The African Journal of Health Sciences and Technology (AJHST) is a multidisciplinary journal covering all aspects of health sciences, technology in medicine, molecular biology, systems biology, bioinformatics, and health administration and management.
A submission to the African Journal of Health Sciences and Technology must comply with the following guideline in the preparation of manuscripts.
General considerations
1. Please ensure that your work is in accordance with the ethics in research and publishing and that you adhered strictly to the Code of Ethics (Helsinki Declaration). A statement must be included stating that ethical clearance and patient consent were obtained.
2. The AJHST follows the guidelines stated in the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) for reporting of clinical trials. Those to be accepted and published in this Journal must be registered according to the ICMJE guidelines. This can be viewed at www.icmje.org
3. All authors must disclose any conflict of interest that may exist. In a case where none exists, this must be stated in writing that no conflict of interest exists.
4. To verify originality, your article will be checked by the originality detection service, as well as for all forms of plagiarism. Articles that show substantial indication of having been published elsewhere will not be accepted for publication. Such authors may be placed on a watch list.
5. The AJHST uses the double-blind review system between the authors and the reviewers to ensure an unbiased review system. Decisions on manuscripts are based on the discretion of the editors, after having received the opinions of the reviewers. The editors will ensure that neither author’s names nor their affiliations are referred to in the body of the work, images, tables, etc.
Declaration of funding sources
The authors are required to state if their work was funded or not. In cases where the work was funded, the source of funding(s) should be listed with the corresponding grant number/code. The role that the sponsor(s) played in the study should equally be explicitly stated. If there was no funding, the authors must state that there was none.
Submission and verification
Submission of an article to this Journal implies that:
1. The work described has not been published previously (except in the form of an abstract or as part of a published lecture or academic thesis or as an electronic preprint).
2. It is not under consideration for publication elsewhere, and that its publication is approved by all authors and tacitly or explicitly by the responsible authorities where the work was carried out.
3. If accepted, it will not be published elsewhere in the same form, in English or any other language, including electronically without the written consent of the African Journal of Health Sciences and Technology.
Types of paper
Submitted manuscripts will be subject to peer review and should take one of the following forms:
1. Full-Length Article: It should be definitive and summative.
2. Short Communications: It should describe ideas, data or investigations that are not completed, or can otherwise not justify the publication of an original paper. Short communications should normally not exceed two published pages.
3. Review articles: Review articles, which may or may not be invited, are accepted but limited to a certain number in each issue. The editor shall decide the number of review articles to be accepted.
4. Case studies
Reporting Guidelines
Responsible reporting of research studies, which includes a complete, transparent, accurate and timely account of what was done and what was found during a research study, is an integral part of good research and publication practice and not an optional extra.
The African Journal of Health Sciences and Technology supports initiatives aimed at improving the reporting of health research. Authors should follow these guidelines when drafting their manuscripts.
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Randomised controlled trials
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Observational studies in epidemiology
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Systematic reviews and meta-analyses
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Studies of diagnostic accuracy
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Qualitative research
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Synthesis of qualitative research
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Quality improvement in health care
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Economic evaluations of health interventions
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Case reports
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Basic statistical reporting
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Authors should endeavour to address all items recommended by the guidelines (as a minimum). Adherence to recommended reporting guidelines will increase the probability of manuscripts acceptance for publication.
The EQUATOR website provides a central repository of up-to-date reporting guidelines and other resources that assist authors to prepare a good research manuscript.
Authorship
Each author is required to declare separately his or her contribution to the article. Ordinarily, all authors must have participated fully in the research and contributed significantly to the work.
Changes to authorship
Authors are expected to consider carefully the list and order of authors before submitting their manuscript and provide the definitive list of authors at the time of the original submission. Any addition, deletion or rearrangement of author names in the authorship list should be made only before the manuscript has been accepted and only if approved by the Journal Editor. To request such a change, the Editor must receive the following from the corresponding author:
1. The reason for the change in author list and
2. A written confirmation with the signature of all the authors that they agree with the addition, removal or rearrangement. In the case of removal of authors, this includes confirmation from the author being removed. See editorial policies.
Title page information
The title page should be on a separate page and should contain the following:
Title: This should be brief, concise, and information. A title that will give the work the desired interest from prospective readers is advised. Also, note that title is used in information retrieval systems. So, a well-structured title will make it easier for your work to be accessed.
Author names and affiliations: The surname comes first and separated by a comma, followed by the first name in full, and other names in abbreviation
e.g. Ekechukwu, Echezona N.D.
The affiliations of the authors should be presented below the names of authors, using numbered superscripts to match the author names with their affiliations
e.g. 1Ekechukwu, Echezona N.D.
1 = Department of Medical Rehabilitation,
Faculty of Health Sciences and Technology,
College of Medicine, University of Nigeria
Several authors with similar affiliations ordinarily share the same number superscript.
Corresponding author: The details of the author that will handle correspondences should be provided: Full name, institution affiliation with address of institution, email, and phone number.
Structure of the article.
The article should consist of the following subheadings
Abstract: This should be of the structured type with Background/Objective(s), Materials and methods, Results, and Conclusion. Do not include references in the abstract. In total, the abstract should not exceed 250 words.
Keywords: Immediately after the abstract, a maximum of six (6) keywords drawn from the text should be provided. This will be used for indexing purposes.
Main Text
1. Introduction: This should be as brief as possible and straight to the point. It should contain a brief literature review of relevant articles. It is important to adequately express the statement of problem, explain well the aim/objectives of the study, and why your work is necessary. Also state the gap in the body of existing scientific knowledge it should fill. Review articles should provide adequate justification for embarking on it.
2. Materials and Methods: This should provide enough information for readers to be able to replicate the experiment. If the method used in your study has already been used elsewhere, (e.g. in applied research), a reference to that work is sufficient.
3. Results: It should present the outcome of the methods, experiments and surveys. Avoid repeating information that is already contained in a table, chart, figure, etc.
4. Discussion: This should critically evaluate and analyze the results and its significance. Results should not be repeated. The discussion should be logical, clear, and informative, drawing inferences only from the results of the study, and comparing findings with similar previous works.
5. Conclusion: It should contain the main conclusions of the study and need not be as elaborate as the discussion.
Acknowledgement(s): If indicated, this should be placed in a separate section at the end of the article but before the references. It should not be included on the title page, as a footnote to the title or otherwise. List here those individuals who provided help during the research (e.g., providing language help, writing assistance or proof reading the article, etc.).
Other contents
Font:
1. Use Times New Roman,
2. Font size 12,
3. 1.5cm line spacing,
4. 1.5cm on all four margins, and
5. A4 paper size.
Math formulae:
1. Please use the Microsoft insert equation feature, or any other suitable program for inserting equations that will make them remain as an editable text, e.g. Microsoft Maths, or the Math input panel.
2. It is preferable for equations stand alone in separate paragraphs, but should there be a need for them to appear inline, use the inline option for them, displaying divisions with a solidus (/) instead of a proper fraction.
3. Number consecutively any equations that have to be displayed separately from the text (if referred to explicitly in the text).
Figure captions:
1. Each figure should be uploaded either in the .png, .jpeg, or .jpg format. The minimum resolution is 300dpi for halftones (colour and grayscale images), 1000dpi for bitmapped (black and white) images, and 600dpi for a combination of halftones/bitmapped images.
2. Ensure that each illustration has a caption placed below the figure. The caption should comprise a brief title (not on the figure itself) and a description of the illustration.
3. Keep text in the illustrations themselves to a minimum but explain all symbols and abbreviations used.
4. Arabic numerals should be used for figure numbers e.g. Figure 1, Figure 2... and so on.
5. Please ensure you have written permission for figures and illustrations previously published.
Tables:
1. Please submit tables as editable text and not as image, each table should be titled accordingly.
2. Like the numbering for figures, use Arabic numerals for the tables, ensuring that they are consecutive in accordance with their referencing in the text.
3. Strike a balance between a scanty table that can be merged with another, and a complicated one containing a lot of information that will be difficult for the readers to decipher.
4. Please avoid using vertical lines and shading in table cells.
References
1. Please ensure that every reference cited in the text is also present in the reference list (and vice versa).
2. Unpublished results and personal communications are not allowed but may be mentioned in the text. Citation of a reference as 'in press' implies that the item has been accepted for publication.
All citations in the text should refer to:
1. Single author: the author's name (without initials, unless there is ambiguity) and the year of publication; e.g. (Ekechukwu, 2017)
2. Two authors: both authors' names separated with an ampersand (&) and the year of publication, e.g. (Ekechukwu & Onwukwe, 2017)
3. Three or more authors: first author's name followed by an italicized 'et al.' and the year of publication. e.g. (Onwukwe, et al., 2017).
Inline citations
This can be made directly or placed inside braces. Groups of references should be listed first alphabetically, then chronologically.
Example: ‘as demonstrated (Ekechukwu, 2017a, 2017b, 2014; Ekechukwu & Onwukwe, 2014).
Or
Ekechukwu, et al., (2010) have recently shown ....'
Reference List
1. References should be arranged first alphabetically and then further sorted chronologically if necessary. More than one reference from the same author(s) in the same year must be identified by the letters 'a', 'b', 'c', etc., placed after the year of publication.
2. Journal names and page numbers should be written in full.
Examples:
Reference to a journal publication:
Ekechukwu, E.N.D., Ikrechero, J.O., Ezeukwu, A.O., Egwuonwu, A.V., Umar, L. and Badaru, U.M. (2017). Determinants of quality of life among community?dwelling persons with spinal cord injury: A path analysis. Nigerian journal of clinical practice, 20(2), pp.163-169.
Reference to a chapter in an edited book:
Ekechukwu, E.N.D., Okigbo, C.C., Okemuo, A.J. and Ikele, C.N. (2018). Influence of Varying Backpack Loading and Velotypes on the Spatiotemporal Parameters of Gait and Energy Cost of Ambulation Among Primary School Children in Nigeria. In Congress of the International Ergonomics Association (pp. 743-757). Springer, Cham.
Reference to a website:
Cancer Research UK (1975). Cancer statistics reports for the UK. http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/aboutcancer/statistics/cancerstatsreport/ (accessed 13 March 2003).
Reference to a dataset:
[dataset] Oguro, M., Imahiro, S., Saito, S., Nakashizuka, T. (2015). Mortality data for Japanese oak wilt disease and surrounding forest compositions. Mendeley Data, v1. https://doi.org/10.17632/xwj98nb39r.1
Acceptance Certificate
Authors are issued an Acceptance Certificate for manuscripts that have been reviewed and accepted for publication by an editor.
Before Submission
Submission
