Submitting to journals can be overwhelming, with each journal
having different guidelines for submission. We aim to break this
down for you for Health Policy and Planning to make preparing
your manuscript and submission as straightforward as possible.
HPP has a double anonymized review policy. This means the
identity of the authors is anonymous to the reviewers, and
vice versa. We believe this can help to reduce subconscious bias
and provide equal opportunities for work to get published. We
have created an author checklist with our top ten tips for
effective submissions.
Tip One. Read the scope of the journal to determine if your
manuscript is a good fit and Health Policy and Planning is
the most suitable journal to submit your manuscript to. At
Health Policy and Planning, we focus on publishing health
policy and systems research focusing on low and middle
income countries.
Tip Two. Read through our Instructions For Authors page,
including our prior publication policy, and declare if your
paper or any part of it is already publicly available.
Tip Three. Ensure the title page is uploaded as a separate
document and contains the following information: the title
of your paper; declaration of any potential conflict of
interest with the paper itself or with reviewers in the field;
a funding statement; any acknowledgments, ethical
approval--if you do not require ethical approval, please state
the reason-- declare if your paper or any part of it is
already publicly available; corresponding author's name;
address; country; email address; ORCID details; and each author's
affiliation and qualification; any associated keywords; two to
four key messages detailing the main points made in the paper;
and a full word count.
Tip Four. The title page also requires author contribution and
reflexivity statements. Clarify each author's contribution
against criteria including conception or design of the
work, data collection, data analysis and interpretation,
drafting the article, critical revision of the article, and
final approval of the version to be submitted. All named authors
should approve the paper prior to submission. Health Policy and
Planning is an international journal with a particular focus
on supporting research and projects relating to low and
middle income countries. If all named authors are from high
income countries, please clarify the reason for this on the title
page and in your requested reflexivity statement. The
reflexivity statement encourages authors to reflect on their own
practices and provide a statement of detailing
inclusivity and balance in dimensions such as gender,
seniority, regional location, along with any other measures
made to reduce inequities in global health.
Tip Five. Make sure the article is the correct length and
conforms to the correct manuscript format and style
described on the Instructions For Authors page. Please check
our Instructions For Authors page for manuscript type and
formatting requirements.
Tip Six. Make sure the language is accurate. If your first
language is not English, please ensure that the academic content
can be understood by the editors and reviewers. If you are based
in a low or middle income country, you can contact
AuthorAID for support, a network which provides free mentoring
and English language editing for researchers in low and middle
income countries.
Tip Seven. After receiving your editorial decision, respond to
the peer reviewer comments in a timely fashion, thoroughly
addressing each point in your cover letter. This will help
speed up the assessment of your paper after resubmission.
Tip Eight. What are our peer reviewers looking for in your
paper? At Health Policy and Planning, we make sure to have
at least two independent reviewers for every paper. These
peer reviewers will be experts in the field, looking to provide
constructive feedback on your paper. They will be looking out
for the following: whether the paper is of sufficient interest
to our readers; peer reviewers will be comparing your paper
with the audience of Health Policy and Planning and our
scope, so making sure it's a good fit is key. Health Policy
and Planning has four sections and you can read our section
summaries on our Instructions For Authors page: health
economics, health policy processes, health systems
research, and implementation research and evaluation.
Tip Nine. The novelty and originality. Does the paper
contribute new knowledge, situating it within current
international debates and contexts, and does it add to the
current evidence in some way?
Tip Ten. Overall quality. Our reviewers will assess the
soundness Have your research and robustness of the methods, as
well as overall design of the study. Are they valid,
generalizable, and adequately described? Has the research
question been addressed? Is there clarity of the message and
language?
For more information on the review process, watch our video
on what makes a good peer reviewer. And those are our top
10 tips for our authors. You can send a message to our helpful
editorial office if you have any queries at HPP dot editorial
office at OUP dot com. Our editorial office and editors
will always be willing to help answer your queries and make
submitting as straightforward as possible. Health Policy and
Planning is more than just a journal. Visit our website to
discover more about our latest activities. engage with us on
Twitter, read our HPP debated blog and listen to our free
podcasts to stay in touch with Health Policy and Planning
updates, all available on the HPP website.