Abstract
As we stand at the cusp of a transformative era in scholarly publishing, it is with great anticipation and excitement that we announce Health Education & Behavior (HE&B) will transition to an exclusively online format starting in 2025. This decision aligns with our commitment to sustainability, accessibility, and leveraging digital advancements to enhance the dissemination of vital public health research.
As we stand at the cusp of a transformative era in scholarly publishing, it is with great anticipation and excitement that we announce Health Education & Behavior (HE&B) will transition to an exclusively online format starting in 2025. 1 This decision aligns with our commitment to sustainability, accessibility, and leveraging digital advancements to enhance the dissemination of vital public health research.
Why Publish With Health Education and Behavior?
Unwavering Commitment to Quality and Impact
HE&B, the flagship scientific publication of the Society for Public Health Education (SOPHE), has long been a beacon of influential research and insightful commentary on pressing health issues. Our journal serves a diverse audience of researchers and practitioners dedicated to understanding health behavior factors and implementing evidence-based strategies to improve health outcomes.
Our track record speaks volumes:
Impact Factor: With a 2023 Impact Factor of 2.7 and a 5-year Impact Factor of 3.5, HE&B continues to rank highly (in the Q2) in the Public, Environmental & Occupational Health category of the Social Sciences Citation Index.
Rapid Review Process: In 2023, the average time to the first decision was 48 days, and the time to the final decision was 63 days. In 2024, these timespans have been further reduced to 35 days for the first decision and 47 days for a final decision, demonstrating our commitment to timely and efficient manuscript processing.
High Visibility: Our journal achieved 555,038 full-text downloads in 2023 and 446,597 thus far in 2024, reflecting a steady interest and engagement from the global research community.
Diverse and Rigorous Content
HE&B is proud to publish a wide array of manuscripts, including empirical research utilizing qualitative or quantitative methods; formative, process, and outcome evaluations; and comprehensive literature reviews. Each manuscript submitted must address implications for theory, policy, and/or practice, ensuring that our published work contributes meaningfully to advancing the field.
Policy Impact: Shaping Global Health Practices
Our journal’s influence extends far beyond academia. With 1,787 mentions in global health policy documents from organizations such as the World Health Organization, UNICEF, the National Academies, and the Food and Drug Administration, HE&B has demonstrated a substantial impact on health policy. These citations underscore our role in informing and shaping health policies and practices that affect millions worldwide.
Engagement Beyond Traditional Metrics
While traditional metrics remain important, HE&B also embraces alternative metrics to capture the broader impact and engagement of our published research. For example:
Altmetric Scores: Our articles garner significant online visibility, with top articles scoring as high as 764 on Altmetric, highlighting topics like racism in public health and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Article-Level Metrics: We provide detailed metrics for every published article, including usage and citation data, fostering a more nuanced understanding of research impact. Readers can also sign up to receive citation alerts for HE&B articles through the Sage website.
Commitment to Declaration on Research Assessment Principles
Sage and HE&B are proud signatories of the Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA), advocating for improved evaluation methods of scholarly outputs. Our commitment to DORA principles is evident in our practices:
Variety of Metrics: We present a comprehensive range of metrics, including Journal Citation Reports, Scopus, and Google Scholar metrics, alongside full-text usage data.
Article-Level Metrics: Encouraging assessments based on content, we offer detailed article metrics and feature top articles on our journal homepage.
Responsible Authorship: We support responsible authorship practices, including detailed contributions of each author via the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) guidelines.
Open References: All reference lists in our articles are freely accessible, promoting transparency and ease of access.
Flexible References: Aligned with DORA, we allow editorial discretion regarding the number of references per manuscript, ensuring comprehensive and well-supported research.
Toward a Sustainable and Accessible Future
The transition to an online-only format for SOPHE members not only aligns with global sustainability goals by reducing our environmental footprint but also enhances the accessibility and reach of our published research. Digital platforms offer unparalleled opportunities for innovation, from interactive content to broader dissemination across diverse and global audiences.
Join Us in Shaping the Future
As we embark on this new chapter, we invite researchers and practitioners to continue submitting their high-quality work to HE&B. Our commitment to rigorous peer review, impactful dissemination, and advancing health education and behavior research remains steadfast. Together, we can leverage digital advancements to amplify the reach and impact of your research, shaping a healthier future for all.
We look forward to your continued support and contributions as we embrace the digital future of scholarly publishing.
Sincerely,
Footnotes
Acknowledgements
I acknowledge the use of UCSF Versa, a language model developed by OpenAI and hosted on UCSF’s Microsoft Azure account, for its assistance in the editing of this manuscript.
Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Funding
The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
