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 submitted work has not been previously published. Author(s) guarantee to the best of their knowledge the submitted manuscript does not infringe on any copyrights and does not contain any unlawful matter.
Author(s) agree(s) on all content, results and interpretations contained in the manuscript.
The submission adheres to submission type (components, word count) and formatting guidelines as outlined in the Author Guidelines: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KU2rn97fppQyuiN6ICnluU8O8Ecromn4/view?usp=sharing
All written submissions are made using the following template: https://docs.google.com/document/d/15izHRIhDxrHygCNiDjIo1wnS1LlPlO-S/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=111479782607171955639&rtpof=true&sd=true
Authorship form has been completed and emailed to the journal: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1thXFWFWxJbrZ5oG1NGCmMi7PxCPZERJB/view?usp=sharing
The submission is in .doc or .docx format for written pieces.
The file does not contain any identifying information in the document apart from the document title.
In-text referencing and reference list is in accordance with APA 7th edition. Where available, hyperlinked DOI numbers have been provided in the reference list in place of alternative links.

https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/apa_formatting_and_style_guide/reference_list_basic_rules.html

Author Guidelines

^{Quick Links:}

Author Guidelines for details on submission types, word counts, and formatting guidelines
Submission Template for all written submissions
Authorship form for all submissions

Peer-Review & Publication

Submissions can take anywhere from two weeks to just under two months from the review stage to acceptance depending on the submission type and adherence to journal submission guidelines. Authors may need to resubmit the paper for review depending on the extent of comments/suggestions and revision needed. Submissions may also be rejected outright. Authors of rejected submissions may appeal the decision with the editorial board. Upon being accepted, submissions will go through a copyediting and proofreading process before being published online in the current issue of MUJPH, hosted on this website, which provides immediate open access to its contents.

^{Submission Formats}

MUJPH accepts a number of submission formats, catering to several different styles and publication types. These various formats can be broadly categorized as long pieces, short pieces, and Editor’s Choice pieces.

Submissions longer than category-specific word counts will be reviewed on a case-by-case scenario. All word counts include in-text citations but exclude reference lists, figures, and tables. A brief acknowledgments section may be included for any submission and will also be excluded from the word count.

Note that a maximum of 3 written pieces may be submitted per author per cycle (limit does not apply to arts-based submissions).

Original Research & Review Articles

Research Articles

Research articles describe the results of original research on topics of public health importance. With a maximum of 5000 words, they should contain an abstract, key terms (5-10), introduction, methods, results (including figures/tables), discussion, conclusion, and references.

Review Articles

Review articles consist of a novel, critical analysis of existing public health research deemed relevant to the research question and topic of choice. They can be systematic (with or without meta-analysis) or narrative in nature (literature reviews). With a maximum of 5000 words, they should contain an abstract, key terms (5-10), introduction, main text (topic sub-sections and figures/tables as necessary), conclusion with future directions, and references. Systematic reviews must also include methods, results (in-place of main text), and discussion sections.

Abstracts

Abstracts include those that have not yet been published, discussing upcoming original research studies and/or reviews. These also include abstracts from conference proceedings. These pieces typically contain 300 to 400 words. Keywords must also be included. Peer-review will be conducted on a case-by-case scenario.

Essays

Analytic Essays

Analytic essays critically analyze various perspectives or themes surrounding a specific public health issue. With a maximum of 2000 words, an analytic essay should contain an abstract/overview, key terms (maximum 10), topic sections and figures/tables as needed, and references.

Historical Essays: "Public Health Archives"

Authors can also submit a “Public Health Archives” article that takes a historical perspective of a specific area of focus within science, public health, policy, and/or health technology/innovation, mentions the importance to historical and modern societies, and examines future implications. Authors must specify which time period the piece explores, as well as how the topic is relevant to modern society. With a maximum of 2000 words, a “Public Health Archives” essay should contain an abstract/overview, key terms (maximum 10), topic sections and figures/tables as needed, and references.

Public Health Practice Articles

Public health practice pieces focus on issues and interventions relating to public health practice. These pieces must thoroughly describe a program/intervention including its purpose/goals, location(s), implementation dates, population of interest, program implementation, program evaluation (including unintended consequences), program sustainability, and program impact on public health. With a maximum of 1000 words, public health practice articles should contain an overview, key terms (maximum 10), introduction, main text (including subsections and figures/tables as needed), conclusion, and references.

Opinion Editorials

All op-ed and rebuttal pieces must contain an abstract/overview, key terms (maximum 10), main text, conclusion, and references.

Opinion Editorials: "Letter to MUJPH"

Opinion editorial pieces express the opinion of the author about a public health topic from an evidence-based perspective (maximum 1500 words).

Rebuttals

Op-eds can also be presented in the form of a “Rebuttal”, in which the author can refute arguments made in op-ed pieces, including those made in previous rebuttals (500-800 words).

All things Policy

Policy Briefs

Policy briefs describe a public health issue, providing thorough and persuasive evidence as to why this issue should be addressed through policy changes and/or implementation. They should follow the following structure: define the problem briefly; list the magnitude of the problem through evidence and economic data, etc.; identify the root cause(s) of the problem; state the main issue that needs addressing; propose the main policy question; state the problem trajectory, describing the political, social, economic, and/or environmental forces contributing to the problem (optional subheaders as needed); describe previous policies that have contributed to or failed to alleviate the problem; and persuasively describe the current pressure for political action. With a maximum of 1000 words, policy briefs should contain an abstract/overview, key terms (maximum 10), introduction, main text (including subsections and figures/tables as needed), conclusions (including future directions if applicable), and references.

Policy Proposals

Policy proposals include a condensed policy brief (as discussed above) with additional sections that propose 1-2 policy solutions. Each policy option should describe the following components: overall purpose/goals; plausible effectiveness; and political, financial, administrative, and ethical feasibilities. Finally, the author should recommend one policy option and justify their choice as to why this solution is a priority for addressing the issue at hand. With a maximum of 1500 words, the structure should be divided into an abstract/overview, key terms (maximum 10), introduction (including policy brief summary), main text (including subsections and figures/tables as needed), conclusions, and final recommendations, and references.

Editor's Choice

Editor’s choice pieces are submissions that do not fall into any of the above categories but are still pertinent to the field of public health and the scope of the journal. Authors can choose to submit reflective narratives that highlight diverse perspectives in public health; they can reflect on their personal experiences and lessons learned in the field. Original art-based submissions will also be considered and can take the form of photos, paintings and illustrations (handmade or digital), poetry, infographics, digital visualizations, photo essays, etc. as long as they pertain to the disciplines and themes of our journal. Other submissions to this category can include research protocols, conference abstracts, interview excerpts and analyses, ethical treatises, etc. related to the field of public health. These pieces typically range from 500 to 1500 words. Peer-review will be conducted on a case-by-case scenario.

Copyright Notice

Authors who publish with MUJPH agree to the following terms:

Authors retain copyright and grant MUJPH the right to be the first publisher of the submitted work. The submission will be licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License, allowing others to reference/cite, and share the work with acknowledgment of the original authorship and initial publication in MUJPH.
With an appropriate acknowledgment of the work's initial publication in MUJPH, authors may submit their work to other entities with non-exclusive distribution of the published version of the work in MUJPH.
Authors are permitted to share the final and published version of the work online.

Privacy Statement

The names and email addresses entered in this journal site will be used exclusively for the stated purposes of MUJPH and will not be made available for any other purpose or to any other party.