Instructions for Authors

for APJPH Pacific Health Special Issue

1. Authors should read the instructions to authors and articles from the latest volume of the APJPH
to familiarize themselves with our preferred format.
2. Since we have had several issues on Island Health, there are quite a number of papers in our
journal that might be relevant to your paper. Authors should read the applicable ones.
3. Articles must conform with the scientific standards of an international public health journal. This
includes a high standard of English.
4. All clinical trials and interventions must be registered by a recognized authority where the
protocol is available for public access. The registration number must be included in the Methods
section. No papers that related to unregistered trials that commenced in 2012 or later will be
considered for publication. Suitable registration authorities include: http://clinicaltrials.gov,
http://www.who.int/ictrp/en (as the WHO website says, "The registration of all interventional
trials is a scientific, ethical and moral responsibility”) http://www.anzctr.org.au.
5. Cohort studies should follow the STROBE guideline and randomised controlled trials should follow
the CONSORT guidelines. For other study designs, kindly refer this link for the guidelines:
http://www.equator-network.org/

Manuscript Submission

All new manuscripts must be submitted online via the following website
http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/apjph. When submitting the manuscript, the author should choose
‘Pacific Health’ as the label for the manuscript. This manuscript heading will help the editorial office
to identify the manuscripts submitted for this special issue.

Manuscript Preparation

1. Types of papers accepted: Original Manuscript (2500 - 3000 words of which the abstract is not
more than 150 words). Reviews should have 3000-4000 words with abstract of not more than
200 words. That is, the word count excludes the abstract. For other types of articles, please check
the Submission Guidelines at https://uk.sagepub.com/en-gb/asi/journal/asia-pacific-journal-
public-health#submission-guidelines

2. Arrange the manuscript in this order: (1) Title Page; (2) Abstract and Keywords; (3) Two sections
on: What we already know, What this article adds; (4) Text (Introduction, Methods, Results,
Discussion, Conclusion); (5) Acknowledgments; (6) References; (7) Figure legends; (8); Tables;
and (9) Figures; (10) Supplementary Files (if applicable). Additional illustrations or other
materials can be submitted as supplementary files for online-only publication.

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3. The Title Page should include the following information:
 Manuscript Title
 Author names and affiliations. Names of authors should be spelled out and qualifications
of the authors up to 2 highest academic titles. A superscript number should be placed after
each name to refer to the respective affiliations that must be listed below. Provide the full
postal address, contact number, and email address for each author.
 Corresponding author information. Please ensure that any changes to the contact details
of the corresponding author must immediately be notified to the Editorial Office.

4. For the Main Document:

Abstract
 The abstract must be unstructured, and the word limit is 150 words for Original Articles or
200 words for Review.
 At the end of the abstract, please include an alphabetical list of 5 to 8 keywords and
subjects for indexing. Choose the keywords carefully as these will be used for subsequent
retrieval.

Text
 The article must begin with these two sections. Please see examples in our journal.
i. What we already know
ii. What this article adds
 At the end of the introduction, provide a one sentence objective that describes exactly
what the reader can expect in the paper.
 All articles must contain a Methodology section. The ‘Methods’ section must include the
titles of the Ethics Committees (Institutional Review Committees) that approved the
protocol together with Approval Numbers or dates. Approval must be given before data
collection commences. Details of the way informed consent was obtained must also be
included. The corresponding author must retain copies of all letters of approval in case
they are required for review by the Journal’s editors. Papers without proof of ethical
consideration will immediately be rejected.
 System Internationale (SI) Units should be used. Use only standard abbreviations. The full
term for which an abbreviation stands should precede its first use in the text unless it is a
standard unit of measurement.

References
 References should be from refereed journals. We do not allow informal sources, such as
personal communications or other sources that are not publicly available.
 Manuscripts should be prepared according to the American Medical Association (AMA)
Manual of Style (10th Edition).
 Number the references in order of mention in text. Please ensure that you limit your
references to 30 for original articles and a maximum of 200 references for Reviews.
 Identify references in text, tables, and legends by Arabic numerals in superscript. Titles of
journals are abbreviated according to MEDLINE.
 In the text, please use the author’s surname(s) and a superscripted number that correlates
with the reference at the end of the manuscript. For example, for the first reference in the

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 text, use a superscripted number 1, such as Skinner1, or use only the superscripted number
after the phrase or sentence of citation. When several references are cited simultaneously
in the text, list the superscripted numbers together, for example, “Many researchers have
debated this subject.”1,2,5,9. In text citations, use “et al” for references of 3 authors.
However, in the references, list up to 6 authors. If there are more than 6 authors, list the
first 3 authors and then “et al”. References should appear at the end of the text numbered
in order of appearance in the manuscript. Unpublished data and personal communications
should be given as references. Follow the examples of forms of references as shown below.

Journal references should be cited as follows:

Ricketts TA. The impact of head and body angle on monaural and binaural performance
with directional and omnidirectional hearing aids. Ear Hear. 2000;21(4):318-329.

Book chapters should conform to the following:

Skinner MW, Holden LK, Binzer SM. Aural rehabilitation for individuals with severe and
profound hearing impairment hearing aids, cochlear implants, counselling, and training.
In: Valente M, ed. Strategies for Selecting and Verifying Hearing Aid Fittings. New York,
NY: Thieme Medical Publishers; 1994:267-299.

Books should be listed as follows:

Valente M. Strategies for Selecting and Verifying Hearing Aid Fittings. 3rd ed. New York,
NY: Thieme Medical Publishers; 1994.

5. Illustrations
 Please limit the number of Tables or Figures to three (that is, only three (3) illustrations (Tables
and Figures) in total, not three of each type.
 All tables and figures should be placed at the end of the manuscript after the references and
numbered accordingly. Provide footnotes for explanatory matter and identify in alphabetical
order all abbreviations used.
 NOTE: Remember to place callouts for the tables and figures in the text. For example, write
“INSERT TABLE 1 HERE” to show where the table should appear within the text.
 For quality purposes, please submit figures as separate files in JPEG, TIFF, GIF, or EPS format
with 300 dpi resolution or higher.
 PowerPoint slides and images embedded in Word documents do not transfer well to print unless
they are simple line art.
 Abbreviations, symbols, arrows, numbers, or letters used in the figures must be identified and
explained in the corresponding legends.
 Submit written permission from the copyright holder to reproduce any previously published
figures. Color photographs will be published at the author’s expense.

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6. Permission
 Authors must obtain written permission from the copyright owner (usually the publisher) for the
use of tables, illustrations, or extensively quoted material that has appeared in another
publication. See permission guidelines at www.sagepub.com under Journal Editors/Authors. Such
permissions must be sent with the manuscript, and credit must appear in the corresponding
legend.

7. Copyright
 Upon acceptance of an article, the author(s) will be required to assign the copyright to the
Publisher. After the article has been accepted for publication by the Editor, a Copyright Release
form will be sent that must be signed by the lead or corresponding author on behalf of all authors.

8. Disclaimer
 Neither the Editor nor the Publisher accepts responsibility for the views of authors expressed in
their contributions.

9. English Language Help

 Authors who want to refine the use of English in their manuscripts might consider utilizing the
services of SPi, a non-affiliated company that offers Professional Editing Services to authors of
journal articles in the areas of science, technology, medicine, or the social sciences. SPi specializes
in editing and correcting English-language manuscripts written by authors with a primary language
other than English. Visit http://www.prof-editing.com for more information about SPi’s
Professional Editing Services, pricing, and turn-around times, or to obtain a free quote or submit
a manuscript for language polishing.

 Please be aware that Sage (or APJPH) has no affiliation with SPi and makes no endorsement of the
company. An author’s use of SPi’s services in no way guarantees that his or her submission will
ultimately be accepted. Any arrangement an author enters into will be exclusively between the
author and SPi, and any costs incurred are the sole responsibility of the author.