Italian Journal of Public Health

Only articles in English are considered for publication. British spelling conventions (Oxford Dictionary) are used. Examples: standardise (not standardize), colour (not color), paediatrics (not pediatrics), foetal (not fetal), etc.

Only typed copy, on standard-sized typewriter paper, double-spaced and paginated throughout including references and tables, with margins of at least 2.5 cm, is acceptable. The text should be left justified and not hyphenated. Number pages consecutively, beginning with the title page. Begin each of the following sections on separate pages in the following order: title page, abstract and keywords, text, acknowledgements, references, tables (each table on a separate page, complete with title and footnotes), figure legends and figures.

Title page (begin on a separate page)
The title page should carry a) the title of the article, which should be concise but informative; b) first name, middle initial, and last name of each author, with highest academic degree(s) and institutional affiliation; c) name of department(s) and institution(s) to which the work should be attributed if not already stated under b); d) disclaimers, if any; e) name, address, telephone and fax numbers of author responsible for correspondence about the manuscript; f) source(s) of support in the form of grants, equipment, drugs, etc.; g) a word count of the whole manuscript; h) a short running head of no more than 40 characters (count letters and spaces).

Abstract and keywords (one separate page)
Provide on a separate page a structured abstract of not more than 250 words under the following headings: Background, Methods, Results, Conclusion. We are aware that not all manuscripts, e.g. qualitative papers, can be structured according to this principle.

Add three to five key words or short phrases to the bottom of the abstract page, which will assist us in indexing the article and which may be published with the abstract. Use terms from the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) list of Index Medicus when possible.

Text (begin on separate page)
The text should usually be divided into the following sections: Introduction, Methods, Results and Discussion. More information on the structure of these sections can be found in the Uniform Requirements for manuscripts (available upon request).

Tables and illustrations
Figures have to be black and white and professionally designed. Three-dimensional figures are not allowed. Photocopied figures are not acceptable, however, laser prints are usually of acceptable quality. Symbols, lettering, and numbering should be clear and large enough to remain legible after the figure has been reduced to fit the width of a single column, i.e. 7 cm. Legends for illustrations should be typewritten (double-spaced) on a separate sheet and should not appear on the illustrations.

Abbreviations and footnotes
Do not use abbreviations in the title or the abstract. Except for units of measurement, abbreviations are discouraged. Use only standard abbreviations. The first time an abbreviation appears it should be preceded by the words for which it stands.

Footnotes are permitted only in tables. Use lower case characters - a, b, c, etc. - to indicate each footnote.

Units of measurement
Authors of articles must express all measurements in terms of the International System of Units (SI units), but they may include older conventional units in parentheses if they desire.

Numbers and percentages
All numbers in the text should be written in numeric form except numbers 0-10. Use % symbol instead of writing out the words per cent.

Drug names
Generic names should be used. Authors who wish to do so may insert brand names in parentheses.

Acknowledgements (one separate page)
A maximum of five printed lines (about 300 letters and spaces) are allowed for acknowledgements. All sources of funding for research must be explicitly stated. Other financial and material support, specifying the nature of the support, should be acknowledged as well. If the work has been presented orally previously, for example at a scientific meeting, then the name, place and date of the conference should be noted. Authors are responsible for obtaining written permission from persons acknowledged by name because readers may infer their endorsement of the data and conclusions.