Editorial Aims and Scope

The International Journal of Technology Assessment in Health Care welcomes articles on any aspect related to health technology assessment (HTA). HTA is a multidisciplinary process that uses explicit methods to determine the value of a health technology at different points in its lifecycle. The purpose is to inform decision-making in order to promote an equitable, efficient, and high-quality health system.

Notes:

1. A health technology is an intervention developed to prevent, diagnose or treat medical conditions; promote health; provide rehabilitation; or organize healthcare delivery. The intervention can be a test, device, medicine, vaccine, procedure, program, or system (definition from the HTA Glossary; https://htaglossary.net/health+technology).
2. The process is formal, systematic, and transparent, and uses state-of-the-art methods to consider the best available evidence.
3. The dimensions of value for a health technology may be assessed by examining the intended and unintended consequences of using a health technology compared to existing alternatives. These dimensions often include clinical effectiveness, safety, costs and economic implications, ethical, social, cultural and legal issues, organizational and environmental aspects, as well as wider implications for the patient, relatives, caregivers, and the population. The overall value may vary depending on the perspective taken, the stakeholders involved, and the decision context.
4. HTA can be applied at different points in the lifecycle of a health technology, that is, pre-market, during market approval, post-market, through to the disinvestment of a health technology.

Reference: O'Rourke, B., Oortwijn, W., & Schuller, T. (2020). The new definition of health technology assessment: A milestone in international collaboration. International Journal of Technology Assessment in Health Care, 36(3), 187-190. doi:10.1017/S0266462320000215

The journal will consider articles in the following areas:

• Evaluation or development of methods, processes or policies used in HTA
• Primary research on the effects of implementing HTA or their findings
• Novel research within particular HTAs that provides learning for HTA

The journal typically does not include articles dealing with the following:

• Primary research that is better suited to specialist clinical or health economics journals (e.g. diagnostic, clinical, or experimental studies and within- or alongside-trial-economic evaluations)
• Primary research on healthcare education, management, health informatics, IT systems, or digital health technologies
• HTAs and preliminary scoping or systematic reviews that so not contribute substantial new policy related insights.

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Manuscripts are screened by the Editor-in-Chief and Deputy Editors and those that are deemed appropriate for the journal proceed to an international review process, which usually is completed within 10 weeks. Manuscripts may undergo more than one round of review. On occasion, the original reviewers may not be available, in which case, a new reviewer may be invited. Accepted manuscripts will be copy edited and published in the continuous annual volume of the journal as soon as production processes are completed. The timeframe from acceptance to online publication is usually within 6 weeks. Manuscripts must be in English using American spelling. Spelling, capitalization, and punctuation should conform to the 17th Edition of The Chicago Manual of Style (University of Chicago Press). Refer to Preparation of Manuscripts for more details.

While papers are under review, all queries should be directed to the editorial office at IJTAHC@cambridge.org. Any queries sent to the Editorial Board will be forwarded to the editorial office to be answered.

Format-Minimal Submission

IJTAHC has now introduced format-minimal submissions for original submissions only. We ask that authors adhere to the following guidelines:

1. The manuscript must include line numbering, be double spaced, and be presented in an easily readable layout.
2. A conflict of interest statement must be present in the manuscript (if there are no conflicts, this must be clearly stated).
3. References must be numbered and cited numerically in the text.
4. The total combined number of figures and tables should not exceed the limits for the specific article types (this is 5 for most article types and 2 for Perspectives).
5. The total manuscript length should not significantly exceed the word limits for the article type (around 4000 words for most article types, 2000 words for perspectives).

Manuscript Types

The Journal accepts the following types of manuscripts:

Manuscript type	Suggested length ***	Abstract****	Tables/figures	Additional comments
Editorial**	1,000–1,500 words	No	No	Short piece related to content in that issue without an abstract, invited by the Editor-in-Chief (Associate Professor Wendy Babidge, wendy.babidge@adam.com.au).
Perspective*	2,000 words maximum	150 words, unstructured	Maximum 2 total tables and figures (combined)	An opinion piece relating to ideas in the field (currently held or new), or a historical account of interest to the readership or useful for learning for young researchers in the field. Perspectives are usually reviewed internally by the editorial team and editorial board but may be sent for external peer review at the discretion of the editor.
Commentary*	4,000 words maximum	250 words maximum, unstructured	Maximum 5 total tables and figures (combined)	Used where the manuscript does not fit other types (Methods Assessment, Policy), for example reports from HTAi working groups. Commentaries will undergo external peer review.
Method*	4,000 words maximum	250 words maximum, structured	Maximum 5 total tables and figures (combined)	Method manuscripts will undergo external peer review.
Assessment*	4,000 words maximum	250 words maximum, structured	Maximum 5 total tables and figures (combined)	Assessment manuscripts will undergo external peer review. Health Technology Assessments (HTAs), often involve a systematic review; and they include topics such as (but are not limited to) economic evaluations, hospital-based HTAs, and patient and citizen involvement Usually the assessments are secondary and not primary research studies, although use of real world evidence to complement published evidence is acceptable.
Policy*	4,000 words maximum	250 words maximum, structured	Maximum 5 total tables and figures (combined)	Policy manuscripts will undergo external peer review.
HTAi Guidance*	4,000 words maximum	250 words maximum, unstructured	Maximum 5 total tables and figures (combined)	The International Journal of Technology Assessment in Health Care (IJTAHC) publishes reports on guidance developed by HTAi or other task forces or special interest groups. These reports provide guidance for best practices across a variety of research areas, including methods related to articles relevant to the scope of the IJTAHC. These include health technology assessment, comparative effectiveness research, real-world evidence, economic evaluation, modeling, ethics, patient and citizen involvement and the use of outcomes research in decision making.
Letter**	500 words maximum	No	No	A response to a published article. This will not be peer reviewed but will be assessed by the editorial team.
In Memoriam**	500 words maximum	No	None	Short account of a key person in the HTA field who has recently passed away. Will undergo internal review.

*** Maximum word count excludes references, tables, figures, and any acknowledgments or disclosures. Manuscripts must comply to suggested lengths, but editors may sometimes decide to allow exceptions. Please contact the Editor-in-Chief (wendy.babidge@adam.com.au) or the Managing Editor (IJTAHC@cambridge.org) if you seek an exception. 

**** The headings for structured abstracts should be Objectives, Methods, Results, and Conclusions.

Authors are encouraged to avoid excessively long reference lists, and to be selective in including only citing work that supports and extends the understanding of the submitted manuscript. Typical IJTAHC papers do not include more then 50 references. Perspective articles should not cite more than 25 references.