Get your Health and Place paper right the first time: a ready-made structure with the right abstract and citations, so editors see your science, not formatting slips.
4.7
Authored by Sumalatha Gangadhar | Published on 13 August, 2026
Submitting to Health and Place goes smoothly when your draft already matches the journal's own rules. Editors screen new manuscripts against the Health and Place guide for authors before peer review, so formatting, structure, and required statements should be right on the first draft rather than repaired during upload. This template sets that structure up for you.
It is a manuscript shell aligned to Health and Place. It covers front matter, the abstract the journal expects, a body organized to the journal's article types, and a reference list in the journal's required style. Confirm current scope and article types on the Health and Place journal page before you draft.
Prepare the title, authors, affiliations, and ORCID iDs. Write the abstract to the journal's rule and word limit, organize the body to the article type, and apply the required reference style from the first citation. Complete every declaration (ethics, competing interests, funding, data availability) the Health and Place guide for authors lists, and cite figures and tables in order.
The common failure modes are formatting or reference style that does not match the guide for authors, missing required statements, and an incomplete portal checklist. Clear all three against the Health and Place guide for authors before you submit.
The shell mirrors what editorial staff check first: article-type fit, the abstract rules, required declarations, and the journal's reference style. For more detail see the author resources. When your draft is ready, upload it through the journal's submission system.
| Element | Health Place requirement |
|---|---|
| Abstract | Unstructured abstract required, maximum 250 words. The abstract should be concise and factual, briefly stating the purpose of the research, principal results and major conclusions. Requirements do not differ by article type |
| Main text | Articles (Original Research): 4000-6000 words (excluding figures, tables and references), although articles longer than 6000 words will be accepted occasionally if the topic demands. Short Communications: 1000-2000 words. Opinion Papers: 1000-2000 words. Review Articles: 5000-6000 words |
| Declarations | Ethics approval/consent as applicable; competing interests; funding; data availability |
| Figures/tables | Publication-ready; cited in order |
| Supplemental | Upload separately when used |
| Keywords | 1 to 7 keywords required for indexing purposes. Keywords should be written in English. No specific requirement for MeSH terms |
| References | No strict formatting requirements at submission. References can be in any style or format as long as the style is consistent. The journal accepts both numbered systems (Vancouver-style with square brackets) and author-date systems (Harvard-style). At submission, any consistent citation style is acceptable |
| Peer review | Double-anonymized review (also referred to as double-blind review). Submissions are initially assessed by editors for suitability, then typically sent to a minimum of two reviewers for independent expert assessment of scientific quality |
| Submission | submit.elsevier.com/JHAP |
Read the Health and Place guide for authors once before drafting and once before upload. Draft the abstract after results are stable. Set the reference style before adding citations. Keep a cover letter that states your contribution and fit to Health and Place in under a page.
Skim two or three recent Health Place papers to calibrate depth and figure style. Make the novelty clear in the first two pages. Deposit data and code when the policy on the Health and Place journal page requires it. Disclose any preprint or conference version with identifiers in the cover letter.
Do one focused pass against the Health and Place guide for authors: scope, length, reference style, required declarations, and figure quality. Then submit through the journal's submission system.