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Mission, Author & Submission Information

MISSION

The mission of the JOURNAL OF PEDIATRIC, MATERNAL & FAMILY HEALTH – Chiropractic (JPMFH) is to disseminate to its reading audience peer-reviewed research and other information dealing with the concepts of health, wellness, and vertebral subluxation as they relate to children, mothering and families. It is devoted primarily to serving the chiropractic profession, other health care providers, the scientific and scholarly communities, and the public at large.

SCOPE AND AIMS 

JPMFH will publish contributions germane to the chiropractic concepts of health wellness, vertebral subluxation and the myriad variables that interconnect these constructs as they relate to children, mothering and family health. Articles dealing with the anatomical, physiological, biomechanical, philosophical, clinical, epidemiological, legal, theoretical, administrative, technical, and practice realms of pediatric, maternal and family health; which relate to a progressive model of the chiropractic lifestyle, are within the domain of its publication interests.

All levels of research, from double blind randomized clinical trials to case studies, pilot studies, anecdotal and observational reports will be considered for publication. Selected information regarding conferences, seminars, and other colloquia promoting or enhancing understanding of health, wellness and vertebral subluxation as related to women, children and familes will be published.

JPMFH will also print book reviews, commentaries, brief communications, research in progress, and letters to the editor. JPMFH will serve as a limited source of advertising, promoting items or information which contribute to health, wellness and subluxation-related chiropractic. This will include, but not be limited to, products, instruments, academic positions, and practice opportunities. It is intended that JPMFH will serve as a medium through which new information will increase the overall understanding and appreciation of the role of the chiropractic lifestyle in achieving health and wellness in this special population.

It is a publication usable by chiropractors and other health care providers for patient education, personal edification, improvement of methods for chiropractic management, and a source of publication for case studies and other practice-related information. As a cross-disciplinary journal with international distribution, submissions are encouraged from all health care and science arenas as well as other areas including; the legal profession, governmental agencies, and educational and quality of life programs from the United States and abroad.

AUTHORSHIP

All authors appearing on the manuscript assume responsibility and accountability for the results. Authors and co-authors should be responsible for a significant part of the manuscript and should have been involved in writing, reviewing, and revising the content of the manuscript.

CONFLICT OF INTEREST

A conflict of interest exists when an author or researcher has financial or personal interests that may influence his or her actions in regard to the authors’ work, manuscript or decisions. Conflicts of interest that exist, or that are perceived to exist, for individual authors in connection with the content of papers submitted to JPMFH should be disclosed in the cover letter to the editor. The editor makes the final determination concerning the extent of information released to the public.

INFORMED CONSENT

The following is adopted from the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (“Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals”) — February 2006.

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. Authors should identify Individuals who provide writing assistance and disclose the funding source for this assistance. 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 published article.

HUMAN AND ANIMAL RIGHTS

The following is adopted from the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (“Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals”) — February 2006.

When reporting experiments on human subjects, authors should indicate whether the procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation (institutional and national) and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2000. If doubt exists whether the research was conducted in accordance with the Helsinki Declaration, the authors must explain the rationale for their approach, and demonstrate that the institutional review body explicitly approved the doubtful aspects of the study. When reporting experiments on animals, authors should be asked to indicate whether the institutional and national guide for the care and use of laboratory animals was followed.

PREPARATION OF THE MANUSCRIPT

Manuscripts should be prepared in accordance with the “Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted for Biomedical Journals,” with the exceptions noted herein. Manuscripts should be typed double-spaced on regular 8-1/2″ by 11″ paper, with 1.0″ margins. The manuscript, when submitted for peer-review, will be blinded. Therefore, only the title page should include the author(s) name. The usual format for a journal research article is: title page, abstract, acknowledgments, body of the text, references, reprint address, legends, and tables. The format for other types of articles may vary, but require approval before acceptance of an article or paper is granted by JPMFH.

Pages should be numbered consecutively in the lower right hand corner.

Title Page: In addition to the title, Include the names of all authors and their respective affiliations and a running head of about 45 characters, typed at the bottom of the page. One address, for correspondence, should be placed on the title page.

Abstract: A Structured Abstract of no more than 300 words must be provided. The abstract should summarize the purpose of the study, the main findings, and the principal conclusions. It should be self-explanatory without reference to the text. A short list of key words should follow the abstract.

Acknowledgments: The author(s) should only acknowledge those people and/or organizations who made significant contributions to the study.

Text: The text is generally organized under the following headings: Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion, and Conclusions or (Summary and Conclusions). This format may differ, based on the nature of the submission. If the author wishes to vary from this style, the editor of JPAMFH should be consulted.

Introduction: The introduction should present background information relative to the area studied as well as the rationale for the submitted work. A review of the literature should be used to present opposing points of view and to support the rationale for the work.

Materials and Methods: This section describes all materials, protocols/procedures, and information pertaining to study design, in sufficient detail to allow the work to be repeated by others. In human subject studies, explanation should be provided regarding the acquisition of appropriate informed consent. All analytical methods, measurements and statistical procedures should be described.

Results: All observations germane to the conclusions should be presented logically, and succinctly. This information should be supported by graphs, illustrations or tables where appropriate. Actual or raw data should not be included, but should be available upon request. Interpretation of results is not included in the Results section.

Discussion: This section serves to review the results as they relate to the purpose of the study. It is appropriate to interpret the results in this section. In addition, a discussion of the study, its implications, and how the work may have been improved should be included. A discussion of negative findings, as well as positive findings, should also be included. It is appropriate to include some literature review in this section related to the interpretation of findings or recommendations for further study of the work submitted.

Conclusions: Conclusions should include a summary of the results and interpretations of the study.

References: References should be typed double spaced and beginning on a separate page after the text. They should be numbered consecutively (not alphabetically) as they are cited in the text (using superscript numbers). References appearing for the first time in tables/figures must be numbered in sequence with those cited in the text where the table or figure is mentioned. Journal abbreviations as appear in Index Medicus or the Index to Chiropractic Literature should be used. All authors should be listed when there are three or less. For more than three authors, list the first three, followed by et al. Unpublished data or personal communication should be cited directly in the text (e.g. Smith LM, unpublished data), not in the list of references. Papers accepted, but not yet published, are designated along with the journal title as “In Press.” Consult the Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals for details on proper referencing.

Reprint Address: Provide the name and complete address of the person to whom reprint requests should be sent. This information should be on a separate sheet, after the Reference Section.

Tables: Tables should not display raw data, but rather display trends. Tables should be typed double spaced. Each table must be on a separate sheet with a title and number at the top of the Table above a horizontal line. Footnotes should be at the bottom of the Table, below another horizontal line, explaining symbols and or abbreviations. Do not use any other vertical or horizontal lines in the table. Tables should be cited in sequence in the text. If the table is taken from a copyrighted publication, credit must be given in a footnote.

Illustrations: Illustrations should be submitted as unmounted black and white glossy prints, or professionally drawn depictions no larger than 8 by 10 inches. Letters, symbols, and numbers should be in proportion to the size of the print so they will remain recognizable when the print is reduced. The number of the figure and the author’s name should be indicated on the back of each print by a label or soft lead pencil. Figures should be cited consecutively in the manuscript within parentheses, e.g. (Fig. 1). Digital images of x-rays may be submitted. When digital images are prepared, it is advisable to place arrows or other markers which will clearly highlight the points of interest. Do not place written statements on the images.

Legends: Explanatory information regarding figures or illustrations should be numbered and typed double spaced on a separate page. Figures and legends will be placed in proper position before final layout of the article. Credit must be given in the legend for illustrations or figures taken from copyrighted material. Permission from the copy right holder to reproduce the material must accompany the manuscript.

SUBMISSION OF MANUSCRIPT

Manuscripts should be submitted electronically via e-mail to drmatthewmccoy@gmail.com They can also be submitted by regular mail as long as an electronic copy of the manuscript is also included. If using regular mail manuscripts should be submitted to:

Matthew McCoy DC, MPH 

Editor in Chief, Journal of Pediatric, Maternal & Family Health – Chiropractic

4390 Bells Ferry Road

Kennesaw, Georgia 30144 – USA.

The author should keep an exact copy of the manuscript and submit the original and two clear copies including illustrations and tables.

Submissions should be accompanied by a covering letter that designates one of the authors as correspondent and includes telephone, fax numbers and e-mail addresses. The letter should also state that the material is an original work and has not been published or submitted for publication elsewhere. JPMFH includes an “About the Authors” page for the manuscript, so we ask that the author(s) provide a concise biography/vitae along with a good quality color photograph. Upon receipt of a manuscript, the Editor will mail a confirmation to the sender indicating the manuscript identification number for reference when making inquiries.

CONSIDERATION TO PUBLISH & PEER-REVIEW 

Manuscripts are accepted or rejected for consideration to publish based on the suitability to the editorial objectives of JPMFH, e.g. originality of work, manuscript preparation, and overall quality of the study. Initial acceptance means the manuscript merits processing through JPMH’s review process. Manuscripts accepted for consideration are processed through blind review (author’s name is withheld) by experts in a related field.

REPRINTS

JPMFH is copyrighted in its entirety with all rights reserved. Except for reprinting permitted by the Fair Use Statute, all requests for reprinting published articles should be submitted in writing, directly to the publisher and/or follow instructions for subscribers and non-subscribers on the JPMFH website.

COPYRIGHT ASSIGNMENT

All authors and researchers must submit a signed copyright assignment form at the time of submission. Click the following link, complete the form and either e-mail it to the editor or fax it it to: 678.445.1459

Copyright Assignment

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