Scope
Discoveries in Public Health (DPH) is a peer-reviewed, international, multidisciplinary medical sciences journal published by the Faculty of Public Health, University of Ibadan, Nigeria. DPH aims to showcase publications and research findings on public health issues across Africa and beyond. The target audience of the DPH include but are not limited to public health practitioners, researchers, and policy makers. Manuscripts are accepted from authors across the globe. Therefore, authors are requested to provide sufficient details in each article to benefit the journal’s readership.
Types of manuscripts
DPH publishes the following types of manuscripts:
Opinions: These are aimed at providing insight into existing scientific knowledge. They highlight strengths and weaknesses of existing literature. (Max 1500 words; 10 references)
Letters-to-the-editor: This can be in response to previously published papers in DPH or on topical public health issues affecting Africa. (Max 1000 words; 10 references)
Commentaries: This can be on any public health issues. (Max 2500 words; 20 references)
Case reports: This should be an unusual presentation of disease, innovative ways of managing a disease, unexpected outcome of a public health intervention and learning that brought a new light to previously unknown health and health related issue with an important lesson. (Max 1000 words; 10 references)
Case series: A case series is a group or series of case reports involving patients who were given similar treatment. Reports of case series usually contain detailed information about the individual patients. This includes demographic information (for example, age, gender, ethnic origin) and information on diagnosis, treatment, response to treatment, and follow-up after treatment. Case-series should follow the STROBE guidance for cross-sectional studies. (Max 1000 words; 10 references)
Reviews: covering various branches of public health (Max 7000 words; 50 references; 8 Tables/Figures)
Original research articles (Max 4500 words; 50 references; 8 Tables/Figures)
Research related to public health using qualitative, quantitative, or mixed study designs.
NB: The word count for each article type excludes abstract, tables, figures, legends, and references. All articles must have an abstract and references.
Manuscript preparation
Manuscripts should be prepared and formatted according to the guidelines below:
Title page – This page should state
- a) The title of the paper
- b) Authors names (full name – no qualification, no abbreviations). Strictly follow this order: First Name, Middle name (if ever), Last Name.
- c) institution(s) of origin,
- d) Corresponding author plus his/her address, telephone and e-mail address,
- e) Word count (for both abstract and the main text)
Abstract – The abstract of the manuscript should not exceed 250 words and must be structured under the following headings:
Background: the context and purpose of the study;
Methods: how the study was performed, and statistical tests used;
Results: the main findings;
Conclusion: public health implication of your findings must be summarized.
Keywords. Up to five keywords should be provided at the end of the Abstract. The keywords should be Medical Subject Headings (MeSH®) Terms.
Define abbreviations the first time they are used in the text and use them thereafter.
Introduction– The introduction section should contain the background to the research, problem statement, justification, and its aims.
Methods– This should include the design of the study, the setting, the type of participants or materials involved, and the type of analysis used. Where applicable theoretical or conceptual framework should be clearly stated
Results – The result should be concise. Results should not be a repeat of all the data that is set out in the tables or figures but the summary of only important observations.
Discussion – The discussion should include the following: a discussion of important differences in results; b) public health implications of study findings; c) unanswered questions and future research.
Limitations – Always acknowledge the potential limitations of your study and how they influence the interpretation of the findings.
Conclusion – The conclusion should provide a summary of the key findings.
Recommendations and Public health actions (Always add what your study has contributed to public health practice).
Acknowledgements including declarations (See below)
References (See details below)
Original articles below 2,500 words will be considered as a short communication.
The STROBE Checklists provide good guidance on how to report observational research. We strongly advise that authors use them.
References
References must be numbered consecutively, in circular brackets (like this (1), or this (2,3) or even this (4-7)), in the order in which they are cited in the text, followed by any in tables or legends. Reference citations should not appear in titles or headings.
The last name and initials of all authors should be included on the reference list, if less than 6. However, if there are more than 6 authors, list the first 6 names only followed by an et al. Also, include the Abbreviated form of the journal names using the Index Medicus.
Tables
Append tables at the end of your manuscript, after the reference section. There should be a maximum of 6 tables and figures per article. If more tables are required, it will have to be justified
Each table should fit on one page. No table overlapping over several pages. Elements inside the table should be contained within cells.
Figures
Provide high resolution images, not tiny thumbnails. Image of poor quality will be rejected.
The size of the uploaded image is limited to 4 MB. Include a legend for your images inside the main text, after the reference section. Figures should be provided as separated files during the manuscript submission. Do not embed images within the main text. Major image formats are accepted excluding BMP. (JPEG, PNG, TIFF).
DPH Research Ethics Policy
Any original research that is reported in a manuscript must have been performed with the approval of an appropriate ethics committee. Research carried out on humans must follow the Helsinki Declaration, and any experimental research on animals must follow internationally recognized guidelines. A statement to this effect must appear in the methods section of the manuscript, including the name of the body which gave approval, with a reference number where appropriate.
Submission of manuscript
Submission of a manuscript to DPH implies that all authors have read and agreed to its content. Manuscripts not formatted according to the DPH style will be returned to the authors. You can submit your paper below;
Covering letter
Covering letter: This must contain the manuscript title and a justification on why the article is suitable for publication in DPH in addition to contributions to existing knowledge. The Covering letter should confirm that the study has been approved by all the contributing authors and is not being considered for publication elsewhere.
Plagiarism check
We take the issue of plagiarism very seriously. All manuscripts submitted to the DPH are checked for plagiarism. Manuscripts confirmed to have plagiarized will be removed from consideration in the journal; subsequent submissions from such identified authors will undergo scrutiny before acceptance. If the plagiarism is identified after publication, the article will be retracted, and a retraction notice published.
Review process
Manuscripts submitted to the DPH will go through three stages of review process: internal review to check the compliance with the journal style, external peer review for articles that have satisfied the internal peer review and final internal review for articles that have scaled through the review processes.
Copyright
The author(s) keep(s) the copyright to his/their article when the article is accepted for publication. The copyright covers the exclusive and unlimited rights to reproduce and distribute the article in any form of reproduction (printing, electronic media, or any other form); it also covers translation rights for all languages and countries. For more information about the copyright, see our copyright agreement.
Article Processing Charges
To maintain its Open Access business model, the DPH charges an Article Processing Fee (APF) of $100 for international authors and 35,000 Naira for local authors per manuscript accepted for publication in the journal. APF are requested only if the manuscript is accepted for publication. Authors are expected to pay APF within 30 days of acceptance of the manuscript; passed this delay, the article may be rejected for non-payment of Article Processing Charges.