A journal for and with health promotion practitioners and researchers

Abstract

Representatives of the Journal’s editorial team enjoyed meeting practitioners and researchers during a workshop at the recent Australian Health Promotion Association National Conference in Sydney. We appreciated this opportunity to discuss how things look from ‘the editors’ desk’, and to hear the perspectives of authors, potential authors and reviewers. Workshop participants were keen to know what we look for as editors. The best manuscripts are those that have a clear focus and tell a coherent story, answering specific questions using appropriate research methods. Good manuscripts have a title and abstract that accurately represent their contents, and are so interesting that they make us want to read on! Manuscripts based on quantitative studies need to report sample sizes sufficient to support the conclusions, should explicitly discuss potential biases or other limitations, and should provide enough information about methods so that the study could be replicated. Authors of qualitative studies should explain how their sampling strategies, data collection methods and analysis strategies were appropriate to answer their research questions, provide enough detail about methods to enable readers to evaluate quality, and demonstrate that the analyst has sought out variation and tried to prove themselves wrong (rather than looking only for favourable, expected or straightforward answers). The editorial team is especially keen to publish well-designed intervention studies. However, we also agree on the importance of qualitative research in health promotion, particularly for understanding how health promotion works and investigating the perspectives of research participants. We will consider theoretical pieces and essays, but these need to be well argued with reference to the relevant evidence base. Authors may consider writing a brief report rather than a full-length article: brief reports are an excellent forum for a single, interesting finding, a key idea or description of an innovative program or project.