Instructions for Authors

Updated February 1, 2024.

The editorial team of Diabetes Spectrum welcomes inquiries and submissions from potential authors within the diabetes health care community. We are especially interested in article ideas related to new technologies, protocol development, psychosocial issues, pharmacological therapy, diabetes complications, and exercise in diabetes management. Although some of our articles are invited, unsolicited original submissions are reviewed by the editorial team and considered for publication if they contain information that would be helpful to the journal's readership. All articles should be developed and written with the multidisciplinary diabetes care team in mind as the main audience.  

Manuscript Submission and Peer Review

Manuscripts may be submitted via http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/diabetes-spectrum. Before submitting an article, please review the various types of articles listed below and click on the appropriate link for further instructions related to the specific type of article you wish to submit. All authors should complete, sign, and return the manuscript submission form before or soon after submitting their article.

Article Types

From Research to Practice 

Each From Research to Practice section includes a preface, written by the guest editor (GE), and a selection of invited articles presenting different aspects of the topic. Research sections may include a variety of articles of differing lengths, including overview articles offering a general discussion of the main aspects of the topic, case studies and discussions, pro/con articles presenting differing views from diabetes health professionals, summaries of and commentaries on relevant related research articles, and other types of articles. View detailed instructions at From Research to Practice.

Features

Feature articles include both invited and unsolicited original manuscripts. Original articles report on quantitative or qualitative research relevant to diabetes care, as well as conceptual materials distilling the literature. Conceptual work should offer new insight, applying topics to clinical practice. Invited feature articles may also report on events, institutions, achievements, and issues in diabetes education and health care. Lengths vary. View detailed instructions at Features.  

If you have questions about whether your article is appropriate for publication in Diabetes Spectrum, please contact Editor-in-Chief Curtis Triplitt at [email protected].

Departments

Departments encompass the following types of articles, which may be either invited or unsolicited:

Guest editorials, offering brief opinion-based essays or personal insights in diabetes care and education. Word limit: 800-1600 words.

Care Innovations, focusing on innovations in care models, care tools, and practice models. Word limit: 1600-2400 words.

Nutrition FYI, focusing on current topics related to medical nutrition therapy for diabetes. Word limit: 1600-2400 words.

Lifestyle and Behavior, focusing on current topics related to behavioral science, lifestyle interventions, and counseling. Word limit: 1600-2400 words.

Pharmacy and Therapeutics, focusing on current topics related to pharmacy and therapeutics, including updates on medications, treatment algorithms, and innovative pharmacist practice models. Word limit: 1600-2400 words.

View detailed instructions at Departments. 

If you have questions about whether your article is appropriate for publication in Diabetes Spectrum, please contact Editor-in-Chief Curtis Triplitt at [email protected].

Editorial Policies

ADA's Publications Policy Committee follows the recommendations of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), the World Association of Medical Editors (WAME), and the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) for guidance on policies and procedures related to publication ethics. The policies for Diabetes Spectrum have been adopted from those three advisory bodies and, where necessary, modified and tailored to meet the specific content, audiences, and aims of Diabetes Spectrum. Comprehensive information related to the editorial and ethical policies of Diabetes Spectrum can be found in Publication Policies and Procedures for ADA Journals. The Association's Publications Policy Committee or Subcommittee on Ethical Scientific Publications will consider on a case-by-case basis policies that are not addressed in the policies document, which contains information related to the following topics:

• Study Design
• Originality and Prior Publication
• Authorship and Contributions
• Acknowledgments
• Conflict of Interest
• Clinical Trials, Systematic Reviews, and Meta-Analyses
• Plagiarism
• Digital Image Manipulation
• Responses to Possible Scientific Misconduct
• Peer Review
• Editorial Decisions
• Prepublication of Accepted Articles
• Reuse, Post-Prints, and Public Access
• Errata
• Media Embargos
• Advertising
• Supplements 

Supplemental Material

Nonessential tables, figures, and/or videos may accompany articles as online-only supplemental material files, but authors are asked to include a comment to the editor at the time of manuscript submission that explains the rationale and justification for submitting and possibly posting the supplemental information.

All online-only supplemental material files should be uploaded during the submission process. The file must be clearly labeled as "Online-Only Supplemental Material." In addition, supplemental material online-only files must be referenced in the main text of the manuscript at least once (e.g., Supplemental Table S1).

All online-only supplemental material files are subject to peer review but will not be composed, copyedited, or proofread by production staff. As such, authors are encouraged to review supplemental material files carefully before submission.

Supplemental material containing very large datasets should be cited in the text with a URL to the material hosted on an author-affiliated website or data repository or may appear with a note that the data is available upon request to the author.

ADA partners with Figshare to publish supplemental material online. All supplemental material files accepted for publication with the manuscript will be uploaded to Figshare by ADA production staff and linked to the article on Diabetes Spectrum. View and search all supplemental materials for Diabetes Spectrum on Figshare at diabetesjournals.figshare.com/Spectrum. 

Financial Obligations for Accepted Manuscripts

Article-processing charges are assessed for non-invited articles to help defray the costs related to the peer review, editorial production and publication, access and dissemination, and archiving and indexing of articles published in Diabetes Spectrum.

For articles submitted on or after February 1, 2024, article processing charges will be assessed at $175 per typeset journal page.

In addition, Diabetes Spectrum offers an “Open Choice” option for authors who wish to make their published article immediately accessible to nonsubscribers. By paying an additional article-processing charge of $250 per page, authors may elect to have their articles freely available on the journal's website immediately upon publication online. Upon receipt of payment and on behalf of the author, ADA will also deposit the final version of the published paper into PubMed Central. 

Authors will receive an invoice for publication fees, as well as a reprint order form, when page proofs become available. Unless otherwise indicated, it is assumed that the corresponding author takes responsibility for payment. Questions regarding billing or payment should be directed to [email protected].

ADA recognizes that authors, their institutions, or their funding bodies, particularly those from low-income countries, may be unable to meet these financial obligations. In such cases, authors should submit requests for discounts or waivers of article-processing charges via the following online form: Publication Fee Request.

It should be noted that payment of publication fees or waiver status does not in any way influence the editorial decision-making process or the publication of any paper submitted to ADA journals.