About the Journal
About the journal
The Hegel Journal of Global Health (HJGH) publishes rigorous, open research and debate on health systems, financing and global health security, led from the Global South. It is free to read and free to publish. Every research article comes with a policy summary and an Urdu plain-language summary, so that evidence reaches the people who make decisions.
The journal takes its motto, Thesis · Antithesis · Synthesis, from the method it applies to evidence: each claim is tested against its strongest counter-argument before a conclusion is drawn. HJGH is now accepting submissions and publishes its first articles from May 2027.
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Full title | Hegel Journal of Global Health |
| Abbreviation | HJGH |
| Publisher | The Hegel Institute, Islamabad, Pakistan |
| ISSN (online) | Applied for |
| Access | Diamond open access: free to read, free to publish |
| Author fees | None. HJGH charges no submission, processing, page or colour fees |
| Licence | Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0); authors keep copyright |
| Peer review | Double-anonymised, at least two independent reviewers |
| Publication | Continuous publication; one volume a year |
| Language | English, with an Urdu plain-language summary for each research article |
| Standards | COPE Core Practices; ICMJE Recommendations |
| Contact | editorial@thehegels.com |
Vision and mission
Vision. Health systems in low- and middle-income countries designed on their own best evidence.
Mission. To publish rigorous, open research and debate on health systems, financing and global health security, led from the Global South, and to translate it into formats that policymakers use.
Aims and scope
HJGH publishes original research, reviews and debate in six areas, with priority to work from and for low- and middle-income countries. We particularly welcome work from South Asia, the Middle East and Africa, and comparative studies relevant to them.
Health systems and policy: governance, stewardship, regulation, service delivery and the health workforce.
Health financing: social health protection, strategic purchasing, universal health coverage and financial protection.
Global health security: preparedness, the International Health Regulations, health diplomacy and public health law.
Implementation and transition: scaling, sustainability and the transfer of donor-supported programmes to national ownership.
Equity and inclusion: disability and rehabilitation, gender, mental health and access to care.
Non-communicable diseases and their determinants, including tobacco, from a health systems perspective.
Outside our scope: purely clinical, laboratory or basic-science studies; single-hospital case series without a health systems question; and pharmaceutical formulation studies. We decline these without review so that authors can submit elsewhere quickly.
Why publish with HJGH
HJGH offers authors free, open publication, prompt decisions and a route to policymakers.
No fees, ever: publication is free for all authors, wherever they are based.
Prompt decisions: we aim to decide on desk review within 7 days and to give a first decision after peer review within 45 days.
Policy reach: each research article carries a policy summary and an Urdu plain-language summary, and is promoted through our newsletter, social media and, where warranted, a press release.
Open and permanent: articles are published under CC BY 4.0, receive a Crossref DOI and are preserved in the PKP Preservation Network.
Space for debate: the Dialectic series publishes evidence on both sides of contested policy questions.
Support for new authors: early-career researchers can use the Hegel Research Clinic for writing support, separately from the editorial process and with no effect on decisions.
How we review manuscripts
Every research article is reviewed by at least two independent experts under double-anonymised review; editors make the decisions.
| Stage | What happens | Our target |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Technical check | The editorial office checks the files and the checklist | 3 working days |
| 2. Desk review | A section editor decides whether to send the paper for review | 7 days from submission |
| 3. Peer review | At least two independent reviewers, from different institutions, at least one from outside the authors' country | About 21 days |
| 4. First decision | Accept, minor revision, major revision or reject, with the reviewers' reports | 45 days from submission (median) |
| 5. Revision | Authors revise and respond point by point | 30 days (minor), 60 days (major) |
| 6. Publication | Copy-editing, proofs, DOI and summaries | 21 days from acceptance |
Open-review option. Authors may opt in at submission to publish the peer review reports alongside their article. Reports are published only if each reviewer agrees, signed or unsigned as the reviewer chooses.
Appeals. Authors may appeal a decision within 30 days by writing to the Editor-in-Chief with their reasons. An appeal against the Editor-in-Chief's own decision is considered by an independent member of the editorial board.
Publication ethics and policies
HJGH follows the COPE Core Practices and the ICMJE Recommendations.
| Policy | What it means for authors |
|---|---|
| Authorship | All authors meet the ICMJE criteria; contributions are stated using CRediT roles. We encourage authorship by researchers in the places where the work was done. Changes to authorship after submission need written agreement from all authors |
| Articles per author | An author may appear on no more than one article in the same issue |
| Editors' own work | HJGH does not publish articles by its own editors or editorial board members |
| Conflicts of interest | All authors declare financial and non-financial interests; the statement is published with the article |
| Funding | Every article states its funding sources and the role of each funder |
| Research ethics | Research on people needs ethics committee approval and informed consent; identifiable information or images need written consent |
| Registration | Trials must be registered prospectively in a WHO-recognised registry; systematic reviews should be registered in PROSPERO or OSF |
| Data and code | A data-sharing statement is required; we encourage deposit in a public repository |
| Preprints | Permitted and encouraged; the preprint is linked to the published article |
| Use of AI | AI tools may be used only to improve language and must be disclosed, naming the tool and how it was used. AI cannot be an author. Authors remain responsible for the whole work |
| Plagiarism and duplication | Every submission is checked with similarity-detection software. Duplicate or redundant publication is not permitted |
| Misconduct | Concerns are handled using COPE guidance and may be referred to authors' institutions |
| Corrections and retractions | We publish corrections for honest errors, retractions for unreliable findings or misconduct, and expressions of concern while an investigation is under way. All are linked to the original article |
| Complaints | Write to editorial@thehegels.com; we acknowledge complaints within 5 working days and respond within 30 |
| Archiving | Articles are preserved in the PKP Preservation Network |
| Sponsorship and advertising | Sponsors have no influence on editorial decisions; sponsored collections are labelled on every article |
Editorial team
HJGH's editorial decisions are made by its editors, independently of the publisher and of any sponsor.
| Role | Name |
|---|---|
| Founding Editor and Publisher | Dr Sheraz Ahmad Khan, PhD (Edinburgh) |
| Editor-in-Chief | To be announced |
| Section editors | To be announced |
| International editorial board | To be announced |
| Advisory board | To be announced |
The editorial board and advisory board are separate bodies, and at least half of the editorial board will be based outside Pakistan. We are inviting expressions of interest from researchers who wish to review for the journal or join the board: write to editorial@thehegels.com with a short CV.
Call for papers: inaugural issue
Financing transition: from donor support to national ownership
As donor support for health falls and programmes are handed to national governments, HJGH invites papers on how health services can be financed, governed and sustained through transition. We welcome original research, policy analyses, reviews, field reports and commentaries from low- and middle-income countries, and comparative studies relevant to them.
Topics include, but are not limited to:
financing and costing the transfer of donor-supported programmes to national budgets and social health protection schemes;
benefit packages, strategic purchasing and the inclusion of under-served services, such as rehabilitation and assistive technology;
governance, regulation and stewardship during transition;
supply chains, procurement and the continuity of essential products;
equity: who loses access during transition, and how to protect them;
lessons from transitions that succeeded or failed.
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Submissions open | Now |
| Deadline for first-round submissions | 31 March 2027 |
| First articles published | From May 2027 |
| Fees | None |
| How to submit | Through the journal's online submission system; enquiries to editorial@thehegels.com |
Contact
Editorial office: editorial@thehegels.com
Website: thehegels.com
Publisher: The Hegel Institute, Islamabad, Pakistan
