AJHE cover

March / April 2024

Guidelines For Authors

Aims and Scope

The mission of the American Journal of Health Education (AJHE) is to publish high-quality manuscripts that focus on health education and health promotion initiatives designed to prevent or delay the onset of the major chronic diseases and illnesses that impact global populations of interest (CVD, cancer, hypertension, diabetes, COPD, cirrhosis, arthritis, osteoporosis, anxiety, depression, etc.). In addition, AJHE is actively seeking manuscripts that inform the discussion on the role of lifestyle behaviors (nutrition/diet, physical activity, weight management, tobacco use prevention, stress control, self-management of chronic disease, emotional and social functioning, alcohol and other drug abuse, etc.) in chronic disease prevention and management. Manuscripts reporting on research conducted in the community, medical care, worksite, and school/university settings are encouraged. AJHE is particularly interested in manuscripts that focus on interventions related to the primary prevention of chronic disease from a social-ecological perspective that conceptualizes the role of individual, interpersonal, institutional, community, and policy factors on lifestyle behaviors. Manuscripts grounded in health and behavioral science theory are highly encouraged.

Health Education and Health Promotion are applied health science disciplines. Therefore, each manuscript should provide a clear discussion of how the reported research links together researchers and practitioners through professional practice in a section titled Translation to Health Education Practice. For papers published in AJHE, the National Commission for Health Education Credentialing Inc. (NCHEC), Areas of Responsibility and Competencies can frame the Translation to Health Education Practice discussion section of your manuscript (www.nchec.org).

The Translation to Health Education Practice section has two major purposes:

  1. To inform health educators/health promoters on how the methods and results of your study can assist them in designing, implementing and evaluating similar interventions in their respective populations of interest, and
  2. To explain the role of health educators/health promoters and Certified Health Education Specialists in the design, implementation and evaluation of the study.

In the Translation to Health Education Practice section, authors should consider how the knowledge, skills, and processes inherent in the NCHEC responsibilities, competencies, and sub-competencies were used to design the initiative and led to research outcomes. When applicable, authors are encouraged to expand the discussion of results in the Translation to Health Education Practice section to show the social, psychological, or financial cost benefit of the intervention. The CDC and other governmental agencies provide data on the cost-benefit of behavioral health outcomes.

Research Articles

The American Journal of Health Education invites manuscripts reporting original research and applications of social and behavioral science theory related to the prevention, management or delayed onset of major chronic diseases impacting populations of interest and the lifestyle behaviors that impact chronic disease. Research manuscripts must include the following major headings: Background, Purpose, Methods, Results, Discussion, and Translation to Health Education Practice. Generally, AJHE does not publish manuscripts on pedagogy, professional preparation, philosophical issues, or statistically underpowered preliminary studies. AJHE does not have a page limit for research articles. Research manuscripts are usually 25 double-spaced pages, not including Abstracts, Tables, Figures, Illustrations, and References. AJHE does not publish research briefs.

Commentaries and Feature Articles

Commentaries and feature articles are learned opinions that address contemporary chronic disease and related lifestyle issues in health education/health promotion research, policy, theory, philosophy, or practice. Commentaries can be ≤ 1,500 words in length, not including references. AJHE does not limit the number of pages for feature articles. AJHE, as a general rule, does not publish Letters to the Editor.

Manuscript Submissions

The American Journal of Health Education receives all manuscript submissions electronically via its ScholarOne Manuscripts website located at http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/ajhe. ScholarOne Manuscripts allows for rapid submission of original and revised manuscripts and facilitates the review process and internal communication between authors, editors, and reviewers via a web-based platform. ScholarOne technical support can be accessed at http://scholarone.com/services/support. If you have any other requests, please contact Dr. James M. Eddy, AJHE Editor-in-Chief, at [email protected].

Each manuscript must be accompanied by a statement assuring the Editor-in-Chief that the manuscript has not been published elsewhere and that the manuscript has not been submitted simultaneously for publication elsewhere. Authors are responsible for obtaining permission to reproduce copyrighted material from appropriate sources and are required to sign an agreement for the transfer of copyright to SHAPE America. As an author, you are required to secure permission if you want to reproduce any figure, table, or extract from the text of another source. This applies to direct reproduction as well as “derivative reproduction” (where you have created a new figure or table that derives substantially from a copyrighted source). All accepted manuscripts, artwork, and photographs become the property of SHAPE America.

All parts of the manuscript should be typewritten in Times New Roman font, size 12, double-spaced (to include the Abstract and the References). Please number manuscripts pages consecutively throughout the paper. Authors should also supply a shortened version of the manuscript title suitable for the Running Head, not to exceed 50-character spaces. Research Articles require structured abstracts up to 200 words in length using the following headings: Background, Purpose, Methods, Results, Discussion, and Translation to Health Education Practice. Feature articles and commentaries require descriptive abstracts up to 200 words in length without headings. Co-authors for all manuscripts should be limited to professionals involved in the conceptualization of the research idea, the conduct of some aspects of the research, and the creation of the manuscript. Other contributors to the production of the manuscript can be recognized in an Acknowledgement section at the end of the paper. As a general rule, AJHE does not publish papers written to promote proprietary products or services.

References

References, citations, and general style of manuscripts should be prepared following the most recent edition of the American Psychological Association (APA) Publication Manual (7th Edition). Manuscripts that do not adhere to APA Publication Manual (7th Edition) style, will be returned to the author for revisions before being sent out for review. Refer to the APA website: https://apastyle.apa.org/

Also, please review APA guidelines provided by Taylor & Francis: https://files.taylorandfrancis.com/tf_apa.pdf

Examples of Common Types of APA References

Journal reference with two (2) authors with DOI: Valois, R. F. & Hoyle, T. B. (2000). Formative evaluation results of the Mariner Project: A coordinated school health pilot project. Journal of School Health, 70(3), 95-103. PMID: 10763477 DOI: 10.1111/j.1746-1561.2000.tb06453.x

Journal article with three (3) to twenty (20) authors with DOI: Valois, R. F., Lewallen, T. L., Slade, S., & Tasco, A. (2015). The ASCD Healthy School Communities Project: Formative evaluation results. Health Education, 115(3/4):269-284. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/HE-04-2914-0050

Journal article with six (6) or more authors with DOI: Hennessy, M. K., Romer, D., Valois, R. F., Vanable, P. A., Carey, M. P., Stanton, B. A., Brown, L. K., DiClemente, R. J., & Salazar, L. F. (2013). Safer sex media messages and adolescent sexual behavior: 3-year follow-up results from Project iMPPACS. American Journal of Public Health, 103(1), 134-140. DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2012.300856 PMID: 23153149 PMCID: PMC3518371

Journal article with twenty-one (21) or more authors: Kerr, J. C., Valois, R. F., Farber, N. B., Vanable, P. A., DiClemente, R. J., Salazar, L. F., Brown, L. K., Carey, M. P., Romer, D., Hennessy, M. F., Stanton, B. M., Jemmott, J. B., Jemmott, L. S., . . . Annang, L. (2013). Effects of Promoting Health among Teens on general health knowledge, dietary, physical activity, and substance use behaviors for African American adolescents. American Journal of Health Education, 44(4), 191-202. DOI: 10.1080/19325037.2013.798218 PMID: 23957017 PMCID: PMC3743262

Journal article, online only: Frazer, K., Callinan, J. E., McHugh, J., van Baarsel, S., Clarke, A., Doherty, K., & Kelleher, C. (2016). Legislative smoking bans for reducing harms from secondhand smoke exposure, smoking prevalence and tobacco consumption. The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2(2), CD005992. https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD005992.pub3

Print book: Kaufman, K. A., Glass, C. R., & Pineau, T. R. (2018). Mindful sport performance enhancement: Mental training for athletes and coaches. American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/0000048-000

Green, L. W., & Kreuter, M. W. (1999). Health promotion planning: An educational and ecological approach. (3rd ed.). Mayfield Publications.

Quoted chapter from a print book: Baranowski, T., Perry, C. L., & Parcel, G. S. (2002). How individuals, environments, and health behavior interact: Social cognitive theory. In K. Glanz, F. M. Lewis, & B. K. Rimer (Eds.), Health behavior and health education: Theory, research, and practice. (3rd ed.). (p.p.153–178). Josey-Bass.

Quoted chapter from a book online only: Valois, R. F., Kammermann, S. K., & Valois, A. A. (2020). Adolescent health-risk and problem behavior. In F. Maggino (Ed.), Encyclopedia of quality of life and well-being research. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69909-7_31-2

Website: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2020). Prevalence of overweight and obesity among adults: United States, 1999. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved December 19, 2023 http://www.cdc.gov/nchs

Report: [Note: These examples can be used for citing online government, organization or association online reports.] World Health Organization. (2014). Comprehensive implementation plan on maternal, infant and young child nutrition. https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/113048/WHO_NMH_NHD_14.1_eng.pdf?ua=1

Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction. (2020). Case studies from four Canadian clinics. https://www.ccsa.ca/sites/default/files/2020-06/CCSA-Expanded-Response-Options-Opioid-Harms-Case-Studies-2020-en.pdf

National Institute of Health, National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. (2017). COPD National Action Plan. (NIH publication 17-HL-8031). https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/sites/default/files/publications/COPD%20National%20Action%20Plan%20508.pdf

Winthrop, R., Ziegler, L., Handa, R., & Fakoya, F. (2019). How playful learning can help leapfrog progress in education. Center for Universal Education at Brookings. https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/ uploads/2019/04/how_playful_learning_can_help_leapfrog_progress_in_education.pdf

Doctoral dissertation published in an online repository: Valois, R. F. (1985). An evaluation of the relationship between cognitive and affective taxonomic outcomes of a university personal health education program [Doctoral dissertation, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign]. IDEALS - Graduate Dissertations and Theses at Illinois. https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/items/71231

Master’s thesis unpublished: Valois, R. F. (1980). The effects of a human sexuality program on the attitudes of university residence hall students. [Unpublished master’s thesis] University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

Webinar: Kamin, H. S., Lee, C. L., & McAdoo, T. L. (2020). Creating references using seventh edition APA Style [Webinar]. American Psychological Association. https://apastyle.apa.org/instructional-aids/tutorialswebinars

Illustrations

Illustrations submitted (line drawings, halftones, photos, etc.) should be clean originals or digital files. Digital files are recommended for highest quality production and should follow these guidelines: 300 dpi or higher; sized to fit on a journal page; EPS, TIFF, or PSD format; and submitted as separate files, not embedded in text files.

Tables and Figures

Tables and figures should not be embedded in the text but should be included as separate files. A short descriptive title should appear above each table with any footnotes suitably identified below. Figures should be clearly labeled with a clear legend, taking into account the necessary size reduction. Reference all tables and figures in the text to indicate placement (e.g., “Insert Table 1 about here” referring to manuscript location).

Proofs

Page proofs are sent to the corresponding author using Taylor & Francis’ Central Article Tracking System (CATS). Page proofs must be carefully checked and returned within 48 hours of receipt.

Complimentary Copies and Reprints

The publisher, Taylor and Francis, shall provide authors of works with complimentary access to an electronic version of their work and encourage authors to promote their works to colleagues.

Indexing and Abstracting Services

The American Journal of Health Education is currently covered by the following indexing and abstracting services:

  • CABI
  • Agricultural Economics Database
  • CAB Abstracts (Commonwealth Agricultural Bureaux)
  • Environmental Impact
  • Global Health
  • Leisure Tourism Database
  • Nutrition and Food Sciences Database
  • Rural Development Abstracts (Online)
  • Tropical Diseases Bulletin (Online)
  • EBSCOhost
  • Current Abstracts
  • Education Research Complete/Index
  • Poetry & Short Story Reference Center
  • SPORTDiscus with Full Text
  • TOC Premier (Table of Contents)
  • Elsevier BV
  • Scopus
  • Education Resources Information Center (ERIC)
  • Exceptional Child Education Resources (Online)
  • Gale
  • Academic ASAP
  • Academic OneFile
  • Educator’s Reference Complete
  • Health Reference Center Academic
  • InfoTrac Custom
  • Nursing Resource Center
  • National Library of Medicine
  • PubMed
  • Ovid
  • ProQuest
  • AGRICOLA (AGRIculturalOnLine Access)
  • Biological Sciences, Selective
  • Environmental Sciences and Pollution
  • Management, Selective
  • Health and Safety Science Abstracts (Online), Selective
  • Physical Education Index (Online), Selective
  • Professional ProQuest Central
  • ProQuest 5000/International
  • ProQuest Central
  • ProQuest Education Journals
  • ProQuest Family Health
  • ProQuest Health and Medical Complete
  • ProQuest Natural Science Collection
  • ProQuest Nursing and Allied Health Source
  • ProQuest Public Health
  • ProQuest SciTech Journals
  • Thomson Reuters
  • Emerging Sources Citation Index
  • Web of Science

We will continue to explore additional indexing and abstracting services that may be appropriate for the American Journal of Health Education, and we will seek to expand the journal’s coverage as much as possible.