Submissions

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Author Guidelines

Authors are invited to make a submission to this journal. All submissions will be assessed by an editor to determine whether they meet the aims and scope of this journal. Those considered to be a good fit will be sent for peer review before determining whether they will be accepted or rejected.

Before making a submission, authors are responsible for obtaining permission to publish any material included with the submission, such as photos, documents and datasets. All authors identified on the submission must consent to be identified as an author. Where appropriate, research should be approved by an appropriate ethics committee in accordance with the legal requirements of the study's country.

Aims and Scope:

Pain and Rehabilitation is a peer-reviewed, multimedia, open-access journal published in collaboration with the Physiotherapy Pain Association.  The purpose of this journal is to share original research, service evaluation, review and protocol articles that contribute to improving the understanding of people with pain and associated care and rehabilitation. Our mission is to encourage dialogue among rehabilitation professionals, patients, families, caregivers, and policymakers about our understanding of pain, how we design services and care for people with pain.  

In that spirit, Pain and Rehabilitation publishes work that reflects and analyses any topic associated with our purpose. We publish work in several genres, including perspectives pieces, personal narratives, reflections, poetry, video or photo essays, or original research articles.  We are also looking for reviews of films or books that may be relevant to this topic, or a personal blog/reflection that describes an interaction and provides a learning experience associated with understanding pain or the care for those living with pain. Accordingly, clinicians, researchers, students, patients, caregivers, healthcare professionals and administrators are all challenged to submit creative works to Pain and Rehabilitation.

Members of the editorial board oversee a rigorous peer review process and help to set standards that ensure the quality of the journal. In addition, Pain and Rehabilitation uses the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) as a resource for maintaining journalistic integrity. Authors retain copyright of the content they produce with limited rights granted to Pain and Rehabilitation. Pain and Rehabilitation is freely available to individuals and institutions.

Submit your way:

To simplify and reduce barriers to submission, we have different requirements for new and revised submissions. You can submit your manuscript either as singular Word or PDF file during the initial stages of the peer review process. It is only upon entry into the revision phase that you will be required to format your paper appropriately for acceptance and include the required elements for publication.

Instructions-

  • Authors can submit their complete manuscript (including text, figures, and tables) as a single file, either in Word or PDF format, with no specific layout requirements. Figures should meet high-quality standards for refereeing.
  • While there are no stringent formatting rules, all manuscripts must include essential elements for evaluation: Abstract, Keywords, Introduction, Materials & Methods, Results, Conclusions, Artwork, and Tables with Captions.
  • References can follow any consistent style, with author(s) name(s), journal title/book title, article title (if applicable), publication year, volume & issue/book chapter, and pagination. Use of DOI is required where available, and the journal's reference style will be applied during the proof stage.
  • During the revision phase, authors will be asked to provide any outstanding items necessary for publication, such as editable source files.

Submission Preparation Checklist

All submissions must meet the following requirements.

  • This submission meets the requirements outlined in the Author Guidelines.
  • This submission has not been previously published, nor is it before another journal for consideration.
  • All references have been checked for accuracy and completeness.
  • All tables and figures have been numbered and labelled.
  • Permission has been obtained to publish all photos, datasets and other material provided with this submission.

Articles

This is the default submission type. 

Service Evaluations

Why we welcome service evaluations

Pain and Rehabilitation values the unique insights generated through service evaluations, particularly those that enhance understanding of assessment and management in real-world settings. These projects often provide vital evidence on the feasibility, acceptability, and early impacts of service delivery models, care pathways, or clinical innovations—evidence that is highly relevant to our readership.

By publishing high-quality service evaluations, we aim to:

  • Promote learning from local innovations that may be adapted or scaled.
  • Support practitioners in evidencing clinical reasoning and service development.
  • Amplify practitioner-led contributions to the evidence base in pain and rehabilitation.

Submission Requirements

To ensure governance and ethical integrity, all service evaluation submissions must include the following. Submissions that do not meet these requirements will not proceed to peer review.

  1. Governance confirmation
  • A clear statement that the project received local governance approval (e.g. via an NHS Trust R&D office, service evaluation committee, or equivalent health organisation).
  • A screenshot from the HRA Decision Tool confirming the project is classified as a service evaluation.
  • Supporting documentation or a governance reference number should be attached at the time of submission.
  1. Explicit classification as a service evaluation
  • The manuscript must explicitly identify the work as a service evaluation.
  • Confirmation should be provided that the project aimed to assess existing practice and did not introduce any intervention beyond usual care.
  • Please ensure the work is not framed as clinical audit or research unless appropriately approved and classified.
  1. Ethical and data protection considerations
  • A statement outlining adherence to institutional policies on consent, confidentiality, and data protection (e.g. GDPR).
  • A description of how patient, service user, or staff data were anonymised or pseudonymised.
  • If applicable, detail any opt-out procedures, information provided to participants, or use of routinely collected data.
  1. Transparent methodology
  • A clear and structured account of objectives, methods, and outcome measures (qualitative and/or quantitative).
  • Justification for the chosen data collection methods and timeframe.
  • Any limitations related to data quality or completeness should be acknowledged.
  1. Reflexivity and limitations
  • An honest appraisal of the project’s limitations, including those related to design, implementation, or generalisability.
  • A reflective discussion of how findings contribute to service improvement and inform future practice or evaluation efforts.

Recommended Practice

We strongly encourage the following best practices when preparing your manuscript:

  • Use of reporting frameworks: Consider using the SQUIRE 2.0 guidelines to enhance transparency and consistency in reporting.
  • Patient and public involvement: Where appropriate, describe how patients, service users, carers, or staff were involved in developing, delivering, or evaluating the service. This may include engagement in design, data collection, interpretation, or dissemination.
  • Collaborative authorship: We welcome co-authorship with clinical teams, practitioners, and those with lived experience of the service being evaluated, where contributions meet authorship criteria.

Copyright Notice

Authors retain copyright of the content they produce with limited rights granted to Pain and Rehabilitation. 

Privacy Statement

The names and email addresses entered in this journal site will be used exclusively for the stated purposes of this journal and will not be made available for any other purpose or to any other party.