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Perspectives in Public Health

Published in Association with Royal Society for Public Health
Formerly Journal of the Royal Society for the Promotion of Health

eISSN: 17579147 | ISSN: 17579139 | Current volume: 143 | Current issue: 5 Frequency: Bi-monthly

Promoting practice-based research and addressing inequalities in public health 

Perspectives in Public Health is an indexed bi-monthly, multidisciplinary public health journal with a truly international scope. Indexed in MEDLINE and ISI, Perspectives in Public Health publishes original peer-reviewed articles, literature reviews and research papers, and opinion pieces on all aspects of the science, philosophy, and practice of health promotion and public health, as well as news and features.

For guidance on how to write a review paper, please refer to the Perspectives in Public Health review guidelines here.

"Perspectives in Public Health is essential reading for all those who have an interest in health and health promotion." Baroness Sally Greengross OBE, Co-Chair, Alliance for Health and the Future

"The strength of this journal is its multidisciplinary nature- not only is it informative for subjects relating directly to my profession, but it also keeps me up-to-date with what is happening in different fields." Professor Raman Bedi, Chief Dental Officer for England

"Perspectives in Public Health provides a good mix between news coverage on health issues and academic papers- the issues discussed are broad, topical and interesting" Martin Habell, Architect and Director of Maybourne Projects

SAGE Choice and Open Access: If you or your funder wish your article to be freely available online to non subscribers immediately upon publication (gold open access), you can opt for it to be included in SAGE Choice, subject to payment of a publication fee. The manuscript submission and peer review procedure is unchanged. On acceptance of your article, you will be asked to let SAGE know directly if you are choosing SAGE Choice. To check journal eligibility and the publication fee, please visit SAGE Choice.

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

As a public health Charity, RSPH strives to ensure we provide the best service for our readers of Perspectives in Public Health, while also considering our wider environmental impact. Perspectives in Public Health will be an online only journal by the end of 2024 exclusively available online at https://journals.sagepub.com/home/rsh. Log on and read current and past issues and download PDFs from the entire back catalogue. You can also filter content based on subjects you are most interested in, and access supplementary materials.

Perspectives in Public Health is a bi-monthly journal for RSPH members, practitioners, policy-makers, researchers and academics. Each issue includes features articles, current topics and opinions; news and views on current health issues; as well as updates on the Society's work. Furthermore, the journal also commissions articles for themed issues and publishes original peer-reviewed articles. 

Perspectives in Public Health's primary aim is to be an invaluable resource for the Society's members, who are health-promoting professionals from many disciplines, including environmental health, health protection, health and safety, food safety and nutrition, building and engineering, primary care, academia and government. 

For un-themed issues, the journal considers submissions on all aspects of public health across all disciplines, focusing firmly on the Society's mission 'Vision, Voice and Practice'. Typically, these are:

practice based

systematic reviews

original research reports

digests of policy analysis with relevance to practitioners

implementation and/or evaluation of health protection and health promotion initiatives

economic analyses of health protection and health promotion initiatives

The voice of the public and behaviour insights into health

It is an aim of the journal to publish quality articles that identify and address local, national and global inequalities and inequities.

As a public health Charity, RSPH strives to ensure we provide the best service for our readers of Perspectives in Public Health, while also considering our wider environmental impact. Perspectives in Public Health will be an online only journal by the end of 2024 exclusively available online at https://journals.sagepub.com/home/rsh. Log on and read current and past issues and download PDFs from the entire back catalogue. You can also filter content based on subjects you are most interested in, and access supplementary materials.

 

Joint Editors
Joanna Saunders Leeds Beckett University, UK
Theodore Stickley University of Nottingham, UK
Deputy Editors
Catherine Homer Sheffield Hallam University, UK
Duncan Radley Leeds Beckett University, UK
Managing Editor
Natalia Camicia Royal Society for Public Health, UK
Editorial Officer
Gabby Favell Royal Society of Public Health, UK
Editorial Board
Lisa Ackerley Hygiene Audit Systems, UK
David Buck The King's Fund, UK
Michael Chang Department of Health and Social Care, UK
Ranjita Dhital University College London, UK
Louisa Ells Leeds Beckett University, UK
Kate Frazer University College Dublin, Ireland
Shazia Jamshed University Sultan Zainal Abidin UNISZA, Malaysia
Sarah Johnson Griffiths Consultant in Public Health, UK
Federico Jose Armando Perez Cueto Eulert The University of Copenhagen, Denmark
Ranjit Khutan University of Wolverhampton, UK
Jim McManus Director of Public Health at Hertfordshire County Council and President of the Association of Directors of Public Health
Shriti Pattani NHS London North West University Healthcare, UK
  • Applied Social Sciences Index & Abstracts (ASSIA)
  • Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature CINAHL
  • Current Contents / Social and Behavioral Sciences
  • Current Contents/ Social and Behavioral Sciences
  • Food Science and Technology Abstracts
  • Food Science and Technology Abstracts
  • Index Medicus (Ceased 2004)
  • MEDLINE
  • PAIS International
  • Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI)

Manuscript Submission Guidelines: Perspectives in Public Health

This Journal is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics

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

Please read the guidelines below then visit the Journal’s submission site https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/pph 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 Perspectives in Public Health will be reviewed.Priority is given to articles that address economic, social or health inequalities and inequities that affect the health of the public. We are also committed to promoting the public health and voice of the global majority and diverse communities. It is advisable that when preparing your article for submission that you firstly read any articles previously published by RSPH journals on your chosen topic to help inform the content of your submission.

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.

  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 Ethical Approval Ackowledgement
  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 Journal Style
    4.3 Artwork, figures and other graphics
    4.4 Supplementary material
    4.5 Reference style
    4.6 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 Perspectives in Public Health, please ensure you have read the Aims & Scope. ALL peer-review articles will need to provide a Plain Language Summary. Using bullet points and not exceeding 150 words in total, please summarise your article in plain English by answering these questions:

  • What are the aims of your study?
  • What are the key findings/results?
  • What is important about your study?
  • How could your study inform public health practice?

1.2 Article Types

Contributions in the following categories will be considered:

Please note: Word counts for all article types include abstracts but do not include references, tables or figures.

  • Original research

Original research papers are peer-reviewed by subject specialists and preference will be given to those appropriate for publication in up-coming themed issues. Submissions will need to show appropriate ethical approval. Length: 2,000-4,000 words. Requisites: key words, structured abstract, introduction, methods, results, discussion, conclusions, references. Abstracts for original research papers should be structured under the following headings: aims, methods, results/findings, and conclusions. Abstracts should be no more than 300 words.A date range should be included in the text for when data collection took place.

Please note: There is a limit of 40 references for peer review articles. If submissions have more than 40 references you will be asked to reduce the number of references before your article goes to review. 

  • Review

Review papers will also be considered and authors should describe the methods used to undertake the review. Length: 2,000-4,000 words and requisites as above.

Perspectives in Public Health review guidelines can be downloaded here.

  • Short reports

Short reports are peer-reviewed and are an opportunity to present research findings that do not constitute a full paper. Length: 1,000-1,500 words, No abstract or keywords are required, and there should be a maximum of 10 references and 1 table or figure.

  • Current Topics and Opinions

This section provides a forum for well-referenced, expert opinion on topical issues in public health. Appropriate submissions might be: proposals for action; examples of good practice; criticism of current practice or policy; or responses to published statements. Length: 500-1000 words. Requisites: concise presentation of facts and 10-15 references. Items submitted for this section are not subject to peer review, but go to the journal Editor for their comment. 

  • In Practice

These articles focus on a current public health initiative and how it works in practice, discussing also the wider public health benefits. The article should be approximately 1000 words long, structured with subheadings, and include no more than 10 references and one table or figure. Items submitted for this section are not subject to peer review, but go to the journal Editor for their comment. 

  • Feature

This section provides a forum for well-referenced, expert opinion on topical issues in public health. Appropriate submissions might be: proposals for action; examples of good practice; criticism of current practice or policy; or responses to published statements. Length: 500-1000 words. Requisites: concise presentation of facts and 10-15 references. Items submitted for this section are not subject to peer review, but go to the journal Editor for their comment.   

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.

1.3.2 Writing about Ethnicity

We ask authors to consider the language that they are using carefully when writing about ethnicity and useful guidance has been published by the UK government and can be found here: https://www.ethnicity-facts-figures.service.gov.uk/style-guide/writing-a...

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2. Editorial policies

2.1 Peer review policy

Sage does not permit the use of author-suggested (recommended) reviewers at any stage of the submission process, be that through the web-based submission system or other communication. Reviewers should be experts in their fields and should be able to provide an objective assessment of the manuscript. Our policy is that reviewers should not be assigned to a paper if:

•  The reviewer is based at the same institution as any of the co-authors

•  The reviewer is based at the funding body of the paper

•  The author has recommended the reviewer

•  The reviewer has provided a personal (e.g. Gmail/Yahoo/Hotmail) email account and an institutional email account cannot be found after performing a basic Google search (name, department and institution). 

2.2 Authorship

All parties who have made a substantive contribution to the article should be listed as authors. Principal authorship, authorship order, and other publication credits should be based on the relative scientific or professional contributions of the individuals involved, regardless of their status. A student is usually listed as principal author on any multiple-authored publication that substantially derives from the student’s dissertation or thesis.

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.

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

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.

2.4 Funding

Perspectives in Public Health 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

Perspectives in Public Health encourages authors to include a declaration of any conflicting interests and recommends you review the good practice guidelines on the Sage Journal Author Gateway.

2.6 Ethical Approval Acknowledgement

As the journal is a member of COPE, if a paper involves human subjects it must have relevant ethical approval. This should be detailed under the acknowledgements heading, and if there isn’t any this should be stated.

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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

Perspectives in Public Health 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. Similarly, we will not accept an article that has been written using artificial intelligence software and where A.I. has been used in the study, this must be clearly declared.

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

Perspectives in Public Health 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

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. All pages must be numbered.

A covering letter signed by all of the authors must be submitted with articles, and original or secondary research papers submitted for publication in PPH.
The letter must contain the following information:

  • Why the submission is appropriate for publication in PPHand what it adds to existing health promotion knowledge.
  • Which article category the submission is for.
  • Confirmation that the paper has not been published or submitted for consideration elsewhere.
  • Declaration of competing interests or the absence of competing interests and disclosure of all sources of funding.
  • Original research must declare ethical approval from an appropriate body and consent from participants.

Name of the corresponding author and their full contact details.

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 Journal Style

Please consult the submission guidelines on the publications page.

4.3 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.

4.4 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. For more information please refer to our guidelines on submitting supplementary files.

4.5 Reference style

Perspectives in Public Health 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 Vancouver EndNote output file.

Please note: There is a limit of 40 references for peer review articles. If submissions have more than 40 references you will be asked to reduce the number of references before your article goes to review. 

4.6 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

Perspectives in Public Health is hosted on Sage Track, a web based online submission and peer review system powered by ScholarOne™ Manuscripts. Visit https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/pph 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.

If you have any questions regarding the submission process, please contact the Editorial Office at:

Editorial Office
Royal Society for Public Health
John Snow House
59 Mansell Street
London
E1 8AN
DD: +44 (0) 20 7265 7332
Fax: +44 (0) 20 7265 7301
Email: publications@rsph.org.uk

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.

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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 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.

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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 Perspectives in Public Health editorial office as follows:

Editorial Office
Royal Society for Public Health
John Snow House
59 Mansell Street
London
E1 8AN
DD: +44 (0) 20 7265 7332
Fax: +44 (0) 20 7265 7301
Email: publications@rsph.org.uk

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