Submissions

Submission Preparation Checklist

As part of the submission process, authors are required to check off their submission's compliance with all of the following items, and submissions may be returned to authors that do not adhere to these guidelines.

• The submission has not been previously published, nor is it before another journal for consideration (or an explanation has been provided in Comments to the Editor).
• The submission file is in OpenOffice, Microsoft Word, or RTF document file format.
• Where available, URLs for the references have been provided.
• The text is single-spaced; uses a 12-point font; employs italics, rather than underlining (except with URL addresses); and all illustrations, figures, and tables are placed within the text at the appropriate points, rather than at the end.
• The text adheres to the stylistic and bibliographic requirements outlined in the Author Guidelines.
• The manuscript complies with the journal's Publication Ethics policy and applicable research ethics requirements.
• Where formal ethical approval is required, the necessary approval has been obtained and the relevant information is provided in the manuscript.
• Where informed consent is required, appropriate consent has been obtained from research participants.
• The authors have taken appropriate measures to protect confidential, personal, and sensitive research data.
• All authors have approved the submitted manuscript and agree to be identified as authors.
• All relevant conflicts of interest and sources of funding have been disclosed.
• All sources, data, and contributions from other parties are appropriately acknowledged
• The manuscript is original, has not been published previously, and is not under consideration by another journal, except where the journal has explicitly permitted otherwise.