Manuscripts submitted to African journal of research in medical and health sciences (AJRMHS) must not have been published, submitted or already accepted for publication elsewhere. One of the authors, the corresponding author (as authorized by all authors) is expected to correspond with the Journal for all matters related to the manuscript. All submissions received will be duly acknowledged. On submission, editors review all submitted manuscripts initially for suitability for formal review. Manuscripts lacking originality or containing significant scientific or technical flaws will not proceed for formal peer-review; they will be rejected at this point, as would manuscripts that are outside the scope and interest of the AJRMHS.

Manuscripts which are considered suitable for publication will be sent to at least two subject matter experts for review. The journal follows a double-blind review process, wherein the reviewers and authors are unaware of each other’s identity. The comments and recommendations (acceptance/ rejection/ amendments) received from reviewers will be conveyed to the corresponding author who is expected to provide a response to reviewers’ comments and submit a revised version of the manuscript in line with the reviewers’ recommendations.

AJRMHS operates an online journal management system, from submission through publication and dissemination. Accepted manuscripts will be copy edited for grammar, punctuation, print style, and formatted. Galley proofs will be sent to the corresponding author who is expected to return the proofs with corrections if any, within the stipulated time. Time from submission to publication is about 8-12 weeks. To achieve faster and wider dissemination of scientific information, the journal publishes accepted articles online as Preprints prior release of complete issue.

Preprint policy: Articles published online as Preprints are considered published and can be cited using the DOI as the reference source.  Changes will not be made after the publication of an article without following accepted procedures for making corrections to the scientific record.

Clinical trials: AJRMHS would publish clinical trials that have been registered following the ICMJE requirements and recommendations - http://www.icmje.org/recommendations/browse/publishing-and-editorial-issues/clinical-trial-registration.html. Clinical trials should be registered in a public trials’ registry at or before the enrollment of the first patient/participant to be considered for publication.

Misconduct, Corrections, Retraction, Republication, Version control: The AJRMHS follows the ICMJE and COPE recommendations and guidance in handling corrections, retractions, editorial expressions of concern and misconduct - https://www.icmje.org/recommendations/browse/publishing-and-editorial-issues/corrections-and-version-control.html & https://publicationethics.org/guidance/Flowcharts. Authors should review these requirements and ensure adherence to the highest standards of publication ethics in submitting their manuscripts to the AJRMHS.

Informed Consent, Human and Animal Rights

Manuscripts submitted for publication must be approved by an appropriate ethics committee or institutional review board and the reference number quoted. Compliance with ethical standards including informed consent and respect for persons and autonomy must be ensured in the conduct of research and presentation of materials for publications, including images related to individual participants. Research involving human subjects, human material, or human data must have been performed in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki, the Council for International Organizations of Medical Sciences (CIOMS) bioethics policies and other relevant National regulations. Conduct of research involving animals must also comply with institutional, national, or international guidelines and codes. The editor may reject and or contact the responsible ethics committee if there is any uncertainty.

Authorship Criteria: 

AJRMHS complies with the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) recommendations for eligibility as an author of submitted papers. The ICMJE recommends that authorship be based on the following four (4) criteria:

• Substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work; or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work; AND
• Drafting the work or revising it critically for important intellectual content; AND
• Final approval of the version to be published; AND
• Agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.

Participation solely in the acquisition of funding or the collection of data, or general supervision of the research group is not sufficient for authorship. Each contributor should have participated sufficiently in the work to take public responsibility for appropriate portions of the content of the manuscript. Once submitted, the order of naming Authors cannot be changed without the written consent of all the contributors. Authors should ensure compliance with the above guidelines, as manuscripts considered to have unjustified authorships will be rejected. Authors should describe contributions made by each of them towards the manuscript. The description should be divided into the following categories, as applicable: concept, design, the definition of intellectual content, literature search, clinical studies, experimental studies, data acquisition, data analysis, statistical analysis, manuscript writing, editing and review.