Call for Papers: American Journal of Field Epidemiology
By:
TEPHINET Secretariat

TEPHINET is excited to share news of a new, open access, online only, peer-reviewed academic journal of field epidemiology. The American Journal of Field Epidemiology (AJFE), launching its first issue in January 2023, aims to support the development of field epidemiologic practice on the American continent, including North, Central and South America, as well as the Caribbean region. 

The launch of AJFE will meet a longstanding need for a dedicated international field epidemiology journal, the absence of which has been felt by many FETP trainees and alumni interested in publishing their work. In fact, creators of the journal include alumni of several FETPs in the Americas region, including former TEPHINET Director and Mexico FETP graduate, Victor Cardenas. Cardenas and other alumni from the region met on August 24, 2022 and decided to launch the journal to provide FETPs with an accessible, affordable option to publish their research. Members of the editorial board include alumni and affiliates of the Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Haiti, Mexico, Peru and USA FETPs. 

“One of the most valuable assets of the [FETP] Network are the graduates,so we felt it was important to engage them as volunteer reviewers in this process,” Cardenas shared.

The journal will start off as a quarterly periodical, eventually moving to monthly publication as capacity allows. Articles will be open-access, published in four languages–English, French, Spanish and Portuguese–and feature scientific work of interest to field epidemiologists working in North, Central and South America, as well as the Caribbean. It will also feature ongoing research of current events, providing early warnings of emerging public health threats, papers on analysis of public health surveillance data depicting new findings, as well as reviews, discussions on lessons learned, a trainer’s corner to build training capacity, and correspondence from the readers. The journal will focus on articles submitted from the Americas region, but will accept one article from outside of that region to publish in each edition.

According to a TEPHINET survey,the journal meets one of the top three qualities that FETPs look for when choosing a journal to publish in–low fees. Article processing fees are $50 for FETP trainees and $100 for FETP graduates or any author not affiliated with an FETP. In this regard, AFJE not only provides a much needed resource for publication, but also an affordable option for FETP fellows and alumni looking to meet the publication requirement for graduation from their program.The journal will strive to achieve a fast turnaround, particularly for notes of preliminary field investigations.

AJFE invites FETP trainees, alumni and public health professionals and scientists from any region to submit manuscripts for its inaugural issue by October 31, 2022. Manuscripts may be submitted in English, French, Portuguese, or Spanish; however, regardless of the language of the manuscript, an English version of the abstract is required. Priority will be given to articles submitted from the Americas region; one article from regions outside of the Americas will be selected for publication in the first edition, as well as in subsequent editions. 

Article Characteristics

The following types of articles will be considered. For more detailed submission guidelines for each article type, please see the full instructions available to download at the bottom of this page.

  • Preliminary notes on field investigations
  • Original research articles
  • Novel reviews of public health surveillance data
  • Lessons learned from epidemiological investigations of epidemics or outbreaks
  • Systematic reviews
  • Trainer's corner articles reviewing various aspects of the methods used in field epidemiology and other specialties
  • Letters to the editor
  • Letters to the authors and replies

The following topics will be considered:

  • Communicable and non-communicable diseases;
  • Public health disasters or other emergencies;
  • Poisoning;
  • Injuries (violence and other intentional injuries, and unintentional injuries);
  • Mental health, including mass psychogenic conditions;
  • Social and other determinants of health; and 
  • Indicators of positive health and well-being
Eligibility Criteria
  • The manuscript must have not previously been published, unless as an abstract, or under review by another journal. (This includes any similar papers that use the original data).
  • Submissions will be accepted from FETP trainees, alumni and public health professionals and scientists from any region, but only one submission from outside of the Americas region will be selected for publication in each edition. 
Instructions for Submission

Submissions should be sent to raec.ajfe.jaet@gmail.com and must consist of the following three files:

1. Title page, to include:

  • A concise title of fewer than 150 characters
  • Full names and institutional affiliations for each author
  • Contact information for the corresponding author
  • The word count of the manuscript
  • Number of tables and figures (not to exceed five altogether)
  • Acknowledgements

2. Abstract and Full manuscript ​​​

The abstract should be no longer than 250 words and should indicate the type of study, number of study subjects, and the findings summarized quantitatively or using other measures of association with their 95% confidence intervals. After the abstract please provide keywords that should be listed in the MedicalTerm Headings (MeSH) map.

The abstract should be structured as follows:

  • Introduction
  • Population and methods 
  • Results and discussion

The manuscript should not include any name of the author, their initials or those of the institutions to which they are affiliated. Tables and figures should be included after the paragraphs in which they are mentioned each time. 

3. Cover Letter, including the following: 

  • Title of the manuscript
  • A statement that the manuscript has not been published and is not being considered for publication elsewhere 
  • Conflict-of-interest, funding statements and contribution statements of each author
     

IMPORTANT: Full submission instructions for authors can be found, in English and Spanish, in the attachments below. Please do not submit a paper without reading the full instructions, which include important information on submission content, formatting guidelines, article processing charges, and more.