African Journals Online
The Ethiopian Journal of Health Development
(EJHD)

Instructions to authors…/ Instructions aux auteurs…

Style requirements for authors

General The Ethiopian Journal of Health Development is a multi-disciplinary peer-reviewed publication concerned with all aspects of public health and medicine. The language of the journal is English. The Journal is published by the Department of Community Health, Faculty of Medicine, Addis Ababa University and is the official organ of the Ethiopian Public Health Association. The Editorial Board reserves all rights to decide on editorial matters of the Journal and decisions are final. 

Submissions All manuscripts must be submitted to the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal. Original manuscripts in English will be considered for publication provided that they have not been published previously and are not under consideration for publication elsewhere. Accepted papers may be subjected to editorial revision without any prior notice. All manuscripts submitted should be accompanied by the following declaration, which should be signed by each of the authors: 

I/we . . . . . . ., author/joint authors of the manuscript entitled . . . . . . , which I/we have submitted for publication in the Ethiopian Journal of Health Development, hereby agree that, if it is accepted for publication in the Journal, the copyright of the paper shall become the property of the Department of Community Health, Faculty of Medicine, Addis Ababa University who may on request license me/us to reproduce the paper or any part thereof without requiring any payment in respect thereof, provided that a full acknowledgment to the Journal as the original source of publication accompanies each reproduction. 
Date . . . . . . . . . . . . . Signature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Manuscripts should be submitted in three full paper copies and an IBM-compatible disk file containing the text of the paper preferably in MS word. The following instructions relating to submissions must be adhered to. Failure to conform may result in rejection or delay in publication. 

Typescripts Submissions should be typed on one side of A4 paper, with double spacing and with a margin of 25 mm(1 inch). Manuscripts should not exceed 2000 words excluding title page, acknowledgment and tables and illustrations (or roughly eight double spaced pages using font not less than twelve). The first page should carry the title, name(s) of the author(s), the place where the work was performed, and a short running title. The exact and full address (postal, telephone, fax and e-mail) of the corresponding author must be given in the first page of the manuscript. A structured abstract of not more than 200 words summarizing the background, objective, methods, important findings and conclusions must be typed on a separate sheet. The text, starting on a new page, should be divided under appropriate headings, e.g. Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, Discussions, Acknowledgments, References. If correspondences are to be handled by anyone other than the first author this should be made clear and the appropriate name and address provided. Abbreviations should not be used without explanation the first time they occur. SI units should be used wherever possible. 

Tables should be typed on separate sheets and should be numbered with Arabic numerals consecutively in the order of their citation in the text. A heading for each table must be provided. Footnotes (if any) should be typed beneath the body of the table. Vertical rules should be avoided. Only up to five tables in number are accepted in one manuscript.

Illustrations Figures should be used only when necessary to illustrate particular structures or conditions, to summarize data or to record quantitative results. Photographs should be supplied as high contrast, unmounted, glossy, black-and-white prints. Line drawings or graphs should be in black ink on white paper; special attention should be paid to clarity. Illustrations should be numbered with Arabic numerals in the order in which they are referred to in the text. Their approximate positions should be indicated in the margin of the text. When symbols, arrows, or any other labels are used to identify part of illustrations, identify and explain each one clearly in the legend. Provided the internal scale used in illustrations. For all quantitative figures, authors must provide the data in a table format. 

Abbreviations and symbols Use only standard abbreviations. Avoid abbreviations in the title and abstract. Abbreviations must be preceded by their full description in the first use. 

Brief Communication. All style requirements for a full article apply for brief communication. Exceptions are the following: no abstract or non structured abstract not exceeding 75 words, text should not exceed 600 words, only one table or illustration, and a maximum of eight references.

References Number references consecutively in which they are first mentioned and should be listed in numerical order on a separate sheet at the end of the paper. Titles of journals should be abbreviated according to Index Medicus or given in full. References must include: (i) all authors' surnames and initials (if there are six authors or less) or (if there are seven or more) the first three authors followed by et al.; (ii) the full title of the paper; (iii) the abbreviated or full title of the journal; (iv) the year of publication; (v) the volume number; (vi) the first and last page numbers. 
Examples:

1. You CH, Lee KY, Chey RY, Menguy R. Electrogastrographic study of patients with unxplained nausea, bloating and vomiting. Gastroentrology 1980;79(2):311-4.
2. Dempster WS, Heese HDeV, Pocock FH, Kirsten G, Waterneyer S. Ferritin levels in human milk. Ann Trop Paediatr 1986; 3:209-12. 
3. Cotter JM, Schwartz AD. Psychological and social support of the patient and family. In: Altman AJ, Schwartz AD, eds. Malignant Disease of Infancy, Childhood and Adolescence. Philadelphia, PA: Saunders, 1983; 129-35. (Chapter in a book)

Ethics All studies on human subjects must indicate whether the procedure followed in the study were in accordance with national and international standards. Do not use patient's name, initials or hospital numbers. 

Acknowledgment should be sent on a separate page and must be limited to most important contributions.

Galley Proofs will be sent to the first author (unless otherwise instructed) as received from the typesetter. They should be checked and returned to the Editor-in-Chief as soon as possible after receipt, and in any event within one week. Delay in returning corrected proofs may result in the paper being held over to the next issue or being published uncorrected. At this stage, corrections must be limited to only essential and editorial mistakes.

Rejected manuscripts will not be returned to authors. They will be destroyed after 3 months. 

Reprints Twenty five reprints of the paper are supplied free of charge to the corresponding author. Additional copies may be ordered and paid for in advance when the galley proofs are returned. 

Copyright It is a condition of publication that authors transfer copyright of their articles, including abstracts, to the Department of Community Health, Faculty of Medicine, Addis Ababa University. This ensures full copyright protection of published papers and enables to disseminate the article, and the Journal, to the widest possible readership in print and electronic formats as appropriate. Authors may use the article elsewhere after publication without any prior permission provided that acknowledgment is given to the Journal as the original source of publication and the Editor-in-Chief is notified.