Instruction for authors

Since 2022, Volume 77, number 2 all the papers are published in English.

All articles for publication in Journal of Hygiene and Public Health (Igiene e Sanità Pubblica) should be submitted via e-mail: editor@igienesanita.com

Rules for the acceptance of the manuscripts

Editorial policy and basic information Only high scientific quality articles complying with the scope of the journal will be considered for the publication. Copyright All the copyrights to the articles published in the Journal of Hygiene and Public Health (Igiene e Sanità Pubblica) are reserved for the publisher: the Igiene e Sanità Pubblica. It means that after article is published the authors transfer the copyright to the publisher and cannot publish this article or its parts elsewhere for commercial purposes without the written permission from the publisher.

Ethics Clinical articles should comply with the generally accepted ethical standards and the Helsinki Declaration. For animal experiments reported in the articles the author(s) must obtain the acceptance by the relevant local Ethics Commission. Conflict of interest. Conflict of interest exists if authors or their institutions have financial or personal relationships with other people or organisations that could inappropriately influence their actions. Such relationships should be disclosed to the publisher. All authors should provide a signed statement of their conflict of interest as a part of the author’s statement form.

Transparency

Openness of information on any party contributing to preparation of a publication (content related, financial, etc. input) is proof of ethical attitude of a researcher and of high editorial standards. “Ghostwriting” and “guest authorship” are indications of scientific dishonesty and all cases will be exposed and adequate institutions will be informed. “Ghostwriting” is a situation where a person contributes significantly to a publication and is not disclosed as one of the authors or named in the acknowledgments and “guest authorship” is a situation where a given author’s contribution is insignificant or non existent and the autor is still listed as author/co-author of a publication.

The editor requires from the authors of the articles that they reveal the contribution of individual authors to the manuscript, i.e. who is the author of the concept and study design, data/material collection, study/analysis, performance, statistical analysis, interpretation of the results, manuscript development etc. Authors of the manuscript should provide “Authors’ statement” form signed by the all authors. Also the information concerning the sources of financial support to the study presented in the submitted manuscript should be provided. Ethical standards and procedures.

The journal in order to prevent dishonest publishing practices applies the principles of publication ethics in accordance with the COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics) guidelines.

Peer review procedure for manuscripts

1. The manuscripts submitted to the Journal of Hygiene and Public Health (Igiene e Sanità Pubblica) undergo preliminary evaluation in the editorial office to determine whether the topic is within the scope of the journal and to evaluate the adherence to the journal format, as well as to the rules of acceptance. In cases when the above prerequisites are not met the manuscript is not qualified, and the corresponding author is informed.
2. Following the positive preliminary evaluation the paper is directed for peer review to at least two independent and recognized experts representing the scientific experience in the field covered by the manuscript and affiliated in the different institution than the institution(s) where the authors have been affiliated. The reviewers must ensure independence and lack of conflict of interests.
3. During the entire reviewing the double-blind review process is maintained.
4. The review in the written form is forwarded to the corresponding author with the accompanying statement suggesting status of the paper as: ‘accepted’, ‘accepted after revisions’ or ‘not accepted’.

Submission of manuscripts

For the publication 1 paper copy of printed full text with tables and figures and following attachments must be submitted:

1. Cover letter, in which the corresponding author applies for the publication of the paper in the Journal of Hygiene and Public Health (Igiene e Sanità Pubblica). The cover letter, signed by the corresponding author, should contain the name of the institution where the author is affiliated, address, phone and fax numbers, e-mail, and scientific degree (title). The author is requested to suggest two or three potential reviewers (including their e-mails) from different institutions than the author’s one.
2. Author(s)’ statement, signed by all authors, stating that the manuscript complies with the general rules set for the scientific articles and was not published and/or submitted for publication elsewhere and will not be send for publication to the other journal, and there is no infringement of property rights to any interested third parties.

In the case of experiments on animals the approval of the relevant ethics commission is required. The clinical studies must be accompanied by the written statement, signed by the authors confirming that the research was conducted in accordance with the Helsinki Declaration. The contribution of the individual authors to preparation of a publication should be specified. All authors are required to sign the statement of their conflict of interest as a part of the author’s statement form.

Manuscript

The manuscript (full text with tables and figures, tables and figures in the separate files), cover letter and athor’s statement should be sent by the e-mail editor@igienesanita.com Manuscripts submitted for publication should be typed by the editor Microsoft Word using Times New Roman 12 font and 1.5 space between lines on A4 paper size.

1. Title page

It should contain the title of the paper in English and, the name(s) and surname(s) of the author(s), the complete name(s) of the institution(s) where the work was performed, and the exact postal address of the corresponding author, phone and/or fax numbers and the e- mail address inserted at the bottom of the title page. If appropriate, the number and the title of the project under which the study has been carried out should also be given on this page as a footnote.

2. Abstract

It should contain 300-500 words and consist of the following sections: Background, Objective, Material and methods, Results, Discussion and Conclusions. The abstract must also be sent in English and Italian languages.

3. Keywords

Should be placed after the abstract. 3-5 words or short phrases according to the MeSH (Medical Subject Headings Index Medicus) catalogue available at www.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/meshhome.html

4. Text

The text of the manuscript should be divided into the following sections: Introduction, Material and methods, Results, Discussion, Conclusions, Acknowledgements, References.

4.1 Introduction

It should contain the scientific rationale and the aim of the study or in the case of a review the purpose of the article. Only references related to the paper should be cited.

4.2 Material and methods

This section should provide detailed information on the subject of the study, methods, chemicals, apparatus and techniques used in sufficiently exhaustive way to enable readers to repeat the experiments or observations. For generally known methods references should be given together with name of the methods or statistical analysis used in the study. For new or substantially modified methods detailed descriptions are to be added. In the case of experimental studies on laboratory animals, the information should be provided on the approval by a local Ethics Commission, or in the case of clinical studies that they have been performed with the ethical standards according to the Helsinki Declaration.

4.3 Results

These should be presented in a logical sequence in the text, the same applies to the tables and figures. The data from the tables and figures should not be repeated in the text, where only the most important observations from the studies are to be summarized. The place where the tables, figures or photographs should appear in the text should be marked.

4.4 Discussion

Emphasise the new and important aspects of the results and a comprehensive interpretation of the results obtained against the background of results obtained by other authors. Quotations should be restricted to those with immediate relevance to the author’s findings.

4.5 Conclusions

They should be stated precisely in points or descriptively and should be logically connected with the aims stated in the introduction. Statements and conclusions not derived from own observations should be avoided. If a hypothesis is proposed it must be stated clearly.

4.6 Acknowledgements

These should be placed directly after the Conclusion section. One or more statements should specify: (1) persons who contributed substantially to the study but cannot be regarded as authorship, such as technical assistants, statisticians, data collectors etc. You should acknowledge their assistance for the sake of transparency. It must be clear that they are not responsible for the final version of the article. You must ensure you have the consent of all the persons named in the acknowledgements; (2) allsources of financial and material support, which should specify the nature of the support. The recommended form is: “This work was supported by: (name of theorganization, project number xxxx)”; (3) relationships that may pose the conflict of interest.

4.7 References

References must be numbered in the text (in brackets) and must be listed in the “References” section in the same order. The titles of journals should be abbreviated according to the style used in the PubMed. Bibliographical titles should adopt the Vancouver style (BMJ 1982; 284: 1766-70). If the article or book has a DOI number (‘Digital Object Identifier’ number unique to the publication), it should be included in the references. The titles of the cited papers in other language than English should be also translated into English [and given in square brackets]. The information on the original language should be given in the brackets after the page numbers, for example: (in Italian).