Journal news

January 7, 2019

We are introducing two new requirements for all submissions to Implementation Science, which take effect February 1, 2019.

'Contributions to the literature' - a new article section

Beginning February 1, 2019, we will require all manuscripts submitted to Implementation Science include a bulleted statement describing what the paper, if published, would add to the literature in implementation science.

The statement should consist of three to five bullet points of no more than 100 words. Authors should not simply restate their findings or conclusions; the statement must contextualize the paper in the full implementation science literature and provide a succinct statement about what it adds. The statement will be useful in assessing priority for publication and, once having undergone peer review and acceptance with the manuscript, will be included at the beginning of the published article both in the HTML and PDF formats.

The statement should be in lay language and understandable to all readers, written for readers of moderate English literacy. This will be required for all submission types.

Adherence to research reporting guidelines

As of February 1, 2019, we will require all manuscripts submitted to Implementation Science include a reporting guideline checklist. A library of these can be found via the EQUATOR Network.

We will require that every manuscript submitted include a checklist appropriate for the study design or type of report. A possible exception is Debate manuscripts, although we note that our preference is for systematic reviews rather than debates without systematic review. In some cases, it may be appropriate to include more than one checklist; for example, manuscripts reporting testing of an implementation intervention should include either the TIDIeR or STARi checklists for the intervention, as well as a checklist appropriate to the evaluation study design (for example, CONSORT for randomized controlled trials). The completed checklist(s) should be provided as an additional file and referenced in the text.

Authors should use their discretion in selecting the appropriate checklist(s) from the EQUATOR Network website. In the cover letter, authors should briefly indicate the reason for their decision to select the checklist(s) used. Submissions received without these elements will be returned to the authors as incomplete. If the submitted checklist is deemed insufficient, we may request completion of an additional checklist before sending the manuscript out for review.