Anyone may submit his/her web-enabled educational multimedia to HEAL for peer review. Items are submitted one file at a time through the HEAL Submission Page (login required).

After submission, resources undergo a two-step review process. First it undergoes a cursory screening review to ensure that it meets the HEAL collection scope and has no HIPAA identifiers. If the item meets all screening criteria, it enters the formal peer review process. Please note that you must be the copyright holder or authorized by the copyright holder to make a submission.

All authors are encouraged to read the following information before submitting an item.

• How does the peer review process work?
• Is there a suggested number of items that I should submit?
• Why do I need to register on the HEAL site to submit resources?
• What kinds of educational resources are appropriate for HEAL?
• How much descriptive information is required for each item I submit?
• What is the target audience of HEAL?
• May I submit a small collection of resources as a single unit for peer review?
• Who owns the resources that are submitted to HEAL?
• Can I submit materials that have been published elsewhere (e.g., in MedEdPortal)?
• Do I have any control over how my accepted resources are subsequently used by others?
• Who are the reviewers?
• How will I be notified regarding my submission?
• If my resources are accepted, how long will it take for them to be available through HEAL after they are initially submitted?
• How will users discover my resources after they have been accepted into the HEAL Collection?
• Where do I go to submit resources?
• My organization has an existing collection of resources available online that we would like to share. How do we do this?
• What resources are available to answer other questions?

 

• How does the peer review process work?

  All items submitted by authors will undergo the peer review process, which follows the traditional scholarly model of peer review. Two unbiased reviewers will use a standardized instrument to rate each item in terms of content quality, presentation, effectiveness, and significance. Items may be accepted, conditionally accepted or rejected. The resources are not blinded for review. Reviewer comments will be made available to the author after the review.

 

• Is there a suggested number of items that I should submit?

  There is no minimum or maximum number of items that an author may submit.

 

• Why do I need to register on the HEAL site to submit resources?

  By registering with HEAL, users enter their information once rather than each time an item is contributed.

 

• What kinds of educational resources are appropriate for HEAL?

  The HEAL collection accommodates a wide variety of multimedia formats, including dynamic, interactive, and executable resources. All resources must be viewable/executable through a standard web browser. Resources requiring browser plug-ins are acceptable.

  Common formats include images, videos, animations, and audio files.

 

• How much descriptive information is required for each item I submit?

  Supplying appropriate and sufficient descriptive information for every item submitted is very important as it helps other faculty both discover the resource and appreciate how it might be used in their educational environment. In addition, reviewers are specifically asked to rate both the quantity and quality of descriptive information (i.e., "metadata") that authors provide.

  In general, the more descriptive information you provide the better.

 

• What is the target audience of HEAL?

  The target audience is "health care educators." Educational resources for higher education, health professions education, and consumer health/patient education are all appropriate. Resources from all the health sciences (i.e., resources from medicine, nursing, pharmacy, etc.) are all welcomed.

 

• May I submit a small collection of resources as a single unit for peer review?

  Yes.

 

• Who owns the resources that are submitted to HEAL?

  The contributing faculty and/or institutions retain copyright ownership to submitted items. This copyright information is coupled with the item and is evident to all users of the HEAL site.

  All author-submitted items that are accepted into HEAL are placed in the HEAL Reviewed Collection, will be associated with the HEAL logo, and will be hosted from HEAL servers.

 

• Can I submit materials that have been published elsewhere (e.g., in MedEdPortal)?

  Yes. HEAL’s main mission is to disseminate high-quality educational materials. We gladly add such resources to our index, even if they have been published elsewhere. If rigorous peer review was conducted by another publisher, HEAL will not have the materials reviewed again. They will be made available on the HEAL site as an “Affiliate Collection.”

 

• Do I have any control over how my accepted resources are subsequently used by others?

  Yes. HEAL allows authors to generate a copyright license based on the widely-accepted Creative Commons framework. This framework creates a license by asking the following questions:

  • Allow commercial uses of your work?
  • Allow modifications of your work?

  The author will be able to review and print out the usage license for their own use. All items made available through HEAL are associated with the Creative Commons licenses.

 

• Who are the reviewers?

  Reviewers are faculty at an accredited institution of higher education that have expertise in one of the basic or clinical sciences. Notably, they are "peer users" of instructional technology (not necessarily "peer developers") and have demonstrated excellence in teaching.

 

• How will I be notified regarding my submission?

  You will be informed by email regarding the status of your submission.

 

• If my resources are accepted, how long will it take for them to be available through HEAL after they are initially submitted?

  It takes several weeks for an item to be made available on the HEAL web site after it is initially submitted.

 

• How will users discover my resources after they have been accepted into the HEAL Collection?

  Your resources will reside in the HEAL database alongside other resources. The descriptive information you supply will help HEAL users discover your resources as they search. In addition, users are able to restrict their search by author.

 

• Where do I go to submit resources?

  Go to the HEAL Submission Page (login required).

 

• My organization has an existing collection of resources available online that we would like to share. How do we do this?

  HEAL has a mechanism by which existing online collections or digital libraries can partner with HEAL to both send and receive content. To learn more about partnering with HEAL to share your online collection, please contact us at submit@healcentral.org.

 

• What resources are available to answer other questions?

  For more general information see About HEAL. For specific inquires about submitting for peer review and publication in HEAL, send an email to Editor Sebastian Uijtdehaage at submit@healcentral.org.