AHR provides information for decision makers in the health care industry. AHR is read by health care professionals, managers, planners and policy makers throughout Australia and the region. Topics covered by AHR include all aspects of health policy and management, health care delivery systems, clinical programs, health financing and other matters of interest to those working in health care.

Submitting an article to AHR

Online submission system

AHR uses the “Editorial Manager” system of online manuscript submission. Online submission is fast and allows authors to track the progress of their submissions through peer review and the editorial decision-making process.

First time users: Please select “Register” from the menu at the top of the Editorial manager page and enter the requested information. Upon successful registration, you will be sent an email containing your username and password. You need these to log in.

Registered users: Select “Login” from the menu at the top of the Editorial manager page and provide your username and password. Log in as “Author”. Then submit your manuscript and track its progress through the system.

For further information on the Editorial Manager system please download the Tutorial for Authors available at http://austhealthrev.edmgr.com/.

Note: Do not include author-identifying information in your manuscript. The manuscript you submit online will (if appropriate) be forwarded to peer reviewers. AHR uses “blind” peer review, in which reviewers are not told the identity of the authors. To preserve blinding, your manuscript should not contain author-identifying information, such as a list of authors on the title page or a contact address. This information should be submitted online on the forms provided for this purpose.

Requirements for submissions

Manuscripts submitted to AHR must be offered exclusively to the Journal and must conform with the Uniform requirements for manuscripts submitted to biomedical journals (available online at www.icmje.org). Submission of an article implies that it has not been previously published, is not being considered for publication elsewhere, and that the contents are original. If a submitted article overlaps considerably with previously published articles or articles submitted elsewhere, copies of these should be included with the submitted manuscript.

Manuscript title page

Authors are requested to submit a title page which includes the manuscript title, all authors listed in publication order and all authors names (including middle initial), Positions, Qualifications, Institution or Affiliation, Address and Email. Click here to download the title page for submission.

Types of articles

Please identify your manuscript as one of the following types:

Abstract

The Editor requires a 100–200 word abstract (except for book reviews, editorials and letters) outlining the key message of the article, its implications and supporting evidence. Structured abstracts are recommended where appropriate (see http://www.mja.com.au/public/information/abstract.html for examples of structured abstracts). Not all structured abstract headings are appropriate to all articles, but the use of headings can abbreviate the abstract and highlight the key features of the article.

Key question summary

As well as an abstract, authors of feature articles and research notes are asked to provide three short paragraphs answering these questions:

1. What is known about the topic?

2. What does this paper add?

3. What are the implications for practitioners?

Illustrations

Charts, graphs, figures, and drawings are encouraged. AHR is published in black and white, so illustrations should be designed to reproduce well without colour. Illustrations are generally reproduced at a width of 65mm (single column) or 140mm (page width). At this size, text within illustrations should usually be 8 point type in a sans-serif font (eg, Arial, Helvetica).

Illustrations should be submitted in their original form. If embedded in the article, please supply them separately for reformatting by the journal.

The most common error in preparing electronic images is to make them too small. Images appear on a computer screen at a resolution of 72 or 96 pixels per inch (ppi); but to achieve a similar quality of reproduction, an image will be printed at 300 dots per inch (dpi). An image that appears on screen to be 65 mm wide at 72 ppi will only be 16mm wide when printed at 300 dpi. Printing this image 65 mm wide will show jagged edges instead of smooth curves and tone blocks instead of smooth tone transitions.

Do not use JPEG compression to reduce image size. JPEG images must be saved at their maximum size, as JPEG compression reduces image quality. ZIP compression is acceptable.

Preferred image file formats are EPS, TIFF, Adobe Illustrator or Adobe Photoshop.

If providing graphs in Microsoft Excel format, it is important to provide the data table from which the graph was generated.

A copy of images can be embedded in your Word document at the relevant position, but the original image file must always be submitted separately as well.

Provide a letter of permission from the copyright holder for the use of images from other publications.

In AHR, all figures and tables are placed in boxes and numbered in a single sequence (Box 1, Box 2, etc), not in separate sequences.

Tables

Set out tables using your word processor’s table tool. Place the table title above, rather than in the table, but place table footnotes in the last row of the table. Use one table cell for each data item (do not place a column of separate items into one cell). Do not use a string of spaces or tabs as a formatting device.

Style of references and citations

Do not use headers and footers, automatic referencing or footnotes. AHR uses the Vancouver style of referencing, as described in the Uniform requirements for manuscripts submitted to biomedical journals (www.icmje.org).

In the Vancouver style, references are numbered in order of their first appearance in the text, and citations appear as superscript numerals. In the reference list, abbreviate journal names as in Index Medicus. Give surnames and initials of all authors (or only the first three authors [et al] if there are more than four).

Examples of references:

1. Wright O, Capra S, Aliakbari J. A comparison of two measures of hospital foodservice satisfaction. Aust Health Rev 2003; 26: 70-6.

2. Ringsven MK, Bond D. Gerontology and leadership skills for nurses. 2nd edn. Albany, New York: Delmar Publishers, 1996.

The Vancouver style is also described in the Australian Government Style Manual (6th edn, pp 215-218).

Or, for a pdf file giving rules and examples, click here.

Acknowledgements and competing interests

Acknowledgements should be brief, and should be submitted in a separate document (to prevent revealing your identity to the reviewers who see your manuscript). If the work you are reporting is based on a funded project, the funding body should be acknowledged. If it has been part of postgraduate studies, the university in which you were enrolled should be mentioned.

You must declare competing interests if you have a material interest in your subject matter (for example, you hold shares in the company that makes the software that your study refers to as part of its method; or your salary is paid from a grant provided by a corporate foundation which is in a business related to the subject of the work). Your employer can provide advice on this matter. If in doubt, bring the issue to the attention of the editors. A declaration of competing interests should be submitted in a separate document (to prevent revealing your identity to the reviewers who see your manuscript). The declaration form is part of the copyright form, as below.

Copyright

Copyright for articles published in AHR is held by the Australian Healthcare and Hospitals Association. A copyright assignment form must be signed by all authors. The form is available online (click here) and should be printed, signed and returned by post to: Managing Editor, Australian Health Review, Australasian Medical Publishing Company, Locked Bag 3030, Strawberry Hills, NSW 2012, Australia.

Embargo

All accepted manuscripts are subject to embargo until the day of publication. Manuscripts should not be made available to others, nor should any news reports about articles appear until the date of publication.

Questions about writing for AHR? Email: ahr@ampco.com.au

How to write a case study for AHR

A case study is a form of qualitative, descriptive research about a single or small number of events or cases. Conclusions are drawn in relation to the specific participants in the specific content and there is no expectation that the results of the case study can be generalised to other subjects or contexts. Case studies describe real-life situations and are most successful when they present the 'story' and the outcomes, and analyse the failures as well as the successes, and the old and new strategies and tactics. It is valuable to set the case in a theoretical context, if relevant. The readers should be given a balanced presentation of 'what happened', so that they are in a position to assess the accuracy of the authors' analysis of the 'so what?' question.

In the context of AHR a case study describes a typical policy or management issue or situation, or the development of a new service or model. It is a written account of the situation and the steps taken, and is best presented from the decision maker's point of view.

The case study should be no more than 2,000 words and will be accepted for publication if it presents a balanced view, is evidence-based (but does not need to provide a comprehensive review of the literature); is applicable to and will educate others; and documents actual outcomes (both successful and unsuccessful). A case study often works best when it follows the sequence and timeframe of the real-life event.

Although the best structure will be partly determined by the material, a suggested framework is as follows:

1. Objectives

2. Setting

3. Participants

4. Methodology /Sequence of events

5. Outcomes

6. Problems/conflicts/constraints

7. Discussion/lessons learned

A good case is relevant to the reader, and the editors of AHR will choose case studies that address the interests of our readers. Our readers are health care managers and board members, members of the College of Health Service Executives, policy-makers, clinician managers and students of health management and policy. Case studies should involve situations that the readers know or are likely to face, as this improves the empathy factor and makes the case worth reading and reflecting upon.

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© 2006 Australian Health Review.