About the Journal

General information

The Revista Panamericana de Salud Pública/Pan American Journal of Public Health (RPSP/PAJPH) is a free, open access, peer-reviewed journal, published as the flagship scientific and technical periodical publication by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), headquartered in Washington, D.C., the United States of America.

In 1997, the Revista Panamericana de Salud Pública/Pan American Journal of Public Health replaced the Boletí­n Panamericano de Sanidad, established in 1922, and the Boletín de la Oficina Sanitaria Panamericana and its English-language counterpart, Bulletin of the Pan American Health Organization, launched in 1966.

Its mission is to serve as an important vehicle for disseminating scientific public health information of international significance, mainly in areas related to PAHO's essential mission to strengthen national and local health systems and improve the health of the peoples of the Americas. The journal aims to bridge the gap between policy-makers, researchers, health professionals, and practitioners.

The abbreviated title of the journal is Rev Panam Salud Publica
The ISSN numbers are: 1680 5348 (Online) and 1020 4989 (Print).

Publication in the journal has no cost for authors, and all manuscripts are open access and free for readers. 

Watch a brief video with information about the journal:

Scope and language

The RPSP/PAJPH publishes original research in the field of public health, as well as analytical and research papers on public health policy, disease prevention and control programs and strategies, human resources, research methodology, health systems and services, and public health practice throughout the Region. Opinion papers and letters to the editor are published on a regular basis.

The journal accepts articles in three languages: English, Portuguese, and Spanish. Titles, abstracts, and keywords of Portuguese and Spanish papers are translated into English.

Submission of manuscripts / Editorial process

This brief timeline shows the regular editorial process, including its steps and duration. 

Manuscripts must be submitted directly to Manuscript Central, an online submission and peer review system, at: http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/rpsp.

Manuscripts may be rejected after rapid reviewing if they do not comply with the editorial scope and requirements of the journal. All other manuscripts are sent to at least three reviewers for further evaluation before being accepted for publication. Articles may be accepted with minor or major revisions. In the case of major changes, authors may submit revised versions of the manuscripts as many times as needed to address all recommendations from reviewers and editors.

Under the supervision of the Editor-in-chief, Associate editors will manage the peer-review process, assessing the pertinence and relevance of the reviewers' comments regarding methodological soundness, novelty, and applicability of results, among other aspects. Accepted manuscripts will be subject to professional copy-editing and final PDF proofing. Final proofs will be sent to authors for final approval.

Access and distribution

The journal is published exclusively online. Publication in the journal has no cost for authors, and access to full-text manuscripts is also free for readers ("diamond open access", with no fees for researchers nor readers and immediate access to the published articles)The Journal articles are published and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 IGO License, which permits use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. No modifications or commercial use of the articles are permitted. In any reproduction of the articles there should not be any suggestion that PAHO or the article endorse any specific organization or products. The use of the PAHO logo is not permitted. 

Most readers are from the Region of the Americas, but the journal is read throughout the world.

The journal does not accept advertisements from sponsors.  

The Revista Panamericana de Salud Publica/Pan American Journal of Public Health is indexed in:

- PubMed/MEDLINE 
- PubMed Central 
- Web of Science, Social Sciences Citation Index 
- Web of Science, Social & Behavioral Sciences 
- Journal Citation Reports/Social Sciences Edition 
- SCOPUS 
- SciELO Public Health 
- LILACS 
- Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) 
- CABI-Global Health Database 
- EMBASE 
- PAHO/WHO Institutional Repository for Information Sharing (IRIS) 
-Google Scholar

Disclaimer

Authors hold sole responsibility for the views expressed in their texts, which may not necessarily reflect the opinion or policy of the RPSP/PAJPH and/or PAHO. The mention of specific companies or certain manufacturers' products does not imply that they are endorsed or recommended in preference to other ones of a similar nature.

Correction and retraction policies

RPSP/PAJPH takes its responsibility to maintain the integrity and completeness of the published contents. Changes to articles after they have been published online may only be made under certain circumstances.

Corrections to published manuscripts

We expect authors to inform the journal of any errors they have noticed (or have been informed of) in their article once published. For errors in published articles, RPSP/PAJPH may consider correcting the actual article online (XML and PDF). The journal will add a correction notice at the end to explain what has been changed since it was first published and publish an erratum.

Retractions of published manuscripts

Retractions are considered by the journal in cases of evidence of unreliable data or findings, plagiarism, duplicate publication, misconduct, and unethical research. A replacement version of the article will be posted containing just the metadata, with a retraction note replacing the original text. The PDF will be replaced with a version watermarked with “Retracted”, and the reasons for the retraction, but the original text will remain accessible.

The journal may consider publishing an Editorial Expression of Concern notice if an article is under investigation. If the journal has a significant concern about the reliability of an article but not enough information to warrant a retraction until an institutional investigation is complete, it might use an expression of concern.