Nordic Studies on Alcohol and Drugs

 

1. Open Access
2. Article processing charge (APC)
3. Article types
4. Editorial policies
   4.1 Peer review policy
   4.2 Authorship
   4.3 Acknowledgements
   4.4 Funding
   4.5 Declaration of conflicting interests
   4.6 Research ethics and patient consent
   4.7 Gender Policy
   4.8 Data
   4.9 Complaints and appeals
5. Publishing policies
   5.1 Publication ethics
   5.2 Contributor's publishing agreement
6. Preparing your manuscript
   6.1 Word processing formats
   6.2 Artwork, figures and other graphics
   6.3 Supplementary material
   6.4 Reference style
   6.5 English language editing services
7. Submitting your manuscript
   7.1 ORCID
   7.2 Title, keywords and abstracts
   7.3 Information required for completing your submission
   7.4 Corresponding author contact details
   7.5 Permissions
8. On acceptance and publication
   8.1 Sage Production
   8.2 Online publication
   8.3 Promoting your article
9. Further information

This Journal recommends that authors follow the EASE Guidelines for Authors and Translators of Scientific Articles to be Published in English. For a more comprehensive guide on publishing in scholarly journals, please consult the book Publishing Addiction Science. The Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals formulated by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), are also useful for researchers working in the social sciences.

Please read the guidelines below then visit the journal’s submission site https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/nad to upload your manuscript. Please note that manuscripts not conforming to these guidelines may be returned.

Only manuscripts of sufficient quality that meet the aims and scope of Nordic Studies on Alcohol and Drugs will be reviewed.

As part of the submission process you will be required to warrant that you are submitting your original work, that you have the rights in the work, that you are submitting the work for first publication in the Journal and that it is not being considered for publication elsewhere and has not already been published elsewhere, and that you have obtained and can supply all necessary permissions for the reproduction of any copyright works not owned by you.

1. Open Access

Nordic Studies on Alcohol and Drugs is an open access, peer-reviewed journal. Each article accepted by peer review is made freely available online immediately upon publication, is published under a Creative Commons license and will be hosted online in perpetuity. Publication costs of the journal are covered by the collection of article processing charges which are paid by the funder, institution or author of each manuscript upon acceptance. There is no charge for submitting a paper to the journal.

For general information on open access at Sage please visit the Open Access page or view our Open Access FAQs.

Return to top

2. Article processing charge (APC)

The journal does not have article processing charges (APCs) nor article submission charges.

Return to top

3. Article Types

Research reports are original research article, presenting new, scientific findings. They should include an abstract (approx. 250 words) with proposed key words. Where appropriate, the abstract should be structured under the following headings: Aims, Design (or Methods, Data), Results, Conclusions. Research reports should as a rule not exceed 7000 words (excluding figures and tables, each on separate pages), but we recognize that qualitative studies may require a higher word count. Indicate in the text where the tables and figures should appear. Footnotes are to be placed at the end of the text. The editors may commission commentaries on research reports.

Reviews summarize a body of literature in order to reach one or more major conclusions. Reviews use a systematic approach where the search strategy and the selection criteria are clearly defined and described. They are expected to follow standardized practices for systematic reviews, such as using (and referring to) the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA). Reviews should include an abstract and should not exceed 7000 words (excluding figures and tables, each on separate pages). The editors may commission commentaries on reviews.

Commentaries are usually commissioned by the editors from experts in a particular field. In commentaries, authors comment on a research report or review, adding a further perspective, highlighting points of wider relevance to the field, or relating the findings to a Nordic or national context. Commentaries are very short articles, 500-1500 words, with few references and no abstract. At the beginning of the commentary a reference should be made to the article discussed, and this should also be included in the reference list.

Editorials stimulate debate, raise new or neglected questions, and identify interesting problems, fundamental concepts and topics for future research. They are usually written by the editor-in-chief, but can sometimes be commissioned by the editors from experts in a particular field. Editorials should not exceed 1000 words.

Overviews can vary in form. Overviews can be country reports that highlight recent exciting research putting it in a Nordic setting. They do not primarily discuss the author's own work. Overviews can also provide context for the findings within a field or explain potential interdisciplinary significance, for example by discussing the articles and questions raised in a thematic issue. Overviews may vary in length from around 2000 to 5000 words.

For Debate articles are opinion pieces up to 3000 words in length. They build on research literature but add important new insights, making one or two strong points that challenge prevailing thinking or practice. Also ‘For debate’ articles can be accompanied by commissioned commentaries. ‘For Debate’ articles do not have abstracts.

Book Reviews contextualize books that are likely to be of broad interest to our readership. A book review should give a sense of the structure and main ideas of the book, while also offering critical account. Book reviews should not exceed 2000 words, and should include the names of the author(s), and publisher, as well as ISBN and number of pages.

Return to top

4. Editorial policies

4.1 Peer review policy

Sage does not permit the use of author-suggested (recommended) reviewers at any stage of the submission process, be that through the web-based submission system or other communication. Reviewers should be experts in their fields and should be able to provide an objective assessment of the manuscript. Our policy is that reviewers should not be assigned to a paper if:

•  The reviewer is based at the same institution as any of the co-authors

•  The reviewer is based at the funding body of the paper

•  The author has recommended the reviewer

•  The reviewer has provided a personal (e.g. Gmail/Yahoo/Hotmail) email account and an institutional email account cannot be found after performing a basic Google search (name, department and institution). 

4.2 Authorship

Authorship of a scientific report refers to the origin of a literary production, not just to the experimentation, data collection or other work that led up to it. All persons named as authors should: 

•              have made a major contribution to the work reported, and,
  •              be prepared to take public responsibility for its contents.

Early agreement on the precise roles of the contributors and collaborators, and on matters of authorship and publication, is advised. All contributors to a research project or other scholarly publication should be advised of their authorship responsibilities and given the opportunity to participate in the drafting of the manuscript. Initial inclusion in the planning of a scientific paper does not necessarily warrant authorship credit unless the prospective author makes a substantive contribution as described below. The lead author should periodically review the status of authorship credits and substantive contributions with all prospective collaborators, in order to avoid disputes.

The award of authorship should balance intellectual contributions to the conception, design, analysis and writing of the study against the collection of data and other routine work. If there is no task that can reasonably be attributed to a particular individual, then that individual should not be credited with authorship.

All listed authors on a paper should have been personally and substantially involved in the work leading to the paper. Involvement in data collection and other routine tasks does not necessarily warrant authorship credit. Similarly, merely granting access to clinical samples or being the head of a research unit or grant is not by itself sufficient to justify a share in authorship.

If professional writers employed by pharmaceutical companies, medical agencies, or other parties have written the paper, then their names should be included, and any conflicts of interest declared.

Authors should not allow their name to be used on a piece of work merely to add credibility to the content.

Please note that AI chatbots, for example ChatGPT, should not be listed as authors. For more information see the policy on Use of ChatGPT and generative AI tools.

4.3 Acknowledgements

All contributors who do not meet the criteria for authorship should be listed in an Acknowledgements section. Examples of those who might be acknowledged include a person who provided purely technical help, or a department chair who provided only general support.

Please supply any personal acknowledgements separately to the main text to facilitate anonymous peer review.

4.3.1 Third party submissions

Where an individual who is not listed as an author submits a manuscript on behalf of the author(s), a statement must be included in the Acknowledgements section of the manuscript and in the accompanying cover letter. The statements must:

• Disclose this type of editorial assistance – including the individual’s name, company and level of input
• Identify any entities that paid for this assistance
• Confirm that the listed authors have authorized the submission of their manuscript via third party and approved any statements or declarations, e.g. conflicting interests, funding, etc.

Where appropriate, Sage reserves the right to deny consideration to manuscripts submitted by a third party rather than by the authors themselves.

4.4 Funding

Nordic Studies on Alcohol and Drugs requires all authors to acknowledge their funding in a consistent fashion under a separate heading.  Please visit the Funding Acknowledgements page on the Sage Journal Author Gateway to confirm the format of the acknowledgment text in the event of funding, or state that: This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

4.5 Declaration of conflicting interests

It is the policy of Nordic Studies on Alcohol and Drugs to require a declaration of conflicting interests from all authors enabling a statement to be carried within the paginated pages of all published articles.

A conflict of interest is a situation or relationship in which professional, personal, or financial considerations could be seen by a fair-minded person as potentially in conflict with independence of judgment. It has also been described as a situation or relationship which, when revealed later, would make a reasonable reader feel misled or deceived. A conflict may be personal, commercial, political, academic or financial. "Financial" interests may include employment, research funding, stock or share ownership, payment for lectures or travel, consultancies, and company support for staff. Conflict of interest is not in itself wrongdoing.

The potential for conflict of interest in the addiction field is enhanced by any relationship or funding connected with the tobacco industry, the alcohol beverage industry, for-profit health care systems, private hospitals, the pharmaceutical industry, and "social aspect organizations" that receive their primary support from these sources.

There are three levels of conflict of interest: real, apparent, and potential. A real conflict of interest means that the author, or the administrative unit with which the author has an employment relationship, has a financial or other interest that could unduly influence the author's position with respect to the subject matter being considered. An apparent conflict of interest exists when an interest would not necessarily influence the author but could result in the author's objectivity being questioned by others. A potential conflict of interest exists with an interest that any reasonable person could be uncertain whether or not it should be reported.

Each author should declare to the editor any interests that could constitute a real, potential or apparent conflict of interest with respect to his/her involvement in the publication, between (1) commercial entities and the participant personally, and (2) commercial entities and the administrative unit with which the participant has an employment relationship. "Commercial entity" refers to any company, association (e.g., trade association), organization, or other unit with commercial interests.

Sources of funding for the study, review, or other item should be declared in the final publication.

Please ensure that a ‘Declaration of Conflicting Interests’ statement is included at the end of your manuscript, after any acknowledgements and prior to the references. If no conflict exists, please state that ‘The Author(s) declare(s) that there is no conflict of interest’.

For guidance on conflict of interest statements, please see the Farmington Consensus.

4.6 Research ethics and patient consent

Nordic Studies on Alcohol and Drugs operates in accordance with the Farmington Consensus and its ethical code. Research reported in NAD should be well justified, well planned, appropriately designed, scrupulously analyzed and honestly interpreted. All relevant ethical safeguards should be met in relation to subject protection, and where appropriate, studies should be appraised by an ethical review committee.

For research articles, when relevant, authors are also required to state in the methods section whether participants provided informed consent and whether the consent was written or verbal.

In studies where informed consent is needed (e.g. surveys and experimental research), research subjects should be given enough information to form a clear understanding of what participation involves in order to make a truly informed decision about whether or not to participate in the research.

Please also refer to the ICMJE Recommendations for the Protection of Research Participants.

4.7 Gender Policy

Underreporting in addiction research of sex and gender differences or similarities is common. Nordic Studies on Alcohol and Drugs endorses the guidelines for Sex and Gender Equity in Research (SageR), developed by the European Association of Science Editors (EASE). The SageR guidelines are a comprehensive procedure for reporting of sex and gender information in study design, data analyses, results and interpretation of findings. The SageR guidelines provide useful checklists for guaranteeing proper attention to sex and gender, but can also be used as a model for reporting about age, class or socioeconomic position and ethnicity.

4.8 Data

Sage acknowledges the importance of research data availability as an integral part of the research and verification process for academic journal articles.

Nordic Studies on Alcohol and Drugs requests all authors submitting any primary data used in their research articles alongside their article submissions to be published in the online version of the journal, or provide detailed information in their articles on how the data can be obtained. This information should include links to third-party data repositories or detailed contact information for third-party data sources. Data available only on an author-maintained website will need to be loaded onto either the journal’s platform or a third-party platform to ensure continuing accessibility. Examples of data types include but are not limited to statistical data files, replication code, text files, audio files, images, videos, appendices, and additional charts and graphs necessary to understand the original research. The editor(s) may consider limited embargoes on proprietary data. The editor(s) can also grant exceptions for data that cannot legally or ethically be released. All data submitted should comply with Institutional or Ethical Review Board requirements and applicable government regulations. For further information, please contact the editorial office at nad@nordicwelfare.org.

4.9 Complaints and appeals

Complaints concerning policies, procedures and the actions of the editorial staff are welcome, as they give us the opportunity to improve the journal. Nordic Studies on Alcohol and Drugs also welcomes complaints concerning errors originating from the research process or publication process, such as severe typographical mistakes, and suspicions of scientific misconduct, redundant publication and authorship misidentification. Correcting the scientific literature is important part of providing accurate and honest information to the readership. When necessary, we will publish expressions of concern, corrections and retractions.

The review process frequently involves scientific disagreement and disagreement with undesirable editorial decisions. These kinds of disagreements are not necessarily foundations for valid author appeals. Requests by authors for appeal can be considered if they involve failures of process, such as improper editorial behaviour or severe misjudgments in the editorial process.

Author requests for appeal, and complaints concerning content and policies, should be addressed to the editor-in-chief. These will be handled by the editor-in-chief and the editorial board. Complaints concerning the actions of the editor-in-chief should be addressed to the chair of the editorial board.

Return to top

5. Publishing policies

5.1 Publication ethics

Nordic Studies on Alcohol and Drugs is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics. Sage is committed to upholding the integrity of the academic record. We encourage authors to refer to the Committee on Publication Ethics’ International Standards for Authors and view the Publication Ethics page on the Sage Author Gateway.

5.1.1 Plagiarism

Nordic Studies on Alcohol and Drugs and Sage take issues of copyright infringement, plagiarism or other breaches of best practice in publication very seriously. We seek to protect the rights of our authors and we always investigate claims of plagiarism or misuse of published articles. Equally, we seek to protect the reputation of the journal against malpractice. Submitted articles may be checked with duplication-checking software. Where an article, for example, is found to have plagiarized other work or included third-party copyright material without permission or with insufficient acknowledgement, or where the authorship of the article is contested, we reserve the right to take action including, but not limited to: publishing an erratum or corrigendum (correction); retracting the article; taking up the matter with the head of department or dean of the author's institution and/or relevant academic bodies or societies; or taking appropriate legal action.

5.1.2 Prior publication

If material has been previously published, it is not generally acceptable for publication in a Sage journal. However, there are certain circumstances where previously published material can be considered for publication. Please refer to the guidance on the Sage Author Gateway or if in doubt, contact the Editor at the address given below.

5.2 Contributor's publishing agreement

Before publication Sage requires the author as the rights holder to sign a Journal Contributor’s Publishing Agreement.  Nordic Studies on Alcohol and Drugs publishes manuscripts under Creative Commons licenses. The standard  license for the journal is Creative Commons by Attribution Non-Commercial (CC BY-NC), which allows others to re-use the work without permission as long as the work is properly referenced and the use is non-commercial. For more information, you are advised to visit Sage's OA licenses page

Alternative license arrangements are available, for example, to meet particular funder mandates, made at the author’s request.

Return to top

6. Preparing your manuscript

6.1 Word processing formats

The preferred format for your manuscript is Word. LaTeX files are also accepted. Word and (La)Tex templates are available on the Manuscript Submission Guidelines page of our Author Gateway.

6.2 Artwork, figures and other graphics

For guidance on the preparation of illustrations, pictures and graphs in electronic format, please visit Sage’s Manuscript Submission Guidelines.

Figures supplied in color will appear in color online.

6.3 Supplementary material

This journal is able to host additional materials online (e.g. datasets, podcasts, videos, images etc) alongside the full-text of the article. For more information please refer to our guidelines on submitting supplementary files.

6.4 Reference style

Nordic Studies on Alcohol and Drugs adheres to the APA reference style. Please review the guidelines on APA to ensure your manuscript conforms to this reference style. For articles written in English, non-English language titles in the reference list should include subsequent translations to English [in brackets] adjacent to the original title.

6.5 English language editing services

Authors seeking assistance with English language editing, translation, or figure and manuscript formatting to fit the journal’s specifications should consider using Sage Language Services. Visit Sage Language Services on our Journal Author Gateway for further information.

Return to top

7. Submitting your manuscript

Nordic Studies on Alcohol and Drugs is hosted on Sage Track, a web based online submission and peer review system powered by ScholarOne™ Manuscripts. Visit https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/nad to login and submit your article online.

IMPORTANT: Please check whether you already have an account in the system before trying to create a new one. If you have reviewed or authored for the journal in the past year it is likely that you will have had an account created.  For further guidance on submitting your manuscript online please visit ScholarOne Online Help.

7.1 ORCID

As part of our commitment to ensuring an ethical, transparent and fair peer review process Sage is a supporting member of ORCID, the Open Researcher and Contributor ID. ORCID provides a unique and persistent digital identifier that distinguishes researchers from every other researcher, even those who share the same name, and, through integration in key research workflows such as manuscript and grant submission, supports automated linkages between researchers and their professional activities, ensuring that their work is recognized.

The collection of ORCID iDs from corresponding authors is now part of the submission process of this journal. If you already have an ORCID iD you will be asked to associate that to your submission during the online submission process. We also strongly encourage all co-authors to link their ORCID ID to their accounts in our online peer review platforms. It takes seconds to do: click the link when prompted, sign into your ORCID account and our systems are automatically updated. Your ORCID iD will become part of your accepted publication’s metadata, making your work attributable to you and only you. Your ORCID iD is published with your article so that fellow researchers reading your work can link to your ORCID profile and from there link to your other publications.

If you do not already have an ORCID iD please follow this link to create one or visit our ORCID homepage to learn more.

7.2 Title, keywords and abstracts

Please supply a title, short title, an abstract and keywords to accompany your article. Articles written in Danish, Norwegian or Swedish should have an English language abstract. The title, keywords and abstract are key to ensuring readers find your article online through online search engines such as Google. Please refer to the information and guidance on how best to title your article, write your abstract and select your keywords by visiting the Sage Journal Author Gateway for guidelines on How to Help Readers Find Your Article Online.

7.3 Information required for completing your submission

You will be asked to provide contact details and academic affiliations for all co-authors via the submission system and identify who is to be the corresponding author. These details must match what appears on your manuscript. At this stage please ensure you have included all the required statements and declarations and uploaded any additional supplementary files (including reporting guidelines where relevant).

7.4 Corresponding author contact details

Provide full contact details for the corresponding author including email, mailing address and telephone numbers. Academic affiliations are required for all co-authors. These details should be presented separately to the main text of the article to facilitate anonymous peer review.

7.5 Permissions

Please also ensure that you have obtained any necessary permission from copyright holders for reproducing any illustrations, tables, figures or lengthy quotations previously published elsewhere. For further information including guidance on fair dealing for criticism and review, please see the Copyright and Permissions page on the Sage Author Gateway.

Return to top

8. On acceptance and publication

If your paper is accepted for publication after peer review, you will first be asked to complete the contributor’s publishing agreement. Once your manuscript files have been check for Sage Production, your article will be prepared for publication and can appear online within an average of 30 days.

8.1 Sage Production

Your Sage Production Editor will keep you informed as to your article’s progress throughout the production process. Proofs will be sent by PDF to the corresponding author and should be returned promptly.  Authors are reminded to check their proofs carefully to confirm that all author information, including names, affiliations, sequence and contact details are correct, and that Funding and Conflict of Interest statements, if any, are accurate.

8.2 Online publication

One of the many benefits of publishing your research in an open access journal is the speed to publication. With no page count constraints, your article will be published online in a fully citable form with a DOI number as soon as it has completed the production process. At this time it will be completely free to view and download for all.

8.3 Promoting your article

Publication is not the end of the process! You can help disseminate your paper and ensure it is as widely read and cited as possible. The Sage Author Gateway has numerous resources to help you promote your work. Visit the Promote Your Article page on the Gateway for tips and advice.

Return to top

9. Further information

Any correspondence, queries or additional requests for information on the manuscript submission process should be sent to the Nordic Studies on Alcohol and Drugs editorial office as follows:

nad@nordicwelfare.org

Return to top