Journal of Multimorbidity and Comorbidity

Manuscript Submission Guidelines: Journal of Multimorbidity and Comorbidity

1. Open Access

2. Article processing charge (APC)

3. What do we publish?
3.1 Aims & scope
3.2 Article types
3.3 Writing your paper

4. Editorial policies
4.1 Peer review policy
4.2 Authorship
4.3 Acknowledgements
4.4 Funding
4.5 Declaration of conflicting interests
4.6 Research ethics and patient consent
4.7 Clinical trials
4.8 Reporting guidelines
4.9 Data

5. Publishing policies
5.1 Publication ethics
5.2 Contributor’s publishing agreement

6. Preparing your manuscript
6.1 Word processing formats
6.2 Artwork, figures and other graphics
6.3 Supplementary material
6.4 Reference style
6.5 English language editing services

7. Submitting your manuscript
7.1 How to submit your manuscript
7.2 Title, keywords and abstracts
7.3 Information required for completing your submission
7.4 ORCID
7.5 Permissions
7.6 Social media summaries

8. On acceptance and publication
8.1 Sage Production
8.2 Online publication
8.3 Promoting your article

9. Further information

 

This Journal recommends that authors follow the Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals formulated by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE). The relevant EQUATOR Network reporting guidelines should be followed depending on the type of study. For full details please see section 4.8.
 
Please read the guidelines below then visit the journal’s submission site https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/comorbidity to upload your manuscript. Please note that manuscripts not conforming to these guidelines may be returned. Remember you can log in to the submission site at any time to check on the progress of your paper through the peer review process.

Only manuscripts of sufficient quality that meet the aims and scope of the Journal of Multimorbidity and Comorbidity will be reviewed.

As part of the submission process you will be required to warrant that you are submitting your original work, that you have the rights in the work, that you are submitting the work for first publication in the Journal and that it is not being considered for publication elsewhere and has not already been published elsewhere, and that you have obtained and can supply all necessary permissions for the reproduction of any copyright works not owned by you.

Journal of Multimorbidity and Comorbidity may accept submissions of papers that have been posted on pre-print servers; please alert the Editorial Office when submitting (contact details are at the end of these guidelines) and include the DOI for the preprint in the designated field in the manuscript submission system. Authors should not post an updated version of their paper on the preprint server while it is being peer reviewed for possible publication in the journal. If the article is accepted for publication, the author may re-use their work according to the journal's author archiving policy.

If your paper is accepted, you must include a link on your preprint to the final version of your paper.

1. Open Access

Journal of Multimorbidity and Comorbidity is an open access, peer-reviewed journal. Each article accepted by peer review is made freely available online immediately upon publication, is published under a Creative Commons license and will be hosted online in perpetuity. Publication costs of the journal are covered by the collection of article processing charges which are paid by the funder, institution or author of each manuscript upon acceptance. There is no charge for submitting a paper to the journal.
For general information on open access at Sage please visit the Open Access page or view our Open Access FAQs.

2. Article processing charge (APC)

If, after peer review, your manuscript is accepted for publication, a one-time article processing charge (APC) is payable. This APC covers the cost of publication and ensures that your article will be freely available online in perpetuity under a Creative Commons license.

The article processing charge (APC) is $1,500 and is payable when a manuscript is accepted after peer review, before it is published. The APC is subject to taxes where applicable. Tax-exempt status can be indicated by providing appropriate registration numbers when payment is requested.The following society members may be eligible for discounts:-

SAPC - 20%

NAPCRG - 15%

SSPC - 15%

Please see further details here.

For information on our waiver policy please visit our information page here.

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3. What do we publish?

3.1 Aims & scope

Before submitting your manuscript to the Journal of Multimorbidity and Comorbidity please ensure you have read the Aims & Scope.

3.2 Article types

Original article

Journal of Multimorbidity and Comorbidity considers all types of original articles specifically addressing comorbidity and multimorbidity. These articles include studies such as randomized trials, interventional studies, cohort studies, case-control studies, observational studies, surveys, qualitative studies or epidemiological studies. Original articles report on clinical and experimental studies that have not previously been published or submitted elsewhere for publication. Authors are encouraged to be as concise as possible and Original articles are limited to 5,000 words (excluding tables, figures and references). Longer word counts may be allowed at the Editors' discretion if discussed in advance of submitting.

Review article

These articles are critical assessments of the current literature and/or data sources pertaining to clinical topics, with an emphasis on pathophysiology, diagnosis, prognosis, prevention and management. An abstract not exceeding 250 words is required, but does not need to be structured. Criteria for the review will include comprehensiveness, balance and importance of information, and level of interest to readers of Journal of Multimorbidity and Comorbidity. All articles will be peer reviewed. There are no limitations on the length or number of figures for Review articles, but authors are encouraged to be as concise as possible.

Study protocol

Journal of Multimorbidity and Comorbidity believes that publishing study protocols serves several important purposes: it increases research quality and transparency, encourages communication and collaboration between research teams, helps to disseminate contemporary ideas about study design and data analysis, avoids research duplication, and may assist study recruitment.

The availability of a published final protocol allows subsequent authors and reviewers to cross-reference the study details, assists in presenting the final results, aids systematic evaluation of the data, and discourages reporting bias. Importantly, it enables readers to compare the original aims and design of the study with the final reported outcomes, thereby reducing the potential for unexplained post-hoc revisions of the study goals and methodologies – a problem that appears to affect the reporting of both observational studies and randomized controlled trials.

Study protocols will usually be published in the Journal of Multimorbidity and Comorbidity without peer review if the study has received approval from an institutional review board (IRB)/ethics committee and has received peer-reviewed grant support from a major extramural funding body – authors must provide evidence of both with the relevant documentation on submission. Study protocols without ethics approval or funding will be peer reviewed. Authors are not required to submit subsequent reports of their study to the journal; however, the editors encourage the authors to consider doing so. Please see further details on how to prepare your Protocol article for submission here

Editorial

The author may address virtually any important topic that is of interest to Journal of Multimorbidity and Comorbidity readers and within the scope of the journal. The author may express his or her opinion without complete documentation, but the article should be focused and clearly presented. A maximum length of 800 words (not including references, figures, tables) and 5 references and generally not more than three authors and three tables and/or figures are recommended. They should be double-spaced and include the names and affiliations of all authors, and the e-mail address of the corresponding author. Editorials may be peer reviewed if appropriate. Editorials are usually commissioned by the Editors-in-Chief, however unsolicited Editorials can be considered upon request. Please contact the Editorial Office if you would like to submit an Editorial.

Commentary

The author may comment on/discuss a recent Journal of Multimorbidity and Comorbidity article to express his or her opinions, views and perspectives. The commentary should be received within 4 weeks of the article's publication. They should not exceed 1500 words of text, ten references, three authors and one table and/or figure. They should be double-spaced and include the names and affiliations of all authors, and the e-mail address of the corresponding author. Commentaries should not duplicate other published material or include unpublished data. Commentaries will be published at the discretion of the editors and are subject to editing for content and style.

Letter to the Editor
 
A letter to the editor is a brief communication that addresses the contents of a published article. Its purpose is to make corrections, provide alternative viewpoints, or offer counterarguments. Letters to the editor must be written in a professional tone and include references to support all claims if appropriate. Letters to the Editor may be shared with the authors of the original article, and the authors will be allowed a response to the submitted Letter, if they desire. 
 
Letters to the Editor should consist of one or two paragraphs totalling no more than 500 words, no abstract, no subheadings, and fewer than 8 references. Letters should not include figures or research material.
 
Letters to the Editor should be submitted through our usual submission process, but if accepted, will not be charged an APC.

Policy

Policy papers should describe and analyse issues relating to health policy that are relevant to patients with comorbidity/multimorbidity. Policy papers are aimed at all professionals, decision-makers, health policy researchers and legislators concerned with developing, analysing and implementing health policy at local, national, and international levels. Policies are intended to enhance discussion, to guide decision-making, and to be adapted according to specific needs. Please see further details on how to prepare your Policy article here.

Treatment guidelines

Treatment guidelines should be prepared based on expert consensus from key societies, panels, committees or working groups. The guidelines are intended as a practical guide to the management of patients with comorbidity, and represent a synthesis of current medical knowledge and rational clinical practice. Prospective authors should first consult the journal editor and provide a short summary of the area they propose to cover as well as the members of the consensus group and their expertise.

Proceedings of a congress

The editors of Journal of Multimorbidity and Comorbidity will consider publishing proceedings of congresses if they meet the following requirements:

• All content is unbiased and of educational value
• Articles should be original work or reviews of previous studies
• Any potential profitability of the proceedings must not influence the decision process – the editors will accept or reject a proceedings purely on academic merit
• Any competing interests and financial support must be declared
• Editors will be alert to series of articles advocating the use of one particular drug or formulation, particularly where the sponsor may have an interest – this type of promotional material will not be accepted
• Articles must be prepared in accordance with the journal's instructions to authors
• Acknowledgement of any commercial sponsorship will be confined to a line on the title page, introduction/editorial or webpage where online material appears.

Special articles

The editors of Journal of Multimorbidity and Comorbidity will consider publishing ‘special articles’ that may not conform to the journal’s main formats but which fit within the scope of the journal and are of special interest to the readership. Authors wishing to contribute a ‘special article’ are advised to submit a presubmission enquiry to the journal editors via the Editorial Office: jcomorbidity@sagepub.com

3.3 Writing your paper
The Sage Author Gateway has some general advice and on how to get published, plus links to further resources.

3.3.1 Making your article discoverable
For information and guidance on how to make your article more discoverable, visit our Gateway page on How to Help Readers Find Your Article Online

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4. Editorial Policies

4.1 Peer review policy

Sage does not permit the use of author-suggested (recommended) reviewers at any stage of the submission process, be that through the web-based submission system or other communication. Reviewers should be experts in their fields and should be able to provide an objective assessment of the manuscript. Our policy is that reviewers should not be assigned to a  paper if:

• The reviewer is based at the same institution as any of the co-authors.
• The reviewer is based at the funding body of the paper.
• The author has recommended the reviewer.
• The reviewer has provided a personal (e.g. Gmail/Yahoo/Hotmail) email account and an institutional email account cannot be found after performing a basic Google search (name, department and institution). 

You will be asked to nominate peers who you do not wish to review your manuscript (opposed reviewers). 

The journal’s policy is to have manuscripts reviewed by two expert external reviewers. Journal of Multimorbidity and Comorbidity utilizes a single-anonymized peer review process in which the reviewer’s name and information is withheld from the author. All manuscripts are reviewed as rapidly as possible, while maintaining rigor. Reviewers make comments to the author and recommendations to our internal Editors who then make the final decision.

The Editors or members of the Editorial Board may occasionally submit their own manuscripts for possible publication in the journal. In these cases, the peer review process will be managed by alternative members of the Board and the submitting Editor / Board member will have no involvement in the decision-making process.

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4.2 Authorship
Papers should only be submitted for consideration once consent is given by all contributing authors. Those submitting papers should carefully check that all those whose work contributed to the paper are acknowledged as contributing authors.
The list of authors should include all those who can legitimately claim authorship. This is all those who:

• Made a substantial contribution to the concept or design of the work; or acquisition, analysis or interpretation of data
• Drafted the article or revised it critically for important intellectual content
• Approved the version to be published

Authors should meet the conditions of all of the points above. Each author should have participated sufficiently in the work to take public responsibility for appropriate portions of the content.

When a large, multicentre group has conducted the work, the group should identify the individuals who accept direct responsibility for the manuscript. These individuals should fully meet the criteria for authorship.

Acquisition of funding, collection of data, or general supervision of the research group alone does not constitute authorship, although all contributors who do not meet the criteria for authorship should be listed in the Acknowledgments section. Please refer to the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) authorship guidelines for more information on authorship.

Please note that AI chatbots, for example ChatGPT, should not be listed as authors. For more information see the policy on Use of ChatGPT and generative AI tools.

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4.3 Acknowledgements
All contributors who do not meet the criteria for authorship should be listed in an Acknowledgements section. Examples of those who might be acknowledged include a person who provided purely technical help, or a department chair who provided only general support.

4.3.1 Third party submissions

Where an individual who is not listed as an author submits a manuscript on behalf of the author(s), a statement must be included in the Acknowledgements section of the manuscript and in the accompanying cover letter. The statements must:

• Disclose this type of editorial assistance – including the individual’s name, company and level of input
• Identify any entities that paid for this assistance
• Confirm that the listed authors have authorized the submission of their manuscript via third party and approved any statements or declarations, e.g. conflicting interests, funding, etc.

Where appropriate, Sage reserves the right to deny consideration to manuscripts submitted by a third party rather than by the authors themselves.

4.3.2 Writing assistance

Individuals who provided writing assistance, e.g. from a specialist communications company, do not qualify as authors and so should be included in the Acknowledgements section. Authors must disclose any writing assistance – including the individual’s name, company and level of input – and identify the entity that paid for this assistance.
It is not necessary to disclose use of language polishing services.

Any acknowledgements should appear first at the end of your article prior to your Declaration of Conflicting Interests (if applicable), any notes and your References.

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4.4 Funding
Journal of Multimorbidity and Comorbidity requires all authors to acknowledge their funding in a consistent fashion under a separate heading. Please visit the Funding Acknowledgements page on the Sage Journal Author Gateway to confirm the format of the acknowledgment text in the event of funding, or state that: This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

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4.5 Declaration of conflicting interests

It is the policy of the Journal of Multimorbidity and Comorbidity to require a declaration of conflicting interests from all authors enabling a statement to be carried within the paginated pages of all published articles.

Please ensure that a ‘Declaration of Conflicting Interests’ statement is included at the end of your manuscript, after any acknowledgements and prior to the references. If no conflict exists, please state that ‘The Author(s) declare(s) that there is no conflict of interest’.

For guidance on conflict of interest statements, please see the ICMJE recommendations.

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4.6 Research ethics and patient consent

Medical research involving human subjects must be conducted according to the World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki.

Submitted manuscripts should conform to the ICMJE Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals, and all papers reporting animal and/or human studies must state in the methods section that the relevant Ethics Committee or Institutional Review Board provided (or waived) approval. Please ensure that you have provided the full name and institution of the review committee, in addition to the approval number.
For research articles, authors are also required to state in the methods section whether participants provided informed consent and whether the consent was written or verbal.

Information on informed consent to report individual cases or case series should be included in the manuscript text. A statement is required regarding whether written informed consent for patient information and images to be published was provided by the patient(s) or a legally authorized representative. Please do not submit the patient’s actual written informed consent with your article, as this in itself breaches the patient’s confidentiality. The Journal requests that you confirm to us, in writing, that you have obtained written informed consent but the written consent itself should be held by the authors/investigators themselves, for example in a patient’s hospital record. The confirmatory letter may be uploaded with your submission as a separate file.

Please also refer to the ICMJE Recommendations for the Protection of Research Participants.

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4.7 Clinical trials

Journal of Multimorbidity and Comorbidity conforms to the ICMJE requirement that clinical trials are registered in a WHO-approved public trials registry at or before the time of first patient enrolment as a condition of consideration for publication. The trial registry name and URL, and registration number must be included at the end of the abstract.

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4.8 Reporting guidelines

The relevant EQUATOR Network reporting guidelines should be followed depending on the type of study. For example, all randomized controlled trials submitted for publication should include a completed CONSORT flow chart as a cited figure and the completed CONSORT checklist should be uploaded with your submission as a supplementary file. Systematic reviews and meta-analyses should include the completed PRISMA flow chart as a cited figure and the completed PRISMA checklist should be uploaded with your submission as a supplementary file. The EQUATOR wizard can help you identify the appropriate guideline. All submissions should include the appropriate reporting guideline checklist.

Other resources can be found at NLM’s Research Reporting Guidelines and Initiatives.

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4.9 Data

Sage acknowledges the importance of research data availability as an integral part of the research and verification process for academic journal articles.

Journal of Multimorbidity and Comorbidity requests all authors submitting any primary data used in their research articles alongside their article submissions to be published in the online version of the journal, or provide detailed information in their articles on how the data can be obtained. This information should include links to third-party data repositories or detailed contact information for third-party data sources. Data available only on an author-maintained website will need to be loaded onto either the journal’s platform or a third-party platform to ensure continuing accessibility. Examples of data types include but are not limited to statistical data files, replication code, text files, audio files, images, videos, appendices, and additional charts and graphs necessary to understand the original research. The editors can also grant exceptions for data that cannot legally or ethically be released. All data submitted should comply with Institutional or Ethical Review Board requirements and applicable government regulations. For further information, please contact the editorial office at jcomorbidity@sagepub.com

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5. Publishing policies

5.1 Publication ethics

Sage is committed to upholding the integrity of the academic record. We encourage authors to refer to the Committee on Publication Ethics’ International Standards for Authors and view the Publication Ethics page on the Sage Author Gateway.

5.1.1 Plagiarism

Journal of Multimorbidity and Comorbidity and Sage take issues of copyright infringement, plagiarism or other breaches of best practice in publication very seriously. We seek to protect the rights of our authors and we always investigate claims of plagiarism or misuse of published articles. Equally, we seek to protect the reputation of the journal against malpractice. Submitted articles may be checked with duplication-checking software. Where an article, for example, is found to have plagiarized other work or included third-party copyright material without permission or with insufficient acknowledgement, or where the authorship of the article is contested, we reserve the right to take action including, but not limited to: publishing an erratum or corrigendum (correction); retracting the article; taking up the matter with the head of department or dean of the author's institution and/or relevant academic bodies or societies; or taking appropriate legal action.

5.1.2 Prior publication

If material has been previously published, it is not generally acceptable for publication in a Sage journal. However, there are certain circumstances where previously published material can be considered for publication. Please refer to the guidance on the Sage Author Gateway or if in doubt, contact the Editor at the address given below.

5.2 Contributor’s publishing agreement

Before publication Sage requires the author as the rights holder to sign a Journal Contributor’s Publishing Agreement. Journal of Multimorbidity and Comorbidity publishes manuscripts under Creative Commons licenses. The standard license for the journal is Creative Commons by Attribution Non-Commercial (CC BY-NC), which allows others to re-use the work without permission as long as the work is properly referenced and the use is non-commercial. For more information, you are advised to visit Sage's OA licenses page.

Alternative license arrangements are available, for example, to meet particular funder mandates, made at the author’s request.

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6. Preparing your manuscript

6.1 Word processing formats

The preferred format for your manuscript is Word. LaTeX files are also accepted. Word and (La)Tex templates are available on the Manuscript Submission Guidelines page of our Author Gateway.

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6.2 Artwork, figures and other graphics

For guidance on the preparation of illustrations, pictures and graphs in electronic format, please visit Sage’s Manuscript Submission Guidelines

Figures supplied in color will appear in color online.

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6.3 Supplementary material

This journal is able to host additional materials online (e.g. datasets, podcasts, videos, images etc) alongside the full-text of the article. These will be subjected to peer-review alongside the article. For more information please refer to our guidelines on submitting supplementary files, which can be found within our Manuscript Submission Guidelines page.

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6.4 Reference style

Journal of Multimorbidity and Comorbidity adheres to the Sage Vancouver reference style. Please review the guidelines on Sage Vancouver to ensure your manuscript conforms to this reference style.

If you use EndNote to manage references, you can download the Sage Vancouver output file here.

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6.5 English language editing services

Authors seeking assistance with English language editing, translation, or figure and manuscript formatting to fit the journal’s specifications should consider using Sage Language Services. Visit Sage Language Services on our Journal Author Gateway for further information.

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7. Submitting your manuscript

7.1 How to submit your manuscript

The Journal of Comorbidity is hosted on Sage Track, a web based online submission and peer review system powered by ScholarOne™ Manuscripts. Visit https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/comorbidity to login and submit your article online.

IMPORTANT: Please check whether you already have an account in the system before trying to create a new one. If you have reviewed or authored for the journal in the past year it is likely that you will have had an account created. For further guidance on submitting your manuscript online please visit ScholarOne Online Help.

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7.2 Title, keywords and abstracts

Please supply a title, short title, an abstract and keywords to accompany your article. The title, keywords and abstract are key to ensuring readers find your article online through online search engines such as Google. Please refer to the information and guidance on how best to title your article, write your abstract and select your keywords by visiting the Sage Journal Author Gateway for guidelines on How to Help Readers Find Your Article Online.

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7.3 Information required for completing your submission

Provide full contact details for the corresponding author including email, mailing address and telephone numbers. Academic affiliations are required for all co-authors. These details should be presented separately to the main text of the article to facilitate anonymous peer review.

You will be asked to provide contact details and academic affiliations for all co-authors via the submission system and identify who is to be the corresponding author. These details must match what appears on your manuscript. At this stage please ensure you have included all the required statements and declarations and uploaded any additional supplementary files (including reporting guidelines where relevant).

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7.4 ORCID

As part of our commitment to ensuring an ethical, transparent and fair peer review process Sage is a supporting member of ORCID, the Open Researcher and Contributor ID. ORCID provides a unique and persistent digital identifier that distinguishes researchers from every other researcher, even those who share the same name, and, through integration in key research workflows such as manuscript and grant submission, supports automated linkages between researchers and their professional activities, ensuring that their work is recognized.

The collection of ORCID IDs from corresponding authors is now part of the submission process of this journal. If you already have an ORCID iD you will be asked to associate that to your submission during the online submission process. We also strongly encourage all co-authors to link their ORCID ID to their accounts in our online peer review platforms. It takes seconds to do: click the link when prompted, sign into your ORCID account and our systems are automatically updated. Your ORCID iD will become part of your accepted publication’s metadata, making your work attributable to you and only you. Your ORCID iD is published with your article so that fellow researchers reading your work can link to your ORCID profile and from there link to your other publications.

If you do not already have an ORCID ID please follow this link to create one or visit our ORCID homepage to learn more.

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7.5 Permissions

Authors are responsible for obtaining permission from copyright holders for reproducing any illustrations, tables, figures or lengthy quotations previously published elsewhere. For further information including guidance on fair dealing for criticism and review, please visit our Frequently Asked Questions on the Sage Journal Author Gateway.

7.6 Social media summaries

As a way of encouraging ongoing discussion within the field, Journal of Multimorbidity and Comorbidity authors are encouraged to provide a succinct summary of their paper to be used for promotion of their article on the journal twitter account, if accepted. Authors are also offered the option of providing their Twitter handles to be promoted alongside their article on the journal twitter account. Providing a Twitter handle is encouraged but optional.

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8. On acceptance and publication

If your paper is accepted for publication after peer review, you will first be asked to complete the contributor’s publishing agreement. Once your manuscript files have been checked for Sage Production, the corresponding author will be asked to pay the article processing charge (APC) via a payment link. Once the APC has been processed, your article will be prepared for publication and can appear online within an average of 30 days. Please note that no production work will occur on your paper until the APC has been received.

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8.1 Sage Production

Your Sage Production Editor will keep you informed as to your article’s progress throughout the production process. Proofs will made available to the corresponding author via our editing portal Sage Edit, or by email to the corresponding author and should be returned promptly. Authors are reminded to check their proofs carefully to confirm that all author information, including names, affiliations, sequence and contact details are correct, and that Funding and Conflict of Interest statements, if any, are accurate. 

8.2 Online publication

One of the many benefits of publishing your research in an open access journal is the speed to publication. With no page count constraints, your article will be published online in a fully citable form with a DOI number as soon as it has completed the production process. At this time it will be completely free to view and download for all.

8.3 Promoting your article

Publication is not the end of the process! You can help disseminate your paper and ensure it is as widely read and cited as possible. The Sage Author Gateway has numerous resources to help you promote your work. Visit the Promote Your Article page on the Gateway for tips and advice.

9. Further information

Any correspondence, queries or additional requests for information on the Manuscript Submission process should be sent to the Journal of Multimorbidity and Comorbidity editorial office as follows:

jcomorbidity@sagepub.com

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