Authors

BMJ Digital Health & AI adheres to the highest standards concerning its editorial policies on publication ethics and scientific misconduct. The journal follows guidance produced by bodies that include the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), the World Association of Medical Editors (WAME), the Council of Science Editors and the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE). To view all BMJ Journal policies please refer to the BMJ Author Hub policies page, including information about our Editors' roles and responsibilities.  Authors are required to submit a statement that their study obtained ethics approval (or a statement that it was not required and why) and that participants gave informed consent. Our Editors will consider whether the work is morally acceptable as determined by the World Medical Association’s Declaration of Helsinki. In addition to this, in line with General Medical Council guidelines, an article that contains personal medical information about an identifiable living individual requires patients' explicit consent (in the format of a signed BMJ patient consent form) before we will publish it. Please find further details on BMJ research ethics policies (human participants and animals) and consent for publication; including a link to the downloadable consent form.

To make the best decision on how to deal with a manuscript, BMJ Digital Health & AI needs to know about any competing interests authors may have; this includes any commercial, financial or non financial associations that may be relevant to the submitted article. Authors must download and complete a copy of the ICMJE Conflict of Interest disclosure form. In addition to this, BMJ Digital Health & AI ensures that all advertising and sponsorship associated with the journal does not influence editorial decisions, is immediately distinguishable from editorial content and meets all other BMJ guidelines. Please find more information about competing interests and a link to the form. We take all possible misconduct seriously. If an Editor, author or reader has concerns that a submitted article describes something that might be considered to constitute misconduct in research, publication or professional behaviour they should forward their concerns to the journal. The publisher will deal with allegations appropriately following ICMJE and COPE guidelines. Corrections and retractions are considered where an article has already been published; corrections, expressions of concern or a retraction notices will be published as soon as possible in line with the BMJ correction and retraction policy.

BMJ Digital Health & AI is an open access journal and levies an Article Processing Charge (APC) of 3,410 GBP (exclusive of VAT for UK and EU authors). There are no submission, colour or page charges. Please see our Author Hub for detailed information on discounts and waivers. Applications for waivers or discounts should be made during initial submission and not after an article has been accepted. Editors are not involved in this process and the ability to pay has no bearing on editorial decisions. Payment will not be required unless your article is accepted. Accepted articles will not be published until payment has been received. BMJ does not refund APCs once paid. As one of the founding members of the HINARI Access to Research in Health Programme, we provide free access to all of our journals, and journals archive to local, not-for-profit institutions in low income countries. In addition, we appreciate that some authors do not have access to funding to cover publication costs and we offer waivers through our Open Access Waiver Fund. We will accept part payment where only limited funds are available, and we offer waivers to authors in exceptional circumstances, on request. For more information on open access, funder compliance, discounts and waivers please refer to the BMJ Author Hub open access page.

BMJ Digital Health & AI submissions are predominantly unsolicited, all articles submitted are subject to peer review. The journal operates single anonymised peer review whereby the names of the reviewers are hidden from the author; two external reviewer reports are obtained before an Original research or Review article is accepted for publication. Articles authored by a member of a journal’s editorial team are independently peer reviewed; an editor will have no input or influence on the peer review process or publication decision for their own article. For more information on what to expect during the peer review process please refer to BMJ Author Hub – your paper’s journey. BMJ is committed to transparency. Every article we publish includes a description of its provenance (commissioned or not commissioned) and whether it was internally or externally peer reviewed. BMJ requests that all reviewers adhere to a set of basic principles and standards during the peer review process; these are based on the COPE Ethical Guidelines for Peer Reviewers. Please refer to our peer review terms and conditions policy page.

Plagiarism is the appropriation of the language, ideas or thoughts of another without crediting their true source and representation of them as one’s own original work. BMJ is a member of CrossCheck by CrossRef and iThenticate. iThenticate is a plagiarism screening service that verifies the originality of content submitted before publication. BMJ runs manuscripts through iThenticate during the peer review process. Authors, researchers and freelancers can also use iThenticate to screen their work before submission by visiting www.ithenticate.com. Reader responses, questions and comments to published content are welcomed by BMJ Digital Health & AI; these should be submitted electronically via the journal's website. Please find further details on how to publish a response and the terms and requirements.

BMJ Group is committed to ensuring that all good quality research is published. Our article transfer service helps authors find the best journal for their research while providing an easy and smooth publication process. As part of this service, once authors agree to transfer their manuscript all versions, supplementary files and peer reviewer comments are automatically transferred, without the need to resubmit or reformat. Authors who submit papers on digital health or artificial intelligence to other BMJ journals and whose work is rejected on the grounds of priority will be offered the option of transferring to BMJ Digital Health & AI. Please note that the article transfer service does not guarantee acceptance but you should receive a quicker initial decision on your manuscript. Contact the Article Transfer Service team at transfers@bmj.com.

Please review the below article type specifications including the required article lengths, illustrations, table limits and reference counts. The word count excludes the title page, abstract, tables, acknowledgements, contributions and references. Manuscripts should be as succinct as possible. For further support when making your submission please refer to the resources available on the BMJ Author Hub. Here you will find information on writing and formatting your research through to the peer review process and promoting your paper.  We encourage authors to ensure that research articles are written in accordance with the relevant research reporting guideline. You may also wish to use the language editing and translation services provided by BMJ Author Services.

Original research manuscripts should include the following:

• Title - include the research question and the study design
• Keywords - up to four
• Structured Abstract - include the following headings “Objective”, “Methods and Analysis”, “Results” and “Conclusion”
• Introduction
• Materials and Methods
• Results
• Discussion

Authors are encouraged to submit their original data as supplementary files. Following the lead of The BMJ and its patient partnership strategy, BMJ Digital Health & AI is encouraging active patient involvement in setting the research agenda. As such, we require authors of Research Articles to add a Patient and Public Involvement statement in the Methods section. Please see the author hub for more details'.

Abstract Style/Limit: Structured; 350 words Word Limit: 4,500 Figure/Table Limit: 5 Reference Limit: 100 Please include the key messages of your article after your abstract using the following headings. This section should be no more than 3-5 sentences and should be distinct from the abstract; be succinct, specific and accurate.

• What is already known on this topic - summarise the state of scientific knowledge on this subject before you did your study and why this study needed to be done
• What this study adds - summarise what we now know as a result of this study that we did not know before
• How this study might affect research, practice or policy- summarise the implications of this study

This will be published as a summary box after the abstract in the final published article.

A narrative review in science is a type of review article that is written to summarise and evaluate the current state of knowledge and study trends on a specific topic. It is a comprehensive overview of the literature that synthesises the current research, presents the key findings, and highlights gaps in the existing literature. Narrative reviews are an important tool for researchers to identify research trends and to inform future research directions. Authors should clearly outline in their cover letter why a narrative review is appropriate rather than a systematic review.

All titles should include ‘a Narrative review’ Word count: up to 4000 Abstract: up to 250, unstructured Tables/illustrations: up to 6 tables and/or figures References: up to 80 Include the key messages of your review after your abstract using the following headings. These key points should be no more than 3-5 sentences and should be distinct from the abstract; be succinct, specific and accurate.

• What is already known on this topic - summarise the state of current scientific knowledge and/or clinical practice on your intended study’s subject
• What this study adds - summarise the report’s take home messages, highlighting their scientific and/or clinical relevance.
• How this study might affect research, practice or policy - summarise the intended study’s potential impact and implications.

This will be published as a summary box after the abstract in the final published review.

Word count: 3000-4000 words or fewer Structured abstract: typically 250-300 words in length. We will allow up to 400 words additional length reflects adherence to recommended elements from reporting guidelines (e.g., PRISMA) ​ Tables/Figs: up to 5 Detailed search strategies and other supplementary materials will be considered for inclusion as online-only appendices. Please include the key messages of your article after your abstract using the following headings. This section should be no more than 3-5 sentences and should be distinct from the abstract; be succinct, specific and accurate.

• What is already known on this topic – summarise the state of scientific knowledge on this subject before you did your study and why this study needed to be done
• What this study adds – summarise what we now know as a result of this study that we did not know before
• How this study might affect research, practice or policy – summarise the implications of this study

This will be published as a summary box after the abstract in the final published article.

Abstract Style/Limit: none Word Limit: 800 Figure/Table Limit: 2 Reference limit: 10

Word count: up to 500 Abstract: none Tables/illustrations: up to 2 References: up to 5

The BMJ Group journals are willing to consider publishing supplements to regular issues. Supplement proposals may be made at the request of:

• The journal editor, an editorial board member or a learned society may wish to organise a meeting, sponsorship may be sought and the proceedings published as a supplement.
• The journal editor, editorial board member or learned society may wish to commission a supplement on a particular theme or topic. Again, sponsorship may be sought.
• The BMJPG itself may have proposals for supplements where sponsorship may be necessary.
• A sponsoring organisation, often a pharmaceutical company or a charitable foundation, that wishes to arrange a meeting, the proceedings of which will be published as a supplement.

In all cases, it is vital that the journal’s integrity, independence and academic reputation is not compromised in any way. For further information on criteria that must be fulfilled, download the supplements guidelines.

When contacting us regarding a potential supplement, please include as much of the information below as possible.

• Journal in which you would like the supplement published
• Title of supplement and/or meeting on which it is based
• Date of meeting on which it is based
• Proposed table of contents with provisional article titles and proposed authors
• An indication of whether authors have agreed to participate
• Sponsor information including any relevant deadlines
• An indication of the expected length of each paper Guest Editor proposals if appropriate