Author Guidelines

General: The Ethiopian Journal of Health Development (EJHD) is a multi-disciplinary scientific publication of broad field of health development. The journal is a joint publication of the Ethiopian Public Health Association (EPHA) and the School of Public Health (SPH), Addis Ababa University (AAU).

EJHD publishes original research outcomes, brief communications, book reviews and special issues/supplements. More specifically, the Journal focus on important topics in health development that include: health policy and planning; health service management, health behavior and communication, monitoring and evaluation; health administration and organization of health services; hospital administration; health human resources; health economics, financing;  health informatics and health information systems; maternal and child health; sexual reproductive health; environmental health  and  water;  food  and  nutrition;  communicable, non-communicable diseases and Neglected Tropical Diseases; community participation and partnership;  drug supply  and  distribution;  indigenous medicine; social determinants of health; and broader topics health care technologies.

Manuscript: The manuscript should be submitted in electronic copy online on the journal’s website www.ejhd.org. The submitting/corresponding author should create username on the journal before the submission following instructions. Authors can obtain procedures of online submission from the journal website. The following instructions relating to submissions must be adhered to. Failure to conform may result in rejection or delay in publication.

Typescripts: Each article to be submitted should be prepared in MS word format: Times New Romans, 1.5 font size and double spaced with a margin of 25 mm (1 inch). Manuscripts of original research works exceeding 2000 words excluding the title page, acknowledgment, tables and illustrations are not encouraged. The absolute word limit is 3000. The first page should carry the title. Potential identifier such as name and addresses of the authors should not appear in the main body of the manuscripts rather on the online submission system of the journal a structured abstract of not more than 250 words summarizing the background; objective, methods, important findings and conclusions must be typed on a separate page. The main text body should be divided under appropriate headings: Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion, Acknowledgments, and References. The acknowledgment section should not appear in the main body to avoid potential identifier. 

Tables and Figures:   These should be presented on a separate page after reference section and should be numbered with Arabic numerals consecutively in the order of their citation in the text. Only up to five tables and or figures are accepted in one manuscript. Line drawings or graphs should be in black and white color. Their approximate positions should be indicated in the text.

Abbreviations and Symbols:  Only standard abbreviations should be used. Abbreviations must be avoided in the title and abstract sections.  In cases unavoidable abbreviations must be preceded by their full description in the first use.

Brief Communication:  All requirements for a full article apply for brief communication. Exceptions are the following:

abstract not exceeding 75 words, text should not exceed 600 words, only one table or figure, and a maximum of eight references.

References: References should be numbered consecutively in the order in which they are first mentioned in the text and should be listed in numerical order on a separate sheet at the end of the manuscript. References must follow the Vancouver style which is fully described in the "uniform Requirements for Manuscript Submitted to Biomedical Journals" as recommended by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors, refer to JAMA. 1997;277:92 7-934 (also available at http://www.slackinc.com/unireq.htm, accessed as of March 2004).

Ethics: All studies on human subjects must have been conducted in accordance with national and international ethical standards. Patient's name, initials or hospital numbers must be removed when submitting a manuscript.

Conflict of Interest: Authors are responsible for declaring any conflict of interest related to the submitted research work.  The source of funding for the research work should be acknowledged.

Authorship: As recommended by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors- "All persons designated as authors should qualify for authorship.  Each author should have participated sufficiently in the work to take official responsibility for the content. Authorship credits should be based only on substantial contributions to 1) conception and design, or analysis and interpretation of data; and to 2) drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content; and on 3) final approval of the version to be published.  Conditions 1, 2, and 3 must all be met.  Participation solely in the acquisition of funding or the collection of data does not justify authorship.  General supervision of the research group is not sufficient for authorship."

Acknowledgments: These should be limited to most important contributions.  Authors are responsible for obtaining permission for all persons acknowledged in their manuscript.  Acknowledgment must be placed on separate page.

Galley Proofs: Galley proofs will be sent to the corresponding author.  The corrected proof must be returned to the editorial office within 72 hours of receipt, and in any event within one week. Delay in returning corrected proofs may result in the paper being held over to the next issue or being published uncorrected.  At this stage, corrections must only be limited to essential and editorial mistakes.

Rejected Manuscripts: Authors will be notified on rejected manuscripts either upon submission depending on whether it meets basic requirements or following revisions if the manuscript still is not up to expectations

Supplements or Special publication: Supplements/special issues focusing on important public health policies, programs and training are encouraged.  However, the full cost of the publication must be covered by authors or a sponsoring organization. Contact the Editor in Chief for more information.

Copyright: It is a condition of publication that authors transfer copyright of their articles, including abstracts, to the School of Public Health, Addis Ababa University. Authors may use their article elsewhere after publication provided that proper acknowledgment is given to the Journal as the original source of publication, and the Editor-in-Chief is notified.