Articlo
Format a manuscript

Springer Nature

Prepare your manuscript for Scandinavian Journal of Occupational Therapy.

Review the checklist, choose your article type, and turn your draft into a cleaner submission package.

Checked 2026-08-02
Check readiness freePrepare this manuscript

Article types

Editorial
Letter
Research Article
Case Report
Review Article
Systematic Review
Protocol
Lectio
Commentary
Book Review
Clinical Trial
Letter to the Editor

Readiness requirements

Review the key details below, or download the complete checklist with every stored source-backed requirement.

Abstract length

  • Provide an author-written abstract of no more than 250 words.
  • Use a structured abstract.
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  • Research Article: Use a structured abstract.
  • Systematic Review: Use a structured abstract.
  • The trial registration number (TRN) and date of registration should be included as the last line of the manuscript abstract.
  • The trial registration number (TRN), date of registration and the words 'retrospectively registered’ should be included as the last line of the manuscript abstract.
  • Please follow the instructions elsewhere in the submission guidelines regarding what should be included in the title page and abstract, and for more information about the inclusion of declarations such as funding statements, research data availability, conflict of interest statements, etc. The introduction should explain the background of the study, grounded in updated literature.
  • Research Article / Systematic Review: Abstract Please provide a structured abstract of 150 to 250 words which should be divided into the following sections: Purpose (stating the main purposes and research question) Methods Results Conclusions Please note: For some articles (particularly, systematic reviews and original research articles), 250 words may not be sufficient to provide all necessary information in the abstract.

Keywords

  • Include or confirm the keywords required by the journal. Articlo checks this item and flags anything that still needs author input.

Reference style

  • Articlo formats your supplied references in Harvard style and checks that citations match the reference list; source validity is not verified.
  • They should not consist solely of a reference citation, and they should never include the bibliographic details of a reference.
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  • Back to top References Citation Reference citations in the text should be identified by numbers in square brackets.
  • Reference list The list of references should only include works that are cited in the text and that have been published or accepted for publication.
  • Numbering If supplying any supplementary material, the text must make specific mention of the material as a citation, similar to that of figures and tables.
  • Data citation The journal recommends that authors cite any publicly available data on which the conclusions of the paper rely.
  • This statement should explain how to access data supporting the results and analysis in the article, including links/citations to publicly archived datasets analysed or generated during the study.
  • Data citations should include a persistent identifier (such as a DOI), should be included in the reference list using the minimum information recommended by DataCite (Dataset Creator, Dataset Title, Publisher [repository], Publication Year, Identifier [e.g. DOI, Handle, Accession or ARK]) and follow journal style.

Figure and table rules

  • Keep every figure and table numbered, captioned, and cited in the manuscript. Keep figures embedded; Articlo also extracts numbered source files for the package.
  • Footnotes to the text are numbered consecutively; those to tables should be indicated by superscript lower-case letters (or asterisks for significance values and other statistical data).
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  • Footnotes to tables should be indicated by superscript lower-case letters (or asterisks for significance values and other statistical data) and included beneath the table body.
  • Color illustrations should be submitted as RGB (8 bits per channel).
  • Variance of type size within an illustration should be minimal, e.g., do not use 8-pt type on an axis and 20-pt type for the axis label.
  • Do not number the appendix figures,"A1, A2, A3, etc." Figures in online appendices [Supplementary Information (SI)] should, however, be numbered separately.
  • For large-sized journals the figures should be 84 mm (for double-column text areas), or 174 mm (for single-column text areas) wide and not higher than 234 mm.
  • For small-sized journals, the figures should be 119 mm wide and not higher than 195 mm.
  • Combination Art Definition: a combination of halftone and line art, e.g., halftones containing line drawing, extensive lettering, color diagrams, etc. Combination artwork should have a minimum resolution of 600 dpi.
  • Accessibility In order to give people of all abilities and disabilities access to the content of your figures, please make sure that All figures have descriptive captions (blind users could then use a text-to-speech software or a text-to-Braille hardware) Patterns are used instead of or in addition to colors for conveying information (colorblind users would then be able to distinguish the visual elements) Any figure lettering has a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1 Generative AI Images Please check Springer’s policy on generative AI images and make sure your work adheres to the principles described therein.
  • Audio, Video, and Animations Aspect ratio: 16:9 or 4:3 Maximum file size: 2 GB Minimum video duration: 1 sec Supported file formats: avi, wmv, mp4, mov, m2p, mp2, mpg, mpeg, flv, mxf, mts, m4v, 3gp Text and Presentations Submit your material in PDF format;.doc or.ppt files are not suitable for long-term viability.
  • Use the Tab key when indenting paragraphs or separating table columns.
  • Tables and figures can be included in line in the manuscript where they should appear, or they can be provided as separate files during submission.
  • An additional search protocol (table) should always be included.
  • Figures and tables should adequately annotate and enhance the presentation of material.
  • Use the table function, not spreadsheets, to make tables.
  • They should also not contain any figures or tables.
  • Tables should always be cited in text in consecutive numerical order.
  • Do not use faint lines and/or lettering and check that all lines and lettering within the figures are legible at final size.
  • Avoid effects such as shading, outline letters, etc. Do not include titles or captions within your illustrations.
  • Figures should always be cited in text in consecutive numerical order.
  • Figure parts should be denoted by lowercase letters (a, b, c, etc.).
  • Figure Captions Each figure should have a concise caption describing accurately what the figure depicts.
  • Include the captions in the text file of the manuscript, not in the figure file.
  • Figure Placement and Size Figures should be submitted within the body of the text.
  • Only if the file size of the manuscript causes problems in uploading it, the large figures should be submitted separately from the text.
  • Graphic elements and illustrations are accepted if they provide unique data that cannot be described in the text, and should be clearly marked with Arabic numbers as they appear in the text.
  • Permissions Authors wishing to include figures, tables, or text passages that have already been published elsewhere are required to obtain permission from the copyright owner(s) for both the print and online format and to include evidence that such permission has been granted when submitting their papers.
  • Permissions If you include figures that have already been published elsewhere, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner(s) for both the print and online format.
  • Author names, affiliations and any other potentially identifying information should be removed from the manuscript text and any accompanying files (such as figures of supplementary material); A separate Title Page should be submitted, containing title, author names, affiliations, and the contact information of the corresponding author.
  • Keep lettering consistently sized throughout your final-sized artwork, usually about 2–3 mm (8–12 pt).
  • If the figures will be printed in black and white, do not refer to color in the captions.
  • Accessibility In order to give people of all abilities and disabilities access to the content of your supplementary files, please make sure that The manuscript contains a descriptive caption for each supplementary material Video files do not contain anything that flashes more than three times per second (so that users prone to seizures caused by such effects are not put at risk) Generative AI Images Please check Springer’s policy on generative AI images and make sure your work adheres to the principles described therein.

Funding statement

  • Add or confirm the author-written Funding statement; Articlo flags it if author input is still needed.
  • The names of funding organizations should be written in full.
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  • Under ‘summary of requirements’ (see below) funding information should be included in the ‘Declarations’ section.
  • Any acknowledgements, disclosures, or funding information should also be included on this page; Authors should avoid citing their own work in a way that could reveal their identity.
  • Interests that should be considered and disclosed but are not limited to the following: Funding: Research grants from funding agencies (please give the research funder and the grant number) and/or research support (including salaries, equipment, supplies, reimbursement for attending symposia, and other expenses) by organizations that may gain or lose financially through publication of this manuscript.
  • Please note that, in addition to the above requirements, funding information (given that funding is a potential competing interest (as mentioned above)) needs to be disclosed upon submission of the manuscript in the peer review system.

Competing interests

  • Add or confirm the author-written Competing interests statement; Articlo flags it if author input is still needed.
  • Add or confirm the author-written Conflict of interest statement; Articlo flags it if author input is still needed.
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  • Submitting Declarations Please note that Author Contribution information and Competing Interest information must be provided at submission via the submission interface.
  • Competing Interests: Authors are required to disclose financial or non-financial interests that are directly or indirectly related to the work submitted for publication.
  • In addition, they should exclude themselves from handling manuscripts in cases where there is a competing interest.

Data availability statement

  • Add or confirm the author-written Data availability statement; Articlo flags it if author input is still needed.
  • Research Article: Sharing of all relevant research data is strongly encouraged and authors must add a Data Availability Statement to original research articles.
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  • Data availability statements All original research must include a data availability statement.

Ethics statement

  • Add or confirm the author-written Ethics statement; Articlo flags it if author input is still needed.
  • Back to top Research involving human participants, their data or biological material Ethics approval When reporting a study that involved human participants, their data or biological material, authors should include a statement that confirms that the study was approved (or granted exemption) by the appropriate institutional and/or national research ethics committee (including the name of the ethics committee) and certify that the study was performed in accordance with the ethical standards as laid down in the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.
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  • If doubt exists whether the research was conducted in accordance with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration or comparable standards, the authors must explain the reasons for their approach, and demonstrate that an independent ethics committee or institutional review board explicitly approved the doubtful aspects of the study.
  • Consent to Participate For all research involving human subjects, freely-given, informed consent to participate in the study must be obtained from participants (or their parent or legal guardian in the case of children under 16) and a statement to this effect should appear in the manuscript.
  • If a study was granted exemption from requiring ethics approval, this should also be detailed in the manuscript (including the reasons for the exemption).
  • Case Report: Ethics approval for case studies Case reports require ethics approval.
  • Authors should check with their institution to make sure they are complying with the specific requirements of their institution and seek ethics approval where needed.
  • Examples of statements to be used when no ethical approval is required/exemption granted: • This is an observational study.
  • The XYZ Research Ethics Committee has confirmed that no ethical approval is required.
  • Informed consent for publication should be obtained if there is any doubt.
  • Ethics approval for retrospective studies Although retrospective studies are conducted on already available data or biological material (for which formal consent may not be needed or is difficult to obtain) ethics approval may be required dependent on the law and the national ethical guidelines of a country.
  • Authors should be aware to secure informed consent from the individual (or parent or guardian if the participant is a minor or incapable) See also section on Informed Consent.
  • Authors should include a statement that confirms that an institutional or independent ethics committee (including the name of the ethics committee) approved the study and that informed consent was obtained from the donor or next of kin.
  • Clinical Trial: To ensure the integrity of the reporting of patient-centered trials, authors must register prospective clinical trials (phase II to IV trials) in suitable publicly available repositories.
  • Case Report / Systematic Review: Checklists are available for a number of study designs, including: Randomised trials (CONSORT) and Study protocols (SPIRIT) Observational studies (STROBE) Systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) and protocols (Prisma-P) Diagnostic/prognostic studies (STARD) and (TRIPOD) Case reports (CARE) Clinical practice guidelines (AGREE) and (RIGHT) Qualitative research (SRQR) and (COREQ) Animal pre-clinical studies (ARRIVE) Quality improvement studies (SQUIRE) Economic evaluations (CHEERS) Summary of requirements The above should be summarized in a statement and placed in a ‘Declarations’ section under a heading of ‘Ethics approval’.
  • Identifying details (names, dates of birth, identity numbers, biometrical characteristics (such as facial features, fingerprint, writing style, voice pattern, DNA or other distinguishing characteristic) and other information) of the participants that were studied should not be published in written descriptions, photographs, and genetic profiles unless the information is essential for scholarly purposes and the participant (or parent/guardian if the participant is a minor or incapable or legal representative) gave written informed consent for publication.
  • Consent and already available data and/or biologic material Regardless of whether material is collected from living or dead patients, they (family or guardian if the deceased has not made a pre-mortem decision) must have given prior written consent.
  • Data protection, confidentiality and privacy When biological material is donated for or data is generated as part of a research project authors should ensure, as part of the informed consent procedure, that the participants are made aware what kind of (personal) data will be processed, how it will be used and for what purpose.
  • Retrospective ethics approval If a study has not been granted ethics committee approval prior to commencing, retrospective ethics approval usually cannot be obtained and it may not be possible to consider the manuscript for peer review.

Blinded manuscript

  • Include or confirm the blinded manuscript required by the journal. Articlo checks this item and flags anything that still needs author input.

Cover letter

  • Provide the claims and editor-specific context for the cover letter; Articlo creates an editable companion without inventing content.
  • The registration details should be included in the cover letter, not in the manuscript itself, to allow double blinded reviews.
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  • Back to top Copyright Articles in Springer Nature open access journals do not require transfer of copyright as the copyright remains with the author.
  • Authors should make sure they have permissions for the use of software, questionnaires/(web) surveys and scales in their studies (if appropriate).
  • Please be aware that some publishers do not grant electronic rights for free and that Springer will not be able to refund any costs that may have occurred to receive these permissions.

Author contributions

  • Add or confirm the author-written Author contributions statement; Articlo flags it if author input is still needed.
  • For articles that are based primarily on the student’s dissertation or thesis, it is recommended that the student is usually listed as principal author: A Graduate Student’s Guide to Determining Authorship Credit and Authorship Order, APA Science Student Council 2006 Affiliation The primary affiliation for each author should be the institution where the majority of their work was done.

Supplementary files

  • Lectio: Include every cited supplementary file and use matching labels in the manuscript.
  • Letter: Include every cited supplementary file and use matching labels in the manuscript.
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  • Protocol: Include every cited supplementary file and use matching labels in the manuscript.
  • Editorial: Include every cited supplementary file and use matching labels in the manuscript.
  • Commentary: Include every cited supplementary file and use matching labels in the manuscript.
  • Book Review: Include every cited supplementary file and use matching labels in the manuscript.
  • Case Report: Include every cited supplementary file and use matching labels in the manuscript.
  • Clinical Trial: Include every cited supplementary file and use matching labels in the manuscript.
  • Review Article: Include every cited supplementary file and use matching labels in the manuscript.
  • Research Article: Include every cited supplementary file and use matching labels in the manuscript.
  • Systematic Review: Include every cited supplementary file and use matching labels in the manuscript.
  • Letter to the Editor: Include every cited supplementary file and use matching labels in the manuscript.
  • Embed or attach the author-supplied supplementary material so Articlo can extract and label it for the package.
  • Before submitting research datasets as Supplementary Information, authors should read the journal’s Research data policy.

Title page and author information

  • Provide the author, affiliation, and correspondence details for the separate title page; Articlo creates the editable companion file.
  • Acknowledgments Acknowledgments of people, grants, funds, etc. should be placed in a separate section on the title page.
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  • Please use the title page for providing the statements.
  • The Declarations section should be placed on a title page that is separate from the manuscript.
  • Please use the title page as outlined in the Title Page section of these Instructions for Authors for providing the statements.
  • These contributions should be listed at the separate title page.
  • Summary of requirements The above should be summarized in a statement and included on a title page that is separate from the manuscript with a section entitled “Declarations” when submitting a paper.
  • Please include in each file the following information: article title, journal name, author names; affiliation and e-mail address of the corresponding author.

Reporting guidelines

  • Do not use the lowercase I for 1 (one) or the uppercase O for 0 (zero).
  • As a rule, an average article should be around 5,000 words, but can be up to a maximum of 8,500 words.
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  • Use a normal, plain font (e.g., 10-point Times Roman) for text.
  • All lines should be at least 0.1 mm (0.3 pt) wide.
  • Scanned line drawings and line drawings in bitmap format should have a minimum resolution of 1200 dpi.
  • Halftones should have a minimum resolution of 300 dpi.
  • Interests within the last 3 years of beginning the work (conducting the research and preparing the work for submission) should be reported.
  • Interests outside the 3-year time frame must be disclosed if they could reasonably be perceived as influencing the submitted work.
  • The same elements should be used throughout the manuscript.
  • Use a hyphen only to hyphenate compound words.
  • Do not justify your text; use a ragged right-hand margin.
  • Use a double hyphen (--) to indicate a dash in text.
  • The space bar should only be used to separate words.
  • The rationale of the study should be stated, and the significance for occupational therapy explained.
  • The aim of the study should be clearly described.
  • The design and investigated population should be appropriate for the research problem stated and aim of the study.
  • Ethical considerations should be accounted for.
  • Avenues for future research should be suggested.
  • Methodological considerations/limitations should be acknowledged.
  • The publisher will not be held legally responsible should there be any claims for compensation.
  • Source Files Please ensure you provide all relevant editable source files at every submission and revision.
  • Title The title should be concise and informative.
  • The use of an LLM (or other AI-tool) for "AI assisted copy editing" purposes does not need to be declared.
  • Please note that submissions that do not include relevant declarations will be returned as incomplete.
  • Back to top Text Text Formatting Manuscripts should be submitted in Word.
  • Use the automatic page numbering function to number the pages.
  • Use tab stops or other commands for indents, not the space bar.
  • Use the equation editor or MathType for equations.
  • Personal communications and unpublished works should only be mentioned in the text.
  • The entries in the list should be numbered consecutively.
  • Vector graphics containing fonts must have the fonts embedded in the files.
  • In such cases, material from other sources should be used.
  • Spreadsheets Spreadsheets should be submitted as.csv or.xlsx files (MS Excel).
  • Participant consent should be obtained and documented prior to data collection.
  • You should ensure you have necessary rights to share any data that you deposit in a repository.
  • Authors should adhere to discipline-specific rules for acquiring, selecting and processing data.
  • Research Article: Research articles and non-research articles (e.g. Opinion, Review, and Commentary articles) must cite appropriate and relevant literature in support of the claims made.
  • Research that may be misapplied to pose a threat to public health or national security should be clearly identified in the manuscript (e.g. dual use of research).
  • The retraction note should provide transparency which parts of the article are impacted by the error.
  • Please note that the Journal may not use the suggestions, but suggestions are appreciated and may help facilitate the peer review process.
  • Research Article: Primary research articles require a disclosure statement.
  • Review Article: Review articles therefore require a disclosure statement.
  • Book Review: Other article types such as editorials, book reviews, comments (amongst others) may, dependent on their content, require a disclosure statement.
  • Authors should check with their institution to make sure they are complying with the specific requirements of their country.
  • Under certain circumstances consent is not required as long as information is anonymized and the submission does not include images that may identify the person.
  • If identifying characteristics are altered to protect anonymity, such as in genetic profiles, authors should provide assurance that alterations do not distort meaning.
  • Authors should provide the appropriate attribution for republished images.
  • The aspect of confidentiality as well as any wishes from the deceased should be respected.
  • Authors should make sure to also seek consent from individuals to publish their data prior to submitting their paper to a journal.
  • The decision whether such information should be included is not only dependent on the scope of the journal, but also the scope of the article.
  • Registering a Review Protocol In order to publish a review in Scandinavian Journal of Occupational Therapy, the protocol for the review must be registered at an appropriate registration site.
  • Do not use field functions.
  • To accommodate user downloads, please keep in mind that larger-sized files may require very long download times and that some users may experience other problems during downloading.
  • If it is not possible to share research data publicly, for instance when individual privacy could be compromised, this statement should describe how data can be accessed and any conditions for reuse.
  • A single study should not be split up into several parts to increase the quantity of submissions and submitted to various journals or to one journal over time (i.e. ‘salami-slicing/publishing’).
  • Authors should avoid untrue statements about an entity (who can be an individual person or a company) or descriptions of their behavior or actions that could potentially be seen as personal attacks or allegations about that person.
  • Examples include, but are not limited to: position on editorial board, advisory board or board of directors or other type of management relationships; writing and/or consulting for educational purposes; expert witness; mentoring relations; and so forth.
  • Exceptions where it is not necessary to obtain consent: • Images such as x rays, laparoscopic images, ultrasound images, brain scans, pathology slides unless there is a concern about identifying information in which case, authors should ensure that consent is obtained.
  • However, authors should always check the specific biobank/biorepository policies or any other type of data provider policies (in case of non-bio research) to be sure that this is the case.
  • In the case of articles describing human transplantation studies, authors must include a statement declaring that no organs/tissues were obtained from prisoners and must also name the institution(s)/clinic(s)/department(s) via which organs/tissues were obtained.
  • Review Article: For review articles where discrete statements are less applicable a statement should be included who had the idea for the article, who performed the literature search and data analysis, and who drafted and/or critically revised the work.
  • Confidentiality Authors should treat all communication with the Journal as confidential which includes correspondence with direct representatives from the Journal such as Editors-in-Chief and/or Handling Editors and reviewers’ reports unless explicit consent has been received to share information.
  • Maintaining integrity of the research and its presentation is helped by following the rules of good scientific practice, which include*: The manuscript should not be submitted to more than one journal for simultaneous consideration.
  • This feature can add dimension to the author's article, as certain information cannot be printed or is more convenient in electronic form.
  • In many instances authors will need to secure written consent before including images.
  • Do not break words at the end of lines.
  • If cells were bought from a life science company the following need to be given in the manuscript: name of company (that provided the cells), cell type, number of cell line, and batch of cells.

Preprints and prior publication

  • This may include – but is not limited to – having previously published with one or more of the authors, and sharing the same institution as one or more of the authors.

Artificial intelligence disclosure

  • These AI-assisted improvements may include wording and formatting changes to the texts, but do not include generative editorial work and autonomous content creation.

Language and text style

  • Please use single quotation marks, except where ‘a quotation is “within” a quotation’.
  • Please note that long quotations should be indented without quotation marks.
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  • Abbreviations Abbreviations should be defined at first mention and used consistently thereafter.
  • Use italics for emphasis.
  • Proper acknowledgements to other works must be given (this includes material that is closely copied (near verbatim), summarized and/or paraphrased), quotation marks (to indicate words taken from another source) are used for verbatim copying of material, and permissions secured for material that is copyrighted.
  • Colloquial English may not be sufficient and is not necessarily the same as scientific English, for which professional services may be needed.

Authorship and originality

  • In all cases, there must be human accountability for the final version of the text and agreement from the authors that the edits reflect their original work.
  • Reasons for changes in authorship should be explained in detail.
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  • Back to top Authorship principles These guidelines describe authorship principles and good authorship practices to which prospective authors should adhere to.
  • Reasons for these changes in authorship should be explained.
  • The author should always make a full statement to the editor about all submissions and previous reports that might be regarded as redundant or duplicate publication of the same or very similar work.
  • Authors should refrain from misrepresenting research results which could damage the trust in the journal, the professionalism of scientific authorship, and ultimately the entire scientific endeavour.
  • The submitted work should be original and should not have been published elsewhere in any form or language (partially or in full), unless the new work concerns an expansion of previous work. (Please provide transparency on the re-use of material to avoid the concerns about text-recycling (‘self-plagiarism’)).
  • Deceased or incapacitated authors For cases in which a co-author dies or is incapacitated during the writing, submission, or peer-review process, and the co-authors feel it is appropriate to include the author, co-authors should obtain approval from a (legal) representative which could be a direct relative.
  • Large Language Models (LLMs), such as ChatGPT, do not currently satisfy our authorship criteria.
  • Notably an attribution of authorship carries with it accountability for the work, which cannot be effectively applied to LLMs.

Study reporting guidelines

  • Reporting a Literature Review Reporting a literature review should follow established methodological frameworks like PRISMA, Joanna Briggs, or similar.
  • Authors are recommended to adhere to the minimum reporting guidelines hosted by the EQUATOR Network when preparing their manuscript.

Article type and manuscript length

  • Article Organization Papers should be written with the following elements in the following order: title page, abstract, keywords, main text introduction, materials and methods, results, discussion, methodological considerations/limitations, acknowledgements, references, and appendices.
  • If you are unclear whether your article type requires a disclosure statement, please contact the Editor-in-Chief.

Manuscript structure

  • A consent to publish form can be found here. (Download docx, 36 kB) Summary of requirements The above should be summarized in a statement and placed in a ‘Declarations’ section under a heading of ‘Consent to participate’ and/or ‘Consent to publish’.
  • The material and methods section should give sufficient detail to enable other investigators to repeat the work.
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  • The results sections should be concise and focus on findings relevant to the aim of the study.
  • The discussion section should give critical assessment of the results of the study in view of previously reported research.
  • Conclusions in relation to the aim should be stated, as well as the significance of the findings for occupational therapy.
  • Use of an LLM should be properly documented in the Methods section (and if a Methods section is not available, in a suitable alternative part) of the manuscript.
  • Headings Please use no more than three levels of displayed headings.
  • Results should be presented clearly, honestly, and without fabrication, falsification or inappropriate data manipulation (including image based manipulation).
  • Upon request authors should be prepared to send relevant documentation or data in order to verify the validity of the results presented.
  • Cell lines If human cells are used, authors must declare in the manuscript: what cell lines were used by describing the source of the cell line, including when and from where it was obtained, whether the cell line has recently been authenticated and by what method.
  • Acknowledgements An Acknowledgment section may be included to acknowledge, for example, people who have assisted with aspects of the work (but who do not qualify as authors), disclaimers, collaborations, etc. Statements and Declarations The following statements should be included under the heading "Statements and Declarations" for inclusion in the published paper.
  • Depending on the situation, this may result in the Journal’s and/or Publisher’s implementation of the following measures, including, but not limited to: If the manuscript is still under consideration, it may be rejected and returned to the author.

Statistical reporting

  • Use appropriate statistical and qualitative analyses and procedures.
Save journal and get updates Download complete checklist

What your package checks

Abstract: 250 words
Paper: 8,500 words
References: Harvard
Title page: separate file
Cover letter: requested
Declarations: Data availability, Funding, Competing interests, Conflict of interest, Ethics, Author contributions, Acknowledgements

Source transparency

This preparation guide uses published journal-specific author requirements. Journal instructions can change, so authors should complete a final review before submission.

Open official guideline source