Submissions

Author Guidelines

To submit a manuscript for review by MHSalud Journal, please complete the following steps:

1. Adjust your article to the Manuscripts Submission Guideliness and Instructions for Authors of the MHSalud Journal.
Download and complete the manuscript template according to the type of article you are submitting. Using the template ensures your manuscript already meets the Journal's formatting requirements.

2. Complete the Cover Letter than can be downloaded from the website of the Journal Cover Letter (Originality Statement and Transfer Agreement)

3. Register through our web platform OJS3.

4. Once registered, enter the menu option: Make a new Submission

GUIDELINES FOR THE MANUSCRIPT’S STRUCTURE

The manuscript must be sent in an electronic file format compatible with “OpenOffice”, “Microsoft Word”, RTF, “Word” for Mac, “WordPerfect” or any other compatible one, using letter-size paper (8.5x11”), numbering each line, single-spaced (including the references), written in Times New Roman, letter size: 12 points for all the text, margins of 2.54cm (1 inch) applying to all four sides of the sheet, justified on both sides, a single column, containing accurate Figures and Tables. The recommended extension is not greater than 7000 words, including Figures, Tables and bibliographic references. The pages must be numbered consecutively, with the numbers on the bottom right corner. The quotes and bibliographic references must be done following the APA format, 7th edition. The manuscript should be sent with a prior philological revision, both in Spanish and English language, using gender-neutral language.

The first page of the manuscript should include: article title (centered and bold). Below will appear the names and surnames of the authors, the institution that the author represents (place of affiliation), department (if it’s necessary), the ROR id (if your institution has one) the email address of each author and the ORCID code of each author.

The Journal asks you to provide an author identifier, the recommended one is ORCID. To create your ORCID go to the site: https://orcid.org/

After the title, it must include the investigation’s structured abstract (maximum of 250 words, labeled sections). The same should reflect the investigation’s contents, the objective, methodology (participants, instruments, procedure, among others), the results (including levels of significance), the conclusions and the implications. All in one paragraph with labels. In the case of systematic reviews, you must provide the registration number in PROSPERO (International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews). Place the registration number at the end of the article's abstract.

Finally, the key words must be added (between three and six key concepts or descriptors) clearly reflecting the work’s specific content. The same are included without conjunctions or articles and should be normalized with a Thesaurus (like UNESCO’s or DeCS).

It should be noted that the title, the abtract and the key words must be in Spanish and English. If the document is presented in English, the order must be inverted: first in English and then in Spanish.

Immediately after this information: the article’s complete text, along with the references. In case of including explanatory notes, they are placed as footnotes. They must be brief, comprising supplementary information which strengthens discussion (reiterations not accepted).

After the list of references, you should provide the following information:

-Acknowledgements or funding: provide information on the entity that funded the research from which the article is derived.

-Author's contribution statement: Within the manuscript you must state the type of participation of each co-author of the article. For this, the Journal takes as a base the criteria of the CREDIT taxonomy as well as recommendations of the ICMJE, to declare both the type of participation and the degree of participation.

With respect to the contribution as an author of the article, the following criteria must be met:

• All the authors have had a substantial degree of contribution to the elaboration of the article, either from its conceptualization and design, data analysis or interpretation, writing and critical review or quality control for its publication.
• It is assumed that the roles and degrees of participation declared were defined by the research team that submitted the article.
• The authors who are declared in the article identify themselves as responsible for all aspects of the article submitted to ensure the accuracy and integrity of the research.
• It is expected that the authors contribute in a minimum of 4 or more roles established by the CREDIT taxonomy. 

The roles you should consider can be found at the following link:

https://casrai.org/credit/ (Section "Contributor Roles Defined")

 Based on CREDIT/CASRAI Taxonomy.

When more than one person has participated in the same role, they should report the degree of participation based on the following 3 grades: 'lead', 'equal', or 'support'.

Here is an example of how you should report this information:

Contribution statement:

Author 1 participated in the conceptualization (lead), research, methodological design, data curation, and writing of the manuscript. Author 2 participated in the conceptualization (support), information analysis, project management, review, and editing of the final manuscript. All the authors participated in the elaboration of this article.

The journal has a specific policy on the use of AI in the preparation and evaluation of manuscripts. See it here https://www.revistas.una.ac.cr/index.php/mhsalud/usoIA

The scientific investigation article must:

1. Derive from an original research
2. Include in case of the articles, systematic revisions and meta-analysis: introduction (theoretical backgrounds), objective, methodology (participants, instruments, procedures, and statistical analysis), results, discussion, conclusions, future recommendations with practical scope, references and annexes or supplementary materials (if it corresponds).
3. In case of bibliographical revisions include introduction (theoretical background), objective, theoretical framework, conclusions, future recommendations with practical scope, references and annexes or supplementary materials (if it corresponds).
4. In case of practical systematic experiences include: introduction (theoretical backgrounds), objective, methodology (participants, instruments or material used), exhaustive systematization of the practical experience (may include pictures, diagrams, among others), conclusions, future recommendations along with practical scope, references and annexes or supplementary materials (if it corresponds).

Structure of the manuscript

Introduction. It lays the theoretical grounds of the problem, the state-of-the-art and the last paragraph sets forth the purpose of the study and the corresponding hypothesis. If any kind of abbreviation is used, it should clearly define its meaning.

Methodology. This section makes a clear and thorough description of the research process, allowing readers the possibility of understanding it and how the research developed, to be able to reproduce it. The authors must mention in the methodology section, that procedures used on participating persons have followed the ethical principles and guidelines for the protection of human subjects and research animals, including the revision of investigation protocols by the corresponding ethical committee. In case of not having these entities in their country, must state an informed consent of participants was obtained. This section includes the following elements:

• Participants: describe the basic characteristics as (sex, age, number of persons and any other relevant one) and the selection procedure used. In case of studies done with human beings or animals, it is mandatory to establish the ethical rules used or mention the ethical committee approving the study.
• Instruments: provide details of the instruments, as well as the validity, reliability, and objectivity used. In case of using instruments and methods created by other persons, must include the corresponding quote.
• Procedure: describe the data collection process followed. In case the document involves various experiments, describe the method and results of each study separately and number them. Should indicate the ethical norms followed; for example the informed consent or in its absence the approval of the corresponding Ethical Committee.
• Statistical analysis: clearly establish if it used descriptive, inferential, qualitative or non- parametrical statistics, as well as the statistical package or others used in the investigation.

Results. In this section the obtained results are systematically contemplated. They must be presented in the most clear and accurate way possible. The results may be exposed as text, in Tables or Figures; but the same data must not be included as text, in the tables or figures (results should not be repeated). The tables are a summary of the words or figures, organized in lines or rows, in an orderly fashion, placing the title in the upper area and the legend in the lower area of the same. Figures are data in non-linear form; using any kind of iconic resources, the legend is placed in the lower area. The figures and tables must be placed where they correspond throughout the manuscript; eliminate the vertical lines (APA). In the case of statistical and probability abbreviations, they should be in cursive, for example: n, p, F, gl, SD, SEM, SRD, CCI, ICC, etc. The inclusion of pictures, illustrations, tables or graphs should bear the credits to the author or an indication of the references, as corresponds. On the note requesting publication of the article, the authors must guarantee, and if necessary give evidence with additional documentation (at the discretion of the Editorial Board), that the images or another type of illustrations contained in their article count with the due permits to be used.

Discussion. Results are interpreted in this section; they are reviewed against related scientific literature. In addition, examine the meaning of the results’ findings, giving plausible explanations. The theoretical and practical implications of the investigation should also be mentioned.

Conclusions.  The investigation’s most relevant findings are described in this section. It is also acceptable to include them on the discussion section. The limitations found as well as future recommendations for new investigations should be incorporated.

References. The quotes and sources should adjust to the format of the “American Psychological Association” (APA, seventh edition). Where possible, all bibliographic references should include the DOI or PMID. To verify if the articles used in your document have the DOI or PMID it is recommended to access the web page www.crossref.org and on the left side of the menu find Simple Text Query (follow the indications to perform the search).

A manuscript not complying with these requirements shall not be submitted to evaluation until it does. At all times they will respect author’s rights and thus avoid plagiarism. Likewise, the detection of plagiarism and self-plagiarism will give rise to ad portas rejection.