Ethiopian Journal of Health Sciences

1. Ethiopian Journal of Health Sciences Abraham Haileamlak, MD Associate professor of Pediatrics Editor-In-Chief of Ethiopian Journal of Health Sciences Vice President for Local Training Facilities and Health Services, Jimma University, Ethiopia May, 2009

2. Ethiopia

3. Ethiopia… • One of the oldest state in the world • Cradle of humankind ??? • Has own alphabet G K N S ... • …own different calendar Lucy/Dinknesh

4. Ethiopia … • Rich history • 2nd populous in Africa (80,000,000) • Economically poor • Recurrent draught • War • Poverty

5. Ethiopia … • But now changing • Economic development is getting fast • Infrastructure … • Health service • Education • Primary education for all • More than 200 colleges • 32 universities – 11 medical schools

6. Location of Hosting University

7. Location … King Abajifar Palace

8. JIMMA UNIVERSITY A NATIONAL PIONEER IN COMMUNITY BASED EDUCATION OF HIGHER LEARNING

9. Background of JU • Jimma University: Established in December 1999 (JCA, 1952 & JIHS, 1983) • JU has one college and 8 faculties • Has over 32,000 students and over 1000 teaching staff • Known for its innovative teaching approach, Community Based Education (CBE)

10. Medical and Public Health Faculty • Existed since 1983 • Has 26 departments • Trains in BSc, MD, DMD, MSc, MPH and Specialty

11. Medical … Teaching hospital • Serves as a training andresearch center. • The only referral Hospital in the south-west • Has 450 bed capacity • Additional Modern Hospital with 530 bed capacity under construction

12. THE PHILOSOPHY OF JIMMA UNIVERSITY - COMMUNITY BASED EDUCATION (CBE) • CBE is a means of achieving educational relevance to community needs. • Uses the community extensively as a learning environment • Students but also teachers, members of the community, and representatives of other sectors are actively engaged throughout the educational experience. • Benefits both the students and the community.

13. Cbe… • Three Core strategies; • Community Based Training Programme (CBTP) • 2. Team Training Program (TTP) →→DTTP (Being Piloted) • 3. Student Research Program (SRP)

14. Research and Publications AT JU • Research undertaking is among the mandates of JU • Coordinated by Research and Publication Office • Research priority has been given to problem solving and community-based and applied • Currently, over 50 different research projects are underway by the medical/health science staff • The main areas of research are malnutrition, child health, HIV/Aids, Malaria, Chronic Diseases and Tuberculosis

15. Research and … Health Science Research Institute • Established in 2006 with the aim of; • Enhance research culture in JU • Establish field research center • Integrate and make a concerted effort on health sciences research undertakings to address national priority problems • Contribute to JU’s attempt to be center of excellence in health sciences • Disseminate research findings through different means

16. Ethiopian Journal of Health Sciences (EJHS) • A peer reviewed journal of JU appearing since 1991 • Used to appear twice a year until July 2007 • Since then it is appearing trice a year • Publish editorial, original articles, brief communications and case reports, • Has no website yet, Not indexed

17. EJHS … Mission • in order to Contribute for the professional development and/or education of the manuscript contributors and readers by publishing peer-reviewed articles. • Contribute for dissemination and technology transfer of research outputs.

18. EJHS … Mission … • Facilitate research undertakings on in Ethiopia in general and southwest Ethiopia in particular. • Advance the professional development of authors, reviewers and members of the editorial board.

19. EJHS … • Staffing • Two fulltime editorial staff [secretary and editorial manager (on the pipeline)] • Seven (including EIC) volunteer editorial board members • Six editorial consultants • More than 50 volunteer reviewers

20. EJHS … • Editorial process • Submission to the secretary • After registration and removal of identifiers by the secretary • pre-review by the Editor-in-Chief (1-2 days) • To two reviewers for comment is in 4 weeks time, but usually longer

21. EJHS … • Editorial process … • Accepted manuscripts, to author/s for accommodation (in 2weeks time) • Then to reviewers  Authors • Accepted manuscripts will then undergo detail review by editorial board. • The whole process will take 3-4 months on average

22. EJHS … • Distribution • Over 200 institutions and individuals locally for free • Distributed to all libraries in JU and all public medical schools in Ethiopia • Few international customers • Financing • Fully funded by JU • Selling not yet started

23. EJHS … • Manuscripts • 35-40 manuscripts are submitted yearly • 20-25 articles published per year • Rejection rate is about 15%

24. EJHS… • Medical library • Librarians support researchers, authors and reviewers in searching database when they are asked for. • Are not involved in training

25. EJHS… • Improvements • JU is in transformation and so the EJHS • Research undertaking is becoming easier • More manuscripts are coming • Group review of manuscripts by editorial board and experts started • Electronic submission started

26. EJHS … • Desirable Interaction with our International partner are, • Capacity building • Advise in establishing sound publication system • Share good practices • Expertise support in training of; • editors, • reviewers, • authors and • researchers

27. EJHS … • Difficulties • Reviewers • Shortage • Poor skill • Uncooperative • Editorial board members • Stretched • Limited Knowhow • Technology supported • No website • Authors • Poor writing skill • Do not follow the journal format

28. THANK YOU!