Prepare Your Manuscript

Prepare Your Manuscript

Why it matters

Papers are most often delayed or desk-rejected for avoidable reporting gaps, not weak science. Matching your manuscript to the right reporting standard before submission speeds review.

How to do it

1. Pick the right reporting checklist via the EQUATOR Network: CONSORT (randomised trials), STROBE (observational studies), PRISMA (systematic reviews and meta-analyses), and the relevant equivalent for your design.
2. State scope fit — make the clinical, legal, or population-health relevance explicit in the abstract.
3. Include required statements — ethics approval, consent, competing interests, funding, and a data availability statement.
4. Register applicable trials before enrolment and cite the registration number.
5. Write for a broad readership — JMLPH spans medicine, law, and public health, so avoid unexplained specialist jargon.

Common reasons papers are delayed

• Submitting without the matching EQUATOR checklist.
• Omitting ethics/consent details for human-subjects work.
• A purely clinical paper with no stated public-health, policy, or legal relevance.
• Missing funding or competing-interest declarations.

Key takeaway: Match your paper to the right EQUATOR checklist and include all ethics and data statements before submitting.