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How do I submit a manuscript to Health Affairs? Once I have submitted a paper, how long can I expect
to wait before I hear from the journal, and how much time passes
between acceptance and publication of a manuscript? Can I use a software program to prepare my references? Does Health Affairs have word limits? Do exhibits (figures, tables, diagrams, etc.) count against the word count? What material is appropriate to include as appendix material? Does appendix material count against the word count? Return to Main FAQs Return to Top
Once I have submitted a paper, how long can I expect to wait before I hear from the journal, and how much time passes between acceptance and publication of a manuscript? Submissions are acknowledged promptly by e-mail. About half of
the papers submitted to the journal are selected for external review.
For papers that are not selected for external review, the journal
notifies authors of its decision within two to three weeks of submission.
For papers that are selected for external review, authors can expect
to wait about two to three months from the date of submission until
notification of the journal’s decision. For papers that are
selected for revision, the length of time between the revision request
and publication will vary widely (from six weeks to several months)
depending on various factors, including the extent of revision required,
the need for additional review and revision, whether the paper will
be published in a bound volume or on our Web site, etc. Our acceptance rate for unsolicited papers is currently between
10 and 15 percent. Letters can also be submitted for publication in the print edition. Letters should be brief (250-300 words) and sharply focused. You may send your letter as attachment to e-mail, along with your complete contact information (including mailing address, e-mail address, and phone and fax numbers) to letters@healthaffairs.org. Or you may use our online letters submission form. Health Affairs reserves the right to publish submitted letters either online or in the print edition; unsolicited letters to the editor will not be acknowledged. To report technical problems or comments on the Health Affairs Web site, please use the contact information found in Contact Us. Are Health Affairs' Web-Exclusive papers peer-reviewed? Do the Health Affairs editors offer assistance to authors whose native language is not English or who just need extra help with their writing? The Health Affairs copyeditors work with every accepted paper to apply consistent style, correct grammar, and appropriate length. Also, Health Affairs editors routinely give detailed suggestions for improving a manuscript during the peer-review process. However, they cannot offer direct assistance to authors before a paper is accepted, other than answering routine questions and providing access to the style guide on request. If authors require more assistance with their writing, especially before the submission process begins, editorial services are available to provide this assistance for a fee. One such service is ScienceDocs (details are available at http://www.sciencedocs.com). Health Affairs is not affiliated with ScienceDocs or any other company offering editorial services. Authors may use these services at their own discretion and risk; use of such services does not directly affect a paper’s chances of acceptance, and all accepted papers are still subject to copyediting as described above. Return to Top
Yes. The counts listed include abstract, main text, endnotes, and any other material that would go along with the published paper, such as acknowledgments, disclaimers, etc. Feature papers: 5,000 words Do exhibits (figures, tables, diagrams, etc.) count against the word count? Yes, but not in a strictly word-for-word fashion. Assessing an exhibit count depends on the size of the exhibits and other factors, but overall length in published pages is the ultimate concern. Health Affairs papers do not typically include more than five or six exhibits, and a paper that has close to this number of exhibits would need to have offsetting reductions in the word count. What material is appropriate to include as appendix material? Detailed or extended discussion of methods or results (including some exhibits), or both, that is aimed primarily at experts and not general readers should not be presented in the paper itself. It may be included in appendix material submitted along with a manuscript (called “supplementary material for review” in the online submission system). Authors are encouraged to submit appendix material if they cannot adequately describe their methods in about 1,000 words or if understanding a full description of the methods requires expertise in a specific academic discipline. Also, if a description relies on formulas or other expressions, these are most appropriately included in the online appendix, not as part of the paper itself. Appendix material can also consist of extended bibliographies or sources, for either exhibits or text. For papers that are published, appendix material that was subjected to external review will be presented as online supplemental material to the paper. It will not be published as part of the paper, but it will be made available on the Health Affairs Web site, accessible via links from the published paper. If you plan to include such appendix material with your paper, please make sure that it is mentioned in the text, preferably in the form of an endnote, at the point at which it is relevant. The Health Affairs editors will supply the online link and Web address. No. Therefore, we ask authors to format the material in a way that enhances accessibility and understanding, and to proof/edit the work before submitting it. The Health Affairs editors take submitted material, add a short block of text identifying it with the paper, and create a PDF file for posting online. This PDF file is e-mailed to the contact author approximately two weeks before the article is posted online (in the case of Web Exclusives, in approximately one week before online posting). If authors have changes to make, they must submit a new original file. Please note that typeface restrictions and other design elements do not apply to online appendices; their appearance is up to the authors. Does appendix material count against the word count? No, but we do encourage authors to be concise since reviewers and editors have limited time to read this material. Return to Top |
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