelines:

All new manuscripts should be submitted through the Disability and Health online manuscript submission and peer review system http://ees.elsevier.com/dhjo. Complete instructions about the electronic submission process are available at the website. If authors experience any difficulty during the submission process or require any assistance, please contact support@elsevier.com

Manuscripts must be double-spaced with wide margins. Pages should be numbered consecutively with an abbreviated title in the upper right-hand corner of each page.

Please include a title page with the full names of authors, academic or professional affiliation, and complete address, phone number, and e-mail address of the corresponding author. Up to five key words and a running title of no more than 45 characters should be indicated on the title page.

A Word about Authorship. All persons designated as authors should qualify for authorship. Each author should have participated sufficiently in the work to take public responsibility for the content. The corresponding author affirms that he or she had access to all data from the study, both what is reported and what is unreported, and also that he or she had complete freedom to direct its analysis and its reporting, without influence from sponsors. The corresponding author also affirms that there was no editorial direction or censorship from the sponsors. Preparation of drafts of manuscripts by employees of the sponsor who are not listed as authors is expressly prohibited.

Authorship credit should be based on substantial contributions to: 1) conception and design or analysis and interpretation of data; 2) drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content; and 3) final approval of the version to be published. All three conditions must be met. Participation solely in the acquisition of funding or the collection of data does not justify authorship. General supervision of the research group is also not sufficient. Any part of an article critical to its main conclusions must be the responsibility of at least one author.

Only those with key responsibility for the material in the article should be listed as authors; others contributing to the work should be recognized in the acknowledgement section. (Because readers may infer endorsement of the data and conclusions, all persons acknowledged must give written permission for their contribution to be noted in print. It is the corresponding author's responsibility to obtain written permission.) Editors may require authors to justify the assignment of authorship. The order of the documents should be as follow:

1. Cover letter (a separate file); include a conflict-of-interest/financial disclosure statement regarding all authors (see below)
2. Manuscript (including title page, abstract, main text, acknowledgements, conflicts of interest, table and figure legends and references)
3. Tables and/or figures
4. Ancillary information not intended for full publication, but available for reviewers and highly interested readers. This information may be posted on the Disability and Health Journal website. Examples include additional lengthy tables, in-depth photographs of scientific methods, or short videos.

Authors are required to submit the cover letter, manuscript, and any tables and artwork in electronic form. Files should be labeled with logically descriptive file names (e.g., "Manuscript.doc." Fig.1.doc). Tables and graphics should be uploaded as separate files. Please note that original source files, not pdf files, are required. Complete instructions for electronic artwork submission can be found on the journal's welcome page on http://ees.elsevier.com/dhjo

Authors may send queries concerning the submission process, manuscript status, or journal procedures to the Editorial office via an e-mail link on the author's main page in the submission system or by e-mailing the Editorial office via regular e-mail. All correspondence, including the Editor's decision and request for revisions, will be made via e-mail.

Manuscripts for original articles and brief reports should be structured with sections entitled and ordered as follows: Title Page, Abstract, Introduction, Methods and Materials, Results, Discussion, Acknowledgements, Financial Disclosures, References, Footnotes, Table/Figure Legends, and Appendices. Begin sections for reference lists, footnotes, and legends on separate pages. Acronyms must be spelled out on first use in the text, and where used in tables or figures, in each of their legends.

Format for Abstracts: Abstracts should not exceed 250 words and should be written in the form of:

Background: This is a concise statement of why this research was done, placing it in the context of current knowledge or controversies.

Objective/Hypothesis: This is a clear statement of the precise objective or question addressed in the paper. If a hypothesis was tested, it should be stated.

Methods: The basic design of the study and its duration should be described. The methods used should be stated and the statistical data/methods provided.

Results: The main results of the study should be given in narrative form. Any measurements or other information that may require explanation should be defined. Any important information not included in the presentation of results should be declared. Levels of statistical significance should be indicated, as well as any other factors crucial to the outcome of the study.

Conclusions: Conclusions of the study that are directly supported by the evidence reported should be given along with the clinical application, and speculation about the potential impact on current thinking.

The main body of the manuscript is next in the document, generally following the format of Introduction/background, hypothesis, methods, results and discussion.

Acknowledgements: All acknowledgements should follow the discussion section and precede the reference section. This section should include acknowledgements for personal and technical assistance, in addition to detailed information regarding all sources of grant and other material or financial support. If a research group is listed as an author, then the individual members of the research team should also be named here.

Financial disclosures. This section must include the required conflict of interest statements for each author (See Conflicts of Interest section, below).

References: References should be listed numerically, corresponding to their order of appearance in the text. Disability and Health Journal uses the Vancouver reference style. Citation in the text is by Arabic numeral in parentheses, (1) Use et al only for six or more authors; et al follows the names of the first three authors.

Footnotes. Footnotes to text should be numbered consecutively with superior Arabic numerals. Footnote to Tables should be indicated by superior lowercase letters.

Figures and Tables. Figures and Tables should be numbered in the order of their mention with Arabic numerals (i.e. 1,2,3) and should have brief descriptions. Avoid 1a, 1b, 1c numbering; numerical sequence and separate captions are preferred. Figures and/or tables that are to appear together should be cited together in the manuscript text.

Supplementary Material. Supplementary material, relevant to the work but not critical to support the findings, is made available via links in the online article but not published in print. Examples include additional lengthy tables, in-depth photographs of scientific methods, or short videos. All such material will be posted exactly as received, and should be submitted as intended for viewing.

PDF Proofing. The corresponding author will receive proofs via e-mail link in PDF format, which should be corrected and returned within 48 hours of receipt. Authors should carefully check all proofs, as it is their responsibility to see that all errors are corrected and queries from editors answered. Any paid color will be included in the pdf proof.

Reprints. Reprints may be ordered prior to publication. A reprint order form is mailed separately to the corresponding author.

Copyright. Upon acceptance of an article by the Journal, the author will be sent a copyright transferal form along with acknowledgement of acceptance of manuscript. The author is asked to transfer copyright of the article to the publisher. This transfer will ensure the widest possible dissemination of information under U.S. Copyright Law.

Review Process. The Editors select the reviewers, although suggestions of potential reviewers is encouraged and in fact required. As a general rule, three independent reviewers evaluate each manuscript. On occasion, the editor will request an additional review for statistical adequacy. The comments of the reviewers are generally communicated to the authors within 1-2 months of submission. Authors should contact the Editorial Office if it has been longer.

Disability and Health Journal excludes reviewers who work at the same institution as any author, or those who have any other obvious conflict of interest. The identity of individual reviewers remains confidential to all parties except the Editorial Office.

Authors should be aware that manuscripts might be returned without outside review when the Editors deem that the paper is of insufficient general interest for the readership of Disability and Health Journal, or that the scientific priority is such that is unlikely to receive favorable reviews. Editorial rejection is done to speed up the editorial process and to allow the authors more time to promptly submit manuscripts elsewhere. All other submissions (with the general exceptions of Editorials and Correspondence) will be subject to peer review.

Disclosure of Financial Interests and Potential Conflicts of Interest. Disability and Health Journal requires all authors to provide full disclosure of any and all relevant financial interests. Further, we require all authors of all types of articles (including letters) to specify the nature of potential conflicts of interest, financial or otherwise. This disclosure includes direct or indirect financial or personal relationships, interests, and affiliations relevant to the subject matter of the manuscript that have occurred over the last two years, or that are expected in the foreseeable future. This disclosure includes, but is not limited to, grants or funding, employment, affiliations, patents (in preparation, filed, or granted), inventions, honoraria, consultancies, royalties, stock options/ownership, or expert testimony. This policy of full disclosure is similar to the policies of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors, the Journal of the American Medical Association, and other such organizations. The conflict of interest statements should be included in the Financial Disclosures section of the manuscript at the time of submission for all article types. If an author has no conflicts of interest to declare, this must be explicitly stated. Authors should contact the Editorial Office with questions and concerns, but should err on the side of inclusion when in doubt.

The submitting author will be required to indicate that this information has been fully included in the manuscript at the time of submission. In addition, all authors are required to acknowledge that the conflict of interest disclosures are complete for both themselves and their co-authors, to the best of their knowledge, Manuscripts that fail to include the complete statements o all authors upon submission will be returned to the corresponding author and will delay the processing and evaluation of the manuscripts.