Global Advances in Integrative Medicine and Health

 

Manuscript Submission Guidelines: 

This Journal is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics.

This Journal recommends that authors follow the Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals formulated by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE).

Please read the guidelines below then visit the journal’s submission site to upload your manuscript. Please note that manuscripts not conforming to these guidelines may be returned.

Only manuscripts of sufficient quality that meet the aims and scope of Global Advances in Integrative Medicine and Health will be reviewed.

As part of the submission process you will be required to warrant that you are submitting your original work, that you have the rights in the work, that you are submitting the work for first publication in the Journal and that it is not being considered for publication elsewhere and has not already been published elsewhere, and that you have obtained and can supply all necessary permissions for the reproduction of any copyright works not owned by you.

If you have any questions about publishing with Sage, please visit the Sage Journal Solutions Portal

Please Read the Manuscript Submission Guidelines below before submitting your manuscript here:
SUBMIT MANUSCRIPT

1. Open Access
2. Article processing charge (APC)
3. What do we publish?
   3.1 Aims & scope
   3.2 Article types
   3.3 Writing your paper
   3.3.1 Making your article discoverable 
   3.3.2 Preprint Policy
4. Editorial policies
   4.1 Peer Review Policy
   4.2 Authorship
   4.3 Acknowledgements
   4.4 Funding
   4.5 Declaration of conflicting interests
   4.6 Research ethics and patient consent
   4.7 Clinical Trials
   4.8 Reporting guidelines
5. Publishing policies
   5.1 Publication ethics
   5.2 Contributor's publishing agreement
6. Preparing your manuscript
   6.1 Word processing formats
   6.2 Artwork, figures and other graphics
   6.3 Supplemental material
   6.4 Reference style
   6.5 English language editing services
7. Submitting your manuscript
   7.1 How to submit your manuscript
   7.2 Title, keywords and abstracts
   7.3 Information required for completing your submission
   7.4 ORCID
   7.5 Permissions
8. On acceptance and publication
   8.1 Sage Production
   8.2 Continuous publication
   8.3 Promoting your article
9. Further information

1. Open Access

Global Advances in Integrative Medicine and Health is an open access, peer-reviewed journal. Each article accepted by peer review is made freely available online immediately upon publication, is published under a Creative Commons license and will be hosted online in perpetuity. Publication costs of the journal are covered by the collection of article processing charges which are paid by the funder, institution or author of each manuscript upon acceptance. There is no charge for submitting a paper to the journal.

For general information on open access at Sage please visit the Open Access page or view our Open Access FAQs.

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2. Article processing charge (APC)

The current APC for this journal is $1,500. Members of the Academic Consortium for Integrative Medicine & Health will receive a 20% discount on the APC.

The article processing charge (APC) is payable only if your article is accepted after peer review, before it is published. The APC is subject to taxes where applicable. Tax-exempt status can be indicated by providing appropriate registration numbers when payment is requested. Please see further details here.

Corresponding Authors who reside in the countries described by the Research4Life program (both Group A and Group B) publishing in Global Advances in Integrative Medicine and Health will automatically receive a full APC waiver without needing to take any action. The waiver will be applied based on the Corresponding Author affiliation in the Sage Open Access Portal.

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3. What do we publish?

3.1 Aims & scope

Before submitting your manuscript to Global Advances in Integrative Medicine and Health, please ensure you have read the Aims & Scope.

3.2 Article types

It is preferred that submissions do not exceed the word counts listed below. Structured abstracts should be 150 to 250 words depending on the article type. Abstracts should include the following sections: Background, Objective, Methods, Results, and Conclusion. For a clinical trial, include the ClinicalTrials.gov or other such registry identification number at the end of the abstract.

Original Articles
These articles include but are not limited to intervention studies, randomized controlled trials, nonrandomized controlled trials, cost and comparative effectiveness analyses, observational studies, qualitative and mixed methods, survey research, basic and translational science, and quality improvement reports. Most manuscripts should be prepared according to the standard format of Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion, as recommended by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE). The Discussion should present possible explanations for the results, place the results into the context of the existing literature, state study limitations, and suggest any implications for future studies, practice, policy, or education. For randomized controlled trials, please refer to the CONSORT Statement guidelines. Extensions of the Consort Statement should be used when appropriate and available (eg, herbal medicine interventions, acupuncture interventions, nonpharmacologic treatment interventions). For observational studies, please refer to the STROBE Statement checklists.

Maximum manuscript length: 7,000 words (not including abstract, tables, figures, and references), up to 75 references, and no more than 5 tables and/or figures. A structured 300 word abstract is required.

Brief Reports
Brief reports are a format for pilot studies, small-scale studies, and reports on research that
extend beyond previously reported results. Maximum length: 150-word structured abstract, 2000 words (not including abstract, tables, figures, and references), two tables or figures, and up to 15 references.

Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses
Systematic reviews address a specific question or issue and provide an evidence-based, balanced, and comprehensive review of the literature on a focused topic. Meta-analyses are systematic, critical, quantitative summaries of literature and data sources on a focused topic. Reviews should include the clinical question, its relevance, the search strategy used, a description of databases, inclusion and exclusion criteria, a synthesis of the evidence, and discussion of controversial or unresolved issues. Systematic reviews and meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials should follow the PRISMA reporting guidelines and checklist. Meta-analyses of observational studies should follow the MOOSE reporting guidelines and checklist. Maximum length: 7000 words (not including abstract, tables, figures, and references), no more than 5 tables or figures, and up to 100 references. A structured 300-word (maximum) abstract is required.

Case Reports/Case Series
Occasionally, the editors will publish case reports in the journal. A case report is a narrative description of the clinical course of one patient. A case series includes more than one case report of a similar intervention or problem. Case reports of interventions at the level of the healthcare team, organization, community, or health system will also be considered. Case reports can function to generate hypotheses, suggest novel therapeutic approaches, stimulate future studies, raise awareness of safety concerns, or highlight underappreciated aspects of patient care. Authors are encouraged to include a timeline with precise dates and times. The narrative of a case report usually includes (1) presenting concerns, history, timeline, and diagnosis, (2) intervention(s), (3) intervention tolerability and unanticipated events, and (4) discussion. The discussion can include placing the case report into the context of the existing literature (if any), limitations, and implications. Case reports should follow the standardized guidelines as developed by Global Advances in Integrative Medicine and Health and provided here. Maximum manuscript length: 1500 words and up to 30 references. An abstract of no more than 200 words is required.

Viewpoints
Viewpoints are opinion-based essays supported by evidence that typically focus on important problems, challenges, or controversies related to advancing global health and well-being through whole-person, whole-systems care.

Maximum length: 1500 words and 30 references.

Feature Articles
Narrative manuscripts focus on innovative, cutting-edge clinical, educational, program, or policy developments related to advancing global health and well-being through whole-person, whole systems care.

Maximum manuscript length: 3000 words (not including abstract, tables, figures, and references) with no more than 5 tables or figures and up to 50 references. A nonstructured abstract (250-word limit) is required.

“In My Own Words”
These are personal narrative essays written in the first person by clinicians, patients, or those close to them. Essays may reflect a personal or professional experience related to whole person, whole-systems health and care that would be of interest to our readers.

Maximum length: 1500 words and up to 5 references.

Columns
Contributors are invited to submit timely information for periodically run columns. Format, length, and topics vary with different columns. Although these are usually solicited by the editors, authors may contact the editors with a proposed column relevant to the mission of Global Advances in Integrative Medicine and Health.

Letters to the Editor 
A letter to the Editor is a brief communication that either addresses the contents of a published article, 
or is a correspondence unrelated to a specific article. Its purpose is to make corrections, provide alternative 
viewpoints, or offer counter arguments. Avoid logical fallacies and ad hominem attacks. Letters to the Editor
must be written in a professional tone and include references to support all claims if appropriate.

A letter to the Editor unrelated to a specific article should not exceed 500 words or have more than 3 references. 
A letter to the Editor pertaining to a recently published article or to be published concurrently with an article within 
the journal should not exceed 800 words or have more than 5 references. If an abstract is included, it will automatically 
be made the first paragraph. Letters should not include figures or research material. Letters to the editor are not charged an APC.

Study Protocols
Many journals are now publishing study protocols. To further the development of both quantitative and qualitative methods, Global Advances now accepts study protocols for studies for inclusion in the journal.

These types of papers can help researchers:

• Share methodological ideas, insights, and practices
• Develop insights from cutting-edge and highly creative studies
• Contribute to the future advancement of rigorous methods in the field of integrative medicine and whole person health
• Raise the profile of both the study and the researcher(s)

All protocols accepted by Global Advances will feature as full indexed papers in the journal.

Focus of protocols:

Study protocols should not normally exceed 5000 words (excluding references). Protocols should be submitted according to the author guidelines of the journal and should include the following sections:

BACKGROUND/RATIONALE
DETAILED METHODS
DISCUSSION (including highlighting innovative methodologies)
CONCLUSION

3.3 Writing your paper

The Sage Author Gateway has some general advice and on how to get published, plus links to further resources. Sage Author Services also offers authors a variety of ways to improve and enhance their article including English language editing, plagiarism detection, and video abstract and infographic preparation.

3.3.1 Making your article discoverable 

When writing up your paper, think about how you can make it discoverable. The title, keywords and abstract are key to ensuring readers find your article through search engines such as Google. For information and guidance on how best to title your article, write your abstract and select your keywords, have a look at this page on the Gateway: How to Help Readers Find Your Article Online.

3.3.2 Preprints Policy

Global Advances in Integrative Health and Medicine permits submissions of papers that have been posted on pre-print servers.  Authors must include the Digital Object Identifier (DOI) for the preprint in the designated field in the manuscript submission system.

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4. Editorial policies

4.1 Peer review policy

The journal’s policy is to have manuscripts reviewed by two expert, external reviewers. Global Advances in Integrative Medicine and Health utilizes a single-anonymize peer review process in which the reviewer’s name and information is withheld from the author. All manuscripts are reviewed as rapidly as possible, while maintaining rigor. The external reviewers provide comments for the author and a recommendation to the Associate Editor. The Associate Editor confers with the Editor who then makes the final decision and forwards comments to the authors.

If the manuscript is being considered as part of a Special Collection, comments and recommendations from the reviewers are sent to both the Guest Editor and the Editor, who jointly make the final decision.

The Editor or members of the Editorial Board may occasionally submit their own manuscripts for possible publication in the journal. In these cases, the peer review process will be managed by alternative members of the Board and the submitting Editor / Board member will have no involvement in the decision-making process.

Global Advances in Integrative Medicine and Health is committed to delivering high quality, fast peer review for your paper, and as such has partnered with Publons. Publons is a third party service that seeks to track, verify and give credit for peer review. Reviewers for Global Advances in Integrative Medicine and Health can opt in to Publons in order to claim their reviews or have them automatically verified and added to their reviewer profile. Reviewers claiming credit for their review will be associated with the relevant journal, but the article name, reviewer’s decision and the content of their review is not published on the site. For more information visit the Publons website.

4.2 Authorship

Papers should only be submitted for consideration once consent is given by all contributing authors. Those submitting papers should carefully check that all those whose work contributed to the paper are acknowledged as contributing authors. The list of authors should include all those who can legitimately claim authorship. This is all those who:

(i) Made a substantial contribution to the concept or design of the work; or acquisition, analysis or interpretation of data,
(ii) Drafted the article or revised it critically for important intellectual content,
(iii) Approved the version to be published,
(iv) Each author should have participated sufficiently in the work to take public responsibility for appropriate portions of the content.

Authors should meet the conditions of all of the points above. Each author should have participated sufficiently in the work to take public responsibility for appropriate portions of the content.

When a large, multicentre group has conducted the work, the group should identify the individuals who accept direct responsibility for the manuscript. These individuals should fully meet the criteria for authorship.

Acquisition of funding, collection of data, or general supervision of the research group alone does not constitute authorship, although all contributors who do not meet the criteria for authorship should be listed in the Acknowledgments section. Please refer to the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) authorship guidelines for more information on authorship.

Please note that AI chatbots, for example ChatGPT, should not be listed as authors. For more information see the policy on Use of ChatGPT and generative AI tools.

4.3 Acknowledgements

All contributors who do not meet the criteria for authorship should be listed in an Acknowledgements section. Examples of those who might be acknowledged include a person who provided purely technical help, or a department chair who provided only general support.

4.3.1 Third party submissions
Where an individual who is not listed as an author submits a manuscript on behalf of the author(s), a statement must be included in the Acknowledgements section of the manuscript and in the accompanying cover letter. The statements must:

• Disclose this type of editorial assistance – including the individual’s name, company and level of input
• Identify any entities that paid for this assistance
• Confirm that the listed authors have authorized the submission of their manuscript via third party and approved any statements or declarations, e.g. conflicting interests, funding, etc.

Where appropriate, Sage reserves the right to deny consideration to manuscripts submitted by a third party rather than by the authors themselves.

4.3.2 Writing assistance

Individuals who provided writing assistance, e.g. from a specialist communications company, do not qualify as authors and so should be included in the Acknowledgements section. Authors must disclose any writing assistance – including the individual’s name, company and level of input – and identify the entity that paid for this assistance.

It is not necessary to disclose use of language polishing services.

Any acknowledgements should appear first at the end of your article prior to your Declaration of Conflicting Interests (if applicable), any notes and your References.

4.4 Funding

Global Advances in Integrative Medicine and Health requires all authors to acknowledge their funding in a consistent fashion under a separate heading. Please visit the Funding Acknowledgements page on the Sage Journal Author Gateway to confirm the format of the acknowledgment text in the event of funding, or state that: This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

4.5 Declaration of conflicting interests

It is the policy of Global Advances in Integrative Medicine and Health to require a declaration of conflicting interests from all authors enabling a statement to be carried within the paginated pages of all published articles.

Please ensure that a ‘Declaration of Conflicting Interests’ statement is included at the end of your manuscript, after any acknowledgements and prior to the references. If no conflict exists, please state that ‘The Author(s) declare(s) that there is no conflict of interest’.

For guidance on conflict of interest statements, please see the ICMJE recommendations.

4.6 Research ethics and patient consent

Medical research involving human subjects must be conducted according to the World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki.

Submitted manuscripts should conform to the ICMJE Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals, and all papers reporting animal and/or human studies must state in the methods section that the relevant Ethics Committee or Institutional Review Board provided (or waived) approval. Please ensure that you have provided the full name and institution of the review committee, in addition to the approval number.

For research articles, authors are also required to state in the methods section whether participants provided informed consent and whether the consent was written or verbal.

Information on informed consent to report individual cases or case series should be included in the manuscript text. A statement is required regarding whether written informed consent for patient information and images to be published was provided by the patient(s) or a legally authorized representative. Please do not submit the patient’s actual written informed consent with your article, as this in itself breaches the patient’s confidentiality. The Journal requests that you confirm to us, in writing, that you have obtained written informed consent but the written consent itself should be held by the authors/investigators themselves, for example in a patient’s hospital record. The confirmatory letter may be uploaded with your submission as a separate file.

Please also refer to the ICMJE Recommendations for the Protection of Research Participants.

All research involving animals submitted for publication must be approved by an ethics committee with oversight of the facility in which the studies were conducted. The journal has adopted the Consensus Author Guidelines on Animal Ethics and Welfare for Veterinary Journals published by the International Association of Veterinary Editors.

4.7 Clinical trials

Global Advances in Integrative Medicine and Health conforms to the ICMJE requirement that clinical trials are registered in a WHO-approved public trials registry at or before the time of first patient enrolment as a condition of consideration for publication. The trial registry name and URL, and registration number must be included at the end of the abstract.

4.8 Reporting guidelines

The relevant EQUATOR Network reporting guidelines should be followed depending on the type of study. For example, all randomized controlled trials submitted for publication should include a completed CONSORT flow chart as a cited figure and the completed CONSORT checklist should be uploaded with your submission as a supplementary file. Systematic reviews and metaanalyses should include the completed PRISMA flow chart as a cited figure and the completed PRISMA checklist should be uploaded with your submission as a supplementary file. The EQUATOR wizard can help you identify the appropriate guideline.

Other resources can be found at NLM’s Research Reporting Guidelines and Initiatives.

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5. Publishing policies

5.1 Publication ethics

Sage is committed to upholding the integrity of the academic record. We encourage authors to refer to the Committee on Publication Ethics’ International Standards for Authors and view the Publication Ethics page on the Sage Author Gateway.

5.1.1 Plagiarism

Global Advances in Integrative Medicine and Health and Sage take issues of copyright infringement, plagiarism or other breaches of best practice in publication very seriously. We seek to protect the rights of our authors and we always investigate claims of plagiarism or misuse of published articles. Equally, we seek to protect the reputation of the journal against malpractice. Submitted articles may be checked with duplication-checking software. Where an article, for example, is found to have plagiarized other work or included third-party copyright material without permission or with insufficient acknowledgement, or where the authorship of the article is contested, we reserve the right to take action including, but not limited to: publishing an erratum or corrigendum (correction); retracting the article; taking up the matter with the head of department or dean of the author's institution and/or relevant academic bodies or societies; or taking appropriate legal action.

5.1.2 Prior publication

If material has been previously published, it is not generally acceptable for publication in a Sage journal. However, there are certain circumstances where previously published material can be considered for publication. Please refer to the guidance on the Sage Author Gateway or if in doubt, contact the Editor at the address given below.

5.2 Contributor's publishing agreement

Before publication Sage requires the author as the rights holder to sign a Journal Contributor’s Publishing Agreement. Global Advances in Integrative Medicine and Health publishes manuscripts under Creative Commons licenses. The standard license for the journal is Creative Commons by Attribution Non-Commercial (CC BY-NC 3.0), which allows others to re-use the work without permission as long as the work is properly referenced and the use is non-commercial. For more information, you are advised to visit Sage's OA licenses page.

Alternative license arrangements are available, for example, to meet particular funder mandates, made at the author’s request.

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6. Preparing your manuscript

6.1 Word processing formats

The preferred formats for your manuscript are Word, RTF, XLS. LaTeX files are also accepted. Word and (La)Tex templates are available on the Manuscript Submission Guidelines page of our Author Gateway.

The text should be double-spaced throughout and with a minimum of 3cm for left and right hand margins and 5cm at head and foot. Text should be standard 10 or 12 point.

6.2 Artwork, figures and other graphics

For guidance on the preparation of illustrations, pictures and graphs in electronic format, please visit Sage’s Manuscript Submission Guidelines.

Figures supplied in color will appear in color online.

6.3 Supplemental material

This journal is able to host additional materials online (e.g. datasets, podcasts, videos, images etc) alongside the full-text of the article. These will be subjected to peer-review alongside the article. For more information please refer to our guidelines on submitting supplemental files, which can be found within our Manuscript Submission Guidelines page.

6.4 Reference style

Global Advances in Integrative Medicine and Health adheres to the AMA reference style. Please review the guidelines on AMA to ensure your manuscript conforms to this reference style.

6.5 English language editing services

For an additional fee, Authors seeking assistance with English language editing, translation, or figure and manuscript formatting to fit the journal’s specifications should consider using Sage Language Services. Visit Sage Language Services on our Journal Author Gateway for further information.

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7. Submitting your manuscript

7.1 How to submit your manuscript

Global Advances in Integrative Medicine and Health is hosted on Sage Track, a web based online submission and peer review system powered by ScholarOne™ Manuscripts. Visit https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/gahm to login and submit your article online.

IMPORTANT: Please check whether you already have an account in the system before trying to create a new one. If you have reviewed or authored for the journal in the past year it is likely that you will have had an account created. For further guidance on submitting your manuscript online please visit ScholarOne Online Help.

7.2 Title, keywords and abstracts

Please supply a title, short title, an abstract and keywords to accompany your article. The title, keywords and abstract are key to ensuring readers find your article online through online search engines such as Google. Please refer to the information and guidance on how best to title your article, write your abstract and select your keywords by visiting the Sage Journal Author Gateway for guidelines on How to Help Readers Find Your Article Online.

More information on abstracts for Global Advances in Integrative Medicine and Health can be found in section 3.2 Article types.

7.3 Information required for completing your submission

Provide full contact details for the corresponding author including email, mailing address and telephone numbers. Academic affiliations are required for all co-authors. These details should be presented separately to the main text of the article to facilitate anonymous peer review.

You will be asked to provide contact details and academic affiliations for all co-authors via the submission system and identify who is to be the corresponding author. These details must match what appears on your manuscript. The affiliation listed on the manuscript should be the institution where the research was conducted. If an author has moved to a new institution since completing the research, the new affiliation can be included in a manuscript note at the end of the paper. At this stage please ensure you have included all the required statements and declarations and uploaded any additional supplementary files (including reporting guidelines where relevant).

7.4 ORCID

As part of our commitment to ensuring an ethical, transparent and fair peer review process Sage is a supporting member of ORCID, the Open Researcher and Contributor ID. ORCID provides a unique and persistent digital identifier that distinguishes researchers from every other researcher, even those who share the same name, and, through integration in key research workflows such as manuscript and grant submission, supports automated linkages between researchers and their professional activities, ensuring that their work is recognized.

The collection of ORCID iDs from corresponding authors is now part of the submission process of this journal. If you already have an ORCID iD you will be asked to associate that to your submission during the online submission process. We also strongly encourage all co-authors to link their ORCID ID to their accounts in our online peer review platforms. It takes seconds to do: click the link when prompted, sign into your ORCID account and our systems are automatically updated. Your ORCID iD will become part of your accepted publication’s metadata, making your work attributable to you and only you. Your ORCID iD is published with your article so that fellow researchers reading your work can link to your ORCID profile and from there link to your other publications.

If you do not already have an ORCID iD please follow this link to create one or visit our ORCID homepage to learn more.

7.5 Permissions

Authors are responsible for obtaining permission from copyright holders for reproducing any illustrations, tables, figures or lengthy quotations previously published elsewhere. For further information including guidance on fair dealing for criticism and review, please visit our Frequently Asked Questions on the Sage Journal Author Gateway.

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8. On acceptance and publication

If your paper is accepted for publication after peer review, you will first be asked to complete the contributor’s publishing agreement. Once your manuscript files have been check for Sage Production, the corresponding author will be asked to pay the article processing charge (APC) via a payment link. Once the APC has been processed, your article will be prepared for publication and can appear online within an average of 30 days. Please note that no production work will occur on your paper until the APC has been received.

8.1 Sage Production

Your Sage Production Editor will keep you informed as to your article’s progress throughout the production process. Proofs will made available to the corresponding author via our editing portal Sage Edit, or by email to the corresponding author and should be returned promptly.  Authors are reminded to check their proofs carefully to confirm that all author information, including names, affiliations, sequence and contact details are correct, and that Funding and Conflict of Interest statements, if any, are accurate.

8.2 Online publication

One of the many benefits of publishing your research in an open access journal is the speed to publication. With no page count constraints, your article will be published online in a fully citable form with a DOI number as soon as it has completed the production process. At this time it will be completely free to view and download for all. Articles are batched every year and are then available in the Archive.

8.3 Promoting your article

Publication is not the end of the process! You can help disseminate your paper and ensure it is as widely read and cited as possible. The Sage Author Gateway has numerous resources to help you promote your work. Visit the Promote Your Article page on the Gateway for tips and advice.

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9. Further information

Any correspondence, queries or additional requests for information on the Manuscript Submission process should be sent to the Global Advances in Integrative Medicine and Health editorial office as follows:

gahmeditorial@gmail.com

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