Journal Submission Guidelines

Journal Submission Guidelines

The American Homeopath journal will strive to publish and disseminate homeopathic information that remains true to the tenets of classical homeopathy as envisioned by Dr. Samuel Hahnemann in the 6th edition of the Organon. Our purpose is to promote the practice and profession of classical homeopathy and support all professional homeopaths, regardless of the medical background or other discipline from which they come, in their efforts to inform and educate themselves so that they may provide high quality homeopathic care to those who seek them out. Our guiding philosophy includes a dedication to publishing original work that maintains the integrity, honesty, humility, and spirit we have come to expect of those who truly practice a classical form of homeopathy with the purpose of bringing the sick to health.

NASH owns the copyright to all published submissions. Submissions must be original work and not have been published elsewhere.  No part of the journal may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without the written permission of the editors.

Submissions may include feature articles, interviews, case studies (A Chronic Case of Belladonna), provings (What Does Beauty Have to Do With It?), materia medica studies, research reports, book reviews and letters to the editor. Submissions may be edited for grammar, spelling and usage. Suggestions for significant revisions will be forwarded to the author for rewriting. Authors are fully responsible for the accuracy of quotations, references and data submitted.

We welcome, and strive to include, an international voice. Homeopaths and homeopathic students worldwide are most welcome to contribute as authors, reviewers, interviewers, editors or proofreaders.

The theme of Volume 31 is The Path to Excellence.  September 30th, 2024 is the absolute latest an article will be considered for publication in Volume 31. The editorial body, being completely voluntary, finds that working with authors on a staggered deadline is most helpful to the author and the editor. Therefore, please contact us at nashinfo@homeopathy.org with your submission ideas. At The American Homeopath we find each article to be as individual as are the needs of each author. We welcome your contributions to our profession.

Articles may be submitted to editor@americanhomeopath.com

Our past Editor, Deborah Hayes, offered a webinar on January 15, 2018 to help future authors prepare to submit articles to the journal.  A recording of that webinar is available for listening if you click here.  The following is a summary of the information that she shared during her webinar.

How to Write an Article for The American Homeopath

by Deborah Hayes, MBRCP(H), CCH, RSHom(NA) – Editor-in-Chief 

The Journal strives to:

• Publish information that stays true to the philosophy of classical homeopathy envisioned by Samuel Hahnemann
• Promote the practice and profession of classical homeopathy
• Support all classical homeopaths, regardless of their background and medical discipline
• Inform and educate homeopaths, so they can provide high quality care to clients

Why write an article?

Do you have a story to tell?

Do you have something you think would be useful for other homeopaths to know about?

Is there something you have learned from your practice?

Is there something that inspired you?  A book, case, seminar or insight?

Do not feel you have to be a big name or an “expert” to write an article that could inspire or help other homeopaths.

You do not need to be a NASH member to submit an article.

Types of articles

• Cases
• Materia medica
• Interviews
• History
• Philosophy
• Provings
• Research
• Community events, seminars
• Book reviews
• Obituaries

Inspired to write?  Great!!

Ready to start typing? Wonderful!

But first – take some time to organize your thoughts:

• Think about what you want to say
• List your main ideas
• Put them into a logical order
• Remember that your reader may not know what you know – explain your ideas clearly and make sure they can follow your reasoning

How to structure your article

The structure of your article is important

Article structure will vary somewhat with the type of article you are writing, but broadly speaking it should follow this pattern:

• Introduction: Give people an brief outline of what the article is about.  If you have a key idea, state it
• Main body of article: This should flow with a logical progression of ideas and/or information
• Conclusion: Summarize the main ideas and your takeaway points

Cases

First, get written permission from your client.

Anonymize names and remove identifying details.

What to include:

• Summary of client’s description of their symptoms (does not have to be a full verbatim account, just the main points)
• Your analysis of the symptoms
• Repertorization and/or rubrics chosen – you can include a repertorization chart
• Remedies considered and why
• Remedy differentiation, if you considered more than one remedy
• Brief materia medica description of remedy given
• Remedy given, including potency and repetition (and why you chose to dose in that way)
• Follow ups for at least one year for chronic cases – include any changes of remedy, potency and why

Materia medica articles

This could be information about a well-known remedy but perhaps viewed through the lens of your experience.

It could be about a new, small or little-known remedy.

You could compare two or more similar remedies to aid in differentiation.

It could be about a family of remedies e.g. the Lacs, the Lanthanides, the Mercuries.

Provide clear descriptions, with sources:

• Materia medica books, provings, or your own cases

The aim is to help fellow practitioners recognize the remedy/ies and be able to use them appropriately.

 

 

 

Articles need to be written using the AMA Style.

They must be in .doc format. Spacing between sentences should be a single space.

Editing decisions are rooted in Fowler’s Modern English Usage (Oxford: Clarendon Press) using American spelling, including the word “homeopathy” with only one “e.”

Remedy names and abbreviations should be italicized at all times except when used in the title. The remedy’s first word is capitalized, the others are not. Use remedy abbreviations only when using the full name appears cumbersome. The full name must be used for the first reference. If the first word has to be abbreviated, place a hyphen between it and the following word, e.g. Natrum mur; Nat-mur; Aur-mur-nat; Aur-m-n.

Computer Programs are italicized. Complete Rep, MacRep, RefWrks, etc, because our homeopathic software programs are also books. They replace the repertories and the materia medicas. They are a collection/database of books.

Capitalize homeopathic themes that are common in homeopathic study, e.g.: Animal Kingdom; Spider Family; Periodic Table.

Case studies should include analysis, evaluation of symptoms and repertorization. A summary of the focus of the case or article is helpful, whether as an introduction or a conclusion. One of the most important aspects of case presentation is to explain your reasoning for the remedy selection and potency choice so that it is very clear to the reader. General discussion including why other similar remedies that were considered but were not chosen, insights into difficulties or problems that were encountered, mistakes that were made, or what might have been done differently may also be of value. Acute cases should be written out in a similar manner.

Cases using newly proven remedies should include relevant proving data for the benefit of the reader. Cases using remedies without provings or insubstantial provings should provide a discussion of the substance, references to other sources of information on its homeopathic use and the basis for its selection in this case.

Appropriate follow-up should include the practitioner’s assessment, repertorization where utilized and explanation regarding repetition or change of remedy. Chronic cases should be followed for at least one year. Please include a written release from the patient (or the parent of a minor patient) and change identifying information as necessary.

Sex, Age e.g.: Male, 42 years. or Male, 6 months. (Capitalize and punctuate).

Chief complaint: Capitalize first word and punctuate.
Observations: Capitalize first word and punctuate.

Miss one line and start with patient?s words
Intensity conveyed numerically: e.g., fear of spiders (3).

Analysis
Start on next line

Rubrics
(as above)

Plan: Wait.

Prescription: Remedium 200c.

Follow-up at 1 month
Start on next line

Assessment
Start on next line

Plan: Re-take Remedium 200c.

Follow-up at 6 months
Start on next line

Assessment
Start on next line

Plan: Wait.

Author bios at the end should follow this format:
Massimo Mangialavori trained as a pediatric thoracic surgeon. He was introduced to homeopathy while studying medical anthropology with a South American shaman. He lives and practices in Italy. Email: mamu@iol.it

All accepted manuscripts become the permanent property of The North American Society of Homeopaths and may not be published elsewhere without written permission from the author and NASH.

Thank you for your interest in submitting an article for The American Homeopath!

The aim of publishing a proving is to make new information on remedies available to our fellow homeopaths and homeopathic pharmacists.  Existing remedies may be re-proven to elicit further symptom detail and new substances may be proven to expand our healing armamentarium.  Whatever the substance being tested, the information gained needs to be clear so that homeopaths may recognize a symptom picture in clients and pharmacists may know how to prepare the remedy so that it is the same as that used in the proving.  Ultimately, the information arising from a good quality proving may be included in Materia Medica, Repertories and the Homeopathic Pharmacopeia.

Provings submitted to the Journal may be regular provings of a potentized substance or trituration provings.  The following guidelines are intended to assure high quality reports of provings for the benefit of the community.

For detailed information on the methodology of conducting provings, see the Organon, aphorisms 105-145 and Provings by Paul Herscu.

Minimum number of provers: 12

Provings should be blind i.e. the provers do not know what the proving substance is. At least one prover should be given placebo to serve as a control. No one involved in the proving should know who receives placebo.

The master prover oversees the provings, coordinates the process and records the results.

State what potency(ies)  were given, the number of doses given, over what period of time.

Describe in detail the substance that was tested.  This should include the following:

Plant Kingdom:

• Name of plant: Latin and common name(s)
• Parts used e.g. flowers, buds, leaves, bark, roots, twigs, sap etc.
• Background on the source plant: i.e. properties, traditional and/or medicinal uses, scientific, natural and historical context
• Time of year the sample was obtained
• Where the sample was obtained
• How the sample was prepared

Animal Kingdom:

• Name of source species: Latin and common name(s)
• Part(s) used e.g. milk, blood, venom, body tissue(s) or organ(s) (please specify)
• Background on the source species i.e. properties, traditional and/or medicinal uses, scientific, natural and historical context
• Where the sample was obtained
• How the sample was prepared

Mineral Kingdom:

• Name of source substance: chemical and common name(s)
• If the mineral has more than one form or structure, please specify e.g. crystalline, amorphous
• Background on the source mineral i.e. properties, traditional and/or medicinal uses, scientific, natural and historical context
• Where the sample was obtained
• How the sample was prepared

The report of symptoms should be structured so as to follow the typical repertory pattern.

Striking mental/emotional, general or particular symptoms and themes should be highlighted.

Minimum number of provers: 6

Describe in detail the substance that was tested.  This should include the following:

Plant Kingdom:

• Name of plant: Latin and common name(s)
• Parts used e.g. flowers, buds, leaves, bark, roots, twigs, sap etc.
• Background on the source plant: i.e. properties, traditional and/or medicinal uses, scientific, natural and historical context
• Time of year the sample was obtained
• Where the sample was obtained
• How the sample was prepared i.e. proportion of source material to sac lac

Animal Kingdom:

• Name of source species: Latin and common name(s)
• Part(s) used e.g. milk, blood, venom, body tissue(s) or organ(s) (please specify)
• Background on the source species i.e. properties, traditional and/or medicinal uses, scientific, natural and historical context
• Where the sample was obtained
• How the sample was prepared i.e. proportion of source material to sac lac

Mineral Kingdom:

• Name of source substance: chemical and common name(s)
• If the mineral has more than one form or structure, please specify e.g. crystalline, amorphous
• Background on the source mineral i.e. properties, traditional and/or medicinal uses, scientific, natural and historical context
• Where the sample was obtained
• How the sample was prepared i.e. proportion of source material to sac lac

Describe in detail how the trituration was carried out, including the number of rounds.

The report should be structured to describe:

• Symptoms elicited at each round of trituration
• Symptoms ordered by typical repertory layout
• Striking mental/emotional, general or particular symptoms and themes should be highlighted

Accounts of provings should be submitted in word.doc format, preferably in Times font, single-spaced.