Occupational Health welcomes letters, opinions and articles from all
practitioners working in occupational health and from experts in relevant
fields. This guide to the journal’s style and format should prove useful to you
when writing your article
Initial contact
We are unable to guarantee the publication of uncommissioned articles, but
the editor is happy to respond to a 250-word synopsis which can be faxed to the
journal on 020-8769 7892 or e-mailed to: [email protected]
The journal is keen to encourage OH nurses to submit original research for
publication, for example, details of an innovative research project carried out
for their employers to improve workplace health or an adaptation of work
written for a degree in occupational health. Students on occupational health
courses are also welcome to contribute with ideas and articles.
We are particularly interested in new ideas and approaches to practice –
including any discussion and analysis of changing procedures.
Opinions and letters
Letters should be no longer than 250 words and will be edited for style and
length. The journal needs the name, job title and address of the letter writer,
but can withhold publication of the name and address if requested by the
author.
Opinions should be 350 words long and offer a soapbox for occupational
health practitioners to sound off on any subject they want to air publicly.
Recent opinion columns have been on OH education, OH services for contractors
in companies and the relationship between doctors and nurses. We need a
reasonable colour headshot of the author to go with this monthly column.
Peer review
Each article is sent to one member of a panel of reviewers who are expert in
their field. The author receives an acknowledgement letter and the feature is
then sent out. The questions asked on the reviewers’ form include: does the
article contain significant or new information; are the references adequate and
annotated satisfactorily and is the article interesting and readable? The
reviewer is then asked whether they would recommend it for publication or for
publication with amendments or whether it should be rejected.
The review process usually takes about three weeks and the author will then
hear if the article has been accepted for publication.
Presentation
The article can be sent by e-mail, or on a disk in a text-only or Word
format. Also send a printed version, double spaced and giving your job title,
address, daytime telephone number and qualifications. Disks should be clearly
marked with the author’s name and address.
Relevant pictures, illustrations and tables can be included. If you want
your photographs returned please put your name and address on the back.
Suggestions for pictures are welcome. A good quality colour headshot of the
author is also needed once the article has been accepted for publication.
Length
Articles should be between 1,500 and 2,000 words. Any material written for
an academic thesis or dissertation should be edited and written in the style of
the journal.
References
References should be given at the end of the article and listed numerically
in order of appearance in the text. They should include as much relevant
information as possible and be set out in the following style:
1. O’Connor (1994) Management of dysemnorrhea. Modern Medicine of Australia;
37 (4): 47-52
2. Handbook of Obstetrics and Gynaecology (1996) Fourth edition. Editors:
Leader LR, Bennett MJ, Wong F. Chapman & Hall Medical; 373 & 421.
3. WellBeing of Women (1995), The complete guide to women’s health; 61.
Suggestions of further reading or organisations that can give further
information are also welcome.
Copyright
Copyright belongs to Reed Business Information Ltd. All rights reserved. No
part of Occupational Health may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or
transmitted in any form or by any means of electronic, mechanical or
photographic recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the
publisher.
Please make sure your article has not been submitted to several publications
simultaneously. The journal cannot consider your article if it has been or is
likely to be printed elsewhere.
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Editing
The editor reserves the right to make changes to the text where appropriate
for reasons of style, content or length. However, if substantial changes are
made, the journal will endeavour to ask the author’s opinion.
