Hospital Pediatrics Author Guidelines

Hospital Pediatrics is an official peer-reviewed journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics. Hospital Pediatrics publishes original research articles, reviews (with a preference for systematic reviews), quality improvement reports, solicited commentaries, and perspectives pieces on topics relevant to the care of hospitalized children. Hospital Pediatrics is the first and only journal for the field of Pediatric Hospital Medicine. The journal’s mission is dedicated to the health of all children in the hospital setting.

 

Helpful Tips

For general guidance on article writing, please read: A Practical Guide to Manuscript Writing With Particular Relevance to the Field of Pediatric Hospital Medicine.

 

Acceptance Criteria

Relevance to readers is of major importance in manuscript selection. A report of original research will be judged on the importance and originality of the research, its scientific strength, its clinical relevance, the clarity with which it is presented, and the number of submissions on the same topic. The decision to publish is not based on the direction of results.

 

Double-Blind Peer Review

Hospital Pediatrics is a double-blind review journal. In order to provide a smooth and effective process, please adhere to the following submission instructions:

  1. Please upload a SEPARATE document (Word format only, please) containing all Title page information. Please include ALL required Title page requirements or your submission will be returned to you for correction.
  2. When uploading the Title Page, please choose the “Title Page” designation in the drop-down menu.
  3. Please make sure none of your other files have any identifying information on them, including the name of your institution. If you wish to include acknowledgments, include an Acknowledgments section on the title page (see Title Page).
  4. We recommend removing references to the specific institution at which the study was performed and replacing it with generic descriptors. For instance, instead of saying “World’s Best Children’s Hospital,” please describe the setting as appropriate (i.e., our 400 bed freestanding children’s hospital in the Southeastern US).

 

Journal Style

All aspects of the manuscript (tables, illustrations, and references) should be prepared according to the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) requirements.

Grammar, Punctuation, and Usage. Grammar, punctuation, and scientific writing style should follow the most current edition of the AMA Manual of Style.1

Author Listing. All authors' names should be listed in their entirety. All authors must clearly present institutional/professional affiliations and degrees held.

Units of Measure. Authors should use Système International (SI)2,3 values.

Proprietary Products. Authors should use nonproprietary names of drugs or devices. The journal will not print trade names or manufacturer names, without very clear justification and full board review of the issue.

References. Authors are responsible for the accuracy of references. Citations should be numbered in the order in which they appear in the text. Review articles should be appropriately cited. Reference style should follow that of the AMA Manual of Style, current edition. Abbreviated journal names should reflect the style of Index Medicus. Visit: https://www.nlm.nih.gov/archive/20130415/tsd/serials/lji.html.

 

Manuscript Preparation
Documents should be single-spaced from the title page to the introduction, double-spaced from the introduction through the body of the text to the references, and single-spaced again for the references. Times New Roman, 12 point font should be used throughout.

 

Cover Letter

The cover letter serves to assure the editors that the article and the authors meet the conditions of publication.  This can include a brief paragraph that provides any additional information that may be useful to the editors. Reviewers will not see the cover letter; cover letters are not a Title Page.

All authors are required to affirm the following in their cover letter before their manuscript is considered:

  • That the manuscript is being submitted only to Hospital Pediatrics, that it will not be submitted elsewhere while under consideration, that it has not been published elsewhere, and, should it be published in Hospital Pediatrics, that it will not be published elsewhere—either in similar form or verbatim—without permission of the editors. These restrictions do not apply to abstracts or to press reports of presentations at scientific meetings.
  • That all authors are responsible for reported research.
  • That all authors have participated in the concept and design, analysis and interpretation of data, and drafting or revising of the manuscript, and that they have approved the manuscript as submitted.

If a manuscript uses the same or similar data contained in previously published articles, the authors must state this in the cover letter (and provide citations to the related or possibly duplicative materials).

 

Title Page

Title pages must be uploaded as a separate document and must include the following:

  1. Title
  2. Full names for all authors, including degrees, and institutional/professional affiliations.
  3. Contact information for the Corresponding Author (including: name, address, telephone, and e-mail).
  4. Funding source. Research or project support, including internal funding, should be listed here; if the project was done with no specific support, please note that here. Technical and other assistance should be identified in Acknowledgments.
  5. Financial disclosure statement for all authors. Disclose any financial relationships that could be broadly relevant to the work. If none, say so.
  6. Conflict of interest statement for all authors. If none, say so.
  7. Contributor statements. All persons designated as authors should qualify for authorship, and all those who qualify should be listed. Each author should have participated sufficiently in the work to take public responsibility for appropriate portions of the content. This section should list the authors in order, and for each, specify the contribution(s) made by that individual. Follow the required format shown in the sample PDF.
  8. Data sharing statement. Include if reporitng results of a clinical trial.
  9. Acknowledgments. All statements of acknowledgment with identifiable names or institutions should be placed under the Contributor Statement.

 

If a title page does not include all of the above items, the submission may be returned to the authors for completion.

Download and view a sample Title Page (PDF) here.

 

Research Articles (submitted as article type “Original Article”)

Abstract length: 250 words or fewer

Article length: 3,000 words or fewer

Figures/tables: 5 or fewer

NOTE: Abstracts and References are not included in the word count.
 

Regular articles are original research contributions relevant to the clinical practice of inpatient pediatrics. Regular articles include but are not limited to clinical trials, interventional studies, cohort studies, case-control studies, epidemiologic assessments, and surveys. Components of a regular article should follow the IMRaD (Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion) format.

ABSTRACTS: A structured abstract is required and should include headings such as Objective, Patients and Methods, Results, and Conclusions. The objective should clearly state the hypothesis; patients and methods, the inclusion criteria and study design; results, the outcome of the study; and conclusions, the outcome in relation to the hypothesis.
 

Quality Improvement Reports (submitted as article type “Original Article”)

Abstract length: 250 words or fewer

Article length: 3,000 words or fewer

Figures/tables: 5 or fewer

Quality reports pertaining to inpatient care will be considered. Authors are expected to generally follow the Standard for Quality Improvement Reporting Excellence (SQUIRE) Guidelines for reporting their quality improvement projects. These guidelines are described in detail on the SQUIRE website at www.squire-statement.org. Authors should note that the basic structure of a quality report will mirror the rest of the journal, using the IMRaD (Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion) format. A structured abstract is also required. The following is a brief description of the sections of a quality report:

Introduction: Why did you start? Summarizes background, local problem/setting, and specific aim(s) of project.

Methods: What did you do? Describes contextual issues, the intervention itself, implementation and evaluation/measurement plan.

Results: What did you find? Describes the actual course of the intervention, changes in process and outcomes, degree of success, problems and failures and lessons learned.

Discussion: What do the findings mean? Summarizes findings and interpretation of findings, conclusions and next steps.

 

Review Articles

Abstract length: 250 words or fewer

Article length for systematic review: 4,000 words or fewer

Article length for narrative review: 3,000 word or fewer

Hospital Pediatrics now accepts narrative reviews. Narrative reviews should summarize the existing literature on a topic of relevance to clinical practice in the hospital. To ensure the topic of a review is of interest to the journal and that a similar narrative review is not currently under review, please make a pre-submission inquiry to the Editor. Narrative reviews should include a broad review of the existing literature, a summary of the important findings, a description of gaps/unanswered questions, and conclusions.

The abstract of a narrative review is unstructured (no headings, run in a single paragraph).

Systematic reviews remain the preferred review article format. A systematic review is a review of a clearly formulated question that uses explicit methods to identify, select, and critically appraise relevant research, and to collect and analyze data from the studies that are included in the review. Statistical methods may or may not be used to analyze and summarize the results of the included studies (ie, meta-analysis).  Authors are encouraged to generally follow the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) statement. Checklist and other details are available at www.prisma-statement.org. Structured abstracts for systematic reviews are required and headings should include: Context, Objective, Data Sources, Study Selection, Data Extraction, Results, and Conclusions.

 

Brief Reports

Abstract length: 250 words or fewer

Article length: 1,500 words

Figures/tables: 3 or fewer

This section is intended to provide a venue for the systematic presentation of preliminary findings of a research or quality improvement study or non-traditional topics in a medical journal. Potential topics include the scholarly examination of issues in practice management, ethics, interpersonal communication, negotiation, etc. Brief reports should follow the same structure as other original research or quality reports whenever possible, but may be tailored depending on the topic being addressed.

 

Special Articles

Abstract length: 250 words or fewer (unstructured: no headings, run in a single paragraph) 

Article length: 4,000 words or fewer

Figures/tables: 5 or fewer

Special Articles reflect topics or issues of relevance to pediatric hospitalists that do not conform to a traditional study format. Special Articles may address broad social and ethical issues, scientific methodology, or other scholarly topics, and may include reports from consensus committees and working groups. Special Articles may be submitted without an abstract (enter “N/A”) in the abstract section of the online submission page), but the Medline entry will not have an abstract in that case.

The general instructions regarding submission (including cover letter, title page requirements, contributors’ statement page, journal style guidance, and conflict of interest statements) apply to Special Articles.

 

Solicited Commentary

No abstract

Article length: 1,500 words or fewer

These contributions usually pertain to and are published concurrently with a specific article; the commentary serves to launch a broader discussion of a topic. Commentaries may address general issues or controversies in the field of pediatrics.

Commentaries are solicited by the editors. Unsolicited opinion pieces are published as Perspectives. Responses to published articles should be submitted as online Comments.

 

Perspectives

No abstract

Article length: 1,500 words or fewer

Perspectives are unsolicited and may address any issue of interest to pediatric hospitalists.

The general instructions regarding submission (including cover letter, title page requirements, contributors' statement page, journal style guidance, and conflict of interest statements) also apply to Perspectives.

 

Bending the Value Curve

No abstract

Article length: 1,000–1,500 words

This section focuses on the professional duty of stewardship in the care physicians provide to patients and families. The authors discuss whether high- or low-value care was provided to the patient, by considering both the quality and costs of care at different points in the patient’s illness. These may be illustrative examples of how stewardship could have been improved, how clinical care could have been improved with greater attention to value, or how clinical decisions or costs affected patients and families. The evidence surrounding decisions should be explored and placed in the context of the literature, and the overall theme of the submission should be supported by the literature. They should include exploration of key literature relevant to the topic. Submissions by trainees are particularly encouraged.

See Changing the Culture Around Cultures and Not Everything That Wheezes Is Asthma, but Most Is: Remembering Occam’s Razor for content and formatting examples.

 

Errata

E-mail the editor of Hospital Pediatrics if a correction to a published manuscript should be made. If the error is an author generated error, the cost of the errata may be billed to the author.

 

Data Sharing

The International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) requires ICMJE journals to include data sharing statements in articles that report results of clinical trials.

Data sharing statements must include:

  • Whether deidentified participant data (including data dictionaries) will be shared
  • The data that will be shared
  • Whether additional documents will be made available
  • The start and end dates of data availability
  • Access criteria
  • How the data will be made available

The data sharing statement must be included on the title page of your manuscript and entered into the section provided in the manuscript management system.

If you will not be sharing your data, insert the following statement on your title page and in the manuscript submission system.

Data Sharing Statement: Deidentified individual participant data will not be made available.

If you will be sharing your data, refer to the table in the data sharing section of the ICMJE clinical trials page for examples of how to incorporate the required information into your statement, and refer to the example below.

Data Sharing Statement: Deidentified individual participant data (including data dictionaries) will be made available, in addition to study protocols, the statistical analysis plan, and the informed consent form. The data will be made available upon publication to researchers who provide a methodologically sound proposal for use in achieving the goals of the approved proposal. Proposals should be submitted to ____________[INSERT EMAIL ADDRESS OR OTHER CONTACT INFORMATION].

 

Figures, Tables, and Supplementary Material

Figure/Table Limits

We will not print more than 5 figures or tables per manuscript. More than 5 figures or tables may be submitted but must be designated as supplementary material by the author and will only appear online.

Figures

Authors should number figures in the order in which they appear in the text. Figures include graphs, charts, photographs, and illustrations. Each figure should be accompanied by a legend that does not exceed 50 words. Abbreviations previously expanded in the text are acceptable. If a figure is reproduced from another source, authors are required to obtain permission from the copyright holder, and proof of permission must be uploaded at the time of submission. Figure arrays should be clearly labeled, preassembled, and submitted to scale. Figure parts of an array (A, B, C, etc.) should be clearly marked in capital letters in the upper left-hand corner of each figure part.

 

Technical requirements for figures: The following file types are acceptable: TIFF, EPS, and PDF.

Color figures: Figures should be in black and white. Color figures should be used only where there is a definite need. If color is necessary, color files must be in CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow, black) mode. A charge will be billed for each color figure appearing in the print edition. While you will have the opportunity to decline the use of color and have your figure converted to black and white during your review of page proofs, it is best to submit figures in the form in which they should be printed (black and white or color).

Style for figures: Readers should be able to understand figures without referring to the text. Avoid pie charts, 3-dimensional graphs, and excess ink in general. Make sure that the axes on graphs are labeled, including units of measurement, and that the font is large enough to read. Generally, delete legends or other material from the graph if it makes the picture smaller. Color graphs should be interpretable if photocopied in black and white.

Hospital Pediatrics cannot accept Excel or PowerPoint files for any part of your submission.

 

Tables

Tables should be numbered in the order in which they are cited in the text and include appropriate headers. Tables should not reiterate information presented in the Results section, but rather should provide clear and concise data that further illustrate the main point. Tabular data should directly relate to the hypothesis. Table formatting should follow the current edition of the AMA Manual of Style.

Style for tables: Tables should be self-explanatory. Avoid abbreviations; define any abbreviations in footnotes to the table. Avoid excess digits and excess ink in general. Where possible, rows should be in a meaningful order (e.g., descending order of frequency). Provide units of measurement for all numbers. In general, only one type of data should be in each column of the table.

 

Presentation of Numbers and Statistics

  • Results in the abstract and the paper generally should include estimates of effect size and 95% confidence intervals, not just P-values or statements that a difference was statistically significant.
  • Statistical methods for obtaining all P-values should be provided.
  • Units of independent variables must be provided in tables and results sections if regression coefficients are provided.

Authors should avoid expressing effect sizes in the form of highly derived statistics.

Equations should be typed exactly as they are to appear in the final manuscript. The following table, adapted from the guidelines for authors for the Annals of Internal Medicine by editors of Medical Decision Making, shows how to present certain percentages and some statistical measures:

Reporting

Details

Percentages

Report percentages to one decimal place (i.e., xx.x%) when sample size is greater than or equal to 200.

To avoid the appearance of a level of precision that is not present with small samples, do not use decimal places (i.e., xx%, not xx.x%) when sample size is less than 200.

Error Measures

Report confidence intervals, rather than standard errors, when possible. Use "mean (error measures)" rather than "mean ± error measure" notation.

P values

Except when one-sided tests are required by study design, such as in noninferiority trials, all reported P values should be two-sided. In general, P values larger than 0.01 should be reported to two decimal places, those between 0.01 and 0.001 to three decimal places; P values smaller than 0.001 should be reported as P [is less than sign]0.001. Notable exceptions to this policy include P values arising in the application of stopping rules to the analysis of clinical trials and genetic-screening studies.

"Trend"

Use the word trend when describing a test for trend or dose-response.

Avoid the term "trend" when referring to p-values near but not below 0.05. In such instances, simply report a difference and the confidence interval of the difference (if appropriate) with or without the p-value.

 

Supplemental Information

Authors may wish to include additional information as part of their article for inclusion in the online edition of Hospital Pediatrics. References to any online supplemental information must appear in the main article. Such supplemental information can include but are not limited to additional tables, figures, videos, audio files, slide shows, data sets (including qualitative data), and online appendices. If your study is based on a survey, consider submitting your survey instrument or the key questions as a data supplement. Authors are responsible for clearly labeling supplemental information and are accountable for its accuracy. Supplemental information will be peer reviewed, but not professionally copyedited.

 

Videos

Hospital Pediatrics encourages the submission of videos to accompany articles where relevant. Links can be placed in the article for use when it is accessed electronically. All videos must adhere to the same general permission rules that apply to figures (i.e.: parental consent when a patient is identifiable).

All videos should be submitted at the desired reproduction size and length. To avoid excessive delays in downloading the files, videos should be no more than 6MB in size, and run between 30 and 60 seconds in length. In addition, cropping frames and image sizes can significantly reduce file sizes. Files submitted can be looped to play more than once, provided file size does not become excessive. Video format must be either .mov or .mp4.

Authors will be notified if problems exist with videos as submitted, and will be asked to modify them if needed. No editing will be done to the videos at the editorial office—all changes are the responsibility of the author.

Video files should be named clearly to correspond with the figure they represent (i.e., figure1.mov, figure2.mp4, etc.). Be sure all video files have filenames that are no more than 8 characters long and include the suffix “.mov” or “.mp4.” A caption for each video should be provided (preferably in a similarly named Word file submitted with the videos), stating clearly the content of the video presentation and its relevance to the materials submitted.

 

IMPORTANT: One to four traditional still images from the video must be provided. These still images may be published in the print edition of the article and will act as thumbnail images in the electronic edition that will link to the full video file. Please indicate clearly in your text whether a figure has a video associated with it, and be sure to indicate the name of the corresponding video file. A brief figure legend should also be provided.

 

Manuscript Submission

Hospital Pediatrics requires that all manuscripts be submitted electronically via our online submission system. To submit a manuscript, please:

  1. Visit http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/hospitalpediatrics.
  2. Log-in or click the “Create Account” option if you are a first-time user of Manuscript Central.
  3. Submissions are handled through your “Author Center.”

**Be sure the email information for you and your co-author(s) is accurate and up-to-date as all correspondence concerning your submission will go through this site.

 

Conditions of Publication

All authors are required to affirm the following statements before their manuscript is considered:

  • That the manuscript is being submitted only to Hospital Pediatrics, that it will not be submitted elsewhere while under consideration, that it has not been published elsewhere, and, should it be published in Hospital Pediatrics, that it will not be published elsewhere—either in similar form or verbatim—without permission of the editors. These restrictions do not apply to abstracts or to press reports of presentations at scientific meetings.
  • That all authors are responsible for reported research.
  • That all authors have participated in the concept and design; analysis and interpretation of data; drafting or revising of the manuscript, and that they have approved the manuscript as submitted.
  • All authors are also required to disclose any professional affiliation, financial agreement, or other involvement with any company whose product figures prominently in the submitted manuscript.

 

Copyright

At the time of acceptance, all authors will receive instructions for submitting a copyright form. No paper will be published until all authors have completed their copyright form. It is the responsibility of the corresponding author to collect and provide to the publisher all copyrights from all authors.

Note: We cannot accept any copyright which has been altered, revised, amended, or otherwise changed. Our original copyright form must be used as is.

 

Editorial Office

Publisher’s Office

American Academy of Pediatrics
345 Park Blvd
Itasca, IL 60143
hpedseditorial@aap.org

 

References

  1. Iverson C, Christiansen S, Flanagin A, et al. AMA Manual of Style. 10th ed. New York, NY: Oxford University Press; 2007.
  2. Lundberg GD. SI unit implementation: the next step. JAMA. 1988;260:73-76.
  3. Système International conversion factors for frequently used laboratory components. JAMA. 1991;266:45-47.
  4. International Committee of Medical Journal Editors. Uniform requirements for manuscripts submitted to biomedical journals. http://www.icmje.org.