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Submission guidelines

Contents

Instructions for Authors

Editorial Procedure

Double-Blind Peer Review

All manuscripts are anonymously reviewed. Each copy of a manuscript should include a separate title page with authors’ names and affiliations, and Declarations statements, and these should not appear elsewhere in the manuscript. Footnotes that identify the authors should be typed on a separate page. Authors should make every effort to ensure that the manuscript contains no clues to their identities.

When you are ready to submit a manuscript to MCHJ, please be sure to upload these 2 separate files to the Editorial Manager site to ensure timely processing and review of your paper:

• A title page with the running head, manuscript title, and complete author information. Followed by (page break) the Abstract page with keywords, significance, and the corresponding author e-mail information.

• The blinded abstract and manuscript containing no author information (no name, no affiliation, and so forth) which adheres to all standards described below.

Two-tiered Review Process

The MCHJ implements a two-tiered review process. Manuscripts are first reviewed by an Editorial Board member for suitability for the Journal, general quality, and potential contribution. Editorial Board members then recommend further peer review, or rejection. Those papers recommended for full peer review are then sent for review to appropriate reviewers.

Authors should note that only papers of the very highest quality and importance to the field of maternal and child health will be considered for the Journal.

Time to Review from Submission

As a matter of equity and fairness to all authors, the policy of the Journal Editorial Board is to work through the queue in sequence. The Journal cannot prioritize authors based on their queries. Reviewers are selected deliberately to match each paper, which is a process that takes some time to ensure that each paper is handled equitably.

Reviewers are given several weeks from the initial invitation to review until the due date for the review. If a reviewer does not respond to the initial invitation, another reviewer is chosen. In the case where multiple reviewers are invited to review a paper, authors can expect a long delay before receiving news of the decision regarding their article. The Journal requires three detailed reviews to be received before a decision can be made.

Authors will be asked to classify their article in the Editorial Manager site. These classifications are crucial to the choice of reviewers for the article. The Journal encourages authors to choose classification categories with care to expedite the review process.

If the paper has significant grammar or stylistic concerns, authors will be encouraged to utilize a service such as Edanz as no copy-editing support from the publisher is available to the editors. Authors should carefully proof-read their submissions or ask colleagues to assist.

To expedite the review of your submission, please ensure that your manuscript conforms to the format details outlined below. Submissions in another format will be returned to the author for correction before proceeding to the peer review process.

Resubmission Review Process

As a matter of equity and fairness to all authors, the policy of the Journal Editorial Board is to work through the resubmitted paper queue in sequence. The Journal cannot prioritize authors based on their queries. Reviewers are selected deliberately to match each paper, which is a process that takes some time to ensure that each paper is handled equitably.

The editors of the Journal recommend that authors respond thoughtfully to the recommendations of the reviewers, carefully check their grammar and spelling, and ensure that their paper conforms to the guidelines below. The original reviewers will often be invited to review the resubmitted paper. Authors should document their changes thoroughly and explain whether they made suggested changes or declined to make those changes and why. Additional reviewers may also be invited to review the resubmitted article.

If the paper has significant grammar or stylistic concerns, authors will be encouraged to utilize a service such as Edanz as no copy-editing support from the publisher is available to the editors. Authors should carefully proof-read their submissions or ask colleagues to assist.

Page Charges

The journal makes no page charges. Reprints are available to authors, and order forms with the current price schedule are sent with proofs.

• Springer Open Choice

In addition to the normal publication process (whereby an article is submitted to the journal and access to that article is granted to customers who have purchased a subscription), Springer now provides an alternative publishing option: Springer Open Choice. A Springer Open Choice article receives all the benefits of a regular subscription based article, but in addition is made available publicly through Springer’s online platform SpringerLink. To publish via Springer Open Choice, upon acceptance please visit the link below to complete the relevant order form and provide the required payment information. Payment must be received in full before publication or articles will publish as regular subscription model articles. We regret that Springer Open Choice cannot be ordered for published articles.

www.springeronline.com/openchoice

Publishing Open Choice involves an open access publication fee of US$ 3000/EUR 2200 (excl. VAT). You can choose to pay by credit card or to receive an invoice.

Customers providing payment from the Americas will be charged in US$ sales tax will be charged if applicable. Customers providing payment from Europe, Africa, and Asia will be charged in EUR. VAT is not included in the price and will be added, at a standard rate, if applicable.

• NIH Open Access Policy

If you receive research funding from the US National Institutes of Health (NIH), you will be required to deposit the final manuscript of your journal articles in PubMed Central and ensure their free availability (open access) within 12 months of publication. Springer complies with the NIH Open Access Policy using Method B. Please indicate your NIH funding when submitting your article for consideration to ensure that your article will be made available.

If you would rather have your article made available immediately or if your funding is from another source and you want to ensure access, please choose Springer Open Choice.

For more on the NIH Open Access Policy, please visit http://publicaccess.nih.gov/index.htm

Changes to Accepted Papers

Once a paper is accepted and the final proofs are approved, no changes can be made to the final version. Any changes must be submitted as erratum. Please carefully check your paper to ensure accuracy.

Types of Papers

The Journal is interested in original research in the area of maternal and child health, both within the US and from other countries. As this is primarily a journal devoted to population health, we are not interested in clinical case studies, in papers that are exclusively clinically focused, or in research that does not have an obvious public health focus. Research or practice-based articles from communities within the United States and from countries outside the US are welcome as long as they address issues of maternal and child health that will be of interest to more than a local audience.

Manuscripts of the following types are welcome:

Original Research reports (3500 word limit) results from an empirical research study, whether quantitative or qualitative, on a focused topic, presented consistent with international guidelines for research reporting (see http://www.equator-network.org/reporting-guidelines). Original Research may also take the format of a systematic review.

Reviews on specific, defined topics (3500 word limit) are welcome if they are systematic and reported in a standardized format. When justified, Reviews may exceed 35 references. Reporting guidelines have been developed for different study designs. The Journal encourages authors to follow these guidelines because they help authors describe the study in enough detail for it to be evaluated by editors, reviewers, readers, and other researchers evaluating the medical literature. Authors of review manuscripts are encouraged to describe the methods used for locating, selecting, extracting, and synthesizing data; this is mandatory for systematic reviews. The Journal encourages authors to utilize the following standards:

For Observational Studies: STROBE http://strobe-statement.org/

For Qualitative Studies: COREQ http://www.equator-network.org/reporting-guidelines/coreq/

For Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses: PRISMA http://prisma-statement.org/

For Randomized Trials: CONSORT http://www.consort-statement.org/

For Quality Improvement in Healthcare: SQUIRE http://squire-statement.org/

Other guidelines are available here: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/services/research_report_guide.html

For additional information, see http://www.equator-network.org/reporting-guidelines/

An example of an Original Research article is “New Evidence on Breastfeeding and Postpartum Depression: The Importance of Understanding Women’s Intentions” by Cristina Borra, Maria Iacovou, Almudena Sevilla which is available here: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10995-014-1591-z

Another example is “Complex Calculations: How Drug Use During Pregnancy Becomes a Barrier to Prenatal Care” by Sarah C. M. Roberts and Cheri Pies available here: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10995-010-0594-7

From the Field articles (2500 word limit) report novel programs, policies, or interventions of interest to a general maternal and child health audience, and may reflect evaluations, assessments, or other systematic description. From the Field articles may share a local experience that has potential applicability to other communities. Authors are encouraged to describe the context clearly to ensure readers in other areas understand what is important and what has changed. Specific types of From the Field articles might include:

Field or practice-based articles (2500 word limit) that describe new models, demonstrate the effectiveness of new or modified interventions, discuss the development or impact of new policies, or evaluate large or small-scale programs.

Methodological Notes (2500 word limit) report upon focused, specific methodological issues of interest to maternal and child health researchers and practitioners, and can address qualitative, quantitative, policy, or other research modalities. Methodological notes may describe innovations in data gathering, measurement, study design, assessment and evaluation.

Professional Development manuscripts (2500 word limit) present systematic descriptions and analyses of aspects of maternal and child health career paths, skills, leadership, and training.

Policy Briefs (2500 word limit) describe the development and/or implementation of particular policies at any level of administration that may relate to maternal and child health.

Brief Reports (2500 word limit) are short analyses of specific topics, usually reflecting the results of empirical research of general interest.

Graduate Education pieces (2500 word limit) describe novel educational curricula development, educational interventions, or evaluations, broadly useful to maternal and child health and related fields.

Historical Notes (2500 word limit) present historical accounting and analysis of key developments in maternal and child health and may reflect aspects of clinical care, maternal and child health programming, education, or administration, or more general public health developments in the field.

An example of a From the Field article is “Routine Prenatal HIV Testing: Women’s Concerns and Their Strategies for Addressing Concerns” by Pamela Rothpletz-Puglia, Deborah Storm, Carolyn Burr, and Deanne Samuels and is available here: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10995-011-0754-4.

Commentary or Letters to the Editor (2500 word limit)reflect a systematically presented opinion around a particular issue of maternal and child health interest, often promoting new ideas or directions. For specific guidance on how to prepare these, please see http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2647072/.

An example of a Commentary is “Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Birth Outcomes: A Life-Course Perspective” by Michael C. Lu and Neal Halfon and is available here: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1023/A%3A1022537516969

Article Length

As a general rule, the more concise the presentation, the better. Large-scale program evaluations, complex practice-based interventions, and some quantitative research may be allowed a few additional pages, if there is strong justification provided in a separate note to the editor. There is no need to repeat in text what is presented in tables and figures, and there is no need to repeat information from one section of the narrative to another.

• Original Research articles, which include Review articles, should be limited to 3500 words with no more than 35 references.

• From the Field and Commentary or Letters to the Editor should be limited to 2500 words with no more than 25 references.

http://maci.edmgr.com

Manuscript Submission

Submission is a representation that the manuscript has not been published previously and is not currently under consideration for publication elsewhere. A statement transferring copyright from the authors (or their employers, if they hold the copyright) to Springer will be required before the manuscript can be accepted for publication. The Editor will supply the necessary forms for this transfer. Such a written transfer of copyright, which previously was assumed to be implicit in the act of submitting a manuscript, is necessary under the U.S. Copyright Law in order for the publisher to carry through the dissemination of research results and reviews as widely and effectively as possible.

Permissions

Authors wishing to include figures, tables, or text passages that have already been published elsewhere are required to obtain permission from the copyright owner(s) for both the print and online format and to include evidence that such permission has been granted when submitting their papers. Any material received without such evidence will be assumed to originate from the authors.

Online Submission

Authors should submit their manuscripts online. Electronic submission substantially reduces the editorial processing and reviewing times and shortens overall publication times. Please follow the hyperlink “Submit online” on the right and upload all of your manuscript files following the instructions given on the screen.

Manuscripts should be submitted through the Editorial Manager Website for Maternal and Child Health Journal at: http://www.editorialmanager.com/maci/

APA Style

APA Publication Manual standards must be followed. Please visit http://www.apastyle.org/ for the guidelines.

Suggested Reviewers

Authors are asked to submit the names, current email addresses, and other contact information for three (3) suggested reviewers for their article. These potential reviewers should not be members of the authors’ departments or institutions, must not have participated in writing, editing, or reviewing the submission, and should be qualified to address the topic of the article. The editors of the Journal reserve the right to invite the suggested reviewers or other reviewers.

Integrity of Research and Reporting

Ethical standards

Manuscripts submitted for publication must contain a statement to the effect that all human and animal studies have been approved by the appropriate ethics committee and have therefore been performed in accordance with the ethical standards laid down in the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its later amendments.

It should also be stated clearly in the text that all persons gave their informed consent prior to their inclusion in the study. Details that might disclose the identity of the subjects under study should be omitted.

These statements should be described in the Methods or Description sections of submission. If these statements are not applicable, authors should state that the manuscript is not based upon clinical study or patient data.

The editors reserve the right to reject manuscripts that do not comply with the above-mentioned requirements. The author will be held responsible for false statements or failure to fulfill the above-mentioned requirements. Evidence of institutional review and approval may be requested if necessary.

Conflict of Interest

Authors must indicate whether or not they have a financial relationship with the organization that sponsored the research. This note should be added in a separate section before the reference list.

If no conflict exists, authors should state: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Formatting Requirements

Order of Manuscript Pages

• Title Page with all Author Contact Information the corresponding author e-mail Information and Declarations statements.

• Blinded Abstract with Key Words and Significance Statement

• Blinded Manuscript

• Author Acknowledgements (including funding sources)

• References

• Tables, figures, footnotes, and legends should appear as separate sheets appended to the end of the manuscript.

• Figure caption sheet

Title Page

The title page should include:

• The name(s) of the author(s)

• A concise and informative title

• The affiliation(s) and address(es) of the author(s)

• The e-mail address, telephone and fax numbers of the corresponding Author

• Declarations

Declarations

All manuscripts must contain the following sections on the Title Page under the heading 'Declarations'.

If any of the sections are not relevant to your manuscript, please include the heading and write 'Not applicable' for that section.

• Funding (information that explains whether and by whom the research was supported)

• Conflicts of interest/Competing interests (include appropriate disclosures)

• Ethics approval (include appropriate approvals or waivers)

• Consent to participate (include appropriate consent statements)

• Consent for publication (consent statement regarding publishing an individual’s data or image)

• Availability of data and material (data transparency)

• Code availability (software application or custom code)

• Authors' contributions

Please see the relevant sections in the submission guidelines for further information.

Abstract

A structured abstract of up to 250 words is to be provided. The abstract should provide the context or background for the study and should state the study's purpose, basic procedures (selection of study participants, settings, measurements, analytical methods), main findings (giving specific effect sizes and their statistical and clinical significance, if possible), and principal conclusions. It should emphasize new and important aspects of the study or observations, note important limitations, and not overinterpret findings.

Because abstracts are the only substantive portion of the article indexed in many electronic databases, and the only portion many readers read, authors need to ensure that they accurately reflect the content of the article.

• For Original Research articles using the headings: Objectives, Methods, Results, and Conclusions for Practice.

• For From the Field articles use the headings: Purpose, Description, Assessment, and Conclusion.

• Another acceptable format for all article types is: Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion.

Significance

Directly after the Abstract, the author should include a short paragraph (100 words or less) titled “Significance” which addresses what is already known about the topic of their article and what their article adds to the literature.

For example, the following paragraphs were included in “The educational gradient in coronary heart disease: the association with cognition in a cohort of 57,279 male conscripts” by Inger Ariansen, Laust Mortensen, Jannicke Igland, Grethe S Tell, Kristian Tambs, Sidsel Graff-Iversen, Bjørn Heine Strand, and Øyvind Næss in J Epidemiol Community Health available here: http://jech.bmj.com/content/early/2014/11/13/jech-2014-204597.full.pdf+html

“What is already known on this subject?

The socioeconomic gradient in coronary heart disease may not be fully explained by social differences in cardiovascular risk factors. Cognitive ability has been proposed to impact this gradient independently of cardiovascular risk factors.

“What this study adds?

Adjustment for established cardiovascular disease risk factors substantially attenuated the educational gradient in coronary heart disease. Although the remaining unexplained gradient was not further attenuated by cognitive ability, cognitive ability alone moderately attenuated the educational gradient. This suggests that cognitive ability may be linked to coronary heart disease through risk factors.”

Key Words

A list of 4–5 keywords is to be provided directly below the abstract. Key words should express the precise content of the manuscript as they are used for indexing purposes.

Ethical Statement Required

Reports of original empirical research and From the Field articles must include a statement in the Methods or Discussion section certifying that the research was conducted in accord with prevailing ethical principles and reviewed by an Institutional Review Board or explaining the rationale for departures from those principles. The editors reserve the right to reject any submission which does not include this statement.

See the APA Publication Manual (1994) pp. 292 298.

Sections of the Text

Introduction, Objectives, Purpose

Provide a context or background for the study (that is, the nature of the problem and its significance). State the specific purpose or research objective of, or hypothesis tested by, the study or observation. Cite only directly pertinent references, and do not include data or conclusions from the work being reported.

Methods, Description

The guiding principle of the Methods section should be clarity about how and why a study was done in a particular way. The section should include only information that was available at the time the plan or protocol for the study was being written; all information obtained during the study belongs in the Results section.

A note on Statistics: Describe statistical methods with enough detail to enable a knowledgeable reader with access to the original data to judge its appropriateness for the study and to verify the reported results. When possible, quantify findings and present them with appropriate indicators of measurement error or uncertainty (such as confidence intervals).

Results, Assessment

Present your results in logical sequence in the text, tables, and figures, giving the main or most important findings first. Do not repeat all the data in the tables or figures in the text; emphasize or summarize only the most important observations.

Discussion, Conclusions, Conclusions for Practice

Emphasize the new and important aspects of the study and the conclusions that follow from them in the context of the totality of the best available evidence. Do not repeat in detail data or other information given in other parts of the manuscript, such as in the Introduction or the Results section. For experimental studies, it is useful to begin the discussion by briefly summarizing the main findings, then explore possible mechanisms or explanations for these findings, compare and contrast the results with other relevant studies, state the limitations of the study, and explore the implications of the findings for future research and for clinical practice.

Link the conclusions with the goals of the study but avoid unqualified statements and conclusions not adequately supported by the data. In particular, distinguish between clinical and statistical significance, and avoid making statements on economic benefits and costs unless the manuscript includes the appropriate economic data and analyses. Avoid claiming priority or alluding to work that has not been completed. State new hypotheses when warranted, but label them clearly.

For more detailed information and further discussion of each of these sections, please see the ICMJE Recommendations: http://www.icmje.org/recommendations/browse/manuscript-preparation/preparing-for-submission.html

Statistical Reporting

Manuscripts should confirm to the Statistical Analyses and Methods in the Published Literature (SAMPL) Guidelines, which can be found at http://www.equator-network.org/reporting-guidelines/sampl/.

Manuscript Formatting Considerations

Text Formatting

Manuscripts should be submitted in Word.

• Use a normal, plain font (e.g., 12-point Times Roman) for text.

• Use italics for emphasis.

• Use the automatic page numbering function to number the pages.

• Do not use field functions.

• Use tab stops or other commands for indents, not the space bar.

• Use the table function, not spreadsheets, to make tables.

• Use the equation editor or MathType for equations.

• Save your file in docx format (Word 2007 or higher) or doc format (older Word versions).

Headings

• Please use no more than three levels of displayed headings.

o Level 1: Centered

o Level 2: Centered Italicized

o Level 3: Flush left, Italicized

• For Original Research articles using the headings: Objectives, Methods, Results, and Conclusions for Practice.

• For From the Field articles use the headings: Purpose, Description, Assessment, and Conclusion.

• Another acceptable format for all article types is: Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion.

Abbreviations

Abbreviations should be defined at first mention and used consistently thereafter.

Footnotes

Footnotes can be used to give additional information, which may include the citation of a reference included in the reference list. They should not consist solely of a reference citation, and they should never include the bibliographic details of a reference. They should also not contain any figures or tables.

Footnotes to the text are numbered consecutively; those to tables should be indicated by superscript lower-case letters (or asterisks for significance values and other statistical data). Footnotes to the title or the authors of the article are not given reference symbols.

Always use footnotes instead of endnotes.

Scientific Style and Terminology

• The Journal prefers that authors refer to “woman/women" instead of “mother/mothers” unless the paper is directly referencing the woman’s own role as a parent.

• Generic names of drugs and pesticides are preferred; if trade names are used, the generic name should be given at first mention.

• Please use the standard mathematical notation for formulae, symbols etc.:

o Italic for single letters that denote mathematical constants, variables, and unknown quantities.

o Roman/upright for numerals, operators, and punctuation, and commonly defined functions or abbreviations, e.g., cos, det, e or exp, lim, log, max, min, sin, tan, d (for derivative).

o Bold for vectors, tensors, and matrices.

• Units of Measurement

o Measurements of length, height, weight, and volume should be reported in metric units (meter, kilogram, or liter) or their decimal multiples.

o Temperatures should be in degrees Celsius. Blood pressures should be in millimeters of mercury, unless other units are specifically required by the journal.

o Drug concentrations may be reported in either SI or mass units, but the alternative should be provided in parentheses where appropriate.

Acknowledgements

Acknowledgments of people, grants, funds, etc. should be placed in a separate section no longer than one paragraph before the reference list. The names of funding organizations should be written in full.

References

All references must be in APA Style. Some examples are provided below. For a complete style guide, please visit: http://www.apastyle.org/.

Citation

Cite references in the text by name and year in parentheses. Some examples:

• Negotiation research spans many disciplines (Thompson 1990).

• This result was later contradicted by Becker and Seligman (1996).

• This effect has been widely studied (Abbott 1991; Barakat et al. 1995; Kelso and Smith 1998; Medvec et al. 1999).

Reference list

The list of references should only include works that are cited in the text and that have been published or accepted for publication. Personal communications and unpublished works should only be mentioned in the text. Do not use footnotes or endnotes as a substitute for a reference list. Reference list entries should be alphabetized by the last names of the first author of each work. Journal names and book titles should be italicized.

 Journal article

Harris, M., Karper, E., Stacks, G., Hoffman, D., DeNiro, R., Cruz, P., et al. (2001). Writing labs and the Hollywood connection. Journal of Film Writing, 44(3), 213–245.

 Article by DOI

Slifka, M. K., & Whitton, J. L. (2000) Clinical implications of dysregulated cytokine production. Journal of Molecular Medicine, doi:10.1007/s001090000086

 Book

Calfee, R. C., & Valencia, R. R. (1991). APA guide to preparing manuscripts for journal publication. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

 Book chapter

O’Neil, J. M., & Egan, J. (1992). Men’s and women’s gender role journeys: Metaphor for healing, transition, and transformation. In B. R. Wainrib (Ed.), Gender issues across the life cycle (pp. 107–123). New York: Springer.

 Online document

Abou-Allaban, Y., Dell, M. L., Greenberg, W., Lomax, J., Peteet, J., Torres, M., & Cowell, V. (2006). Religious/spiritual commitments and psychiatric practice. Resource document. American Psychiatric Association. http://www.psych.org/edu/other_res/lib_archives/archives/200604.pdf. Accessed 25 June 2007.

Tables

Tables should be numbered in one consecutive series of Arabic numerals and referred to by number in the text. Each table should have a descriptive title.

• All tables are to be numbered using Arabic numerals.

• Tables should always be cited in text in consecutive numerical order.

• For each table, please supply a table caption (title) explaining the components of the table.

• Identify any previously published material by giving the original source in the form of a reference at the end of the table caption.

• Footnotes to tables should be indicated by superscript lower-case letters (or asterisks for significance values and other statistical data) and included beneath the table body.

Each table should be inserted on a separate page at the back of the manuscript in the order noted above. A call-out for the correct placement of each table should be included in brackets within the text immediately after the phrase in which it is first mentioned. Copyright permission footnotes for tables are typed as a table note.

Figures

Figures should be numbered in one consecutive series of Arabic numerals. Each figure should have an accompanying caption. Line drawings should be of professional quality, either originals drawn in India ink or high-quality photographic reproduction. Color figures should use the CYMK color space. See section below on Artwork and Illustrations for more details.

• Each figure should appear on a separate page. The page where the figure is found should have the figure number and the word "top"[ie, Figure 1 top] typed above the figure. All figures are to be numbered using Arabic numerals. Figures should always be cited in text in consecutive numerical order. Figure parts should be denoted by lowercase letters (a, b, c, etc.)

• Figures or illustrations (photographs, drawings, diagrams, and charts) are to be numbered in one consecutive series of arabic numerals. Figures may be embedded in the text of a Word or Wordperfect document.

• Electronic artwork submitted on disk may be in the TIFF, EPS or Powerpoint format (best is 1200 dpi for line and 300 dpi for half-tones and gray-scale art).

• Color art should be in the CYMK color space. Assistance will be provided by the system administrator if you do not have electronic files for figures; originals of artwork may be sent to the system administrator to be uploaded.

• After first mention in the body of the manuscript, a call-out for the correct placement of each figure should be included in brackets on a separate line within the text..

• If an appendix appears in your article and it contains one or more figures, continue the consecutive numbering of the main text. Do not number the appendix figures. "A1, A2, A3, etc." Figures in online appendices (Electronic Supplementary Material) should, however, be numbered separately.

Figure Caption Sheet

The figure caption sheet contains a list of only the captions for all figures used. Center the label "Figure Captions" in uppercase and lowercase letters at the top of the page. Begin each caption entry flush left, and type the word "Figure", followed by the appropriate number and a period, all in italics. In the text of the caption (not italicized), capitalize only the first word and any proper nouns. If the caption is more than one line, double-space between the lines, and type the second and subsequent lines flush left. Table notes: Copyright permission footnotes for figures are typed as part of the figure caption.

Permissions

If you include figures that have already been published elsewhere, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner(s) for both the print and online format. Please be aware that some publishers do not grant electronic rights for free and that Springer will not be able to refund any costs that may have occurred to receive these permissions. In such cases, material from other sources should be used.

Accessibility

• In order to give people of all abilities and disabilities access to the content of your figures, please make sure that

o All figures have descriptive captions (blind users could then use a text-to-speech software or a text-to-Braille hardware)

o Patterns are used instead of or in addition to colors for conveying information (colorblind users would then be able to distinguish the visual elements)

o Any figure lettering has a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1

Electronic Supplementary Material

Electronic Supplementary Material

Springer accepts electronic multimedia files (animations, movies, audio, etc.) and other supplementary files to be published online along with an article or a book chapter. This feature can add dimension to the author's article, as certain information cannot be printed or is more convenient in electronic form.

Submission

• Supply all supplementary material in standard file formats.

• Please include in each file the following information: article title, journal name, author names; affiliation and e-mail address of the corresponding author.

• To accommodate user downloads, please keep in mind that larger-sized files may require very long download times and that some users may experience other problems during downloading.

Audio, Video, and Animations

• Always use MPEG-1 (.mpg) format.

• Text and Presentations

• Submit your material in PDF format; .doc or .ppt files are not suitable for long-term viability.

• A collection of figures may also be combined in a PDF file.

Spreadsheets

• Spreadsheets should be converted to PDF if no interaction with the data is intended.

• If the readers should be encouraged to make their own calculations, spreadsheets should be submitted as .xls files (MS Excel).

Specialized Formats

• Specialized format such as .pdb (chemical), .wrl (VRML), .nb (Mathematica notebook), and .tex can also be supplied.

Collecting Multiple Files

• It is possible to collect multiple files in a .zip or .gz file.

Numbering

• If supplying any supplementary material, the text must make specific mention of the material as a citation, similar to that of figures and tables.

• Refer to the supplementary files as “Online Resource”, e.g., "... as shown in the animation (Online Resource 3)", “... additional data are given in Online Resource 4”.

• Name the files consecutively, e.g. “ESM_3.mpg”, “ESM_4.pdf”.

Captions

• For each supplementary material, please supply a concise caption describing the content of the file.

• Processing of supplementary files

• Electronic supplementary material will be published as received from the author without any conversion, editing, or reformatting.

Accessibility

In order to give people of all abilities and disabilities access to the content of your supplementary files, please make sure that

• The manuscript contains a descriptive caption for each supplementary material

• Video files do not contain anything that flashes more than three times per second (so that users prone to seizures caused by such effects are not put at risk)

Tables

  • All tables are to be numbered using Arabic numerals.
  • Tables should always be cited in text in consecutive numerical order.
  • For each table, please supply a table caption (title) explaining the components of the table.
  • Identify any previously published material by giving the original source in the form of a reference at the end of the table caption.
  • Footnotes to tables should be indicated by superscript lower-case letters (or asterisks for significance values and other statistical data) and included beneath the table body.

Artwork and Illustrations Guidelines

Electronic Figure Submission

  • Supply all figures electronically.
  • Indicate what graphics program was used to create the artwork.
  • For vector graphics, the preferred format is EPS; for halftones, please use TIFF format. MSOffice files are also acceptable.
  • Vector graphics containing fonts must have the fonts embedded in the files.
  • Name your figure files with "Fig" and the figure number, e.g., Fig1.eps.

Line Art

  • Definition: Black and white graphic with no shading.
  • Do not use faint lines and/or lettering and check that all lines and lettering within the figures are legible at final size.
  • All lines should be at least 0.1 mm (0.3 pt) wide.
  • Scanned line drawings and line drawings in bitmap format should have a minimum resolution of 1200 dpi.
  • Vector graphics containing fonts must have the fonts embedded in the files.

Halftone Art

  • Definition: Photographs, drawings, or paintings with fine shading, etc.
  • If any magnification is used in the photographs, indicate this by using scale bars within the figures themselves.
  • Halftones should have a minimum resolution of 300 dpi.

Combination Art

  • Definition: a combination of halftone and line art, e.g., halftones containing line drawing, extensive lettering, color diagrams, etc.
  • Combination artwork should have a minimum resolution of 600 dpi.

Color Art

  • Color art is free of charge for online publication.
  • If black and white will be shown in the print version, make sure that the main information will still be visible. Many colors are not distinguishable from one another when converted to black and white. A simple way to check this is to make a xerographic copy to see if the necessary distinctions between the different colors are still apparent.
  • If the figures will be printed in black and white, do not refer to color in the captions.
  • Color illustrations should be submitted as RGB (8 bits per channel).

Figure Lettering

  • To add lettering, it is best to use Helvetica or Arial (sans serif fonts).
  • Keep lettering consistently sized throughout your final-sized artwork, usually about 2–3 mm (8–12 pt).
  • Variance of type size within an illustration should be minimal, e.g., do not use 8-pt type on an axis and 20-pt type for the axis label.
  • Avoid effects such as shading, outline letters, etc.
  • Do not include titles or captions within your illustrations.

Figure Numbering

  • All figures are to be numbered using Arabic numerals.
  • Figures should always be cited in text in consecutive numerical order.
  • Figure parts should be denoted by lowercase letters (a, b, c, etc.).
  • If an appendix appears in your article and it contains one or more figures, continue the consecutive numbering of the main text. Do not number the appendix figures,"A1, A2, A3, etc." Figures in online appendices [Supplementary Information (SI)] should, however, be numbered separately.

Figure Captions

  • Each figure should have a concise caption describing accurately what the figure depicts. Include the captions in the text file of the manuscript, not in the figure file.
  • Figure captions begin with the term Fig. in bold type, followed by the figure number, also in bold type.
  • No punctuation is to be included after the number, nor is any punctuation to be placed at the end of the caption.
  • Identify all elements found in the figure in the figure caption; and use boxes, circles, etc., as coordinate points in graphs.
  • Identify previously published material by giving the original source in the form of a reference citation at the end of the figure caption.

Figure Placement and Size

  • Figures should be submitted within the body of the text. Only if the file size of the manuscript causes problems in uploading it, the large figures should be submitted separately from the text.
  • When preparing your figures, size figures to fit in the column width.
  • For large-sized journals the figures should be 84 mm (for double-column text areas), or 174 mm (for single-column text areas) wide and not higher than 234 mm.
  • For small-sized journals, the figures should be 119 mm wide and not higher than 195 mm.

Permissions

If you include figures that have already been published elsewhere, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner(s) for both the print and online format. Please be aware that some publishers do not grant electronic rights for free and that Springer will not be able to refund any costs that may have occurred to receive these permissions. In such cases, material from other sources should be used.

Accessibility

In order to give people of all abilities and disabilities access to the content of your figures, please make sure that

  • All figures have descriptive captions (blind users could then use a text-to-speech software or a text-to-Braille hardware)
  • Patterns are used instead of or in addition to colors for conveying information (colorblind users would then be able to distinguish the visual elements)
  • Any figure lettering has a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1

Generative AI Images

Please check Springer’s policy on generative AI images and make sure your work adheres to the principles described therein.

Research Data Policy

This journal operates a type 1 research data policy. The journal encourages authors, where possible and applicable, to deposit data that support the findings of their research in a public repository. Authors and editors who do not have a preferred repository should consult Springer Nature’s list of repositories and research data policy.

List of Repositories

Research Data Policy

General repositories - for all types of research data - such as figshare and Dryad may also be used.

Datasets that are assigned digital object identifiers (DOIs) by a data repository may be cited in the reference list. Data citations should include the minimum information recommended by DataCite: authors, title, publisher (repository name), identifier.

DataCite

If the journal that you’re submitting to uses double-blind peer review and you are providing reviewers with access to your data (for example via a repository link, supplementary information or data on request), it is strongly suggested that the authorship in the data is also blinded. There are data repositories that can assist with this and/or will create a link to mask the authorship of your data.

Authors who need help understanding our data sharing policies, help finding a suitable data repository, or help organising and sharing research data can access our Author Support portal for additional guidance.

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Links and downloads

Open access publishing

To find out more about publishing your work Open Access in Maternal and Child Health Journal, including information on fees, funding and licenses, visit our Open access publishing page.

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