About the Journal

Please note: With the year 2023, the Southeastern European Journal of Public Health (SEEJPH) has been transferred from Jacobs Publishing House to the Netherlands Press and is not longer hosted by Bielefeld University Library. All information on this page reflects the status as of 2022.

Focus and Scope

Focusing on Health Systems in Transition and Global Health

The South Eastern European Journal of Public Health (SEEJPH) is an open-access international peer-reviewed journal involving all health sciences and public health areas. Devoted to global health SEEJPH welcomes submissions of scientists, researchers, and practitioners from all over the world, but particularly pertinent to southern and eastern countries in transition.

The editors are especially interested in quantitative and qualitative research examining upstream determinants of population health and health services delivery. This very often implies inter-disciplinary and inter-sectoral orientation involving multiple professions and people.

SEEJPH accepts - pending on fast external review within four weeks of submission - original research articles, reviews of relevant literature, short reports, case studies, commentaries, and letters to the editor. Submissions can be online or by email and are checked for plagiarism. Accepted papers are published without delay in the current issue, which accumulates the most recent contributions successively.

Journal History

The South Eastern European Journal of Public Health is a significant achievement of the Forum for Public Health in South Eastern Europe (see the closed website: http://www.snz.unizg.hr/ph-see/index.htm), a project funded by the European Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe 2001-2011. The Forum also published more than 3000 pages of teaching books for Public Health/Health Sciences incl. a selected 2nd edition 2014), and organised annual summer schools in all succession states of the former Yugoslavia.

Opening address

As the president of the Association of Schools of Public Health in the European Region (ASPHER) for the period 2013/15, it is my pleasure to announce the start of a new public health journal, the South Eastern European Journal of Public Health (SEEJPH), published by Jacobs Publishing Company in Germany and managed by the executive editor Professor Dr. Genc Burazeri MPH, PhD, Maastricht and Tirana. I wish this endeavour full success and assure the editors of my full support.

Prof. Vesna Bjegovic-Mikanovic MD, MSc, PhD, hon.dr.

Selected from the comments on the 1st volume

Alexandre Berlin, Advisor SEE Health Network: Many thanks - a most valuable edition, badly needed - congratulations.

Maria Ruseva, Executive Committee of the SEE Health Network: Invite Public Health professionals and researchers to follow it and eventually publish articles on their research.

Muhammad Wasif Alam, Dubai Health Authority-Head Quarter: Great job!!! We have been thinking of having a similar journal for the Arab world.

Leon Epstein, Dean emeritus, Brown School, Jerusalem: This is really a terrific achievement.

Yehia Abed, Al-Quds School of Public Health, Gaza, Palestine: Congratulation, we hope all success for you. I will circulate it to our group.

Stoyanka Popova, Dean, Faculty of Public Health, Varna, Bulgaria: It sounds great! We are ready to contribute.

Jose M. Martin-Moreno, Advisor, WHO Europe: The first online edition is an excellent example of how varied professional expertise and personal enthusiasm can come together to make a valuable contribution to a new publication championing public health.

Peer Review Process

Authors have to declare the following where applicable:

  • Authorship: Appropriate credit is to be given in the manuscript about the respective contributions.
  • Originality: Authors have to guarantee the originality of their paper and the exclusiveness of their submission to SEEJPH as well as the complete citation of other literature and sources of data.
  • Conflicts of interest: Authors are obliged to declare any conflict of interest and/or financial support.
  • Research ethics: Experimental Studies which involve humans require approval by the responsible committee and must guaranty anonymity and voluntary consent of participants. Animals have to be treated with decency.

All manuscripts (original research articles, reviews, and short reports) are evaluated by two external reviewers, who are asked to rate the manuscripts' importance and relevance, originality, and scientific added value. The Editors make every effort to get the reviews done within four weeks after submission. SEEJPH employs a single-blind reviewing policy which implies that the names of the reviewers are not disclosed to the authors. The COPE Ethical Guidelines for Peer Reviewers are available at: https://publicationethics.org/resources/guidelines/editing-peer-reviews or at: https://publicationethics.org/files/editing-peer-reviews-cope-guideline.pdf.  DOI https://doi.org/10.24318/AoZQIusn

Publication Frequency

For the time being, this new journal is publishing 2 Volumes per year at the end of the first and third quarters in addition to special volumes on selected topics.

Accepted contributions are published immediately in the Current Issue.

Open Access Policy

SEEJPH provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge.

Benefits of Publishing Open Access

Larger audience, complimentary view, downloading and printing, Increased number of citations. Articles are published rapidly, special discounts as announced.

Publication Ethics

SEEJPH has adopted the Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors (http://publicationethics.org/files/Code_of_conduct_for_journal_editors.pdf), issued by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and acts in accordance with the international standards on publication ethics and publication malpractice (http://publicationethics.org/). For details, see also: http://publicationethics.org/resources/guidelines.

SEEJPH conforms to the "Uniform requirements for manuscripts submitted to biomedical journals," as specified by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (www.icmje.org).  

SEEJPH adheres to the basic principles of the Declaration of Helsinki of the World Medical Association (http://www.wma.net/en/20activities/10ethics/10helsinki/). If human participants are involved, a statement of approval by an institutional review board (IRB) and the participants' informed consent should be provided. If IRB approval was not obtained or sought, a short explanation is required. In this context, SEEJPH follows the Guiding Principles for Ethical Research of the Clinical Center of the National Institutes of Health (available at https://www.nih.gov/health-information/nih-clinical-research-trials-you/guiding-principles-ethical-research). These are:

  • Social and clinical value
  • Scientific validity
  • Fair subject selection
  • Favorable risk-benefit ratio
  • Independent review
  • Informed consent
  • Respect for potential and enrolled subjects

Commercial advertising is not permitted in SEEJPH.