Submissions

Author Guidelines

Authors are invited to make a submission to this journal. All submissions will be assessed by an editor to determine whether they meet the aims and scope of this journal. Those considered to be a good fit will be sent for peer review before determining whether they will be accepted or rejected.

Before making a submission, authors are responsible for obtaining permission to publish any material included with the submission, such as photos, documents and datasets. All authors identified on the submission must consent to be identified as an author. Where appropriate, research should be approved by an appropriate ethics committee in accordance with the legal requirements of the study's country.

An editor may desk reject a submission if it does not meet minimum standards of quality. Before submitting, please ensure that the study design and research argument are structured and articulated properly. The title should be concise and the abstract should be able to stand on its own. This will increase the likelihood of reviewers agreeing to review the paper. When you're satisfied that your submission meets this standard, please follow the checklist below to prepare your submission.

1. About the Journal

The Journal of Health Dialogue: Perspectives on Communication, Policy & Society is a double‑blind peer‑reviewed, interdisciplinary journal that examines health as a social and communicative construct. We publish work that critically explores how health information, public policy, and social equity intersect across diverse local and global contexts.

The journal is fully open access and publishes under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license. Authors retain copyright and grant the journal the right of first publication.

 2. Scope of Submissions

We welcome original scholarly work that engages, but is not limited to, the following areas:

•   Crisis and risk communication in health contexts

•   Health policy, governance, and ethics

•   Digital health narratives, AI, and datafication of health

•   Sociological determinants of health, inequality, and marginalization

•   Global health diplomacy, advocacy, and transnational health governance

•   Health communication and media in relation to climate, environment, and ecological crises

•   Patient advocacy, grassroots movements, and community‑based health communication

•   Stigma, identity, and representation in health and healthcare settings

The journal accepts empirical research articles, theoretical and conceptual papers, critical essays, systematic or scoping reviews, and reflective pieces that clearly contribute to the journal’s thematic focus.

3. Ethics and Research Integrity

Authors are expected to adhere to international standards for responsible research publication:

•   Research must be conducted in an ethical and responsible manner and comply with all relevant legislation and institutional regulations.

•   For studies involving human participants or animals, prior approval from an appropriate ethics committee or regulatory authority (e.g., IRB, REC) is mandatory and should be stated in the manuscript, including approval/reference numbers where applicable.

•   Informed consent procedures must be clearly described where individual participants or identifiable data are involved.

•   Authors must present results honestly, without fabrication, falsification, or inappropriate data manipulation (including manipulation of images).

•   Negative, null, or inconvenient findings must not be omitted solely because they do not support the authors’ or sponsors’ expectations.

The journal may request supporting documentation (ethics approval, consent forms, trial registration, protocols) at any stage of review.

4. Originality, Prior Publication, and Plagiarism

By submitting to this journal, authors confirm that:

•   The manuscript is original, has not been published previously in any language, and is not under consideration by another journal or publisher.

•   Any overlapping or closely related publications (including preprints, working papers, or multiple analyses from the same dataset) are fully disclosed at the time of submission, with copies provided where necessary.

•   Text, data, figures, and ideas taken from other sources are properly credited; verbatim content is placed in quotation marks and appropriately cited.

•   Any reuse of tables, figures, or substantial text from previously published work is carried out in accordance with copyright laws, with permissions obtained where necessary and clearly acknowledged in the manuscript.

The journal uses editorial checks and may use plagiarism‑screening tools to ensure originality.

5. Authorship and Acknowledgements

Authorship should reflect substantial scholarly contribution. Each listed author is expected to have:

•   Contributed significantly to the conception and design of the study, data acquisition, analysis, or interpretation;

•   Participated in drafting the manuscript or revising it critically for important intellectual content;

•   Approved the final version and agreed to be accountable for the work.

Unacceptable practices include:

•   Guest authorship: listing individuals who do not meet authorship criteria, solely due to status or influence.

•   Gift authorship: listing individuals as a favour or in exchange for payment or services when they do not meet authorship criteria.

•   Ghost authorship: omitting individuals who do meet authorship criteria.

Any individuals who contributed to the work but do not meet authorship criteria (e.g., technical support, data collection, language editing) should be acknowledged by name (with their permission) and role in an Acknowledgements section.

All authors must consent to the authorship list and order at submission. Changes in authorship after submission require written agreement from all authors, including those who are removed.

 6. Funding, Conflicts of Interest, and Transparency

Authors must provide a clear statement of:

•   All sources of financial and non‑financial support (e.g., grants, institutional support, provision of data, equipment, or software).

•   The role of funders or sponsors, if any, in study design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, writing, and the decision to submit for publication.

•   All potential conflicts of interest—financial, institutional, personal, or ideological—that could reasonably be perceived as influencing the work.

If there are no conflicts of interest, authors should explicitly state: “The authors declare no conflicts of interest.”

7. Manuscript Types and Structure

7.1 Research Articles (3,000–8,000 words, including references)

•   Title page: title, author names and affiliations, ORCID IDs (optional), corresponding author details.

•   Abstract: 200–250 words, structured (Background, Methods, Results, Conclusions).

•   Keywords: 4–6 keywords.

•   Main text (suggested headings):

•                     Introduction

•                     Theoretical Framework / Literature Review

•                     Methods

•                     Results / Findings

•                     Discussion

•                     Conclusion and Implications

•   References (consistent style; see Section 8).

•   Acknowledgements, Funding, and Conflict of Interest statements.

7.2 Review Articles (3,000–5,000 words)

Systematic, scoping, or critical narrative reviews that clearly describe search and selection methods and critically synthesize existing literature.

7.3 Conceptual / Theoretical Papers (4,000–6,000 words)

Work that advances conceptual frameworks or theoretical debates at the intersection of health, communication, policy, and society.

7.4 Short Communications / Commentaries (2,000–3,000 words)

Brief reports of timely findings, methodological notes, policy commentaries, or critical reflections.

7.5 Other Formats

Special issues, interviews, or creative formats related to the journal’s scope may be considered in consultation with the Editor‑in‑Chief.

(Word counts are indicative; exceptions can be discussed with the editorial office.)

8. Referencing and Citation Style

The journal follows a standard scholarly reference style (e.g., APA, 7th edition) for in‑text citations and reference lists (or specify another style if you prefer). Authors must:

•   Use a consistent citation style throughout the manuscript.

•   Ensure that every in‑text citation appears in the reference list and vice versa.

•   Prefer primary literature where possible and avoid citing sources they have not read.

Examples:

•   In‑text: (Author, Year)

•   Reference list: Author, A. A. (Year). Title of article. Title of Journal, volume(issue), pages. DOI

9. Language, Style, and Clarity

•   Manuscripts must be submitted in clear, grammatically correct English. Authors whose first language is not English are encouraged to seek language editing support before submission.

•   Authors should strive for conceptual clarity, avoiding unnecessary jargon and clearly explaining technical terms.

•   Methods and results must be reported with sufficient detail and transparency to allow verification and replication.

10. Data, Materials, and Reproducibility

•   Authors are encouraged to make underlying data, analytic code, and relevant materials available in recognized repositories, subject to ethical and legal constraints.

•   Any restrictions on data accessibility (e.g., confidentiality, legal limitations) must be clearly stated in the manuscript.

•   Authors may be asked to provide additional materials (e.g., questionnaires, protocols, analysis plans) during review.

 11. Open Access, Copyright, and Licensing

This journal operates under the following principles:

•   Open Access: All articles are freely available online immediately upon publication, with no subscription or paywall barriers.

•   License: All content is published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license. Readers may share and adapt the material for any purpose, provided appropriate credit is given to the original authors and source, a link to the license is provided, and any changes are indicated.

•   Copyright: Authors retain copyright and grant the journal the right of first publication.

Authors are encouraged to deposit preprints or postprints in institutional or disciplinary repositories and on personal websites, in line with CC BY 4.0, with a citation to the version of record once available.

 12. Archiving and Preservation

To ensure long‑term preservation of published content, the journal participates in LOCKSS and CLOCKSS systems. This guarantees that the scholarly record remains accessible even if the journal ceases publication.

13. Privacy and Data Protection

The journal collects authors’ and reviewers’ names, affiliations, and contact details solely for editorial and publication purposes. These data are not shared with third parties unrelated to the journal’s operations. We are committed to compliance with GDPR and other relevant data protection regulations.

14. Submission and Peer Review Process

•   Manuscripts must be submitted through the journal’s online submission system.

•   The journal employs a double‑blind peer review process. Authors should prepare manuscripts so that their identity is not revealed in the main text or file metadata.

•   Authors should respond to reviewer comments in a professional and timely manner, providing a point‑by‑point response to suggestions and clearly indicating revisions made.

•   The editorial team reserves the right to reject submissions that do not fit the journal’s scope, fail to meet ethical standards, or do not reach the required scholarly quality.