Information for Authors & Editorial Policies

  • Editorial Focus
  • Submission Categories
  • Publishing Schedule
  • Editorial Review Time
  • Production Time
  • Audience
  • Authorship and Related Information
  • Criterion for Publication
  • Language Editing
  • Fees and Publishing Model
  • Waiver Policy
  • Refund Policy
  • Copyright
  • Financial and Non-Financial Relationships and Activities 
  • Open Access Policy
  • Embargo Policy
  • Post publication discussions and corrections
  • Diversity Commitment
  • Transparent Peer Review
  • Journal Pillars

Telehealth and Medicine Today (THMT) is a gold open access international peer reviewed journal examining the value of telehealth and clinical automation, its use and scalable developments, business process guidance, market research and the economic impact of digital health innovations in an evolving health technology sector. 

Editorial Focus

THMT examining the value of telehealth and clinical automation, its use and scalable developments, clinical informatics, business process guidance, immersive patient experiences, market research, and the economic impact of digital health innovations advancing value based care across the care continuum. Original research articles and reviews feature perspectives from multiple disciplines including medicine, technology, policy, economic, education, and social impact. Authors are encouraged to submit outcomes data to demonstrate real world cost efficiencies to enhance affordable, accessible, quality care through virtual and digital treatment modalities. 

Manuscripts of interest will present research and innovations from around the world including:

    • New Business Models: provider and health system strategies, incentive models, future society transformation strategies, hardware and software and technology selection, financial impact to health systems and patient out-of-pocket cost, scalability, sustainability, business continuity
    • Technology: RPM, apps, artificial intelligence, machine learning, robotics, voice interface tech, augmented reality, identity management, privacy and security, data management, interoperability, Internet of Things (IoT), wearables, sensors, smart health homes 
    • Use Cases: discovery frameworks, roadmaps, key learnings from successful and unsuccessful experiences
    • Legal and Regulatory: reimbursement, standards, interoperability, wearables and devices, EHR, consumer protection, health policy, patient privacy (GDPR and HIPAA), global health
    • Home Care: hospital to home, care transitions, care team strategies, remote patient monitoring (RPM), sensors, workforce, cost of care
    • Negative Research Results and Failed Market Initiatives: theoretical or experimental negative result(s) that do not support a hypothesis. Note: study will exhibit rigorous conduct. 
    • Workforce: workflow, staffing solutions, recruitment, stress managment
    • Trends and Specialties: immersive technologies, equity, diversity and social conditions, population health, COVID-19,  chronic condition management, behavioral health, tele-dermatology, tele-radiology, tele-pathology
    • User Experience: market and user segmentation, consumerization of healthcare, behavioral considerations, user centered design, adoption drivers and barriers

In addition, THMT publishes a BLOG, where authors can share experiences and reflections including commentary, discussion and debate on any aspect of healthcare, policy, and technology around the globe. The submission should be approximately 1000 words and referenced in the Vancouver style.

Submission Categories

THMT accepts original research that has not appeared in the public domain (meaning has not been previously published in print or online). 

Manuscripts of interest will present original research, establish advances or failures utilizing evidence-based outcomes in the following categories:

    • Original Research
    • Proof of Concept
    • Use Cases/Pilots/Methodologies
    • Production/Deployment/Scaled Use
    • Narrative/Systematic Reviews/Meta-Analysis
    • Technical Briefs and Reports
    • Market Research Report
    • Opinion/Perspective/Point of View

Original Research: these are detailed studies and include hypothesis, background study, methods, results, interpretation of findings, and a discussion of possible implications. Randomized, controlled experiments, case studies, cohort studies, pilot studies, and meta-analysis are also examples of original research that THMT accepts for this category. As applicable, economic implications should also be explored. Original research should include a section on “Methods,” which details the criteria for selection and of the data presented. Unless specified, there are no word counts or limitations. 

Examples published in THMT:

Proof of Concept: demonstrate feasibility to verify real world application, potential value and learnings. Examples such as interoperability, system integration and deployment may be topics. Use cases may also be submitted under this category. If possible, THMT asks the author(s) to include examination of the financial impact and/or scaled use of the product or service may have on the marketplace.

An example published in THMT:

Use Cases/Pilots/Methodologies: this is a description of the way in which an end-user will engage with a system and describes what that system does and defines the features to be implemented and potentially, the resolution of any errors that may be encountered. Use cases are particularly valuable to the market to help explain system behaviors and process and may also provide a benchmark reporting experiential cost and complexities and can include devices or business processes, production and deployments.

Examples published in THMT:

Review Article: review articles give an overview of existing literature, often-identifying specific problems or issues and analyzing substantive information from available published work on the topic with a balanced perspective. Note: meta-analyses should be submitted as original research.  In addition, authors are encouraged to familiarize themselves with the Collection Development Guidelines, Manuscripts should be well referenced.

Examples published in THMT:

Technical Briefs and Reports: technical briefs may capture design, challenges, new technologies and applications, standards, performance analysis and optimization to communicate information obtained through a process of technical or experimental work. Actual implementation experience should be included where possible along with reports of metrics to measure components is highly recommended. Technical Briefs are limited to 1500 words. Reports have no word limit.

Editorial or Discussion: these may be reviews of fundamental concepts or prevalent ideas in the field of blockchain technology presenting a review of a single concept or a few related concepts, and may represent an expert opinion or point of view, alert(s) of potential problem(s), observation(s), comment(s), controversies, opinion(s) presenting a single concept or several related concepts. An editorial is typically by one author and a discussion usually includes at least two authors or more.

Examples published in THMT:

Market Research Reports: these articles can identify market trends, consumer behavior, demographics, economic shifts, customer habits, competitive analysis etc.

Examples published in THMT:

Special Reports: encompass manuscripts that are neither reviews nor original reports of primary research. They may include consensus statements, guidelines, statements from a reputable task force or work group, or recommendations. Submissions must be original, based upon a high level of evidence, be relevant and not be under consideration for publication elsewhere. Submissions from groups must explicitly state all contributing members in developing the work including affiliations. Special Reports should not exceed 15,000 words of body text and 250 words for the abstract. A limit of 100 references is recommended. Submitting supplemental files, and use of tables and figures to summarize critical points is strongly encouraged.

Publishing Schedule

THMT is published quarterly to reflect a dynamic marketplace to ensure accurate reflection of developments, trends, and current knowledge. The journal is published January, April, July and December. 

DEADLINE for manuscript submissions:  December 1, March 1, June 1, and October 1. 

All THMT articles and content are open access and no charge to readers.

Editorial Review Time

Papers submitted are subject to rigorous peer review to ensure that the research published is 'good science.' Peer review, and author revisions, are often the lengthiest part of the manuscript review process.

Journals usually ask reviewers to complete their reviews within 3-4 weeks. However, few journals have a mechanism to enforce the deadline, which is why it can be hard to predict how long the peer review process will take. Highly technical papers and papers from niche subject areas can take longer to review.

Manuscripts are sent out for review electronically, and all correspondence takes place via e-mail. Traditional, high-quality peer-review standards are applied to all manuscripts submitted to the journal.

All manuscripts and associated material submitted to THMT remain confidential while under review and reviewers are informed of this in their agreements, at onboarding, and throughout the review process.

Note: Authors are given up to three weeks to make changes/revisions to a paper once peer reviewed. Authors are required to send a letter explaining why revisions may take longer to resubmit, to the managing editor.

Article Production Time

If your paper is accepted, it typically takes up to two weeks to approve and finalize galley proofs, stylistic changes, and minor edits before uploading the article site for live publication.

    • In 2022, THMT manuscript Acceptance Rate in regular issue was 39%
    • The number of Days to Accept a final manuscript in 2022 was 36

Audience

Telehealth and Medicine Today (THMT) provides a platform that bridges excellence from research laboratory to real world market transformation and impact. Viewership includes leaders from universities, hospitals, medical research centers, payors, researchers, medical directors, IT/IS, healthcare providers, nurses, consultants, service and platform providers, entrepreneurs and startups, pharmaceutical, device, pharmacy, NGO, government, and policy and regulators around the globe.

Authorship, Contributions, and related information

Manuscripts are exclusively submitted to THMT, with the understanding they have not been published elsewhere, in any form, and will not be submitted elsewhere, unless declined by THMT.

If a manuscripts was submitted to another journal and declined, the author should disclose why and what attempts have been made to revise the manuscript for resubmission. Authors are responsible for all statements made in the article and references cited.

THMT follows ICMJE recommendations for scholarly work in medical journals, as it aspires to adhere to the highest standards of scholarly publication practices. Details may be obtained here. THMT requires these guidelines and recommendations are met for authors submitting papers to THMT for review and publication.

Below you will find the "Role of Authors and Contributors" as outlined by ICMJE. Should you wish for a more detailed explanation, please click here. All authors must meet all four criteria below.

    • Substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work; or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work; AND
    • Drafting the work or revising it critically for important intellectual content; AND
    • Final approval of the version to be published; AND
    • 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.

THMT urges researchers to consider researcher contributions and authorship criteria in multi-region collaborations in effort to promote greater equity and transparency in research collaborations.  Researchers should follow the recommendations set out in the Global Code of Conduct for Research in Resource-Poor Settings when designing, executing and reporting their research and provide a disclosure statement in their manuscript regarding the global ethics code.

Consortia Authors, a collective of authors, or large multi-author group, can be listed as a consortium or "group name." Individual authors can be listed on the main author and consortium lists. All authors within a consortium must be listed at the end of the paper. As per the ICMJE, "when submitting a manuscript authored by a group, the corresponding author should specify the group name if one exists, and clearly identify the group members who can take credit and responsibility for the work as authors." 

Non-Author Contributors who do not meet the criteria above can be listed in the Acknowledgments section of your manuscript. See the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) guidelines for "Non-Author Contributors" here." Obtaining funding, collecting of data, or overall supervision of a research group does not qualify authorship. Authors are required to include a statement of responsibility in the manuscript that specifies the contribution of every author. 

ORCID IDs should be included for all authors.

Criteria for Publication

Your manuscript submission should represent the following:

    • Originality and practicality in the global advancement of telehealth and intersecting technologies in healthcare
    • Importance to research, practice, or changes in the field
    • Interest and relevance for the THMT audience and those with an interest in telehealth and related innovations in healthcare
    • Rigorous methodology, with conclusions justified by the evidence presented
    • Adherence to the highest ethical standards

Language Editing (https://pdh.editage.com/)

All manuscripts must be submitted in English and meet the high-quality standards set by the journal. Writing should be clear and concise with the correct use of grammar and spelling. If you are unsure whether your manuscript meets THMT’s requirements, we recommend asking a native English-speaking colleague to review it prior to submission. There are also agencies that can help; for example, we partner with Editage to offer a Language Editing Service. This includes a Premium Editing Service which ensures your manuscript meets THMT’s formatting requirements and supports you in the preparation of your cover letter.

Fees and Publishing Model

THMT’s Article Processing Charge (APC) is $650.00 USD. The APC applies to original research published in THMT. APC for students currently enrolled at an academic institution is $450.00 USD. Please plan accordingly. 

There is no fee for editorials or BLOG posts.

If changes are required post publication and requested by the author(s), a flat $350.00 USD fee will be invoiced for revision(s).

What does the article-processing charge (APC) cover?

Costs are involved in every stage of the publication process, including software, platform hosting, copyediting, production, proofs, graphics, archiving on dedicated servers, time stamping article provenance on the distributed ledger and providing custom dashboards to authors, membership to appropriate scholarly publishing organizations such as STM, COPE, Altmetric, ScienceOpen and many others, management of database and lists, social media dissemination and writing, market research and journal amplification, coding for journal plugins and new features, and compensation for work performed and commissioned (this does not include peer review or board members).

We ask authors to pay an APC if their manuscript is accepted for publication. Once published, authors can immediately post their article on non-commercial web sites, institutional repositories, or other free public servers. The APC only applies to original research published in THMT.  There is no charge for BLOG posts.

Waiver policy

THMT has an active waiver policy for authors from lower-middle income countries as per the World Bank (click here for details). We give fair consideration to all submissions, and believe this should not be linked to the ability to pay.

Where limited funding is available to authors, THMT can provide a complete or partial waiver to authors on request, AFTER, an article is accepted. We review papers based strictly on MERIT. The quality and contribution it makes to the sector supersedes the APC. We believe this is paramount for fair and open exchange. 

Revenue sources 

The revenue model consists of the journal APC, advertising support for the journal, reprints, special editions, supplements, summits, roundtables, and custom projects including podcasts and webinars.  The journal curates and hosts the annual Converge2Xcelerate (#ConV2X) conference (click here for more). Under no circumstance does commercial support impact the editorial decisions for journal manuscript review or acceptance.

Copyright

Authors contributing to THMT agree to publish their articles under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International License that allows reuse, subject only to the use being non-commercial, and to the article being fully attributed. THMT makes all open access articles freely available from the date of publication on THMT.  Open access enables the free publication to everyone, of research, sharing of information, and reuse with minimal restrictions, and are identified by the Creative Commons copyright statement that appears at the end of articles published.

Financial and Non-Financial Relationships and Activities 

THMT editors are not paid a fixed salary. Editors, editorial board members, and peer reviewers are required to declare all relevant financial and competing interests which are published here. Reviewers do not participate in the submission process should they have a financial and/or non-financial relationship(s) and activities to declare.

Likewise, authors are required to disclose financial support from the industry or other conflicts of interest that might bias the interpretation of results. All submitted manuscripts include a ‘Financial and Non-Financial Relationships and Activities’ section listing all financial and non-financial relationships and activities.

Open access policy

THMT publishes articles under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license that allows non-commercial reuse, and fully attribution from the date of publication. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0. 

Journalists, PIOs and bloggers must credit THMT as Source when quoting articles, and provide a link to the journal and/or the original article with the DOI number cited.

Open access articles are owned by the author and can be identified by the Creative Commons copyright statement that appears at the end of the article.

Embargo Policy 

The content of accepted articles cannot appear in print, on media outlets, or electronic form (including blogs and discussion groups), prior to publication on the THMT website. Abstracts of work may be presented at scientific conferences.

Post publication discussion and corrections

THMT encourages questions and debate post publication. This can be exercised as a letter to the editor, opinion piece to the journal, commentary can be posted on social media platforms such as LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Medium or Substack. Additionally, PubPeer can be used as an external moderated site. For details, see https://pubpeer.com/static/about.

All authors are encouraged to register their article on PeerPub by posting the article DOI number and encouraging commentary. The registration link is: https://pubpeer.com/register

Mechanisms for correcting, revising or retracting articles post publication are made on CrossMark and corresponding details will also be timestamped on the blockchain.

Diversity Commitment

Partners in Digital Health (PDH) is committed to supporting diversity, inclusion and egalitarianism across scientific and academic communication and in publishing practices.

This belief is reflected in our internal journal practices, editorial and peer review boards, in published content, journal and community outreach and ambassador chapters to demonstrate the portfolio’s integrity, trust and values to communities far and wide in tearing down any barriers and borders relating to knowledge, economics, age, race, gender, geography and political views. The founder and publisher has stated repeatedly since the journal’s inception, “all are welcome to the table.” The journal maintains an objective, unbiased and fair balanced posture at all times. 

Priorities and actions include:

    • Manuscript submission and Authorship 
    • Peer reviewers
    • Editorial and Advisory Board Members
    • ConV2X Conference and Pitch Competition
    • Ambassador Chapters
    • Fees and business model

We encourage all global citizens from all countries to learn, share and participate as equals. 

We continuously address equity and inclusion in our portfolio in these areas and others as needed, to ensure our ongoing commitment to global equality, diversity and inclusion.

Transparent Peer Review (TPR) Beginning January 2023

TPR will be an elective alternative to the current double blind anonymous journal peer review offered

THMT is pleased to add Transparent Peer Review as an option for authors to consider and participate. Beginning January 2023, authors of manuscript submissions can opt in to have a complete accounting and history of their manuscript peer review reports — including their own responses to commentary reports — published at the same time as their manuscript. Readers will be able to see the transparent exchange(s) between authors and reviewers.

Why are we doing it?

Open peer review injects an authenticity that enhances trust in research and scholarly reviews. Furthermore, it adds value to early-career researcher education. Many of our journal authors are early and mid career researchers in the two exciting fields we service. Our editors are highly collegial in approach and guidance - with authors that thoroughly appreciate feedback and commentary. Transparent Peer Review will provide and educate a far broader audience across learning environments and re-inject trust for research in academia, and across public media. It is imperative the medical community, consumers, and public media believe findings to share trusted leanings, both positive and negative.

Benefits

  • Authors receive useful feedback to improve the quality of their work and demonstrate their manuscript has undergone rigorous peer review; providing more accountability for authors, reviewers, and editors during the peer review process
  • May share important additional arguments for increased transparency, thought, and discussion
  • May decrease unfair reviewer reports, unwanted tone, and language, review fraud, bias, manipulation of results, or unfair advantages
  • Published reports can be used to educate early career researchers and new editors to gain a complete understanding of editor decision-making processes; while editors can obtain heightened recognition for work and efforts
  • Transparent Peer Review benefits research and increases overall market trust in results

How it will work

  1. Authors and reviewers can choose to opt in or out of the process at submission
  2. Authors are under no obligation to take part and can opt out anytime
    1. Authors must follow guidelines published on the journal Submission Portal add ADD their preference for Transparent Peer Review in their COVER letter.
    2. The manuscript will be reviewed double blind and anonymous should reviewers NOT want to participate.
  • If an author, reviewer, or editor, chooses to opt out, the review process for that paper will not be published and remain anonymous and double blind
  1. Reviewerscan choose whether their reviews are signed or remain anonymous
  2. If a reviewer is invited to review a manuscript and wishes to participate, the reviewer simply needs to accept the invitation. An accepted open review invitation from the managing editor will serve as consent to participate in the transparent peer review.
  3. If the reviewer is not comfortable with their review being published, they should decline to review the manuscript.
  4. Publication - open review reports will be published in full and labeled as “Supporting Information” with the same DOI number as the article, alongside the journal article. This gives readers full access to the peer review process from submission to publication and includes a comprehensive peer review history, posted with the article formats.

Notes:

  • THMT will continue to use double blind anonymous peer review during the review process as the default if open review is declined
  • Review materials are not made available until the article is published
  • Open Transparent Peer Review will be published online only if the author of the manuscript has opted in and the manuscript is accepted by editors.
  • If the author chooses to participate in a transparent peer review, the anonymous reviews and the author’s response to the reviewers’ comments will be published as supporting information, freely available alongside the article at the time of publication.
  • In cases where a manuscript has been transferred from a journal that does not participate in Transparent Peer Review to a journal that does, any reviews submitted to the original journal will not be published.

           Journal Pillars