Peer Review

Submission is made online through https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/ju-ejhs. The managing editor of the journal makes first line check for title compatibility, structure of the manuscript, word count and tables and figures before passing to the Editor-In-Chief for further pre-review. If acceptable on pre-review will be sent to two blinded reviewers. The comments of reviewers will then sent to author/s (again blinded). After the comments are accommodated the editorial board members discuss on each manuscript and make decision

Open Access Policy

This journal provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge.

Publication Scheduling

This journal publishes six (6) issues per year.

General

Brief Information 

EJHS publishes original research findings, observations, review articles, brief communications, case reports and book reviews related to Public Health and Medicine, Papers presented at recognized conferences may be considered for publication. EJHS is an Open Access (Gold) Journal where readers have accesses to full text for free while authors are expected to pay to publish. However, as the publication cost is being covered by Jimma University (the owner of EJHS) for the coming few months, authors do not pay to publish. Authors must agree that published article to be distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License CC BY NC ND 4.0, which permits REUSE FOR NON-COMMERCIAL PURPOSE as far as authors give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. 

The journal used to get published biannually until July 2007; now it is appearing every other month. The language of the journal is English. All manuscripts submitted for publication are subject to peer review and will be sent to at least two experts in the field. Accepted manuscripts will be the property of College of Health Sciences of Jimma University. Those articles not accepted for publication will be returned to the author. The editorial board reserves the right to edit all manuscripts for clarity or structure, fit within the space available and decide on editorial matters. Statements and opinions expressed in the journal are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the Editorial Board or College of Health Science of Jimma University. Requirements for all categories of articles largely conform to the “Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals” developed by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) which can be accessed on http://icmje.acponline.org/recommendations/.  

About Ethiopian Journal of Health Sciences

The first issue of the Ethiopian Journal of Health Sciences, published by the College of Health Science of Jimma University, appeared in July 1990 with the title 'Bulletin of Jimma Institute of Health Sciences'. The journal used to appear twice a year until July 2007. Thereafter, it used to be published trice a year until it became a quarterly publication in 2014. Since January 2016, it is appearing every other month. It is an open access journal available at http://ejhs.ju.edu.et. The journal publishes peer-reviewed articles related to Public Health and Medicine. The objectives of the journal are:

• To provide current scientific and technological information on health and related fields for informed planning and decision making.
• To contribute to the scientific knowledge and practices in medicine, public health and related fields by providing a formal means for researchers to share their scientific research works, observations and experiences.

Historical Summary

Hosted by Jimma University, the Ethiopian Journal of Health Sciences (EJHS) has been publishing peer-reviewed articles on a range of topics pertaining to public health and medicine. EJHS has always aspired to: 1) provide current scientific and technological information on health and related fields for informed planning and decision making, and 2) contribute to the scientific knowledge and practices in medicine, public health and related fields by providing a formal means for researchers to share their scientific research works, observations and experiences.

 The first issue of EJHS emerged in July 1990 under the former name of the journal, “Bulletin of Jimma Institute of Health Sciences”. Since then, EJHS made several strides to reach scientists, academicians, policy makers and other readers or users. In its journey from then onwards, EJHS underwent several quantitative and qualitative transformations. From its commencement to 1995, it appeared biannually with its initial name mentioned above. In those years, EJHS was characterized by changes in form, cover colour, contents and manuscript sources. Its form changed from A-5 to A-3 and its cover colour from yellow to white and then to blue. Its contents also varied significantly in quantity and quality. Yet, almost all the manuscript contributors during the stated period were from the then Jimma Institute of Health Sciences.

The next stage covers the years of 1996-2007 when EJHS suffered from sluggish development. The one noteworthy change then was the change in name from “Bulletin of Jimma Institute of Health Sciences” to “Ethiopian Journal of Health Sciences”. This coincided with the emergence of a full-fledged Jimma University. However, the biannual appearance, the A-5 size format and the blue colour were maintained. Besides, the quantity, the diversity and the quality of the articles published in each issue did not exhibit noticeable changes. Luckily, few authors from other parts of Ethiopia began contributing manuscripts although international contributions were yet to happen.

EJHS registered a commendable development from 2008 to 2013. The first two fundamental changes in this period were the change in format from A-5 to A-3 and the growth of the journal from biannual to triannual publication. The articles published in successive issues also improved substantially in quantity and quality. In 2008, EJHS joined African Journals Partnership Project (AJPP), which is funded by the US National Institute of Health/National Library of Medicine (NLM). With AJPP support, the Editor-in-Chief of EJHS became member of the Council of Science Editors. AJPP also helped EJHS partner with Annals of Internal Medicine published by American College of Physicians. In 2009, EJHS launched its own website where all publications are uploaded for open access.

In 2010, it began using ScholarOne-Manuscript Central software for manuscript management. This resulted in the termination of the submission of manuscripts in print copies. In the same year, EJHS it joined Committee for Publication Ethics (COPE), while it was indexed on PubMed Central, African Journal Online (AJOL) and EBSCO in 2011. In the end of 2012, it was indexed on MEDLINE.  Although EJHS did not win the competition to become member of International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) in 2011, it succeeded in 2013 as a result of which the Editor-in-Chief joined this international group. The international involvement helped to considerably increase the visibility of EJHS. The remarkable growth in the number of readers and the massive submission of manuscripts from all parts of the world witnessed this phenomenon. This in turn demanded an increase in the frequency of publications.

In response to this situation, EJHS evolved into a quarterly publication during its 24th anniversary in 2014. The continued increase in manuscript inflow still necessitated upgrading EJHS into a journal which publishes articles every two months. This progress is heralded with the publication of Volume 26, No. 2 (March 2016).

Vision

EJHS aspires to be the top preferred medical and health sciences journal in Africa by authors and practitioners.

All Manuscripts for publication and other correspondence should be addressed to:
The Editor-in-Chief,
ETHIOPIAN JOURNAL OF HEALTH SCIENCES,
Institute of Health Sciences, Jimma University
P. O. Box: 378, Jimma, Ethiopia
Tel: +251471 110331 or +251 921324889
Fax: +251 471 114484 or +251 471 112040
E-mail: ejhs@ethjhealths.org
Website: https://www.ethjhealths.org

MANUSCRIPT MANAGEMENT PROCESS

Associate Editor (AE):
I. Assesses manuscript
a. Receives manuscripts from the Editorial-in-Chief to take through peer-review process.
b. Screens the manuscript for suitability for peer review. Also sends the same manuscript to one of the Associate Editorial Team member for similar review.
c. Then invite reviewers within 7 days.

Checklist for manuscript screening before proceeding into peer review
• overall soundness
• EJHS guidelines and scope
• evidence of plagiarism or duplicate publication
• adherence to standards for deposition of data and reporting
• statements about consent for participation and publication
• statement of ethical committee approval or of exemption from approval

1. In case of rejection before peer-review, writes explanation for the authors why the manuscript was not suitable for peer review.
   e. Informs about the outcome of the initial assessment to the EIC within 5 working days.
2. Invites reviewers
   a. Recommends at least 4 reviewers for each manuscript.
   b. Sends invitation to two reviewers.
   c. Decides based on reviewers’ response to invitation.
   d. In the event of failing to find at least two reviewers, may invite members in his sub team to act as a peer reviewer; notifies this case to the EIC.

III. Makes decision after review reports
Decisions should be based on the EJHS guidelines.
a. Straightforward decision: Forwards manuscripts with ‘accept in principle’ to the AET.
b. Emails authors with manuscripts decided as ‘minor or major revisions’ (allow up to 3 months for major revisions)
c. Reject a manuscript: emails authors the reasons for rejection, in addition to passing on the reviewers’ feedback. If a manuscript is considered by reviewers to be scientifically sound then we would expect to accept it, even if they raise concerns about a lack of advance on previous work.
-The manuscript is scientifically unsound: if a manuscript that is so flawed that even major revision could not make it acceptable you would make a ‘closed reject’ decision (and the manuscript could not be resubmitted to EJHS).
-Serious (non-remediable) concerns about research ethics or publication ethics. In all cases where researcher or author misconduct is suspected, the EJHS will adhere to the guidelines of the ICMJE.
d. When only one reviewer report is received: assess the experience and expertise of the reviewer for the one available report, involves the AET and may then be able to reach a decision. If needed, asks EIC for further advice.
e. When the reviewer reports are conflicting: assess the experience and expertise of the reviewer for the one available report, involves the AET and may then be able to reach a decision. If needed, asks EIC for further advice.
f. Notifies the above decision to EIC within 7 working days.
g. You can download the detailed authors’ guideline on

Review process

EJHS publishes about 15-20% of submitted papers each year. Manuscripts are selected based on the strength of the paper compared with other papers under review. We send the reviewers’ comments to authors whether or not we accept the article. On occasion, we reject an article but invite a resubmission that addresses specific concerns of the editors. The procedures for manuscript review include:

1. With one week of receipt of a manuscript, one of the Editorial Board (EB) members will review it in reference to 

• conformity with the Journal’s ‘’ Instructions to authors’’,
• relevance of the article to the readers of the EJHS,
• clarity of presentation, and
•  its scientific and ethical acceptability.

The EB has three options: accept manuscripts for external review, return it to author for revision, or reject it. A manuscript not accepted by a board member is blindly by another board member. If not accepted by both, the manuscript is rejected by the BOE. Decision will be made by the suggestion of a third EB member if the decisions of first two do not concur.

2. Once accepted for external review, the EB identifies one (brief communications and case reports) or two (original articles/reviews/guidelines) reviewers with appropriate expertise. Reviewers will be asked to review and return manuscripts within 2 weeks of their receipt. Reviewers have few options; accept, accept with major revision, accept with minor revision, or reject.
3. Manuscripts accepted with revision will be returned to the first author. Author(s) will be given four weeks to respond to external reviewers’ comments, make necessary changes, and return their manuscript to the EB.
4. Manuscripts with minor revisions will be cleared by the EB and accepted for publication. Those with major revisions will be returned to external reviewers and follow the procedures as outlined for the initial review.
5. When the manuscript is accepted, we notify authors when they can expect to receive galley proofs. Authors are expected to examine proofs within 48 hours of receiving them.
6. Authors who think that their manuscripts were rejected wrongly may e-mail an appeal letter to the EIC. The letter should detail the author’s concern and state how the manuscript could be revised or clarified to address key problems mentioned by reviewers. Upon receiving the appeal, the EIC may either confirm their decision to reject the manuscript, invite a revised manuscript, or seek additional peer review or statistical review of the original manuscript.
7. All accepted manuscripts are subject to copy editing to improve clarity and achieve consistency of style and formatting of journal content. Authors will have the opportunity to approve revisions made during the copy editing process.

8.The EB welcomes comments from Journal readers on the above procedures.