Author Guidelines

  Table of Contents

1. Submission and Peer Review Process
2. Article Types
3. After Acceptance

  1. SUBMISSION AND PEER REVIEW PROCESS

Once the submission materials have been prepared in accordance with the Author Guidelines, manuscripts should be submitted online at: mc.manuscriptcentral.com/ijed.

For help with submissions, please contact: [email protected].  

If you suspect ScholarOne emails are marked as junk or spam by your email service, thus preventing emails being received, there is a technical solution which can be provided for your IT team. We recommend contacting ScholarOne for advice if this should occur. Please forward the technical advice here to your IT team if preferred. 

This journal does not charge submission fees. 

 

Article Preparation Support  

Wiley Editing Services offers for a fee expert help with English Language editing, translation, manuscript formatting, figure illustration, figure formatting, and graphical abstract design – so you can submit your manuscript with confidence.  

Also, check out our free resources for Preparing Your Article for general guidance about writing and preparing your manuscript. 

 

Free Format Submission 

The International Journal of Eating Disorders (IJED) offers Free Format submission for a simplified and streamlined submission process. Before you submit, you will need: 

• An ORCID, freely available at https://orcid.org. Please refer to Wiley’s resources on ORCID. 

• Your manuscript: this should be an editable file including the title page, abstract, main text, figures, and tables, or separate files—whichever you prefer. All required sections should be contained in your manuscript, including abstract, introduction, methods, results, and conclusions. Your manuscript may also be sent back to you for revision if the quality of English language is poor. 

 

Open Access 

This journal is a subscription journal that offers an open access option. Authors may choose to make their article open access after acceptance, which will be subject to an Article Publication Charge (APC), unless a waiver applies. Read more about APCs here. 

 

Preprint Policy 

Consistent with the Wiley preprint policy, this journal accepts articles previously published on preprint servers. You are requested to update any pre-publication versions with a link to the final published article. You may also post the submitted version of a manuscript to a preprint server at any time. However, any such submissions must not have been published in a scientific journal, book, or other venue that could be considered formal publication. Please note that: 

• Authors must indicate at submission whether the paper has been made available as a preprint. 

• Authors of accepted papers that were made available as preprints must be able to assign copyright to IJED or agree to the terms of the Wiley Open Access agreement and pay the associated fee. 
• Because the measurable impact of an article is diminished when citations are split between the preprint and the published article, authors are required to: 

• Update the entry on the preprint server so that it links to and cites the DOI for the published version; and 
• cite only the published article themselves. 

 

Open Science Initiatives 

Recognizing the importance of research transparency and the sharing of data, materials, and code to cumulative research, the IJED encourages but does not require the following Open Science practices. 

Registered Reports. For the foreseeable future, the IJED will no longer consider nor publish Stage 1 Registered Reports. Our commitment to In-Principle-Acceptance decisions made on Stage 1 Registered Reports will still be honored and their Stage 2 counterparts will be published. See the Registered Reports  Stage 2 Author Guidelines for details and Stage 2 checklists. 

Data Sharing and Data Availability. This journal expects but does not require data sharing. Review Wiley’s Data Sharing policy for selecting the data availability statement that is right for your submission. 

Materials Sharing and Accessibility. The IJED encourages but does not require the sharing of study materials and code.  

Data Citation. Please review Wiley’s Data Citation policy. 

Data Protection 

By submitting a manuscript your name, email address, affiliation, and other contact details the publication might require, will be used for the regular operations of the publication. Please review Wiley’s Data Protection Policy to learn more. 

Funding 

Authors should list all funding sources in the Acknowledgments section. Authors are responsible for the accuracy of their funder designation. Please check the Open Funder Registry for the correct nomenclature. 

Authorship 

All listed authors should have contributed to the manuscript substantially and have agreed to the final submitted version. Review editorial standards and scroll down for a description of authorship criteria. 

Reproduction of Copyright Material 

If excerpts from copyrighted works owned by third parties are included, credit must be shown in the contribution. The corresponding author is responsible for obtaining written permission to reproduce the material "in print and other media" from the copyright owners of the original source, and for supplying Wiley with that permission upon submission. For more information visit Wiley’s Copyright Terms & Conditions FAQ. 

DETAILED MANUSCRIPT PREPARATION GUIDANCE

NOTE: In order to process submissions efficiently, authors are advised to submit with their institutional email addresses where applicable.

Title Page

The Title Page of the manuscript should comprise:

• A brief informative title containing the major keywords. The title should not contain abbreviations (see Wiley's best practice SEO tips). 
• All co-author details, including affiliation and email address, and ORCID identifier where possible. 
• Up to ten keywords.  
• If published already as a preprint, a link to the preprint server.
• An author contributions statement that succinctly indicates how each author contributed to the piece of work, using the CRediT “Contributor Roles Taxonomy”. Author contributions are also required within the submission form of both original and revised submissions.
• Any applicable statements relating to our ethics and integrity policies, such as:
  • data, materials and code availability statement
  • funding statement or other acknowledgements of support
  • conflict of interest disclosure
  • permission to reproduce material from other sources 

Abstract 

The Abstract provides a succinct summary of the article content. The recommended format and word limit vary by article type.  

Structured abstracts have a recommended maximum of 250 words and should be organized into: Objective: state the primary purpose of the article, or major question addressed in the study. Method: indicate the sources of data, give brief overview of methodology, or, if it is a review article, how the literature was searched and articles were selected for discussion. For research-based articles, briefly note study design, how participants were selected, and major study measures. If your data are based on a preregistered study, provide the preregistration number or link. Results: summarize the key findings. Discussion: indicate main clinical, theoretical, or research applications/implications. 

 

Main Text File 

The main text file should be in MS Word and include the following content and recommended formatting: 

• Main body, formatted as Introduction, Method, Results, and Discussion, asrecommended by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) (J. Pharmacol. Pharmacother. 2010, 1, 42–58). Exceptions to these formatting recommendations include Commentaries, Forum articles, and Perspective articles.  
• A Public Significance statement (< 70 words) that explains why this research is important and is written in plain English for a general, educated public.  
• Figure titles should be supplied as a complete list in the text.  

 

References 

Please refer to article types regarding the number of permissible references.  

This journal offers Free Format submission and authors may submit using their preferred referencing style, as long as consistency is applied throughout the manuscript.  

The typesetter will apply the American Psychological Association reference style on manuscripts accepted for publication. If authors wish, they may review reference style guidelines prior to submission. 

 

Tables 

Tables should include a descriptive title and, if needed, footnotes defining abbreviations and any other information critical to interpreting the data shown. 

 

Figures  

Figures should have legends (and if needed, notes) that succinctly describe the information being displayed. Figures should be uploaded in the highest resolution possible.  

 

Supporting Information  

Supporting Information is information that is supplementary and not essential to the article but provides greater depth and background. Examples include more detailed descriptions of therapeutic protocols, results related to exploratory or post-hoc analyses, and elements otherwise not suitable for inclusion in the main article, such as video clips, large sections of tabular data, program code, or large graphical files. It is not appropriate to include in the Supporting Information any text that would normally go into a Discussion section; all discussion-related material should be presented in the main article. 

Authors should mention the Supporting Information in the text of the main article to provide context for the reader and highlight where and how the supplemental material contributes to the article. View Wiley’s FAQs on Supporting Information. 

Supporting (supplemental) information should be submitted in separate files.  

If accepted for publication, Supporting Information is hosted online together with the article and appears without editing or typesetting.  

Note: Authors are encouraged to utilize publicly available data repository for data, scripts, or other artefacts used to generate the analyses presented in the paper; in such cases, authors should include a reference to the location of the material in the Method section (rather than in Supporting Information). 

Additional Guidance Regarding Manuscript Preparation 

The IJED reaches a global audience. Authors are encouraged to consider the implications of their research for populations, settings, or policies beyond those applicable to their own local circumstances.  

For studies involving human participants, to aid comprehensive and consistent reporting across regions/countries and cultures, the IJED provides Demographic Characteristics Reporting Guidelines.  

Authors for whom English is not their first language are encouraged to seek assistance from a native or fluent English speaker to proofread the manuscript prior to submission.  

Footnotes to the text are not allowed and any such material should be incorporated into the text as parenthetical matter. 

Terminology. Authors should refrain from using terms that are stigmatizing, discriminatory, or ambiguous. The journal rejects stand-alone nouns that refer to individuals by their diagnosis or condition (e.g., “anorexics," “obese,” “diabetics," etc.), race and ethnicity identification (e.g., “Whites,” “Hispanics,” etc.), or presumed disadvantaged status (“minorities”). “Participants” should be used in place of “subjects.” For further explanation and examples, see "Speaking of that: Terms to avoid or reconsider in the eating disorders field" (DOI: 10.1002/eat.22528.)  

Abbreviations: Only abbreviate terms if they are used repeatedly and the abbreviation is helpful to the reader. Initially, use the word in full, followed by the abbreviation in parentheses. Thereafter, use the abbreviation only. 

Units of measurement:  Please use the International System of Units. Access www.bipm.fr for more information. 

Numbers under 10 should be spelt out, except for: measurements with a unit (8 mmol/L); age (6 weeks old), or lists with other numbers (11 dogs, 9 cats, 4 gerbils). 

Trade Names: Chemical substances or drugs should be referred to by the generic name only, not by trade names.  For proprietary drugs, the proprietary name and the name and location of the manufacturer should be added in parentheses. 

THE PEER REVIEW PROCESS 

Important: the journal operates a single-anonymous peer review policy. Reviewers interact with editors and no review information is published.

Rigorous evaluation of submitted material by expert reviewers is essential to ensuring that the journal achieves its mission. To facilitate timely feedback to authors and to avoid burdening expert reviewers unduly, the journal utilizes a two-tiered review process for all contributions (whether invited or unsolicited). The first tier involves an editorial preview to be implemented within days of receipt of a submission and focuses on potential suitability for publication in the journal regarding scope, novelty (unless a replication study) and methodological rigor. Pre-screening of articles does not involve detailed evaluation.  

If the manuscript is considered to have potential for publication in the journal, the second tier involves peer review, typically by three anonymous experts.  

The Editor-in-Chief may delegate decision-making authority to an Associate Editor (“Action Editor”). 

Papers authored by Editors or Editorial Board members of the journal will be sent to Editors unaffiliated with the author or their institution and monitored carefully to ensure there is no peer review bias. 

Wiley's policy on the confidentiality of the review process is available here. 

 

Appeal of Rejection Decision. Requests for appeal will be considered only where the author makes a case that one or more reviewer, or the Editor, has clearly made a substantive mistake. Submissions not sent out for external review are subject to the same grounds for appeal as submissions that have undergone full peer review. Please address appeal requests in writing to the Editor-in-Chief. 

 

Revision Submission. Authors are asked to upload two versions of the revised manuscript. One version should include all tracked changes and be labelled "Manuscript with revisions" when uploaded. The other version should contain no mark up and be labelled "Manuscript" when uploaded. 

NISO Working Group on Peer Review Terminology

The IJED has adopted the ANSI/NISO Standard Terminology for Peer Review. Standardising the terminology across journals and publishers used to describe peer review practices helps make the peer review process for articles and journals more transparent, and it will enable the community to better assess and compare peer review practices between different journals.

Refer and Transfer Program 

Wiley believes that no valuable research should go unshared. The IJED participates in Wiley’s Refer & Transfer program, including journals: Brain and Behavior,  Clinical Case Reports, Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy, European Eating Disorders Review, Journal of Obesity, Obesity Science and Practice,  Journal of Research on Adolescence, Mental Health Science, and Molecular Genetics and Genomic Medicine. If your manuscript is not accepted, you may receive an offer to transfer your manuscript to another suitable Wiley journal, either through a referral from the journal’s Editor or through our Transfer Desk Assistant.

Authors taking up the offer to transfer will not need to reformat or rewrite their manuscript at that stage, and a publication decision will be made a short time after the transfer has taken place. The Editors of the receiving journals will accept submissions that report well-conducted research that reaches the standard acceptable for publication. These journals are a part of the Wiley Open Access portfolio (www.wileyopenaccess.com), and thus Article Publication Charges (APCs) apply. 

 

Guidelines on Publishing and Research Ethics in Journal Articles 

This journal follows the core practices of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and handles cases of research and publication misconduct accordingly (https://publicationethics.org/core-practices). See also  Wiley’s Top 10 Publishing Ethics Tips for Authors and Wiley’s Publication Ethics Guidelines. 

The journal requires authors to include in the Method section information on IRB approvals, ethical treatment of human and animal research participants, and gathering of informed consent, as appropriate. Please review Wiley’s policies surrounding human studies, animal studies, clinical trial registration, biosecurity, and research reporting guidelines. 

Editors, authors, and peer reviewers are required to disclose interests that might appear to affect their ability to present or review work objectively. These might include relevant financial interests (for example, patent ownership, consultancies, or speaker’s fees). IJED includes the name of the manuscript’s Action Editor on each published article for full disclosure and transparency. 

The existence of a conflict of interest by an author does not preclude publication. It is the responsibility of the corresponding author to review this policy with all authors and collectively to disclose with the submission ALL pertinent commercial and other relationships. If the authors have no conflict(s) of interest to declare, they must also state this.  

This journal uses iThenticate’s CrossCheck software to detect instances of overlapping and similar text in submitted manuscripts.

Return to the Table of Contents

  2. ARTICLE TYPES

ARTICLE TYPE	DESCRIPTION	WORD LIMIT EXCLUDING ABSTRACT, REFERENCES, TABLES, OR FIGURES	RECOMMENDED ABSTRACT STRUCTURE/WORD LIMIT	OTHER REQUIREMENTS/RECOMMENDATIONS
Brief Report	Preliminary findings of research in progress or narrowly focused research studies	2,000	Structured  250 words	Data Availability Statement  IRB Statement Public Significance Statement  ≤ 2 figures/tables
Commentary	Invited commentaries and evidence-based opinion pieces involving areas of broad interest. Unsolicited commentaries are not considered for publication.	2,000	Unstructured  200 words	≤5 references  No figures/tables
Forum	Novel approaches or solutions to address a research, practice , or policy gap	4,500	Structured  250 words	Public Significance Statement  ≤ 5 figures/tables
Original Article	Reports of new research findings that make a significant contribution to knowledge	4,500	Structured  250 words	Data Availability Statement  IRB Statement  Public Significance Statement  ≤ 8 figures/tables
Perspective	Opinion-led comment on an Original Article, Brief Report, or Systematic Review article published in the IJED Early View in the three months before submission of the Perspective manuscript. Unsolicited Perspectives are not considered for publication.	750	No abstract	≤ 5 references
Registered Report	Stage 2: Completed studies as described in a Stage 1 Registered Report.   See IJED’s Stage 2 guidelines.	4,500	Structured  250 words	Data Availability Statement  IRB Statement  Public Significance Statement  ≤ 4 figures/tables
Review	Systematic Reviews, Meta-Analyses, and Scoping Reviews	7,500	Structured  250 words	Public Significance Statement
Spotlight	A novel research question or clinical practice idea	2,000	Structured  250 words	Public Significance Statement  ≤ 2 figures/tables

When uploading their manuscript, authors will be asked to select an article type and confirm completion of a checklist indicating that they have followed the Author Guidelines pertaining to the appropriate article type. Please click on the article types above to see the applicable author checklist. Please refer to additional author guidance below about intervention studies, studies involving qualitative methods, and genetic studies.  

Brief Reports – see checklist and Statistical Reporting Guidelines

This contribution type is intended for manuscripts describing studies with straightforward research designs, pilot or “proof of concept” studies, and replications. 

 

Commentaries – see checklist 

Commentaries are solicited by the Editors when multiple perspectives on, or critical appraisal of, an article would assist in placing that article in context. Unsolicited commentaries are not considered for publication. 

 

Forum – see checklist 

A Forum manuscript introduces an important knowledge or practice gap regarding preventive or clinical interventions, policies, or research methods in the field and proposes specific solutions to filling the gap. Forum manuscripts are grounded in an expert literature review and presents novel ideas regarding prevention or clinical care, public health or health care policy, or research methods.  

Unlike Systematic Reviews, the literature reviewed in a Forum manuscript may involve a smaller number of studies (i.e., the field may not yet have matured to the point where a systematic review is indicated); however, as in Systematic Reviews, authors need to describe and critically discuss the relevant details of the prior literature. Unlike Spotlight articles, Forum articles need not pose a novel problem; the gap or problem being addressed may have plagued the field for some time. What is expected to be novel is (are) the solution(s) being proposed in the Forum article. As with all journal content, authors should consider the relevance and implications of their work for a global audience. 

 Original Articles – see checklist and Statistical Reporting Guidelines

These contributions report substantive research that is novel, definitive, or complex enough to require a longer communication.  

Registered Reports Stage 2 – see checklist and full IJED RR Guidelines 

This manuscript type is intended for publishing research that previously was described in a Stage 1 Registered Report, regardless of whether the Stage 1 article published in the IJED or in another scientific journal. Following data collection, authors may submit a Stage 2 manuscript to IJED that updates the IJED Stage 1 manuscript and reports and discusses all planned analyses and resulting findings. Authors choosing to include in their Stage 2 manuscript unplanned analyses will need to clearly distinguish them from planned analyses. Authors need to update their introduction considering the literature that has become available since publication of the Stage 1 Registered Report. 

Please note that as of February 2023 IJED will no longer consider newly submitted Stage 1 Registered Reports, nor Stage 2 Registered Reports whose Stage 1 counterpart was not previously published in the IJED. Our commitment to In-Principle-Acceptance decisions made on Stage 1 Registered Reports at IJED will still be honored and their Stage 2 counterparts will be published in the journal.

Systematic Reviews, Meta-Analyses and Scoping Reviews

Described below are the reporting requirements for all review paper types. Please be sure to read each section prior to submission, AS WELL AS THE LAST SECTIONS ENTITLED “Required Elements for all IJED Review Papers” and “Recommended Elements for all IJED Review Papers”.  These last sections describe elements that are common to IJED systematic reviews, meta-analyses, and scoping reviews.

Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses: These articles critically review the status of a given research area and propose new directions for research and/or practice. Both systematic and meta-analytic review papers are welcomed if they review a literature that is advanced and/or developed to the point of warranting a review and synthesis of existing studies. Reviews of topics with a limited number of studies are unlikely to be deemed as substantive enough for this IJED review paper type. The journal does not accept papers that merely describe or compile a list of previous studies without a critical synthesis of the literature that moves the field forward. 

All systematic reviews and meta-analyses must follow the PRISMA Guidelines, summarized in the Page et al. (2021) article entitled “The PRISMA 2020 statement: an updated guideline for reporting systematic reviews” (J. Clin. Epidemiol.). See translations of PRISMA documents. Authors who choose this contribution type must include the 2020 PRISMA Flow Diagram and complete the PRISMA Checklist upon submission of the manuscript. During the submission process, authors will be prompted to confirm they have followed the Review checklist in the submission form. The rationale for any unchecked items on the Review Checklist must be explicitly described in the accompanying Cover Letter. 

Scoping Reviews: These articles are a knowledge synthesis that follows a systematic and predetermined review strategy to identify gaps in a literature, the nature of evidence or methods used for a particular research topic, and/or the extent of evidence on a particular research topic. These types of reviews are distinct from systematic reviews and meta-analyses which seek to answer specific research questions through a critical analysis of the literature . A key consideration in the review of IJED scoping reviews is determining whether a scoping review or a systematic review or meta-analysis is more appropriate for the research question. Scoping reviews should therefore provide very clear statements of the need and the goals and objectives of the scoping review to ensure clarity in article purpose and appropriateness for an IJED Scoping Review. These reviews should also explicitly state why a scoping review was chosen over a systematic review or meta-analysis. Authors who are unsure if a scoping or systematic review/meta-analysis is more appropriate for their research aims should consult key papers in the field that discuss differences across review types (e.g., Munn et al. (2018), BMC Medical Research Methodology, 18, 1-7). Broadly, as noted in Munn et al. (2018), “Scoping reviews are useful for examining emerging evidence when it is still unclear what other, more specific questions can be posed and valuably addressed by a more precise systematic review” (p. 2).

All scoping reviews must follow the PRISMA Guidelines for scoping reviews summarized in the Tricco et al. (2018) article entitled ”PRISMA extension for scoping reviews (PRISMA-ScR): checklist and explanation” (Ann Intern Med.).  Authors who choose this contribution type must include the 2020 PRISMA Flow Diagram in the manuscript and complete the PRISMA-ScR checklist upon submission of the manuscript. During the submission process, authors will be prompted to confirm they have followed the Scoping Review checklist in the submission form. The rationale for any unchecked items on the Scoping Review Checklist must be explicitly described in the accompanying Cover Letter. 

Required Elements for all IJED Review Papers:  In addition to the required PRISMA components for systematic reviews, meta-analyses, and scoping reviews described above, all of these review article types must also include the following:

• Search date: All IJED review papers must include the month/year that the last literature search was conducted. This date must be within 6 months of the manuscript submission date.
• Unpublished research: IJED review papers should aim to include all available literature on the topic, regardless of publication status. Authors should attempt to locate unpublished data by using online databases (e.g., ProQuest, ETHoS, MedRxiv, PsyArXiv, gov) and directly contacting authors if relevant data are not included in published or unpublished works.
• Sociodemographic characteristics: A full description of the age, sex assigned at birth and/or gender, race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status of participants in the reviewed studies must be included in all IJED review papers. Please see the IJED Demographic Characteristics Reporting Guidelines for more information definitions of these variables. Please note that reporting this sociodemographic information is required for all IJED review papers (rather than just recommended), as these data are critical for future meta-analyses and for understanding to whom the current literature base applies.  In terms of reporting the data, authors should include separate columns/entries for the sociodemographic variables in tables describing the studies included in the review. If a paper included in the review does not report these demographic variables, then “NR” (Not Reported) must be indicated in the appropriate table cells.  All review papers must also explicitly discuss in the main manuscript text the diversity of the samples and the ways in which this diversity (or lack thereof) may impact the generalizability and representativeness of the review’s results and conclusions.
• Non-English language articles: In the interest of representing the global literature, authors are strongly encouraged to include non-English language articles where practically possible. Minimally, authors are expected to initially search the literature without filtering out non-English language articles. In their PRISMA flow diagram, authors should report the number of articles they excluded based on language. References of articles excluded due to language barriers should be saved in a supplemental file, along with English-language abstracts if available. The supplemental file containing these references and abstracts must be uploaded when submitting the review article. While not required, to the extent possible, we encourage authors to pursue opportunities for accessing non-English language papers such as inviting collaborators with the requisite language skills; employing translation software; or seeking expert assistance in translating articles.

Recommended Elements for all IJED Review Papers:  Authors are encouraged to pre-register their systematic reviews, meta-analyses, and scoping reviews to detail their review strategy/protocol with regard to their research questions, inclusion/exclusion criteria, databases searched, search terms used, synthesis/analytic methods, etc. Examples of pre-registration systems that could be used include Prospero (https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/) for systematic reviews and meta-analyses, and the Open Science Framework (OSF; https://osf.io/) for scoping reviews.

Spotlight – see checklist 

This is a contribution type where authors propose an idea that may not yet have adequate empirical support or be ready for full empirical testing but holds great promise for advancing research of eating disorders. Authors are encouraged to write a piece that is bold, forward looking, and suggestive of new and exciting avenues for research and/or practice in the field. The manuscript should identify the specific knowledge gap and why filling the gap will advance research and practice in the field; it should delineate several concrete steps for addressing the gap.

Perspective – see checklist

A Perspective comments on an Original Article, Brief Report, or Systematic Review (including meta-analyses) manuscript published in the IJED. The Perspective must focus on a manuscript that has been published in Early View within three months before submission of the Perspective manuscript. Unsolicited Perspectives are not considered for publication. Submissions not meeting these requirements are rejected without review.

A Perspective expands upon the published research by offering additional context, interpretation, or suggestions regarding the potential application of the research for advancing science and practice in eating disorders. Perspective manuscripts may not merely summarize the published research, nor are they intended to primarily discuss the author’s own work. Because the Original Research, Brief Report, or Systematic Review paper has already been peer reviewed, the Perspective manuscript should be viewed as an opportunity to develop the ideas and potential of the work reported, rather than a critique of the paper. Indeed, only submissions that add a new dimension to the published research will be considered suitable for publication.

Perspective articles should provide a personal viewpoint and, as such, authorship should be limited to one or two authors. We recognize various forms of expertise, including research expertise, clinical expertise, expertise by lived experience (e.g., individuals impacted by an eating disorder), policy expertise, or expertise in a scholarly field distinct from eating and weight disorders. When submitting a Perspective, authors are requested to specify in their Cover Letter their primary expertise as pertaining to the Perspective submission.

RESEARCH REPORTING GUIDELINES

Accurate and complete reporting enables readers to fully appraise research, replicate it, and use it.

At the time of submission, authors will be prompted to confirm whether they have completed a checklist that is specific to each of IJED’s article types and designed to aid authors in ensuring that their article includes required and recommended information about study methods and procedures. 

For studies and reviews/meta-analyses involving human participants, the IJED has adopted Demographic Characteristics Reporting Guidelines that are based on guidelines adopted by the JAMA Network journals, Updated Guidance on the Reporting of Race and Ethnicity in Medical and Science Journals, and work by Buchanan et al., 2021, Upending Racism in Psychological Science: Strategies to Change How Our Science is Conducted, Reported, Reviewed & Disseminated, and, with a focus specifically on eating disorders research, by Egbert et al., 2022 Reporting racial and ethnic diversity in eating disorder research over the past 20 years. 

If the study sample lacks diversity in demographic characteristics, particularly with populations typically underrepresented in eating disorders research (e.g., male participants, minoritized populations, etc.), this should be explained (unless self-evident, e.g., a study of obstetric complication in patients with eating disorders would not include male participants) and noted as a study limitation and an area for future research. 

Authors should apply study relevant research reporting standards. A list of the most well-known guidelines is given here: 

• Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT) 
• Standard Protocol Items: Recommendations for Interventional Trials (SPIRIT) 
• Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) 
• PRISMA Protocols (PRISMA-P) 
• STrengthening the Reporting of OBservational studies in Epidemiology (STROBE)
• Consolidated criteria for reporting qualitative research (COREQ) 
• STARD 2015: An Updated List of Essential Items for Reporting Diagnostic Accuracy Studies
• TRIPOD: Transparent Reporting of a multivariable prediction model for Individual Prognosis Or Diagnosis
• Consolidated Health Economic Evaluation Reporting Standards (CHEERS) 
• The EQUATOR Network: an author's one-stop-shop for writing and publishing high-impact health research
• FORCE11: Recommended reporting guidelines for life science resources
• ARRIVE (Animal Research: Reporting of In Vivo Experiments) guidelines
• Guidance for the Description of Animal Research in Scientific Publications 
• The Gold Standard Publication Checklist 
• Updated Guidance on the Reporting of Race and Ethnicity in Medical and Science Journals 

 

Cross-Cultural Studies 

If the work involves cross-cultural assessment or assessment in a new language or study population, authors should provide information about local literacy in the language of assessment, the validity of (or process for validating) a translation of an assessment.  For inclusion of regional samples, a statement about the sample’s representativeness of or distinction from the national sample is required.  

 

Genetic Studies 

For association studies, the IJED employs Methods guidelines published by the American Journal of Medical Genetics Part B: Neuropsychiatric Genetics. These guidelines recommend: minimum sample sizes; for positive findings, an adequately powered independent replication sample; adjustments for multiple comparisons; and reporting of effect size estimates. For more information, see Author Guidelines. 

When referring to genetic material, the names of genes should be spelled out in full the first time they appear in the text, after which an italicized abbreviation can be substituted. Sequence variants should be described in the text and tables, using both DNA and designations whenever appropriate. Sequence variant nomenclature must follow the current Human Genome Variation Society (HGVS) guidelines (see varnomen.hgvs.org). 

 

Intervention Studies 
When submitting an intervention study manuscript, authors will be prompted to select whether the manuscript describes a) an Innovation or Implementation study; or b) a Comparative Treatment or Prevention Intervention trial.  

In all cases, preregistration is encouraged but, unless otherwise noted, not required. Any presentation of post-hoc findings needs to be clearly justified and contextualized. The inclusion of qualitative feedback on the experience of patients and clients is encouraged. 

 Feasibility and Pilot Studies

Papers in this category demonstrate the potential of new interventions in the treatment for eating disorders. If randomization is not present, studies should meet the Template Intervention Description and Replication Checklist (TIDieR) standards.When randomization exists, studies should meet the CONSORT extension for randomization and feasibility studies. 

Both feasibility and pilot studies describe studies undertaken in preparation for an RCT evaluating the effect of an intervention or therapy. Feasibility studies address whether the future trial can be done, should be done, and, if so, how, while pilot studies (that may or may not be randomized) can include feasibility and inform a future definitive RCT by analysing quantitative data. Feasibility and pilot studies can be combined into one submission, but both functions should be addressed adequately in that paper, with feasibility forming the primary aim. This requires a focus on information that addresses hypotheses about recruitment, acceptability, attrition, cost, accessibility, e.g., Can you recruit as many participants in the time allowed as your study proposes? Will the participants accept randomization? Will they comply with treatment protocols? Is the protocol for delivery of treatment well and clearly enough defined to promote fidelity? Will the participants accept the testing procedures? Can the testing procedures be completed in the time allowed? If these data are included in any subsequent study (e.g., an RCT), that fact should be explained transparently. 

These can include single case experimental designs, where one or more cases are presented using visual or statistical methods to demonstrate the clinical impact of an intervention, based on at least an A-B design and session-by-session data. Such case reports should have heuristic value, and so need to be innovative and leading to stronger research. Such cases require a clear statement from the authors that the patient (or the patient’s legal guardian) has given permission to publish the material anonymously. Case reports without such clinical outcome data and structured presentation of findings will not normally be considered.  

It can also include innovative uncontrolled trials, using a case series to demonstrate the initial implementation of interventions, under uncontrolled conditions (e.g., a series of patients treated with a new therapy; a comparison of therapies for similar but not identical patients). Such case series should be placed in context (e.g., were the patients recruited as a true series, or were they selected from the available pool?) and supported with a CONSORT diagram or the appropriate procedural detail. Preregistration is encouraged but not required. 

Finally, it can also include RCTs that are not designed to be adequately powered. Given the smaller numbers typically involved, we require that p values are not reported but rather an estimated between group effect size and its precision (such as 95% confidence interval). As outlined in “The role and interpretation of pilot studies in clinical research” by Leon, Davis and Kraemer (2011), generated effect sizes should not be used for power calculations for future RCTs as such estimates with small samples can be misleading.  

Effectiveness Trials 

This category requires evidence that an intervention has been compared to either a control or active condition and has been conducted and reported appropriately in conformity to the appropriate CONSORT checklist (http://www.consort-statement.org), particularly randomization of participants. This can include  efficacy studies in highly controlled settings and effectiveness demonstrating the rolling out of evidence from controlled trials to routine practice, other populations, etc. Differences relative to the original intervention should be outlined. 

Pre-registration before enrollment of study participants is expected to ensure that the core aims and hypotheses are openly addressed. Exceptions may be made for cause upon request prior to manuscript submission. The preregistration number should be entered in the manuscript submission form and also be reported in the Method section. Examples of repositories include  https://cos.io/prereg, https://www.clinicaltrials.gov, etc. 

Studies attempting to replicate and extend prior findings are important and welcomed, whether or not they support the findings of prior studies. 

Proof of concept and pilot studies are not required before an RCT can be published. However, such studies are accepted by IJED, as they form key steps in the development of ideas, grant proposals, etc. Proof of concept and pilot studies can be combined into one submission, but both functions should be addressed adequately in that paper, in such a case. The study description should conform to the CONSORT 2010 checklist of information that includes guidelines for reporting proof of concept or pilot study trials. See the CONSORT extensions for additional information (http://www.consort-statement.org/extensions).  

Such trials require adequate sample size (demonstrated through the presentation of a power analysis) and state clear aims and hypotheses. Any anonymising (e.g., of researchers) and problems of de-anonymising should be clearly detailed. An appropriate follow-up period is required. Clear definitions of terms such as ‘attrition’, ‘remission’ and ‘recovery’ are required, and intervention protocols should be readily available to the reader. The study description should conform to the CONSORT 2010 checklist of information that must be included when reporting a randomized trial. Preregistration is required. 

Reporting of intent-to-treat results is preferred unless a strong rationale for a different approach is provided, such as a large amount of missing data. Completer results can also be reported if this is considered to add important information. Results should include the mean and standard deviation of pre- and post-scores, within-group effect sizes with 95% confidence intervals, and pre- and post-score correlations (allowing within-subject effect sizes to be verified). Appropriate follow-up data are desirable. 

Implementation Studies
Implementation focuses on the evaluation of an evidence-based intervention that can be widely adopted and maintained in real world settings. Implementation studies address outcomes described in the RE-AIM framework, notably reach or uptake of services, effectiveness, adoption, implementation and maintenance.

Implementation pays attention to the components of the implementation strategy, and contextual factors that support or hinder the achievement of impacts. Attention is paid to intervention transferability into different contexts, an important aspect of long-term implementation. Such reports typically include economic evaluations. 

The Standards for Reporting Implementation Studies (StaRI) Statement should be used to guide the writing of such papers.

Qualitative Studies 

Studies must delineate the approach (e.g., grounded theory, etc.) for the qualitative methodology used, and authors should identify the research paradigm (e.g., postpositivist, constructivist/interpretivist, etc.). Methodology, results, and the resulting discussion must be consistent with the chosen approach and paradigm. Studies using qualitative data must also include a statement about how sample size was determined (e.g., in relation to sampling saturation, etc.). Authors should refer to Table 1 in O’Brien et al. (2014) doi: 10.1097/ACM.0000000000000388.

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  3. AFTER ACCEPTANCE

First Look 

After your paper is accepted, your files will be assessed by the IJED Editorial Office to ensure they are ready for production. You may be contacted if any updates or final files are required. Otherwise, your paper will be sent to the production team. 

 

Wiley Author Services 

When an accepted article is received by Wiley’s production team, the corresponding author will receive an email asking them to login or register with Wiley Author Services. You will be asked to sign a publication license and pay for any applicable Author Publication Charges. 

 

Copyright & Licensing 

You may choose to publish under the terms of the journal’s standard copyright agreement, or Open Access under the terms of a Creative Commons License.  

Standard re-use and licensing rights vary by journal. Note that certain funders mandate a particular type of CC license be used. This journal uses the CC-BY/CC-BY-NC/CC-BY-NC-ND Creative Commons License. 

 

Self-Archiving Definitions and Policies: The journal’s standard copyright agreement allows for self-archiving of different versions of the article under specific conditions. 

 
Proofs 

Authors will receive an e-mail notification with a link and instructions for accessing HTML page proofs online. It is the primary responsibility of the authors to proofread thoroughly and ensure correct spelling and punctuation, completeness and accuracy of references, clarity of expression, thoughtful construction of sentences, and legible appearance at proof-checking.  

Authors should also make sure that any renumbered tables, figures, or references match text citations and that figure legends correspond with text citations and actual figures. Proofs must be returned within 48 hours of receipt of the email.  

Questions regarding the production of articles accepted for publication should be directed to the Production Editor: [email protected]    

 

Article Promotion Support  

Wiley Editing Services offers professional video, design, and writing services to create shareable video abstracts, infographics, conference posters, lay summaries, and research news stories for your research – so you can help your research get the attention it deserves. 

 

Video Abstracts 

A video abstract can be a quick way to make the message of your research accessible to a much larger audience. Wiley and its partner Research Square offer a service of professionally produced video abstracts, available to authors of articles accepted in this journal. You can learn more about it at www.wileyauthors.com/videoabstracts. Please direct questions to [email protected]. 

 
Author Pronouns
Authors may now include their personal pronouns in the author bylines of their published articles and on Wiley Online Library. Authors will never be required to include their pronouns; it will always be optional for the author. Authors can include their pronouns in their manuscript upon submission and can add, edit, or remove their pronouns at any stage upon request. Submitting/corresponding authors should never add, edit, or remove a coauthor’s pronouns without that coauthor’s consent. Where post-publication changes to pronouns are required, these can be made without a correction notice to the paper, following Wiley’s Name Change Policy to protect the author’s privacy. Terms which fall outside of the scope of personal pronouns, e.g. proper or improper nouns, are currently not supported. 

Author Name Change Policy  

In cases where authors wish to change their name following publication, Wiley will update and republish the paper and redeliver the updated metadata to indexing services. Our editorial and production teams will use discretion in recognizing that name changes may be of a sensitive and private nature for various reasons including (but not limited to) alignment with gender identity, or because of marriage, divorce, or religious conversion. Accordingly, to protect the author’s privacy, we will not publish a correction notice to the paper, and we will not notify co-authors of the change. Authors should contact IJED’s Editorial Office with their name change request: [email protected].  

 

Correction to Authorship  

In accordance with Wiley’s Best Practice Guidelines on Research Integrity and Publishing Ethics and the Committee on Publication Ethics’ guidance, IJED will allow authors to correct authorship on a submitted, accepted, or published article, if a valid reason exists to do so. All authors – including those to be added or removed – must agree to any proposed change. To request a change to the author list, please complete the Request for Changes to a Journal Article Author List Form and contact either the journal’s editorial [email protected] or production office [email protected], depending on the status of the article. Authorship changes will not be considered without a fully completed Author Change Form. Correcting the authorship is different from changing an author’s name; the relevant policy for that can be found above in Author Name Change Policy. 

 

Graphical Table of Contents 

The journal’s table of contents will be presented in graphical form with a brief abstract.  

The table of contents entry must include the article title, the authors' names (with the corresponding author indicated by an asterisk), no more than 80 words or 3 sentences of text summarizing the key findings presented in the paper and a figure that best represents the scope of the paper.  

Table of contents entries should be submitted as ‘Supplementary material for review’ during the initial manuscript submission process.  

The image supplied should fit within the dimensions of 50mm x 60mm and be fully legible at this size.  

 

Publication Charges 

There are no mandatory charges to authors publishing in the IJED.  

Color figures may be published online and in print free of charge. 

 

Resource Identification Initiative 

The journal supports the Resource Identification Initiative, which aims to promote research resource identification, discovery, and reuse. This initiative, led by the Neuroscience Information Framework and the Oregon Health & Science University Library, provides unique identifiers for antibodies, model organisms, cell lines, and tools including software and databases. These IDs, called Research Resource Identifiers (RRIDs), are machine-readable and can be used to search for all papers where a particular resource was used and to increase access to critical data to help researchers identify suitable reagents and tools. 

You will be asked to use RRIDs to cite the resources used in your research where applicable in the text, like a regular citation or Genbank Accession number. For antibodies, you should include in the citation the vendor, catalogue number, and RRID both in the text upon first mention in the Methods section. For software tools and databases, please provide the name of the resource followed by the resource website, if available, and the RRID. For model organisms, the RRID alone is sufficient. 

Additionally, you must include the RRIDs in the list of keywords associated with the manuscript. 

 

Species Names 

Upon its first use in the title, abstract, and text, the common name of a species should be followed by the scientific name (genus, species, and authority) in parentheses. For well-known species, however, scientific names may be omitted from article titles. If no common name exists in English, only the scientific name should be used.  

 

Genetic Nomenclature 

Sequence variants should be described in the text and tables using both DNA and protein designations whenever appropriate. Sequence variant nomenclature must follow the current HGVS guidelines; see varnomen.hgvs.org, where examples of acceptable nomenclature are provided. 

 

Sequence Data 

Nucleotide sequence data can be submitted in electronic form to any of the three major collaborative databases: DDBJ, EMBL, or GenBank. It is only necessary to submit to one database as data are exchanged between DDBJ, EMBL, and GenBank on a daily basis. The suggested wording for referring to accession-number information is: ‘These sequence data have been submitted to the DDBJ/EMBL/GenBank databases under accession number U12345’. Addresses are as follows: 

• DNA Data Bank of Japan (DDBJ): www.ddbj.nig.ac.jp 
• EMBL Nucleotide Archive: ebi.ac.uk/ena 
• GenBank: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/genbank 

 

Proteins sequence data should be submitted to either of the following repositories:  

• RCSB Protein Data Bank (PDB): www.rcsb.org/pdb. 
• Protein Information Resource (PIR): pir.georgetown.edu 
• SWISS-PROT: expasy.ch/sprot/sprot-top 

 

Publicity Releases 

Authors intending to issue a press release through their institution or affiliation are kindly asked to inform the Editorial Office at their earliest convenience. 

 

Cover Image Submissions  

This journal accepts artwork submissions for Cover Images. This is an optional service you can use to help increase article exposure and showcase your research. For more information, including artwork guidelines, pricing, and submission details, please visit the Journal Cover Image page.  

Wiley Editing Services offers a professional cover image design service that creates eye-catching images, ready to be showcased on the journal cover. 

 

Additional Guidelines for Cover Pictures, Visual Abstracts, and Table of Contents Graphics 

• Concepts illustrated in graphical material must clearly fit with the research discussed in the accompanying text. 
• Images featuring depictions or representations of people must not contain any form of objectification, sexualization, stereotyping, or discrimination. We also ask authors to consider community diversity in images containing multiple depictions or representations of people. 
• Inappropriate use, representation, or depiction of religious figures or imagery, and iconography is prohibited. 

• Use of elements of mythology, legends, and folklore might be acceptable and will be decided on a case-by-case basis. However, these images must comply with the guidelines on human participants. 
• Generally, authors should consider any sensitivities when using images of objects that might have cultural significance or may be inappropriate in the context (for example, religious texts, historical events, and depictions of people). 
• Legal requirements:
  • All necessary copyright permission for the reproduction of the graphical elements used in visuals must be obtained prior to publication.
  • Clearance must be obtained from identifiable people before using their image on the cover, table of contents or graphical abstract and such clearance must specify that it will be used on the cover, graphical abstract or table of contents. Use within text does not require such clearance, unless it discloses sensitive personal information, such as medical information. In all situations involving disclosure of such personal information, specific permission must be obtained. and images of individuals should not be used in a false manner. 

Graphics that do not adhere to these guidelines will be recommended for revision or will not be accepted for publication.

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