An International Academic Publisher
Open Access

For Authors

About This Guide

Article Types

GF Publishing journals accept the following article types. Authors should identify the article type in their cover letter.

Peer Review Process

1

Submit

Submit your manuscript and all required documents to the respective journal's editorial office via email. Your submission must include: (1) manuscript file in .docx format, (2) cover letter stating significance and novelty, (3) title page with author details, (4) conflict of interest and funding declarations, and (5) any supplementary materials.

2

Initial Review

The editorial office conducts an initial screening within 5-7 business days. This includes: scope and relevance assessment, formatting check against author guidelines, plagiarism screening, and verification of ethical compliance (institutional review board approval, informed consent, etc.). Manuscripts that do not meet these criteria may be returned to authors for revision or rejected at this stage.

3

Peer Review

Each manuscript is reviewed by at least two independent experts under a double-blind peer review model, where neither authors nor reviewers know each other's identities. Reviewers evaluate the manuscript on: scientific rigor and validity, originality and significance, clarity of presentation, and relevance to the journal's scope. The typical review period is 4-6 weeks. Authors may suggest potential reviewers, but the editorial office reserves the right to make the final selection.

4

Decision

After receiving all reviews, the handling editor makes one of the following decisions: Accept — the manuscript is ready for publication with no further changes; Minor Revision — minor changes required, typically reviewed by the editor without re-review; Major Revision — substantial changes required, typically sent back to reviewers for re-evaluation; Reject — the manuscript is not suitable for publication in the journal.

Manuscript Preparation

  • Manuscripts must be written in clear, academic English. Authors whose first language is not English are strongly encouraged to have their manuscripts reviewed by a native English-speaking colleague or a professional language editing service before submission.
  • Include a structured abstract (Background, Methods, Results, Conclusions) of 250-300 words.
  • Provide 4-6 keywords for indexing purposes. Keywords should be specific to the research topic and, where possible, use MeSH (Medical Subject Headings) terms to improve discoverability.
  • Follow APA 7th edition for citations and references.
  • Manuscripts should be submitted as Microsoft Word (.docx) files. Use a standard font (Times New Roman or Arial, 12pt), double-spaced text, and continuous line numbering throughout the manuscript to facilitate the review process.
  • Include a separate title page containing: full title, running title (max 50 characters), all author names with institutional affiliations, ORCID IDs (strongly recommended for all authors), corresponding author's full contact information (email, postal address, telephone), and word count (excluding abstract, references, tables, and figures).
  • Tables and figures should be placed within the manuscript at appropriate positions. Each table/figure must have a descriptive caption and be numbered consecutively. High-resolution figures (minimum 300 dpi) should be provided as separate files upon acceptance.
  • Supplementary materials (datasets, questionnaires, code, multimedia files, etc.) may be submitted alongside the manuscript and will be published online only. All supplementary materials must be clearly labeled and referenced in the main text.
  • Define all abbreviations at first use in the text. Avoid excessive use of abbreviations in the abstract.
  • Use International System of Units (SI units) throughout the manuscript. Laboratory values may be accompanied by conventional units in parentheses.
  • Report statistical methods with sufficient detail to enable verification. Include the statistical software and version used. Specify effect sizes and confidence intervals where appropriate.
  • Download the manuscript template for each journal: HNP Template [#] | JNH Template [#]. Using the template ensures your submission meets all formatting requirements.

Publication Ethics

GF Publishing is a member of / follows the guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and adheres to its principles for maintaining the integrity of the scholarly record. All parties involved in the publication process — authors, editors, reviewers, and the publisher — are expected to uphold the highest ethical standards.

Research Involving Human Subjects

Research involving human participants, human data, or human tissue must have been conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki. Authors must include a statement in the manuscript confirming that the study was approved by an appropriate institutional review board or ethics committee, providing the full name of the committee and the approval reference number. Informed consent must have been obtained from all participants, and this should be stated in the manuscript.

Animal Studies

Research involving animals must comply with institutional, national, and international guidelines for animal care and use. Authors must include a statement identifying the approving ethics committee and reference number, where applicable.

Research Integrity & Data Fabrication

GF Publishing takes all allegations of research misconduct seriously. Data fabrication, falsification, image manipulation, and duplicate publication are unacceptable. The publisher reserves the right to investigate any concerns raised and to contact authors' institutions, funders, or regulatory bodies as appropriate. Confirmed misconduct will result in retraction of the published article and notification to relevant parties.

Conflicts of Interest

All authors must disclose any financial, personal, or professional relationships that could be perceived as influencing the research or its interpretation. Conflicts of interest may include, but are not limited to: employment, consultancies, stock ownership, honoraria, paid expert testimony, patent applications/registrations, and research grants or other funding. If there are no conflicts of interest, authors must include a statement: "The authors declare no conflicts of interest related to this work." The declaration should appear in a dedicated section at the end of the manuscript, before the reference list.

Data Availability

GF Publishing supports open research practices and encourages authors to make the data underlying their findings publicly available. Authors must include a Data Availability Statement in their manuscript describing how the data supporting the results can be accessed. Data may be deposited in: a public repository (e.g., Figshare, Dryad, Zenodo, or discipline-specific repositories), included as supplementary material with the manuscript, or made available upon reasonable request to the corresponding author, in which case the statement should indicate the conditions of access. Where data cannot be shared publicly (e.g., due to privacy restrictions or institutional policies), authors must explain the reason in the Data Availability Statement.

Open Access & Copyright

All articles published in GF Publishing journals are fully open access under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0). There are no subscription fees, registration barriers, or embargo periods — all content is immediately and permanently free to read, download, copy, distribute, and adapt for any lawful purpose, provided that appropriate credit is given to the original author(s) and source.

Authors retain full copyright of their published work. By submitting to GF Publishing journals, authors grant the publisher a non-exclusive license to publish, distribute, and archive the article in all forms and media. All third-party users are granted rights under the CC BY 4.0 license. Authors are free to: archive the published version (Version of Record) in institutional or subject repositories; reuse figures, tables, and text in future works (with appropriate citation); and share copies of their article for teaching and conference purposes.

Archiving & Digital Preservation

GF Publishing is committed to the long-term preservation of all published content. Our digital preservation strategy includes: (1) Archiving published articles in the publisher's own digital repository with regular backups; (2) Registration of Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs) through CrossRef to ensure persistent identification and linking; (3) Submission of article metadata to major indexing databases and discovery services; (4) Commitment to depositing content with a recognized digital preservation service (e.g., CLOCKSS, Portico, or Internet Archive) as the journal portfolio matures; (5) ISSN registration for each journal, ensuring standardized identification in the global serials system. Our ISSNs are registered with the ISSN International Centre and listed in the ISSN Portal. In the unlikely event that a journal ceases publication, all published content will remain accessible through our digital archive and the designated preservation service.

Post-Publication Policy

Submit to

Please submit your manuscript to the respective journal email:

Healthcare and Nursing Practice
hnp@guokangfuture.com
Journal of Nursing Humanities
jnh@guokangfuture.com

Please include "Manuscript Submission" in the email subject line and attach all required documents as described above.