Call for Papers: AJLM Special Issue on African laboratories in antimicrobial resistance surveillance
Submissions deadline: January 31, 2018
Projected publication date: October 2018
The African Journal of Laboratory Medicine (AJLM) is pleased to announce a special issue on the role of African laboratories in antimicrobial resistance surveillance. Surveillance is critical to estimating the burden from the growing problem of antimicrobial resistance, as well as to formulating and guiding interventions. A recent assessment found that Africa had the fewest resistance data available; prior to 2015 very few African countries had national surveillance programmes, even though they are projected to bear the brunt of the disease burden from resistance. African countries that signed on to WHA A68/20, a 2015 global action plan, have now presented their National Action Plans on antimicrobial resistance. These countries have also committed to enrolment in the World Health Organization’s Global Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance (GLASS).
AJLM is the official journal of the African Society for Laboratory Medicine. The special issue will be co-edited by Drs Martin Antonio (Medical Research Council Unit, The Gambia; Faculty of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, UK; Division of Microbiology & Immunity, Warwick Medical School, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK), Karen Keddy (Centre for Enteric Diseases, National Institute for Communicable Diseases, National Health Laboratory Service, and Department of Clinical Microbiology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa) and Sam Kariuki (Kenya Medical Research Institute). Submissions will be peer reviewed and accepted articles will be published in open access format online. AJLM does not charge publication fees.
For the special issue AJLM invites submissions in all areas of antimicrobial resistance surveillance, which could include but are not limited to:
- Antimicrobial resistance surveillance at local, national, regional and continental levels
- ‘One Health’ approaches to surveillance
- Laboratory issues surrounding antimicrobial resistance surveillance set-up and implementation
- Quality assurance of antimicrobial susceptibility testing and surveillance
- Lessons learned from enrolment and participation in the WHO Global Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance System (GLASS)
- Emerging technologies and methods in antimicrobial resistance surveillance
- Point-of-care diagnosis in antimicrobial resistance surveillance
- Integration of antimicrobial resistance surveillance sites with laboratories
- Linking antimicrobial resistance surveillance to awareness and other aspects of the containment response
AJLM will consider papers focusing on the surveillance of antimicrobial resistance in any organism type, including bacteria and mycobacteria, fungi, parasites and viruses, as well as manuscripts with a cross-cutting focus. Authors interested in submitting manuscripts should peruse the Instructions for Authors (http://www.ajlmonline.org/index.php/ajlm/pages/view/authors ) for a description of article categories and submission guidelines. Authors may begin submitting papers for the special issue immediately. When submitting authors should select the special issue in the Journal Section dropdown box and note the intended article type (Original Research, etc.) in the Comments for the Editor box and in their cover letter.
Pre-submission inquiries about appropriateness or fit can be addressed to the Editors at editor@ajlmonline.org