- Journal of Public Health International
- ISSN 2641-4538
- Open access · CC BY 4.0
Aims and Scope
The Journal of Public Health International publishes research on the health of populations across all of public health, with epidemiology as a core area.
What the journal sets out to do
- To publish rigorous research on the distribution and determinants of health, disease, injury and disability in populations, and on how they can be prevented and controlled.
- To strengthen the methods of epidemiology, surveillance, evaluation and policy analysis on which public-health decisions depend.
- To report evidence that informs public-health practice, programs and policy in every region, including settings where resources for research are limited.
- To make this research openly available, so that researchers, practitioners, policymakers and educators can read and reuse it freely.
Research areas
JPHI considers research on any aspect of public health. Epidemiology is a core area of the journal, and the journal welcomes work from the full range of disciplines that contribute to population health. The areas below are illustrative and form part of a wider field, including:
- Epidemiology and epidemiological methods
- Infectious disease epidemiology and control
- Noncommunicable and chronic disease
- Disease surveillance and public-health informatics
- Outbreak investigation and emergency preparedness
- Environmental and occupational health
- Climate change and health
- Nutrition and food environments
- Maternal, child and adolescent health
- Mental health and substance use
- Injury and violence prevention
- Immunization and vaccine programs
- Health promotion and health behavior
- Health equity and social determinants of health
- Global and international health
- Health systems, services and financing
- Health policy, law and governance
- Health economics and economic evaluation
- Biostatistics, modeling and data science for public health
- Public-health practice, education and workforce
Contributions from the biomedical, clinical, laboratory, social, behavioral, environmental, data and computational sciences are welcome when they address a question about the health of populations. A topic that is not named above is within scope when it meets that test.
Designs and approaches welcomed
JPHI considers quantitative, qualitative and mixed-methods research. Study designs are reported within the article types listed below; cohort, cross-sectional and modeling studies, for example, are submitted as Original Research.
- Observational studies
- Cohort, case-control, cross-sectional and ecological studies, including analyses of registries and routinely collected health data.
- Intervention studies
- Randomized and non-randomized trials, cluster and stepped-wedge designs, and natural experiments.
- Evaluation
- Evaluations of programs, services and policies, including implementation research and economic evaluation.
- Modeling and prediction
- Mathematical, statistical and simulation models of transmission, disease burden, risk and the effects of interventions or policies.
- Surveillance analyses
- Analyses of surveillance data and systems, and investigations of outbreaks and disease clusters.
- Qualitative and mixed methods
- Interview, focus-group, ethnographic and participatory research, alone or combined with quantitative data.
- Descriptive studies and surveys
- Descriptive epidemiology, prevalence studies and needs-assessment surveys that inform population health.
- Evidence synthesis
- Systematic reviews, meta-analyses and scoping reviews.
- Methodological research
- New, adapted or validated methods for measurement, analysis, surveillance and evaluation.
What makes a manuscript a fit
Manuscripts are assessed for their relevance to population health, the soundness of their methods and whether their conclusions are proportionate to the evidence. Clinical, laboratory and single-setting studies are considered when they address a question about the health of populations.
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Case reports
Case Reports, including short case series, are accepted when the case carries a lesson for population health, such as a sentinel event, an unusual exposure, a new route of transmission or a finding that matters for surveillance or prevention.
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Commentaries and letters
Commentaries and Letters are accepted when they make a reasoned argument, supported by evidence and cited sources, on a public-health question or on work published in JPHI.
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Descriptive surveys
Descriptive surveys and other descriptive studies are accepted when they report population-health data with clear methods, an appropriate sampling approach and an account of their limitations.
Unsupported opinion, meaning assertion without evidence or reasoned argument, is outside the journal's scope.
Article types
The journal publishes the article types below. Guidance on the structure, abstract and reporting standard for each type is given in the Instructions for Authors.
- Original ResearchEmpirical studies of population health using quantitative, qualitative or mixed methods.
- Systematic Review and Meta-AnalysisSystematic syntheses of evidence on a defined public-health question, with or without meta-analysis.
- MethodsNew, adapted or validated methods for epidemiology, surveillance, measurement, analysis or evaluation.
- Short CommunicationConcise reports of a focused or preliminary finding of public-health importance.
- Data NoteDescriptions of datasets of public-health value, their collection, quality and access.
- Policy AnalysisEvidence-based analyses of health policies, programs, legislation and governance.
- Surveillance or Outbreak ReportFindings from surveillance systems and investigations of outbreaks or disease clusters.
- Case ReportIndividual cases or short case series with a lesson for population health.
- CommentaryEvidence-based argument on a current public-health issue or on published research.
- LetterBrief responses to articles published in JPHI, or short observations of public-health relevance.
Where a manuscript sits between types, authors choose the closest type and explain the choice in the cover letter, and the editors confirm the classification. A short case series is classified as a Case Report, a scoping review as a Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis, a study protocol as Methods, and an outbreak investigation as a Surveillance or Outbreak Report.
Scope questions
Is my topic within scope?
A manuscript is within scope when it addresses a question about the health of populations, whatever its discipline or setting. If you are unsure, send the title and abstract to the editorial office at [email protected] before submitting.
Does JPHI consider studies from a single country or local setting?
Yes. Local, national, regional and multi-country studies are all considered. Authors of single-setting studies explain how their findings relate to other populations or settings.
Are clinical or laboratory studies within scope?
They are considered when they address a population-health question, for example studies of screening, diagnosis or laboratory surveillance that inform prevention, control or health services for a population.
Can I submit work that has been posted as a preprint?
Yes. Posting a preprint is compatible with submission to JPHI. Cite the preprint and its DOI in the cover letter.
Preparing a submission
Read the Instructions for Authors and the Editorial Policies before submitting.