New guidelines for authors from Ferbruary 2024

GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) Information clause

Papers should be submitted to the Editorial Office on-line via: Editorial System

Publication fees 

After the manuscript is accepted for publication in “Health Problems of Civilization”, the author or authors of the submitted articles are obliged to the payment of the fee in the amount: PLN 150.00. Payment is intended to cover the cost associated with publication partially. Before the payment, please contact Editorial Office in order to establish an appropriate payment form and invoice details. The fee applies only to the cost of preparing the article for publication in the journal. The fee does not affect the date of the article publication. Please be informed that if the author decides not to publish the work, which was already accepted and paid, the fee paid will not be returned for reasons beyond the Publisher’s control.

The authors of ordered articles, guest editors cooperating with the journal editorial office, and employees of the John Paul II University in Biała Podlaska are exempt from the fee. If the manuscript has been written jointly by the employees of the John Paul II University in Biała Podlaska and authors from other institutions, the exemption from the payment applies only when the first, the last, or the corresponding author is the employee of the John Paul II University in Biała Podlaska.

Starting from 25th September 2023, there is the possibility of a one-time exemption from the fee of PLN 150.00 in case the corresponding author of the article has performed a review for the “Health Problems of Civilization” in the 12 months preceding the submission of the article.

In case the Editorial Office receives an article in Polish, it will not bear the costs related to its translation into English. The cost of such translation service is PLN 45.00 per translation page; that is per 1800 characters including spaces. In case the Editorial Office receives an article in English, it will be sent for the proof-reading by the native speaker of English and the cost of such proof-reading will be covered by the authors. Cost of such service is PLN 30.00 per correction page, that is per 1800 characters including spaces. The translation/proof-reading is conducted by a translator/a proof-reader who presently cooperates with the Editorial Office. The article will be passed on for its translation/prof-reading by the Editorial Office only after a positive review and the final approval of a given article for publication.

Having obtained the information from the Editorial Office regarding a positive review as well as the final cost of the translation/proof-reading, the author will be obliged to transfer the indicated amount to the bank account of John Paul II University in Biała Podlaska / Akademia Bialska im. Jana Pawła II: payment from Poland: Santander Bank Polska S.A., 45 1500 1331 1213 3001 7949 0000; payment from other countries: Santander Bank Polska S.A., PL 45 1500 1331 1213 3001 7949 0000, SWIFT Code: WBKPPLPP. The author is next obliged to provide the Editorial Office with a transfer confirmation (i.e. in electronic form to the email address).

Ethical standards and procedures 

When reporting experiments on human subjects, authors should indicate whether the informed consent has been obtained from all individuals included in this study and whether the procedures complied with all the relevant national regulations, institutional policies and in accordance with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2000 (concerning the ethical principles for the medical community and forbidding releasing the name of the patient, initials or the hospital evidence number), and have been approved by the authors' institutional review board or equivalent committee. The authors presenting case studies are obligated not to disclose patients' personal data. Regarding photographs, in case of any doubt that the picture inadequately protects the patient's anonymity his/her consent is required for publication.

In case of the research related to animals use, authors should indicate whether the procedures complied with all the relevant national regulations and institutional policies for the care and use of animals.

If the manuscript does not contain any study that requires human or animal ethical approval, the following statement should be included in the Material and methods section: “The conducted research is not related to either human or animals use”.

Publisher is committed to meeting and upholding standards of ethical behavior at all stages of the publication process. We follow closely the industry associations, such as the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICJME) and World Association of Medical Editors (WAME), that set standards and provide guidelines for best practices in order to meet these requirements.

Conflict of interest

Authors are expected to describe sources of the research funding, a role of the potential sponsor in planning, executing and analysis of the study, and the influence (bias) which the funding organization had on the content of the article. Other relationships (such as employment, consultancies, stock ownership, honoraria, paid expert testimony) providing potential sources of conflict of interest in relation to the submitted article should also be revealed.

If a conflict of interest is suspected, the author is obliged to report this in the author’s statement submitted in Editorial System while uploading initially the manuscript.

If there are no conflicts of interest, the following statement should be included in Disclosures and acknowledgments:

“The authors declare no conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. The research was funded by……...”

or

“The authors declare no conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors”.

Ghostwriting, guest authorship and plagiarism policy

“Health Problems of Civilization” has procedures in place to prevent ghostwriting, guest authorship, and plagiarism. Each manuscript submitted to “Health Problems of Civilization” is checked for the plagiarism (iThenticate - plagiarism checker).

In case artificial intelligence (AI) was used in the creation of the manuscript, the detailed description of the use of AI should be included.

Informed consent policy

All individuals have individual rights that are not to be infringed. Individual participants in studies have, the right to decide what happens to the (identifiable) personal data gathered, to what they have said during a study, as well as to any photograph that was taken. This is especially true concerning images of vulnerable people (e.g. minors, patients, refugees, etc). In many instances authors need to secure written consent before including images. Identifying details (names, dates of birth, identity numbers, biometrical characteristics (such as for example facial features) of the participants that were studied should not be published in written descriptions, photographs, and genetic profiles unless the information is essential for scholarly purposes and the participant (or parent/guardian if the participant is a minor or incapable or legal representative) gave written informed consent for publication. Under certain circumstances consent is not required as long as information is anonymized and the submission does not include images that may identify the person.

Informed consent for publication should be obtained if there is any doubt. For example, masking the eye region in photographs of participants is inadequate protection of anonymity.

If identifying characteristics are altered to protect anonymity, such as in genetic profiles, authors should provide assurance that alterations do not distort meaning.

Exceptions where it is not necessary to obtain consent:

• Images such as x rays, laparoscopic images, ultrasound images, brain scans, pathology slides unless there is a concern about identifying information in which case, authors should ensure that consent is obtained.

• If images are being reused from prior publications, the Publisher will assume that the prior publication obtained the relevant information regarding consent. Authors should provide the appropriate attribution for republished images.

Authors’ statements

While submitting the manuscript, authors are obliged to attach:

1) a scanned Authors’ declaration form Authors Statement with signature of corresponding author,

2) the declaration RODO signed by all the authors of the article concerning the processing of personal data (GDPR).

The statements may also be digitally signed (with the use of a digital signature).

Preparation of manuscripts

The paper should be written in English (Authors from Poland may submit the paper in Polish) and be communicative, clear and concise. The manuscript should follow the formatting and layout according to the following templates:

Oryginal paper

Review paper

Case report

Work layout

The texts of the submitted articles should not exceed*:

-       in original papers, the text should not exceed: 4400 words excluding tables and references, typewritten, double-spaced, 12 points font Times New Roman, up to 30 items of literature;

-       in case studies, the text should not exceed: 2200 words excluding tables and references, typewritten, double-spaced, 12 points font Times New Roman, up to 10 items of literature;

-       in review papers, the text should not exceed: 4400 words excluding tables and references, typewritten, double-spaced, 12 points font Times New Roman, up to 50 items of literature;

*Papers exceeding the required length or the number of items of literature will be individually considered by the Editor-in-Chief.

Original papers should be organized in a standard form with separate:

-       Title in English (Authors from Poland are expected to provide the title in Polish as well),

-       Keywords (5 keywords from the Medical Subject Headings [MeSH] catalogue, in English; Authors from Poland are expected to provide the keywords in Polish as well),

-       Summary (150-200 words, in English, divided into sections: Background, Material and methods, Results, Conclusions; Authors from Poland are expected to provide the summary in Polish as well),

-       Introduction,

-       Aim of the work,

-       Material and methods,

-       Results,

-       Discussion,

-       Conclusions,

-       Disclosures and acknowledgements,

-       References.

The article may have sub-sections in italics.

Review papers should be divided to the following sections:

-       Title in English (Authors from Poland are expected to provide the title in Polish as well),

-       Keywords (5 keywords from the Medical Subject Headings [MeSH] catalogue, in English; Authors from Poland are expected to provide the keywords in Polish as well),

-       Summary (150-200 words, in English; Authors from Poland are expected to provide the summary in Polish as well),

-       Introduction,

-       Aim of the work,

-       Methods,

-       Literature review results,

-       Conclusions,

-       Disclosures and acknowledgements,

-       References.

The article may have sub-sections in italics.

Case studies should be divided to the following sections:

-       Title in English (Authors from Poland are expected to provide the title in Polish as well),

-       Keywords (5 keywords from the Medical Subject HeadingsMedical Subject Headings [MeSH] catalogue, in English; Authors from Poland are expected to provide the keywords in Polish as well),

-       Summary (150-200 words, in English; Authors from Poland are expected to provide the summary in Polish as well),

-       Introduction,

-       Case description,

-       Case analysis,

-       Conclusions,

-       Disclosures and acknowledgements,

-       References.

The article may have sub-sections in italics.

Guidelines for statistical reporting in original research/experimental papers

The original research/experimental papers to be published in “Health Problems of Civilization” should contain information on the applied research methodology, together with a description of the applied methods of statistical analysis. This information should include:

1) characteristics of the population and/or the research sample, in particular the size and method of selecting/determining the sample, and a description of the source of the statistical data acquired. For processed data, details of any data corrections/transformations should be included. If necessary, provide a description of the data collection methods (e.g. surveys, interviews, observations, experiments, etc.). The information on the surveys/interviews must contain information about the wording of the questions, as well as the type of questions (e.g. open, closed, single/multiple choice etc.);

2) it is expected that the papers sent to “Health Problems of Civilization” will provide a brief/concise description of the data analysis methods used in the research, with reference to the relevant/original scientific publications that contain a more detailed description of the statistical methods used. When advanced methods are used, a brief justification of their implementation/selection should also be provided;

3) all unusual statistical terms, abbreviations and symbols used in the paper should be properly defined. The units of measurement given in all tables and figures should be clearly defined. In the appropriate reference, the name and version of the statistical software package used should be specified, and when statistical inference methods are also used, the adopted alpha (α) significance level/threshold should also be provided;

4) when reporting the results of statistical tests, in addition to the p-value, the value of the test statistic and the number of degrees of freedom should be provided. In order to ensure full transparency and to provide complete and reliable information about the research results, the Authors should provide accurate values of “p” for all performed statistical tests. Exceptions are p-values smaller than 0.001, which can be expressed as p<0.001, and p-values greater than 0.99, which can be reported as p>0.99.

5) the text should clearly state what measures of the statistical description (central tendency, volatility/diversity) are presented. In the case of multivariate models, all the variables included in the models should be presented, and the scientific/substantive justification for including them in the model should be provided. The model verification process should also be conducted;

6) in numbers less than one, zero should be written before the decimal point, e.g. 0.001.

Figures, Tables and Schemes

Instructions concerning tables, figures, and photographs:

-     they should be provided with numbers and captions;

-     they should be placed within the text;

-     they should be numbered according to their sequence in the text;

-     the text should include references to all tables and figures (Figure 1, Table 1, etc.);

-     in addition, figures and photographs must be attached as separate xls, stg, pdf, cdr, eps, tif or jpg files;

-     the same results should not be repeated in tables and figures;

-     the illustrative material should be prepared in black and white or in grayscale (the journal is printed in black and white);

-     symbols, e.g. arrows or stars, as well as abbreviations used in tables or figures should be clearly explained in a legend so that they are legible and comprehensible irrespective of the paper text.

If a figure or table has been developed on the basis of some other figure or table, the source should be provided. In the case of reprinting a table or figure from another publication, obtaining the publisher’s permission is necessary.

Latin binomial names of micro-organisms, plants and animals

Latin species names should be written in full the first time the name appears in text; subsequently, only use the first letter of the genus name followed by the species epithet (e.g. Escherichia coli, then E. coli). Subspecies should be italized (Corynebacterium diphtheriae subsp. mitis); groups and types should be designated by capital letters or Arabic figures (e.g. Staphylococcus aureus group A). Common names should not have an initial capital letter nor should they be underlined in the manuscript, viz. pseudomonad, salmonellas. The specific name should be given in full in the captions to tables and figures. Major ranks should be written with an initial capital (e.g. Enterobacteriaceae).

Citation and references

References should be quoted in order of citation. In the text, reference numbers should be placed in square brackets [ ] and placed before the punctuation; for example [1], [1-3] or [1,3].

At least 75% of the references should be no older than the last 3 years. The reference list should be arranged in the order in which the citations appear in the text.

If the number of authors exceed 6, after the sixth name “et al.” should be written. If the article has a DOI (Digital Object Identifier) number, please enter it at the end of the bibliographic record as a full link, e.g. https://doi.org/10.5114/hpc.2017.70524

Journal citation:

Tomao P, Ciceroni L, D’Ovidio MC, De Rosa M, Vonesch N, Iavicoli S, et al. Prevalence and incidence of antibodies to Borrelia burgdorferi and to tick-borne encephalitis virus in agricultural and forestry workers from Tuscany, Italy. Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis. 2005; 24(7): 457–463.

Journal with a supplement number:

Kalman M, Inchley J, Sigmundova D, Iannotti RJ, Tynjälä JA, Hamrik Z, et al. Secular trends in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity in 32 countries from 2002 to 2010: a cross-national perspective. The European Journal of Public Health. 2015; 25(Suppl. 2): 37-40.

Journal volume with part number:

Abend SM, Kulish N. The psychoanalytic method from an epistemological viewpoint. Int J Psychoanal. 2002; 83(Pt 2): 491-5.

Journal issue with part number:

Ahrar K, Madoff DC, Gupta S, Wallace MJ, Price RE, Wright KC. Development of a large animal model for lung tumors. J Vasc Interv Radiol. 2002; 13(9 Pt 1): 923-8.

Online journal citation:

Zhang M, Holman CD, Price SD, Sanfilippo FM, Preen DB, Bulsara MK. Comorbidity and repeat admission to hospital for adverse drug reactions in older adults: retrospective cohort study. BMJ. 2009 Jan 7; 338: a2752. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.a2752

Electronic Publish Ahead of Print:

Yu WM, Hawley TS, Hawley RG, Qu CK. Immortalization of yolk sac-derived precursor cells. Blood. 2002 Nov 15; 100(10): 3828-31. Epub 2002 Jul 5.

Book:

Biddle SJ, Mutrie N. Psychology of physical activity: determinants, well-being, and interventions. 2th edition. London: Routledge; 2008.

Chapter from a book:

Hung Chih Yu A. Exploring motivation for leisure-based physical activity: a case study of college students. In: Burns R, Robinson K., editors. Proceedings of the 2006 Northeastern Recreation Research Symposium. Newtown Square: Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Research Station; 2006. p. 342-349.

Forthcoming/In press:

Tian D, Araki H, Stahl E, Bergelson J, Kreitman M. Signature of balancing selection in Arabidopsis. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. Forthcoming 2002.

Materials published online without DOI number:

WHO. Mental Health and COVID-19: Early evidence of the pandemic’s impact: Scientific brief [Internet]. Geneva: WHO; 2022 March 2 [access 2023 Apr 20]. Available from: https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/WHO-2019-nCoV-Sci_Brief-Mental_health-2022.1

Materials published in a language other than English:

Wielkoszyński T. [Modified, spectrophotometric method of silicon determination in biological material]. Diagn Lab. 2000; 36(3): 377–385 (in Polish).

Article sharing

The Editorial Board does not allow authors to include articles before peer-review or articles still being under the review, on private websites or in institutional repositories.

The author may include the online frist version of their article on private websites and in institutional repositories (the peer-reviewed version, including the changes implemented during the review process and approved by the Editorial Board to be published online first), provided that they specify the source information (journal title, year, doi, journal website address) and indicate in the content of the article that this is a version prior to publication, and provided that the copyright and publication rights of the article are preserved. After the publication of the article in the journal, the author is responsible for updating the article by replacing it with the post-print with a reference to the journal (including doi) and a link to the published article on the relevant journal website.

The author may individually include the published version of the article (the final PDF file), i.e. the official version issued in the journal, on private websites and in institutional repositories.

Review Process

The registered manuscripts are sent to 2-3 independent experts for scientific evaluation. Submitted papers are accepted for publication after a positive opinion of the independent reviewers. “Health Problems of Civilization” uses a double-blind review process in which authors do not know the identity of their reviewers, nor do the reviewers know the identities of the authors. The evaluation process usually takes 2-4 months.

The Editor-in-Chief reserves the right to reject a paper which is not consistent with the journal profile; does not meet the requirements imposed on scientific papers; has received negative scientific reviews; does not follow the instructions on submitting and preparing articles; has not been corrected in accordance with the directions of the Editor-in-Chief or the reviewers; bears attributes of plagiarism. The final decision on accepting a paper for publication or rejecting it is always taken by the Editor-in-Chief.

Duties and responsibilities of authors

The author is obliged to prepare and send the article in accordance with the requirements set out in the journal. Moreover the author is obliged to submit declaration complemented by a statement which will be included: a statement about the originality of the content of the article (work not yet published anywhere), the integrity of the copyrights of others, no conflict of interest or its application, as well as the superior permission to publish an article in the journal. Authors are responsible for disclosing all financial and personal relationships that might bias or be seen to bias their work.

Duties and responsibilities of reviewers

Articles are selected for publication in double blind selection system and published in open access system. Reviewer shall review by the electronic system on the basis of questions prepared for a specific title. Reviewer is also possible to send individual comments to be published in the article content.

Duties and responsibilities of editors

Editors are responsible for deciding which of the articles are accepted for publication. Editors act in a balanced, objective and fair way while carrying out their expected duties, without discrimination on grounds of gender, sexual orientation, religious or political beliefs, ethnic or geographical origin of the authors.