Submissions

Author Guidelines

Before submitting, please read the journal's Publication Ethics, Editorial Process and Peer Review, and Open Access, Copyright and Data policies. There are no fees to submit or publish.

1. Article types

Word counts exclude the abstract, tables, figure legends and references.

2. Files to submit

1. Cover letter confirming that the work is original, is not under consideration elsewhere, and has been approved by all authors. Disclose any preprint.
2. Title page with the title; all authors' full names, affiliations (city and country) and ORCID iDs where available; and the corresponding author's email and postal address.
3. Manuscript in Word or RTF, single-spaced, 12-point font, with tables and figures cited in the text.
4. Tables and figures as separate files. Figures as TIFF or high-quality JPEG at 300 dpi or more.
5. Reporting checklist for the study design (see EQUATOR Network).
6. ICMJE disclosure forms, one per author, combined into a single PDF.
7. Submission checklist, completed (download).
8. Supplementary files, if any.

3. Required statements

Place these statements at the end of the manuscript, before the references:

• Ethics approval and consent: committee name, approval number and date, and how consent was obtained or why it was waived.
• Trial registration: registry and number (also at the end of the abstract).
• Data availability: where and how the data can be accessed; for trials, the full ICMJE data sharing statement.
• Funding: all sources, or "This research received no funding", and the funder's role.
• Competing interests: or "The authors declare no competing interests".
• Author contributions: each author's role using the CRediT taxonomy.
• Use of AI tools: if applicable, describe the tool and how it was used in the Methods or Acknowledgments.
• Acknowledgments: contributors who do not meet authorship criteria, with their permission.

4. Preparing the manuscript

• Title: concise and informative, without abbreviations.
• Abstract: structured abstracts use Background, Methods, Results and Conclusions (protocols: Background, Methods and Discussion); narrative reviews use an unstructured abstract; no references.
• Keywords: up to 6, preferably MeSH terms.
• Abbreviations: define at first use in the abstract and again in the text.
• Main text: original research uses Introduction, Methods (with enough detail to allow replication), Results, Discussion (including limitations) and Conclusions. Other article types may use headings suited to their content.
• Appendices: label A, B, etc., with tables and figures numbered A.1, A.2, etc.

5. References

PPCR uses APA style (7th edition). Cite authors and year in the text, for example (Smith & Jones, 2020) or Smith et al. (2021), and list references alphabetically by first author's surname. Include DOIs where available. Cite only sources directly relevant to the work, and verify every reference against the original source.

Example: Brunoni, A. R., Valiengo, L., Baccaro, A., Zanão, T. A., de Oliveira, J. F., Goulart, A., Boggio, P. S., Lotufo, P. A., Benseñor, I. M., & Fregni, F. (2013). The sertraline vs. electrical current therapy for treating depression clinical study: Results from a factorial, randomized, controlled trial. JAMA Psychiatry, 70(4), 383–391. https://doi.org/10.1001/2013.jamapsychiatry.32

6. Language

Manuscripts must be written in English. Authors who are not fluent in English are encouraged to have their manuscript reviewed by a fluent colleague or a professional editing service before submission. Use of an editing service does not influence editorial decisions.

7. Revisions

Revised manuscripts must include a point-by-point response to every reviewer comment, a version with changes marked, and a clean version. Revisions are due within 30 days unless the editorial office agrees otherwise.

8. Questions

Contact the editorial office at ppcr-journal@ppcr.org.