World Journal for Pediatric and Congenital Heart Surgery

World Journal for Pediatric and Congenital Heart Surgery

Information for Authors

Editorial Office

Carl L. Backer, MD, Editor; Cincinnati Children's Hospital, Cincinnati, USA and University of Kentucky, Lexington, USA

Virginia F. Hawkins, Managing Editor
E-mail: WJPCHS@wspchs.org
Telephone: 302-326-9313

Website: http://https://journals.sagepub.com/home/pch
Twitter: @WJPCHS

Manuscript Submission & Review: http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/wjpchs

General Information

World Journal for Pediatric and Congenital Heart Surgery (WJPCHS) is a bi-monthly, peer reviewed, scientific publication dedicated to the advancement and dissemination of knowledge pertaining to congenital cardiac anomalies, pediatric heart diseases in general, and surgical management.

WJPCHS is the official journal of the World Society for Pediatric and Congenital Heart Surgery (WSPCHS), the Congenital Heart Surgeons’ Society (CHSS), and the European Congenital Heart Surgeons Association (ECHSA).

WJPCHS publishes original reports of clinical and/or basic scientific investigations and observations relevant to the surgical and medical care and management of patients with congenital heart disease, as well as case reports, “how to do it” articles, image reports, new technology evaluations, review articles, historical reviews, invited editorials, correspondence, and commentary. Consistent with the mission of the journal’s founding organization, WSPCHS, the World Journal for Pediatric and Congenital Heart Surgery serves as a forum for individuals and organizations interested in providing “the highest quality comprehensive cardiac care to all patients with pediatric and/or congenital heart disease, from the fetus to the adult, regardless of the patient’s economic means, with an emphasis on excellence in education, research, and community service.”

Sage Publishing disseminates high-quality research and engaged scholarship globally, and is committed to diversity and inclusion in publishing. Submissions are encouraged from a diverse range of authors from across all countries and backgrounds.

WJPCHS follows a single anonymized peer review process whereby reviewers are aware of the identity of the authors, but authors are not aware of the identity of the reviewers. Two (and often more) expert reviewers are assigned to review each manuscript submitted. Acceptance is based upon significance and originality, as well as validity of the material submitted and interest to the readers of WJPCHS. If an article is accepted for publication, editorial revisions may be made to enhance clarity and understanding without altering the meaning.

All authors are expected to adhere to the highest professional and ethical standards. Ethical breaches include scientific misconduct, plagiarism, and redundant publication. A Contributor Agreement, which includes disclosures of individual conflicts of interest; sources of funding; scientific responsibility; freedom of investigation; undisclosed authors; and copyright transfer, must be signed. Illustrative work (art, drawings, graphs, and photographs) may not be separately copyrighted. The corresponding author of an accepted manuscript will receive directions for submitting the Contributor Agreement form electronically. The completed form must be received by the publisher before an accepted manuscript is processed.

Written permission from the copyright owner is required to reproduce any previously published table(s), illustration(s), or photograph(s) in print and/or electronic media. Written permission from identifiable patients appearing in photographs is also required. Audio-Visual Likeness Release Form.

Submitting and Formatting Manuscripts

All manuscripts, correspondence, editorial material, and permissions must be submitted via the online submission site at http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/wjpchs. Authors must register with an e-mail address and password to submit manuscripts online. Each manuscript is assigned a unique number which should be referenced when making manuscript inquiries.

Authors will be asked on the submission form to provide a mini-abstract for inclusion in the journal’s Table of Contents. This abstract should not exceed 60 words and should identify the type of study and convey the key findings and central message.

Enter the “Author Center” and follow the instructions for submitting a complete manuscript. Guidelines specified in the AMA Manual of Style 11th edition should be followed.

Manuscripts should be typed double-spaced throughout with one (1) inch (2.5 cm) margins all around.

Microsoft Word is the preferred software program. Manuscripts written in 12-point Arial or Times New Roman fonts are preferred and more reliably convert to PDF format during electronic submission. (Do not submit your manuscript in PDF format.)

American rather than British spelling should be used throughout the manuscript, including within figures.

Arrange the Main Text of the manuscript as follows: (1) title page; (2) abstract; (3) text; (4) acknowledgments; (5) declarations of conflicting interests; (6) funding; (7) author’s statement as necessary; (8) references; (9) tables; and (10) figure legends. Number pages consecutively, beginning with the title page as page 1 and ending with the legends page. Do not include line numbers. Figures will be submitted as individual .tif or .eps files.

Word Limits by Category; inclusive of abstract, text, tables, figure legends, and references

Original articles should not exceed 5000 words, inclusive of abstract, text, tables, figure legends, and up to 40 references. The combined total of figures and tables should not exceed 10.

Review articles should not exceed 6500 words, inclusive of abstract, text, tables, figure legends, and up to 80 references. The editor is willing to discuss more specific guidelines about the subject matter and content of review articles via email.

New Technology and Expert Technique articles should not exceed 2500 words, inclusive of abstract, text, tables, figure legends, and up to 10 references. The number of tables should not exceed 3, the number of figures should not exceed 6 if tables are included, 8 if there are no tables. Manuscripts including information or imagery pertaining to a specific patient should be accompanied by an Author’s Statement confirming that consent for publication was granted by each subject patient or their respective parent(s) or guardian.

“How to do it” articles should not exceed 1200 words, inclusive of abstract, text, tables, figure legends, and up to 8 references. These reports should not include tables; if the author deems a table essential, he or she should provide justification for the table in the cover letter. A “How to do it” article should be a description of a useful technique and contain descriptive, illustrative material describing the innovation. Manuscripts including information or imagery pertaining to a specific patient should be accompanied by an Author’s Statement confirming that consent for publication was granted by each subject patient or their respective parent(s) or guardian.

Images of congenital heart disease articles may include up to 3 figures and should not exceed 550 words. No abstract or section headings should be included. Manuscripts including information or imagery pertaining to a specific patient should be accompanied by an Author’s Statement confirming that consent for publication was granted by each subject patient or their respective parent(s) or guardian.

Case Reports should not exceed 1200 words, inclusive of abstract, text, tables, figure legends, and up to 8 references. These reports should not include tables; if the author deems a table essential, he or she should provide justification for the table in the cover letter. Case Reports must include an Author’s Statement confirming that permission was granted by the subject patient or their respective parent(s) or guardian to publish the case report.

Historical Review should not exceed 2500 words, inclusive of abstract, text, tables, figure legends, and references.

End Notes are brief essays that may convey the author's insights or opinion on a subject of current interest to readers of WJPCHS. They should not exceed 1200 words, inclusive of text, tables, figure legends, and up to 6 references, and one figure.

Letters to the Editor and Brief Commentaries should not exceed 500 words. Do not include tables and subtract 100 words for each illustration. Letters may be peer reviewed to ensure accuracy.

Invited Commentary should not exceed 1200 words, inclusive of text, tables, figure legends, and up to 8 references.

Guest Editorials should not exceed 2500 words, inclusive of text, tables, figure legends, and references.

Supplementary material may be submitted for publication in the electronic copy of the journal, which is the version of record, but will not be included in the print journal. See description below.

Sections of the Manuscript

(1) Title Page (first page)
Title. The title is limited to 100 characters (including spaces) and may not contain acronyms or abbreviations. All submissions, including correspondence, must have a descriptive title.

Authors. List all authors by first name, all initials, family name and highest earned academic degree (eg, MD) or degrees (eg, MD, PhD). Do not list fellowship credentials or professional society membership designations. List the name and full address of all institutions in which the described work was completed. List departmental affiliations of each author affiliated with that institution after each institutional address. Connect authors to departments using numbered superscripts.

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.

Corresponding Author. Provide the name, exact postal address with zip or postal code, telephone number, and e-mail address of the author to whom communications, proofs, and requests for reprints should be sent after publication.

Meeting Presentation. If the paper has been or is to be presented at a WSPCHS, CHSS, ECHSA or other professional society meeting, provide the name, location, and dates of the meeting in the following format: Meeting Name; City, Country; Month, Day, Year.

Keywords. Provide a minimum of 4 keywords, a list of which is available online, to describe the manuscript.

Word Count. Provide the total word count of the entire manuscript including abstract, text, tables, figures legends, and reference list.

(2) Abstract (second page) Avoid abbreviations and acronyms. Indicate the abstract word count below the abstract.

Original articles. Provide a structured abstract of no more than 250 words, divided into four sections: Background, Methods, Results, Conclusions.

New Technology. Provide a structured abstract of no more than 175 words, divided into four sections: Purpose, Description, Evaluation, Conclusions.

Review articles, Case reports, “How to do it” articles, Expert Techniques, and Historical Review articles. Provide an unstructured abstract of no more than 100 words.

Images, Letters to the Editor, End Notes, and Editorials. No abstract is required.

(3) Main Text (third page, after the Abstract and continuing through Author’s Statement)

The main text of the manuscript should be organized as follows: Introduction, Material (or Patients) and Methods, Results, Comment, and all disclosures.

Cite references, tables, and figures in numeric order by order of mention in the text.

Avoid excessive use of abbreviations. Consult the American Medical Association Manual of Style, 11th edition, for recommended abbreviations. Define abbreviations at first appearance in the text. If 8 or more abbreviations or acronyms are used, provide a separate table of abbreviations and acronyms on a separate page between the Abstract and Text pages of the Main Document.

Measurements and weights should be given in standard metric units.

Statistical Nomenclature and Data Analysis. Methodology for all statistical analysis should be described, and references should be cited. Use of standard tests (chi-square test, student’s T-test, etc.) do not require citation of references. Use of proprietary software for statistical analysis should be documented.

Footnotes. Type footnotes at the bottom of the manuscript page on which they are cited. Suppliers. Credit suppliers of drugs, equipment, and other commercial material mentioned in the article within parentheses, providing company name, city and state or city and country.

Acknowledgments. Grants, financial support and technical or other assistance are acknowledged at the end of the text before the references. All financial support for the project must be acknowledged and will be printed in the article.

Writing Assistance. Individuals who provided writing assistance, eg, 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.

Disclosures and Freedom of Investigation. A disclosure statement is required for all studies, regardless of category of article, which specifies any financial, property, or intellectual aid from a commercial source. The disclosure statement must state the source(s) of all funds used to support the study or to perform the evaluation and whether or not property or tested technology was purchased, borrowed, or donated to the study. In addition, the authors must state that they had full control of the design of the study, methods used, outcome parameters, analysis of data, and production of the written report. These disclosures are mandatory for all manuscripts and conflicts of interest statements are published in the articles. The Contributor Agreement includes definitions of financial support and freedom of investigation. The existence of undisclosed authors must be declared on the Contributor Agreement, and their identity provided to the editorial office.

Author’s Statement. All manuscripts which include information or imagery pertaining to a specific patient should be accompanied by an Author’s Statement confirming that consent for publication was granted by each subject patient or their respective parent(s) or guardian.

(4) References (new page)
WJPCHS follows the AMA Manual of Style 11th edition. Authors are responsible for ensuring references comply with that style format, and for accuracy, completeness, and nonduplication of references. Preprint manuscript references are not permitted.

Identify references in the text using superscript Arabic numerals. Do not cite personal communications, manuscripts in preparation, or other unpublished data.

Type references double-spaced after Acknowledgments, beginning on a separate page. Number consecutively in the order in which they appear in the text.

Journal abbreviations should conform to those used in Index Medicus. The style and punctuation of references should follow AMA Style and the formats outlined below:

Journal Article–Published

Example: Riggs KW, Broderick JT, Price N, Chin C, Zafar F, Morales DLS. Transplantation for Congenital Heart Disease: Focus on the Impact of Functionally Univentricular Versus Biventricular Circulation. World Journal for Pediatric and Congenital Heart Surgery. 2021;12(3):352-359.

(List all authors if 6 or fewer; otherwise, list first 3 authors followed by “et al.”)

Journal Article–Published Online Ahead of Print

Example: Zhu A, Prabhu NK, Tatum GH, Turek JW, Andersen ND. Biventricular Conversion of Borderline Hypoplastic Left Heart Complex Facilitated by Spontaneous Closure of the Atrial Septum. World Journal for Pediatric and Congenital Heart Surgery. Published online January 28, 2022. doi:10.1177/21501351221076043

Chapter in Book

Example: Vinten-Johansen J, Zhao Z-Q, Guyton RA. Cardiac surgical physiology. In: Cohn LH, Edmunds LH Jr, eds. Cardiac Surgery in the Adult. 2nd ed. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill; 2003:53–84.

Internet Address

Example: 1996 NRC Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals. Available at http://www.nap.edu/readingroom/books/labrats/ contents.html. Accessed October 20, 2003.

(5) Tables (new page)

Tables should be typewritten double-spaced on separate pages. Do not use vertical lines. Each table should be numbered (Arabic) and have a title above. Legends and explanatory notes should be placed below the table. Abbreviations used in the table follow the legend in alphabetic order. Lower case letter superscripts beginning with “a” and following in alphabetic order are used for notations regarding statistics. Exact p values must be used; “NS” is obsolete.

Tables should be self-explanatory, and the data should not be duplicated in the text or figures. Tables must be created within and submitted as part of the text file and not imported or pasted as images.

(6) Figure Legends (new page)

Figure legends should be numbered (Arabic) and typed double-spaced in order of appearance. Identify all abbreviations appearing in the figures in alphabetical order at the end of each legend. Provide the type of stain and magnification power for all photomicrographs.

Cite the source of previously published (print or electronic) material in the legend and indicate permission has been obtained. Proof of permission must be scanned and uploaded with manuscript files or emailed to the editorial office.

(7) Figures

Improperly formatted figures and illustrations (including those bearing copyright marks without accompanying permissions to reproduce) will be returned to authors and will slow down production of accepted manuscripts. This includes color graphs and images that do not convert clearly to grayscale.

Submit figures online as individual files (Do Not embed them within the text file), which may contain one or more panels of one figure. For each figure file, use the figure number (eg, Figure 1A) as the filename. The system accepts image files formatted in TIF and EPS. PowerPoint (.ppt) files are also accepted, but for line drawings only. AMA Manual of Style 11th edition recommends against the use of pie charts. Images should be created in grayscale or CMYK color and have a resolution of at least 300 dpi. Please be sure to add the figure number and legend to the Caption/Legend field on the submission form.

Symbols, letters, numbers, and contrasting fills must be distinct and clearly legible when the illustration is reduced in size. Use only standard fonts; Helvetica or Arial (sans serif fonts) are best. Maintain consistently sized lettering throughout your submission; minimum 12 pts. is best. Most figures will be reproduced at a width of one column (8.25 cm; 3-1/4 inches). Please make sure all labels within figures are large enough to be easily read when the figure is reduced for printing. Do not include titles or captions within figures or illustrations.

Black, white, and widely crosshatched bars are preferable; do not use stippling, gray fill, or thin lines. Some commercial software generates graphs and plots using multiple colors. It is preferable to submit graphs prepared in black and white to ensure that lines and data points will be easily distinguished in the print version of your article. It is the author’s responsibility to ensure all files are legible in black and white. If files are formatted in such a way that require color printing to be legible, the authors will be responsible for Color Figure charges.

All diagnostic images and related materials must be devoid of any patient identification information.

Permissions and Releases

Written permission from patients (even masked) appearing in photographs, audio, or video recordings must be obtained by the authors from the subject patient or their respective parent(s) or guardian. Authors may use an institutional form or download an Audio-Visual Likeness Release Form. Authors retain the completed form(s) and include an Author’s Statement confirming that consent was obtained.

Figures may not be separately copyrighted or have a copyright logo. Illustrations may have a discrete signature of the artist if permitted by the payer of the illustrative work.

Material taken directly from a copyrighted source should be clearly identified, and the copyright holder’s written permission to reproduce it must be submitted in a separate file at the time of original manuscript submission. Obtaining permission to reproduce copyrighted material is the author's responsibility, as is the payment of any fees the copyright holder may request. Further information and a template Permission Request Letter is available on the Journal Author Gateway (see Obtaining Permissions).

Color Figures. If opting for online-only color, please ensure that: (1) the figure legends indicate that the color image is available in the online version of the article, (2) the text is an accurate description of both the black and white and color versions of the figure (labels referred to by color will not be understood when figures appear in black and white in the print version; eg, “yellow arrow” or “green asterisk.” Descriptors that are not color specific are necessary; eg, “large arrow” or “small arrow” or “asterisk.”), and (3) the style of lines used for graphing will translate well to a black and white printed image and will be distinguishable one from another. Submissions which include figures that do not meet these criteria will be returned.

Figures submitted in color will be published in color in the online version of the journal at no cost. If you wish to have figures printed in color in hard copy, the following fees apply: $800 for the first and $200 for each additional color figure within the same article. The authors’ agreement to assume this cost must be indicated by checking the appropriate box on the online submission form.

Audio and Video Files. Authors are encouraged to submit audio/video clips to further illustrate their work. These files will be published online as Supplementary Files and permanently linked to articles. Acceptable video file formats are QuickTime (.mov), MPEG Movie (.mpg), and Microsoft AVI Video (.avi); acceptable audio files include Windows Media Player (.wma) and MP3 (.mp3). Signed release from all participants in audio and video clips is required. See the Permissions and Releases section.

Supplementary Files

Supplementary files should contain information that is not essential to understanding the conclusions of the manuscript but is additional or complementary and directly relevant to the article content. Supplementary files will be available as online-only content permanently linked to the online manuscript. This material is subject to the same editorial standards and peer review process as the printed article and must be submitted along with the main manuscript. Supplementary files will not be copyedited so it is important that the data are clearly and succinctly presented, that style conforms with the rest of the manuscript, and that common file types are used. Please ensure that the supplementary data is referred to in the main manuscript at an appropriate point in the text. The files must be clearly named as supplementary, eg, Table S1, Figure S1. One file should include a brief description of the supplementary data content, including supplemental figure legends.

Manuscript Revision

Revised manuscripts must be submitted in two parts as word-processing files: (1) revised, marked manuscript showing additions and deletions, preferably using Track Changes strike-through format for deletions and color font for additions; (2) revised, unmarked manuscript. A point-by-point response to reviewers’ comments must be included in the appropriate field on the submission form.

Protection of Human and Animal Subjects

Human Investigation

WJPCHS adheres to the principles of the Helsinki Declaration (http://www.wma.net/e/policy/b3.htm) regarding all reported research conducted with human participants. Reports including data obtained from research conducted with human participants must contain a statement in the Methods section indicating whether your Institutional Review Board (IRB) (or Ethics Committee or comparable group) approved the study and whether individual consent for the study was obtained or waived. This information should be stated in the first paragraph under “Patients and Methods”. This policy applies for both prospective and retrospective studies. It is understood that institutional review boards often waive the requirement for individual patient consent for retrospective studies. When this is the case, it must be so stated in the “Patients and Methods” section. When no formal ethics review process is available, authors must state that informed consent to participate in prospective studies was obtained from each human subject in accordance with relevant guidelines.

All manuscripts which include information or imagery pertaining to a specific patient should be accompanied by an Author’s Statement confirming that consent for publication was granted by each subject patient or their respective parent(s) or guardian.

Humane Animal Care

When animals are used as subjects, institutional approval of the protocol is necessary and authors should include a statement in “Methods” indicating that investigators complied with the 1996 “Guide for the Care and use of Laboratory Animals” (See http://www.nap.edu/readingroom/books/labrats/contents.html), recommended by the U.S. National Institutes of Health, or with equivalent guidelines administered by the author’s governmental regulatory body. When no formal ethics review process is available, authors must state that humane care was provided in animal experiments, in accordance with either of the above.

Policies

Scientific Responsibility Statement

Upon submission, the submitting author will be required to attest that each author has participated sufficiently in the work to take responsibility for a meaningful share of the content of the manuscript, and that each author has had full “freedom of investigation” before, during and after this study. “Freedom of investigation” is defined as freedom from outside interests in controlling the design of the study, acquisition of data, collection, analysis and interpretation of data, and having freedom to fully disclose all results.

Exclusive Publication Statement

Upon submission, the submitting author will be required to attest that none of the material in the manuscript has been published previously in either print or electronic form, and that none of the material is currently under consideration for publication elsewhere. This includes symposia, transactions, books, articles published by invitation, posting in electronic format, and preliminary publications of any kind except an abstract of 400 words or fewer.

Disclosures: Conflicts of Interest; Sources of Funding; Scientific Responsibility; and Freedom of Investigation

Individual disclosures will appear on the last page of the final article. Disclosures relating to funding of research appear at the end of the text, before the references. All original submissions must state sources of funding for the work described in the article. Except for New Technology articles, statements regarding Scientific Responsibility and Freedom of Investigation do not appear in the published paper but are required of every author on the Contributor Agreement. Individuals who assisted with the manuscript but do not qualify as authors should be included in the Acknowledgements.

Peer Review

Sage does not permit the use of author-suggested (recommended) reviewers at any stage of the submission process, be that through the web-based submission system or other communication.

Reviewers should be experts in their fields and should be able to provide an objective assessment of the manuscript. Reviewers will not be assigned if they are based at the same institution as any of the co-authors, or at the funding body of the manuscript.

Copyright

Authors of articles accepted for publication in World Journal for Pediatric and Congenital Heart Surgery must transfer exclusive license for the World Society for Pediatric and Congenital Heart Surgery and Sage Publications to publish the entire article, including artwork, photographs and other matter, to the World Society for Pediatric and Congenital Heart Surgery by signing the Contributor Agreement. Sage Publications, Inc. maintains copyright records for the World Society for Pediatric and Congenital Heart Surgery. No part of the published material may be reproduced elsewhere without written permission from Sage Publications, Inc.

Open Access

NIH Initiative

The National Institutes of Health requires that all authors whose paper describes research wholly or in part supported by NIH, post the accepted version of their paper to PubMed Central: http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov within 12 months of publication (http://www.nih.gov/about/publicaccess/Enhanced_Public_Access.pdf). This version is defined as “the final version accepted for journal publication, and includes all modifications from the publishing peer review process.”

Registration of Clinical Trials

WJPCHS supports mandatory registration of all publicly or commercially funded clinical trials, including Phase 1 and 2 trials, as a condition for publication. Information regarding requirements for registration of a clinical trial may be found at http://www.icmje.org/#clin_trials. Information for registering a clinical trial is available at http://prsinfo.clinicaltrials.gov. The trial registration number should appear at the end of the abstract.

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 meta-analyses 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

Research Data

Sage is committed to facilitating openness, transparency, and reproducibility of research. Where relevant, The Journal encourages authors to share their research data in a suitable public repository subject to ethical considerations and where data is included, to add a data accessibility statement in their manuscript file. Authors should also follow data citation principles. For more information, please visit the Sage Author Gateway, which includes information about Sage’s partnership with the data repository Figshare.

WJPCHS offers optional open access publishing via the Sage Choice program. For more information, please visit the Sage Choice website. For information on funding body compliance, and depositing your article in repositories, please visit Sage Publishing Policies on our Journal Author Gateway.

Plagiarism

WJPCHS 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.

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 provided above. Manuscripts previously posted to a preprint server are permitted.

Authors must observe high standards with respect to publication best practice. Falsification or fabrication of authorship, data, plagiarism, including duplicate publication of the authors’ own work without proper citation, and misappropriation of work are all unacceptable practices. Cases of ethical or publication malpractice will be treated very seriously and managed in accordance with the Commission on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidelines. This includes the potential correction, expression of concern, or retraction of the article. 

Artificial Intelligence

Use of Large Language Models and generative AI tools in writing your submission

Sage recognizes the value of large language models (LLMs) (e.g. ChatGPT) and generative AI as productivity tools that can help authors in preparing their article for submission; to generate initial ideas for a structure, for example, or when summarizing, paraphrasing, language polishing etc. However, it is important to note that all language models have limitations and are unable to replicate human creative and critical thinking. Human intervention with these tools is essential to ensure that content presented is accurate and appropriate to the reader. Sage therefore requires authors to be aware of the limitations of language models and to consider these in any use of LLMs in their submissions:

• Objectivity: Previously published content that contains racist, sexist or other biases can be present in LLM-generated text, and minority viewpoints may not be represented. Use of LLMs has the potential to perpetuate these biases because the information is decontextualized and harder to detect.
• Accuracy: LLMs can ‘hallucinate’ i.e. generate false content, especially when used outside of their domain or when dealing with complex or ambiguous topics. They can generate content that is linguistically but not scientifically plausible, they can get facts wrong, and they have been shown to generate citations that don’t exist. Some LLMs are only trained on content published before a particular date and therefore present an incomplete picture.
• Contextual understanding: LLMs cannot apply human understanding to the context of a piece of text, especially when dealing with idiomatic expressions, sarcasm, humor, or metaphorical language. This can lead to errors or misinterpretations in the generated content.
• Training data: LLMs require a large amount of high-quality training data to achieve optimal performance. However, in some domains or languages, such data may not be readily available, limiting the usefulness of the model.

Guidance for authors

Authors are required to:

1. Clearly indicate the use of language models in the manuscript, including which model was used and for what purpose. Please use the methods or acknowledgements section, as appropriate.
2. Verify the accuracy, validity, and appropriateness of the content and any citations generated by language models and correct any errors or inconsistencies.
3. Provide a list of sources used to generate content and citations, including those generated by language models. Double-check citations to ensure they are accurate, and are properly referenced.
4. Be conscious of the potential for plagiarism where the LLM may have reproduced substantial text from other sources. Check the original sources to be sure you are not plagiarizing someone else’s work.
5. Acknowledge the limitations of language models in the manuscript, including the potential for bias, errors, and gaps in knowledge.
6. Please note that AI bots such as ChatGPT should not be listed as an author on your submission.

We will take appropriate corrective action where we identify published articles with undisclosed use of such tools.

After Artificial Intelligence and before English language, please add this paragraph:

Authorship Changes

If the named authors for a manuscript change at any point between submission and acceptance, an Authorship Change Form must be completed and digitally signed by all authors (including any added or removed). An addition of an author is only permitted following feedback raised during peer review. Completed forms can be uploaded at Revision Submission stage or emailed to the Journal Editorial Office contact. All requests will be moderated by the Editor and/or Sage staff.

Important: Changes to the author by-line by adding or deleting authors are NOT permitted following acceptance of a paper.

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.

English Language

American rather than British spelling should be used throughout the manuscript, including within figures. Authors who want to refine the use of English in their manuscripts might consider using Sage Language Services. For more information, please visit http://languageservices.sagepub.com/en/.

Access to your published article

Sage provides authors with online access to their final article.

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.

Appealing the publication decision

Editors have very broad discretion in determining whether an article is an appropriate fit for their journal. Many manuscripts are declined with a very general statement of the rejection decision. These decisions are not eligible for formal appeal unless the author believes the decision to reject the manuscript was based on an error in the review of the article, in which case the author may appeal the decision by providing the Editor with a detailed written description of the error they believe occurred.

If an author believes the decision regarding their manuscript was affected by a publication ethics breach, the author may contact the publisher with a detailed written description of their concern, and information supporting the concern, at publication_ethics@sagepub.com.