Editorial Policies

Aims and Scope

Global Health Action is an international peer-reviewed Open Access journal affiliated with the Centre for Global Health Research (CGH) at Umeå University, Sweden, and published by Co-Action Publishing. The CGH is associated with the Division of Epidemiology and Public Health Sciences, a WHO Collaborating Centre on Epidemiological Surveillance and Public Health Training, which also hosts the Umeå International School of Public Health.

Aim: Public health challenges in a global context are to be found in the widening gap between the winners and losers of globalisation. To meet these challenges it is crucial not only to act constructively on what is already known and evaluate the results, but also to establish what we have yet to learn and still need to implement. The Journal therefore specifically welcomes papers that report on results and evidence derived from practical implementations of current knowledge, but also papers suggesting strategies for practical implementations where none already exist. Thus the aim of Global Health Action is to contribute to fuelling a more concrete, hands-on approach to global health challenges. The journal particularly invites articles from low- and mid-income countries, while also welcoming South-South and South-North collaborations. All papers are expected to address a global agenda and include a strong implementation or policy component.

Scope: Global Health Action welcomes Original Articles, Short Communications as well as Debate Articles. Study Design Articles, for example on longitudinal infrastructures for population research, may well precede the publication of results. If manuscripts are received that are not up to the standard required for publication in the journal but relate to work that has publication potential, the author(s) will be offered mentorship from a senior academic who will work collaboratively to make the article publishable. In such a case, the mentor would not expect to become a co-author but would be named in the published article as a Contributing Editor.

Section Policies

Editorials

Open Submissions

Open Submissions

Indexed

Peer Reviewed

Peer Review Process

Papers submitted to Global Health Action are subject to rigorous peer review so as to ensure that the research published is 'good science'.

Manuscripts are sent out for review electronically, and all correspondence takes place via e-mail. Although the peer review process is accelerated by the use of electronic communication, traditional, high-quality peer-review standards are applied to all manuscripts submitted to the journal.

When submitting an article, authors are invited to suggest two or three possible reviewers who should be experts in their field of study and the subject matter of the article. Authors should not suggest anyone who has published with any of the co-authors within the last five years or anyone who works at the co-authors' institutions. Minimum information to be given for the suggested reviewers is first name, last name and email address. The Editors may or may not make use of the authors' suggested reviewers.

Papers are sent to at least two independent referees.

Global Health Action has a 'single blind' review process: The peer referees’ identity remains unknown to the authors although it is up to the referee if he/she wants to contact the author at a later stage and reveal his/her identity.

Peer reviewers are asked to give their opinion on a number of issues pertinent to the scientific and formal aspects of a paper, and to judge the papers on grounds of originality and urgency. All relevant information will be forwarded to the author(s).

Peer reviewers will have six possible options, for each article:

1. Accept manuscript (i.e. no need for any revision)
2. Accept after revision (i.e. accepted if the author makes the requested revisions)
3. Revise and resubmit (i.e. accepted or rejected after revisions have been made - paper will be sent out for another peer review round)
4. Submit elsewhere (i.e. if the manuscript is better suited for another journal)
5. Reject manuscript (i.e. if the manuscript is substandard)
6. See comments (i.e. if the reviewer cannot choose from any of the above)

In addition, papers may be rejected directly by the Chief Editor if judged to be out of scope or if scientifically or formally sub-standard.

When asking for revisions, reviewers have two possible goals: to ask authors to tighten their arguments based on existing data or to identify areas where more data are needed. Even formal revision may be required if the language or style is sub-standard. To facilitate rapid publication, authors are given a maximum of 2 months for revision. After 2 months, revised manuscripts will be considered new submissions.

Publication Frequency

All articles to Global Health Action are posted online immediately as they are ready for publication. All articles will be assigned a DOI number (Digital Object Identifier) whereby they become searchable and citeable without delay.

Open Access Policy

Open Access
Global Health Action is published under the Open Access model and is therefore free for anybody to read and download, and to copy and disseminate for educational purposes. Articles will be published immediately after the final corrections of the master proof have been made. When posted online, articles will be assigned a DOI number (Digital Object Identifier) whereby it becomes possible to search and cite them without delay.

The Open Access model used for Global Health Action implies that production costs are partly covered by publication fees normally paid for by the author’s institution or funding agency. The total sum will be charged to the author(s) upon acceptance of his/her article. Author from institutions which have difficulty in paying may be eligible for a full or partial waiver of the publication fee. The Publisher would be happy to provide more information or discuss individual cases. The ability of authors to pay remains unknown to the Editors prior to possible acceptance.

Global Health Action is accessible via the journal’s website at http://www.co-action.net/journals/gha as well as via international search engines such as Google Scholar.

Archiving

This journal utilizes 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.

In addition, all files will be archived with PubMed Central, CLOCKSS and Portico.

Author Self-Archiving

Authors are permitted and encouraged to post items submitted to this journal on personal or institutional websites, prior to and after publication (while providing the bibliographic details of that publication)

Indexing

Global Health Action is indexed/tracked/covered by the following services: DOAJ, Google Scholar, J-gate, Ulrich's Periodicals Directory, EMCare, CINAHL, CABI Global Health Collection, Intute: Health and Life Sciences collection, PubMed, JournalSeek, PubMed Central, HINARI

Material in GHA is also further distributed by EBSCO, one of the worlds largest content aggregators and research database providers.

Commercial Reprints & Advertising

If you wish to purchase reprints or advertise in GHA, you are welcome to contact:

Caroline Sutton, Publisher

Email: caroline.sutton@co-action.net
Tel (SkypeIn): +46 18 495 11 26
Tel (cell): +47 90 69 05 06

Global Health Action ISSN 1654-9880 (online)
Supplements to Global Health Action ISSN 1654-9880 (online), 1654-9716 (print)

This journal is published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 Unported License. Responsible editor: Stig Wall.

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