Call for Papers: PCD 2023 Student Paper Contest
Announcement posted 10/20/22
Preventing Chronic Disease (PCD) welcomes submissions from students at the high school, undergraduate, and graduate levels, recent postgraduates, and medical residents for PCD's annual Student Paper Contest. PCD is interested in publishing papers relevant to the prevention, screening, surveillance, and population-based intervention of chronic diseases, including but not limited to arthritis, asthma, cancer, depression, diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular disease, and COVID-19 and chronic conditions. The journal is also interested in research examining the role that social determinants exact on health, including the less explored determinant of racism.
PCD's 5 primary goals for this publication opportunity are to:
- Provide applicants with an opportunity to become familiar with a journal's manuscript submission requirements and peer-review process;
- Assist applicants to connect their knowledge and training on conducting quality research with a journal's publication expectations;
- Develop applicants' research and scientific writing skills to become producers of knowledge in addition to consumers of knowledge;
- Provide applicants with an opportunity to become first author on a peer-reviewed paper;
- Promote supportive, respectful, and mutually beneficial author―mentor relationships that result in strengthening applicants' ability to generate and submit future scholarly manuscripts.
Submission Requirements
PCD uses PCD ScholarOne Manuscripts for manuscript submission and tracking. Before submitting your manuscript, please read the instructions below in addition to the information provided on the PCD website under Manuscript Requirements.
Eligibility
- Student applicants must be currently enrolled in a high school, undergraduate, or graduate degree program. Postgraduate applicants must have received their graduate degree within the past 12 months and be participating in a medical residency, postdoctoral fellowship, or similar training program under the supervision of a mentor, advisor, or principal investigator.
- Applicants should meet the standard to serve as first author. The first author is the person who conducted or led the topic being presented and prepared the first draft of the manuscript. The first author must also ensure that all other authors meet the criteria for authorship.
- Applicants and coauthors are expected to demonstrate the highest ethical standards in submitting scholarly work to the journal for consideration. Applicants and coauthors should become familiar with the journal's Editorial Policy.
- Applicants (not mentors) must serve as the corresponding author for manuscripts submitted in conjunction with the student research collection. No exceptions will be allowed.
- Manuscripts must report on research done while in one of the qualifying student or postgraduate categories listed above.
- The research must have been completed within the last 12 months.
- Manuscripts must not be published previously or submitted elsewhere for publication.
- Manuscripts must represent original research submitted as Original Research or GIS Snapshots article types. Other article types will not be considered. For a detailed explanation, see information on Original Research and GIS Snapshots articles on PCD's Types of Articles page.
- Students and recent postgraduates must submit a cover letter indicating their interest in being considered for the Student Paper Collection and the name and contact information of their advisor. The cover letter must also indicate current level of academic enrollment: high school, undergraduate, or graduate degree, or applicable postgraduate residency, fellowship, or other training program. In addition, applicants should address all routinely required disclosures in the cover letter. Learn more about general cover letter requirements on PCD's How to Submit a Manuscript page.
- Applicants must provide a letter of recommendation from their advisor confirming either the student's enrollment in a degree program or the postgraduate candidate's residency or fellowship. The advisor must confirm that the research was conducted while in training under the advisor's supervision. The advisor's letter must confirm that the applicant conceptualized the analysis and was the primary author of the manuscript. The advisor's letter must also acknowledge that the advisor recognizes that no one other than the applicant can serve as corresponding author.
- Applicants should submit the cover letter and advisor letter when they submit the manuscript.
Deadline
Manuscripts must be received electronically no later than 5:00 PM EST on Monday, March 27, 2023.
Helpful Hints
Please be sure to visit the Author's Corner section of PCD's website for important information on what to avoid when developing the manuscript, tables, and figures. Students and mentors are encouraged to review previous collections of student papers, by visiting the PCD website at CDC – Preventing Chronic Disease: PCD Collections.
About the Journal
PCD is a peer-reviewed electronic journal established to provide a forum for researchers and practitioners in chronic disease prevention and health promotion. The journal is published weekly by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion.
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Lloyd Michener, MD
Professor Emeritus, Department of Family Medicine & Community Health, Duke School of Medicine
Adjunct Professor, Public Health Leadership, UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health
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