Health Services Research and Managerial Epidemiology

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 the journal’s submission site to upload your manuscript. Please note that manuscripts not conforming to these guidelines may be returned.
Sage Publishing disseminates high-quality research and engaged scholarship globally, and we are committed to diversity and inclusion in publishing. We encourage submissions from a diverse range of authors from across all countries and backgrounds.

Only manuscripts of sufficient quality that meet the aims and scope of Health Services Research and Managerial Epidemiology will be reviewed.

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, 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, and that you have obtained and can supply all necessary permissions for the reproduction of any copyright works not owned by you.

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

Please read the Manuscript Submission Guidelines below before submitting your manuscript here: 
SUBMIT MANUSCRIPT

1. Open Access
2. Article processing charge (APC)
3. What do we publish?
   3.1 Aims & scope
   3.2 Article types
   3.3 Writing your paper
   3.3.1 Making your article discoverable 
4. Editorial policies
   4.1 Peer Review Policy
   4.2 Authorship
   4.3 Acknowledgements
   4.4 Funding
   4.5 Declaration of conflicting interests
   4.6 Research ethics and patient consent
   4.7 Clinical Trials
   4.8 Reporting guidelines
5. Publishing policies
   5.1 Publication ethics
   5.2 Contributor's publishing agreement
6. Preparing your manuscript
   6.1 Word processing formats
   6.2 Artwork, figures and other graphics
   6.3 Supplementary material
   6.4 Reference style
   6.5 English language editing services
7. Submitting your manuscript
   7.1 How to submit your manuscript
   7.2 Title, keywords and abstracts
   7.3 Information required for completing your submission
   7.4 ORCID
   7.5 Permissions
8. On acceptance and publication
   8.1 Sage Production
   8.2 Continuous publication
   8.3 Promoting your article
9. Further information

1. Open Access

Health Services Research and Managerial Epidemiology is an open access, peer-reviewed journal. Each
article accepted by peer review is made freely available online immediately upon publication, is
published under a Creative Commons license and will be hosted online in perpetuity. Publication costs
of the journal are covered by the collection of article processing charges which are paid by the funder,
institution or author of each manuscript upon acceptance. There is no charge for submitting a paper to
the journal.

For general information on open access at Sage please visit the Open Access page or view our Open
Access FAQs.

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2. Article processing charge (APC)

If, after peer review, your manuscript is accepted for publication, a one-time article processing charge
(APC) is payable. This APC covers the cost of publication and ensures that your article will be freely
available online in perpetuity under a Creative Commons license.

The Article Processing Charge (APC) is $2000 USD and will be payable upon acceptance. 

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3. What do we publish?

3.1 Aims & scope

Before submitting your manuscript to Health Services Research and Managerial Epidemiology,
please ensure you have read the Aims & Scope.

3.2 Article types

Each submission should consist of a title page and a main document file. The title page should
include the following information:

• Manuscript title
• Grant or financial support information and/or a conflict of interest statement
• Any acknowledgments

Every effort should be made by the author to see that the main document file contains no clues
as to the author's identity. On the first page should be abstract (a maximum of 250 words) and
4-5 keywords. All tables should be placed at the end of the file and numbered in the order they
appear in text. We strongly encourage the appropriate use of bar charts and line graphs to
illustrate key findings. Figures should be placed in individual text files, separate from the main
document file. Word limits vary by section:

Research letters – 1,000 words, one table.

Case Studies – 1500 words, no more than 2 tables. These are organization case studies, not case
reports about individual patients.

Pilot Studies – 1500 words, no more than 2 tables. Brief reports about single-site studies are
typical of this section. Studies should not be under-powered and should include a comparison
group.

Commentaries (invited) – 2000 words, no tables.

Original research – 2000 words, 3 tables.

Systematic Reviews – 5000 words, 2 tables.

Letter to the Editor –  A Letter to the Editor is a brief communication that addresses the contents of a previously or concurrently published article. Its purpose is to make corrections, provide alternative viewpoints, or offer counterarguments.  Letters to the Editor must be written in a professional, respectful tone and include references to support all claims.  Logical fallacies and ad hominem attacks will not be considered.  General comments unrelated to specific publications should be submitted as Commentary articles.  Letters to the Editor should not exceed 800 words (excluding references) nor have more than 8 references.  An abstract is not necessary.  Letters may include 1-2 tables or figures if they support the argument, but they should not present new or unpublished research.  The original authors will be given an opportunity to respond.  Letters to the editor are not charged an APC. 

Research Note – 2000-4000 words, 3 tables, 3 figures, 20 references. These are short, concise reports and discussions from a particular investigation/study that focus on:

• Significant emergent findings
• Conceptual, practical or methodological innovations
• or Points of departure for future studies.

3.3 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.

3.3.1 Making 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

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4. Editorial policies

4.1 Peer review policy

The journal’s policy is to have manuscripts reviewed by two expert reviewers. Health Services
Research and Managerial Epidemiology utilizes a double-anonymize peer review process in which the
reviewer and authors’ names and information are withheld from the other. All manuscripts are 
reviewed as rapidly as possible, while maintaining rigor. Reviewers make comments to the
author and recommendations to the Editor-in-Chief who then makes the final decision.

Health Services Research and Managerial Epidemiology is committed to delivering high quality,
fast peer-review for your paper, and as such has partnered with Publons. Publons is a third party
service that seeks to track, verify and give credit for peer review. Reviewers for Health Services
Research and Managerial Epidemiology can opt in to Publons in order to claim their reviews or
have them automatically verified and added to their reviewer profile. Reviewers claiming credit
for their review will be associated with the relevant journal, but the article name, reviewer’s
decision and the content of their review is not published on the site. For more information visit
the Publons website.

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.

4.2 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:

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

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.

4.3 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.

4.3.1 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.

4.3.2 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.

Please supply any personal acknowledgements separately to the main text to facilitate
anonymous peer review.

4.4 Funding

Health Services Research and Managerial Epidemiology 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.

4.5 Declaration of conflicting interests

It is the policy of Health Services Research and Managerial Epidemiology 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 declaration is
made the following will be printed under this heading in your article: None Declared.
Alternatively, you may wish to state, The Author(s) declare(s) that there is no conflict of interest.

When making a declaration the disclosure information must be specific and include any financial
relationship that all authors of the article has with any sponsoring organization and the forprofit
interests the organization represents, and with any for-profit product discussed or implied
in the text of the article. Any commercial or financial involvements that might represent an
appearance of a conflict of interest need to be additionally disclosed in the covering letter
accompanying your article to assist the Editor in evaluating whether sufficient disclosure has
been made within the Declaration of Conflicting Interests provided in the article.

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

4.6 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.

Patients have a right to privacy that should not be infringed without informed consent.
Identifying information, including patients' names, initials, or hospital numbers, should not be
published in written descriptions, photographs, and pedigrees unless the information is essential
for scientific purposes and the patient (or parent or guardian) gives written informed consent
for publication. Informed consent for this purpose requires that a patient who is identifiable be
shown the manuscript to be published.

Identifying details should be omitted if they are not essential. Complete anonymity is difficult to
achieve, however, and informed consent should be obtained if there is any doubt. For example,
masking the eye region in photographs of patients is inadequate protection of anonymity. If
identifying characteristics are altered to protect anonymity, such as in genetic pedigrees,
authors should provide assurance that alterations do not distort scientific meaning and editors
should so note. When informed consent has been obtained it should be indicated in the
submitted article.

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

All research involving animals submitted for publication must be approved by an ethics committee with oversight of the facility in which the studies were conducted. The Journal has adopted the ARRIVE guidelines.

If your trial has been registered, please state this on the Title Page. When reporting experiments
on animals, indicate on the Title Page which guideline/law on the care and use of laboratory
animals was followed.

4.7 Clinical trials

Health Services Research and Managerial Epidemiology 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. For this purpose, a
clinical trial is defined as any research project that prospectively assigns human subjects to
intervention or comparison groups to study the cause-and- effect relationship between a
medical intervention and a health outcome. Studies designed for other purposes, such as to
study pharmacokinetics or major toxicity (e.g. phase I trials), would be exempt.

4.8 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 metaanalyses
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.

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5. Publishing policies

5.1 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.

5.1.1 Plagiarism

Health Services Research and Managerial Epidemiology 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 plagiarized 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.

5.1.2 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.

5.2 Contributor's publishing agreement

Before publication Sage requires the author as the rights holder to sign a Journal Contributor’s
Publishing Agreement. Health Services Research and Managerial Epidemiology publishes
manuscripts under Creative Commons licenses. The standard license for the journal is Creative
Commons by Attribution Non-Commercial (CC BY-NC), which allows others to re-use the work
without permission as long as the work is properly referenced and the use is non-commercial.
For more information, you are advised to visit Sage's OA licenses page

Alternative license arrangements are available, for example, to meet particular funder
mandates, made at the author’s request. 

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6. Preparing your manuscript

6.1 Word processing formats

The preferred formats for your manuscript are Word, RTX, and XLS. LaTeX files are also
accepted. Word and (La)Tex templates are available on the Manuscript Submission Guidelines
page of our Author Gateway. The text should be double-spaced throughout and with a minimum
of 3cm for left and right hand margins and 5cm at head and foot. Text should be standard 10 or
12 point. Each submission should consist of a title page and a main document file.

6.2 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

Figures supplied in color will appear in color online.

Photographic illustrations should be rendered with at least 300 dpi; please use CMYK color
conversion if possible. Graphs made with Office software such as Microsoft Excel, can be
provided in their original format to facilitate conversion into printable format with preserved
quality. Any other line graphs/illustrations should preferably be provided in EPS format with a
resolution of at least 600 dpi to prevent ragged lines when printed. A figure image should be at
least 160 mm in width at the appropriate resolution. For further guidance on how to prepare
your digital image see http://art.cadmus.com/da/index.jsp.

Graphs and images that are unsuitable may be returned to the author for amendment, causing
delay in publication

6.3 Supplementary material

This journal is able to host additional materials online (e.g. datasets, podcasts, videos, images
etc.) alongside the full-text of the article. These will be subjected to peer-review alongside the
article. For more information please refer to our guidelines on submitting supplementary files,
which can be found within our Manuscript Submission Guidelines page. 

6.4 Reference style

Health Services Research and Managerial Epidemiology adheres to the AMA reference style.
Please review the guidelines on AMA to ensure your manuscript conforms to this reference
style.

6.5 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. 

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7. Submitting your manuscript

7.1 How to submit your manuscript

Health Services Research and Managerial Epidemiology is hosted on Sage Track, a web based
online submission and peer review system powered by ScholarOne™ Manuscripts. Visit
http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/hsrme to login and submit your article online.

IMPORTANT: 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.

7.2 Title, keywords and abstracts

Please supply a title, short title, an abstract and keywords to accompany your article. The title,
keywords and abstract are key to ensuring readers find your article online through online search
engines such as Google. Please refer to the information and guidance on how best to title your
article, write your abstract and select your keywords by visiting the Sage Journal Author
Gateway for guidelines on How to Help Readers Find Your Article Online.

Keywords
2-10 to accompany the abstract. They should, if possible, be drawn from the MeSH list of Index
Medicus and be chosen with a view to useful cross-indexing of the article.

Abstract
The abstract should accurately and concisely reflect the content of the article, and should be
limited to 250 words. Please avoid reference citations and undefined abbreviations in the
abstract.

Units of measurement
Units of measurement should be expressed in SI and metric units; older conventional units may
be added in parentheses.

Nomenclature
Use the generic or chemical name of any drug, in lower case; the specific trade name
(capitalized) may be given in parentheses after the first text reference.

Standard abbreviations and symbols
Standard Abbreviations and symbols should be used, then defined in full in the first instance
unless they are standard units of measurement. Avoid any use of abbreviations in the article
title and abstract.

Guidelines for submitting supplemental files
This journal is able to host approved supplemental materials online, alongside the full-text of
articles. Supplemental files will be subjected to peer-review alongside the article. For more
information please refer to Sage’s Guidelines for Authors on Supplemental Files.

7.3 Information required for completing your submission

Provide full contact details for the corresponding author including email, mailing address and
telephone numbers. Academic affiliations are required for all co-authors. These details should
be presented separately to the main text of the article to facilitate anonymous peer review.

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).

7.4 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.

7.5 Permissions

Authors are responsible for obtaining 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 visit our
Frequently Asked Questions on the Sage Journal Author Gateway.

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8. On acceptance and publication

If your paper is accepted for publication after peer review, you will first be asked to complete the
contributor’s publishing agreement. Once your manuscript files have been checked for Sage Production,
the corresponding author will be asked to pay the article processing charge (APC) via a payment link.
Once the APC has been processed, your article will be prepared for publication and can appear online
within an average of 30 days. Please note that no production work will occur on your paper until the
APC has been received.

8.1 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.

8.2 Online publication

One of the many benefits of publishing your research in an open access journal is the speed to
publication. With no page count constraints, your article will be published online in a fully
citable form with a DOI number as soon as it has completed the production process. At this time
it will be completely free to view and download for all. Articles are batched every month and are
then available in the archive.

8.3 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.

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9. Further information

Any correspondence, queries or additional requests for information on the Manuscript Submission
process should be sent to the Health Services Research and Managerial Epidemiology editorial office as
follows:
Any correspondence, queries or additional requests for information on the Manuscript Submission
process should be sent to Sage Customer Service at journals@sagepub.com.

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