About the Journal

Open Access

The journal is a peer-reviewed, open-access scholarly publication dedicated to advancing research, policy, and practice in community and public health across Africa, with particular attention to the East African region and the wider continent.

The journal provides an interdisciplinary platform for researchers, public health professionals, healthcare practitioners, academics, policymakers, and development organisations to disseminate original research, exchange knowledge, and contribute to evidence-based solutions to public health challenges.

The journal's scope includes, but is not limited to:

  • Public health systems, policies, and healthcare delivery

  • Community disease prevention, surveillance, and control

  • Maternal, sexual, and reproductive health

  • Nutrition, food security, and community health

  • Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH)

  • Communicable and non-communicable diseases

  • Disease management, health education, and health promotion

  • Mental health and psychosocial well-being

  • Health inequalities, social determinants of health, and health equity

  • Environmental health and climate-related health challenges

  • Community-based healthcare interventions and health systems strengthening

The journal is committed to scholarly integrity, editorial independence, ethical publishing practices, and the dissemination of high-quality scientific evidence.

Peer Review Process

The journal operates a double-blind peer-review system in which the identities of authors and reviewers are concealed from one another during the review process.

Research manuscripts that pass preliminary editorial screening are assigned to at least two independent reviewers with relevant subject expertise.

Reviewers assess manuscripts on the basis of originality, methodological rigour, ethical compliance, scientific validity, clarity of presentation, relevance to the journal's scope, and contribution to existing knowledge.

Reviewers provide recommendations to the handling editor, who considers their assessments and the authors' responses before making an editorial decision.

Editorial decisions may include acceptance, minor revisions, major revisions, or rejection. Revised manuscripts may undergo further evaluation where necessary.

Final editorial decisions are based on scholarly merit and the satisfactory resolution of substantive reviewer concerns. Acceptance is not guaranteed, and the journal does not operate an expedited acceptance policy.

The journal maintains confidential records of reviewer assignments, review reports, editorial decisions, and manuscript revisions to support accountability and editorial quality assurance.

Publication Frequency

The journal follows a Continuous Publication Model, under which accepted manuscripts are published online after successful completion of the editorial and peer-review process, author revisions where required, and final production checks.

Articles are published individually as they become ready, rather than being held until a complete issue has been assembled.

The journal aims to provide an initial editorial decision within approximately 4–6 weeks of submission. The complete period from submission to publication may vary depending on reviewer availability, the extent of required revisions, editorial assessments, and production requirements.

As an operational target, the journal generally aims to complete the submission-to-publication process within approximately 2–5 months. Manuscripts requiring extensive revisions or additional review rounds may take longer.

These timelines are indicative and do not constitute guaranteed processing periods. Editorial decisions are based on the outcome of the peer-review process rather than predetermined timelines.

Open Access Policy

The journal provides immediate, unrestricted, and free access to its published scholarly content.

This policy is based on the principle that freely accessible research promotes knowledge exchange, scientific progress, research visibility, and informed public policy.

Readers may access, read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, and link to the full texts of published articles without subscription charges, registration requirements, or access embargoes.

Creative Commons Licensing

Articles published under the journal's current licensing policy are distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).

This license permits unrestricted sharing, redistribution, reproduction, adaptation, and reuse of published articles for commercial and non-commercial purposes, provided that appropriate attribution is given to the original authors.

Users must:

  • Give appropriate credit to the original author(s).

  • Cite the original publication and source.

  • Provide a link to the applicable Creative Commons license.

  • Indicate whether any changes or adaptations have been made.

  • Avoid suggesting that the original authors or publisher endorse their use of the material.

The license does not impose restrictions on commercial reuse, provided its attribution requirements are fulfilled.

View license terms: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Copyright and Author Rights

Authors retain copyright in their original scholarly works and grant the journal the rights necessary for first publication and dissemination under the applicable Creative Commons license.

Authors may share, archive, and distribute their published articles, including through institutional repositories, personal websites, and other scholarly platforms, provided the original publication is appropriately acknowledged.

The journal does not impose an embargo on the deposit or sharing of articles published under its open-access policy.

The applicable license is identified on each published article's official webpage. Any separately credited third-party material may be subject to different permissions.

Previously published articles remain subject to their applicable publishing agreements and license terms.

Journal History

Established in 2025, the journal was founded to promote scholarly research and knowledge dissemination in community and public health, particularly within East Africa and the wider African continent.

Its establishment reflects the growing need for accessible, regionally relevant, and scientifically rigorous research addressing public health challenges affecting African populations.

The journal seeks to strengthen the visibility of African scholarship by providing an open-access publishing platform for empirical research, theoretical contributions, systematic reviews, and interdisciplinary studies.

Its broader mission is to support evidence-informed public health policy, healthcare delivery, community health interventions, and sustainable health development.

The journal welcomes contributions from scholars and practitioners across Africa and internationally, particularly research that advances understanding of public health challenges, promotes health equity, and supports improvements in population health outcomes.

Archiving and Digital Preservation

The journal is committed to the long-term preservation, accessibility, and integrity of its published scholarly content.

The publisher maintains digital copies of published articles and associated bibliographic metadata as part of its digital preservation and continuity arrangements.

The journal seeks to strengthen long-term digital preservation through recognised scholarly archiving services and institutional or subject-based repositories.

Where preservation agreements or services are operational, the journal will provide accurate information about the arrangements and their coverage.

The journal supports persistent identification of published research through Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs), where assigned, to facilitate reliable citation, scholarly discovery, and access to publication records.

The journal's digital preservation practices are intended to support continued access to published research and associated metadata over time.

Privacy Statement

The journal is committed to protecting the privacy and personal information of authors, reviewers, editors, readers, and other users of its publishing platform.

Personal information collected through the journal website and manuscript submission system may include names, institutional affiliations, email addresses, contact details, and information necessary for editorial and publication activities.

Such information is collected and processed for legitimate scholarly publishing purposes, including:

  • Manuscript submission and editorial management.

  • Peer-review coordination and communication.

  • Publication processing and author correspondence.

  • Editorial recordkeeping and research integrity.

  • Journal administration and related publishing services.

  • Compliance with applicable legal and regulatory obligations.

Personal information will not be sold or disclosed for unrelated commercial purposes.

Information may be shared with authorised editorial personnel and service providers where necessary for legitimate publishing operations, subject to applicable confidentiality and data protection requirements.

The journal takes reasonable organisational and technical measures to safeguard personal information against unauthorised access, disclosure, alteration, or loss.

Users may contact the journal's editorial office regarding questions about the processing of their personal information, including applicable requests for access, correction, or deletion.

The journal handles personal information in accordance with applicable data protection legislation and its published privacy practices.