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JMIR Public Health and Surveillance

A multidisciplinary journal that focuses on the intersection of public health and technology, public health informatics, mass media campaigns, surveillance, participatory epidemiology, and innovation in public health practice and research.

Editor-in-Chief:

Travis Sanchez, DVM, MPH, Emory University Rollins School of Public Health, USA


Impact Factor 3.9 More information about Impact Factor CiteScore 6.3 More information about CiteScore

JMIR Public Health and Surveillance (JPHS, Editor-in-chief: Travis Sanchez, Emory University/Rollins School of Public Health) is a top-ranked (Q1) Clarivate (SCIE, SSCI etc), ScopusPubMed, PubMed CentralMEDLINE, Sherpa/Romeo, DOAJ, Embase, CABI, and EBSCO/EBSCO essentials indexed, peer-reviewed international multidisciplinary journal with a unique focus on the intersection of innovation and technology in public health, and includes topics like public health informatics, surveillance (surveillance systems and rapid reports), participatory epidemiology, infodemiology and infoveillance, digital disease detection, digital epidemiology, electronic public health interventions, mass media/social media campaigns, health communication, and emerging population health analysis systems and tools. 

JMIR Public Health and Surveillance received a Journal Impact Factor of 3.9ranked Q1 #59/419 journals in the category Public, Environmental & Occupational Health (Journal Citation Reports 2025 from Clarivate).

JMIR Public Health and Surveillance received a Scopus CiteScore of 6.3 (2024), placing it in the 84th percentile (#110/687) as a Q1 journal in the field of Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health.

JPHS has an international author- and readership and welcomes submissions from around the world.

We publish regular articles, reviews, protocols/system descriptions and viewpoint papers on all aspects of public health, with a focus on innovation and technology in public health. The main themes/topics covered by this journal can be found here.

Apart from publishing traditional public health research and viewpoint papers as well as reports from traditional surveillance systems, JPH was one of the first (if not the only) peer-reviewed journals to publish papers with surveillance or pharmacovigilance data from non-traditional, unstructured big data and text sources such as social media and the Internet (infoveillance, digital disease detection), or reports on novel participatory epidemiology projects, where observations are solicited from the public.  

Among other innovations, JPHS is also dedicated to support rapid open data sharing and rapid open access to surveillance and outbreak data. As one of the novel features we plan to publish rapid or even real-time surveillance reports and open data. The methods and description of the surveillance system may be peer-reviewed and published only once in detail, in a  "baseline report" (in a JMIR Res Protoc or a JMIR Public Health & Surveill paper), and authors then have the possibility to publish data and reports in frequent intervals rapidly and with only minimal additional peer-review (we call this article type "Rapid Surveillance Reports"). JMIR Publications may even work with authors/researchers and developers of selected surveillance systems on APIs for semi-automated reports (e.g. weekly reports to be automatically published in JPHS and indexed in PubMed, based on data-feeds from surveillance systems and minimal narratives and abstracts).

Furthermore, during epidemics and public health emergencies, submissions with critical data will be processed with expedited peer-review to enable publication within days or even in real-time.

We also publish descriptions of open data resources and open source software. Where possible, we can and want to publish or even host the actual software or dataset on the journal website.

Recent Articles

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Mass Media/Social Media Communication and Campaigns

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a significant global health threat. Several public health campaigns aimed to raise AMR awareness and inspire related behavioral changes have been delivered in a time-specific, coordinated manner, while others have placed less emphasis on campaign timing. Social media platforms can be leveraged as key vehicles for delivering public health campaigns, particularly by collaborating with health content creators who serve as influential messengers. Increasingly, organizations such as the World Health Organization and TikTok have created health content creator networks; however, the impact of such networks in public health campaigns, especially when delivered in a coordinated, time-specific manner, remains uncertain.

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Longitudinal and Cohort Studies in Public Health

With rapid population aging, both traumatic injuries and hearing disability have become increasingly prevalent among older adults. Hearing disability may increase vulnerability to injury through impaired balance, reduced environmental awareness, and functional limitations; however, longitudinal evidence examining the association between hearing disability and injury risk remains limited.

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Cross-Sectional Studies in Public Health

The COVID-19 pandemic exposed structural vulnerabilities in the global health emergency workforce. Sustained monitoring of response competence dynamics is critical for maintaining health system resilience during protracted outbreaks.

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Cross-Sectional Studies in Public Health

Renal disease represents a significant and growing public health concern globally and within Saudi Arabia. Despite the increasing burden of noncommunicable diseases, population-based data on the prevalence and determinants of renal disease in Saudi Arabia remain limited. Understanding epidemiology, including prevalence and associated risk factors of renal disease in the context of Saudi Arabia, is essential for designing preventive and early detection strategies.

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Cross-Sectional Studies in Public Health

Many countries, including China, have implemented nationwide smoking cessation programs in accordance with Article 14 of the World Health Organization (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). However, the use of assisted smoking cessation services remains low, while unassisted smoking cessation (USC) methods are widely preferred. Studies have shown that many individual and environmental factors are associated with USC adoption. However, no studies have examined the association between social networks and USC adoption.

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Behavioural Surveillance for Public Health

Physical inactivity and sedentary behavior are important modifiable risk factors for noncommunicable diseases. High prevalences of physical inactivity among children and adolescents continue to represent a significant public health challenge globally, with approximately two-thirds of children worldwide not achieving the recommended daily amount of physical activity (PA). Countries in the Middle East exhibit some of the highest levels of physical inactivity and sedentary behavior, which contribute to the increasing rates of obesity among children and adolescents.

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Reviews on Public Health Technology and Innovation

A substantial proportion of children and adolescents worldwide do not meet current physical activity (PA) guidelines. So digital tools interventions have been implemented worldwide. However, evidence regarding the effectiveness of these remains inconsistent, underscoring the need for a comprehensive synthesis of the available literature.

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Longitudinal and Cohort Studies in Public Health

Public health restrictive measures adopted during the COVID-19 pandemic led to significant changes in lifestyles. Global declines in physical activity (PA) and increases in sedentary behavior were noted. These trends were observed within different regions of the world, pointing toward potential long-term implications for PA behaviors.

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Cross-Sectional Studies in Public Health

Hypertension represents an important global health challenge, closely linked to cardiovascular diseases and elevated premature mortality rates. Prehypertension, defined as elevated blood pressure not meeting the diagnostic criteria for hypertension, necessitates early intervention to prevent disease progression. Health literacy, defined as the capacity to comprehend and use health-related information, is a key determinant of health outcomes but has rarely been studied in the context of prehypertension prevention.

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Prevention and Health Promotion

In 2023, Esco Bars was the second most commonly reported e-cigarette brand used among US middle and high school student e-cigarette users. These products have not been authorized for sale in the United States by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). On May 12, 2025, and May 25, 2023, the FDA issued an import alert and a warning letter, respectively, to the manufacturer requiring them to immediately remove these unauthorized products from the market. On June 22, 2023, and July 27, 2023, the FDA also issued warning letters to US retailers and distributors, respectively, regarding the illicit sale of these unauthorized products. This study evaluated the impact of these advisory and enforcement actions on retail sales of Esco Bars in the United States.

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Cross-Sectional Studies in Public Health

Acute stress disorder (ASD) among people ever infected with COVID-19 is prevalent and may lead to posttraumatic stress disorder. Soon after China relaxed their COVID-19 control measures in November 2022 or December 2022, the infection rate surged rapidly, creating huge uncertainty and stressful situations. Little is known about situations regarding ASD at the ending phase of the pandemic.

Preprints Open for Peer Review

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