Author Guidelines

Before You Start

For queries relating to the status of your paper pre-decision, please contact the Editorial Office. These details can be found in the contact us section.

Author responsibilities

We aim to offer a professional and respectful experience throughout the review and publication process. In return, there are several responsibilities that authors are expected to uphold:

• Timely Communication
  Please respond promptly to any correspondence or requests that arise during review or production. This helps to keep the process efficient and transparent.
• Accountability and Accuracy
  You are responsible for the integrity of your work, including the accuracy of all data and findings. Any concerns or errors that emerge after submission or publication should be investigated and resolved without delay.
• Confidentiality
  All exchanges between authors and editors are confidential and should remain so until a final editorial decision has been reached.
• Authorship Ethics
  Only individuals who have made a genuine and significant contribution to the research should be listed as authors. Others who have assisted in a more limited capacity should be acknowledged separately. Those who have not contributed, or who prefer not to be associated with the paper, should not be named as authors.
• Use of AI Tools
  Following COPE’s guidance, Artificial Intelligence systems and Large Language Models cannot be listed as authors. These tools lack the capacity for independent judgment or accountability. If AI-assisted tools are used, authors must clearly describe their role, specify the tool’s name and version, and provide references for any external sources generated or adapted through such use. Basic spelling or grammar checkers are exempt from this requirement. The Editor and Publisher may decide whether a specific use of AI is appropriate.
• Ethical Approval and Consent
  For research involving human participants, authors must ensure that ethical approval has been sought where required and that informed consent procedures have been followed. Details of these approvals should be included in the submission.

Research and Publication Ethics

Discriminatory and Harassing Research Practices and Language: Differential treatment of and conduct toward an individual or group of people based on their race, color, national origin, religion, sex (including pregnancy and gender identity), age, marital and parental status, disability, sexual orientation, or genetic information.

Fabrication: Manufacture of information (including data, citations, quotations, transcripts, archival documents, and audio and visual supporting materials) intended to deceptively promote or diminish, or otherwise mislead.

Failure to Acknowledge Sources: Includes all forms of plagiarism (see below). Also includes intentionally or unintentionally omitting to cite irreproducible sources.

• Self-plagiarism: Repurposing of one’s own words, ideas, methods, results, or artwork without appropriate citation.
• Compression plagiarism: Distillation and repurposing of the words, ideas, methods, results, or artwork of a substantially longer work without appropriate citation. Concealment of this ethical violation relies on a ruse of concentration.
• Translation plagiarism: Repurposing of the words, ideas, methods, results, or artwork of a work written in a foreign language without appropriate citation. Concealment of this ethical violation relies on interpretational and grammatical divergences.

Breaches of Duty of Care: Including but not limited to the following: Breaches of confidentiality without prior consent; failure to disclose and to obtain consent to exposure to risks and dangers whether physical, emotional, intellectual, or reputational of participants (including subjects, researchers, and associates) and to provide safeguards against such risks and dangers; failure to observe legal and ethical requirements or obligations of care for human and animal subjects or human organs or tissue, or for the protection of the environment; failure to show due respect in the representation of human remains and sacred sites.

Ideological or Political Bias: Explicit or implicit sympathy or antipathy toward another school of thought or propensity, or differential treatment of another school of thought or propensity that results in the objective standards of intellectual rigor being discarded in favor of a personal and tendentious assessment of merit.

Ethical Approval and Consent: Where relevant, your submission must include an ethical statement confirming that the research received approval from the appropriate institutional, national, or international ethics committee. The statement should make clear that the study was conducted in line with recognised standards and regulations governing research involving human participants, data, or biological samples.

Your ethical statement should include:

• The name and location of the ethics committee or review board
• The approval reference number and date of approval
• The national or international guidelines that were followed
• Any other details needed to demonstrate compliance

In addition, authors must describe how informed consent was obtained from all participants before data collection or study participation. This includes explaining how participants were informed of the study’s purpose, the voluntary nature of their involvement, their right to withdraw at any stage, and how confidentiality and data protection were maintained. For studies involving vulnerable groups or secondary data use, additional details on consent procedures and data safeguards should be provided.

The ethical statement should be written carefully to ensure that neither the identity of participants nor the anonymity of the authors is compromised. It should also reflect any additional approvals that were required, such as permissions from healthcare organizations, educational institutions, or national research governance bodies.

Manuscripts submitted without an appropriate ethical statement or without clear evidence of informed consent, where these are required, will not be sent for peer review. Authors will be contacted to provide the missing information, but the journal reserves the right to reject submissions that fail to demonstrate ethical compliance.

LHS and its publisher take research ethics seriously. The editorial team may request additional documentation, such as copies of approval letters, consent forms, or institutional review confirmations, to verify ethical compliance before publication. Failure to provide adequate evidence may result in the withdrawal of a submission or retraction of a published article.

Third party copyright permissions

Before submitting your article, please make sure you have applied for and received written permission to use any material in your manuscript that was created by a third party. We cannot publish articles with permissions still pending.

The permissions we require should include:

• Non-exclusive rights to reproduce the material in the article or book chapter
• Print and electronic rights
• Worldwide English-language rights
• Permission to use the material for the full life of the work (no time limits, such as a one-year licence)

We are a member of the International Association of Scientific, Technical, and Medical Publishers (STM) and follow the STM permissions guidelines, which allow a reciprocal, free exchange of material among participating publishers. In some cases, this means you may not need separate permission to reuse certain content. If this applies, please note it at the time of submission.

Open Access Submissions and Information

• Leadership in Health Services (LHS) is dedicated to advancing open access to scholarly research. Our commitment to open access reflects our belief in the free and equitable distribution of knowledge, ensuring that research is accessible to a global audience without financial or technical barriers.

Unrestricted Access to Published Research

• All articles published in LHS are made freely available online, allowing readers to read, download, copy, distribute, and use the content without restriction. This policy removes common barriers such as subscription fees, fostering a more inclusive and collaborative academic environment.
  To support the costs associated with high-quality peer review, editorial processes, and open access publication, LHS applies an Article Processing Charge (APC) for accepted manuscripts.

Promoting Equity and Impact

• Through open access, LHS contributes to a more democratic and transparent research ecosystem. By making research freely available, we enable scholars from diverse institutions and regions, regardless of their financial resources, to engage with and build upon the latest findings. Open access also enhances the visibility, accessibility, and potential impact of published work by facilitating broader readership and increased citation rates.

Author Rights and Intellectual Property

• While promoting open access, LHS remains committed to protecting the rights of authors. Authors retain ownership of their work and the right to be properly credited. All authors who publish in LHS agree to these licensing terms, ensuring a fair balance between public access and author recognition.

Transparency and Openness Promotion (TOP) Guidelines

LHS supports the principles of research transparency and reproducibility outlined in the Transparency and Openness Promotion (TOP) Guidelines. These standards help ensure that research can be verified, built upon, and trusted by the wider community.

To promote openness in your work, please:

• Cite and reference all data sources, software, and methodologies used in your article.
• Include persistent identifiers, such as Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs), for datasets and code. DOIs help ensure long-term access to digital materials. You can obtain a DOI by depositing your data or code in a trusted repository such as Zenodo, institutional repositories, or members of the Data Preservation Alliance for the Social Sciences (Data-PASS).
• Follow all relevant data protection, privacy, and ethical standards when collecting, using, or citing data.

For detailed guidance on ethical practices and data citation, please see our Research and Publishing Ethics Guidelines. You can also find examples of dataset citations in the References section below.

Prepare your submission

Manuscript Requirements

• Length: Suggested article length is 35 to 45 pages of text (12-point Times New Roman, double-spaced, 1-inch margins), plus references, tables, figures, and appendices if needed.
• Image Specification: For Cover Images, images should be in portrait orientation only. All image files should be high resolution (at least 300dpi, and preferably 600dpi). Acceptable file formats include JPEG, TIFF, PNG, EPS, and PS.
• Equations. If you are submitting your manuscript as a Word document, please ensure that equations and pictures are editable.
• Citations and References: Initial submissions do not require LHS-specific citation formatting. Authors may use recognized styles such as APA, Chicago, or MLA. LHS formatting is required upon provisional acceptance.

Writing Quality

• Manuscripts should present a clear, logical argument centred around one key point.
• Clear and concise writing is essential; avoid unnecessary jargon and digressions.
• Obtain feedback from colleagues before submission to anticipate reviewer reactions.

Article title

A concisely worded title should be provided.

Author details

• Author email address (institutional preferred).
• Author name. We will reproduce it exactly, so any middle names and/or initials they want featured must be included.
• Author affiliation. This should be where they were based when the research for the paper was conducted.

Structured abstract

All submissions must include a structured abstract, following the format outlined below.

These four sub-headings and their accompanying explanations must always be included:

• Purpose
• Design/methodology/approach
• Findings
• Originality

The following three sub-headings are optional and can be included, if applicable:

• Research limitations/implications
• Practical implications
• Social implications

Keywords

Your submission should include up to 12 appropriate and short keywords that capture the principal topics of the paper

Article classification

Paper Type Options:

• Original Article – A full-length paper presenting new research, findings, or theoretical insights.
• Case Study – A detailed examination of a specific real-world situation, project, or organization.
• Conceptual Paper – A discussion that develops or explores theoretical ideas and frameworks.
• Book Review – A critical evaluation of a recent publication relevant to the journal’s field.
• Interview – A transcript or analysis of an interview with an expert, practitioner, or researcher offering valuable insights.

Paper Category Options

Research Paper
Reports on original research conducted by the author(s). This may include:

• The construction or testing of a model or framework
• Action research
• Data analysis, market research, or surveys
• Empirical, scientific, or clinical studies
• Practice-based research with real-world applications

Viewpoint
A paper based on the author’s perspective, opinion, or interpretation of a topic. This can include reflective essays, commentaries, or journalistic-style pieces.

Technical Paper

Describes and evaluates a technical process, product, method, or service. The focus is on practical application and performance assessment.

Conceptual Paper

Develops theoretical insights, models, or frameworks. Typically discursive in nature, these papers may include philosophical discussions or comparative analyses of existing theories.

Case Study

Presents an in-depth account of a specific case, project, or organizational experience. May also include legal cases or hypothetical scenarios designed for teaching purposes.

Literature Review

Provides a critical summary or synthesis of existing research on a specific topic. This may include annotated reviews, bibliographic essays, or analyses of major contributions in the field.

General Review

Offers an overview or historical account of a concept, method, or phenomenon. Often descriptive or instructional, these papers may include “how-to” discussions or summaries of established practices.

Headings

Headings should be concise and clearly reflect the structure of your paper. Use a consistent hierarchy throughout: main headings should appear in bold, while subheadings should be in italic.

Notes/endnotes

Notes or endnotes should only be used if necessary. They should be identified in the text by consecutive numbers enclosed in square brackets. These numbers should then be listed and explained at the end of the article.

Figures

All figures, including charts, diagrams, line drawings, screenshots, and photographs, must be submitted electronically. Both colour and black-and-white files are acceptable.

Please keep the following guidelines in mind:

• Submit figures at the highest possible resolution so that all numbers, labels, and text are clear and legible.
• Accepted file formats include .ai, .eps, .jpeg, .bmp, and .tif.
• Figures created in other applications should be provided in their original file format, and also either inserted into a blank Word document or saved as a PDF for submission.
• Number all figures consecutively using Arabic numerals (Figure 1, Figure 2, etc.) and provide clear, descriptive captions.
• Photographs should be numbered separately as Plate 1, Plate 2, and so on, each with an accompanying caption.
• Each figure or table caption must include the appropriate credit line, acknowledgement, or attribution if permission has been granted for its use. If the figure or table is your own work, please indicate this in the caption.

Tables

Tables should be typed and submitted as a separate file, not included within the main text of the article. In the manuscript, clearly indicate the placement of each table by inserting its label (e.g., Table I here) at the appropriate point. Make sure the same labels appear in the table file.

Number tables consecutively using Roman numerals (I, II, III, etc.) and give each one a brief, descriptive title.

Use superscripts or asterisks where necessary, and provide corresponding explanations as footnotes directly below the table, figure, or plate.

References

All references in your manuscript must be formatted using one of the recognised Harvard styles. You are welcome to use the Harvard style that Emerald has adopted – we’ve provided a detailed guide below. Want to use a different Harvard style? That’s fine, our typesetters will make any necessary changes to your manuscript if it is accepted. Please ensure you check all your citations for completeness, accuracy, and consistency.

Emerald’s Harvard referencing style

References to other publications in your text should be written as follows:

• Single author: (Adams, 2006)
• Two authors: (Adams and Brown, 2006)
• Three or more authors: (Adams et al., 2006) Please note, ‘et al‘ should always be written in italics.

A few other style points. These apply to both the main body of text and your final list of references.

• When referring to pages in a publication, use ‘p.(page number)’ for a single page or ‘pp.(page numbers)’ to indicate a page range.
• Page numbers should always be written out in full, e.g. 175-179, not 175-9.
• Where a colon or dash appears in the title of an article or book chapter, the letter that follows that colon or dash should always be lowercase.
• When citing a work with multiple editors, use the abbreviation ‘Ed.s’.

At the end of your paper, please supply a reference list in alphabetical order using the style guidelines below. Where a DOI is available, this should be included at the end of the reference.

Submit your manuscript

Before submitting your manuscript, please make sure it is complete, grammatically correct, and free from spelling or typographical errors. Use the checklist below to ensure your submission meets all requirements:

• Confirm journal fit: Review the journal’s aims and scope to ensure your manuscript is suitable. Submissions that fall outside this scope may be declined without peer review.
• Review ethics compliance: Check that your work follows our Research and Publishing Ethics Guidelines.
• Secure permissions: Make sure all necessary publishing permissions have been obtained.
• Follow formatting requirements: Verify that your manuscript meets all specifications outlined in these author guidelines.
• Maintain anonymity for peer review: Ensure your submission does not include any information that could identify the author(s).

• When citing your own previous work, use phrasing such as “previous research has shown” instead of “our previous research has shown.”
• Do not list any of your unpublished work in the reference section.
• Upload acknowledgements and author biographies as separate files.
• Double-check that no author names or identifying details appear anywhere in the manuscript, including in figures, captions, or file metadata.

Completing these steps carefully will help ensure a smooth review and publication process.

Submission Process

1. Prepare your manuscript according to the author guidelines, ensuring it meets all formatting, ethical, and permission requirements.
2. Go to the submission link provided on the journal’s website.
3. Upload your files, including the main manuscript, tables, figures, and any supplementary materials.
4. Check your submission carefully to ensure all information is complete and correct.
5. Submit your work through the link. You will receive confirmation once your submission has been received.

Double check your manuscript

Before sending your manuscript for consideration, it is your responsibility to ensure that it is complete, clearly written, and free from grammatical, spelling, or typographical errors. A careful final review can prevent unnecessary delays during the editorial and review process.

A few key points to check before submission:

• Revisit the journal’s aims and scope.
  Confirm that your paper aligns closely with the themes and objectives of LHS. Submissions that fall outside the journal’s scope may be declined without peer review.
• Check for ethical compliance.
  Make sure your work fully adheres to the journal’s research and publishing ethics policies, including requirements for ethical approval, informed consent, and disclosure of conflicts of interest.
• Confirm publishing permissions.
  Ensure you have permission to use any third-party material, such as figures, tables, or images, and that all permissions are properly documented.
• Follow formatting instructions.
  Review these author guidelines carefully to confirm that your submission meets the specified structure, referencing style, and layout requirements.
• Protect the integrity of anonymous peer review.
  The manuscript must not contain any information that could reveal your identity to reviewers. To maintain anonymity:

• When referring to your own published work, use neutral phrasing such as “previous research has shown” instead of “our previous research has shown.”
• Avoid including references to your unpublished work in the reference list.
• Upload acknowledgements and author biographies as separate files.
• Check that no author names, initials, or institutional details appear anywhere in the manuscript file, including within figures, captions, or metadata.

Conducting these checks carefully before submission helps ensure a smooth and efficient review process and strengthens the professionalism of your work.

What you can expect next

You will receive an automated email from the journal editor, confirming your successful submission. It will provide you with a manuscript number, which will be used in all future correspondence about your submission. If you have any reason to suspect the confirmation, email you receive might be fraudulent, please inform us by going to the contact us section in the first instance.

Post submission

Review and decision process

After submission, your manuscript will be initially reviewed by the editor. At this stage, the editor may decline or return your paper if it does not align with the journal’s aims and scope or if the language or overall quality requires significant improvement.

If the manuscript appears suitable, it will be sent to at least two independent reviewers for double-anonymous peer review. Based on their feedback, the editor will make one of the following decisions:

• Accept the manuscript
• Request minor or major revisions
• Decline the submission

LHS also offers an article transfer service. If your manuscript is declined either before or after peer review, the editor may recommend transferring it to a more appropriate Emerald journal. If you agree, your manuscript, peer review reports, and author details will be securely transferred to the new journal. You will then need to complete the process by submitting it through the new journal’s system. Please note that accepting a transfer does not guarantee publication, but transfers are only suggested when the editor believes your article fits well with the receiving title.

Copyright

Once your manuscript is accepted, you will receive an email containing a link to the licence agreement form. Please review this form carefully to ensure that all details, such as your name, contact information, and institutional affiliation, are correct before submitting it electronically.

If you are unable to assign copyright to the publisher for any reason, please contact the journal’s editor to discuss alternative arrangements.

Proofing and Typesetting

After we receive your completed licence form, your article will move into the production stage. During this process, LHS production team will carry out editorial checks, copyediting, and typesetting to prepare the final version of your paper.

Once typesetting is complete, the proofs will be sent to the corresponding author for review. This is your opportunity to correct any typographical or grammatical errors and confirm that author names, affiliations, and other details are accurate. Please note that rewriting or major text changes cannot be made at this stage.

After you return your corrections and the proofs are finalised, your article will be published online as the final version of record. It will then be added to the next available issue in line with the journal’s publication schedule.

Correcting inaccuracies in your published paper

General Principles

We are committed to maintaining the integrity and reliability of our published content and to upholding the important role publishers play in supporting scholarly communication. All articles and book chapters, whether published online or in print, represent the Version of Record. This is the definitive, citable version of the work, identified by a Digital Object Identifier (DOI), and serves as the permanent record of academic research.

To preserve a single, authoritative version of each publication, no direct changes will be made to an article once it has been published online. Any amendments deemed necessary will be issued as a post-publication notice linked to the original article. These notices appear on the article PDF and are visible to readers before the paywall.

Only corrections that are essential to the meaning, accuracy, or interpretation of the article will be considered. This includes errors that affect the reliability of the research, the accuracy of metadata, or the discoverability of the article in indexing and abstracting databases. Minor stylistic or typographical errors that do not alter the substance or interpretation of the work will not be corrected.

Requests for substantial changes, such as updates to authorship, will be reviewed in line with COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics) guidelines and may require an investigation before approval. Author affiliation details must reflect the institution where the research was conducted.

Corrections are typically considered within 12 months of publication. After this period, amendments are only made in exceptional circumstances and at the discretion of the Editor and Publisher.

Please note that replacement of a published galley file or requests for major post-publication updates incur a fee to cover re-typesetting, production, and metadata resubmission costs. These fees apply only when author-initiated changes require republication of files.

We do not publish addenda for new data, additional analyses, or changes in interpretation beyond the original scope of the article. If an error is found that invalidates the findings, the Publisher may issue a retraction rather than a correction notice, in accordance with COPE best practices.

Previous Volumes

Submission

Online Support

Reviewers

Open Access

How To Guides

Journal Permission

Contact Us