Information for Authors

Information for Authors

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The Journal of Global Drug Policy and Practice is an international journal with the goal of bridging the information gap on drug policy issues between the medical-scientific community, policymakers, and the lay public.

Our intended readership includes clinicians, clinical researchers, policymakers, prevention specialists, and other persons involved in providing drug policy recommendations.

At least 1 Editor and 1 member of the editorial board read each manuscript. Together, they decide whether to send the paper to outside reviewers. If your paper is rejected without external review, you will be notified electronically within 2 to 3 weeks of receipt. If we have questions about the suitability of submitted papers, we may send them to outside reviewers for peer review. Authors may list individuals that they do not want to be a reviewer, but they must justify their requested exception in the cover letter.

Conflict of Interest for Authors and Their Institutions
The potential for conflict of interest exists when an author (or the author’s institution or employer) has personal or financial relationships that could influence (bias) his or her actions. These relationships vary from those with negligible potential to influence judgment to those with great potential to influence judgment. Not all relationships represent true conflict of interest. Conflict of interest can exist whether or not an individual believes that the relationship affects his or her scientific judgment.
Financial relationships (such as employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, paid expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending, and royalties) are the most easily identifiable conflicts of interest and the most likely to undermine the credibility of the journal, the authors, and science itself. Authors must disclose all financial relationships (both personal and institutional) that could be viewed as presenting a potential conflict of interest. If authors are uncertain, they should err on the side of full disclosure.
To prevent ambiguity, authors must state explicitly whether potential conflicts do or do not exist. At submission, the corresponding author must summarize all authors’ conflict of interest disclosures.

Manuscript Format and Style
Submit articles in Microsoft Word format only, using one font throughout the paper. Files that are pdfs or in Wordperfect format are not acceptable. Tables, charts or illustrations be in gif, pdf or jpg formats.

Arrange components in the following order: title page, abstract, keywords, text, references, tables in numerical sequence, figure legends, appendices (if any), brief author biography (example below) and conflict of interest statement (example below). Number all pages consecutively, starting with the title page. Double space the text of the manuscript. Use no more than 3 levels of headings in the text. Keep headings short (3 or 4 words) and position them flush with the left margin. Clearly indicate the levels of headings by using the following typographic conventions. First-level headings: Capitalize initial letters, use boldface. Second-level headings: Capitalize initial letters, use regular type. Third-level headings: Capitalize initial letters, use italics.
Do not use abbreviations unless absolutely necessary; abbreviation of long names or generally accepted and widely understood abbreviations are acceptable. Use abbreviations in figures and tables to save space. Explain all abbreviations used in the figure legend or table footnote.

Acceptable word counts for Journal articles should be no more than 8,000 as determined by the Word Count function found in the Tools section of MS Word. Do not include the abstract or the references in word counts. Please keep the reader in mind when judging length; our articles display on one page, and current attention spans affect the readability and ultimate persuasiveness of the writer’s conclusions. Contact the managing editor directly with your submission at – info@globaldrugpolicy.org – or if you have any questions.

Title Page
Give the main title and subtitle (if any). Use titles that stimulate interest, are easy to read and concise, and contain enough information to convey the essence of the article. List authors in the order in which they are to appear in the byline of the published article. In the case of group authorship, identify one or more authors who will have responsibility for the publication. Give the institutional affiliation for each author, financial support information, any trial registry information (name and address of registry and trial identification number), a short or “running” title, contact information for the corresponding author, contact information for author to receive reprint requests, and the word count for the text of the manuscript.

References

  • Number references, using Arabic numerals in parentheses, in the order in which they first appear in the text.
  • Use the reference style of the National Library of Medicine, including the abbreviations of journal titles.
  • List all authors when there are 6 or fewer; when there are 7 or more authors, list only the first 6 and add “et al.”
  • Do not use ibid. or op cit.
  • Include an “available from” note for documents that may not be readily accessible.
  • Cite symposium papers only from published proceedings.
  • When citing an article or book accepted for publication but not yet published, include the title of the journal (or name of the publisher) and the year of expected publication.
  • Include references to unpublished material in the text, not in the references (for example, papers presented orally at a meeting; unpublished work [personal communications, papers in preparation]), and submit a letter of permission from the cited persons to cite such communications (in general, avoid citations to unpublished scientific results).
  • Ensure that URLs used as references are active and available (the references should include the date on which the author accessed the URL, as is indicated in NLM guidelines).

Tables
Double space all tables. Number tables with Arabic numerals in the order in which they appear in the text. Titles should concisely describe the content of the table so that a reader can understand the table without referring to the text. Tables may contain abbreviations that we do not permit in the text, but the table should contain a footnote that explains the abbreviation. Give the units of measure for all numerical data in a column or row. Place units of measure under a column heading or at the end of a side heading only if those units apply to all numerical data in the column or row.

Figures
Begin each figure legend with a short title. Reduce the length of legends by using phrases rather than sentences. In the legend, explain all abbreviations and symbols used in the figure, even if an explanation appears in the text.

Acknowledgments
Letters of permission from the copyright holder must accompany submission of borrowed material.
Acknowledgments to persons who have contributed to the scientific content or provided technical support are acceptable but should be kept to a reasonable length.

Examples:

Biography:
Ken Winters, Ph.D. is the director of the Center for Adolescent Substance Abuse Research, a Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Minnesota, and a Senior Scientist with the Treatment Research Institute, Philadelphia, PA. He received his B.A. from the University of Minnesota and a Ph.D. in Psychology (Clinical) from the State University of New York at Stony Brook. His primary research interests are the assessment and treatment of addictions, including adolescent drug abuse and problem gambling. He is on the editorial board of the Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment and the Journal of Child and Adolescent Substance Abuse and has received numerous research grants from the National Institutes of Health and various foundations. He was the 2008 recipient of the Research to Evidence-Based Practice Award from the national organization on effective treatment for adolescents (JMATE). Dr. Winters is a frequent speaker and trainer, and he is a consultant to many organizations, including the Hazelden Foundation, National Institute on Drug Abuse, Center for Substance Abuse Treatment, the Partnership for a Drug Free America, and the Mentor Foundation (an international drug abuse prevention organization).

Conflict of Interest Statement:
I declare that I have no proprietary, financial, professional or other personal interest of any nature or kind in any product, service and/or company that could be construed as influencing the position presented in, or the review of, the manuscript entitled [insert title here] except for the following:

Author
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