1. Submission Overview

Before you decide to publish with Healthcare and Nursing Practice (HNP), please read the following items carefully and make sure that you are well aware of Editorial Policies and the following requirements.

1.1 Topic Suitability

The topic of the manuscript must fit the scope of the journal. Please refer to Aims and Scope for more information.

1.2 Open Access and Copyright

The journal adopts the Gold Open Access publishing model and distributes content under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0). Copyright is retained by authors. Please make sure that you are well aware of these policies.

1.3 Publication Fees

Please refer to Article Processing Charge for publication fees. There are no additional charges based on color, length, figures, or other elements.

1.4 Language Editing

All submissions are required to be presented clearly and cohesively in good English. Authors whose first language is not English are advised to have their manuscripts checked or edited by a native English speaker before submission to ensure the high quality of expression. A well-organized manuscript in good English would make the peer review even the whole editorial handling more smoothly and efficiently.

2. Submission Preparation

2.1 Cover Letter

Each manuscript may optionally be accompanied by a cover letter. It should be concise and explain why it fits the scope of the journal, why it would be attractive to readers, and so on.

2.2 Types of Publications

The journal publishes Original Research Article, Editorial, etc. There is no restriction on the number of figures, tables, and references, provided that the manuscript is concise and comprehensive. For more details about paper type, please refer to the following table.

2.3 Manuscript Structure

In addition to referring to the Instructions for Authors set out in the following, we also recommend using our templates to prepare the submission files.

2.3.1 Title Page & Back Matter

2.3.1.1 Title — The title of the manuscript should be concise, specific and relevant, with no more than 16 words if possible.

2.3.1.2 Authors and Affiliations — Authors' full names should be listed. The initials of middle names can be provided. Institutional addresses and email addresses for all authors should be listed. At least one author should be designated as corresponding author. In addition, corresponding authors are suggested to provide their Open Researcher and Contributor ID upon submission. Please note that any change to authorship is not allowed after manuscript acceptance.

2.3.1.3 Abstract — 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. It is not allowed to contain results which are not presented and substantiated in the manuscript, or exaggerate the main conclusions. Citations should not be included in the abstract.

2.3.1.4 Keywords — Three to eight keywords should be provided, which are specific to the article, yet reasonably common within the subject discipline.

2.3.1.5 Acknowledgments — This is an optional section where authors can acknowledge people and/or institutions that provided non-financial support and/or helped with the research and/or preparation of the manuscript. People to be acknowledged include those who do not qualify as authors. Examples of non-financial support include externally-supplied equipment/biological sources, writing assistance, administrative support, and contributions from non-authors. Authors are responsible to obtain the permission for acknowledging people and/or institutions to be included in this list. If none of the above is pertinent, state "Not applicable".

2.3.1.6 Funding — Authors should declare all financial support and sources that were used to perform the research, analysis, and/or article publication. Financial supports are generally in the form of grants, royalties, consulting fees and others. Organizations that provide the grants and grant numbers should be declared. If the study is not involved with this issue, state "None." in this section.

2.3.1.7 Conflict of Interest — At the time of submission, authors must declare any (potential) conflicts or competing interests with any institutes, organizations or agencies that might influence the integrity of results or objective interpretation of their submitted works. For more information, see our Conflict of Interest Policy. State "The authors declare they have no competing interests" or words to that effect, if the authors do not have anything to declare.

2.3.1.8 Authors' Contributions — Each author is expected to have made substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work, or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data, or the creation of new software used in the work, or have drafted the work or substantively revised it. We encourage authors to use Contributor Roles Taxonomy (CRediT) in describing each contributor's specific contribution to the scholarly output in the Author Contributions section.

Below shows a sample Author Contributions section written based on the CRediT:

Conceptualization: Author 1, Author 2
Investigation: Author 3, Author 4, Author 5
Methodology: Author 6
Formal analysis: Author 7
Writing – original draft: Author 8
Writing – review & editing: Author 9

If an article is single-authored, please include "The author contributed solely to the article." in this section.

2.3.1.9 Ethics Approval and Consent to Participate — Research involving human subjects, human material or human data must be performed in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki and approved by an appropriate ethics committee. An informed consent to participate in the study should also be obtained from participants, or their parents or legal guardians for children under 16. A statement detailing the name of the ethics committee (including the reference number where appropriate) and the informed consent obtained must appear in the manuscripts reporting such research.

Studies involving animals and cell lines must include a statement on ethical approval. More information is available at Editorial Policies.

If the manuscript does not involve such issue, please state "Not applicable." in this section.

2.3.1.10 Consent for Publication — If human subjects were involved, state what form of consent (e.g., written and/or verbal) and whether or not permission was obtained from each of the subjects to publish their data and/or images. Efforts must be made by the authors to at least mask or conceal any identifying information of the patients that appear in writing or within photograph. If consent taking was not performed when human subjects were involved, provide a justification herein.

If none of the above is pertinent, state "Not applicable".

2.3.1.11 Availability of Data — In order to maintain the integrity, transparency and reproducibility of research records, authors should include this section in their manuscripts, detailing where the data supporting their findings can be found. Data can be deposited into data repositories or published as supplementary information in the journal. Authors who cannot share their data should state that the data will not be shared and explain it. If a manuscript does not involve such issue, please state "Not applicable." in this section.

2.3.1.12 Further Disclosure — This section is reserved to inform the readers and editors of a few aspects: (i) part of or the entire set of findings have been presented in a conference, academic meeting, congress, and so on; and/or (ii) the paper has been uploaded to or deposited in a preprint server. In this case, provide the name of the preprint server and associated accession number or DOI of the preprint.

2.3.2 Main Text

Manuscripts of different types are structured with different sections of content. Please refer to Types of Publications to make sure which sections should be included in the manuscripts.

2.3.2.1 Introduction — Introduction should provide a background on the research topic, and a focused literature review that includes known and controversial findings, challenging issues, and the hypothesis on this research. At the end, briefly summarize the materials and methods as well as the research rationale. Note that the Introduction should not contain results or conclusions.

2.3.2.2 Literature Review — Literature review is a systematic analysis and review of the research achievements, existing problems and new development trends of the research topic in a certain period of time. It should be based on a large amount of literature related to the research topic, and the information should be gathered, analyzed and refined. A complete and fluent literature review is the solid foundation of the significance and value of the topic selected, and it should be comprehensive, critical and cutting-edge.

2.3.2.3 Research Methods — Research method should be described in sufficient details to allow the research work to be reliably reproduced in another laboratory, and to leave the readers in no doubt as to how the results were derived. Please also remember to include statistical analysis where the statistical methods with enough details including threshold cut-off are provided to enable an appraisal of the work and an analysis of the data to reproduce the results.

2.3.2.4 Results and Discussion — Results should be presented in a logical sequence in the text, tables and figures, usually matching the order as described in research method. Repeated presentation of the same data in different forms should be avoided.

The discussion should compare and relate the new or major findings in the results to the existing body of knowledge in the field, in terms of improvement or further advance of current knowledge and technologies, and overall significance and contribution to the field as well as the future research focuses that stemmed from this study.

2.3.2.5 Conclusion — This section should restate the problem, summarize key findings, and analyze the limitations of the study as well as its implications, practically and theoretically. It is important to note that the conclusion is not a repetition of the discussion or research findings. It should finish the paper with a forward-looking tone, especially addressing theoretical denotations or new findings that you or other researchers might build on this topic. No in-text citations should be included in a conclusion.

2.3.2.6 References — Authors are responsible for the accuracy and completeness of their references and for correct text citation. The references in reference list should be arranged in alphabetical order of the first author's surname. Authors referenced should be listed with their surname followed by their initials. All references should also appear as an in-text citation. Include DOI if available. When listing references, follow APA style.

Examples of reference style:

[1] Aguinis, H., & Lawal, S. O. (2013). eLancing: A review and research agenda for bridging the science–practice gap. Human Resource Management Review, 23(1), 6-17.

[2] Cooke, F. L., Dickmann, M., & Parry, E. (2022). Building sustainable societies through human-centered human resource management: Emerging issues and research opportunities. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 33(1), 1-15.

[3] Inglehart, R. (1997). Modernization and postmodernization: Cultural, economic, and political change in 43 societies. Princeton University Press.

2.3.2.7 Supplementary Materials — Additional data and information can be uploaded as Supplementary Materials to accompany the manuscripts. The supplementary materials will also be available to the referees as part of the peer-review process.

2.4 Manuscript Formats

2.4.1 File Formats — Manuscript files can be in DOC and DOCX formats and should not be locked or protected.

2.4.2 Length — The word limit is specified in the item "Types of Publications". There are no restrictions on number of figures or amount of supporting documents. Authors are encouraged to present and discuss their findings concisely.

2.4.3 Language — Manuscripts must be written in English.

2.4.4 Figures & Tables — Figures and tables should be cited in numerical order and placed after the paragraph where they are first cited. All figures and tables should be clear and readable. Please use three-line tables.

Permission for use of copyrighted materials from other sources, including re-published, adapted, modified, or partial figures and images from the internet, must be obtained. It is authors' responsibility to acquire the licenses, to follow any citation instructions requested by third-party rights holders, and cover any supplementary charges.

2.4.5 Equations — Equations should be editable and not appear in a picture format. Authors are advised to use either the Microsoft Equation Editor or the MathType for display and inline equations.

3. Research and Publication Ethics

HNP fully adheres to the Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). HNP requires that authors provide an Institutional Review Board Statement and Informed Consent Statement if their research involves human subjects or animal subjects.

4. Authorship

Authorship credit of HNP should be solely based on substantial contributions to a published study, as specified in the following four criteria:

• Substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work, or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work;
• Drafting the work or revising it critically for important intellectual content;
• Final approval of the version to be published;
• Agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.

All those who meet those criteria should be identified as authors. Authors must specify their contributions in the section Authors' Contributions of their manuscripts. Contributors who do not meet all the four criteria (like only involved in acquisition of funding, general supervision of a research group, general administrative support, writing assistance, technical editing, language editing, proofreading, etc.) should be acknowledged in the section of Acknowledgement in the manuscript rather than being listed as authors.

If a large multiple-author group has conducted the work, the group ideally should decide who will be authors before the work starts and confirm authors before submission. All authors of the group named as authors must meet all the four criteria for authorship.

AI and AI-assisted technologies should not be listed as an author or co-author.

5. Suggesting / Excluding Reviewers

During the submission process, please suggest three potential reviewers with the appropriate expertise to review the manuscript. The editors will not necessarily approach these referees. Please provide detailed contact information (addresses, homepages, phone numbers, and e-mail addresses). The proposed referees should neither be current collaborators of the co-authors nor have published with any of the co-authors of the manuscript within the last three years. Proposed reviewers should be from different institutions from those of the authors. You may identify appropriate Editorial Board members of the journal as potential reviewers and suggest reviewers from the authors that you frequently cite in your papers.

You are welcome to exclude a limited number of researchers as potential Editors or reviewers of your manuscript. To ensure a fair and rigorous peer review process, we ask that you keep your exclusions to a maximum of three people. If you wish to exclude additional referees, please explain or justify your concerns — this information will be helpful for Editors when they decide whether to honor your request.

6. Editors and Journal Staff as Authors

Editorial independence is extremely important and Editorial Office staff do not interfere with editorial decisions.

Editorial staff or Editors shall not be involved in the processing of their own academic work. Submissions authored by editorial staff/Editors will be assigned to at least two independent outside reviewers. Decisions will be made by other Editorial Board members who do not have conflict of interests with the author. Journal staff are not involved in the processing of their own work submitted to HNP journal.

7. Policy of Use of AI and AI-assisted Technologies in Scientific Writing

Generative AI and AI-assisted technologies (e.g., large language models) are expected to be increasingly used to create content. In the writing process of manuscripts, using AI and AI-assisted technologies to complete key researcher work, such as producing scientific insights, analyzing and interpreting data or drawing scientific conclusions, is not allowed, and they should only be used to improve the readability and language of manuscripts.

AI and AI-assisted technologies should be used under human control and supervision as they may generate incorrect or prejudiced output, and they should not be listed as an author or co-author, nor cited as an author.

The use of AI and AI-assisted technologies should be disclosed by authors in their manuscripts, and a statement will be required in the final publication.

8. Conflict of Interests

HNP requires authors to declare any possible financial and/or non-financial conflicts of interest in the cover letter and back matter, as well as confirm this point when submitting their manuscript in the submission system. If no conflicts of interest exist, authors need to state "The authors declare no conflicts of interest". We also recognize that some authors may be bound by confidentiality agreements, in which cases authors need to state "The authors declare that they are bound by confidentiality agreements that prevent them from disclosing their competing interests in this work".

9. Corrections, Expressions of Concern, and Retractions Policy

HNP is dedicated to maintaining the accuracy and integrity of published research. We take all necessary steps to address errors in published papers, including issuing corrections or, when warranted, retracting articles to preserve the scientific record.

Authors are encouraged to promptly inform the journal if they identify concerns with their published work, whether minor inaccuracies or significant issues that may impact the paper's conclusions.

Correction (Erratum)

For minor errors that do not affect scientific conclusions, the online and PDF versions will be updated with an update notice.

For errors impacting scientific accuracy, a formal Correction (Erratum) will be published online alongside the corrected manuscript, clearly detailing the changes. A print notice will follow. Authors are expected to cooperate in correcting errors to uphold research integrity.

Retractions and Expressions of Concern

If errors or irreproducibility invalidate a paper's core findings, a Retraction will be issued. Accumulated errors may also lead to retraction if they undermine confidence in the data integrity.

In cases of potential major errors or misconduct, the journal may notify the author's institution and publish an Editorial Expression of Concern pending institutional investigation.

Retractions are issued in confirmed cases of research misconduct, following COPE guidelines. The purpose of such notices is to inform readers and safeguard the transparency and integrity of scientific record. Responsibility for investigating misconduct lies with the relevant institutions, and retraction notices may include references to institutional findings.

Through these measures, HNP strives to promote transparency, accountability, and trust in scientific research.

COPE. (2019). Retraction Guidelines. Retrieved from https://publicationethics.org/guidance/guideline/retraction-guidelines

10. Publication Ethics Statement

10.1 Plagiarism Policy

Plagiarism, data fabrication and image manipulation are not tolerated. Plagiarism is not acceptable in HNP submissions.

Plagiarism includes copying text, ideas, images, or data from another source, even from your own publications, without giving any credit to the original source.

Reuse of text that is copied from another source must be between quotes and the original source must be cited. If a study's design or the manuscript's structure or language has been inspired by previous works, these works must be explicitly cited.

All HNP submissions are checked for plagiarism using the industry standard software iThenticate. If plagiarism is detected during the peer review process, the manuscript may be rejected. If plagiarism is detected after publication, an investigation will take place and action taken in accordance with our policies.

10.2 Citation Policy

• Authors should ensure that where material is taken from other sources (including their own published writing) the source is clearly cited and that where appropriate permission is obtained.
• Authors should not engage in excessive self-citation of their own work.
• Authors should not copy references from other publications if they have not read the cited work.
• Authors should not preferentially cite their own or their friends', peers', or institution's publications.
• Authors should not cite advertisements or advertorial material.

11. Complaints and Appeals Policy

HNP is committed to addressing concerns fairly and promptly. Complaints about editorial decisions, ethical issues, or journal management should be emailed to hnp@gfhap.com with documented evidence. We aim to acknowledge complaints within 5 working days and resolve them within 30 days. Appeals must be submitted within 14 days after receiving the initial decision.