Manuscript Requirements-Author Guidelines

12/26/12

CORRESPONDENCE: Jeffrey A. Burr, PhD, Editor-in-Chief, Department of Gerontology, 100 Morrissey Blvd., University of Massachusetts Boston, Boston, MA 02125-3393. Email: ROA@umb.edu.

SUBMISSION: Manuscripts must be submitted for review via Research on Aging’s SAGE Track website at http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/roa. The entire review process is anonymous. The Editor-in-Chief makes the final decision on each manuscript after taking reviewers’ evaluations into consideration.

GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS: Manuscripts should be prepared in accordance with the most recent APA Reference Style, using a word-processor (save as .doc, .docx, or .rtf). Do not send PDF files. Times New Roman (12 pt) is the preferred text font. All manuscripts should be double-spaced with at least 1” margins on all sides. Please number all pages beginning with the abstract, including the reference pages, tables and figures. In order that manuscripts may be sent anonymously, authors are requested to place no form of identification either upon the body of the manuscript, upon the required abstract or in the file names. Submission of a manuscript implies commitment to publish in Research on Aging. Authors submitting a manuscript to the journal should not simultaneously submit the same manuscript to another journal, nor should manuscripts have been published elsewhere in substantially similar form or with substantially similar content. Content should be uploaded and placed in the following order.

Title Page: The title page should be a separate document and include:

• All authors’ names, affiliations, e-mail addresses, and highest professional degrees, and the corresponding author’s address and telephone number.
• Any acknowledgements should appear at the bottom of the title page. Funding acknowledgements should include the full name of the funding agency followed by the grant number.
• A brief (50 word maximum) biographical statement for all authors at the bottom of the title page.

Original Research

Manuscripts for full-length original research articles should not exceed 8,000 words, including the abstract, text, and references. Typically, there will be no more than five tables and figures per manuscript. The following organization applies to all research article submissions:

Abstract: Authors should include an abstract of no more than 200 words in paragraph form without citations as the first page of the manuscript. This abstract should be factual and present the objective of the study, methods, main findings, and the principal conclusions. The abstract should be followed by 4 to 6 key words for indexing.

Introduction: Rationale for the study and statement of purpose.

Literature Review: Literature review with sub-headings, as necessary, and conceptual framework (where appropriate).

Research Design: Specify design features including sampling strategy, data collection, measurement, and analytic strategy. Additionally, please note the approval of human subjects research by all Institutional Review Boards, where appropriate. If reporting qualitative methodology, please review the COREQ guidelines for reporting qualitative research: http://www.equator-network.org/resource-centre/library-of-health-research-reporting/reporting-guidelines/qualitative-research/

Results: Describe the sample attributes and present the results for each research question or hypotheses. When statistical tests are preformed, provide test statistics and p values.

Discussion: Interpret the findings in the context of other research, conceptual frameworks, theory, and study design. Address the study limitations.

Conclusion: State the bottom line and what the results mean for policy, practice with seniors, or future research.

Tables and Figures: Tables and figures generally convey information not presented in the text. Word processing programs should be used to produce tables without vertical lines, following the most recent edition of the APA Style Manual. Tables should be placed at the end of the article, following the references. Each figure should be submitted as a separate file. Preferred placement of tables and figures should be noted in the text. Example:

[Insert Table 1 about here]

Systematic Literature Reviews and Meta-Analysis

Traditional literature reviews are not appropriate; however, systematic evidence-based reviews are encouraged as well as rigorous meta-analyses. These manuscripts should follow the above guidelines and report using guidelines of PRISMA: http://www.equator-network.org/resource-centre/library-of-health-research-reporting/reporting-guidelines/systematic-reviews-and-meta-analysis/

English Language

Authors who want to refine the use of English in their manuscripts might consider utilizing the services of SPi, a non-affiliated company that offers Professional Editing Services to authors of journal articles in the areas of science, technology, medicine, and the social sciences. SPi specializes in editing and correcting English-language manuscripts written by authors with a primary language other than English. Visit http://www.prof-editing.com for more information about SPi’s Professional Editing Services, pricing, and turn-around times, or to obtain a free quote or submit a manuscript for language polishing. Manuscripts that are not written using appropriate English language standards will be returned to authors without review.

Please be aware that SAGE has no affiliation with SPi and makes no endorsement of the company. An author’s use of SPi’s services in no way guarantees that his or her submission will ultimately be accepted. Any arrangement an author enters into will be exclusively between the author and SPi, and any costs incurred are the sole responsibility of the author.

If you or your funder wish your article to be freely available online to nonsubscribers immediately upon publication (gold open access), you can opt for it to be included in SAGE Choice, subject to payment of a publication fee. The manuscript submission and peer review procedure is unchanged. On acceptance of your article, you will be asked to let SAGE know directly if you are choosing SAGE Choice. To check journal eligibility and the publication fee, please visit SAGE Choice. For more information on open access options and compliance at SAGE, including self author archiving deposits (green open access) visit SAGE Publishing Policies on our Journal Author Gateway.