76 YEARS AGO
Public Health Expansion Under FDR
In 1935 came the federal Social Security Act with Titles V and VI . . . [which] were designed to give an added—and a needed—impetus to programs already under way and to fill some of the gaps in public health activities with new programs. Title VI . . . was written “for the purpose of assisting States, counties, health districts, and other political subdivisions of the States in establishing and maintaining adequate public health services.” . . . Funds from this title have been administered in each state to the end that public health organizations and activities might be vitalized and made more serviceable. That end has, to a great degree, been realized.
From AJPH, April 1941
45 YEARS AGO
Richard Nixon and the Environmental Protection Agency
[O]ur international environmental objective was provided by President Nixon in his report to the Congress. . . . The President said: “… What is new is the fact that we now face an increasing range of problems which are central to our national well-being, but which are, by definition, global problems. . . . [We have a] shared and transcendent interest in the livability of our common home, the earth.” . . . [T]he National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 . . . directs agencies of the federal government to “recognize the worldwide and long-range character of environmental problems and . . . maximize international cooperation in anticipating and preventing a decline in the quality of mankind’s world environment.”
From AJPH, May 1972
In January 2016, we launched AJPH, the rebranded American Journal of Public Health. How are we doing after this first year?
Visible
Some AJPH issues in 2016 received considerable public attention. The February issue was printed when the crisis related to the mass lead poisoning in Flint, Michigan, was at its peak. When the Zika crisis broke out last winter, we contributed in the April issue the very early reviews of evidence of previous Zika-related outbreaks, their clinical manifestations, and possible public health consequences, including those related to the rights to contraception and abortion. Our June issue about men’s health enthused our readers. In October and November we led the discussion about the public health legacy of the Black Panthers and the challenges faced by the World Health Organization on the eve of the election of its new Director General. In each of these public health questions, AJPH ambitioned to provide deep historical context and groundbreaking scientific evidence.
Consequential
As promised, a monthly editorial has identified articles in every issue with direct policy implications in domains as varied as the regulation of lead in water; the sales of soda following the short- and medium-term success of the Berkeley, California, soda tax; the liberalization of medical marijuana; the coerced starvation of runway models; the control of the opioid epidemic; access to safer guns; and more.
Multisectional
The traditional sections History, Law and Ethics, Perspectives From the Social Sciences (formerly Public Health Matters), and of course Research Articles continue to thrive. The new sections are Place-Based Intervention, Public Health Practice, and Public Health Methods. We covered the US presidential campaign with bipartisan opinion pieces. A section on “Climate Change and Health Justice” will start in 2017.
Mediatic
The AJPH presence on Twitter and Facebook is strong, its Web site receives half a million visits per month, and the podcasts in English, Spanish, and Chinese, available on ajph.org, are widely listened to worldwide
Fast
We strive to process your work rapidly and, when the public health agenda is pressing, speed up and publish it on time. On average, we receive 10 submissions daily, 75% of which are triaged out and returned almost immediately without being assigned to an Editor. We realize this can be frustrating, but on the other hand, for the papers that undergo peer review, it takes on average three months to reach a final decision, and five months to be published online. These are averages, and for the majority of the peer-reviewed material the processing time is shorter. Overall, the acceptance rate is 15%.
Young
Students are influential in AJPH. A think tank of six students has been constantly advising us. The first think tank originated a toolkit for students interested in liaising their campuses to AJPH. The Assistant Editor is a student fellow. A Student Editor receives school credits. And three doctoral students write the monthly Global News. They are outstanding examples of the amazing new generations attracted to public health.
Thank You!
There is more to come (and in particular a new AJPH Web site) but on behalf of the journal’s editors, the production team, and the American Public Health Association, thank you warmly for being our authors, our reviewers, and our readers. Your positive feedback energizes us to play our part in the years to come: publish ideas and research that helps us build a healthy society that is just towards people and the environment. AJPH