Policy

OSIR Policy

Outbreak, Surveillance, Investigation and Response (OSIR) is a free online publication from the epidemiological works of health professionals in Asia and the Pacific. The ISSN is 2651-1061.

The OSIR articles are published mandatory in English, and illustrated with more graphics to overcome language barrier in the region. Furthermore, the OSIR also support translated versions of articles in native languages of the authors for more people to access the articles, and understand similarities and differences of investigation and surveillance in the region. However, the articles in native languages are the translated version and not duplication of the original articles.

The OSIR is supported by the Department of Disease Control, Ministry of Public Health, Thailand & the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (US CDC).

Goal

To encourage and facilitate communication of health information and disease reporting across Asia and the Pacific through the use of a freely available e-journal 

Objectives

  1. To disseminate outbreak reports and surveillance analyses relevant to Asia and the Pacific in an open-source e-journal
  2. To facilitate communication of health information across the region by increasing the number of publications from trainees/alumni of FETPs or similar programs
  3. To strengthen capacity building of applied epidemiology training programs by promoting quality of publications
  4. To understand similarities and differences of investigation and surveillance in the region

Frequency of Publication

The OSIR published one issue with three articles per year in 2008 and 2009. The publication was increased to two issues per year during 2010-2012. With the further development in 2013, an issue is published every three months in March, June, September and December, with three original articles in each issue. With the new addition of the invited perspective article, four articles are published in each issue since March 2017. Starting from March 2018, the editorial is included in each issue.

In 2019, four orginal articles and one invited perspective article are published in each issue.

Focus Areas & Scope

The OSIR devoted to publish original research papers and invited perspective articles. The OSIR articles mainly focus on surveillance, investigation, epidemiological study, field project, and disease prevention and control program, including research, of health professionals in Asia and the Pacific. 

Reviewing System

The articles are peer-reviewed by two experts with double-blind review and two chief editors. The details of the review process is available at: <http://www.osirjournal.net/index.php/osir/review-process>.

Editorial Support

We also obligate editorial support for authors from applied epidemiology training programs in the region. External editors are enlisted from various countries in the region to conduct the review of the publication. The editors are animal and public health experts from various countries in the region, including China, Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam, and international organizations such as World Health Organization (WHO), United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (US CDC), and Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). The OSIR Editorial Board includes Executive Board, Chief Editors, OSIR Editors and Associate Editor. External reviewers are also recruited constantly in specific fields of expertise.

Publication Fees

No publication fees is required for either article or poster publication in the OSIR Journal.

Indexing

The OSIR is indexed in ASEAN Citation Index (ACI), Google Scholar, Thai-Journal Citation Index (TCI) and Health Science Journals in Thailand.