1.Originals.
Empirical works related to any aspect of research in the field of Quality Healthcare in the areas of Nursing, Clinical Medicine, Public Health and Health Management/Administration (such as health promotion, health education, epidemiology, medical statistics, health economics, issues relating to quality management, research on health services, planning and health policies). The maximum length of the text shall be 3,000 words on font type Arial and font size 12. The body of the article shall comprise the following sections: introduction, material and methods, results and discussion. A structured abstract shall also be included in English and Spanish, along with 3-6 key words,a maximum of 6 authors, a maximum of 30 bibliographical references and no more than six figures or tables. Controlled clinical trials must be submitted in accordance with the CONSORT guidelines. Other methodological study designs should follow the corresponding publication guidelines, such as STROBE, PRISMA, CARE, etc., which can be found at https://www.equator-network.org/.
2.Brief originals.
These are works which, due to their reduced length, are not suitable for the originals section. The maximum length of the article body shall be 1,500-2000 words. A structured abstract shall be included in English and Spanish, along with 3-6 key words and 10-15 references, with a maximum of two tables5 or figures being permitted. The editors reserve the right to accept conventional originals in this format if the content and length is appropriate.
2.A Quality Improvement Initiative Report
Concise stories that describe and evaluate quality improvement interventions or initiatives that aim to improve a process or system in healthcare. Includes novel approaches in any of the quality domain and explore how the initiative attempted to improve safety, effectiveness, patient-centeredness, timeliness, cost, efficiency, and/or equity of health care, empowerment of people/communities, etc.
Priority will be given to approaches that are transferrable and scalable to other settings and contexts.
The reports should contain impact evaluation of the initiatives, not only about satisfaction but also some structure, process or outcome measures. SQUIRE guidelines are highly recommended for this type or reports.
Structure and format:
Length is 600-900 words with up to 10 references.
Short title (max of 4 words) that clearly describes the nature of the quality improvement initiative or intervention Introduction: describing the quality problem, a brief description of the context, the intervention or initiative and how it works and the aim of the solution.
Methods: Very brief description of the Quality improvement intervention or initiative, design, data collection, sample calculation and main outcomes or key performance indicators used to evaluate impact. Also include the setting, describing where the intervention was implemented and which stakeholders (healthcare providers, policymakers and patients are involved)
Results that convey the main findings without duplicating information in the table/figure(s)
Discussion concise text that puts the work into context, describes the main limitations, what factors others have to take into account to apply the intervention, what you have learned after the implementation process and suggests next steps for practice, policy, education or research.
Include no more than 2 tables and figures (total), focused on the main results.
Abstract: Up to 100 words with no headings. The abstract should convey the purpose, brief methods, main finding, and lesson learnt and implications.
Supplementary data: no supplementary data are allowed for this type of report.
3. Editorials.
Works of opinion written on behalf of the Editorial Board. Their length must not exceed 1,000 words, with a maximum of 10 bibliographical references. The subject will be related to the original works published in the journal or to topics of general interest. Figures or tables shall not be included, except in special cases where they are necessary to improve the understanding of the text.
4. Letters to the Editor.
This section features formally accepted scientific observations on the topics included in the journal, as well as comments or responses to published works or opinions on the same. They shall be started with the phrase: "Dear Editor,". They should be written in a formal register, and may not include pejorative or discourteous statements. The maximum length shall be 1,500 words, with one table or figure and up to 10 bibliographical references.
5. Other sections.
The journal also includes the following sections: Opinion articles, special articles, review articles, book reviews, professional information, bibliographic information, scientific activities, etc. The papers in these sections may be commissioned by the Editorial Team. The texts should be written in an impersonal manner and the use of discriminatory language regarding gender, age, sexual orientation, ethnic and racial identity, disability, etc. is not permitted.