Clinical Pediatrics

Any correspondence, queries or additional requests for information on the manuscript submission process should be sent to the CLP editorial office as follows: cpj@sagepub.com

This Journal is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics.

This Journal recommends that authors follow the Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals formulated by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE).

Please read the guidelines below then visit Clinical Pediatrics (CLP)’s submission site to upload your manuscript. Please note that manuscripts not conforming to these guidelines may be returned. Remember you can log in to the submission site at any time to check on the progress of your paper through the peer review process.

Only manuscripts of sufficient quality that meet the aims and scope of CLP will be reviewed.

There are no fees payable to submit or publish in this Journal. Open Access options are available - see section 3.3 below.

As part of the submission process you will be required to warrant that you are submitting your original work, that you have the rights in the work, and that you have obtained and can supply all necessary permissions for the reproduction of any copyright works not owned by you, that you are submitting the work for first publication in the Journal and that it is not being considered for publication elsewhere and has not already been published elsewhere. Please see our guidelines on prior publication and note that CLP may accept submissions of papers that have been posted on pre-print servers; please alert the Editorial Office when submitting (contact details are at the end of these guidelines) and include the DOI for the preprint in the designated field in the manuscript submission system. Authors should not post an updated version of their paper on the preprint server while it is being peer reviewed for possible publication in the journal. If the article is accepted for publication, the author may re-use their work according to the journal's author archiving policy. If your paper is accepted, you must include a link on your preprint to the final version of your paper.

If you have any questions about publishing with Sage, please visit the Sage Journal Solutions Portal.

1. What do we publish?
1.1 Aims & scope
1.2 Article types
1.3 Writing your paper

2. Editorial policies
2.1 Peer review policy
2.2 Authorship
2.3 Acknowledgements
2.4 Funding
2.5 Declaration of conflicting interests
2.6 Research ethics and patient consent
2.7 Clinical trials
2.8 Reporting guidelines
2.9 Research Data

3. Publishing policies
3.1 Publication ethics
3.2 Contributor’s publishing agreement
3.3 Open access and author archiving

4. Preparing your manuscript for submission
4.1 Formatting
4.2 Artwork, figures and other graphics
4.3 Supplemental material
4.4 Reference style
4.5 English language editing services

5. Submitting your manuscript
5.1 ORCID
5.2 Information required for completing your submission
5.3 Permissions

6. On acceptance and publication
6.1 Sage Production
6.2 Online First publication
6.3 Access to your published article
6.4 Promoting your article

7. Further information

What do we publish?

1.1 Aims & Scope

Clinical Pediatrics is a practice-oriented journal dealing with clinical research, behavioral and educational problems, community health issues, and subspecialty or affiliated specialty applications to pediatric practice.

1.2 Article types

Clinical Pediatrics does not accept Systematic Reviews of the Literature.

For Orginial and Review Articles, manuscripts can list up to 10 authors if all co-authors sign-off on the contributor form. If the manuscript exceeds 10 authors, co-authors who do not meet all the following criteria, per the ICMJE guidelines, should be listed under “Acknowledgements”:

1. Substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work; or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work; AND
2. Drafting the work or revising it critically for important intellectual content; AND
3. Final approval of the version to be published; AND
4. Agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.

All Original Articles require an Ethics/IRB approval or waiver needs to be noted in the Methods section of the paper. This is true for studies, case series, and all case reports be they be Brief Reports or Resident Rounds. Additionally, case reports within Brief Reports or Resident Rounds must have within the body of the manuscript a statement of parental consent to publish their child's case. Patient consent is required whether identifying patient information or images are present or not.

Original Articles
Clinical research concerning diagnosis and management, sociologic and anthropologic studies, and studies on delivery of health care. Original articles have no word limitations; this is left up to the discretion of the author(s). Original articles should be accompanied by an abstract of 150 words or less in a single paragraph without headings such as background, materials and methods, results etc. Five or more keywords should be included on the title page.

Commentaries
Review articles on subjects relevant to the delivery of health care to children, particularly with emphasis on current diagnostic and management recommendations. No abstract is necessary. The maximum is 2,000 words.There is no limit to tables and figures and legends are not included in the word count. Manuscripts that exceed 3 authors will not be accepted.

Humanities and the Pediatrician
Published four to six times per year, this category should be submitted in a thoughtful manner and may address the arts, the history of pediatrics and its specialties, ethics, even original poetry, and narrative medicine. Amidst the pandemic, we have learned that the humanities are an outlet for expression – even catharsis, a source of strength, a respite, a means for engaging in reflective practice, and even a manner to build resiliency in a difficult time. This series is intended to help us all get through the pandemic and its residua.

• This is not a forum for empirical studies.
• Case reports should be submitted elsewhere (see Resident Rounds and Brief Reports).
• Reflective works co-authored by parents that address engagement with families, their narratives, and matters of patient-and-family-centered care will be considered. 
• Please limit the work to no more than 2,500 words and no more than ten references.

Letters to the Editor
Letters pertaining to manuscripts published in CLP or on topics of interest. They should be approximately 300 words with no more than five references. Manuscripts that exceed 3 authors will not be accepted.

Brief Reports
Articles of less than 1,500 words with an abstract of 200 words maximum, a total of 1-2 tables, figures or photos and approximately 15 references. Manuscripts that exceed 6 authors will not be accepted. To be acceptable, such reports should offer a new clinical observation or new management approach.

Resident Rounds
Case reports written by a resident, fellow or medical student with the guidance of a faculty/staff physician. They should be cases that taught the physician in training something appropriate to be shared with colleagues in a similar stage of education. They will usually be patients who presented in an unusual fashion or who demonstrated unique clinical or laboratory manifestations of their diseases. 

An Educational Objectives section is required that should relate the topic with some intention of the educational goals. This section may help the reader direct their attention to a valuable case report, and ultimately summarize points that the author wants to make (what is desired to be learned). It should appear at the very beginning of the submission followed by the Case Report, which should be < 500 words, the Discussion approximately 1000 words, divided into the Hospital Course in about 500 words, comparisons of the current case with the literature in approximately 500 words, and the determination of a Final Diagnosis in <100 words. Lastly, a Conclusion should be included with a maximum of 350 words. The manuscript should include no more than 2 tables, figures, or photos and approximately 15 references. The title should be a descriptive wording of the initial presentation and not give away the diagnosis.

Manuscripts that exceed 6 authors will not be accepted. Contributors are encouraged to review other published Resident Rounds to be sure the topic has not been recently covered with the same material. In summary, Resident Rounds do not need abstracts but require Educational Objectives, should have no more than 2,000 words or 6 authors, and the structure should be as follows:

• Educational Objectives: two bullet points; one sentence each
• Case report: < 500 words
• Discussion: 1000 words divided as follows:
  • Hospital course: approximately 500 words
  • Discussion of case and literature: approximately 500 words
  • Final Diagnosis: < 100 words
• Conclusion: approximately 350 words

1.3 Writing your paper

The Sage Author Gateway has some general advice and on how to get published, plus links to further resources. Sage Author Services also offers authors a variety of ways to improve and enhance their article including English language editing, plagiarism detection, and video abstract and infographic preparation.

1.3.1 Make your article discoverable

When writing up your paper, think about how you can make it discoverable. The title, keywords and abstract are key to ensuring readers find your article through search engines such as Google. For information and guidance on how best to title your article, write your abstract and select your keywords, have a look at this page on the Gateway: How to Help Readers Find Your Article Online

2. Editorial policies

2.1 Peer review policy

Manuscripts will be sent out for double-anonymized peer review in which the identity of both the reviewer and author are always concealed from both parties. The journal’s policy is to have manuscripts reviewed by two expert reviewers. Obtaining permission for any quoted or reprinted material that requires permission is the responsibility of the author. Submission of a manuscript implies commitment to publish in the journal. Authors submitting manuscripts to the journal should not simultaneously submit them to another journal, nor should manuscripts have been published elsewhere in substantially similar form or with substantially similar content. Authors in doubt about what constitutes prior publication should consult the editor. CLP follows the editorial style of the American Medical Association. For reference style, please see the reference section below. Original illustrations are returned only if requested by the authors. Laboratory values may be described in either metric mass units or the International System of Units (SI units). The equivalent value in the alternate system should be given in parentheses immediately after the primary value. The same sequence should be used in each article. All acronyms should be spelled out with the first appearance in text.

The Editor or members of the Editorial Board may occasionally submit their own manuscripts for possible publication in the journal. In these cases, the peer review process will be managed by alternative members of the Board and the submitting Editor/Board member will have no involvement in the decision-making process.

2.2 Authorship

Papers should only be submitted for consideration once consent is given by all contributing authors. Those submitting papers should carefully check that all those whose work contributed to the paper are acknowledged as contributing authors.

The list of authors should include all those who can legitimately claim authorship. This is all those who:

1. Made a substantial contribution to the concept or design of the work; or acquisition, analysis or interpretation of data,
2. Drafted the article or revised it critically for important intellectual content,
3. Approved the version to be published,
4. Each author should have participated sufficiently in the work to take public responsibility for appropriate portions of the content.

Authors should meet the conditions of all of the points above. When a large, multicentre group has conducted the work, the group should identify the individuals who accept direct responsibility for the manuscript. These individuals should fully meet the criteria for authorship.

Acquisition of funding, collection of data, or general supervision of the research group alone does not constitute authorship, although all contributors who do not meet the criteria for authorship should be listed in the Acknowledgments section. Please refer to the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) authorship guidelines for more information on authorship.

Please note that AI chatbots, for example ChatGPT, should not be listed as authors. For more information see the policy on Use of ChatGPT and generative AI tools.

2.3 Acknowledgements

All contributors who do not meet the criteria for authorship should be listed in an Acknowledgements section. Examples of those who might be acknowledged include a person who provided purely technical help, or a department chair who provided only general support.

Any acknowledgements should appear first at the end of your article prior to your Declaration of Conflicting Interests (if applicable), any notes and your References.

Upon submission, you will be asked to confirm that if any content is AI-generated, it is clearly identified within the text and acknowledged within your Acknowledgements section. Please note that AI bots such as ChatGPT should not be listed as an author. For more details on Sage's policy, please visit this page.

2.3.1 Third party submissions

Where an individual who is not listed as an author submits a manuscript on behalf of the author(s), a statement must be included in the Acknowledgements section of the manuscript and in the accompanying cover letter. The statements must:

• Disclose this type of editorial assistance – including the individual’s name, company and level of input 
• Identify any entities that paid for this assistance 
• Confirm that the listed authors have authorized the submission of their manuscript via third party and approved any statements or declarations, e.g. conflicting interests, funding, etc.

Where appropriate, Sage reserves the right to deny consideration to manuscripts submitted by a third party rather than by the authors themselves.

2.3.2 Writing assistance

Individuals who provided writing assistance, e.g. from a specialist communications company, do not qualify as authors and so should be included in the Acknowledgements section. Authors must disclose any writing assistance – including the individual’s name, company and level of input – and identify the entity that paid for this assistance”).

It is not necessary to disclose use of language polishing services.

2.4 Funding

CLP requires all authors to acknowledge their funding in a consistent fashion under a separate heading.  Please visit the Funding Acknowledgements page on the Sage Journal Author Gateway to confirm the format of the acknowledgment text in the event of funding, or state that: This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors. 

2.5 Declaration of conflicting interests

It is the policy of CLP to require a declaration of conflicting interests from all authors enabling a statement to be carried within the paginated pages of all published articles.

Please ensure that a ‘Declaration of Conflicting Interests’ statement is included at the end of your manuscript, after any acknowledgements and prior to the references. If no conflict exists, please state that ‘The Author(s) declare(s) that there is no conflict of interest’.

For guidance on conflict of interest statements, please see the ICMJE recommendations here.

2.6 Research ethics and patient consent

Medical research involving human subjects must be conducted according to the World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki

Submitted manuscripts should conform to the ICMJE Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals, and all papers reporting animal and/or human studies must state in the methods section that the relevant Ethics Committee or Institutional Review Board provided (or waived) approval. Please ensure that you have provided the full name and institution of the review committee, in addition to the approval number.

For research articles, authors are also required to state in the methods section whether participants provided informed consent and whether the consent was written or verbal.

Information on informed consent to report individual cases or case series should be included in the manuscript text. A statement is required regarding whether written informed consent for patient information and images to be published was provided by the patient(s) or a legally authorized representative. Please do not submit the patient’s actual written informed consent with your article, as this in itself breaches the patient’s confidentiality. The Journal requests that you confirm to us, in writing, that you have obtained written informed consent but the written consent itself should be held by the authors/investigators themselves, for example in a patient’s hospital record. The confirmatory letter may be uploaded with your submission as a separate file.

Please also refer to the ICMJE Recommendations for the Protection of Research Participants

2.7 Clinical trials

CLP conforms to the ICMJE requirement that clinical trials are registered in a WHO-approved public trials registry at or before the time of first patient enrolment as a condition of consideration for publication. The trial registry name and URL, and registration number must be included at the end of the abstract.

2.8 Reporting guidelines

The relevant EQUATOR Network reporting guidelines should be followed depending on the type of study. For example, all randomized controlled trials submitted for publication should include a completed CONSORT flow chart as a cited figure and the completed CONSORT checklist should be uploaded with your submission as a supplementary file. Systematic reviews and meta-analyses should include the completed PRISMA flow chart as a cited figure and the completed PRISMA checklist should be uploaded with your submission as a supplementary file. The EQUATOR wizard can help you identify the appropriate guideline.

Other resources can be found at NLM’s Research Reporting Guidelines and Initiatives

2.9 Research Data 

The journal is committed to facilitating openness, transparency and reproducibility of research, and has the following research data sharing policy. For more information, including FAQs please visit the Sage Research Data policy pages.

Subject to appropriate ethical and legal considerations, authors are encouraged to:

• share your research data in a relevant public data repository
• include a data availability statement linking to your data. If it is not possible to share your data, we encourage you to consider using the statement to explain why it cannot be shared.
• cite this data in your research

3. Publishing policies

3.1 Publication ethics

Sage is committed to upholding the integrity of the academic record. We encourage authors to refer to the Committee on Publication Ethics’ International Standards for Authors and view the Publication Ethics page on the Sage Author Gateway

3.1.1 Plagiarism

CLP and Sage take issues of copyright infringement, plagiarism or other breaches of best practice in publication very seriously. We seek to protect the rights of our authors and we always investigate claims of plagiarism or misuse of published articles. Equally, we seek to protect the reputation of the journal against malpractice. Submitted articles may be checked with duplication-checking software. Where an article, for example, is found to have plagiarised other work or included third-party copyright material without permission or with insufficient acknowledgement, or where the authorship of the article is contested, we reserve the right to take action including, but not limited to: publishing an erratum or corrigendum (correction); retracting the article; taking up the matter with the head of department or dean of the author's institution and/or relevant academic bodies or societies; or taking appropriate legal action.

3.1.2 Prior publication

If material has been previously published it is not generally acceptable for publication in a Sage journal. However, there are certain circumstances where previously published material can be considered for publication. Please refer to the guidance on the Sage Author Gateway or if in doubt, contact the Editor at the address given below.

3.2 Contributor’s publishing agreement

Before publication, Sage requires the author as the rights holder to sign a Journal Contributor’s Publishing Agreement. Sage’s Journal Contributor’s Publishing Agreement is an exclusive licence agreement which means that the author retains copyright in the work but grants Sage the sole and exclusive right and licence to publish for the full legal term of copyright. Exceptions may exist where an assignment of copyright is required or preferred by a proprietor other than Sage. In this case copyright in the work will be assigned from the author to the society. For more information please visit the Sage Author Gateway

3.3 Open access and author archiving

Clinical Pediatrics offers optional open access publishing via the Sage Choice programme and Open Access agreements, where authors can publish open access either discounted or free of charge depending on the agreement with Sage. Find out if your institution is participating by visiting Open Access Agreements at Sage. For more information on Open Access publishing options at Sage please visit Sage Open Access. For information on funding body compliance, and depositing your article in repositories, please visit Sage’s Author Archiving and Re-Use Guidelines and Publishing Policies.

4. Preparing your manuscript for submission                                                            

4.1 Formatting

The preferred format for your manuscript is Word. (La)TeX files are also accepted. Word and (La)Tex templates are available on the Manuscript Submission Guidelines page of our Author Gateway.

4.2 Artwork, figures and other graphics

For guidance on the preparation of illustrations, pictures and graphs in electronic format, please visit Sage’s Manuscript Submission Guidelines  

Color figures. Color figures that will enhance the article may be accepted for publication. Color figures should be submitted at 300 dpi resolution. Please submit figures in grayscale or black and white if you do not intend to pay color figure charges. Figures supplied in colour will appear in colour online regardless of whether or not these illustrations are reproduced in colour in the printed version. For specifically requested colour reproduction in print, you will receive information regarding the costs from Sage after receipt of your accepted article.

Sizing. Please save the image as the same size as the final printed version; files should not be saved at a size greater than 10% larger than the intended size of the illustration. Electronic copies of figures: Electronic submission of figures is required when created in the following electronic formats: TIFF (identified *.TIF) Tag Image File Format, EPS (identified *.EPS) Encapsulated Postscript File, and JPEG (identified *.JPG) Joint Photographic Experts Group. The following graphic application file formats are supported: Adobe Illustrator version 8.0, and Adobe Photoshop version 5.5 or higher Scanned art specifications. If you are submitting scanned art, please follow these guidelines: Line art (black and white) should be scanned at 1200 ppi and 1 bit bitmap. Grayscale and color images should be scanned at 300 ppi and 8 bit bitmap. (Note regarding grayscale shading: Whenever possible, crosshatching should be used in lieu of grayscale shading. If shading must be used, it should not exceed a 20% screen, and bold type must be used.) Please save each figure as its own file and do not include any extra text (ie, figure captions).

There are 3 requirements in file identification: application and version used to create the file (ie, Illustrator 8.0), type of file (ie, .TIF, .EPS), and identification of figure by number (ie, file names should include the figure number; Figure 1). When saving the file, be sure to embed the fonts into the file. There is no other way to ensure that the text in your art will remain as you intend. If hard-copy originals are submitted, all artwork should be clean black-and-white originals, never photocopies. Artwork should be protected from marks and should not be folded or stapled. Each figure should appear on a separate sheet of white paper. It is the responsibility of the author to provide correct, final copies of the figures by the time the article is submitted to the publisher. Photographs. Photographs of recognizable patients must be accompanied by a signed release from the patient authorizing publication. Masking eyes to hide identity is not sufficient.

Illustrations. Include two sets of unmounted, glossy, black-and-white photographic prints for each illustration, with a gummed label on the back of each giving the first author's name, the figure number, and an arrow indicating the top. Photocopies of the illustration(s) must be attached to each of the other two copies of the manuscript.

Tables. They should be structured properly. Each table must have a clear and concise title. They should be numbered consecutively in the order in which they appear in the text. For each Table, there must be a corresponding citation in the text and for each Table citation here must be a corresponding Table.

IMPORTANT: The author(s) are responsible for securing permission to reproduce all copyrighted figures or materials before they are published in CLP. A copy of the written permission must be provided.

4.3 Supplemental material

This journal is able to host additional materials online (e.g. datasets, podcasts, videos, images etc.) alongside the full-text of the article. For more information please refer to our guidelines on submitting supplemental files

4.4 Reference style

CLP adheres to the AMA 11 reference style.

IMPORTANT NOTE: To encourage a faster production process of your article, you are requested to closely adhere to the AMA 11 reference style. Otherwise, it will entail a long process of solving copyeditor’s queries and may directly affect the publication time of your article. In case of any questions, please contact the journal's editorial office at cpj@sagepub.com

Several points to keep in mind:

• For each text citation there must be a corresponding citation in the reference list and for each reference list citation there must be a corresponding text citation.
• Cite references in consecutive order using superscript Arabic numbers. Use commas to separate multiple citation numbers in text. Corresponding references should be listed in numeric order at the end of the document. Unpublished works and personal communications (oral, written, and electronic) should be cited parenthetically (and not on the reference list). For eg., As reported previously, ^1,3-8,19
• Page numbers are required for direct quotations.
• Appendices should be lettered to distinguish from numbered tables and figures. Include a descriptive title for each appendix (e.g., “Appendix A. Variable Names and Definitions”). Cross-check text for accuracy against appendices.
• Avoid using abbreviations in the title and subtitle, unless space considerations require an exception or unless the title or subtitle includes the name of a group that is best known by its acronym. In both cases the abbreviation should be expanded in the abstract and at first appearance in the text.
• Footnotes should be avoided in text, but are allowed on the title page. They are placed in the following order: author affiliations, death of an author, information about members of a group, corresponding author contact information.

4.5 English language editing services

Authors seeking assistance with English language editing, translation, or figure and manuscript formatting to fit the journal’s specifications should consider using Sage Language Services. Visit Sage Language Services on our Journal Author Gateway for further information.

5. Submitting your manuscript

CLP is hosted on Sage Track, a web based online submission and peer review system powered by ScholarOne™ Manuscripts. Visit https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/clp to login and submit your article online.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Please check whether you already have an account in the system before trying to create a new one. If you have reviewed or authored for the journal in the past year it is likely that you will have had an account created.  For further guidance on submitting your manuscript online please visit ScholarOne Online Help.

5.1 ORCID

As part of our commitment to ensuring an ethical, transparent and fair peer review process Sage is a supporting member of ORCID, the Open Researcher and Contributor ID. ORCID provides a unique and persistent digital identifier that distinguishes researchers from every other researcher, even those who share the same name, and, through integration in key research workflows such as manuscript and grant submission, supports automated linkages between researchers and their professional activities, ensuring that their work is recognized.

The collection of ORCID iDs from corresponding authors is now part of the submission process of this journal. If you already have an ORCID iD you will be asked to associate that to your submission during the online submission process. We also strongly encourage all co-authors to link their ORCID ID to their accounts in our online peer review platforms. It takes seconds to do: click the link when prompted, sign into your ORCID account and our systems are automatically updated. Your ORCID iD will become part of your accepted publication’s metadata, making your work attributable to you and only you. Your ORCID iD is published with your article so that fellow researchers reading your work can link to your ORCID profile and from there link to your other publications.

If you do not already have an ORCID iD please follow this link to create one or visit our ORCID homepage to learn more.

5.2 Information required for completing your submission

You will be asked to provide contact details and academic affiliations for all co-authors via the submission system and identify who is to be the corresponding author. These details must match what appears on your manuscript. At this stage, please ensure you have included all the required statements and declarations and uploaded any additional supplementary files (including reporting guidelines where relevant).

5.3 Permissions

Please also ensure that you have obtained any necessary permission from copyright holders for reproducing any illustrations, tables, figures or lengthy quotations previously published elsewhere. For further information including guidance on fair dealing for criticism and review, please see the Copyright and Permissions page on the Sage Author Gateway.

6. On acceptance and publication           

6.1 Sage Production

Your Sage Production Editor will keep you informed as to your article’s progress throughout the production process. Proofs will be sent by PDF to the corresponding author and should be returned promptly. Authors are reminded to check their proofs carefully to confirm that all author information, including names, affiliations, sequence and contact details are correct, and that Funding and Conflict of Interest statements, if any, are accurate. 

6.2 Online First publication

Online First allows final articles (completed and approved articles awaiting assignment to a future issue) to be published online prior to their inclusion in a journal issue, which significantly reduces the lead time between submission and publication. Visit the Sage Journals help page for more details, including how to cite Online First articles.

6.3 Access to your published article

Sage provides authors with online access to their final article.

6.4 Promoting your article

Publication is not the end of the process! You can help disseminate your paper and ensure it is as widely read and cited as possible. The Sage Author Gateway has numerous resources to help you promote your work. Visit the Promote Your Article page on the Gateway for tips and advice.

7. Further information

Any correspondence, queries or additional requests for information on the manuscript submission process should be sent to the CLP editorial office as follows: cpj@sagepub.com

7.1 Appealing the publication decision

Editors have very broad discretion in determining whether an article is an appropriate fit for their journal. Many manuscripts are declined with a very general statement of the rejection decision. These decisions are not eligible for formal appeal unless the author believes the decision to reject the manuscript was based on an error in the review of the article, in which case the author may appeal the decision by providing the Editor with a detailed written description of the error they believe occurred.

If an author believes the decision regarding their manuscript was affected by a publication ethics breach, the author may contact the publisher with a detailed written description of their concern, and information supporting the concern, at publication_ethics@sagepub.com