Editorial policy

East African Journal of Health Sciences (East Afri J Health Sci.) editorial policy describes guidelines in the publication process of our journal. It is an open access journal focusing on publishing health research. The journal uses a continuous publication approach to allow quick publication of research in a variety of health research areas. It publishes original research articles, case report or case series, editorial, communication, supplement and reviews. The reviews include meta-analysis, systematic review, narratives or literature reviews, scoping reviews, review of evidences and others. Peer review is required before submissions are published, and accepted manuscripts will be published with reviewers' feedback.

Specifically, our Journal adopts and strives to adhere to the following standards and requirements:

  • COPE- Committee on Publication Ethics
  • ICMJE- International Committee of Medical Journal Editors
  • STM- International Association of Scientific, Technical & Medical Publishers
  • WAME– World Association of Medical Editors

Authorship

An author is an individual who has significantly contributed to the development of a manuscript. ICMJE recommends that authorship be based on the following four criteria:

  • Substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work; or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work; AND
  • Drafting the work or revising it critically for important intellectual content; AND
  • Final approval of the version to be published; AND
  • Agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.

 Changes in authorship

  • Whenever there is a need to make changes in the authorship of a manuscript or a published article, the changes will be implemented according toCOPE Only corresponding authors can make a request for a change in authorship. Request should be made to the editor using the contact us.

Submission of Manuscript

  • Authors should read the “Instruction for Authors” on the journal’s page before making a submission. The manuscript should be prepared according to the style and specifications of the journal’s policy.

 Acknowledgement

  • Individuals who participated in the development of a manuscript but do not qualify as an author should be acknowledged. Organizations that provide support in terms of funding and/or other resources should also be acknowledged.

Confidentiality

  • The submitted manuscript is confidential material. Our Journals will not disclose the submitted manuscript to anyone except individuals who partake in the processing and preparation of the manuscript for publication (if accepted). These individuals include editorial staff, corresponding authors, potential reviewers, actual reviewers, and editors.  However, in suspected cases of misconduct, a manuscript may be revealed to members of Academic Journals’ ethics committee and institutions/organizations that may require it for the resolution of the misconduct.  

Competing interests

  • East Afri J Health Sci. requires authors to declare all competing interests in relation to their research work. All submitted manuscripts must include a ‘competing interests’ section at the end of the manuscript listing all competing interests (financial and non-financial). Where authors have no competing interests, the statement should read “The author(s) declare(s) that they have no competing interests”.
  • Editors and reviewers are also required to declare any competing interests and may be excluded from the peer review process if a competing interest exists.

Financial competing interests

  • Financial competing interests include (but are not limited to):
  • Receiving reimbursements, fees, funding, or salary from an organization that may in any way gain or lose financially from the publication of the manuscript, either now or in the future.
  • Holding stocks or shares in an organization that may in any way gain or lose financially from the publication of the manuscript, either now or in the future.
  • Holding, or currently applying for, patents relating to the content of the manuscript.
  • Receiving reimbursements, fees, funding, or salary from an organization that holds or has applied for patents relating to the content of the manuscript.

Non-financial competing interests

Non-financial competing interests include (but are not limited to) political, personal, religious, ideological, academic, and intellectual competing interests. If, after reading these guidelines,

Ethics approval

  • Research involving human participants, human material, or human data, must have been performed in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinkiand must have been approved by an appropriate ethics committee. A statement detailing this, including the name of the ethics committee and the reference number where appropriate, must appear in all manuscripts reporting such research.

Consent to participate

  • For all research involving human participants, informed consent to participate in the study should be obtained from participants (or their parent or legal guardian in the case of children under 16) and a statement to this effect should appear in the manuscript. For manuscripts reporting studies involving vulnerable groups (for example, unconscious patients) where there is the potential for coercion (for example prisoners) or where consent may not have been fully informed, manuscripts will be considered at the editor’s discretion and may be referred to an internal editorial oversight group for further scrutiny. Consent must be obtained for all forms of personally identifiable data including biomedical, clinical, and biometric data.

Research involving animals

  • Experimental research on vertebrates or any regulated invertebrates must comply with institutional, national, or international guidelines, and where available should have been approved by an appropriate ethics committee. The International Council for Laboratory Animal Science (ICLAS) has published ethical guidelines.
  • A statement detailing compliance with relevant guidelines (e.g. the revised Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986in the UK and Directive 2010/63/EU in Europe) and/or ethical approval (including the name of the ethics committee and the reference number where appropriate) must be included in the manuscript.

Editorial Board Members, Guest Editors and Editors

  • Editorial Board Members, Guest Editors and Editors are required to declare any competing interests and may be excluded from the peer review process if a competing interest exists.