Unsolicited manuscripts will be reviewed for publication with the following understanding:

  1. The paper represents an original work.
  2. The paper neither was published already nor is under review elsewhere.
  3. Upon acceptance, the paper may not be published elsewhere without the permission of Hospital Practices and Research (HPR).
  4. The published paper is the sole property of HPR and may be edited before publication.

HPR follows ICMJE's Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals and the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) as well as the World Association of Medical Editors (WAME) for manuscripts submitted to the journal. HPR is a publication of Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences with cooperation of Iranian Health Management Association.

 

Main Considerations

Manuscripts should be electronically submitted through the Online Submission System (http://jhpr.ir/).

A cover letter must be included when submitting a paper and must state the novelty of the paper.

HPR makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all information (“Content”) contained in its publications. However, HPR makes no representations or warranties whatsoever as to the accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of the content and disclaims all such representations and warranties whether expressed or implied to the maximum extent permitted by law. Any views expressed in this publication are the views of the authors and are not the views of HPR. Time from submission to publication is 18 weeks.

 

Cover Letter Order

The corresponding author should include the following in a cover letter:

  1. An introduction stating the title of the manuscript and the journal to which you are submitting.
  2. The reason why the study is important and relevant to the journal’s readership or field.
  3. The question(s) answered by the research.
  4. The major experimental results and overall findings.
  5. The most important conclusions that can be drawn from the research.
  6. A statement declaring that the study complies with current ethical considerations.
  7. A statement that the manuscript has not been published and is not under consideration for publication in any other journal.
  8. A statement that all authors approved the manuscript and its submission to the journal.
  9. Any other details that will encourage the editor to send the manuscript for review.

 

Hospital Practices and Research (HPR) publication benefits:

  • Free access to all articles
  • Easy and quick online submission
  • There are no page charges for publication in HPR 

 

Plagiarism

In case any attempt at plagiarism accompanied by convincing evidence is brought to our attention, the following steps will be taken:

  1. After consulting the respective Editorial Board members, the authors guilty of plagiarism will be debarred from publishing their papers in HPR.
  2. Heads of the Departments/Institutes of the offending authors will be informed of such incidences of plagiarism.
  3. In case of confirmation of plagiarism in an already published article, the editor will consider an article retraction based on COPE retraction guidelines.

Note: All manuscripts will be checked out in regards to plagiarism by iThenticate software.

 

Falsification and Fabrication

If the journal editor has clear evidence of fabrication (the intentional misrepresentation of research results by making up data) or falsification (manipulating research materials, equipment, or processes or changing or omitting data or results such that the research is not accurately represented in the research record), he/she will consider an article retraction based on COPE retraction guidelines.

 

Online Submission

HPR accepts manuscripts only through the online submission system, easy to use and easy to track. By conducting all procedures electronically, submissions will be made much faster. Once an article is submitted, it will be forwarded to an editor and, afterwards, to at least two peer reviewers. Immediately after submission, the author will be notified of the submission process by means of both email and a follow-up ID code issued to each article separately. It is recommended that the ID code be saved for all future correspondence regarding the submitted article.

 

Structure and Preparation of Manuscripts

Manuscripts should be presented in one of the following formats:

Editorial:

Editorials are the message of the HPR and are written in-house by the journal's Editorial Board members. Editorials are preferably no more than 2000 words and state-of-the-art-discussions on the HPR main scopes. An unstructured abstract is required for these types of articles. 

Perspective:

These articles of no more than 2000 words present views or discussions (with a clear message) concerning an issue of travel medicine or global health interest. An unstructured abstract is required. Although these articles are mainly solicited from eminent scholars in the field, suggestions for contributions are welcome via hprbmsu@gmail.com.

Hypothesis:

Theories and ideas having a great deal of empirical and observational support are welcome. These articles should not exceed 3000 words and should include a structured abstract.

Narrative Review Articles:

Only solicited review articles will be accepted. They should be 5000 words, and contain title, keywords, authors’ addresses corresponding author’s address, unstructured abstract (maximum 250 words), introduction, authors’ comments and evidence, conclusion, recommendations for future, references (more than 50), and legends for display items (figures and tables). In line with the Knowledge Translation movements, HPR has adopted an initiative by which all review articles are required to have Review Highlights under two separate headings, namely: What Is Already Known? and What This Study Adds?

Systematic Review or Meta-Analysis:

Such articles should be between 4000-5000 words and contain title, keywords, authors’ addresses and corresponding author’s address, structured abstract (maximum 250 words), introduction, materials (search strategy and selection criteria, data extraction, quality assessment, and data analysis), results, discussion, conclusion, references, legends for display items (figures and tables).

Authors should report systematic reviews and meta-analyses in accordance with the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) statement. In line with the Knowledge Translation movements, HPR has adopted an initiative by which all review articles are required to have Review Highlights under two separate headings, namely: What Is Already Known? and What This Study Adds?

Mini Reviews:

Mini Reviews are sharply focused, well-documented examinations of timely related issues (up to ~2000 words, including tables, figures, and references). The issues may be of a controversial nature or may address a more narrowly focused area than those typically covered in a review. To maintain brevity, these articles do not need review highlights.

Original Articles:

These articles must be of primary research, methodologically accurate, and relevant to international travel medicine and global health. They should contain no more than 5000 words excluding structured abstract (maximum 250 words), tables, and references. The main text should contain an introduction (background and objectives), materials/patients and methods (including study setting, patients or participants, inclusion and exclusion criteria, sampling size, sampling method, data source, data tools, data measurements, data analyses and interpretations), results, discussion, conclusion, references, legends for display items (figures and tables). In line with the Knowledge Translation movements, HPR has adopted an initiative by which all research articles are required to have Research Highlights under two separate headings, namely: What Is Already Known? And What This Study Adds?

Short Communication

Short communications are short articles (mini-original articles) that present original and important preliminary findings that do not warrant publication as a full-length article but are still worthy of publication. Short communications should have an unstructured abstract and should not be more than 3000 words including references and up to three tables or figures. The main text should be sub-divided into Introduction, methods, results, and discussion and conclusion but should be written as concisely as possible. To maintain brevity, these articles do not need research highlights.

Brief Report:

Short reports should not exceed 3000 words and should contain a structured abstract (maximum 250 words).  The structure of a short report is similar to that of an original article but with some limitations: concise introduction, methods, results, discussion, conclusion, and up to 2 tables or figures. To maintain brevity, these articles do not need research highlights.

Debate:

These articles are intended to discuss and challenge current and past travel medicine. They should not exceed 3000 words including an unstructured abstract, up to 2 figures or tables, and references. 

Commentary:

Readers’ views and comments are of high importance in the HPR’s editorial policies. HPR welcomes comments on its published articles to provide a forum for varying perspectives. These articles are mainly invited from eminent scholars in the field. However, suggestions for contributions are welcomed via hprbmsu@gmail.com. These types of articles should not exceed 2000 words including a maximum of 2 figures or tables and an unstructured abstract.

Case Presentation:

Only interesting and unique case reports with the following properties will be accepted:
word count up to 1500, structured abstract (maximum 250 words), introduction, (most importantly, the novelty of the case(s) report), then case presentation, followed by discussion and conclusion, references, and up to 2 figures or tables.

Correspondence:

These articles are mainly written in response to published commentaries by authors whose articles have been subjected to commentaries. These types of articles should not exceed 1000 words including a maximum of 1 table or figure, references, and the main text. No abstract is required for these articles. 

Letters to the Editor:

Letters to the Editor can be about a recent journal article a commentary article. There are some special limitations: the letters should be up to 500 words, have no figure or table, and use up to 5-7 references. No abstract is required for these articles. 

Note: Authors should write Authors’ Contributions, Conflict of Interest Disclosures, Funding/Support, and Ethical Approval at the end of any type of article.

Reference Style

All references in the text must be numbered consecutively, with each citation placed immediately after the term or phrase and usually before the period; they should appear like the following: [dot]1, 2, 5, 6 or [dot]7-9.

When listing references, authors should follow the abbreviated names of journals according to the journal list in PubMed.

Citations in the reference list should contain the names of up to 3authors; if there are more than 3, the remaining authors should be listed as “et al.” Kindly provide a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) for each reference.

Some examples of the journal's reference style are provided below:

1. Journal Article:

Cicekci F, Uca AU, Kara I, Kara I. A study of cerebral performance categories based on initial rhythm and resuscitation time following in-hospital cardiac arrest in a state hospital in Turkey. Hosp Pract Res. 2018;3(2):44-49. doi:10.15171/HPR.2018.10

2. Book Chapter:

Ramphal R. Infections due to Pseudomonas species and related organisms. In: Fauci AS, Braunwald E, Kasper DL. Eds. Harrison Principles of Internal Medicine. 17th ed. New York, NY: McGraw Hill Medical; 2008:949-956.

3. Complete Book:

Margulis L: Origin of Eukaryotic Cells. New Haven: Yale University Press; 1970.

4. Link/URL:

U.S. positions on selected issues at the third negotiating session of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. Washington, D.C.: Committee on Government Reform, 2002. (Accessed March 4, 2002, at http://www.house.gov/reform/min/inves_tobacco/index_accord.htm).

Unpublished work accepted for publication but not yet released should be included in the reference list with the words “in press” in parentheses beside the name of the journal concerned. References must be verified by the author(s) against the original documents.

Personal communications or manuscripts either “in preparation” or “submitted for publication” are unacceptable as a reference.

Structure Abstract: Abstracts should have a structure (Introduction, Methods, Results, Conclusion) of no more than 250 words for original article, short communication, brief report, systematic review, meta-analysis and Hypothesis. For case presentation abstract should have a structure (Introduction, Case Presentation, Conclusion).

Unstructured Abstract: Abstracts should unstructured and no more than 250 words for narrative review, mini review, perspective, debate and commentary.

Running Title: A shorter version of the title (maximum 40 characters) is required. 

Author's Affiliation: This should be write as [name of department],  [name of school/faculty], [name of university], [city], [country]. 

Corresponding Author: One of the authors submitting the manuscript must be the corresponding author. In addition to the mentioned academic affiliation, the corresponding author’s address, telephone, fax number, and email address should be written.

No manuscripts submitted to the journal can exceed 8000 words.

3-6 keywords must be provided in the keywords section at the end of the abstract. It is recommended that authors use the MeSH terms at: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/MBrowser.html.

All manuscripts must be typed double-spaced, single column, in size 12 font, and with adequate margins.

The manuscript file should be send as a Word document (Microsoft Word 97, 2003, 2007, 2010, 2013), well-written in American/British English. The manuscript should be re-checked for spelling, structure, and format mistakes.

References Style: Arrange references as a simple list at the end of your manuscript based on HPR Endnote style.

Standard units, symbols, and abbreviations should be used. 

Title Page (or Cover Letter): This should contain the title, running title, authors’ names and affiliations, financial support, conflicts of interest, and request for reviewing the manuscript.

Authors’ Names: Full names (first, middle, and last) for all authors of an article should be given and specified with superscript number(s) for the affiliation(s) [e.g., Mark Junior Smiths1]. The name of the corresponding author(s) should be specified with an asterisk after the name (e.g., Mark Junior Smiths*). Where the family name may be ambiguous (e.g., a double name), please indicate clearly.

Conflict of Interest Disclosures & Author Agreement Form: Completed by the author(s), and sent during submission of the article. HPR could possibly ask for a data set (as an Excel or SPSS file) of the study related to the submitted article (Download).

Tables: Tables should be created with a word processor and saved in either the DOC/DOCX or RTF format. Tables must not be embedded in the text but provided on separate pages at the end of the manuscript and saved in DOC/DOCX format.

Figures: To ensure the highest print quality, figures must be submitted in either TIF or EPS format according to the following minimum resolutions:

  • 1200 dpi (dots per inch) for black and white line art (simple bar graphs, charts, etc.)
  • 300 dpi for halftones (black and white photographs)
  • 600 dpi for combination halftones (photographs that also contain line art such as labeling or thin lines), figures should be saved as individual files. Vector-based figures (e.g., figures created in Adobe Illustrator) should be submitted in EPS format.

Color figures must be submitted in a CMYK color.

 

English Editor 

All manuscripts of the Hospital Practices and Research (HPR) will be edited for proper English language, grammar, punctuation, spelling, and overall style.

 

Authorship Criteria

The International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) recommends the following criteria for authorship:

1. Substantial contributions to the conception and design or to the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of the data;

2. The drafting of the article or critical revision for important intellectual content;

3. Final approval of the version to be published;

4. Agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the article are appropriately investigated and resolved.

Each author should meet all of the above-mentioned criteria to be listed in the submitted manuscript. Participation solely in the acquisition of funding or the collection of data does not justify authorship. General supervision of the research group is not sufficient for authorship. These contributors (non-author contributors) should be appreciated in the acknowledgment section, but not listed as co-authors.

The naming order of contributors should be based on the relative contribution of the contributor towards the study and writing of the manuscript. Once submitted, the order cannot be changed without the written consent of all contributors.