AIMS AND SCOPE

The aim of the journal is to provide a forum for infection control professionals, especially those in low resource countries, to disseminate research and practice information and support the goals of IFIC to network and encourage infection control initiatives on a worldwide basis.

IJIC receives for publication manuscripts on all aspects of infection prevention and control in health care setting, especially pertaining to practice and research in developing countries. The following types of submissions are accepted:

Review articles
5000 words maximum; comprehensive references; 5-10 key words; unstructured abstract up to 250 words.

Original articles
5000 words maximum; comprehensive references; 5-10 key words; unstructured abstract up to 250 words.

Short reports
Case reports can be submitted if they illustrate some exceptional point in the field of infection prevention and control. 1000 words maximum; up to 10 references.

Practice Forum
Submissions of a more descriptive account of how infection control practitioners or teams tackled a specific challenge or brought about improvement in the prevention or control of healthcare associated infections in their institution or country. 2000 words maximum; unstructured format.

Letters to the editor
Correspondence to the Editor may refer to material published recently in IJIC or alternatively describe brief accounts of new observations or on other matters of interest. 500 words maximum; unstructured format.

Editorial commentaries
1000 words maximum; up to 20 references; 5-10 keywords; unstructured abstract up to 100 words. Each figure and/or table present will reduce the word count permitted by 200 words.

 

PEER REVIEW PROCESS

Submissions are preliminarily examined by one or more members of the Editorial Team. This process can take up to four weeks as the team consists of volunteers who are all juggling full time jobs. With COVID-19, turnaround times should be expected to be slower than usual. If a submission is not found to be appropriate for full peer review, the authors are notified. Submissions deemed suitable for full review are examined by (usually) two peer referees. When it proves difficult to find a second reviewer for a paper, an editorial decision may be based on one reviewer's report in combination with the opinion of the assigned Editor.

IJIC employs single blind review, where the referees remain anonymous throughout the process. Referees are matched to the paper according to their expertise.

Referee reports: In the case of original articles, referees are asked to evaluate whether the manuscript:

- Is original

- Is methodologically sound

- Follows appropriate ethical guidelines

- Has results which are clearly presented and support the conclusions

- Correctly references previous relevant work

Length of review process: The time between receipt of the original submission and initial response (acceptance, rejection, or request for revision) depends heavily on how quickly referees provide reports. Referees, like the editors, are volunteers and finding willing reviewers who can provide a timely review can be a difficultor endevour. The current COVID-19 crisis is having a major impact on the ability of editors and reviewers to conduct journal business. The editors of IJIC realise our reviewers may need more time than usual. Our review processes in turn may take longer than usual. We hope authors will understand and bear with us at this difficult time.

The editor may request more than one revision of a manuscript before a final decision to accept or reject it.

Final report: A final decision to accept or reject the manuscript will be sent to the corresponding author along with any recommendations made by the referees, and may include verbatim comments made by the referees.

Editor's Decision: Referees advise the editor, who is responsible for the final decision to accept or reject the manuscript. No appeal procedure is available.

 

PUBLICATION SCHEDULE

Articles are posted online in the annual volume immediately following final proofreading. The exceptions are articles destined for special numbered issues; publication of these articles may be delayed until they can all be published together at the same time. When posted online, articles are assigned a DOI number (Digital Object Identifier) whereby it becomes possible to search and cite them without delay.

 

OPEN ACCESS POLICY

International Journal of Infection Control (IJIC) is published Open Access under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 license. Authors retain full copyright. For more information see the copyright section below.

Articles are published immediately upon the final corrections of the master proof having been made. All articles are assigned a DOI number (Digital Object Identifier) whereby it becomes possible to search and cite them without delay.

Copyright and Licensing

Authors contributing to International Journal of Infection Control (IJIC) agree to publish their articles under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 license, allowing third parties to copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format, and to remix, transform, and build upon the material, for any purpose, even commercially, under the condition that appropriate credit is given, that a link to the license is provided, and that you indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.

Authors retain copyright of their work, with first publication rights granted to IJIC.

 

ARCHIVING

This journal is part of the Public Knowledge Preservation Network for purposes of preservation and restoration. In addition, all files are archived with Portico.

AUTHOR SELF-ARCHIVING

Authors are permitted and encouraged to post papers submitted to IJIC on personal and institutional websites, prior to and after publication (while providing the bibliographic details of the latter).