Ethiopian Journal of Pediatrics and Child Health: Reminiscing its 20-Year Journey

Abstract

The Ethiopian Pediatric Society established the Ethiopian Journal of Pediatrics and Child Health in 2005 as its official organ to bolster the generation and publication of scientific evidence on child health in Ethiopia and beyond. Members’ needs, capabilities of the Society, and the overall socio-economic landscape of the country were duly considered in the conceptualization, initiation, functioning, and trajectory of the Journal. Driven by the impetus to fill the gaps in systematically disseminating information on child health, a working group of pediatricians developed a draft guideline for the Editorial Board. The Journal had to jumpstart in an environment with an underdeveloped research and publishing culture and capacity, and fierce competition for manuscripts by existing journals in-country and overseas.

The Ethiopian Journal of Pediatrics initiated its functions in a one-room office of the Society in Kazanchis, Addis Ababa. Each year, it managed to publish one Issue until 2015 and two issues since 2016 - in print form until June 2017 and both online and in print since then. The Journal has secured ISSN numbers - ISSN 2413-2640 for print and ISSN 2519-0334 for online publications. It subscribes to the National Journal Accreditation Guideline, the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors Guideline, and the World Association of Medical Editors Editorial Policy. It is included in the list of reputable journals by Addis Ababa University and officially recognized by the Ministry of Education. It is in the Scopus and the Ethiopian and African Journals Online databases.
The Journal’s standard publications constitute Editorials, Original Articles, Review Articles, Brief Communications, Policy Briefs, Case Studies, Teaching Articles, and Letters to the Editor. The number and variety of articles increased over the years. The Journal has published 185 articles in 24 issues organized in 19 volumes. Nearly two-thirds (62.2%) of the publications were original articles, 74% were multi-authored, 77.6% were from Addis Ababa, and 86.5% were from academic or affiliated teaching institutions.