Guidelines for authors

About the magazine
Exchange on HIV and AIDS, Sexuality and Gender is an international magazine, published four times per year in English and Portuguese by the Royal Tropical Institute (KIT) in the Netherlands, in collaboration with Southern Africa HIV and AIDS Information Dissemination Service (SAfAIDS) in South Africa. It is the successor to Sexual Health Exchange, which was published by KIT and SAfAIDS until 2005.

Our readers can be found in all parts of the world. The magazine’s key objective is to share information, good practices and experiences regarding HIV and AIDS work among organisations and countries. Our main focus is on grassroots organisations, although we also have many readers in government services, the media, international NGOs, UN agencies and the donor community.

In short, we want to include a variety of articles showing the many dimensions and strategies of providing sexual health-related services in different parts of the world. Each edition of the Exchange has one main theme.

Some writing tips

• Keep in mind that the average reader is not a scholar, but a programme manager, health educator or (community) health worker based in an NGO or community-based organisation. 
• Try to avoid the use of notes, references, figures and tables. 
• Be concise. Keep the number of words restricted to 1200. 
• Add sufficient detail and refer to the literature, but avoid over-detailed descriptions. For instance, write "more than half of the women thought..." instead of: "52.8% of the women thought..." Another example: "A research conducted by the University of Addis Ababa in Ethiopia showed that roughly a quarter of women were HIV-infected" instead of: "Kilmer et al. (1999) found HIV prevalence ranging from 22-28% among women in Ethiopia". 
• Try to add evidence of any kind to your statements. Examples: “According to UNAIDS, the majority of women….” instead of: “The majority of women…” Another example. If you state: “Our programme was very successful”, the reader needs proof of this. Can you refer to the results of an evaluation, a clients’ survey, etc.? 
• Try to use easy-to-understand language – many of our readers are not fluent in English. 
• Try to depersonalise your experiences. Instead of: “From my experiences as a QWEP co-ordinator”; write: “We realised that…”, or “From its experiences, QWEP learned that…” You are free to use “we” if you refer to your organisation. The only exception to this rule is in the article section Experiences, where the use of “I” is actually encouraged.

Editorial procedure

After receipt, your article will be reviewed by the editors and others, and a selection process will take place. Please note that we usually receive a few more articles than can be published. The selection criteria are:

·        Does the theme of this article fit sufficiently in the editorial formula? If so, did the author(s) follow the guidelines pertaining to the particular article section?

·        If accepted for publication, the article will be edited and then returned to you for improvement or clarification. Before publication, you will receive a final draft for your approval.

·        The article should be written in English or Portuguese; if you are not fluent in any of these languages, please do not worry about the quality, our editors can help to improve the text.

Illustrations 

After your article has been accepted for publication, we would like to receive appropriate photos or other types of illustrations (brochure covers, stickers, logos etc.). These can be sent to us by ordinary mail (see address below), but preferably as e-mail attachments (scanned photos). The minimum number of dpi (dots per inch) should be 300.

Article categories

The kind of articles we are looking for would describe experiences with programmes/projects, action research and evaluation, approaches or policies.

Each edition of the Exchange has different types of articles:

1.     Practice articles

(Categories: Lessons / Pilots / Experiences)

-> Focus on capturing good practice and (personal) experiences

Lessons – An article in the Lessons section is analytical and describes a particular programme or project which could be used as a model or example (“good practice”) for other places in the world. A programme described in this section should be of sufficient scale and should exist for a considerable time. Descriptions of projects that only run for a limited time will not be included in this section.

Basically, a Lessons article gives information on a particular problem in a particular country, followed by the solutions found by a particular organization/programme. After a short description of the main objectives of the programme, the key elements of the article should include: 

• lessons learned (including challenges) 
• future concerns and plans (recommendations).

Please note that this type of article should include a critical reflection on the lessons learned, and should not only include the main achievements but also the challenges/constraints and a description of what will be done to address these. Why do you consider your programme a "good practice" and what proof do you have that it is one? Has any evaluation or user satisfaction survey been carried out and if so, what were the results? What can other programmes learn from this example? Is it sustainable and easily replicable? What still needs to be done to reach your objectives?

Pilot – A special variant of the Lessons article is a Pilot article, which describes a pilot programme. It is important here to describe why a particular programme/project was chosen (based on research, adaptation of an existing model, etc.) and the lessons learned, either positive or negative.

Experiences – Describes the personal experiences of either a staff member or a client (e.g., a youngster or a PLHIV) with the implementation of a particular project/programme. Should be different from an article in category 1 or 2: it is about personal experiences and reflections, not programmatic experiences.

2.     General articles

(Categories: Insight / Viewpoint)

-> Focus on problem description and (possible) solutions

An article in the sections Insight or Viewpoint addresses a specific topic from a particular point of view; can be an overview article as well. Usually, such an article does not give much information on the programme / project / organisation in which the author is involved, but focuses on the topic or problem. Examples of different programmes or interventions can be given, including those carried out by the author’s organisation. Critical articles on bad practice are welcome too, as well as policy notes, which describe new policies. The process of policy development is particularly interesting here. Who took the initiative, what were the steps taken? How is the policy implemented and what are the lessons learned so far?

Proposed structure:

• description of the problem, issue or approach 
• some data to substantiate the claims 
• proposed or actual solutions found 
• examples of successful programmes, organisations, countries (“good practices”) 
• conclusions and recommendations.

Up to three notes or references are allowed.

3.     Research articles

(Categories: Findings / Informing practice / Evaluation notes)

-> Focus on results that are interesting for practitioners and lessons for good practice

It is important to note that Exchange is a magazine and not a journal. Articles are mainly read by HIV and AIDS programme implementers and managers in NGOs and CBOs and health staff and to a lesser degree by researchers and policy makers. Thus, articles should be practical: what can health and social practitioners learn from the results of your literature review, study or evaluation?

There are three types of research articles that are appropriate for publication in Exchange:

1) Informing practice – Literature review on a certain issue

This type of article is an overview providing an evidence base for improved programming. Based on a review of the existing literature, the article should provide lessons learned for practitioners from research on a certain topic or approach. Examples are: what can AIDS programme developers learn from the lessons learned by other organizations and programmes, what does the literature say on gender-transformative approaches to HIV prevention, or: what guidelines can be drawn from the literature on comprehensive sexuality education?

2) Findings – Research results of a single, action-oriented study

This type of article gives the results of a particular study, of sufficient scale, conducted recently to provide the evidence base for a particular programme or campaign. It is important to note that such an article should be grounded in practice, i.e., the study described should not be an isolated initiative but should be part of a (pilot) programme leading to new or adapted interventions. We rarely publish the results of KABP studies, unless they were done to directly inform interventions.

3) Evaluation notes – Results of the evaluation of a particular large scale, long running programme or campaign

This type of article should clearly outline the lessons that can be learned from the evaluation exercise, both positive outcomes and failures, as both provide useful lessons for programmers. Evaluation results can also be included in a Lessons article (see group 1) which is a programme description based on evidence.

Up to three notes or references are allowed.

Please decide in advance what kind of article you would like to write and consult the Managing Editor on the section of your choice. The maximum number of words for all submissions is 1200.

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