Author Support

Frequently Asked Questions

English Manuscript Language

Double-Blind Peer Review

USD 0 APC

January, May & September Publication Schedule

HoPHS publishes manuscripts in English. Authors are responsible for ensuring that the manuscript is clear, academically written, and sufficiently understandable for international peer review. Professional language-editing services are not mandatory and do not influence editorial decisions.

HoPHS currently accepts Original Research Articles and Review Articles. Review Articles may include systematic reviews, meta-analyses, scoping reviews, and other explicit-method evidence syntheses that fit the journal's public-health scope. Authors should consult the Author Guidelines for manuscript structure and word limits.

Authors must upload two core files: (1) Title Page and (2) Anonymized Main Document. A similarity report may also be uploaded, but it is optional. If no report is supplied, HoPHS will conduct similarity screening during technical evaluation.

HoPHS uses double-blind peer review with normally at least two independent reviewers. The external reviewer target is 14 calendar days after acceptance of the review invitation. For a standard externally reviewed manuscript, HoPHS aims for a first editorial decision in approximately 30 calendar days. These are operational targets rather than guaranteed turnaround times.

No. The current HoPHS Article Processing Charge is USD 0. There is also no submission fee, peer-review fee, editorial-processing fee, page charge, colour-figure charge, supplementary-material fee, mandatory language-editing charge, or article-withdrawal fee.

HoPHS applies a similarity-screening benchmark of maximum 20%. However, a similarity percentage is not itself a determination of plagiarism. Editors evaluate the source, location, extent, attribution, and context of matched material. A manuscript below 20% may still contain unacceptable plagiarism, while legitimate matches may require contextual review.

Research involving human participants, identifiable human material, identifiable health information, or other research requiring ethical oversight must have appropriate ethics approval, exemption, or waiver before the research is conducted. The manuscript should identify the responsible ethics committee or review body and provide approval details where applicable.

Authors must describe informed consent for research participation when it is required by the approved protocol or applicable ethical standards. Separate consent for publication may also be required when an individual could reasonably be identified from photographs, clinical details, quotations, pedigrees, or combinations of personal characteristics.

HoPHS normally provides approximately 14 calendar days for limited revisions and 30 calendar days for substantial revisions. Authors should submit a point-by-point response to reviewers and editors. If additional time is required, authors should contact the editorial office before the deadline.

Not always. Limited revisions may be assessed directly by the handling editor. Substantial revisions will normally be returned to one or more reviewers, particularly when methodological, analytical, interpretive, or reporting issues require reassessment. The final decision remains the responsibility of the editor.

Yes. Manuscripts reporting original research or evidence synthesis must include a Data Availability Statement. Authors should explain whether data are openly available, available under controlled conditions or on reasonable request, restricted for legitimate reasons, obtained from a third party, or not newly generated for the study.

Material use of generative AI or comparable AI-assisted technologies must be disclosed. AI cannot be listed as an author. Human authors remain responsible for accuracy, originality, attribution, confidentiality, copyright compliance, and scientific integrity. When AI forms part of the research method, authors should describe the tool, purpose, procedures, validation, and human oversight in the Methods section.

HoPHS is part of an institutional journal-publishing environment with established DOI infrastructure. DOI information should be considered article-specific and will be displayed on the published article once a DOI has been assigned and registered. Authors should use the DOI shown on the final published record.

Horizon of Public Health Sciences (HoPHS) is published three times a year, with regular issues scheduled January, May and December. Acceptance of a manuscript does not guarantee placement in a specific issue unless confirmed by the editorial office.

Authors should log in to the HoPHS OJS account used for submission and open the relevant manuscript record. The OJS workflow shows the current editorial stage and journal correspondence. Authors should use the journal's official editorial contact only when clarification is needed or when a manuscript has remained substantially beyond the expected processing period without an update.

HoPHS uses four principal decision categories: Accept Submission, Revisions Required, Resubmit for Review, and Decline Submission. Reviewer recommendations are advisory; the final editorial decision is made by the responsible editor.

Yes, when there is a substantive basis. A formal appeal should normally be submitted within 14 calendar days of the decision and should identify a specific factual, methodological, procedural, ethical, or interpretive error that may have materially affected the outcome. Disagreement alone is not sufficient grounds for appeal.

Use the journal's native Contact page for the current Principal Contact and Support Contact. Authors should rely on the official institutional contact information displayed there rather than contact details copied from older documents or third-party websites.

Need More Detail?

The FAQ summarizes policy; the full journal policy governs.