Instruções para os autores
Types of documents accepted
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Original articles: Contributions intended to disseminate results of original and unpublished research, with rigorous methodology, in-depth discussion supported by national and international scientific literature. This category includes randomized clinical trials, case-control studies, cohort studies, ecological studies, cross-sectional studies, accuracy studies, and qualitative studies. Analyses of theories or methods that underpin Nursing Science or related fields are also considered original articles. Review articles: Critical evaluative studies, presenting the review method, a thorough search process, and the criteria used for selecting and classifying the included primary studies. These must adhere to standards of scientific excellence and address questions relevant to nursing and/or other health fields. Methods include: systematic review and meta-analysis, meta-synthesis, mapping review, overview, integrative review, and scoping review. Letters to the editor: Letters aimed at discussing articles recently published by the journal (within the past year) or reporting original research and significant scientific findings. Editorials: Texts of interest on current and relevant topics that contribute to Nursing Science and health. Renowned researchers will be invited by the Editorial Board to write editorials. Editorials are not subject to peer review, and authors are exempt from fees. Note: Only scientific papers based on data collected within the last three years will be considered. Exceptions will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis by the editorial board. Submission and publication languages Manuscripts must be submitted exclusively through the ScholarOne Manuscripts electronic system, in Portuguese, English, or Spanish. Submissions sent via e-mail will not be accepted. Articles will always be published in all three languages. Position on preprint submission RLAE publishes articles that have been posted on national and international preprint servers recognized by the academic community. The indication that the manuscript is a preprint must be included in the Open Science Compliance Form, which is mandatory to complete and submit. The journal also publishes manuscripts whose contents (data, program codes, and other materials) are made available in repositories recognized by the academic community. As with preprints, information regarding the deposition of content in a repository must be included in the Open Science Compliance Form. RLAE requires the mandatory availability of data for all articles accepted for publication, except for those covered by exception criteria, as outlined in the document RLAE Data Sharing Terms (aka Terms for Open Data RLAE). |
Author contributions and authorship
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The individual contributions of each author to the preparation of the article must be specified according to the adapted CRediT taxonomy and the authorship criteria recommended by the ICMJE, which state that authorship recognition must be based on substantial contributions in the following areas: 1) Substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work; or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work; 2) Drafting the work or reviewing it critically for important intellectual content; 3) Final approval of the version to be published; 4) Agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved. All four of these conditions must be fully met. The contribution of each author must be explicitly stated in the Statement of responsibility, copyright, and authorship, which must be individually signed by each author and submitted through the ScholarOne Manuscripts system at the time of manuscript submission. The number of authors is limited to six. Exceptionally, the possibility of including additional authors will be examined, considering the justifications provided. The inclusion of names of authors whose contributions do not meet the aforementioned criteria is not acceptable; in such cases, they may be acknowledged in the Acknowledgments section, which may include institutions that facilitated the research and/or individuals who contributed to the study but did not meet the authorship criteria. Authors must include in the Cover Letter a statement acknowledging that, once submitted, the manuscript cannot have the order or number of authors changed without prior notice and justification to RLAE. |
Manuscript preparation
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Manuscript submission format Title The title must be concise and informative, in the language in which the manuscript is submitted, with a maximum of 15 words and in bold, and it is recommended to include six descriptors. Identification of the study type in the title, when mandatory, will not count toward the 15-word limit. Uppercase letters, acronyms and abbreviations are not permitted. Abstract The abstract must be structured into the following sections: Objective, Method, Results, and Conclusion. It should be written as a single paragraph, with up to 200 words, in the language in which the text is submitted, double-spaced, and using Times New Roman font, size 12. Citations of authors and acronyms are not allowed. The Objective must be clear, concise, and written in the infinitive tense. The Method must include, for quantitative studies: study type, sample, variables, research instruments, and type of analysis. For qualitative studies: study type, theoretical framework, participants, data collection instruments, and type of analysis. For review studies: study type, eligibility criteria, information sources, methodological quality of the articles (if applicable), and method used for synthesis of results. The Results must be concise and informative, presenting the main findings, including the characteristics of participants or included studies, and the final analysis of results. Do not report p-values, confidence intervals, or other statistical parameters. The Conclusion must directly address the objective, expressing considerations on the theoretical or practical implications of the study and its main contributions to the advancement of scientific knowledge. For clinical trials, analytical observational studies, and review studies, the registration number must be provided at the end of the abstract. This registration number will not count toward the word limit of the abstract. Descriptors Descriptors in Portuguese, English, and Spanish must be selected from the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) or Health Sciences Descriptors (Descritores em Ciências da Saúde - DeCS) vocabulary. Six descriptors must be included, separated by semicolons. The first letter of each word in the descriptor must be capitalized, except for articles and prepositions. Example: Descritores: Diabetes Mellitus; Complicações do Diabetes; Saúde Mental; Cuidados de Enfermagem; Autogestão; Padrões de Prática em Enfermagem. Descriptors: Diabetes Mellitus; Diabetes Complications; Mental Health; Nursing Care; Self-Management; Nursing Practice Standards. Descriptores: Diabetes Mellitus; Complicaciones de la Diabetes; Salud Mental; Cuidados de Enfermería; Autogestión; Estándares de Práctica en Enfermería. Introduction The introduction must be brief, clearly define the problem being studied, and justify its importance and the knowledge gaps it addresses. Include up-to-date references (from the last three years) with national and international scope. When applicable, state the study hypotheses and the objective at the end of this section. The objective must be identical to the one stated in the abstract and at the end of the introduction. Acronyms must be spelled out in full the first time they appear in the text, followed by the abbreviation in parentheses. Method For quantitative studies, follow the appropriate reporting guideline for the study type, subdividing the section into the following topics: Study type or design; Setting (city, state abbreviation, and country) and data collection period; Population; Selection criteria; Sample definition; Study variables; Instruments used for data collection; Data collection; Data processing and analysis; and Ethical considerations. All subheadings must appear in bold. For qualitative studies, use the appropriate guideline and subdivide the Method section into the following topics: Study design or type; Theoretical framework; Setting and data collection period; Participants; Data collection instruments; Data collection; Data analysis; and Ethical considerations. All subheadings must appear in bold. For knowledge synthesis methods, follow the PRISMA guidelines and subdivide the section into the following topics: Type of review, protocol, and registration; Eligibility criteria (research question, acronym/mnemonic used, inclusion and exclusion criteria); Information sources (databases, electronic libraries, gray literature, etc.); Search strategies; Study selection; Data collection process (or data extraction); Critical appraisal of the studies, or synthesis, or summary of results. For systematic reviews, it is essential to include: Risk of bias assessment; Effect measures; and Certainty of evidence. All subheadings must appear in bold. For the Ethical considerations topic, when the research involves human subjects, the manuscript must state the approval by a Research Ethics Committee, including the date and the protocol number (Certificate of Presentation for Ethical Consideration - Certificado de Apresentação para Apreciação Ética - CAAE) and/or approval statement number. Authors must specify whether the research underlying their manuscript was reviewed by a Research Ethics Committee in their country, using the following example: “The study was conducted in accordance with national and international ethical guidelines and approved by the Research Ethics Committee (or Ethics Committee) of [INSTITUTION NAME], with the approval document attached to this submission.” Alternatively, if exempt from review by a Research Ethics Committee, provide justification using the following example: “Ethical review and approval were waived for this study due to [provide detailed justification].” Results Describe the findings without including interpretations, comments, or comparisons. To aid understanding, results may be presented with tables and/or figures. The text must not repeat what is already presented in the tables and figures. Discussion The discussion must focus solely on the obtained results. Emphasize the novel and important aspects of the study. Discuss agreements and discrepancies with other studies based on up-to-date scientific evidence published in national and international journals. Use a critical tone and the past tense. At the end of this section, without subheadings, present the study’s limitations and its implications for advancing scientific knowledge in the health and nursing fields. Conclusion Clearly, directly, and objectively answer the study objectives, restricting the conclusion to the findings, without citing references. Guidelines for presenting the text To improve the quality and transparency of health research, texts must follow the guidelines of the Equator Network, depending on the type of study:
Note: the extension of the PRISMA guide for works that address measurement instruments (https://www.prisma-statement.org/cosmin) began to be considered not only in systematic review and meta-analysis of measures works reported by the patient/person/population (Patient-Reported Outcome Measures - PROMs), but also in studies that evaluate the measurement properties of the instruments addressed in the manuscripts under analysis. Manuscript structure The text must contain the following structure: title, abstract, descriptors in Portuguese, English, and Spanish (Descritores, Descriptors, and Descriptores), introduction, method, results, discussion, conclusion and references. The names of the sections Introduction, Method, Results, Discussion, Conclusion and References should be presented in bold, with capital letters only for the first letter. Example: Results All identifying information, such as authors' names and affiliations, acknowledgements, or explicit mentions of the author's institution in the text, should be on the Title Page and not in the main text file. Important: It is not possible to anonymize the study identification number in the respective registry databases. Reviewers must check the data recorded in the respective databases. In accordance with the CONSORT guidelines, it is mandatory to register clinical trials prior to data collection (prospective registration) in one of the entities listed in the “Clinical Trial Registration” section. For systematic review studies, it is mandatory to register prior to conducting the study search (prospective registration) in the PROSPERO - International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews. For other types of reviews, registration is mandatory at a stage prior to the search for studies (prospective registration) in one of the following repositories: Open Science Framework (OSF) or Figshare. Include the website name, protocol number, and protocol registration link. Word and reference limits by manuscript category Original and review articles must contain up to 5,000 words; letters to the editor, up to 1,000 words and a maximum of three references; and editorials, up to 1,000 words and a maximum of five references. In all categories, the abstract, tables, figures, and references are not included in the word count.
Manuscript formatting The manuscript must be submitted according to the following instructions:
Bold text, underlining, uppercase letters, or Microsoft Word bullet points are not allowed in the text. Testimonials from study participants Testimonials must be presented in italics, in Times New Roman font size 10, without quotation marks, and following the text. It is mandatory to identify each testimonial cited in the manuscript by code, in parentheses, without italics, and at the end of the testimonial. Footnotes in the text Footnotes should be indicated by the asterisk symbol, starting on each page and restricted to a maximum of three per page. Use the sequence *, **, ***. Clinical trials registration For clinical trial studies, RLAE follows the recommendations of the Latin American and Caribbean Center on Health Sciences Information (Centro Latino-Americano e do Caribe de Informação em Ciências da Saúde - BIREME) / Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) / World Health Organization (WHO) for Clinical Trials Registration, of the ICMJE, and requires the presentation of the Clinical Trial Approval Registration number, obtained at a stage prior to the collection of study data (prospective registration), through one of the entities described below:
RLAE also strongly encourages the registration of analytical observational studies, of the cohort and case-control type, in the databases specified in this item. Highlights These are points that convey the main conclusions of the study, mandatory for the publication of the article in RLAE, and consist of a small collection of aspects that indicate the main contributions of the submitted text, such as:
They must be submitted in an editable file, using the template provided by the journal, in the online submission system. The file should be named “Highlights” and should contain 3 to 5 of the aspects mentioned above. Each of them should have a maximum of 85 characters, including spaces. Author registration First and Last Name(s): Authors must use the format by which their name is already indexed in databases and include their ORCID registration number. In the case of a compound surname, a clear identification must be provided (using uppercase, bold, and/or hyphenation). Affiliation: Up to three institutional hierarchy levels of affiliation may be included, for example: “University, School, and Department.” This information must also appear identically on the Title Page. Example: Universidade de São Paulo, Escola de Enfermagem de Ribeirão Preto, Departamento de Enfermagem Materno-Infantil e Saúde Pública, Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brasil. Correspondence: The full name of the corresponding author and an up-to-date e-mail address must be provided for correspondence purposes. Digital Object Identifier (DOI) registration The DOI numbers assigned to articles and editorials will only be activated after the texts are published in the SciELO Brazil Collection. Statement of institutional ethics committee approval Authors must specify whether the research underlying their manuscript was reviewed by a Research Ethics Committee in their country, using the following example: “The study was conducted in accordance with national and international ethical guidelines and approved by the Research Ethics Committee (or Ethics Committee) of [INSTITUTION NAME], with the approval document attached to this submission.” Alternatively, if exempt from review by a Research Ethics Committee, provide justification using the following example: “Ethical review and approval were waived for this study due to [provide detailed justification].” |
Digital assets
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Maximum number of tables and/or figures The manuscript may include a maximum of five tables and/or figures. Tables Tables must include an informative, clear, and complete title located above the table content, indicating what is being presented. The title must include: study participants, variables, location (city, state abbreviation, country), and year of data collection. Do not include a period at the end of the table title. The “n” should appear immediately after the study participants. Table formatting Tables must be created using Microsoft Word’s table tool, in Times New Roman font size 12, single-spaced. Data must be organized in rows and columns, with each value in its own cell. Tables must not contain empty cells, and each column must be labeled. Internal lines should appear only above and below the header and at the bottom of the table. Mention and insertion of tables in the text All tables and figures must be referenced in the manuscript and inserted immediately after their first mention (e.g., “…as shown in Table 1…”). Header and data source for secondary data The header must appear in bold. The data source for secondary data must be included as a footnote within the table. Table footnotes Footnotes should be minimal and indicated by the sequential symbols *, †, ‡, §, ||, and ¶ (all in superscript except the asterisk), which must appear both in the table and in the corresponding footnote. Abbreviations in tables and figures Use of abbreviations should be kept to a minimum. Abbreviations appearing in tables and/or figures must be spelled out in a footnote using the sequential symbols above, without a final period. Example: *CG = Control Group; †IG = Intervention Group Symbols must reset for each table and/or figure and be presented in zigzag reading order (left to right, top to bottom). If more than six are needed, double, triple, and so on symbols should follow the same pattern. Example: *, †, ‡, §, ||, ¶, **, ††, ‡‡, §§, ||||, ¶¶, ***, †††, ‡‡‡, §§§, ||||||, ... Monetary values Monetary values must be presented in United States dollars (USD) or in minimum wages applicable in the country where the research was conducted at the time of data collection. If presented in USD, the exchange rate and the date of the rate must be provided in a footnote. Example: *USD Exchange Rate = R$ 6.04, on 01/15/2025 If presented in minimum wages, the amount, year, and country of the research corresponding to the minimum wage must be stated in a footnote. Example: *Minimum wage in effect = R$ 1,518.00, Brazil, 2025 Formatting not allowed Line breaks with the ENTER key, tabs, spaces to separate data, all caps, underlining, Word bullets, cell colors, and multi-page tables are not allowed. Tables with only one or two rows must be converted into text. Figures The term “figure” encompasses tables, charts, drawings, diagrams, flowcharts, and photographs. All such items must be referred to solely as “figure” in the manuscript (e.g., Figure 1, Figure 2, etc.). The figure title must be placed directly below the figure. If a footnote is included, the title should appear immediately above the note. Figures must be in high resolution, with a minimum of 900 DPI (dots per inch), and, whenever possible, should be editable. Figures: tables Tables must contain textual, non-numerical data, be enclosed on the sides, and include internal lines. When created using the Microsoft Word table tool, they may occupy up to a full page in size, rather than being limited to 16x10 cm like other figures. When tables are extracted from other publications, the source must be indicated in a footnote. Figures: graphs Graphs must be clear and legible, with a maximum size of 16x10 cm. If colors are used, they must be in light tones. Multiple graphs within a single figure will only be accepted if their combined presentation is essential for interpretation. Figures: drawings, diagrams, and flowcharts Drawings, diagrams, and flowcharts must be created using appropriate tools, preferably with the assistance of a graphic design professional. They must be easy to understand, legible, clear, and have a maximum size of 16x10 cm. When inserted from other publications, drawings, diagrams, and flowcharts must include the source citation in a footnote accompanying the figure. Figures: photographs Photographs must be clear, in high resolution, and have a maximum size of 16x10 cm. If they contain images of people, they must be edited to ensure that individuals portrayed cannot be identified. Figure footnotes Figure footnotes must be limited to the minimum necessary and should be indicated using the following sequential symbols: *, †, ‡, §, ||, and ¶ (all in superscript, except for the asterisk). These symbols must appear both within the figure and in the corresponding footnote. |
Citations and references
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Citations In-text reference citations In-text reference citations must be numbered consecutively in Arabic numerals, superscripted and placed within parentheses, without mentioning the authors’ names (except for those serving as theoretical or methodological frameworks). When citing a sequence of references, indicate the first and last numbers separated by a hyphen (e.g., (1-4)); when non-sequential, separate the numbers with commas (e.g., (1-2,4)). There should be no space between the numeric citation and the preceding word. Example: ...Candida albicans(3-6,16,21). The page number of the cited reference used in the article must not be included. Direct quotes (aka verbatim reference citations or ipsis litteris citations) These citations must be presented within quotation marks, without italics, using Times New Roman font size 12, and integrated directly into the body of the text. References RLAE adopts references in accordance with the Vancouver Style. There is no maximum limit for the number of references, provided they are relevant to the text, up to date (from the last three years), of national and international scope, and include access links for verification. Authors bear full responsibility for the accuracy and appropriateness of the references and must ensure that they do not cite retracted articles or those published in journals with questionable editorial practices. Authors must ensure that at least 80% of the cited items are articles from journals indexed in international databases. Verification links must include updated access dates. A maximum of 10% self-citation is allowed among the citable items. References should appear in English whenever available. The Digital Object Identifier (DOI) or access link must be included at the end of each reference cited in the article. For examples of how to cite articles published in RLAE, it is recommended to consult the journal’s website. |
Supplementary documents
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RLAE requires authors to submit the following supplementary documents, to be uploaded in the appropriate fields of the ScholarOne Manuscripts system:
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Funding
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Authors must declare all sources of funding or institutional and/or private support received for the execution of the study. In the case of studies conducted without financial resources, authors must declare that the research did not receive funding for its execution. |
Additional information
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Costs related to the submission and publication process The costs related to the submission and publication process in RLAE consist of two separate fees - the processing fee and the publication fee - which are charged at different stages of the editorial workflow. In addition, authors are responsible for covering expenses related to language editing and translation services for approved manuscripts. A detailed description of these costs is provided below. Processing fee (only for manuscripts with Brazilian authors) Submission of the manuscript to RLAE does not incur a cost to the authors. However, if the manuscript is approved during the preliminary assessment phase, authors must pay the processing fee for the manuscript to proceed to the peer review process. The processing fee payment will be requested by the journal’s editorial office via e-mail, and proof of payment must be uploaded to the ScholarOne Manuscripts system in PDF format, with legible information. The proof of payment must include:
Information on how to make the payment and the necessary banking details will be provided to the authors by the RLAE editorial office. Proofreading and translation costs Authors are responsible for covering the costs of grammatical proofreading of the article in the language of submission and for translations into the other publication languages required by the journal, as outlined below: Proofreading Proofreading is usually requested by editorial office after the final approval of the manuscript and must be performed by a company accredited by the journal. The cost of proofreading is the responsibility of the authors. Deadlines and fees must be negotiated directly between the authors and the accredited service providers. When proofreading is requested before final approval, the mandatory submission of the certificate issued by the accredited company must be uploaded to the ScholarOne Manuscripts system in the designated field (Proofreading certificate). Authors are required to carefully review the text before submitting the revised version to the journal. If inadequacies are found, only one opportunity for correction will be granted. Translations Translations are requested from the authors after the final approval of the manuscript. The manuscript must be translated into two additional languages other than the language of submission. The editorial office will contact the corresponding author and provide all necessary instructions. Deadlines and fees must be negotiated directly between the authors and the accredited service providers. To ensure translation quality, only translations accompanied by a certificate issued by an RLAE-accredited company will be accepted. Authors are required to carefully review all versions of the article before submitting them to RLAE for publication, confirming in the Agreement Form that such review was conducted and that no discrepancies were found (including missing words, missing paragraphs, mixed languages, etc.). The Agreement Form will be sent to the authors by the RLAE editorial office along with the relevant instructions for this stage. Publication fee After final approval of the manuscript, authors must pay the publication fee for the approved article to be prepared for publication. Payment of this fee must be made in accordance with the instructions sent by the journal’s editorial office via e-mail, and the proof of payment, in PDF format, must also be submitted to the editorial office by e-mail. Fee amounts and other costs The amounts for the processing and publication fees, as well as other related costs, are available here.
Instructions for requesting receipts Receipts for payment of the processing and/or publication fees must be requested in writing, exclusively by e-mail, within two business days after payment is made. After this deadline, receipts can no longer be issued. Requests for receipts must follow the instructions below, within the timeframe mentioned above:
Attention: Receipts will only be issued if all of the above instructions are properly followed and fulfilled. Frequently asked questions (FAQ) During the submission process, after uploading all the required files, the system displays the following message: “It looks like you may not have uploaded all your files.” What should I do? First, ensure that all mandatory files have been correctly uploaded to the system. If they have, check whether the system page is being translated into any language other than English. The ScholarOne Manuscripts system must be used exclusively in English, without browser translation, to avoid such errors. What time does the option to submit a revision or resubmission expire? The option to submit a revision or resubmission expires at 11:59 PM, Eastern Standard Time (EST), on the due date. If you are the submitting author and need more time, you must contact the journal’s editorial office to request an extension after the deadline.
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