Submissions

Instructions to authors

SAÚDE EM DEBATE

Instructions to authors

General guidelines

‘Saúde em Debate’ accepts submissions of unpublished works – in Portuguese, English, and Spanish – that have academic quality, social relevance, theoretical and methodological contributions, and that are in line with the scope of the journal. Manuscripts written in English, if approved, must have the final version translated into Portuguese.

Before submitting the manuscript, we suggest reading the editorial policy of ‘Saúde em Debate’ to verify that your work is in accordance with the scope of the journal.

Submitted manuscripts are the sole responsibility of the authors and cannot be submitted simultaneously to another journal, in full or in part.

The evaluation process of manuscripts submitted to ‘Saúde em Debate’, in any of the modalities foreseen, goes through peer review, with academic merit being the criterion used in all phases of evaluation.

In the case of preprint submission, the author must inform, in the Open Science Compliance Form, the number of the assigned DOI and the name of the server where it was deposited. The communication of the submission of the manuscript in preprints must be made to the journal even if the deposit occurs after its submission.

‘Saúde em Debate’ adopts the open data policy, encouraging authors to make all research data (database, methods, codes, and other materials used and resulting from the research) available in reliable Open Access repositories (view List of repositories for storing research data). If the data are available, the repository should be noted in the Open Science Compliance Form and cited in the text and references, preferably with a persistent identifier such as a DOI (see the ‘Research Data Citation Guide’).

How to cite data

Authorship (personal or institutional);

Date of deposit of the research data;

Title of the search data, followed by the qualifier [dataset];

Name of the repository;

Electronic identifier (DOI or URL).

Example

Prado Pagotto, Daniel; Marques, Wanderson; Carvalho de Aquino, Érika; Alves Guimarães, Rafael; Vieira Borges Júnior, Cândido; Isidro da Silva Filho, Antônio, 2025, ‘Replication data for: Evaluation of the retention of medical professionals in health regions in Brazil’, SciELO Data, https://doi.org/10.48331/SCIELODATA.XBRO0N.

Articles must be submitted exclusively by electronic means through the website: www.saudeemdebate.org.br. After registration, the author responsible for the submission will create their login and password to monitor the procedure.

Digital Object Identifier in published manuscripts

All papers approved at the time of their final publication in ‘Saúde em Debate’ will receive their DOI.

Accepted document types

In all types of papers, the maximum number of words includes the body of the text and the references (a maximum of 35 references and 50 references for review articles). The following are not included in the count: title, abstract, keywords, tables, charts, figures, and graphs.

Original article

Contributions aimed at the dissemination of original and unpublished research results, of an empirical or theoretical nature, with the potential for replication and/or generalization. The manuscript cannot exceed 6 thousand words.

Essay

It consists of a critical analysis of a specific topic relevant to the conjuncture of Brazilian and/or international health policies. Its structure is flexible, but it must maintain coherence between sections. The argumentation must be supported by theoretical references and/or published empirical work. The manuscript cannot exceed 7 thousand words. 

Review

It comprises submissions that carry out a critical review of the literature on topics of interest to public health, with a detailed presentation of the review method used, including search, selection, classification, registration, and the protocols adopted. Systematic reviews, meta-analyses, integrative reviews, and scoping reviews are accepted. The manuscript cannot exceed 8 thousand words.

Opinion article

Text of an argumentative and interpretative nature, in which the author presents his point of view on a current topic of scientific, social, or political relevance. The manuscript cannot exceed 7 thousand words.

Experience report

Description of academic, care, or extension experiences, with up to 5 thousand words that contribute significant contributions to the area.

Critical review

Reviews of books of interest to the area of public health are at the discretion of the Editorial Committee. Texts must present an overview of the work's content, its theoretical assumptions, and the audience to which it is addressed, with a maximum length of 1,200 words. The high-resolution cover must be sent through the journal’s system.

Interview

Text produced by at least two people, in which the interviewee is always the first author, with a maximum of 7 thousand words.

Authorship contributions

The journal accepts up to seven authors per manuscript. Exceptionally (in the case of multicenter research), more authors may be included, whose requests must be included in the letter to the editor who will analyze the relevance of the request.

Authorship lends credence to the work and has important academic, social, and financial implications. The individual contributions of each author in the preparation of the article must be specified according to the https://credit.niso.org/ taxonomy and other authorship criteria recommended by the ICMJE, which determines that the recognition of authorship is based on substantial contribution, contemplating the following aspects:

1) Conception or design of the study; or acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of research data;

2) Writing or a critical review of the important intellectual content of the manuscript;

3) Final approval of the version to be published;

4) Agreement to be responsible for all aspects of the work, including ensuring its accuracy and completeness.

These four conditions must be fully met. The contribution of each of the authors must be explained in the Statement of Responsibility, copyright, and authorship, signed by all authors and sent at the time of submission in the system.

Information on the participation of each author, with their respective ORCID, will appear at the end of the manuscript, in the item ‘Authorship contributions’.

People who have contributed to the research, but do not meet these requirements, cannot be considered authors, but must be acknowledged and included in the ‘Acknowledgments’.

Preparation of the manuscript

When preparing manuscripts, authors should be guided by the recommendations of the ICMJE and follow the scientific writing guidelines for each type of research, available on the Enhancing the Quality and Transparency of Health Research (EQUATOR) website. Such guidelines aim to ensure quality and transparency in the publication of health research.

For all types of quality improvement studies, see the guide ‘Revised Standards for Quality Improvement Reporting Excellence’ (SQUIRE 2.0 – checklist); Randomized controlled trial, using the guide ‘Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials’ (Consort – checklist); Observational studies, consult the guide ‘Strengthening the reporting of observational studies in epidemiology’ (STROBE – checklists); Qualitative studies, use the guide ‘Consolidated Criteria for Reporting Qualitative Research’ (COREQ); Systematic review, meta-analysis, meta-synthesis and integrative review, use the guide ‘Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses’ (PRISMA - checklist e flow chart) and its extensions (PRISMA for Search; PRISMA for abstracts e PRISMA for scoping review); Systematic review without meta-analysis, using the guide ‘Synthesis without meta-analysis’ (SWiM – checklist); Mixed methods studies, use the ‘Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool’ guide (MMAT).

Regarding the CONSORT guide, registration is mandatory in a step before data collection of the study of clinical trials in one of the entities mentioned in the topic ‘Registration of clinical trials’.

Systematic review studies: registration in the PROSPERO (International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews) database is mandatory before the search for studies.

For other types of reviews, it is mandatory to register in a step before searching for studies in one of the following repositories: Open Science Framework (OSF) or Figshare. Include the site name, protocol number, and protocol registration link.

Manuscript formatting

The text must be typed in Microsoft® Word or a compatible program on a standard A4 sheet (210X297mm), with margins of 2.5 cm on each of the four sides, Times New Roman font size 12, and line spacing of 1.5. Recorded in doc or docx format, and attached in the corresponding field of the submission form. ‘Saúde em Debate’ provides a template with the same formatting as the graphic project.

The journal does not use underlining, bolding, or italics to highlight terms. Use single quotation marks to draw attention to expressions or titles of works. Examples: ‘gateway’; ‘Saúde em Debate’. Double quotation marks are used for quotations and testimonials in the body of the text. Foreign language words must be written in italics [WF1], except proper nouns, such as names of institutions, programs, software, etc. Avoid the use of capital letters in the text, except for those that are necessary. Avoid repetition of data or information in the different parts that make up the text.

The journal does not accept footnotes, explanatory notes, or appendices.

Clinical research must include the identification number from one of the clinical trial registries validated by the WHO and the ICMJE. In such cases, the identification number must appear at the end of the abstract and in the ‘Material and methods’ section.

Manuscript submission format

Text of the manuscript

Title – In Portuguese, English, and Spanish, in bold, centered, with only capital initials for proper names, with up to 15 words.

Abstract – In Portuguese, English, and Spanish, with up to 200 words, in which the following are clear: the type of research, the objective, the method used (design, population, and procedures used), the main results, and the conclusions of the work. Written in an unstructured way, without employing topics (introduction, methods, results, etc.), without citations or acronyms, except for internationally recognized abbreviations. Clinical trials, analytical observational studies, and review studies must have the registration number at the end of the abstract.

Keywords – In Portuguese, English, and Spanish, containing three to five keywords, separated by period, with only the first initial capital, using the primary descriptors presented in the structured vocabulary Descriptors in Health Sciences/Medical Subject Headings (DeCS/MeSH), available from:https://decs.bvsalud.org/.

Introduction

It should be brief and clearly define the study's problem, justify its importance, and identify the knowledge gaps. Include up-to-date references of national and international scope. Describe the hypotheses or assumptions of the study, when applicable. Cite the objective at the end of this section, with wording identical to that in the abstract.

Material and methods

Describe objectively and clearly, to allow the reproducibility of the research, and cite the Equator Networkwriting guide used, according to each type of study.

Quantitative studies should include the nature/type of study, the location/field of the research, the period of data collection, the population/participants of the study, the selection criteria, the sample, the study variables, the instruments and procedures used for data collection, data treatment and analysis, and ethical considerations.

Qualitative studies should use an appropriate guide and include: study design or type; framework or theoretical framework; place and period of data collection; participants; data collection instruments; data collection procedures; data analysis; and data collection.

For review studies, follow the guidelines of the PRISMA guides, including: type of review, protocol and registration, eligibility criteria (search question, acronym/mnemonic used, inclusion and exclusion criteria), sources of information (databases, electronic libraries, gray literature, etc.), search strategies, selection of studies, data collection (or data extraction), critical evaluation of the studies, or synthesis, or summary of the results. For systematic reviews, it is essential to include assessments of risk of bias, measures of effect, and the certainty of the evidence.

If the research involves humans or animals, the last paragraph of the section must record compliance with ethical principles, compliance with current legislation (Resolutions No. 466/2012 and No. 510/2016 of the National Health Council in the case of research with human beings), the number of the Certificate of Presentation for Ethical Appreciation (CAAE) and the approval opinion of the respective CEP.

If an AI tool has been used, it must be informed in this section, ensuring the absence of plagiarism, according to the model: "During the preparation of this work, the author(s) used [NAME OF TOOL/SERVICE] for the purpose of [linguistic revision, grammatical correction and/or textual organization]. After using the tool/service, the author(s) reviewed and edited the content as needed, taking full responsibility for its content".

Results

They present the collected data in a clear, objective, and logical sequence, aiming to meet the research objectives. They can use texts, graphs, tables, and figures for their presentation.

Discussion

In qualitative research, the discussion can be presented alongside the results.

The discussion highlights and interprets the research's main findings, emphasizing new and relevant aspects. Establish a dialogue with the adopted theoretical framework and with the national and international scientific literature, presenting the agreements and divergences with other research, supported by updated scientific evidence. Must use critical language and past tense.

Conclusions or Final considerations

It reaffirms the thesis/objective of the work, based on the new knowledge generated, without textual repetitions. It highlights the main findings and the study's contributions and limitations. It indicates the need for further research, as well as the implications of the findings for the field of health in general and collective health in particular. Do not insert references or citations in this section.

Digital assets

The number of figures, graphs, charts, or tables must be limited to five per text (with a maximum of two pages each), and they must be in an open/editable format. For photographs, drawings, and maps, send high-resolution (at least 300 DPI) color, black-and-white, or grayscale images.

Figures, graphs, charts, and tables must be submitted in separate files, one by one, in the order they appear in the text (they must be numbered, include a title, and cite the source). In the text, only identify the place where they will be inserted, with the respective number and title. In the case of photos, the subjects cannot be identified unless they authorize, in writing, their use for scientific dissemination.

The titles of figures, graphs, charts, or tables must be clear, informative, and present their content. Inform the place and year of the study. Separate terms with a comma and do not include a period in titles.

Citations and references

Citations

Enumerated consecutively, in Arabic numerals, superscripted, without parentheses and without mention of the authors’ names (except those that constitute a theoretical or method reference). When they are sequential, indicate the first and last number, separated by a hyphen. E.g.: Saúde em Debate^1-4; when interspersed, they must be separated by a comma–E.g.: ... Saúde em Debate^1,2,4. Between the numerical citation and the word that precedes it, there should be no space–E.g.: ... Saúde em Debate^3-6,16,21.

References

‘Saúde em Debate’ adopts references in accordance with the Vancouver Style. In the references, only the authors cited in the text should be included. For examples of how to cite articles published in the journal, consult the template.

Supplementary documents

DOCUMENTS TO BE ENTERED INTO THE SYSTEM AT THE TIME OF SUBMISSION OF THE MANUSCRIPT

1) Cover letter

Sample letter to the editor

Dear Editor-in-Chief,

I forward for consideration the manuscript entitled ‘Title of the manuscript’, for possible publication in ‘Saúde em Debate’. The study presents (brief description of the type of study – e.g., a documentary analysis, an empirical research, a systematic/scoping review, a theoretical essay, etc.), addressing (central theme and main contributions of the work).

The manuscript makes a relevant contribution by (briefly highlighting the importance, originality, or applicability of the results).

The topic is in line with the editorial policy of ‘Saúde em Debate’ (justify).

We declare that the manuscript is not under review by any other journal and that it complies with the journal's submission guidelines.

We are available for any clarifications and adjustments that may be necessary throughout the editorial process.

Sincerely, (Full name of author(s)) (Institutional affiliation) (Contact email)

2) Cover page

Must contain:

• Title in Portuguese, English, and Spanish, in bold, centered, with only capital initials for proper nouns, with up to 15 words.
• Full name of all authors without abbreviations, institutions with links to up to three hierarchies, ORCID code (Open Researcher and Contributor ID), and e-mail of the corresponding author.
• Conflict of interest: declare whether there is a conflict of interest. If so, provide justification.
• Financing: inform the source of financing, with a record of the process number, when applicable.
• Acknowledgments: write a text with the acknowledgments to the people and institutions that should be at the end of the article.
• Access the cover page template here.

3) Approval opinion of the Research Ethics Committee

If the research involves human beings or animals, attach a document of approval from the corresponding CEP, or, for research carried out in other countries, attach a statement indicating full compliance with ethical principles and existing legislation.

4) Statement of responsibility, copyright, and authorship

All authors must complete and sign the Statement of responsibility, copyright, and authorship and attach it to the system at the time of submission of the manuscript.

5) Open Science Compliance Form

The journal adopts the open science policy, which the authors must follow. In this sense, authors must fill out the Form on Compliance with Open Science and attach to the journal’s system as ‘Components of the article – Complementary document’.

6) Registration

Pre-registration is mandatory for systematic reviews, scoping reviews, and clinical trials. Authors must provide the repository name and registration number in the ‘Material and methods’ section and attach the corresponding checklist.

DOCUMENTS TO BE ENTERED INTO THE SYSTEM AFTER ACCEPTANCE OF THE MANUSCRIPT

1) Statement of spelling and grammar review

Once approved, the text undergoes standardization by the editorial team, which will forward the standardized version by e-mail to the authors so they can complete the revision and proceed with the spelling and grammatical revision, to be carried out by a specialized professional. The authors will be able to choose a reviewer from the list made available by the journal. A statement signed by the reviewer must accompany the return of the version with spelling and grammar revision.

2) Translation statement

If there is interest in translating the manuscript into English, in the case of articles submitted in Portuguese or Spanish, the authors must express their interest in returning the revised manuscript in the original language. For the translation of the manuscript, the authors will receive a list of qualified professionals, indicated by the journal. A statement signed by the translator must accompany the return of the translated manuscript.

3) Proof of payment of the publication fee

A publication fee of R$ 1,000 (updated in February 2026) is charged for approved manuscripts. For manuscripts approved for the interview and review sections, the value is R$ 800. After the manuscript is approved, authors will receive an email with guidance on the procedures for paying the publication fee. Proof of payment should be sent to revista@saudeemdebate.org.br with the revised manuscript.

Additional information

Abbreviations and symbols

Terms that generate abbreviations or acronyms must be written in full the first time they appear in the text, with the initials in capital letters, and the acronym next to it in parentheses. E.g.: Diabetes Mellitus (DM), Systemic Arterial Hypertension (SAH), Unified Health System (SUS). Then, mention the acronym.

Acronyms with up to three letters are written entirely in capital letters (SUS, UN, CPF, UFF). Acronyms with four letters or more, read letter by letter, are written with all capital letters (UFRJ, IRPF, INPS). Exception: the spellings adopted by the institutions themselves must be respected, even in cases where the official spelling of the acronym alternates between upper and lower case letters (SciELO; CNPq; IRBr; MoMA; UFSCar; UnB, etc.).

Acronyms with four letters or more that are read as words are written only with the initial in capital letters (Anvisa, Capes, Embrapa, Fiocruz, Sudene, Uerj, Ufal, etc.).

Acronyms in which the reading is mixed (part is pronounced by the letter and part as a word) are written with all capital letters: National Household Sample Survey (PNAD), National Primary Care Policy (PNAB), United Nations Development Program (UNDP), National Department of Transport Infrastructure (DNIT), Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade (MDIC), Personal Injury Caused by Land Motor Vehicles (DPVAT).

When citing cities, the state must be indicated. In written texts, the acronym of the state must be in parentheses. E.g.: ‘the city of Niterói (RJ) presented the best performance in the quality of life index and the social and environmental performance of the state’. Do not abbreviate city names (e.g., Belo Horizonte – BH).

Although the plural of acronyms (PMs, CPIs, etc.) is admissible, ‘Saúde em Debate’ adopts their singular form. The plural can be indicated by the use of the article or the term in the plural. Military Police (PM). In the sentence: the CHA; The CPI... the Military Police of all states.

Use the en dash symbol ‘–’ (Ctrl -) instead of the dash ‘—’ (Ctrl Alt -) for layout reasons. The hyphen ‘-’ is used to join words and form compound words (superhero, picture frame, etc.), as well as in other situations, such as enclisis/mesoclisis, separation of syllables, and in some words with prefixes (according to the rules of the New Orthographic Agreement of the Portuguese Language – NAOLP).

Units of measurement

The symbols (metric system, units, chemical elements) are invariable, do not use a plural, or are followed by a period (e.g., 5 kg, not 5 kgs. or 5 kg.). Use space between the number and the symbol: 20 s; 1 min; 10 m; 30 kg; 50 km; n = 5; 4 < 10; 7 > 3; 95% CI. Exception: Percentage symbol (10%, 30%).

The symbol °C, for degrees Celsius, is preceded by a space to express the temperature: 41.5 °C, 18 °C, 23.7 °C. Do not use 41.5°C or 41.5°C.

Units of measurement, abbreviations, and symbols must be presented with decimal places. Numerical values of measures other than statistics provided by the authors should preferably include one decimal place, except when greater precision is essential for interpretation. Do not use more than two decimal places for basic demographic information. E.g.: ‘Average height of the participants: 1.7 m’; ‘Weight: 68.5 kg’; ‘The room has 25 m²’; ‘The distance between the buildings is 120.5 m’.

Statistics

P-values can be presented with two decimal places, except for p < 0.001, which must include three decimal places. Present the significant and non-significant p-values to no more than three decimal places. Use p < 0.001 for values less than 0.001. Do not use ‘NS’ to indicate non-significant results. Confidence intervals (CI) and risk or hazard ratios (RR/HR) should be limited to two decimal places. For percentages, use up to 1 decimal place. For samples with 25 participants or fewer, prefer numbers (‘1 out of 4 cases’) rather than percentages (25%). For instruments or scales, indicate the reference range in tables (in a footnote) or figures, with reference to the source.

Numbers and numerical expressions

Use digits (1, 2, 3...) in most circumstances. Write in full only: numbers from zero to ten (inclusive) and the terms one hundred, thousand, million, billion, trillion and others of the same type (in the same sentence, sentence or paragraph, if there are numbers below and above 11, use only digits, e.g.: ‘the study interviewed 6 adolescents and 15 adults’); numbers at the beginning of sentences, headings or subtitles; common fractions (e.g., three-quarters, half a second); idiomatic uses or consecrated expressions; ordinals from first to ninth and also hundredth, thousandth, millionth, billionth (use others in digits: 11th, 20th, 46th, 90th); when the number is enclosed in quotation marks or in published titles. Decades and ranges: Use the 1980s, 1990s (not the 80s, 90s, 1980s, or 1990s). Confidence intervals: 95% CI, 20-30 (no need to expand). For negative values: 95% CI, -20 to -30.

Production and proofs

The diagrammed version (digital proof) will be sent by e-mail to the authors for final revision, who must return it by the stipulated deadline. At this stage of the editorial process, authors will have the opportunity to communicate if any corrections are still needed. Changes to the content are not permitted.

Order and priority of publication

Approved manuscripts are published in the following order: Editorial, Presentation, Original Article, Essay, Review, Opinion Article, Experience report, Critical review, and Interview.

Contact

Editors-in-chief (decisions and complaints)

Avenida Brasil, 4.036, sala 802

Manguinhos, Rio de Janeiro (RJ), Brazil – CEP 21040-361

E-mail: editorsaudedebate@cebes.org.br

Executive editor (editorial production)

Correspondence

Avenida Brasil, 4.036, sala 802

Manguinhos, Rio de Janeiro (RJ), Brazil – CEP 21040-361

Telefone: + 55 (21) 97198-8249

E-mail: revista@saudeemdebate.org.br