Editorial Policies

Focus and Scope

This journal aims to contribute to the development of science through interchange and cooperation between health professions. The intention is to develop a relevant, effective health service delivery system by means of research conducted not only by the people of southern Africa, but throughout the world. The journal also aims to facilitate the gathering and critical testing of insights and viewpoints on knowledge from different disciplines involved in health service delivery.

 

Section Policies

Original Articles

Original research articles should be between 3500 and 7000 words and inform readers of innovative research in a particular field within or related to the focus and scope of the journal, presented according to a clear and well-structured format. Research published in this section should add to the existing body of knowledge published in this field.

Checked Open Submissions Checked Indexed Checked Peer Reviewed

Review Article

Review articles should be less than 4000 words and provide a comprehensive review of important and current developments of a particular field within the focus and scope of the journal. The purpose must be to summarise current knowledge and to educate professionals and workers in the related fields. An abstract of 300 words is necessary for this section.

Checked Open Submissions Checked Indexed Checked Peer Reviewed
 

Peer Review Process

Peer reviewers are asked to make every reasonable effort to ensure the following criteria are taken into account for submitted manuscripts they have agreed to peer review:

  • All manuscripts submitted for review will undergo a double-blind review process.
  • Unbiased consideration should be given to each manuscript, judging each on its merits without regard to the race, religion, nationality, sex, seniority or institutional affiliation of the author.
  • Manuscripts should be dealt with and processed according to the timeframes set out by OJP.
  • The quality of the manuscript, and its experimental and theoretical work, its interpretations, and its exposition will be judged objectively.
  • The peer review process will be kept confidential.
  • Conflicts of interest must be declared.
  • Referees' judgements must be explained and supported. Any statement that an observation, derivation or argument has been previously reported must be accompanied by the relevant citation, and unsupported assertions must be avoided.
  • Whilst the review of a manuscript may justify criticism, even severe criticism, under no circumstances is personal or malicious criticism of the author appropriate or acceptable.
  • Reviewers may be asked to re-appraise a manuscript that was referred back to the authors after a first-round review.
  • In cases where reviewers provide substantively different ratings, a manuscript will be sent to an arbitrator for a final verdict.
  • Reviewers respect the confidentiality of the review process and the proprietary rights of those who have submitted manuscripts.
  • Reviewers must decline a request to review others’ manuscripts if they are aware of a conflict of interest, or they should disclose the nature of the conflict of interest to the Editor.
  • Reviewers may decline the request to review the work of others if they believe the process may be biased or if they have questions about the authenticity or integrity of the reported research.

If you would like to become a reviewer, please visit the following link for reference on how to conduct a review. This will serve as guidance for your review.

Following the review the Editor will evaluate the review reports and make a final decision.

The outcome will be categorised as one of the following:

  • Acceptable as is (apart from editorial changes)
  • Acceptable, but requires minor revision (to the satisfaction of the Editor)
  • Requires major revision and reconsideration (Requires re-review)
  • Reject, not acceptable for publication in Health SA Gesondheid

 

Open Access Policy

This journal provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge.

 

Archiving

This journal utilises the LOCKSS system to create a distributed archiving system among participating libraries and permits those libraries to create permanent archives of the journal for purposes of preservation and restoration. More...

 

Department of Education Accreditation (South Africa)

Approved South African Journal: Health SA Gesondheid meets all the DOE criteria and has DOE accreditation in the subsidy system for research publications.

 

Frequently Asked Questions

Would this topic/field of interest be appropriate for review and possible publication in Health SA Gesondheid? The mission statement of Health SA Gesondheid states the following: an accredited interdisciplinary research journal that publishes articles of the highest scientific standard, with human health as a main theme. To assist the author in this regard it is advisable for the author to submit an abstract of the article to the editor of the journal. This would assist the editor to provide feedback with regards to the relevance of the scope of Health SA Gesondheid.

 


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