How to Publish Articles in a Health Science Journal
You can publish an article in a health science journal by choosing an appropriate publisher, preparing your manuscript, following set guidelines, and pass it through the peer review process. After the peer review, you will need to create a final manuscript of your article for a health science journal.
In this guide, we will see the seven (7) major steps you need to take if you want your articles published in a health science journal.
How to Publish Articles in a Health Science Journal
1. Select an appropriate journal:
You need to choose a suitable health science journal BEFORE writing your article. Specialty journals for health science topics usually consider factors like the focus of your article, target audience, and potential impact to existing research or emerging knowledge. Such elements will affect your article topic unless you plan to publish your work in a general health science journal.
2. Prepare your article manuscript:
You need to put your manuscript together after choosing a suitable health science journal. Write your article according to set journal guidelines to avoid instant rejection when it is time to hand it in for a review. Journals usually determine the word length, formatting, citations, style, and other essential elements of articles.
Ensure your article is concise and written in clear, simple English. Your article may follow the popular IMRaD format or other structure available for use in health science journals. All your manuscripts must contain evidence-based information and raise points with scientific importance.
Your presented evidence and points raised must get support from reliable sources cited appropriately in your research.
3. Select correct data visualizations (optional):
You should use appropriate data visualizations like charts, images, graphs, tables, and more in your article. These visualizations will help illustrate your findings and make it easy for all readers to understand. Some journals may determine the theme of your visualizations. You may also need to reference these visualizations appropriately if you did not create them.
4. Submit your article:
Hand in your journal for a peer review through the appropriate submission system. You may need to submit contact information, full names and affiliations along with other details at this stage.
5. Pass your article through peer review process:
Experts in your field will review vital sections of your research throughout the peer-review process. Peer reviews could take six (6) months or longer depending on your specialty topic or other factors.
6. Revise (if necessary):
Peer reviews may require you to revise your article to include or remove some information. You will need to revise and re-submit your article for another review. Maintain professionalism at this stage and make all necessary changes.
7. Create final version:
After your article passes the final review, you’re all set to see it published in your preferred journal. The production stage involves creating a final version of your article; this stage may not require your input.
What are the Requirements to Publish Articles in a Health Science Journal?
Health science journals usually have different requirements authors must meet to publish their articles. Specific guidelines may be unique across journals, but these publishers have more submission criteria in common.
Some of the major requirements a health science journal must meet include:
Originality:
An article for publishing in a health science journal usually has to be one of the following:
- A new interpretation of old research, or
- An original research with new ideas about topics relevant to the journal
Apart from both points above, an article for a health science journal must also be free from duplication of existing work. It should also be free from all instances of plagiarism.
Relevance:
A health science journal usually considers the relevance of an article to their overall scope. Aligning your research topics to the focus of a health science journal increases chances of getting it published.
The research should address existing problems within the specific area covered by your preferred health science journal. Novel research or improvements on existing information are acceptable by journals when authors consider their focus and scope before writing.
Results:
All results presented in a health science journal should be clear and concise along with direct interpretations after analysis. There should be no incoherence whatsoever among the research question(s), collected data, and interpretation of findings. Health science journals will likely reject articles presented with incoherent or incomplete findings at the Results section.
Methodology:
Methodologies or materials and methods used in the article should be clear and appropriate for use. The methodology you choose should be compatible with data for your research and align with your hypothesis (if any). Methodologies used should not be a secret and must be easy to recreate for future research purposes.
It is also essential that you state any limitations or biases that may occur from using a methodology in your article(s).
Style and formatting:
Articles for publishing should follow set style and formatting guidelines provided by your preferred journal. Style and formatting requirements should cover the following:
- Citations/referencing style,
- Word count,
- Font size,
- Figures,
- Tables,
- Graphs, etc.
Apart from the above, articles for health science journals must also be in clear language. They should also be free from typographical errors and must be concise.
Significance to knowledge:
Research articles must clearly show its importance to health science in general. There are several significance points an article for a health science journal should possess. Some of these points include:
- Health science policy improvements,
- Future research potential,
- Implications for health science best practices, etc.
Set standards:
Articles meant for publishing in a health science journal should meet set ethical guidelines and principles set by your preferred publisher. Basic ethical considerations mandate authors to present details about informed consent forms for all participants. Confidentiality of data is also important in health science articles that require data from a participating population.
It is also important for all authors to state if there is any conflict of interest they would like to disclose. Funding sources should be public information too if articles receive funding from external bodies.
Final Word
Authors should review all parts of the submission guidelines of their preferred publisher before handing over final drafts of articles for review. Your work must meet minimum standard requirements before publishing in a health science journal.
Peer-reviewed articles posted on health science journals will deliver greater visibility to your research and improve your chances of amassing more citations for your work.