Instructions for Guest Editors

Science of Nursing and Health Practices / Science infirmière et pratiques en santé reaches thousands of readers interested in health practices (18,634 complete article downloads in 2022) and this number continues to grow. Available in open access and free for authors, the journal, which publishes in French and in English, is a leading avenue for the knowledge translation in practice settings.

We are pleased to support the publication of thematic issues on health practices in emerging research areas or on thematic in demand by communities (e.g., health innovations, care for marginalized people, environmental health, Indigenous Community-Based Participatory Research, management of health care and services) with leaders in their respective fields as guest editors.

Thematic issues can be a vehicle for knowledge dissemination to present the results of large collaborative projects involving several research/action partners (a series of interconnected studies). It can also be particularly useful for the organizers of a workshop, a conference, or a congress to disseminate the results of the event or simply a means of publishing several articles about the same theme concerning health practices.

To propose and direct a thematic issue with Science of Nursing and Health Practices / Science infirmière et pratiques en santé, interested editors must first:

  • Submit a proposal for a thematic issue in an area of ​​interest considered by the journal (https://sips-snahp.ojs.umontreal.ca/index.php/sips-snahp/about) for approval to snahp-sips@umontreal.ca. The proposal must contain the following information:
    • The name, the last academic degree obtained, the affiliation and the email address of the editor(s)
    • The preliminary title of the thematic issue
    • A page describing the importance of the theme (rational) with a timeline for submitting manuscripts to the journal (500-600 words).
      • The approximate date anticipated for the publication of the thematic issue (taking into consideration a two-month delay for the double-blind peer review between the submission of the manuscripts and the production stage of the thematic issue).

The editorial team of the journal undertakes to communicate with the editors as soon as possible regarding their proposal.

The actions after the acceptance of the proposal of the guest editors within the framework of a thematic issue are as follows:

  • Invite colleagues/experts to participate in the thematic issue and submit manuscripts to the journal.
  • Inform the authors of the proposed timeline for the preparation of the thematic issue.
  • Provide authors with information to complete their submission in the journal's online platform:
  • Propose experts to the editorial team for reviewing manuscripts (these individuals have expertise in the field, but have no prior knowledge of the submission, have not collaborated with any of the authors over the past six years and are not from the same university or facility as the authors. These individuals should not be contributing authors or guest editors of the thematic issue).
  • Write an editorial for the thematic issue.

Rules to follow when preparing a thematic issue:

Any guest editor is subject to the publication ethics of the journal. These policies can be found here.

  • A minimum of 5 to 6 published manuscripts (anticipate that some manuscripts may be declined) per thematic issue is requested by the journal.
  • No more than one research protocol article per thematic issue may be considered and published.
  • Guest editors may be authors or co-authors of only one manuscript per thematic issue.
    Any manuscript submitted by the guest editor will be handled by a competent person external to the editorial team.
  • Interdisciplinarity and multidisciplinary are encouraged: manuscripts presenting work integrating several disciplines on the same subject/object of research or manuscripts from various disciplines concerning the chosen theme.
  • The geographic diversity of studies and authors is also encouraged.
  • An invitation to submit a manuscript for a thematic issue does not imply guaranteed acceptance for publication. Some submissions may be declined.
  • Manuscripts should not have been simultaneously published or submitted elsewhere.
  • If there is more than one guest editor, only one will be the correspondence editor with the journal's editorial team.
  • The guest editor agrees to promote the special issue at relevant events if the opportunity arises or on social media and other open access platforms. A simple way to promote the thematic issue is to mention it in your professional signature.

The editorial team of the journal will be responsible for:

  • Coordinate the peer review process; manuscripts submitted as part of a thematic issue will be evaluated according to the same criteria as regular submissions, i.e., by the Editor in Chief and two independent experts. The editorial team of the journal reserves the right to decline manuscripts.
  • Carry out any other task related to the production of the thematic issue (processing submissions, layout, dissemination).
  • Final editorial decisions on all thematic issue submissions are made by the Editor in Chief based on the journal's editorial criteria (editorial relevance, originality, importance of results, scientific quality and written language quality, intellectual rigor, and publication ethics). This includes the decision to request revisions from authors following the peer review process and the decision to decline or accept manuscripts.
  • All the articles and the editorial of the thematic issues will be published free of charge by the publisher – Quebec Network on Nursing Intervention Research (Réseau de recherche en interventions en sciences infirmières du Québecor RRISIQ) and immediately accessible free of charge to anyone with Internet access.