GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) Information clause
New type of paper in Health Problems of Civilization

Starting from 1st July 2021, we invite the Authors to submit for publication:
- small forms describing unusual clinical situations related to their practice,
- short clinical comments relating to any publication in Health Problems of Civilization,
- brief communications or preliminary results of original studies that deserve rapid publication,
- your personal opinions as part of a larger discussion on the Health Problems of Civilization publication,
- letters concerning the topics within the journal’s thematic scope,
- recommendations/guidelines.

Please note that it is not for case reports.

All articles submitted as this kind of publication must be tagged as LETTER TO THE EDITOR.
All the above articles will be published in the Online First mode within 3-4 weeks after the approval and will be indexed in the databases. Two of them will appear in every issue of the journal. They will be subjected only to reviews assessing the correctness of their editorial form.

The publication of Letters to the Editor is free of charge.

Manuscript requirements:

The main body of the manuscript should not: contain abstract, exceed 500 words and 5 references (if applicable). The maximum of 4 authors and only 1 figure or 1 table are allowed. A figure legend should contain all information needed for the explanation of the picture.

We reserve the right to reject the paper without specific explanation if the paper is outside the scope of the journal or has obvious flaws.


The mission of the Health Problems of Civilization journal

Health Problems of Civilization (quarterly) is the continuation of Human and Health (ISSN 2082-7288), issued in the years 2010-2013. The journal is published exclusively in English; the abstracts, titles and keywords are also provided in Polish.
The mission of our journal is to popularize knowledge of people’s health problems in the light of the dynamic development of civilization, industrialization, urbanization and environmental changes that greatly affect modern life, often in a negative way. To explore this theme, the journal has been divided into three sections: Part I: Diseases and Problems Distinguished by the WHO and FAO; Part II: Physical Activity of Social and Professional Groups; Part III: Other. Accordingly, the articles cover topics such as biomedical aspects of health, modern diseases, physical activity or health-related behaviours. The journal also welcomes submissions on topics from the area of interest that is currently the focus of research in the scientific community such as Lyme disease, tuberculosis or obesity.

Journal’s title and its thematic scope

Epidemiological data indicate that civilization diseases such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, overweight, obesity and cancer are significantly increasing. Over the past 20 years, more than 30 new highly infectious diseases have been identified worldwide. Consequently, research studies and national programs are being launched to educate the society how to avoid health risks and also to inform about early diagnosis and therapy. By covering the abovementioned topics, Health Problems of Civilization provides an opportunity to publish articles on current issues, including prophylaxis of diseases and health education as well as adverse health outcomes.

Papers should be submitted to the Editorial Office on-line via: Editorial System

After the manuscript is accepted for publication in “Health Problems of Civilization”, the author or authors of the submitted articles are obliged to the payment of the fee in the amount: PLN 150.00. Payment is intended to cover the cost associated with publication partially. Before the payment, please contact Editorial Office in order to establish an appropriate payment form and invoice details. The fee applies only to the cost of preparing the article for publication in the journal. The fee does not affect the date of the article publication. Please be informed that if the author decides not to publish the work, which was already accepted and paid, the fee paid will not be returned for reasons beyond the Publisher’s control.

The authors of ordered articles, guest editors cooperating with the journal editorial office, and employees of the John Paul II University in Biała Podlaska are exempt from the fee. If the manuscript has been written jointly by the employees of the John Paul II University in Biała Podlaska and authors from other institutions, the exemption from the payment applies only when the first, the last, or the corresponding author is the employee of the John Paul II University in Biała Podlaska.

Starting from 25th September 2023, there is the possibility of a one-time exemption from the fee of PLN 150.00 in case the corresponding author of the article has performed a review for the “Health Problems of Civilization” in the 12 months preceding the submission of the article.

In case the Editorial Office receives an article in Polish, it will not bear the costs related to its translation into English. The cost of such translation service is PLN 45.00 per translation page; that is per 1800 characters including spaces. In case the Editorial Office receives an article in English, it will be sent for the proof-reading by the native speaker of English and the cost of such proof-reading will be covered by the authors. Cost of such service is PLN 30.00 per correction page, that is per 1800 characters including spaces. The translation/proof-reading is conducted by a translator/a proof-reader who presently cooperates with the Editorial Office. The article will be passed on for its translation/prof-reading by the Editorial Office only after a positive review and the final approval of a given article for publication. Having obtained the information from the Editorial Office regarding a positive review as well as the final cost of the translation/proof-reading, the author will be obliged to transfer the indicated amount to the bank account of John Paul II University in Biała Podlaska / Akademia Bialska im. Jana Pawła II: payment from Poland: Santander Bank Polska S.A., 45 1500 1331 1213 3001 7949 0000; payment from other countries: Santander Bank Polska S.A., PL 45 1500 1331 1213 3001 7949 0000, SWIFT Code: WBKPPLPP. The author is next obliged to provide the Editorial Office with a transfer confirmation (i.e. in electronic form to the email address).

Ethical requirements

When reporting experiments on human subjects, authors should indicate whether the procedures followed were in accordance with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2000 (concerning the ethical principles for the medical community and forbidding releasing the name of the patient, initials or the hospital evidence number) and with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation (institutional and national). The authors presenting case studies are obligated not to disclose patients' personal data. Regarding photographs, in case of any doubt that the picture inadequately protects the patient's anonymity his/her consent is required for publication.

Conflict of interest

Authors are expected to describe sources of the research funding, a role of the potential sponsor in planning, executing and analysis of the study, and the influence (bias) which the funding organization had on the content of the article. Other relationships (such as employment, consultancies, stock ownership, honoraria, paid expert testimony) providing potential sources of conflict of interest in relation to the submitted article should also be revealed.

Ghostwriting, guest authorship and plagiarism policy

“Health Problems of Civilization” has procedures in place to prevent ghostwriting, guest authorship, and plagiarism. Each manuscript submitted to “Health Problems of Civilization” is checked for the plagiarism.

Preparation of manuscripts

The paper should be written in English and be communicative, clear and concise, while maintaining the classic layout.

Work layout

The texts of the submitted articles should not exceed:
• in original papers and in review papers, 4400 words including tables and references – about 20 sheets, typewritten, double-spaced, 11 point font, 30 items of literature;
• in case studies, 1000 words including tables and references – about 7 sheets, typewritten, double-spaced, 11 point font, 10 items of literature;
• in editorial, 1500 words excluding references – about 10 sheets, double-spaced, 11 point font, 15 items of literature, without summary and key words, tables and figures can be included, sections can be included;
• in book reviews, 750 words, without sections, summary and key words;
• in letters to the Editor, 500 words excluding references, without summary, 3-5 keywords, double-spaced, 11 point font, 5 items of literature, max. 1 figure or 1 table, max. 4 authors.

Papers exceeding the required length or the number of items of literature will be individually considered by the Editor-in-Chief.

Original papers should be organized in a standard form with separate:
• Title (in Polish and English)
• Keywords (from the Medical Subject Headings [MeSH] catalogue of the Index Medicus; in Polish and English)
• Summary (150-250 words; in Polish and English, structured)
• Introduction
• Material and methods
• Results
• Discussion
• Conclusions
• Disclosures and acknowledgements
• References.

Case studies should be divided to the following sections:
• Title (in Polish and English)
• Keywords (from the Medical Subject Headings [MeSH] catalogue of the Index Medicus; in Polish and English)
• Summary (150-200 words; in Polish and English, structured)
• Introduction
• Case description
• Conclusions
• References.

Review papers should be divided to the following sections:
• Title (in Polish and English)
• Keywords (from the Medical Subject Headings [MeSH] catalogue of the Index Medicus; in Polish and English)
• Summary (150-250 words; in Polish and English)
• Introduction
• Aim of the work
• Brief description of the status of knowledge
• Conclusions
• References.

Guidelines for statistical reporting in original research/experimental papers

The original research/experimental papers to be published in Health Problems of Civilization should contain information on the applied research methodology, together with a description of the applied methods of statistical analysis. This information should include:
1) characteristics of the population and/or the research sample, in particular the size and method of selecting/determining the sample, and a description of the source of the statistical data acquired. For processed data, details of any data corrections/transformations should be included. If necessary, provide a description of the data collection methods (e.g. surveys, interviews, observations, experiments, etc.). The information on the surveys/interviews must contain information about the wording of the questions, as well as the type of questions (e.g. open, closed, single/multiple choice etc.);
2) it is expected that the papers sent to Health Problems of Civilization will provide a brief/concise description of the data analysis methods used in the research, with reference to the relevant/original scientific publications that contain a more detailed description of the statistical methods used. When advanced methods are used, a brief justification of their implementation/selection should also be provided;
3) all unusual statistical terms, abbreviations and symbols used in the paper should be properly defined. The units of measurement given in all tables and figures should be clearly defined. In the appropriate reference, the name and version of the statistical software package used should be specified, and when statistical inference methods are also used, the adopted alpha (α) significance level/threshold should also be provided;
4) when reporting the results of statistical tests, in addition to the p-value, the value of the test statistic and the number of degrees of freedom should be provided. In order to ensure full transparency and to provide complete and reliable information about the research results, the Authors should provide accurate values of “p” for all performed statistical tests. Exceptions are p-values smaller than 0.001, which can be expressed as p<0.001, and p-values greater than 0.99, which can be reported as p>0.99;
5) the text should clearly state what measures of the statistical description (central tendency, volatility/diversity) are presented. In the case of multivariate models, all the variables included in the models should be presented, and the scientific/substantive justification for including them in the model should be provided. The model verification process should also be conducted.

Tables

Tables should be numbered according to their sequence in the text. The text should include references to all tables.
Each table should be provided in a separate file.

Illustrations

Each figure should be provided in a separate file, not included in the text.
Figures should preferably be provided in the TIF or EPS format. JPG is also acceptable.
All figures, whether photographs, graphs or diagrams, should be numbered consecutively throughout.

Citation and references

References should be quoted in square brackets in order of citation.
The reference list should be arranged in the order in which the citations appear in the text. If the number of authors exceed 6, after the sixth name “et al.” should be written. If the article has a DOI (Digital Object Identifier) number, please enter it at the end of the bibliographic record as a full link, e.g. https://doi.org/10.5114/hpc.2017.70524

Journal citation:
Tomao P, Ciceroni L, D’Ovidio MC, De Rosa M, Vonesch N, Iavicoli S, et al. Prevalence and incidence of antibodies to Borrelia burgdorferi and to tick-borne encephalitis virus in agricultural and forestry workers from Tuscany, Italy. Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis. 2005; 24(7): 457–463.

Journal with a supplement number:
Kalman M, Inchley J, Sigmundova D, Iannotti RJ, Tynjälä JA, Hamrik Z, et al. Secular trends in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity in 32 countries from 2002 to 2010: a cross-national perspective. The European Journal of Public Health. 2015; 25(Suppl. 2): 37-40.

Journal volume with part number:
Abend SM, Kulish N. The psychoanalytic method from an epistemological viewpoint. Int J Psychoanal. 2002; 83(Pt 2): 491-5.

Journal issue with part number:
Ahrar K, Madoff DC, Gupta S, Wallace MJ, Price RE, Wright KC. Development of a large animal model for lung tumors. J Vasc Interv Radiol. 2002; 13(9 Pt 1): 923-8.

Online journal citation:
Zhang M, Holman CD, Price SD, Sanfilippo FM, Preen DB, Bulsara MK. Comorbidity and repeat admission to hospital for adverse drug reactions in older adults: retrospective cohort study. BMJ. 2009 Jan 7; 338: a2752. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.a2752

Electronic Publish Ahead of Print:
Yu WM, Hawley TS, Hawley RG, Qu CK. Immortalization of yolk sac-derived precursor cells. Blood. 2002 Nov 15; 100(10): 3828-31. Epub 2002 Jul 5.

Book:
Biddle SJ, Mutrie N. Psychology of physical activity: determinants, well-being, and interventions. 2th edition. London: Routledge; 2008.

Chapter from a book:
Hung Chih Yu A. Exploring motivation for leisure-based physical activity: a case study of college students. In: Burns R, Robinson K., editors. Proceedings of the 2006 Northeastern Recreation Research Symposium. Newtown Square: Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Research Station; 2006. p. 342-349.

Forthcoming/In press:
Tian D, Araki H, Stahl E, Bergelson J, Kreitman M. Signature of balancing selection in Arabidopsis. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. Forthcoming 2002.

Materials published online without DOI number:
Abood S. Quality improvement initiative in nursing homes: the ANA acts in an advisory role. Am J Nurs [Internet]. 2002 Jun [cited 2002 Aug 12]; 102(6): [about 1 p.]. Available from: http://www.nursingworld.org/AJN/2002/june/Wawatch.htmArticle

Materials published in a language other than English:
Wielkoszyński T. [Modified, spectrophotometric method of silicon determination in biological material]. Diagn Lab. 2000; 36(3): 377–385 (in Polish).

The Publisher acquires all copyrights, on an exclusive basis, to manuscripts published, including the right to publish them in print, using electronic carriers or others, and on the Internet. Abstracts may be published without the Publisher’s permission.

Journal owner in selected situations allow the author(s) to hold the copyright but only and always with the consent obtained from the Owner of the journal. The author should ask the Editor-in-Chief for such consent.

Ethical Standards and Procedures

Termedia Publishing House is committed to meeting and upholding standards of ethical behaviour at all stages of the publication process. We follow closely the industry associations, such as the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICJME) and World Association of Medical Editors (WAME), that set standards and provide guidelines for best practices in order to meet these requirements.

Review Process
The registered manuscripts are sent to 2-3 independent experts for scientific evaluation. Submitted papers are accepted for publication after a positive opinion of the independent reviewers. Health Problems of Civilization uses a double-blind review process in which authors do not know the identity of their reviewers, nor do the reviewers know the identities of the authors. The evaluation process usually takes 2-4 months.

The Editor reserves the right to reject a paper which is not consistent with the journal profile; does not meet the requirements imposed on scientific papers; has received negative scientific reviews; does not follow the instructions on submitting and preparing articles; has not been corrected in accordance with the directions of the Editor or the reviewers; bears attributes of plagiarism. The final decision on accepting a paper for publication or rejecting it is always taken by the Editor-in-Chief.

Duties and responsibilities of authors
The author is obliged to prepare and send the article in accordance with the requirements set out in the journal Editor. Moreover the author is obliged to submit editorial complemented by a statement which will be included: a statement about the originality of the content of the article (work not yet published anywhere), the integrity of the copyrights of others, no conflict of interest or its application, as well as the superior permission to publish an article in the journal. Authors are responsible for disclosing all financial and personal relationships that might bias or be seen to bias their work.

Duties and responsibilities of reviewers
Articles are selected for publication in double blind selection system and published in open access system. Reviewer shall review by the electronic system on the basis of questions prepared for a specific title. Reviewer is also possible to send individual comments to be published in the article content.

Duties and responsibilities of editors
Editors are responsible for deciding which of the articles are accepted for publication. Editors act in a balanced, objective and fair way while carrying out their expected duties, without discrimination on grounds of gender, sexual orientation, religious or political beliefs, ethnic or geographical origin of the authors.

Correspondence address:

John Paul II University in Biała Podlaska/Akademia Bialska im. Jana Pawła II,

Sidorska 95/97,

21-500 Biała Podlaska, Polska/Poland,

e-mail: a.maksymiuk@akademiabialska.pl