These guidelines were updated in May 2016. Several changes were made. Please read the guidelines carefully to ensure that your submission complies with the most recent updates.
General Considerations
- Manuscripts should stress new data, comparisons with previous data, and their relevance to American Indian and Alaska Native mental health. The emphasis here is on development of positive mental and social functioning of American Indians and Alaska Natives through understanding of relevant processes and conditions.
- Emphasis will be placed on those now living in the United States, but residents of Canada, the Pacific Islands, or Central or South America will not necessarily be excluded.
- Many different kinds of articles are accepted under these guidelines. For example, recently published articles include:
What to Include
- Create all documents in Microsoft Word or a compatible program. Do not submit PDFs.
- Documents should measure 8 ½” by 11”, be double-spaced throughout, and have 1” margins on all sides.
Cover Letter
- Write a cover letter to accompany your submission. The manuscript will be peer-reviewed anonymously; therefore, identifying information should appear ONLY in the cover letter.
- Save the cover letter as a separate file.
Title Page/Abstract
- Include a cover page with the full title of the manuscript, the running head (abbreviated title), and an abstract of 100 words or less.
- Do NOT include identifying information on this page.
Manuscript
- Manuscripts should average 5900 words; however, relevant and concisely written manuscripts of any length will be considered.
- Manuscripts will be peer-reviewed anonymously; therefore, do not include identifying information on any pages. Include such information only in the cover letter.
- Follow the conventions of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA), 6th edition. Manuscripts not following these conventions will not be considered.
- Please note that APA 6th edition guidelines now require a DOI (digital object identifier) number or URL to be included in the reference list for each journal article. Please be sure to include this information, as CAIANH staff cannot provide it.
- Save the manuscript as a single file, including the title page and all tables, figures, and graphics. Do not use your name or any identifying information in the file name. This file will be used for anonymous peer review.
- Follow U.S. spelling conventions and spell-check the entire manuscript.
- The term "American Indians and Alaska Natives," abbreviated to AI/ANs (rather than "Native Americans"), should be used in the absence of specific tribal affiliation to refer to descendants of pre-Columbian natives of the Western Hemisphere.
This usage is in keeping with the 1977 National Congress of American Indians and the National Tribal Chairmen’s Association resolution regarding the preferred designation of the Indigenous populations of the contiguous U.S. The term "Native" can also be used to refer to both American Indians and Alaska Native peoples.
- A standardized list of other frequently used terms and abbreviations can be found here (requires Adobe Acrobat.) Manuscripts should follow these conventions, where applicable.
- Please note that APA policy prohibits an author from submitting the same manuscript for concurrent consideration by two or more journals. Authors submitting a manuscript previously considered for publication in another APA journal should note this fact in the cover letter.
- APA policy also prohibits duplicate publication (i.e., publication of a manuscript that has already been published in whole or substantial part in another journal).
How to Submit Your Manuscript
The Journal now accepts submissions via the Web, using msTracker. All authors are encouraged to submit online.
- Go to www.msTracker.com
- Click “Submit Manuscript” at the bottom of the page
- Choose American Indian and Alaska Native Mental Health Research from the list of journals
- Click “Submit”
- Complete the short form and attach your manuscript (instructions and help are provided)
- Authors who are unable to use msTracker should contact sara.mumby@ucdenver.edu
The Review Process
- All manuscripts will be subject to editing for clarity, adherence to guidelines, and bias-free language.
- The peer review process generally takes 8-10 weeks. If we anticipate that it will take substantially longer, we will contact the corresponding author.
- Once a manuscript is accepted and finalized, it will be published in the next issue of the Journal that has space available. Consistent with current publishing trends, articles are published via the Internet in electronic form, and are available to the general public. The established Web site for the Journal, http://ucdenver.edu/caianh, is a component of the Centers for American Indian and Alaska Native Health. All articles published in the journal are available from this site.
- All U.S. and international copyright laws remain in effect.
Special Note on the National Institutes of Health Public Access Policy
According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), “As of April 7, 2008, all final peer-reviewed manuscripts arising from NIH funds must be submitted to PubMed Central upon acceptance for publication.”
Staff of American Indian and Alaska Native Mental Health Research encourage NIH-funded authors to comply with this policy.
NIH-funded authors may submit articles to PubMed Central immediately upon publication (i.e., there is no embargo). We will notify you when your article is published.
Please note that we do not submit articles to PubMed Central; this is the authors’ responsibility. We also do not accept any responsibility for sanctions faced by NIH-funded authors who fail to comply with PubMed Central guidelines.
For more information on NIH’s public access policy, please visit http://publicaccess.nih.gov/.
Journal Contact
Sara Mumby
Centers for American Indian and Alaska Native Health
University of Colorado Denver/Colorado School of Public Health
Nighthorse Campbell Native Health Building
Mail Stop F800
13055 E. 17th Ave.
Aurora, CO 80045
Phone: (303) 724-8766
FAX: (303) 724-1120
E-Mail: sara.mumby@ucdenver.edu
