Author Guidelines

Requirements for manuscript submission to the Journal of Culturally Responsive Health Practice.

1.Submission Portal

All manuscripts must be submitted through the journal's online submission system. Submissions sent directly by email will not be considered. Authors must create an account in the submission system before submitting.

The submission system opens with the first issue in 2027. Until then, expressions of interest and pre-submission enquiries may be sent to editor.jcrhp@gmail.com.

2.Article Types

The journal welcomes the following types of submission:

Original research articles
Empirical studies using qualitative, quantitative, or mixed methods. Maximum 8,000 words excluding references, tables, and figures.
Review articles
Systematic reviews, scoping reviews, or narrative reviews. Maximum 9,000 words excluding references.
Theoretical and conceptual papers
Original frameworks, models, or conceptual contributions. Maximum 7,000 words excluding references.
Practice-based papers
Evidence-based accounts of innovative clinical or educational practice with evaluative evidence. Maximum 6,000 words excluding references.
Short communications
Brief reports of preliminary findings, methodological innovations, or policy commentary. Maximum 3,000 words excluding references.
Letters to the Editor
Responses to recently published articles. Maximum 800 words.

3.Manuscript Preparation

3.1File Format

Manuscripts must be submitted as Microsoft Word documents (.docx). PDF submissions will not be accepted. Figures and tables should be embedded in the manuscript document and also provided as separate high-resolution files where applicable.

3.2Anonymisation

Because the journal operates double-blind peer review, the main manuscript file must not contain any information that could identify the authors. This includes author names, institutional affiliations, acknowledgements, and self-citations phrased in identifying ways (e.g. “In our previous study [Reference 5]…”). A separate title page containing all author details should be submitted as a distinct file.

3.3Language and Style

The journal publishes in English. Authors whose first language is not English are encouraged to have their manuscript reviewed by a fluent English speaker before submission. The journal uses British English conventions throughout. Manuscripts should be written in clear, accessible prose. The use of unnecessary jargon is discouraged; technical terminology should be defined on first use.

3.4Length and Formatting

Word counts are inclusive of the main text, headings, and in-text citations, but exclusive of the abstract, references, tables, and figure legends. Manuscripts should be submitted in 12-point Arial or Times New Roman font, double-spaced, with 2.5 cm margins. Pages should be numbered. Sections should be clearly headed.

3.5Abstract

All articles except letters to the editor require a structured abstract of 250 words maximum. The abstract should use the following headings: Background, Aim or Objective, Methods (for empirical papers), Findings or Results, Conclusion, and Keywords. Authors should provide five to eight keywords that do not duplicate words already in the title.

4.Referencing

The journal uses APA 7th edition referencing throughout. In-text citations should follow the author-date format. Reference lists should be provided at the end of the manuscript in alphabetical order. Authors are responsible for the accuracy of all citations. The journal uses APA conventions for citing legislation, policy documents, and grey literature. Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs) should be provided for all references where available, formatted as active hyperlinks.

5.Ethical Requirements

5.1Research Involving Human Participants

All research involving human participants must have received ethical approval from an appropriate research ethics committee or institutional review board before data collection began. The name of the approving body and the reference number of the ethical approval must be stated in the Methods section of the manuscript. Where ethical approval was not required (e.g. for certain types of secondary data analysis or quality improvement work), this must be explained and justified.

5.2Informed Consent

Authors must confirm that informed consent was obtained from all participants in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki and applicable national legislation. Where participant data are reported, including composite case material, details must be sufficiently anonymised to prevent identification.

5.3Data Availability

Authors are encouraged to make their research data available through an appropriate repository and to include a data availability statement in their manuscript. Where data cannot be shared for ethical or legal reasons, this should be stated clearly.

6.Author Contributions and Conflicts of Interest

All authors must have made a genuine intellectual contribution to the submitted work in accordance with ICMJE authorship criteria. The manuscript must include a brief author contributions statement indicating each author's specific contribution. All authors must declare any financial or non-financial conflicts of interest that could be perceived as influencing the research or its interpretation. Where no conflicts exist, this must be stated explicitly.

7.Open Access and Licensing

The Journal of Culturally Responsive Health Practice is a fully open-access journal. All accepted articles are published under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence. This means readers may freely access, download, share, and adapt published material for any purpose, provided they credit the original authors and source. There is currently no article processing charge (APC) for submissions to this journal.

8.Plagiarism and Research Integrity

All submitted manuscripts are screened for plagiarism using iThenticate or a comparable tool prior to peer review. Submissions with similarity scores indicating unacceptable levels of unattributed copying will be rejected without review. Self-plagiarism, duplicate submission, and data fabrication or falsification are treated as serious research misconduct. The journal follows COPE guidelines in responding to all suspected cases of research misconduct.

9.Revised Manuscripts

Authors invited to revise and resubmit their manuscript must provide a detailed point-by-point response to all reviewer comments, clearly indicating where changes have been made and providing a reasoned justification for any reviewer suggestion not acted upon. Revised manuscripts should be submitted within sixty days of the decision letter. Requests for extensions may be made to the editor-in-chief.

10.Proofs and Publication

Accepted manuscripts are copy-edited and typeset before publication. Authors will receive page proofs for checking prior to final publication. Proofs should be returned within five working days. Authors are responsible for checking the accuracy of their content at proof stage; substantive changes to content at proof stage are not permitted.

11.Contact

Editorial enquiries, and technical queries about the submission system, should be directed to the editor-in-chief.

Editorial enquiries: editor.jcrhp@gmail.com
Submission-system queries: editor.jcrhp@gmail.comA dedicated technical address opens with the submission portal.

Before you submit

Questions about scope or fit?

Pre-submission enquiries are welcome. Describe the paper you have in mind and the editor-in-chief will tell you whether it belongs here.

Get in touch Back to the journal