Journal Details
Annals of Human Biology
Journal of the Society for the Study of Human Biology Visit the organisation site
Published By: Informa Healthcare
Volume Number: 35
Frequency: 6 issues per year
Print ISSN: 0301-4460
Online ISSN: 1464-5033
Instructions for Authors
1. Aims and Scope
Annals of Human Biology is an international, peer-reviewed journal published six times a year in simultaneous print and electronic editions.
Annals of Human Biology is an important vehicle for the dissemination of papers concerning research into human population biology, reporting investigations on the nature, development and causes of human variation, embracing the disciplines of human genetics, auxology, environmental physiology, ecology, epidemiology ageing and global health.
Annals of Human Biology has a wide readership of human biologists, epidemiologists, auxologists, paediatricians, population geneticists, biological and physical anthropologists, gerontologists, physiologists and public health workers.
Annals of Human Biology is the official journal of the Society for the Study of Human Biology.
Further information about the Journal, including links to the online sample copy and contents pages, can be found on the Journal homepage.
2. Editors
Department of Human Sciences
Loughborough University
UK
Stephen T. McGarvey
Stephen T. McGarvey
International Health Institute
Brown University
USA
Olga Rickards
Dipartimento di Biologia
Università di Roma "Tor Vergata",
3. Submission of Manuscripts
All submissions should be made online at Annals of Human Biology's Manuscript Central site. New users should first create an account. Once a user is logged onto the site submissions should be made via the Author Centre.
4. Types of Papers
Annals of Human Biology will consider the following types of paper for publication:
i. Research papers
Research papers will typically be between 5000 and 8000 words, debating and exploring theoretical and methodological issues, methodological approaches, and original studies relevant to human biology. However, there is not necessarily an upper limit on length. Authors of longer papers are encouraged to contact the Editors with a synopsis.
ii. Review articles
Review articles or essays are generally commissioned by invitation of the Editors but authors are invited to contact the Editors with proposals.
iii. Short reports
Short reports will normally be on topics of more restricted breadth than research papers, including papers which would be regarded as including essentially preliminary findings. Typically, they should have a maximum of approximately 1500 words, have no more than two tables or figures, and a maximum of around fifteen references. Short reports generally follow the same format as full papers, except that a structured abstract is not required.
iv. Human biological surveys
"Human biological surveys" describe surveys of the morphological, genetic and biodemographic characteristics of a sample. Such investigations are not usually hypothesis driven but rather seek to record the biological structure (physical status) of the sample at a particular moment in time. Such surveys would include those carried out with the aim of investigating, for example, secular trends in somatic and developmental characteristics, nutritional surveys of specific groups, morphological and genetic surveys, and biodemographic information on migration and marriage structure. Please click here for further information, including preparation guidelines.
v. Book reviews
Book reviews are by invitation.
5. Preparation of Manuscripts
Annals of Human Biology considers all manuscripts on the strict condition that they have been submitted only to Annals of Human Biology, that they have not been published already, nor are they under consideration for publication, nor in press elsewhere.
Authors should prepare and upload two versions of their manuscript. One should be a complete text, while in the second all document information identifying the author should be removed from files to allow them to be sent anonymously to referees. When uploading files authors will then be able to define the non-anonymous version as "File not for review".
Research article contributions to Annals of Human Biology must report original research. Research papers and review papers will be subjected to review by referees. The following guidelines apply:
i. Manuscripts must be written in English.
ii. Text should be supplied in a format compatible with Microsoft Word for Windows (PC). Charts and tables are considered textual and should also be supplied in a format compatible with Word. All figures (illustrations, diagrams, photographs) should be supplied in jpg, tiff or eps format.
iii. All manuscripts must be typed in 12pt font and in double space with margins of at least 2.5 cm.
iv. Authors should prepare manuscripts according to the Council of Biological Editors (CBE) Scientific Style and Format (6th edition) and are also referred to recent (post-2006) copies of the Journal and encouraged to copy exactly the published format of papers therein.
v. Manuscripts should include:
- Title Page. This should contain the article title, a running head not exceeding 50 characters (including spaces), 3-5 keywords and full contact details of the authors. Current email addresses for all co-authors must be provided. One corresponding author should be identified.
- Abstracts. Authors submitting papers should note that structured abstracts (up to 200 words) are required. These should outline the questions investigated, the design, essential findings and main conclusions of the study under the following sub-headings: Background, Aim, Subjects and methods, Results, Conclusion.
- Text. This should in general, but not necessarily, be divided into sections with the headings: Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion, Conclusion.
- Tables and Figures. Tables and figures should be referred to in text as follows: Figure 1, Figure 2; Table I, Table II. The place at which a table or figure is to be inserted in the printed text should be indicated clearly on a manuscript. Each table and/or figure must have a legend that explains its purpose without reference to the text.
- References. References should be indicated in the text within parentheses by author-date, e.g., (Smith 2004, Smith and Jones 2005, Smith et al. 2006). The full references should be listed alphabetically by primary author, and presented following the text of the manuscript.
The Journal uses the following conventions for references:- To a book
Weiner, JS, Lourie, JA. 1981. Practical human biology. London: Academic Press. - To a chapter in a book
Faiman C, Winter JSD. 1974. Gonadotropins and sex hormone patterns in puberty. In: Grumbach MM, Grave CD, Mayer EF, editors. The Control of the Onset of Puberty. New York: Wiley. 32p. - To an article in a journal
Steiner U, Klein J, Eiser E, Budkowski A, Fetters LJ. 1992. Complete wetting from polymer mixtures. Science 258:1122-9.
Cameron N, Grieve CA, Kruger A, Leschner KF. 1993. Secondary sexual development in rural and urban South African black children. Ann Hum Biol 20:583-93.
(Titles of periodicals should be abbreviated, and conform to those used in the latest edition of Index Medicus.) - To a website/electronic publication
The Society for the Study of Human Biology. 2000. About the society.
http://www-staff.lboro.ac.uk/~hungn/sshb/#AbouttheSociety. 1 January 2006.
- To a book
vii. For all manuscripts non-discriminatory language is mandatory. Sexist or racist terms should not be used.
viii. Papers are accepted only in English.
ix. Authors must adhere to SI units.
x. For information on submitting animations, movie files and sound files or any additional information including indexes and calendars please click here.
xi. Drugs should be referred to by generic names; trade names of substances, their sources, and details of manufacturers of scientific instruments should be given if the information is important to the evaluation of the experimental data. When using a word which is or is asserted to be a proprietary term or trade mark authors must use the symbol ® or TM or alternatively a footnote can be inserted using the wording below:
viii. Papers are accepted only in English.
ix. Authors must adhere to SI units.
x. For information on submitting animations, movie files and sound files or any additional information including indexes and calendars please click here.
xi. Drugs should be referred to by generic names; trade names of substances, their sources, and details of manufacturers of scientific instruments should be given if the information is important to the evaluation of the experimental data. When using a word which is or is asserted to be a proprietary term or trade mark authors must use the symbol ® or TM or alternatively a footnote can be inserted using the wording below:
This article includes a word that is or is asserted to be a proprietary term or trade mark. Its inclusion does not imply it has acquired for legal purposes a non-proprietary or general significance, nor is any other judgement implied concerning its legal status.
6. Ethics and Consent
When reporting experiments on human subjects, authors should indicate whether the procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 1983. Do not use patients' names, initials, or hospital numbers, especially in illustrative material. Papers including animal experiments or clinical trials must be conducted with approval by the local animal care or human subject committees, respectively.
Identifying information should not be published in written descriptions, photographs, and pedigrees, unless the information is essential for scientific purposes and the patient (or parent or guardian) gives written informed consent for publication. Informed consent for this purpose requires that the patient be shown the manuscript to be published.
7. Disclosure of Potential Conflicts of Interest
It is the sole responsibility of authors to disclose any affiliation with any organisation with a financial interest, direct or indirect, in the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript (such as consultancies, employment, expert testimony, honoraria, speakers' bureaus, retainers, stock options or ownership) that may affect the conduct or reporting of the work submitted. If uncertain as to what might be considered a potential conflict of interest, authors should err on the side of full disclosure. Information about potential conflict of interest should be clearly stated at the point of submission (for example in a cover letter, or where available within the appropriate field on the journal's Manuscript Central site). This may be made available to reviewers and may be published with the manuscript at the discretion of the Editors.
8. Disclosure of Sources of funding
All sources of funding for research are to be explicitly stated, at the point of submission. This may be published with the manuscript at the discretion of the Editors.
9. Authorship Contributions
Contributions must be substantial in order to warrant authorship. Each author should have participated sufficiently in the work to take public responsibility for the content and must have reviewed and approved the submission. All other contributors should be listed as acknowledgements.
10. Colour and Page Charges
Any figure submitted as a colour original will appear in colour in the Journal' online edition free of charge and can be downloaded. Paper copy colour reproduction will only be considered on condition that authors contribute to the associated costs. The charges are £500/US$900 for the first colour page and £250/US$450 for each colour page after per article.
There are no charges for non-colour pages.
11. Proofs
The Editor reserves the right to proceed to press without submitting page proofs to the author. However, usual practice will involve corresponding authors receiving email notification with a password and Web address from which to download a PDF. Hard copies of proofs will not be mailed. To avoid delays in publication, corrections to proofs must be returned within 48 hours, by electronic transmittal, fax or mail. Authors will be charged for excessive correction at this stage of production.
If authors do not return page proofs promptly, the Editor reserves the choice to either delay publication to a subsequent issue or to proceed to press without author corrections.
12. Offprints and Reprints
Corresponding authors will receive free online access to their article through our website (www.informaworld.com). Reprints of articles published in this journal can be purchased through Rightslink® when proofs are received. If you have any queries, please contact our reprints department at reprints@tandf.co.uk.
13. Copyright
6. Ethics and Consent
When reporting experiments on human subjects, authors should indicate whether the procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 1983. Do not use patients' names, initials, or hospital numbers, especially in illustrative material. Papers including animal experiments or clinical trials must be conducted with approval by the local animal care or human subject committees, respectively.
Identifying information should not be published in written descriptions, photographs, and pedigrees, unless the information is essential for scientific purposes and the patient (or parent or guardian) gives written informed consent for publication. Informed consent for this purpose requires that the patient be shown the manuscript to be published.
7. Disclosure of Potential Conflicts of Interest
It is the sole responsibility of authors to disclose any affiliation with any organisation with a financial interest, direct or indirect, in the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript (such as consultancies, employment, expert testimony, honoraria, speakers' bureaus, retainers, stock options or ownership) that may affect the conduct or reporting of the work submitted. If uncertain as to what might be considered a potential conflict of interest, authors should err on the side of full disclosure. Information about potential conflict of interest should be clearly stated at the point of submission (for example in a cover letter, or where available within the appropriate field on the journal's Manuscript Central site). This may be made available to reviewers and may be published with the manuscript at the discretion of the Editors.
8. Disclosure of Sources of funding
All sources of funding for research are to be explicitly stated, at the point of submission. This may be published with the manuscript at the discretion of the Editors.
9. Authorship Contributions
Contributions must be substantial in order to warrant authorship. Each author should have participated sufficiently in the work to take public responsibility for the content and must have reviewed and approved the submission. All other contributors should be listed as acknowledgements.
10. Colour and Page Charges
Any figure submitted as a colour original will appear in colour in the Journal' online edition free of charge and can be downloaded. Paper copy colour reproduction will only be considered on condition that authors contribute to the associated costs. The charges are £500/US$900 for the first colour page and £250/US$450 for each colour page after per article.
There are no charges for non-colour pages.
11. Proofs
The Editor reserves the right to proceed to press without submitting page proofs to the author. However, usual practice will involve corresponding authors receiving email notification with a password and Web address from which to download a PDF. Hard copies of proofs will not be mailed. To avoid delays in publication, corrections to proofs must be returned within 48 hours, by electronic transmittal, fax or mail. Authors will be charged for excessive correction at this stage of production.
If authors do not return page proofs promptly, the Editor reserves the choice to either delay publication to a subsequent issue or to proceed to press without author corrections.
12. Offprints and Reprints
Corresponding authors will receive free online access to their article through our website (www.informaworld.com). Reprints of articles published in this journal can be purchased through Rightslink® when proofs are received. If you have any queries, please contact our reprints department at reprints@tandf.co.uk.
13. Copyright
It is a condition of publication that authors assign copyright or license the publication rights in their articles, including abstracts, to Informa UK Ltd. This enables us to ensure full copyright protection and to disseminate the article, and the Journal, to the widest possible readership in print and electronic formats as appropriate. Authors may, of course, use the article elsewhere after publication without prior permission from Informa UK Ltd., provided that acknowledgement is given to the Journal as the original source of publication, and that Informa Healthcare is notified so that our records show that its use is properly authorised. Authors retain a number of other rights under the Informa UK Ltd. rights policies documents. These policies are referred to at the Copyright page.
Authors are themselves responsible for obtaining permission to reproduce copyright material from other sources. See Copyright Permission for full details.
A copyright agreement form can be downloaded by corresponding authors of accepted manuscripts with proofs. This should be signed and returned to Informa Healthcare.
Authors are themselves responsible for obtaining permission to reproduce copyright material from other sources. See Copyright Permission for full details.
A copyright agreement form can be downloaded by corresponding authors of accepted manuscripts with proofs. This should be signed and returned to Informa Healthcare.
14. Contacting the Publisher
Annals of Human Biology
Informa Healthcare
5th Floor
Telephone House
69-77 Paul Street
London
EC2A 4LQ, UK
Tel: (+44) 207 017 4303
Fax: (+44) 207 017 6914
Email (Please include the Journal name in all correspondence.)
