About the Journal
Aims and Scope
The International Journal of Public Health Asia Pacific (IJPHAP) publishes scientific articles relevant to global public health from different countries. It assembles them into issues that raise awareness and understanding of public health problems and their solutions.
The Journal welcomes submissions of original research, methodological papers, and manuscripts that emphasize theoretical content. The scope of IJPHAP is broad which covers Medicine, Alternative Medicine, Occupational Health, Environmental Health, Epidemiology, Biostatistics, Health Promotion, Health literacy, Health Behavior, Nutrition, Health Service System, Public Health Administration, Geo-informatics, AI for Health, Data Sciences as well as other relevant Health Sciences or Medical Health issues.
Peer Review Process
The International Journal of Public Health Asia Pacific (IJPHAP) is committed to maintaining the highest standards of academic integrity. All manuscripts submitted must be original and free from fabrication, falsification, plagiarism, or inappropriate data manipulation. IJPHAP is a member of Turnitin through Khon Kaen University Library and all submissions are screened using plagiarism detection software prior to review.
Manuscript Submission and Initial Screening
Upon submission, each manuscript undergoes an initial screening by the Editor-in-Chief or an assigned editorial board member. During this stage, manuscripts are evaluated for compliance with the journal’s scope, formatting guidelines and ethical standards. Content verification and plagiarism checks are conducted at this stage. Manuscripts that do not meet the minimum criteria may be returned to the authors for modification or may be rejected outright.
Peer Review Procedure
Manuscripts that pass the initial screening are anonymized to ensure a double-blind review and are sent for peer review. Normally, three independent reviewers with expertise in the relevant field are assigned to evaluate the manuscript and each reviewer is given 21 days to complete. Reviewers are expected to assess the originality, scientific quality, clarity and relevance of the work and they must disclose any conflicts of interest. Reviewers are also asked to identify any relevant published work that has not been cited. After the reviewers submit their comments, the editorial board member assesses the feedback and makes an editorial recommendation to the Editor-in-Chief. Based on this recommendation, one of the following decisions may be made:
- Acceptance - Manuscript is accepted for publication without further modifications.
- Minor or Major Revision - Manuscript is returned to the author for modification based on reviewers’ comments. The revised manuscript should be resubmitted, after which a second round of review may be conducted to ensure all concerns are addressed.
- Rejection - Manuscript is not suitable for publication.
Post-Acceptance Process
Once a manuscript is accepted after satisfying all reviewer comments, it undergoes formatting according to the journal’s style. A proof of the formatted manuscript is sent to the author for final verification. After the author approves the proof, the manuscript proceeds to publication. The entire process from submission to final publication typically takes 3-6 months.
Conflict of Interest
Conflict of interest exists when as author (or the author's institution), reviewer, or editor has financial or personal relationships that inappropriately influences (bias) his or her actions (such relationship are also known as dual commitments, competing interests, or competing loyalties). Therefore, it is the discretion of editorial committee of IJPHAP to resolve any conflict of interest between the author(s) and reviewers.
Editors may choose not to consider an article for publication if they feel that the research is biased by the sponsors funding the research project.
Human and Animal Rights
All research must adhere to an appropriate ethical framework. If there is any indication that a study has not been conducted within such a framework, editors may reject the manuscript or contact the relevant ethics committee. In rare cases, if the editor has significant concerns about the ethical integrity of the study, the manuscript may be rejected on ethical grounds even if ethics committee approval has been obtained.
Manuscripts involving animal or clinical studies must include a statement confirming adherence to the guidelines of the respective human and animal ethics committees. Research involving animals should be conducted in a manner that minimizes unnecessary harm or distress. Additionally, registration is mandatory for all clinical trials.
Informed Consent
The International Journal of Public Health Asia Pacific (IJPHAP) prioritizes patient privacy and requires that it not be compromised without informed consent. Identifiable information including names, initials or hospital identification numbers should not be included in publications whether in descriptions, photographs or pedigrees unless deemed essential for scientific purposes. In such cases, written informed consent must be obtained from the patient, parent or guardian with assurance that they have reviewed the manuscript and understand its content and context.
Authors must inform patients of any potential risks regarding the availability of identifiable material in both print and online formats. Consent forms should be properly documented and archived by the authors, the journal or both in accordance with local laws or regulations. Any nonessential identifying details should be excluded to protect patient anonymity. Masking the eye region in photographs or similar measures is insufficient to guarantee anonymity.
When identifying features are modified to protect anonymity such as in genetic data or pedigrees, authors must confirm that these changes do not distort the scientific accuracy of the findings. Editors should acknowledge this assurance in the published article. The article must explicitly state that informed consent has been obtained wherever applicable.
Open Access Policy
International Journal of Public Health Asia Pacific (IJPHAP) has adopted open access policy. Open Access Policy is based on rules of Budapest Open Access Initiative (BOAI). According to BOAI, Open Access states, “Scientific articles that have been evaluated by the referee, via the Internet; be freely accessible, readable, downloadable, copied, distributed, printed, scanned, linked to full texts, indexed, transmitted as data and used for any legal purpose, without financial, legal and technical barriers.
Scientific articles published in the journal are freely and permanently accessible online immediately upon publication, without subscription charges or registration barriers. All articles are available under the Creative Commons 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0). Our Journal, provides immediate open access to its peer-reviewed scientific literature on the principle of making it freely available to the everyone and supporting a greater global exchange of knowledge.
Publication Timeline
IJPHAP stickily compliance with the publication timeline shown below in managing editorial workflow:
- First editorial review, by an editor at least, with consequent rejection or peer review assignment between 1-3 days;
- First round of peer review within 3 weeks after the assignment to the reviewers;
- Communication to the author within 3-4 weeks after submission;
- Author's modifications of the paper within 1-2 weeks after editor’s request;
- Last editorial decision within 2 weeks after modifications received.
Types of articles: Editorials and Original Articles
Language: English
Publication Frequency: 3 Issues Per Year (January-April, May-August, September- December)
Publisher: Faculty of Public Health, Khon Kaen University
