Introduction

Journal of Health Administration, a journal published in Persian (with an English abstract) is published by Iran University of Medical Sciences. This journal publishes articles in the fields of healthcare services management, health policy, health in disasters and emergencies, health technology assessment, health information management, medical informatics, health information technology, digital health, artificial intelligence in health, health economics, and medical library and information science. Manuscripts in these fields with a focus of policy-making are prioritized. Journal of Health Administration welcomes manuscript in other health science fields with a main focus on policy-making.

Journal of Health Administration publishes various types of articles, including research articles, review articles, short communications, letter to the editor, policy brief, professional practice, and data papers in the subject areas covered by the journal. The criteria for reviewing and accepting article manuscript include the relevancy of the article to the journal scope and target audience, accuracy of methods, innovation, significance and applicability of the findings, and adherence to ethical standards. The journal does not accept highly technical, statistical, mathematical, or computational manuscripts.

Structure and content

Research article (Original research)

A research article is based on the findings of original studies. The length of the main text should be a minimum of 3000 and a maximum of 5000 words. The manuscript sections should include the following:

• Title Page (English)

• Research Message (English)

• Structured Abstract (English, 250 words)

• Extended Abstract (English, including references and declarations) (2000-2500 words)

• Title Page (Persian)

• Research Message (Persian)

• Structured Abstract (Persian, 250 words)

• Main Text: The main text should include the following sections. Introduction: This section should present the background of the topic, the concept and hypothesis, the significance of the topic, and the study objectives. It should also discuss previous studies and the research gaps. Methods: This section should include sufficient details to enable other researchers to replicate the study. Results: Present the results of the study. Discussion: Analyze and interpret the findings and compare your study with other relevant studies. Limitations: Discuss the limitations and their impact on your results. Conclusion: Summarize the findings and recommendations.

• Declarations

• References

• Supplements (if necessary)

Narrative review

This type of article is written by experts in the field (usually after invitation by editor) to comprehensively review a relevant and novel topics. In a narrative review, the findings and discussions of previously published studies on a specific topic are combined, analyzed, and critiqued. The length of the article should be a minimum of 4000 and a maximum of 6000 words. Additionally, in the references section of this type of article, at least three research papers by the lead authors should be cited. The journal accepts narrative review articles in limited cases. These articles should be in emerging fields and presented by experts.
The narrative reviews should be organized as follows:

• Title Page (English)

• Research Message (English)

• Structured or Unstructured Abstract (English, 250 words)

• Extended Abstract (English, including references and Declarations)

• Title Page (Persian)

• Research Message (Persian)

• Structured or Unstructured Abstract (Persian, 250 words)

• Main Text: The main text should include the following sections. Introduction: In this section, the background of the topic, the concept and the importance of the topic, and the objective of the article are discussed. Previous related reviews should be presented, and the distinction of the current review from them should be clarified. Methods: If necessary, this section may include information to clarify how the review has been conducted (such as keywords used to search databases, the databases, the search strategies, etc. Results: Present the results of the study in appropriate subsections. Discussion: Analyze and interpret the findings. Limitations: Discuss the limitations of the study. Conclusion: Summarize the findings and provide conclusions from the study.

• Declarations References

• Supplements (if necessary)

Systematic review, scoping review and meta-analysis

This type of review must have a focused question, and the authors must follow a standardized protocol along with explicit and systematic methods to search, identify, select, and critically appraisal of relevant sources (for systematic reviews and meta-analysis). Ultimately, the findings from primary or secondary studies are collected, analyzed, and synthesized. This type of manuscripts must be organized in the following sections:

• Title Page (English)

• Research Message (English)

• Structured Abstract (English, 250 words)

• Extended Abstract (including references and Declarations)

• Title Page (in Persian)

• Research Message (in Persian)

• Structured Abstract (in Persian, 250 words)

• The main text should include the following sections: Introduction: This section should address the background of the topic, the concept under consideration in the paper, the importance of the topic, and the objective. It should also include a review of previous related reviews and highlight the distinction of the current review from previous ones. Methods: This section includes information about the type of studies included, participants, search strategy, databases searched, the time period of the search, the time frame of the studies, inclusion and exclusion criteria, the total number of studies retrieved and selected, quality appraisal of included studies, data collection and analysis, synthesis and interpretation of the studies). Results, Discussion, Limitations, and Conclusion

• Declarations.

• References

• Supplements (if necessary)

Short communication

This type of article is similar to a research paper. A short communication is a report of ongoing research with limited research findings. This report is limited to two tables, figures, or charts, with a word count of 1,500-2,000 words (main text). Short communications are organized as follows:

• Title Page (English)

• Research Message (English)

• Structured Abstract (English, 150 words)

• Title Page (Persian)

• Research Message (Persian)

• Structured Abstract (Persian, 150 words)

• The main text, including the following sections: Introduction: The introduction should be brief and limited to describing the problem, the research objectives, and its connection to other significant studies. Methods, Results, Discussion, Limitations, Conclusion

• Declarations

• References

• Supplements (if necessary)

Letter to the editor

This is the shortest type of non-research article, with a maximum length of 700 words and up to five references. The sections of a letter to the editor are as follows:

• Title Page (in Persian and English)

• Abstract (50 words in Persian and English)

• Main Text (in Persian and English)

• Declarations (in Persian and English)

• References

Policy brief

A policy brief is a concise document that focuses on one or more policies. It provides an overview of the key features of the policy under review, typically presenting concerns and possible options for implementation, governance, and financing, and predicts the applications and outcomes of each policy (with or without recommendations). The goal is to guide policymakers in making decisions. It is expected that the policy brief report and analyze current issues/challenges in the health sector along with appropriate policy recommendations. There are two main types of policy briefs:

• Advocacy Brief: Recommends a policy option based on the available evidence.

• Objective Brief: Provides balanced information to policymakers, allowing them to choose the best policy option themselves.

The main text of a policy brief should not exceed 1,500 words, one table, and the maximum 15 references. The sections of this article are as follows:

• Title Page (English)

• Research Message (English)

• Structured Abstract (English, 200 words)

• Extended Abstract (English, up to 1,500 words) including the following sections: Introduction, Policy Analysis, Policy Implications and Recommendations, Conclusion, Declarations, References

• Title Page (Persian)

• Research Message (Persian)

• Structured Abstract (Persian, 200 words)

• Main Text should be organized as follows: Introduction, Policy Analysis (relevant policies and solutions), Policy Implications and Recommendations (Description of the selected policy and interpretation of the outcomes and implications of implementing the selected policy Or analyzing all policy options with the outcomes for each), Conclusion.

• Declarations

• References

Data paper

A data paper is a type of article that describes the data collected by the authors. These raw data must be made publicly available through a public repository with no restrictions. The goal of this article is to enhance data accessibility and transparency, and to contribute to the advancement of scientific research, particularly in the field of artificial intelligence.
The data introduced must be collected by the authors themselves and made available in public repositories. Additionally, the data should be presented in such a way that allows researchers to use them for further scientific research without any restrictions. Furthermore, the data presented should have the potential to enable a broad range of future studies, and therefore, typical research data (e.g., a limited number of cases collected from patient records at a hospital) will not be considered. The data should be fully anonymized by the authors, and identification of individuals from the data should not be possible under any circumstances.

A data paper has a maximum of 3,000 words, and it can include up to two figures/tables and 10 references. The sections of this type of article are as follows:

• Title page (English)

• Unstructured abstract (English, 250 words): The abstract should describe the data collection process and the potential for reusing the data. It should not contain conclusions or interpretations.

• Data specification table (English)

• Value of the data (English)

• Extended abstract (English) including the following sections: Introduction, Data description, Methods, Limitations, Declarations, References

• Title page (Persian)

• Unstructured abstract (Persian, 250 words)

• Data specification table (Persian)

• Value of the Data (Persian)

• Main text (The main text should include the following sections: Introduction, Methods, Data description, Limitations)

• Declarations

• References

Professional practice

Professional practice papers are similar to research papers, but they differ in terms of scale and depth. These papers usually report experiences of an institution or a department. Typically, these papers have a smaller scope with more limited questions and focus on the processes and early impacts of interventions and innovations implemented. These papers range from 2,000 to 4,000 words. The sections of this type of paper are as follows:

• Title page (English)

• Research message (English)

• Structured abstract (English, 250 words): The abstract of this paper should reflect the context of the work (the process or service in question), the objectives of the study, the lessons learned, and a brief conclusion.

• Extended abstract (English, up to 1,500 words), including the following sections: Introduction (Context, literature review, evidence), The case study or innovation, What can be learned from this case? Recommendations, Conclusion, Declarations, References

• Title page (Persian)

• Research message (Persian)

• Structured abstract (Persian, 250 words)

• Main text: It should include the following sections: Introduction (clearly state the purpose of the paper, a brief review of literature, and the following elements: Context (for example, the process or service under review), Literature review on similar cases and discussion of relevant evidence; Case study or innovation implemented (provide a brief description of the organization, the methods and approaches used to address challenges and problems, decision-making processes, strategies applied, and tools and techniques utilized), Lessons learned (present the results from the case study or experience and specify what lessons can be learned from the innovation), Recommendations (provide practical recommendations for improving or implementing similar experiences in other organizations), Conclusion

• Declarations

• References

Title Page (English and Persian)

General information about the article and its authors is written in this section. This section includes the full title of the article, author details and institutional affiliations, corresponding author, and email for correspondence.

Abstract (English and Persian)

• The abstract should clearly reflect the context, concept of the research, and the most important and recent observations.

• No references to related sources should be made.

• Abbreviations should not be used.

• The abstract must be presented in both Persian and English, and conceptually, these two abstracts should exactly match each other.

• The keywords listed in the abstract should be between three and five controlled terms based on the Medical Subject Headings (MESH).

• The abstract of most types of articles should be structured, less than 250 words, and include the following sections: Introduction, Methods, Results, Conclusion, Keywords

• For specific types of articles, refer to the section describing the types of articles.

Research message (English and Persian)

• No references should be used in this section, and abbreviations should be avoided.

• This section must have two sub-sections as follows. It should be written in a way that is understandable by policymakers and/or the general audience
  Key Messages

  • What was already known about this topic: This section should contain a maximum of three bullet points (one sentence each) that highlight the most important existing knowledge in the research topic area.

  • What this study added to our knowledge: This section should provide up to three bullet points (one sentence each) that showcase the most important new knowledge or the practical applications of the results.

Extended abstract

The extended abstract should be in English and placed after the English abstract. It must include all aspects and relevant information about the research in a shorter form than the Persian full text. This abstract may include figures and tables. The word count of the extended abstract, excluding references, figures, and tables, should not exceed 2500 words. Follow the structure below when writing the extended abstract:

• Introduction (A maximum of 15% of the total word count).

• Methods (30% of the total word count).

• Results (40% of the total word count).

• Discussion

• Conclusion

• Limitations

• A maximum of 15% of the total word count should be used for the Discussion, Conclusion and Limitations.

• Declarations

• References

References in the Extended Abstract are cited in the text ([]) and at the end of the Extended Abstract. References should be cited from 1.

Note: Authors are responsible for consistency between the main text provided in Persian and English Abstract, particularly Tables and Figures).   

Declarations

In this section, all of the following should be reported in order. If a section is not applicable, it should be reported as "Not applicable" or “None”.

Ethical considerations
In this section, if an ethical code has been obtained from recognized institutions, the relevant ethical code and the name of review board should be mentioned. Research articles conducted on humans, animals, or the environment (quantitative or qualitative) must have an ethical approval. If needed, the editor may request documentation of the ethics committee approval. Articles derived from clinical trial studies must have an RCT registration code. The name of the approving ethics center should be clearly mentioned.

Example: This study was conducted with the ethical code number ....... obtained from the Ethics Committee in Biomedical Research ........

Note: In human studies, adherence to ethical requirements, including maintaining confidentiality of identifying information and obtaining consent, must be explicitly stated. If necessary, the editor may request a sample consent form.

Funding
The financial support section should be written as a single sentence, separately under the heading "Funding." Authors must ensure that any financial support received from any organization for conducting their research is clearly stated in the article. The role of the funding organization in data collection, data analysis, and manuscript writing should also be explicitly mentioned. If the funding organization has no role beyond financial support, this should be stated clearly. If no financial support was received, this should be mentioned as well.

Example: This study was funded by Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran, under grant number ....... The funding organization had no role in data collection, data analysis, or manuscript writing.
Example: This study was conducted without any financial support.

Conflict of interest
A conflict of interest occurs when a person's personal or economic interests conflict with their professional duties or responsibilities. In research, there is also the potential for conflicts of interest to arise. Therefore, if the researcher hides any potential conflicts of interest, it constitutes an ethical and legal violation. Authors must explicitly disclose any conflict of interest (for example, evaluating software designed by a company in which the author holds shares). If a conflict of interest exists and is not disclosed, the journal reserves the right to reject the article at any stage. If no conflict of interest exists, this should be explicitly mentioned.

Example: The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.

Author contributions
In this section, the contribution of each author should be specified, with their names listed and the following standard phrases used: Conceptualization and study design, data collection, methodology, software, validation, data analysis, resources, data management, writing – original draft, writing – review & editing, visualization, study supervision, project management, funding acquisition, final approval.
In the end, it should be confirmed in one sentence that all authors have reviewed and approved the final version of the manuscript

Example: A.H: Study design, Data curation, Data analysis, Writing– original draft, Final approval.

Consent for publication
If content with copyright, such as figures or tables, is used, in addition to proper citation, permission for reuse must be obtained from the copyright holder. This permission should be submitted to the journal upon manuscript submission. The following should be noted in this section. If it is found that copyrighted materials are used without permission, the journal reserves the right to reject the manuscript at any time. If no such content is included, the phrase "Not applicable" should be mentioned in this section.

Data availability
The journal promotes open access to data. It is recommended that if researchers have made the data and software codes of their study available, they should mention this and provide the access address. If the data are submitted to the journal, they will be made available. If data sharing is not possible, this should be mentioned along with the reason.

Example: The data and codes used in this study are available at: .......
Example: Due to patient confidentiality, the data used in this study cannot be shared.
Example: Data can be requested by corresponding author based on reasonable request.

AI declaration
Authors must thoroughly review and make necessary revisions to the text after using these tools. The responsibility for the content rests with the authors. This should be stated in this section, including the tools used (see AI guild).

Example: The authors used artificial intelligence ChatGPT to edit the English parts of this article. All AI-edited content has been reviewed and approved by the authors.

Acknowledgements
This section should be written in the first-person tense and as briefly as possible, acknowledging individuals or organizations that assisted the author in writing the article but did not meet the criteria for authorship. Acknowledgments should not include reviewers or editors. It is the authors' responsibility to obtain consent from individuals for mentioning their titles in this section.


If the article is part of a research project or thesis, this must be noted as follows:
This article is part of the research project titled .........., approved by the University of .......... in the year .......... with code number .......

This article is part of the thesis titled .........., at the level of (Bachelor/Master's/Medical Doctor/PhD ....), approved by the University of .......... in the year .......... with code .......


Note: The "Declarations" section should be exactly replicated in the "Extended abstract" section in English under the title Declarations, including the all of sections. If any section lacks information, the word "None" should be used.

Note: Due to the double-blind review process, two versions of the manuscript are submitted at the time of submission. In the anonymous version, all identifying information and identification codes (such as the name of the university, ethical code, etc.) should be replaced with "X".

References

• The bibliographic information of all sources used (including printed sources, unpublished materials, audiovisual media, internet sources) in the study should be listed in the order of citation in the text and enclosed in square brackets [ ].

• The references should be formatted according to the Vancouver international standard. Please note that the reference formatting guide in Vancouver style is available on the journal’s website. Please refer to this guide

• Please write the journal title in full not in abbreviated form and include doi for each cited sources. If doi is not available, please add URL to end of each citation.

• All references should be written in English.

• The bibliographic information for articles published in Persian should also be in English, and at the end of the reference, the phrase "In Persian" should be added in brackets.

• For articles that are accepted but not yet published, the phrase “In Press” should be included in the bibliographic information.

• Personal communications (such as personal letters, diaries, interviews, emails, etc.) and preprints must not be cited.

• Do not cite retracted articles in journals.

Supplements (if necessary)

• Supplements should be included if they help in better understanding the research but cannot be placed in the main text.

• Items such as tables and charts with large datasets, data collection tools like forms, questionnaires, etc., should be placed in the supplements.

• If supplements are used, the name and number of them should be mentioned at the end of the manuscript, under the title "Online Supplements" before the declarations section. These files must be referenced in the main text of the article. The supplements will not be copyedited; they will be only available online in the exact format provided by the authors without any edition. Please refer supplements in the text with this format: Supplement Table 1, Supplement Figure 1.

Example: Online Supplement: Questionnaire

Tables

• The data in tables should be concise, yet provide detailed and accurate information to the readers.

• Tables should be numbered sequentially, according to their first citation in the text, and each table should have a separate title.

• The title of each table should be brief, without requiring additional description, and should provide enough information for the reader to understand its content without referring back to the main text.

• Each table should be placed in its appropriate position within the main body of the article.

• Each column of the table should have a brief or summarized title.

• Additional explanations related to the table should be inserted below it using the * symbol.

• If tables from other sources are used, permission from the source must be obtained.

• Empty cells in tables should be avoided as much as possible. If necessary, rows or columns can be merged to address this.

• The table should be designed so that its margins are appropriate for an A4 page.

• Do not use the word "number" in the table numbering; start numbering from 1.

• All tables must be referenced in the text.

• Tables should be editable and placed in where they are cited.

Figures and diagrams

• Figures and diagrams must:

  • Be of high quality and clarity (300-600 dpi).

  • Ensure all letters, numbers, and symbols are clear and distinct.

  • Be designed in a way that they can be used directly and comprehended without needing additional explanation.

• Figures and diagrams should be numbered sequentially, based on their first citation in the text.

• If they have been previously published in another source, written permission from the copyright holder to reuse must be provided.

• The term "number" should not be used in numbering; numbering should begin from 1.

• All figures and diagrams must be referenced in the text.

• Each figure/diagram should be placed in its appropriate location within the main body of the article.

Symbols and Abbreviations

• To avoid misleading the readers:

  • Only standard abbreviations should be used.

  • Abbreviations should not be included in the title or abstract of the article.

  • The full form of an abbreviation should be mentioned upon its first use.

Reporting checklists

Authors must report their research according to a standard reporting checklist. At the time of submission (first submit or revised submission), authors must fill and submit appropriate checklist. Some of these checklists are as follows:

• Clinical trials (CONSORT)

• Observational studies (STROBE)

• Reviews and meta-analysis (PRISMA)

• Diagnostic studies (TRIPOD)

• Qualitative studies (SRQR)  ,  (COREQ)

• Quality improvement studies (SQUIRE)

• Economic evaluations (CHEERS)

Submission of the first and revised manuscript

First submission is free-format. However, the followings are mandatory: research message (Persian and English), Ethical approval from an ethics committee, RCT registration (for trails), anonymization using replaying identifying information by X or other methods, and reporting checklists. Manuscript will not go to review by editors without these requirements. Ethics approval is mandatory for all research studies (quantitative or qualitative).
The above mentioned requirements will be initially checked by the journal staff and manuscripts will be returned to authors, if necessary.
For the revised version, the followings are mandatory:

• It is mandatory to adhere to all points mentioned in the author guidelines (including anonymization).

• All revised content should be highlighted using a distinct color (sending a "track changed" version is not allowed).

• In addition to submitting the revised manuscript, authors must provide a separate reviewers’ response letter detailing the revisions made or responses to all reviewer comments, preferably in a table format, breaking down each response by reviewer.

Considering the amount of revisions requested by the reviewers and the editor's decision, it is expected that the revised version will be submitted to the journal within 2-4 weeks. If more time is needed, this period can be extended by up to one month with coordination with the journal. If the revised version is not received after two months (without coordination), assuming the author has withdrawn, the paper will be removed from the review process and rejected. If a revised version is submitted after this, it will be treated as a new submission.

All manuscripts and related materials must be submitted through the journal submission system. If necessary, journal staff contacts corresponding authors through email.

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