Positive Communication

Guidelines

Articles: 1000-1500 words, which includes references and bio sketch
Columns: 300-600 words, which includes any resources, bio sketch
Book reviews: 150-300 words, which includes bio sketch

All submissions should contain a short (1-2 sentences) biographical sketch of the author(s) that gives the reader a feel for the author’s expertise and also provides a way to contact the author (e-mail address plus phone or fax number).

Articles must be fully referenced, preferably from the scientific literature.

Diagrams may be included with an article, but the article will need to be shortened to 1000 words and may require further editing by the editorial staff in order to accommodate the space requirements of the article and diagram.

Submissions should be made electronically, either via e-mail or on a computer disk in either PC format in MS Word (preferred) or WordPerfect. If neither of these formats is available to you, transmit the submission as a rich text format file (*.rtf).

Graphs and diagrams should be submitted in PowerPoint (PC format) or similar format that allows revision of the material.

When submitting an article by e-mail, if there are special inclusions such as graphics, text boxes, or bolded type that are important to the article, please also fax a hard copy as some of these inclusions do not survive the e-mail process.

The manuscript should be double-spaced. Periods, colons and semicolons are followed by a single space.

12 point Times New Roman or Arial font

The format of articles and columns must conform to the American Dietetic Association’s guidelines as outlined in the instructions to authors in the Journal of The American Dietetic Association (JADA). Citations (references) in particular must be in JADA format. Please see sample citations below.

Acronyms

Always spell out the complete form of the acronym in its entirety the first time it is mentioned in the text, followed in parentheses by the acronym or abbreviation.

Numbers

Spell out numbers from one to nine except for units of measure or statistical data (e.g. nine men, 9 years, 9 g). For sample sizes smaller than 100, frequency should be given, no percentage (e.g. 2 of 7, not 29%).

References

Number the references sequentially within the text as superscripts, then include a reference section at the end of the article with the number and full citation:

• The first three authors must be listed, followed by “et al.” for additional authors.
• The full set of page numbers must be listed, even when redundant. For example: 1999;145:105-109, not 105-9)
• Abbreviate journal titles according to Index Medicus and italicize. You can double check abbreviations via Medline, accessible via http://igm.nlm.nih.gov/index.html
• The city and state (or city/country), publisher and date must be given for a book citation
• Web sites must have the date of last access just like a journal article has a date
• Popular magazines are, generally, not acceptable citations
• Names of journals and books are italicized
• There is only one period used with a journal name, at the end of the final part of the name, and it is not italicized (e.g. J Am Diet Assoc.)

The following are sample citations:

Scientific paper: Weddle DO, Tu NS, Guzik CJ, et al. Positive association between dietetics recommendations and achievement of enteral nutrition outcomes of care. J Am Diet Assoc. 1995;95:753-758.

Book: Spears MC. Foodservice Organizations: A Managerial and Systems Approach. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc; 1995.

Book written by a committee: Food and Nutrition Board. Recommended Dietary Allowances. 10^th ed. Washington, DC: National Academy Press; 1989.

Chapter in a book: Hermann MG. Marketing and business ethics. In: Helm KK, ed. The Competitive Edge. Advanced Marketing for Dietetics Professionals. 2^nd ed. Chicago, IL: American Dietetic Association; 1995:103-107.

Letter to the editor: Roth JH. What is optimum body weight? J Am Diet Assoc. 1994;94:856-857.

Abstract: Stang J, Story M. Accuracy of food portion size estimates by bulimic subjects. J Am Diet Assoc. 1994;95(suppl):A-23. Abstract.

Government bulletin/document: Give the following information, in this order:

1. name of author (if given);
2. title of bulletin/document;
3. place of publication;
4. name of issuing bureau, agency, etc.;
5. date of publication;
6. page numbers, if specified;
7. publication number, if any;
8. series number, if given.

Example: The Surgeon General’s Report on Nutrition and Health. Washington, DC: US Dept of Health and Human Services; 1988. DHHS (PHS) publication 88-50210.

RD/DTR/Dietetics Professional

Use the general term “dietetics professional” rather than “dietitian” or “RD” unless you are addressing an issue that is specific to a Registered Dietitian or to a Dietetic Technician, Registered.

Subheadings

For ease of reading, use subheadings to break the article or column so that the reader can navigate through the manuscript readily.

Articles become the property of ADA unless the material is already protected by copyright, in which case appropriate copyright permission must be submitted with the contribution. A copyright transfer form is attached.

Deadline

Submissions must be received in the Editor’s office by the deadline and they must adhere to the guidelines stated herein.

If the author(s) has a financial interest relating to any aspect of the contribution being submitted, that interest must be stated. If a particular product or service is mentioned, the author must present the product or service in a balanced way that includes other competitive products or services or the contribution will be declined. "Financial interest" includes employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending, or royalties with any organization or entity with a financial interest in the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript.