ISSN 2610-8038
on-line version

INSTRUCTIONS TO AUTHORS

 

Scope and editorial policy

MISSION:

Disseminate peer-reviewed articles on advances and results of original research in the fields of Health, Gerontology, Medicine, Biomedical Engineering, Electromedicine, Histocytotechnology, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Psychiatry, Pulmonology, Microbiology, Traumatology, Nutrition, Physiotherapy, Family Medicine, Epidemiology, Anesthesiology, Pharmacology, Nursing, Bioethics, Deontology, Cardiovascular, Cardiology; essays, theoretical works, dissemination and recording of experiences in the field of health and community-based approaches, with the aim of contributing with inputs in the following contexts:

  • Theoretical – epistemological – methodological – innovations.
  • Family Medicine
  • Pediatrics
  • Gerontology
  • Biomedical Engineering
  • Electromedicine
  • Histocytotechnology
  • Obstetrics and Gynecology
  • Psychiatry
  • Pulmonology
  • Nutrition
  • Microbiology
  • Traumatology
  • Physiotherapy
  • Bioethics
  • Deontology
  • Nursing
  • Anesthesiology
  • Pharmacology
  • Community-based
  • Cardiology

VISION

To be the medium that promotes spaces for socialization and participation in the construction of knowledge, the dissemination of research, essays, theoretical works, dissemination and recording of experiences in the field of health and community-based approaches, and the exchange of experiences that promote the strengthening of knowledge and research; serving as a stimulus, support, and continuous training for the projection of the knowledge of health professionals.

 

Form and preparation of manuscripts

EDITORIAL STANDARDS

General:

1.- Articles must be original and unpublished; in addition to not being simultaneously submitted to other journals. Articles other than Spanish and English will be accepted.

2.- All articles are submitted to arbitration for selection and publication. Health and Life, The Interdisciplinary Peer-reviewed Journal of Health Sciences, (the Journal), will use double-blind peer review, where the reviewers do not know the identity of the authors of the articles, and the authors do not know the identity of the reviewers. All evaluators and referees are external to the Journal and the Publishing House.

3.- Articles submitted to the Journal should have a maximum of four collaborators, including the main author. Exceptions to this rule will be submitted to the consideration of the editorial committee, based on the criteria of originality, relevance, contribution and extension of the research process developed in the article.

4.- The journal is published every six months (ordinary issues).

5.- The journal may publish special issues (special editions), with previous agreement with groups, networks, institutions and organizations that carry out research events such as congresses, forums, conferences, lectures, among others, for which it is essential to submit articles in accordance with the present editorial guidelines.

6.- Authors of ordinary and extraordinary issues must register in the OJS (Open Journal Systems) of the Journal: (http://fundacionkoinonia.com.ve/ojs/index.php/saludyvida/user/register).

If they are already registered, it will not be necessary to do it again.

Aesthetic configuration of the articles:

7.- Articles should be written without indentation and without spaces between paragraphs, only to separate titles and subtitles up to a maximum of 5 levels. The use of bullets will be reduced.

8.- Articles must be written in electronic format, 1.5 spaced, font size 12 (Arial), with right, left, bottom and top margins of 2.5 cm, on letter size paper in DOC format.

Type and structure of the articles:

9.- Articles will be classified as:

  • Original article: Contribution destined to divulge original and unpublished research results, which can be replicated and/or generalized. Discursive formulations of theorizing effect and qualitative methodology research, in general, are also considered original articles.
  • Short original articles: They present the same characteristics of original articles but are shorter in length.
  • Review article: Contribution that uses a research method presents the synthesis of multiple published studies and enables general conclusions, with respect to a particular area of study carried out in a systematic and orderly manner, favoring the deepening of knowledge of the researched topic.
  • Clinical communications: Works of novel preliminary results; accompanied by analysis and discussions based on scientific research.
  • Reports and/or case reports: Attractive, clear, concise and didactic presentation of clinical cases. It must leave some novel teaching from discussions based on scientific research.
  • - Epidemiological statistics. Epidemiological analysis and discussions based on scientific research.
  • - Editorial: Expository-argumentative topics of editorial interest are proposed. Papers commissioned by the Director and/or Editor
  • - Letter to the Editor: Contributions to articles already published in the Journal or on a topic related to the thematic area addressed in the Journal.

10.- Body of the work

The articles will be structured as follows:

  1. Title: in Spanish and English (with a maximum length of 15 words).
  2. Identification and affiliation of the authors: Each author should include his/her first and last names (surnames joined by a hyphen); e-mail, institutional affiliation (indicating city and country) and ORCID (obligatory).

For profession and academic degree; each author must indicate his/her profession and the highest academic degree obtained (e.g., Physician specializing in Endocrinology, Doctor in Public Health) in parentheses.

c.- Abstract: Must be presented in Spanish and English. The original articles must have the following structure: objectives, materials and methods, results and conclusions. Short original papers should present the same structure, but without subtitles. In the other types of articles should have an informative and balanced synopsis of what has been done and what has been found.

  1. Keywords: A minimum of three and a maximum of five should be proposed in English and Spanish. The "descriptors in health sciences" of the Thesaurus Virtual Health Library (https://decs.bvsalud.org/es/) should be used, in both Spanish and English. The key words should be completely in lowercase, separated by a semicolon (;) and a space.

e.- Content of the article:

Articles should be structured in title, abstract, introduction, methodology, results and discussion, following the STROBE Statement (Strenghtening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology).

For further explanation and examples on the development of the different sections of an article, according to STROBE, see: http://scielo.isciii.es/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0213-91112009000200015

1.- Original article

Abstract: Structured in: Objectives, Materials and methods, Results and Conclusions. In Spanish and English (150 words).

Keywords: A minimum of three and a maximum of five should be proposed in English and Spanish. The "descriptors in health sciences" of the Thesaurus Virtual Health Library (https://decs.bvsalud.org/es/) should be used, in both Spanish and English. The key words should be completely in lowercase, separated by a semicolon (;) and a space.

- Introduction: Brief statement of the current state of the problem, background, justification and objectives of the study. The objective of the study should be presented at the end of the introduction.

- Materials and methods. Describe the methodology used, so as to allow the reproduction of the study and the evaluation of the quality of the information. The type and design of the research, the characteristics of the population and the way the sample was selected should be described. In some cases, it is convenient to describe the study area. Detail the procedures carried out. If they have been previously described, cite the corresponding reference. Specify how the variables of interest were measured or defined. Mention the statistical procedures used. When medicinal plants are used, the collection and botanical identification procedures should be described. Identify the drugs and chemical compounds used, with their generic name, doses and routes of administration. It can have subtitles to facilitate its presentation.

It is recommended to review international consensus for specific types of articles such as guidelines:

STROBE for observational studies; (http://scielo.isciii.es/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0213-91112009000200015)

CONSORT for clinical trials; (https://n9.cl/gggdr) (https://n9.cl/mljph)

STARD for diagnostic test studies; (https://n9.cl/jyo7)

PRISMA for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (registration of the protocol in PROSPERO is recommended); (http://scielo.isciii.es/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S2174-51452016000200010)

(https://n9.cl/wfz0f)

CARE for case reports; (https://scielo.conicyt.cl/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0718-40262016000500015)

COREQ for qualitative studies; (https://academic.oup.com/intqhc/article/19/6/349/1791966)

CHEERS for economic evaluations; (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2212109913001313?via%3Dihub)

SAGERS for reporting sex and gender in the study; (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0213911118300748)

ARRIVE for experimental animal studies. (https://redlacc.files.wordpress.com/2015/08/arrive-spanish.pdf)

Description of each scheme on the EQUATOR website:

Schemes in Spanish for specific types of specific article types: https://www.paho.org/hq/dmdocuments/2013/Uso-de-guias-en-sus-revistas.pdf

Code of ethics. The ethical considerations involved in the conduct of the study should be detailed. If the study involved human beings or experimental animals, it should be mentioned that the internationally required ethical standards were met. For human studies, the institutional ethics committee that approved the protocol should be identified. If required, the Editorial Committee may request proof of approval of the Ethics Committee and of the informed consent of the study to be published. The Editorial Committee will require the approval of the study by an institutional ethics committee.

  • Results. Here the author presents the results clearly, without including opinions or subjective interpretations. They can be complemented with tables or figures, which should not repeat the information shown in the text. They can include subtitles to facilitate their presentation.
  • Discussion: it is recommended to consider the following aspects: main evidence of the study, contrast of the evidence with other studies, strengths and limitations (including possible sources of bias), public health implications, ending with conclusions and recommendations.
  • Acknowledgements: When appropriate, specific mention should be made to whom and for what reason acknowledgements are made. Persons included in this section should authorize their mention.
  • References: It should have the references that were previously cited in the article (up to 30 references).

2.- Brief original

These are research articles that due to their objectives, design and results can be published in an abbreviated form. It has the following structure: title, abstract, keywords, introduction, the study (including methodology), findings (to show the results), discussion and bibliographical references. The maximum length is 150 words for the abstract, 1500 words for the content, six figures and/or tables, and up to 20 references. The pertinence of the publication according to the period of execution of the study and generation of the data will be evaluated by the editorial committee.

 3.- Review

Review articles should be written by experts in the field. They should include an exhaustive, objective and systematized exploration of current information on a given topic of interest in public health or experimental medicine. It should be structured considering the following sections: title, abstract, keywords, introduction, search strategy, body of the article, conclusions and references. The maximum length is 150 words in the abstract, 4000 words in the content, six figures and/or tables, and up to 70 bibliographic references.

4.- Epidemiological statistics

Analysis and discussions at epidemiological level, based on scientific research. It has the following structure: abstract, key words, introduction, analysis, discussion (where the contribution or teaching of the article is highlighted) and references. The maximum length is 150 words in the abstract, 1500 words in the content, six figures and/or tables and up to 15 bibliographical references.

5.- Clinical communications

Papers accompanied by analysis and discussions based on scientific research. It has the following structure: abstract, key words, introduction, analysis, discussion (where the contribution or teaching of the article is highlighted) and references. The maximum length is 150 words in the abstract, 1500 words in the content, six figures and/or tables and up to 15 references.

6.- Reports and/or case reports

The cases presented must be of diseases or conditions of interest in public health. It has the following structure: abstract, key words, introduction, case report, discussion (where the contribution or teaching of the article is highlighted) and bibliographical references. The maximum length is 150 words in the abstract, 1500 words in the content, six figures and/or tables and up to 15 bibliographic references.

Patients are identified by correlative numbers; neither their initials nor the clinical record numbers of their hospital or institution are used, or any other information that could identify them. It is necessary that the authors request institutional permissions for the publication of the report and that they declare if they had the informed consent given by the patient or family members.

Illustrations and/or photos should be described in detail. In the reproduction of microscopic slides, the magnification and methods of distinction should be made explicit. In the figure caption, the meaning of the acronyms used should be included.

7.- Letter to the Editor

This section is open to all readers who send contributions that complement or discuss original articles or short original articles published and/or on a thematic area addressed by the same. In these cases, up to four authors and a maximum length of 1000 words; three tables and/or graphs and up to six references are allowed.

The maximum length of words for the title, keywords, content, figures, graphs and tables and the number of references, according to each article, is indicated in Table 1.

Table 1. Maximum word length for title, abstract, keywords, content, figures, graphs, tables and number of references for each article.

Section

Title (words)

Abstract (words)

Key words

Content

(words)

Figures, graphs y tables

References

consulted

Original article

15

150

Min.3/Max.5

3500

6

30

Brief original

15

150

Min.3/Max.5

1500

6

20

Review

15

150

Min.3/Max.5

4000

6

70

Clinical communications

15

150

Min.3/Max.5

1500

6

15

Reports and/or case reports

15

150

Min.3/Max.5

1500

6

15

Epidemiological statistics

15

150

Min.3/Max.5

1500

6

15

Editorial

--

--

 

1500

--

--

Letter to the Editor

--

--

 

1000

1

6

f.- References:

The VANCOUVER citation system will be used. In-text citations should be as follows:

  • Direct quotations: It is the one that is transcribed verbatim. It must be brief, less than five lines, inserted within the text between quotation marks, and the corresponding number is placed at the end, after the quotation marks and before the punctuation mark in parentheses.

Example: "The gluten-free diet should be established only after the diagnosis has been confirmed, as this may alter the serological and histological results" 2.

  • Indirect citations: It is the mention of an author's ideas in the words of the writer. It is included in the text without quotation marks, and the reference number is written after the author's last name and before citing his idea in parentheses.

Example: As Vitoria 2 states, the gluten-free diet can alter the serologic and histologic results.   In the case of a paper by more than two authors, the first author is cited followed by the abbreviation "et al" and their reference number.   If the author is not named, the number will appear at the end of the sentence in parentheses.

Example: The gluten-free diet may alter the serological and histological results, so it should be established after confirming the diagnosis 2.

From the VANCOUVER system, references should be elaborated as follows:

  • References should be numbered consecutively according to the order in which they are first mentioned in the text, without parentheses.
  • All citations should appear in the list of references and the latter should all be cited within the text with consecutive Arabic numerals in parentheses and with the order of appearance as they were cited in the text.

Example:

1.- Universidad Andrés Bello, Sistema de Bibliotecas. Guide to bibliographic references according to Vancouver Standards [Internet]. Santiago de Chile: Universidad Andrés Bello; 2012 [cited 8 Apr 2013]. Available from: https://biblioteca.unab.cl/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Estilo-Vancouver_2019.pdf.

2.- Vitoria JC, Bilbao JR. New developments in celiac disease. An Pediatr. 2013; 78(1):1-5.

  • Book: Author/s. Title. Volume. Edition. Place of publication: Publisher; year. Laín Entralgo P. History of medicine. Barcelona: Scientific and technical editions; 1998.
  • Journal Article: Authors of the article (6 authors maximum et al). Title of the article. Abbreviation of the journal. Year; Volume (number): pages. Vitoria JC, Bilbao JR. New developments in celiac disease. An Pediatr. 2013; 78(1):1-5.
  •  Internet journal article: Authors of the article (6 authors maximum et al). Title of the article. Abbreviation of the journal [Internet]. Year [date consulted]; Volume (number): pages. Available from: URL of the article Vitoria JC, Bilbao JR. New developments in celiac disease. An Pediatr [Internet]. 2013 [cited 14 Feb 2013]; 78(1):1-5. Available from: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1695403312003815.
  • Newspaper Article: Authors of the article, title of the article, name of the newspaper, date of publication [year, month, day], section and column.

Graphics, maps and photographs must be numbered with their corresponding legends and indications about their placement in the article. Photographs, graphs and maps should be submitted separately from the text in electronic format with a minimum resolution of 300 dpi or 300 pixels.

g.- Authors' contributions: The individual contribution of each author in the preparation of the article should be indicated (Authorship criteria recognized by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), see: https://n9.cl/es/s/le6t ).

h.- Conflicts of interest: Each author must declare any relationship, condition, circumstance, position that may affect the objectivity of the manuscript; as indicated in the affidavit of responsibility and originality of the article and the conflict of interest form (See: Article 29 and 30 of these guidelines).

i.- Funding: Indicate whether the research was self-financed or financed by an institution.

j.- Acknowledgements: Indicate the institutions and/or entities that participated in obtaining funds, in the collection of data or in the general supervision of the project for the development of the research.

11.- The Editorial Committee may establish exceptions in works that, due to their originality or contribution, require a longer extension; thus respecting the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA) subscribed by this journal (https://sfdora.org/read/es/).

Editorial process:

  1. Contributors will upload the article to the Journal's OJS. At the beginning of the article, the names and surnames of the contributor or contributors, their (electronic) address, institution of affiliation or community and their respective ORCID must be specified. All contributors must be registered at https://orcid.org/. Contributors must fill in everything requested in the boxes when registering and uploading the article.
  2. The article will be reviewed by the Editorial Committee, so that in a period of no more than 7 continuous days, it will issue its decision of approval or non-approval for the beginning of the arbitration process in the journal. Articles not approved by the Editorial Committee cannot be resubmitted for arbitration in any of the Koinonia Foundation Journals.
  3. All the articles will be submitted to anti-plagiarism programs as a policy of quality and ethics of the publications (https://n9.cl/q8pux).
  4. If the decision of the Editorial Committee is approved, the author will be notified by correspondence.
  5. Upon notification of the approval of the article, the author must upload it, with the corrections made by the editorial committee, to the Journal's OJS system to initiate the arbitration process.
  6. The articles will be evaluated based on 4 main criteria:

- Originality / Innovation of the research.

- Usefulness / Scientific Relevance.

- Expository clarity of the text.

- Scientific rigor from the paradigm or research approach assumed / Argumentation / Conclusions or final considerations.

  1. Articles are refereed and classified in the following categories: Approved, Approved with modifications and not Approved.
  2. Originality, pertinence, style and contributions to the field will be evaluated.
  3. For the arbitration of articles, double-blind peer review will be used, in which the reviewers do not know the identity of the authors of the articles, and the authors do not know the identity of the reviewers. The evaluators are external to the publishing house.
  4. The work of the reviewers is strictly confidential. The journal is not responsible for the performance of the reviewers, who are completely autonomous.
  5. Articles will be submitted to reviewers external to the Journal and the Editorial House. Based on the observations and recommendations made by the reviewers, the author(s) may be asked to make changes to improve the quality of the work.
  6. In the arbitration process, the evaluators and the authors will remain in mutual ignorance in order to guarantee the neatness of the process. The final decision on the evaluation process, publication or not of the articles rests exclusively with the Director and/or Editor and the Editorial Committee, and will be made on the basis of the suggestions/observations/recommendations issued by the evaluators. All articles are subjected to an editorial evaluation process, even when they have been reviewed by experts; and if necessary, the authors will receive the necessary recommendations to improve the quality of the articles to be published.
  7. The evaluators will have a period of 30 continuous days, from the reception of the article, to send to the Director and/or Editor, the evaluation report of the same. The Director - Editor will send such report to the author within a maximum period of 5 continuous days. The expected time from the reception of the article to its publication is 8 weeks.
  8. The writings published in the Revista Arbitrada Interdisciplinaria Salud y Vida of the Health Sciences Area: Gerontology, Medicine, Pediatrics, Biomedical Engineering, Electromedicine, Histocytotechnology, Microbiology, Traumatology, Nutrition, Physiotherapy, Family Medicine, Epidemiology, Anesthesiology, Pharmacology, Nursing, Bioethics, Deontology, Cardiology, Community and Methodological Innovations, will be the exclusive responsibility of the authors, both for their opinions, statements and methods.

26.- Authors must write an affidavit of responsibility and originality of the article; and send it to saludyvida@fundacionkoinonia.com.ve.

See model: https://n9.cl/es/s/l3e7i

27.- The Journal adheres to the ethical principles in force in research. When research conducted on human subjects is presented, it is necessary to mention in the article if the procedures respected ethical standards in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki (https://www.wma.net/es/que-hacemos/etica-medica/declaracion-de-helsinki/ updated to 2013) and if the research protocol was approved prior to its execution by an Institutional Ethics Committee.

a.- The following require the approval of an Institutional Ethics Committee: 1) Research conducted on human subjects; 2) Research that directly uses human biological material or human data susceptible of identification such as biobank samples or medical records.

b.- The Journal's Editorial Committee will not request the approval of an Institutional Ethics Committee in the following cases: 1) Secondary studies conducted with publicly available databases, including systematic reviews, meta-analyses and bibliometric studies; 2) Public health surveillance interventions; 3) Investigation of outbreaks or health emergencies; 4) Evaluations of public health programs.

c.- In case of doubts and/or controversies in this regard, these will be evaluated and resolved by the Editorial Committee of the Journal under the parameters of international standards and organizations in the area of Health Sciences: Declaration of Helsinki 2013, World Health Organization WHO, The Council for International Organization of Medical Science - CIOMS 2016, American College of Epidemiology Ethics Guidelines, Health Research Ethics Authority - Canada. In case the Editorial Committee considers necessary, it will request the study database and complementary information in order to corroborate the results of the study.

  1. If any breach of publication ethics is detected at the beginning, during the editorial process or after publication, the Journal will take the necessary corrective measures based on the recommendations of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) (www.publicationethics. org), Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), the Word Association Medical Editors (WAME), the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) and the Council of Science Editors, which may include rejection or retraction of the article, prohibition of publication of future articles to all authors in the Journal, notification to other journals, as well as communication to the respective authorities (institution of origin, institution that financed the study, professional associations and ethics committees).

a.- The most frequent forms of unethical principles in publication are: plagiarism, inadequate authorship and redundant publication:

  • - Plagiarism: All publication proposals will be submitted for review by a text similarity detection program (Similarity Check). Proposals containing a high percentage of similarity will not be accepted (more than 10%).
  • - Inadequate authorship: Authors are responsible for the authors' participation in the authorship and the order of appearance in the article; the journal has no interference in these aspects. Authors should not make changes in the number and order of authors once the editorial process has begun.
  • - Redundant publication (duplicate publication and fragmented publication): The Journal does not accept duplicate publication, in case of incurring in this fault and demonstrating its occurrence, authors are subject to the guidelines established by COPE.

b.- The Journal considers as authors those who meet the criteria for authorship recognized by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), see: http://www.icmje.org/recommendations/browse/roles-and-responsibilities/defining-the-role-of-authors-and-contributors.html.

  • Significant contributions to the conception or design of the manuscript, or to the collection, analysis, or interpretation of data.
  • Significant writing or critical revision of the content of the manuscript
  • Final approval of the version to be published
  • Assumption of responsibility for all aspects of the manuscript to ensure that issues relating to the accuracy or completeness of any part of the manuscript will be adequately investigated and resolved.

c.- For an authorship to be recognized, it must satisfy the four conditions mentioned above and be reflected in the section of the article "Authors' contributions", indicated in article 10; literal g of the editorial standards. On the other hand, the ICMJE states that only participation in fundraising, data collection or general supervision of the research group does not justify authorship and should be listed in the "Acknowledgements" section.

29.- Conflicts of interest arising from the verdict of an article will be resolved by the Editorial Ethics Committee of the journal, which is based on the provisions of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) https://publicationethics.org/. As well as that established by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICJME). These recommendations are available at: http://www.icmje.org/recommendations/

30.- The statement is downloaded at: http://icmje.org/disclosure-of-interest/ and should be sent to saludyvida@fundacionkoinonia.com.ve in pdf format and with the author's signature, AND following the criteria indicated in the Conflict of Interest Policy. See: https://fundacionkoinonia.com.ve/ojs/index.php/saludyvida/conflictodeinteres Each author must submit a separate document and is responsible for the accuracy and completeness of the information submitted.

31.- The controversies that could be generated on the published knowledge will be the responsibility of the author or authors of the article, who may be contacted via e-mail, and may be issued judgment or discussion on the topic addressed, as long as this is done in an academic and scientific climate, thus developing a process of feedback that builds science and knowledge.

32.- The Journal does not charge for the submission and processing of articles. It does not charge APC.

33.- Any matter not contemplated in these editorial guidelines will be submitted by the Editorial Committee of the Journal.

 

Original articles

Articles must be original and unpublished. For their arbitration, the Interdisciplinary Refereed Journal of Health Sciences. Health and Life, will use double-blind peer evaluation; where the evaluators do not know the identity of the authors of the articles, and the authors do not know the identity of the evaluators. The Evaluators are external to the Magazine and the Foundation.

 

 

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