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Health Services Management Research

Published in Association with European Health Management Association
Theory, Evidence and Implications

eISSN: 17581044 | ISSN: 09514848 | Current volume: 37 | Current issue: 1 Frequency: Quarterly

Health Services Management Research (HSMR) is an authoritative international peer-reviewed journal which publishes theoretically and empirically rigorous research on questions of enduring interest to health-care organizations and systems throughout the world. Examining the real issues confronting health services management, it provides an independent view and cutting edge evidence-based research to guide policy-making and management decision-making. HSMR aims to be a forum serving an international community of academics and researchers on the one hand and healthcare managers, executives, policymakers and clinicians and all health professionals on the other. HSMR wants to make a substantial contribution to both research and managerial practice, with particular emphasis placed on publishing studies which offer actionable findings and on promoting knowledge mobilisation toward theoretical advances.

All papers are expected to be of interest and relevance to an international audience. HSMR aims at enhance communication between academics and practitioners concerned with developing, implementing, and analysing health management issues, reforms and innovations primarily in European health systems and in all countries with developed health systems. Papers can report research undertaken in a single country, but they need to locate and explain their findings in an international context, and in international literature. HSMR also promotes invited or commissioned papers, as well as the submission of a collection of papers that could develop into a “special section” or in special issues. Candidacy as guest editor for special issues are welcome.

To achieve the journal's objectives, authors are encouraged to write in a style understandable to health managers and practitioners from other disciplines and in other countries.

Health Services Management Research (HSMR) has been accepted into the ESCI.

This journal is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE)

The journal encourages the submission of short, full-length, comparative and review articles from different backgrounds (health management, organizational psychology and sociology, applied economics, and others) and which address:

· Original primary research using qualitative or quantitative methods;

· Theoretical or methodological developments, papers that present developments in theories, concepts or models in health services management research, or developments in research methods applied to health services.

· Evidence syntheses, that present the results of secondary research – reviews of the existing research evidence conducted rigorously using recognised and accepted methods for review including (but not limited to) Cochrane systematic reviews, and realist or metanarrative reviews.

· Theory-to-pratice papers, that present the results of implementation of theoretical advances in managerial practices. They can report case studies, incidents, histories, interviews and all other forms of research that help to investigate heath management practices of organizations and systems, and their impacts and lessons.

· Perspectives papers, that aim at highlighting, framing and discussing emerging health management issues in the agenda of organizations and systems.

· Ph.D breakthroughs, that show rigorous and innovative methodological approaches and new research questions of interest for the academics and practitioners community.

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Health Services Management Research (HSMR) is an authoritative international peer-reviewed journal which publishes theoretically and empirically rigorous research on questions of enduring interest to health-care organizations and systems throughout the world. Examining the real issues confronting health services management, it provides an independent view and cutting edge evidence-based research to guide policy-making and management decision-making. HSMR aims to be a forum serving an international community of academics and researchers on the one hand and healthcare managers, executives, policymakers and clinicians and all health professionals on the other. HSMR wants to make a substantial contribution to both research and managerial practice, with particular emphasis placed on publishing studies which offer actionable findings and on promoting knowledge mobilisation toward theoretical advances.

All papers are expected to be of interest and relevance to an international audience. HSMR aims at enhance communication between academics and practitioners concerned with developing, implementing, and analysing health management issues, reforms and innovations primarily in European health systems and in all countries with developed health systems. Papers can report research undertaken in a single country, but they need to locate and explain their findings in an international context, and in international literature. HSMR also promotes invited or commissioned papers, as well as the submission of a collection of papers that could develop into a “special section” or in special issues. Candidacy as guest editor for special issues are welcome.

To achieve the journal's objectives, authors are encouraged to write in a style understandable to health managers and practitioners from other disciplines and in other countries.

Health Services Management Research (HSMR) has been accepted into the ESCI.
 

This journal is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE)

Sign up for the latest table of content alerts.
 

Editor-in-Chief
Federico Lega University of Milan, Italy
Editorial Administrators and Associate Editors
Francesca Ferre Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies - Pisa, Italy
Marta Marsilio University of Milan, Italy
Rocco Palumbo University degli Studi di Roma "Tor Vergata", Italy
Anna Prenestini University of Milan, Italy
Prof. Fabrizia Sarto University of Naples, Italy
Associate Editor
Nicola Belle Sant'Anna Pisa, Italy
Sandra Buttigieg University of Malta, Malta
Stefano Calciolari USI Lugano, Switzerland
Corrado Cuccurullo SUN University Naples, Italy
Jonila Gabrani University of Tirana and Institute of Public Health of Albania, Albania
Silvia Gardini Alma Mater Studiorum, University of Bologna, Italy
James Gillespie University of Sydney, Australia
Robert Hernandez University of Alabama at Birmingham, USA
Timothy Hoff Northeastern University, USA
Alexandre Lourenço Coimbra Hospital and University Centre
Daniele Mascia Luiss University “Guido Carli”, Rome, Italy
Pamela Mazzocato Karolinska Institutet, Sweden
Federica Morandi Catholic Univeristy of the Sacred Heart, Italy
Guido Noto University of Messina, Italy
Robin Nunkoo University of Mauritius, Mauritius
Nathan Charles Proudlove University of Manchester, UK
Marco G. Rizzo Catholic University Milan, Italy
Andrea Bonomi Savignon University of Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy
Deepa Sethi Professor at IIM Kozhikode
Emidia Vagnoni University of Ferrara, Italy
Milena Vainieri Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies - Pisa, Italy
Gianluca Veronesi University of Bristol, UK
Claudia Guerrazzi Young Belmont University, USA
Editorial Board
Prof Mats Brommels Medical Management Centre, Karolinska Institute, Sweden
Prof Reinhard Busse Faculty of Economics and Management, Technische Universität Berlin, Germany
Prof Graeme Currie Warwick Business School, UK
Tom D’aunno New York University, USA
Prof Huw Davies Department of Management, University of St Andrews, UK
Prof Ewan Ferlie King’s College London, UK
Prof Naomi Fulop Department of Applied Health Research, University College London, UK
Stephen J. O’Connor University of Alabama at Birmingham, USA
Dr Trish Reay Alberta School of Business, University of Alberta, Canada
Founding Editor
Peter Spurgeon Warwick Business School, UK
Former Editor
Kieran Walshe University of Manchester, UK
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Manuscript Submission Guidelines: Health Services Management Research: Theory, Evidence, Implications

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 https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/hsmr to upload your manuscript. Please note that manuscripts not conforming to these guidelines may be returned.

Only manuscripts of sufficient quality that meet the aims and scope of Health Services Management Research: Theory, Evidence, Implications (HSMR) 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 Health Services Management Research 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
    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

1. What do we publish?

1.1 Aims & Scope

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

1.2 Article Types

The journal encourages the submission of short, full-length, comparative and review articles from different backgrounds (health management, organizational psychology and sociology, applied economics, and others).

Health Services Management Research publishes seven main types of paper – reports of original primary research; reports of theoretical or methodological developments in health services, organisational or management research; evidence syntheses conducted rigorously and in accordance with accepted guidelines; theory-to-practice works; perspectives on emerging issues; and invited papers commissioned or solicited on important topics by the Editor and Editorial Board.

You will be asked which type of paper you are submitting when you submit a paper online, and will be able to choose from these seven types. Some editorial requirements of each type are outlined briefly below.

Original primary research
These papers present the findings from original empirical research using qualitative or quantitative methods. They should be up to 4000 words in length with up to six tables or figures and up to 30 references. They should be presented using conventional structured headings, and should contain a clear summary of the research findings and their implications for healthcare managers in one table or figure.

Theoretical or methodological developments
These papers present developments in theories, concepts or models in health services management research, or developments in research methods applied to health services. They should not simply contain reviews or reports on theory or methods, but should report a substantive advance or development. They should be up to 4000 words in length with up to four tables or figures and up to 30 references. They should be presented using structured headings though no particular structure is prescribed, and they should contain a clear summary of the key findings and conclusions from the paper in one table or figure.

Evidence syntheses
These papers present the results of secondary research – reviews of the existing research evidence conducted rigorously using recognised and accepted methods for review including (but not limited to) Cochrane systematic reviews, and realist or metanarrative reviews. They should be up to 4000 words in length with up to four tables or figures and up to 30 references. They should be presented using conventional structured headings including a clear explanation of the review methodology and process and they should contain a clear summary of the research findings and their implications for healthcare managers in one table or figure.

Theory-to-practice papers
These papers present the results of implementation of theoretical advances in managerial practices. They can report case studies, incidents, histories, interviews and all other forms of research that help to investigate heath management practices of organizations and systems, and their impacts and lessons. Papers submitted should ensure rigorous  investigation of causal relationships and reliable assessment of the impacts, as well ashighlight potentially generalizable interventions or practices.

They should be presented using structured headings though no particular structure is prescribed, and they should contain a clear summary of the key findings and conclusions from the paper in one table or figure. They should be up to 4000 words in length with up to six tables or figures and up to 30 references.

Perspectives papers
Papers that are short work that aim at highlighting, framing and discussing emerging health management issues in the agenda of organizations and systems. They are papers on cutting-edge topics, envisioning, provoking and providing brilliant “food-for-thought” for academics and practitioners. They should be presented using structured headings though no particular structure is prescribed. They should be up to 2000 words in length with up to 10 references.

Ph.D breakthroughs
Papers that are directly derived from Ph.D works and dissertations. Tough sometimes they might be still immature and could be further developed in the current academic discourse, their rigorous and innovative methodological approaches and the new research questions they address make them of interest for the academics and practitioners community. They often anticipate new streams of research, or addresses old question with fresh and lateral views. They should be up to 4000 words in length with up to six tables or figures and up to 30 references. They should be presented using conventional structured headings, and should contain a clear summary of the research findings and their implications for healthcare managers in one table or figure. Given time issues of Ph.D candidates, a specific peer-review fast-track is designed for these submissions.

Invited or commissioned papers
These papers are invited or commissioned by the Editor and Editorial Board of the journal on important topics, and may present original empirical research, or theoretical or methodological developments, or evidence syntheses and in each case should follow the guidelines set out above. In inviting a contribution, the Editor may provide specific guidance on its intended purpose, audience and format. All invited or commissioned papers are subject to the same processes of peer review as other papers, detailed in section 2 above.

HSMR also promotes candidacy as guest editor for special issues.

To achieve the journal's objectives, authors are encouraged to write in a non-technical style, which is understandable to health management practitioners and specialists from other disciplines and in other countries.

Summary of article types:

Article Type

Abstract

Main Text

References

Figures/Tables

Original primary research

Up to 200

Up to 4,000 words

Up to 30

No more than 6

Theoretical or methodological developments

Up to 200

Up to 4,000 words

Up to 30

No more than 4

Evidence syntheses

Up to 200

Up to 4,000 words

Up to 30

No more than 4

Theory-to-practice

Up to 200

Up to 4,000 words

Up to 30

No more than 6

Perspectives

Up to 200

Up to 2,000 words

Up to 10

No more than 4

Ph.D Breakthroughs

Up to 200

Up to 4,000 words

Up to 30

No more than 6

 

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.

Covering Letter: Papers should be accompanied by a covering letter. To help the Editor(s) with their preliminary evaluation, please indicate why you think the paper suitable for publication.

Title Page: The first page should contain the full title of the manuscript, a short title, the author(s) name(s) and affiliation(s), and the name, postal and email addresses of the author for correspondence, the exact word count for the manuscript (not including appendices, figures/tables or the references list), and details of competing interests and other declarations (see further details below).

The main steps in the process are set out below:

    1. All submitted and commissioned/invited papers are initially reviewed by the Editor. Papers which are of poor quality, outside the scope of the journal, or not considered sufficiently original or important given the space constraints of a quarterly journal, will be rejected at this stage without peer review. In such cases the authors will receive brief editorial feedback and guidance.
    2. The Editor will select an Associate Editor based on specific expertise and assign the paper to him/her. The Editor or the Associate Editor will identify two appropriate reviewers given the content of the paper, usually combining both content and methodological expertise. We invite authors to suggest peer reviewers, but do not commit to taking up their suggestions. We ask reviewers to conduct their review within 4 weeks.
    3. The journal supports the philosophy of open peer review, in which authors and reviewers are aware of each other’s identities and the review process is a constructive and mutual exercise in learning and improvement. We do not anonymize reviewers to the identity of the authors of the paper they are reviewing, and we encourage reviewers to make their identity known to authors though we do not require them to do so.
    4. We make it clear to reviewers that the contents of submitted papers should be treated as confidential and should not be discussed with anyone else without prior permission from the Editor.
    5. Reviewers are asked to comment on the following issues:
    • Scientific quality, rigour and methodological strengths and weaknesses, appropriate to the nature of the paper and the methods used.
    • Importance, relevance or salience of the topic or subject to both the academic and practice communities in health services management.
    • Structure, organisation and presentation of the paper including its comprehensibility to the journal’s audience.

6. The Editor or Associate Editor aims to decide on each paper within 4 weeks of receipt of the two reviews. Three decisions are available: accept (often with some minor corrections or revisions); revise and resubmit; or reject. Authors are sent the editorial decision together with copies of the two reviewers' comments. The Editor or Associate Editor usually sends feedback letters to authors, if the authors are being invited to resubmit the paper. Resubmission must be accompanied with a letter responding analytically to the reviewers’ and Editors’ comments. Reviewers are sent the other reviewer's comments for information. If the decision is revise and resubmit, the Editor or Associate Editor has evaluated the work as worth of being published on HSMR. In this respect, HSMR supports the idea of a developmental review process for which the Editor/Associate Editors as well as the reviewers aim at providing to the authors constructive feedback and support them to reach the desired standards for publication.

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.

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2. Editorial policies

2.1 Peer review policy

Health Services Management Research operates a strictly anonymized peer review process in which the reviewer’s name is withheld from the author and, the author’s name from the reviewer. The reviewer may at their own discretion opt to reveal their name to the author in their review but our standard policy practice is for both identities to remain concealed.

As part of the submission process you will be asked to provide the names of 2 peers who could be called upon to review your manuscript. Recommended reviewers should be experts in their fields and should be able to provide an objective assessment of the manuscript. Please be aware of any conflicts of interest when recommending reviewers. Examples of conflicts of interest include (but are not limited to) the below: 

    • The reviewer should have no prior knowledge of your submission
    • The reviewer should not have recently collaborated with any of the authors
    • Reviewer nominees from the same institution as any of the authors are not permitted

Please note that the Editors are not obliged to invite/reject any recommended/opposed reviewers to assess your manuscript.

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.

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

Health Services Management Research 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 Health Services Management Research 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

Health Services Management Research 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 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

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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

Health Services Management Research 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

Health Services Management Research 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.

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4. Preparing your manuscript for submission

4.1 Formatting

The preferred format for your manuscript is Word. LaTeX 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.  

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.

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 supplementary files.

4.4 Reference style

Health Services Management Research adheres to the Sage Vancouver reference style. View the Sage Vancouver guidelines to ensure your manuscript conforms to this reference style.

If you use EndNote to manage references, you can download the Sage Harvard EndNote output file.

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.

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5. Submitting your manuscript

Health Services Management Research is hosted on Sage Track, a web based online submission and peer review system powered by ScholarOne™ Manuscripts. Visit https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/hsmr 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.

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. The affiliation listed in the manuscript should be the institution where the research was conducted. If an author has moved to a new institution since completing the research, the new affiliation can be included in a manuscript note at the end of the paper. 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.

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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 made available to the corresponding author via our editing portal Sage Edit or by email, and corrections should be made directly or notified to us 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.

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7. Further information

Any correspondence, queries or additional requests for information on the manuscript submission process should be sent to the Health Services Management Research editorial office as follows:

info@sagepub.com

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