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Journals Offering Fee Waivers for Articles Related to COVID-19
Categories Medical news

Journals Offering Fee Waivers for Articles Related to COVID-19

Author krishna kumar 98 Comments on Journals Offering Fee Waivers for Articles Related to COVID-19 Posted on

Introduction

The virus spreading COVID-19 is a novel coronavirus. Not much has been known about the virus. Any accurate and authentic information about coronavirus and the related disease is of vital importance to the researchers. This information will help the researchers to tackle this pandemic more effectively. Articles published in journals are a great source of information on this new pandemic. Many journals have either reduced or have completely waived off the publication charges.

Journals Offering a Fee-Waiver for COVID-19 Articles

Many publishing houses that are into publishing the journals have waived off the article processing charges and set up a rapid review process for researches related to COVID-19. Some of these journals are:

1) PEERJ

PeerJ is one of the leading publishers of various research articles. The editorial board of PeerJ includes 5 Nobel Laureates. Started in the year 2011, it has 70000 researchers that have subscribed to PeerJ article alerts. It publishes research across 228 subjects.  PeerJ has 37.5 million views and downloads. Because of the immediate need for dissemination of information on COVID-19, PeerJ has decided to waive the article processing charges on articles related to COVID-19. For more information visit https://peerj.com/blog/post/115284882180/covid-19-full-fee-waivers-fast-track-peer-review/

2) AIJR PUBLISHERS

AIJR is the publisher of open access refereed journals and books. It publishes articles related to all areas of research and technology. AIJR is involved in publishing abstract books, peer-reviewed journals, thesis, dissertation, books, conference proceedings, open access, and academic journals. The articles published through AIJR must go through the peer-review process. To distribute high-quality information through a research article on COVID-19, AIJR is inviting submissions on COVID-19. The paper would be accepted and published for free as for invited submission, the article submission fee has been waived. For more information visit https://www.aijr.in/call-for-publications-on-covid19-impact-of-coronavirus-outbreak/

3) HINDAWI JOURNAL

Hindawi is a large publishing house that publishes 230 peer-reviewed journals. With headquarters in London, the publishing house publishes approximately 20,000 articles per year. It was founded in 1997 and is the founder member of the Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association. The article processing charges of Hindawi varies according to the journal. Hindawi has been offering a fast-track review process for the articles related to COVID-19 pandemic and have the fees waived if the article is suitable for publication. For more information, please visit https://www.hindawi.com/post/sharing-findings-related-covid-19-these-extraordinary-times/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=owned+referral&utm_campaign=HDW_COMR_GBL_AWA_TWTR_OWN_OSOC_BLOG_X_10113

4) FRONTIERS

Frontiers is a publishing house, publishing research articles in 600 different academic disciplines. The journals are peer-reviewed before publication, and the house has more than 1,00,000 researchers for peer-reviewing. It has an open science technology platform that also includes Artificial Intelligence Review Assistant. There are more than 500 million views, and downloads, and the articles published have more than 1 million citations. The publisher has waived the Article processing charges for the manuscript in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. For more information visit https://coronavirus.frontiersin.org/

5) FACETS

Facets are Canada’s first multidisciplinary open access journals. Being a multi-disciplinary publishing house, it has various subject specialists to review the submitted articles. It has a partnership with various research organizations and helps them to disseminate the information. It publishes 20 technical and scientific journals. It publishes review articles, editorials, notes, perspectives, and science application forum papers. For the manuscript related to human epidemiology (COVID-19), the article processing charges have been waived by Facets journal. For more information, please visit https://medium.com/facets/waived-fees-for-human-epidemiology-manuscripts-5ab9283c0767

6) SAGE PUBLISHING

Sage publishing is the publisher of books and journals. The publisher is also into library products and suites including data, case studies, archives, and videos. It publishes more than 1000 journals, and 900 new books every year. It was founded in the year 1965. To provide accurate information related to COVID-19 at a faster rate, the research papers are reviewed on a fast track basis. The Sage publishing also announces to waive of article processing charges for research papers related to COVID-19. For more information please visit https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/press/sage-waives-article-processing-charges-for-research-related-to-covid-19

7) AOSIS

Aosis publishers publish various journals. The house has a peer-review process. Aosis has various services such as online publication engagement, plagiarism detection management, strategic development, and indexing services management. For the articles submitted in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Aosis publications have announced to waive off the article processing charges. The publisher has also established a rapid review process to quickly publish the article for the immediate dissemination of information. For more information, please visit https://aosis.co.za/covid-19-apc-statement/.

8) BRITISH JOURNAL OF RADIOLOGY

British Journal of Radiology is one of the oldest scientific journals in the field of radiology. The journal has a long history dating back to 1896 and is known for publishing various landmark researches in the field of radiology. The journal publishes multidisciplinary articles related to radiotherapy, medical physics, and imaging techniques. To disseminate the information about COVID-19, the journal has announced to waive of all open access article processing charges and for rapidly reviewing the articles related to COVID-19. For more information, please visit https://www.birpublications.org/covid-19

9) BLOOD AND BLOOD ADVANCES

Blood is the journal published by The American Society of Hematology. The journal is published weekly with 52 journals a year. In the year 2018, the impact factor of the journal was 16.601. The journal is published every Thursday except in the last week of the year. The submission and publication fees for the research papers related to COVID-19 published in Blood and Blood Journals are waived. For more information, please visit https://ashpublications.org/journals/pages/covid_19

Safety and Preventive Measures during the Covid-19
Categories Medical news

Safety and Preventive Measures during the Covid-19 Pandemic

Author krishna kumar 0 Comments Posted on

Safety and Preventive Measures during the Covid-19 Pandemic

Posted by Siva Raman

Introduction

The healthcare system of the whole world seems to collapse because of the highly contagious SARS-CoV-2. Unfortunately, there is no treatment of the disease and vaccines are under development. In such a scenario, to follow the preventive measures to reduce the spread of infection looks prudent. There are various ways to stay away from the risk of exposure. These include isolation and quarantine, Personal Protective Equipments, social distancing, sanitization, and hand hygiene.

COVID-19: Highly Contagious Disease

COVID-19 pandemic has shattered the healthcare system, economy, and health of the people throughout the world. The initial cases of COVID-19 infection came in late 2019. In January 2020, the World Health Organization declared the disease as a health emergency of international concern. In March 2020, COVID-19 was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization. In February 2020, the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses named the disease as SARS-CoV-2.

Studies have indicated that the virus has 79.5% similarity with SARS-CoV while its similarity to bat coronavirus is 96.2%. However, its highly contagious nature and the significant ability for human to human transmission is because of the high affinity of its spike glycoprotein towards ACE2 receptors as compared to SARS-CoV. Fortunately, the mortality rate of SARS-CoV-2 is less (3.4%) as compared to MERS (35%) and SARS (9.6%).

The infection is highly contagious and spread through person-to-person transmission. The infected person when sneezes or coughs, it results in the formation of liquid droplets containing the virus. Depending upon the distance of another person, these droplets either stick on to mouth or nose or maybe inhaled directly into the lungs. The spread may also occur when the person touches the places infected with the virus. The virus may also enter through contaminated aerosols and fomites.

Measures for Safety and Prevention of COVID -19

Currently, there is no proven effective treatment for COVID-19. Various pharmaceutical companies have directed their resources to come up with the treatment for this pandemic. Till the time the medicine gets available, it is important to implement safety and protective measures to prevent transmission of this infection. Screening may help in reducing the number of cases. Following are some of the safety and protective measures for COVID-19:

Hand hygiene: One of the most effective measures for contracting and preventing the spread of COVID-19 is enhanced hand hygiene. However, washing hands properly is also an art. Some people wash their hands without water while some use soap but wash hands for a few seconds. For washing hands, you should remove the accessories such as hand bands or watches. Wet the hands and apply soap on them. Rub the hands with each other for 20 seconds.

Sanitizing surroundings: The surroundings should be sanitized effectively and frequently. Lift, railings, and doorknobs have the potential to spread infections if they have been used by a COVID-19 patient. Sanitize yourself with as quality sanitizer if you have touched any surface which is accessible to the general public.

Social distancing:  Social distancing is an effective way to reduce the risk of transmission of infection. The droplets from the infectious person travel to some distance when the person talks, coughs, or sneezes. Maintaining social distancing may include the closing of schools and colleges and the suspension of occasions requiring public gatherings.

Avoid gatherings: People should avoid visiting the crowded areas as these areas are the hotspot for high transmission of disease. These include going to malls, theatres, or any public or private functions.

Personal protective equipment: Personal protective equipment, if worn properly, is an effective tool in controlling the transmission of COVID-19. People should wear masks properly according to the WHO, as the improper wearing of masks increases the risk of infection. Further, PPEs should be removed and disposed of as per the protocol.

Workplace measures: Effective measures should be implemented at the workplace to reduce transmission of COVID-19 infection. Social distancing should always be maintained, and employees should be advised to wear the mask. Sanitization should be done at the office.

Measures at hospitals for non-COVID patients: Proper safety measures should be implemented at hospitals for the patients who visit for getting treatment of the diseases other than COVID-19. All the areas and surfaces should be regularly sanitized, and the number of people at a time should be limited.

Stay at home: Staying home is the best method to avoid any risk of infection. You must go outside of your house only when it is necessary. Wear mask before going out and wash your hand and sanitize them properly after returning.

Avoid unnecessary touching: Avoid unnecessary touching of objects and surfaces at public places. These include railings, lift buttons, counter surfaces, and doorknobs. Always sanitize your hands after touching such surfaces.

Isolation and Quarantine: Isolation of the confirmed and suspected COVID-19 patients is an effective method to control community spread of infection. Quarantine is different from isolation in a way that quarantined a person may or may not be infected but is believed to encounter an infected person.

Upgrading testing capacity: Increase in the testing capacity will help in isolating the confirmed cases of COVID-19. It will help in the reduction in the rate of transmission.

REFERENCE

Güner R, Hasanoğlu I, Aktaş F. COVID-19: Prevention and control measures in the community. Turk J Med Sci. 2020;50(SI-1):571-577. Published 2020 Apr 21. doi:10.3906/sag-2004-146