Proactive Health is an international, peer-reviewed, open access journal published by Higher Education Press (HEP Journals) on behalf of Southern Medical University. The journal is committed to the highest standards of publication ethics and scholarly transparency, and conforms to the principles and practices recommended by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), and the World Association of Medical Editors (WAME). All authors are expected to read and comply with these guidelines before preparing and submitting a manuscript.
1. Aims and Scope
Proactive Health defines proactive health as the continuous process of maintaining and enhancing physical, mental, and social well-being through anticipatory actions, data-informed self-management, and enabling environments. The journal covers the following core areas:
• Foundations of proactive health (theories, models, salutogenesis, measurement of positive health)
• Prediction, risk assessment, and early intervention (predictive analytics, multi-omics, digital biomarkers, early warning systems, mental health promotion, healthy aging, resilience)
• Digital technologies and artificial intelligence (mobile health, wearables, digital phenotyping, big data, digital twins, trustworthy AI)
• Behavioral, social, and environmental determinants (lifestyle medicine, behavior change, self-quantification, community engagement, occupational and environmental health, health equity)
• Policy, systems, implementation, and methodology (value-based proactive care, implementation science, community ecosystems, innovative study designs and evaluation methods)
The journal welcomes original research articles, systematic reviews and meta-analyses, brief reports, study protocols, registered reports, commentaries, and editorials. Manuscripts that focus exclusively on the clinical management of established disease without a substantive proactive, preventive, or health-optimization component are outside the scope of the journal.
2. Open Access, Copyright, and Licensing
Proactive Health is a fully open access journal. All articles are published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0). Under this license, authors retain the copyright of their work and grant anyone the right to download, reuse, reprint, modify, distribute, and copy the content, provided the original authors and source are properly cited. No permission is required from the authors or the publisher.
Article Processing Charges (APCs): The journal does not currently charge any APCs or submission fees. All publication costs are covered by Southern Medical University and Higher Education Press. Any future changes to this policy will be clearly announced on the journal’s website and will not affect manuscripts already under review.
3. Peer Review Policy
All submissions undergo rigorous single-blind peer review, in which the reviewers’ identities are known to the editor but concealed from the authors. Each manuscript is initially screened by the editorial office and, if deemed suitable, is assigned to at least two independent external reviewers. Reviewers are asked to evaluate the scientific quality, originality, validity, clarity, and relevance of the work to the journal’s scope. The final decision is made by the Editor-in-Chief based on the reviewers’ recommendations.
The journal follows the COPE Ethical Guidelines for Peer Reviewers and requires reviewers to declare any conflicts of interest.
4. Manuscript Categories and Format
Article Type Description Word Limit* Abstract Figures/Tables
Original Research Article Full-length reports of empirical research 5,000 Structured (≤300 words) Up to 6 combined
Review / Systematic Review Comprehensive, critical syntheses of the literature; must follow PRISMA guidelines if applicable 6,000 Structured (≤300 words) Up to 8 combined
Brief Report Concise but complete original research findings 2,000 Unstructured (≤150 words) Up to 2 combined
Study Protocol Detailed plans for proposed or ongoing proactive health research 4,000 Structured (≤300 words) Up to 4 combined
Registered Report Two-stage process: initial protocol review prior to data collection, followed by full manuscript review. Authors should consult the journal website for detailed procedures. Stage 1: 3,000 Stage 2: 5,000 As per stage As appropriate
Commentary / Perspective Thought-leadership pieces, policy analyses, or personal viewpoints 2,500 Unstructured (≤150 words) 1
Editorial Usually solicited by the editorial board 1,500 None 1
*Word count excludes title page, abstract, references, figure captions, and supplementary material.
5. Manuscript Preparation
5.1 General Formatting
• Language: English (UK or US usage is accepted, but consistency is required throughout the manuscript).
• File format: Microsoft Word (.docx) or LaTeX (.tex, with PDF and bibliography files). PDF alone is not accepted.
• Double-spaced, 12-point Times New Roman or similar font, with continuous line numbers.
• Pages should be numbered.
5.2 Title Page (submitted as a separate file or the first page, as per submission system instructions)
The title page must contain:
• Title: Concise, informative, and no more than 25 words.
• Running title: A short version of the title (max. 50 characters including spaces).
• Author names and affiliations: Full names (given name and family name), department, institution, city, postal code, and country.
• Corresponding author: Name, postal address, and email address. The corresponding author must have an ORCID iD linked to the submission.
• Word count (excluding abstract, references, figures and tables).
• Number of figures and tables.
• Funding statement: List all funding sources and grant numbers.
• Conflict of interest declaration: Include a statement for each author (see Section 6).
• Author contributions: Use the CRediT taxonomy (see Section 8).
• Acknowledgments (if any).
• Data availability statement (see Section 10).
5.3 Abstract and Keywords
• Abstract: Must be provided as described in the manuscript categories table. Original articles and reviews require a structured abstract with the headings: Background, Methods, Results, Conclusions. Other article types may use an unstructured abstract.
• Keywords: 3 to 6 terms, listed below the abstract. Use MeSH (Medical Subject Headings) terms where possible.
5.4 Main Text
For Original Research Articles, the main text should generally follow the IMRaD structure: Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion, and Conclusions. Brief Reports may combine Results and Discussion. Subheadings are permitted within each section.
5.5 References
The journal follows the Vancouver (numbered) referencing style. References should be numbered consecutively in the order they appear in the text, using Arabic numerals in square brackets, e.g., [1]. List all authors when there are six or fewer; if there are seven or more, list the first six followed by "et al." Journal names should be abbreviated according to Index Medicus/MEDLINE. Please include DOIs where available.
Examples:
Journal article: Smith JM, Jones AB, Wang C, et al. Digital biomarkers for proactive cardiovascular risk assessment: a systematic review. J Med Internet Res. 2025;27(3):e12345. doi:10.2196/12345
Book: Antonovsky A. Unraveling the Mystery of Health: How People Manage Stress and Stay Well. Jossey-Bass; 1987.
Book chapter: Miller GE, Chen E. Life stress and health: a review of conceptual issues and recent findings. In: Contrada RJ, Baum A, eds. The Handbook of Stress Science. Springer; 2011:73-85.
5.6 Figures and Tables
• Figures should be high-resolution (at least 300 dpi) and submitted in common formats (TIFF, JPEG, EPS, or PDF). Multi-panel figures should be labeled (A), (B), etc. Figure captions should be placed after the references.
• Tables must be editable (not images), placed at the end of the manuscript, and accompanied by a title and any necessary footnotes.
5.7 Supplementary Material
Supplementary files (e.g., extended methods, questionnaires, additional tables) are welcomed and should be submitted as a separate file during the submission process. All supplementary files will be published online alongside the article.
6. Conflicts of Interest
All authors are required to disclose any financial, personal, or professional relationships that could be perceived as influencing the work. This includes, but is not limited to, employment, consultancies, stock ownership, honoraria, paid expert testimony, patent applications/registrations, and grants or other funding. Authors must complete the ICMJE Form for Disclosure of Potential Conflicts of Interest (if requested by the system) and include a summary statement in the title page and again at the end of the manuscript. If there are no conflicts, the following statement should be used: “The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.”
Editors and reviewers are also required to declare conflicts of interest and recuse themselves from the review process if necessary, in line with COPE guidance.
7. Ethical Standards for Research Involving Humans and Animals
7.1 Human Subjects
All studies involving human participants, human material, or human data must have been performed in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki and must have received prior approval from an appropriate institutional or national ethics committee. The manuscript should include a statement identifying the approving body and the reference number. Informed consent must have been obtained from all participants, and a statement confirming this must appear in the manuscript. Authors should be prepared to provide documentation of consent if requested.
For studies reporting on potentially identifiable information or images, explicit consent for publication must be obtained.
7.2 Animal Research
For studies involving animals, authors must confirm that all procedures complied with relevant national and institutional guidelines for the care and use of laboratory animals. The manuscript should state the name of the ethical review committee that approved the work and the relevant permit numbers. The journal endorses the ARRIVE guidelines for reporting in vivo experiments, and authors are encouraged to follow them.
7.3 Cell Lines
For research using cell lines, authors should describe the source of the cells and, where applicable, confirm the authenticity and mycoplasma testing status.
8. Authorship and Contributorship
Authorship must be based on the ICMJE criteria. Each author should have:
1. Made substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work; or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data;
2. Drafted the work or revised it critically for important intellectual content;
3. Provided final approval of the version to be published;
4. Agreed 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.
Individuals who do not meet all four criteria should be acknowledged in the "Acknowledgments" section rather than listed as authors.
Author Contributions: The contribution of each author must be described using the CRediT (Contributor Roles Taxonomy) system. A brief statement should be included on the title page, for example: “Conceptualization: A.B., C.D.; Methodology: A.B.; Formal analysis: C.D., E.F.; Writing—original draft: A.B.; Writing—review & editing: all authors.”
Changes in authorship: Any changes to the author list (addition, deletion, or reordering) after submission must be approved by all authors and a clear explanation provided to the editor. Unauthorized changes are considered misconduct.
9. Clinical Trial Registration
The journal requires the prospective registration of clinical trials in a publicly accessible registry that is a primary register of the WHO International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (ICTRP) or ClinicalTrials.gov. The trial registration number and the name of the registry must be included in the abstract and at the end of the Methods section. The journal follows the ICMJE definition of a clinical trial.
10. Data Sharing and Availability
Proactive Health is committed to the principles of research transparency and data sharing as a means of accelerating proactive health science. Authors are required to include a Data Availability Statement in their manuscript describing how the data supporting their findings can be accessed. Where appropriate, data should be deposited in a recognized subject-specific or generalist repository (e.g., Figshare, Dryad, Zenodo). The statement should specify the DOI or other persistent identifier of the dataset and any conditions for access.
Examples:
• “The data that support the findings of this study are openly available in [repository name] at https://doi.org/xxxxx.”
• “The data are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request and with permission of [third party].”
11. Reporting Guidelines
To ensure clarity and reproducibility, authors are strongly encouraged to follow the relevant reporting guidelines listed on the EQUATOR Network when preparing their manuscripts. Key checklists include:
• Randomized controlled trials: CONSORT
• Observational studies: STROBE
• Systematic reviews and meta-analyses: PRISMA
• Diagnostic/prognostic studies: STARD / TRIPOD
• Qualitative research: SRQR or COREQ
• Quality improvement studies: SQUIRE
Completed checklists should be uploaded as supplementary files during submission where applicable.
12. Manuscript Submission
All manuscripts must be submitted electronically through the journal’s online submission system. The submitting author, who is usually the corresponding author, should create an account and follow the step-by-step instructions. A cover letter addressed to the Editor-in-Chief is required and should briefly explain the significance of the work and confirm that the manuscript has not been published previously (except in the form of a preprint or conference abstract) and is not under consideration elsewhere.
Preprint policy: The journal allows and encourages the posting of preprints to recognized preprint servers (e.g., medRxiv, Research Square) before submission. Authors must disclose the preprint’s DOI in the cover letter and cite it in the manuscript if appropriate.
13. Post-Publication Corrections and Retractions
The journal is committed to maintaining the integrity of the scholarly record. In the event of a significant error in a published article, a correction notice (corrigendum or erratum) will be published promptly and linked bidirectionally to the original article. Articles may be retracted if there is clear evidence of unreliable findings due to misconduct (e.g., data fabrication) or honest error (e.g., miscalculation), or if the findings have been published elsewhere without proper cross-referencing. All retractions follow the COPE Retraction Guidelines.