Author Guidelines

RIIS – Revista de Investigação & Inovação em Saúde welcomes original, scientifically rigorous, and ethically responsible manuscripts in the field of health sciences.

Manuscripts must be aligned with the journal’s aims and scope and make a relevant contribution to the advancement of knowledge, clinical practice, health education, healthcare management, public health, innovation, quality and safety of care, or health policy.

Before starting a submission, authors must consult the Manuscript Template, the Submission Requirements, and the RIIS editorial policies.

1. Types of Manuscripts

RIIS considers the following types of manuscripts for publication:

  • Original research articles;
  • Systematic reviews and meta-analyses;
  • Scoping reviews;
  • Clinical practice guidelines;
  • Methodological papers;
  • Implementation science studies;
  • Quality improvement reports;
  • Short communications;
  • Perspectives;
  • Editorials, by invitation only.

The manuscript type must be clearly identified at the time of submission.

2. Required Files and Documents

The submission must include:

  • An anonymised manuscript prepared according to the official RIIS template;
  • A separate Title Page;
  • Ethics committee approval or a justified exemption statement, when applicable;
  • Informed consent or consent for publication, when applicable;
  • The reporting guideline checklist appropriate to the study design;
  • Supplementary materials required for the assessment of the work, when applicable.

The Title Page must include:

  • Manuscript title;
  • Full name of all authors;
  • Academic degree;
  • Full institutional affiliation, city, and country;
  • Email address and ORCID identifier of all authors;
  • Identification of the corresponding author;
  • Individual author contributions;
  • Funding sources;
  • Conflicts of interest;
  • Acknowledgements, when applicable.

The manuscript submitted for peer review must not contain names, affiliations, identifiable acknowledgements, document properties, or any other information that may reveal the identity of the authors or their institutions.

3. Formatting

The manuscript must:

  • Be submitted in an editable Microsoft Word format;
  • Use A4 page size;
  • Have 2.5 cm margins;
  • Use Calibri, 11-point font;
  • Use 1.5 line spacing;
  • Be fully justified;
  • Include page numbers;
  • Use hierarchically organised headings and subheadings;
  • Not exceed 15 pages, including references, tables, and figures, unless otherwise specified by the Editorial Team for a particular manuscript type.

Abbreviations must be defined at first use. Excessive use of bold type, underlining, coloured backgrounds, or different fonts should be avoided.

4. Title, Abstract, and Keywords

The title must:

  • Be clear, informative, and scientifically precise;
  • Accurately reflect the manuscript content;
  • Contain no more than 12 words;
  • Be provided in Portuguese, English, and Spanish.

The abstract must:

  • Contain no more than 200 words;
  • Be provided in Portuguese, English, and Spanish;
  • Include, when applicable: background, objective, methods, results, and conclusion.

A maximum of four keywords must be provided in Portuguese, English, and Spanish. Keywords should preferably be selected from the controlled vocabularies DeCS — Health Sciences Descriptors and MeSH — Medical Subject Headings.

5. Structure of Original Research Articles

Original research articles must include:

  1. Title;
  2. Abstract;
  3. Keywords;
  4. Introduction;
  5. Background or theoretical framework, when applicable;
  6. Methods;
  7. Results;
  8. Discussion;
  9. Conclusion;
  10. Final declarations;
  11. References.

Introduction

The introduction must present the research problem, the current state of knowledge, the scientific and professional relevance of the study, and its objective or research question.

Methods

The methods section must clearly and adequately describe:

  • Study design and setting;
  • Population, participants, or sample;
  • Inclusion and exclusion criteria;
  • Data collection instruments and procedures;
  • Data analysis procedures;
  • Ethical considerations;
  • Study or protocol registration, when applicable.

Results

Results must be presented objectively, clearly, and consistently with the study objectives and methods. Information already included in tables or figures should not be fully repeated in the text.

Discussion

The discussion must critically interpret the results, compare them with relevant scientific evidence, explain the study’s contribution, and identify its limitations.

Conclusion

The conclusion must address the study objectives or research questions and present the main implications of the findings, without introducing new information or claims unsupported by the data.

6. Review Articles

Systematic reviews and meta-analyses must follow the PRISMA guidelines.

Scoping reviews must follow the PRISMA-ScR guidelines.

Review manuscripts must present:

  • Review question;
  • Protocol and registration, when applicable;
  • Eligibility criteria;
  • Information sources and search strategy;
  • Study selection process;
  • Data extraction and analysis;
  • Assessment of methodological quality or risk of bias, when applicable;
  • Synthesis method;
  • Results;
  • Discussion;
  • Conclusion.

The complete search strategy must be included in the manuscript or provided as supplementary material.

7. Other Manuscript Types

Methodological papers must clearly describe the development, adaptation, validation, or application of the proposed method.

Implementation science studies must explain the context, intervention, implementation strategy, evaluated outcomes, and theoretical framework used.

Quality improvement reports must describe the problem, context, intervention, indicators, results, and sustainability of the improvement.

Clinical practice guidelines must describe the methods used to search and assess the evidence, the process for developing recommendations, the management of conflicts of interest, and the updating plan.

Short communications and perspectives must present a clearly defined and evidence-based scientific contribution aligned with the journal’s scope.

8. Scientific Reporting Guidelines

Authors must use the reporting guideline appropriate to the study design, including:

  • CONSORT — clinical trials;
  • SPIRIT — clinical trial protocols;
  • STROBE — observational studies;
  • PRISMA — systematic reviews and meta-analyses;
  • PRISMA-ScR — scoping reviews;
  • COREQ or SRQR — qualitative research;
  • STARD — diagnostic accuracy studies;
  • CARE — case reports;
  • SQUIRE — quality improvement studies;
  • AGREE II or RIGHT — clinical practice guidelines;
  • RECORD — studies based on routinely collected health data;
  • ARRIVE — animal research.

When no specific guideline is available, authors should consult the EQUATOR Network.

The corresponding completed checklist must be submitted as a supplementary file, when applicable.

9. Ethics and Mandatory Declarations

Before the reference list, manuscripts must include the following declarations, when applicable:

  • Ethics approval;
  • Informed consent;
  • Consent for publication;
  • Author contributions;
  • Conflicts of interest;
  • Funding;
  • Acknowledgements;
  • Data Availability Statement;
  • Declaration of the use of artificial intelligence.

Complete requirements are available on the following pages:

  • Publication Ethics and Misconduct;
  • Research Data and Availability;
  • Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence.

The titles of these policies should be presented as internal hyperlinks in the OJS.

10. Tables, Figures, and Supplementary Materials

Tables and figures must:

  • Be numbered consecutively in the order in which they are cited;
  • Have a clear title;
  • Be referred to in the text;
  • Explain all abbreviations;
  • Identify the source when they are not original;
  • Include reproduction permission, when applicable;
  • Be of sufficient quality for publication.

Tables must include their number and title above the table. Figures must include their identification and caption.

Supplementary materials must be clearly identified and referred to in the manuscript.

11. References

Citations and references must comply with APA, 7th edition.

References must be:

  • Scientifically relevant;
  • Current, without excluding classic or foundational works;
  • Preferably derived from primary sources;
  • Complete and verifiable;
  • Appropriate to the manuscript’s subject, methodology, and discussion;
  • Diverse in terms of authors, journals, institutions, and geographical contexts, whenever scientifically appropriate.

Recent literature should be prioritised, without applying a mechanical time limit when relevant foundational works exist.

The DOI must be provided whenever available, in the following format:

https://doi.org/xxxxx

The number of references must be proportionate to the manuscript’s subject, methodology, and type.

Authors are not required to cite articles previously published in RIIS. RIIS articles should only be cited when they are directly relevant to the manuscript content.

12. Publication Languages

RIIS publishes articles in Portuguese and English.

Manuscripts submitted in Portuguese must also be made available in English after acceptance, with linguistic quality appropriate for international scientific communication.

The title, abstract, and keywords must be provided in Portuguese, English, and Spanish.

The Editorial Team may request language revision whenever the quality of the text may compromise scientific clarity or understanding.

13. Editorial Process

After submission, manuscripts undergo:

  1. Administrative and documentary verification;
  2. Editorial pre-screening;
  3. Originality checking;
  4. Double-blind peer review by at least two independent reviewers;
  5. Editorial decision;
  6. Technical and documentary review;
  7. Production and publication.

Further information on criteria, decisions, and timelines is available on the Peer Review Process page, which should be included as an internal hyperlink.

Submission of a manuscript does not guarantee acceptance.

14. Author Responsibility

Authors are responsible for the scientific, methodological, ethical, linguistic, and formal quality of their manuscripts.

Failure to comply with these guidelines may result in the manuscript being returned for correction or rejected during editorial pre-screening.