title: Peer-reviewed public health journals from Arabic-speaking countries: An updated snapshot.
abstract: There is a positive association between availability of regional peer-reviewed public health information systems and progressive change in community and population health. The objective of this brief report was to identify public health journals in Arabic-speaking countries actively publishing as of 2016. We conducted an electronic search in several electronic database records for public health journals using a combination of search terms. We excluded journals that focused on human medicine, veterinary medicine, nursing, and other discipline-specific or clinical health professions. We identified twenty-five public health journals for review. Five journals were interrupted or discontinued. Only three journals had a consistent, uninterrupted active publication history of greater than 20 years. Most journals were not in the regional native language. Introduction of regional public health-dedicated journals with in-print and electronic availability and also to be published in region-native languages may require interdisciplinary partnerships. Region-wide public health journals such as the Eastern Mediterranean Health Journal could serve as an ideal model for the establishment of additional local and regional public health journals in Arabic-speaking countries.
authors.affiliation: Department of Global Health & Development, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, 15-17 Tavistock Place, London, WC1H 9SH, UK. basil.aboul-enein@lshtm.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Basil H
authors.initials: BH
authors.lastname: Aboul-Enein
authors.affiliation: College of Graduate Health Studies, A.T. Still University of Health Sciences, 800 W. Jefferson St., Kirksville, MO, 63501, USA.
authors.forename: Joshua
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bernstein
authors.affiliation: College of Veterinary Medicine, Mississippi State University, 240 Wise Center Dr., Starkville, MS, 39762, USA.
authors.forename: Jacquelyn E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Bowser
mesh_terms: D018912:Arabs; D006801:Humans; D010506:Periodicals as Topic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011634:Public Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
keywords: North Africa; middle east; policy, public health journals; public health; research