Scope:
The Journal of The Egyptian Public Health Association (JEPHA) is a quarterly journal devoted to publishing high quality research articles in the full spectrum of public health and community medicine fields, in particular, epidemiology, health management, statistics, occupational and environmental, family and tropical health. The journal accepts papers of original research that contribute to the advancement of knowledge of Public Health at large.
The journal publishes original research, review articles, policy briefs, short communication, clinical trials, short research reports, editorials, and letters to the editor.
The peer review process is applied to all submissions. All manuscripts should be written in English. The journal is indexed/abstracted in Index Medicus, PubMed, PubMed Central, Ovid, SCOPUS, EBSCO, Index Copernicus, Cabell’s Directory of Publishing Opportunities, HINARI (United Nation’s Database) and Google Scholar. The journal is currently included in the Web of Science Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI) and is also planned to be included in the full ISI Thomson Reuters Index.
All abstracts are cited in the mentioned databases as soon as they are issued. They can be accessed at the journal web site at: www.ephaj.com.
BEFORE YOU SUBMIT
Ethics committee approval
The Journal follows the international standards and guidelines on the conduct and publication of health research including: Declaration of Helsinki; the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE); and the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE).
Submission of a manuscript to JEPHA implies that all authors have read and agreed to its content and that any experimental research that is reported in the manuscript has been performed with the approval of an appropriate ethics committee. Research carried out on humans must be in compliance with the Helsinki Declaration. A statement to this effect should appear in the Methods section, including the name of the body which gave approval. Informed consent should also be documented. Similarly, for experiments involving animals you must state the care of animal and licensing guidelines under which the study was performed. If ethics clearance was not necessary, or if there was any deviation from these standard ethical requests, please state why it was not required. Please note that the editors may ask you to provide evidence of ethical approval.
Submission declaration
Submission of an article implies that the work described has not been published previously (except in the form of an abstract or as part of a published lecture or academic thesis or as a preliminary findings in a conference), that it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere, that its publication is approved by all authors and tacitly or explicitly by the responsible authorities where the work was carried out, and that, if accepted, it will not be published elsewhere in the same form, in English or in any other language, including electronically without the written consent of the copyright-holder.
To verify originality
All submissions are screened for plagiarism using an automated software. Manuscripts may be rejected if the editorial office considers that the research has not been carried out within an ethical framework.
Authorship
We ask all authors to confirm that they have read and approved the paper. Second, we ask all authors to confirm that they have met the criteria for authorship as established by the ICMJE, believe that the paper represents honest work, and are able to verify thevalidity of the results reported. All persons designated as authors should qualify for authorship and all those who qualify should be listed. Each author should have participated sufficiently in the work to take public responsibility for appropriate portions of the content. One or more authors should take responsibility for the integrity of the work as a whole, from inception to published article. Authorship credit should be based only on 1) substantial contributions to conception and design, or acquisition of data, or analysis and interpretation of data; 2) drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content; 3) final approval of the version to be published. Conditions 1, 2 and 3 must all be met. Acquisition of funding, the collection of data or general supervision of the research group, by themselves, do not justify authorship. All others who contributed to the work who are not authors should be named in the Acknowledgements section.
Conflict of interest
All authors are requested to disclose any actual or potential conflict of interest including any financial, personal or other relationships with other people or organizations within the period of conducting the submitted work that could inappropriately influence, or be perceived to influence, their work.
Funding source
Authors are requested to identify who provided financial support for the conduct of the research and/or preparation of the article and to briefly describe the role of the sponsor(s), if any.
Copyright
Upon acceptance of an article, authors will be asked to complete a 'Copyright Transfer Agreement” (CTA). A link to the online version of this CTA is present in the author’s page. After acceptance of the manuscript, this form should be downloaded, signed by all authors, photocopied and uploaded alongside the accepted version.
Language (usage and editing services)
The text should be written in good English to avoid desk rejection without peer review (American or British usage is accepted, but not a mixture of these). Authors who feel their English language manuscript may require editing to eliminate possible grammatical or spelling errors and to conform to correct scientific English may use an English Language Editing service.
Manuscript Submission:
On-line manuscript submission:
The corresponding author will be guided stepwise through the creation and uploading of the various files. The system automatically converts source files to a single PDF file of the article, which is used in the peer-review process. Please note that even though manuscript source files are converted to PDF files at submission, these source files are needed and will be used during the peer review. All correspondence, including notification of the Editors' decision and requests for revision, takes place by e-mail.
First-time users: Please click the Register button and enter the requested information. On successful registration, you will be sent an e-mail indicating your user name and password. Note: Once you have an assigned ID and password, you do not have to re-register, even if your status changes (that is, author, reviewer, or editor); Just log in. Authors: Please click the log-in button from the menu at the top of the page and log in to the system as an Author. Submit your manuscript according to the author instructions. You will be able to track the progress of your manuscript through the system. If you experience any problems, please contact: jepha_Alex@yahoo.com or samia_nossier@yahoo.com.
It is critical to ensure the accuracy of ALL authors’ email addresses when uploading submissions to Editorial Manager to ensure the proper delivery of all email communications.
Authors are given the option to provide the editorial office with the names and email addresses of 2 potential Referees that are able to competently review the article submitted for possible publication. The Referees are not to be associated with or involved with the article in any way or be from the same institution as the Author(s) involved with the article. The journal may or may not communicate with these suggested referees to peer-review the manuscript.
Submission checklist
A list is provided as a hyperlink on the page of the corresponding author. The list will be useful during the final checking of an article prior to sending it to the journal for review. It helps the corresponding author to be sure that all the requirements for submission are fulfilled.
Ensure that the following items are present:
• E-mail address (add the institutional email)
• Full postal address
• Keywords
• All figure captions
Further considerations
• Manuscript has been 'spell-checked' and 'grammar-checked'
• References are in the correct format for this journal (Vancouver)
• All references mentioned in the Reference list are cited in the text, and vice versa
• Permission has been obtained for use of copyrighted material from other sources
• Indicate clearly whether or not color or black-and-white in print is required.
Peer review policy
The decision to publish a manuscript is based on the opinion of the editor and at least two other reviewers. Articles containing statistical analysis will also receive a statistical review. Reviewers’ names will not be revealed to the author. Manuscripts are accepted for publication on the understanding that they have not been submitted simultaneously to another journal and that the work was not previously published. Prior publication of abstracts will not prejudice publishing of the complete study. The editors reserve the right to make editorial and grammatical corrections. The editors may ask authors to provide copies of damage or loss of typescripts, illustrations or photographs. Statements and opinions expressed in the articles are those of the authors and the editors disclaim any responsibility or liability for this material.
We aim to reach a first decision on all manuscripts within two weeks of submission. All papers are initially screened by the Editor-in-Chief for importance and relevance to the scope of the journal. At this stage, rejection without external peer review takes place quickly; within one week. Common reasons for desk rejection are: fundamental flaws in research design and methods, mismatch with the scope of the journal or lack of clear public health implications of the point studied. Initially accepted manuscripts are delivered to the appropriate reviewers. The process of reviewing an average paper takes about 3-6 months from receipt of manuscript to acceptance. Online publication takes place within one month of acceptance.
Manuscript general format
Title Page
This page should carry the full title and a ‘‘running head’’ of no more than 40 characters including spaces. It should carry the following information below the title of the article: Authors’ names, academic degrees, and institutional affiliation (i.e. the name of the department(s) and institution(s) to which the work should be attributed) and the full name, title, mailing address (complete address for correspondence (include street name and address as well as PO box, if applicable), telephone number, and e-mail addresses of all authors.
Abstract and Keywords
The abstract should be structured and provide the context or background for the study, the study’s purposes, methodology, main findings and principal conclusions. Acronyms and abbreviations should be used sparingly. Define acronyms at first use with the definition placed in parentheses. Acronym can then be used after the first mention and definition. The abstract is preferred not to exceed one page. Authors should identify 3-5 keywords that capture the main topics of the article.
Tables
All tables should be written at the desired position within the text of paper (Not). As an alternative, they may be written at the end of the text after the list of references and the author may include a pointer (e.g., by inserting the title/number of the table) within the results section which specify the desired position of the table. Each table should be typed with adequate line spacing and should have a clear complete concise title. Tables should be numbered consecutively using Arabic numbers.
Figures
Here are the basics to have in place before submitting your digital art to JEPHA:
- Text and fonts in any figure should be in one of the acceptable fonts: Helvetica, Times Roman, Symbol, Mathematical PI, and European PI.
- Each figure saved as a separate file and saved separately from the accompanying text file.
- For multi-panel or composite figures only: Any figure with multiple parts should be sent as one file with each part labeled the way it is to appear in print.
- Color images are created/scanned and saved and submitted as CMYK only. Do not submit any figures in RGB mode because RGB is the color mode used for screens/monitors and CMYK is the color mode used for print.
- Line art saved at a resolution of at least 1200 dpi.
- Images saved at a resolution of at least 300 dpi.
- Cite figures consecutively in your manuscript. Illustrations should be referred to in the body of the text.
- Number figures in the figure legend in the order in which they are discussed.
- Upload figures consecutively to the Editorial Manager web site and number figures consecutively using the Description box during upload.
- The journal publishes colored illustrations and the author pays for the extra cost.
After acceptance
Proofs
The corresponding author will receive, via email, the page proofs of the paper in a PDF format. Corrections should be e-mailed back to the Publisher within two days of receipt of the e-mail. It is critical to provide accurate and current e-mail addresses in the manuscript so that page proofs are not delayed.
PDF proofs which can be annotated; for this you will need to download Adobe Reader version 9 (or higher) available free from http://get.adobe.com/reader. Instructions on how to annotate PDF files will accompany the proofs (also given online). The exact system requirements are given at the Adobe site: http://www.adobe.com/products/reader/tech-specs.html.
Significant changes to the article as accepted for publication will only be considered at this stage with permission from the Editor. It is important to ensure that all corrections are sent back to the publisher in one communication: please check carefully before replying, as inclusion of any subsequent corrections cannot be guaranteed. Proofreading is solely your responsibility.
Offprints
The corresponding author will, at no cost, receive a customized Share Link providing one- year free access to the final published version of the article. The Share Link can be used for sharing the article via any communication channel, including email and social media.
Reprints
Authors receive 30 reprints; additional reprints can be ordered at an extra charge. Reprints are normally shipped 6 to 8 weeks after publication of the issue in which the item appears.
Publication Charges
Accepted manuscripts are subject to charges to cover the cost of publication. Charges are calculated after initial acceptance of the peer reviewed manuscript. The journal does not waive publication charges/Article Processing Charges (APCs) for authors from developing countries.
Current average charges can be obtained prior to submission by contacting: jepha_Alex@yahoo.com or samia_nossier@yahoo.com.
Abstracting and Indexing Information
Indexing
The journal is indexed/abstracted in Index Medicus, PubMed, PubMed Central, SCOPUS, EBSCO, Index Copernicus, Cabell's Directory of Publishing Opportunities, HINARI(United Nation's Database) and Google Scholar.
Society Affiliation
The Official Journal of the Egyptian Public Health Association
For enquiries:
1- Dr. Sawsan Fahmy
Editor-in-chief J Egypt Public Health Assoc.
High Institute of Public Health
Alexandria University
165 El-Horreya Avenue
El-Hadara, Alexandria, Egypt
Work: + 20 34257909
E-mail: jepha_Alex@yahoo.com
2- Dr. Samia Nossier
Professor of Maternal and Child Health
Executive Editor of: J Egypt Public Health Assoc.
High Institute of Public Health
Alexandria University
165 El-Horreya Avenue
El-Hadara, Alexandria, Egypt
Mobile: + 20 0107693926
Home: + 20 (3) 4286448
Work: + 20 34257909
E-mail: samia_nossier@yahoo.com