Instructions to authors

The African Journal for Occupational Health and The Environment (RASTE) is the official organ of expression and publication of the Pan-African Society for Occupational Health (SOPAST). It provides a specific space for publishing and promoting research work carried out in each of the member countries or elsewhere in the various fields of occupational health (occupational legislation, toxicology, occupational pathologies, ergonomics, occupational hygiene, occupational psychology and sociology, any other field dealing with work-related issues, etc.) and environmental health. It publishes two issues a year.

The publication of articles in RASTE is subject to prior acceptance by the editorial board.

The African Journal for Occupational Health and The Environment (RASTE) is published in French and English.

The journal is a vehicle for occupational health research in Africa.

The journal publishes editorials, review articles, original articles, clinical facts, notes and updates.

The journal also offers thematic dossiers on topical issues.

By submitting their manuscript, authors undertake that it will not be sent to another scientific publication. The Editorial Board reserves the right to request the reproduction of all or part of documents in the ‘editorial’ and ‘review article’ sections.

GENERAL CONDITIONS FOR PUBLICATION

Manuscripts must be written in ‘Time New Roman’ font, size 12, double-spaced with a margin of 2.5 on each side. The text must be written in normal, justified type, without underlining or numbering. Words in foreign languages must be written in italics. The number of pages is limited to 4 for editorials, notes and letters to the editor. It is limited to 15 for original articles and review articles (including illustrations and references). All pages are numbered top right. Submissions must be made in a single file and should be sent to the Editor of the journal exclusively by e-mail to raste@gmail.com. The email should specify ‘Manuscript submission for publication in the journal RASTE’ in the subject line. The submission should preferably be made by the corresponding author of the manuscript. In the letter of submission, the corresponding author should propose three potential readers, at least two of whom should be of magisterial rank (university lecturer), specifying their rank, speciality and e-mail address. The editors may or may not take these suggestions into account.

All manuscripts are submitted for review to two independent readers chosen by the Editorial Board from among the members of the Reading Committee. The Editorial Board's decision, together with the readers' comments, is sent to the authors.

The article may be accepted directly for publication or may require corrections.

The article may also be rejected outright or require a new version.

Corrections to the article must be sent to the journal's secretariat by email to raste@gmail.com  within no more than 15 days.

The corrected article must be accompanied by a letter setting out, point by point, the authors' responses to the corrections requested by the instructors.

After final acceptance, the Editor may make editorial changes. The final version is sent to the authors in the form of a ‘ready for press’ proof. They will then be able to judge whether the changes they have made are justified, and must respond within no more than seven days. Only corrections to errors in composition will be accepted at the proof stage. Any changes may result in either non-publication or a delay in publication.

The publication of articles is subject to the valid subscription of at least the first three authors or the payment of publication fees. The amounts are respectively 150,000 FCFA for an annual subscription or 50,000 FCFA per manuscript.

LAYOUT OF THE MANUSCRIPTS

This section is subdivided into several parts (each part starting on a new page).

  • Title page

This must include:

- the full title (in French and English), reflecting the content of the manuscript, precise and concise (15 words maximum)

- a short title that will appear in the footer of the publication (7 words maximum)

- the full names of the authors, together with their titles and institutional affiliations

- the author's full name and address for correspondence

- the heading proposed by the authors for the publication

  • Abstract

A 250-word abstract in the language of the manuscript, excluding editorials, notes and letters, should be written on a separate page and should succinctly state the objectives, methods, main results and conclusion, together with 3 to 5 keywords and the short title. A version of the abstract in another language (in particular English) must also be provided, with the full title and 3 to 5 keywords.

Keywords are selected from the official list of the National Library of Medicine (www. nlm.nih.gov/mesh/Mbrowser.html) or their MeSH (Medical Subject Headings) translation).  

  • Presentation of texts

Original articles must include an Introduction clearly stating the aim and/or objectives of the work reported, a sufficiently precise and concise chapter on Materials and Methods with a clear presentation of the statistical methods, relevant and appropriately presented Results and a Discussion explaining the results, their validity, their implications and their limitations; the Conclusion. A maximum of 15 pages (including references) is recommended.

 

Review articles: notes and letters to the editor are written according to a coherent plan, adapted to the subject and justified in the introduction. Letters to the Editor may be written following the plan Introduction, Material and Methods, Results and Discussion. Review articles may be commissioned by the Editor.

Editorials are generally commissioned by the Editorial Board.

  • Iconography and computer graphics

All illustrations (tables, figures and figure legends), of excellent quality, in reasonable numbers, with a title in the language of publication, are presented on separate pages. They must be referred to in the text and their location indicated on the manuscript. Authors should make every effort to facilitate the transfer of illustrations without distorting them. The total number of figures and tables should not exceed 6.

Tables are numbered in Roman numerals in the order in which they appear in the text, with their titles above and any captions below.

All other illustrations are designated ‘figure’ and numbered in Arabic numerals in the order in which they appear in the text. Their title and caption are placed below.

Photographs and X-rays scanned at a good resolution are attached as jpeg images.

  • Taxonomic names, units of measurement and abbreviations

Taxa must be designated in accordance with the International Code of Nomenclature.

Units of measurement are those of the SI international system of units. If another unit is considered essential, it is noted in brackets after the SI unit. Only conventional abbreviations are accepted and must be defined on first use.

ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

All publications are the sole responsibility of the authors. Under no circumstances may the journal's editors be held liable for articles reporting information or observations gathered in administrations, organisations or companies that are named or implicitly designated and that have not given their agreement to their use in a publication.

The ethical provisions adopted and the ethics committee that validated the protocol of the work reported must be indicated. Otherwise, the absence of ethical considerations will be explained. Authors are required to declare any conflict of interest related to the manuscript.

If the manuscript includes images of people or borrowed passages, authors must provide original written authorisations for publication or reproduction.

Acknowledgements to individuals and organisations, where applicable, should be sent before the list of references, specifying the nature of the contributions.

 Authors are therefore advised to obtain the agreement of any person or organisation whose name appears in the acknowledgements.

CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

The journal follows international practice regarding conflicts of interest in relation to submitted publications.

A conflict of interest exists when an author and/or co-author has financial or personal relationships with other individuals or organisations that are likely to influence their professional judgements regarding an essential value (patient welfare, research integrity, etc.); the main conflicts of interest being financial interests, clinical trials, one-off interventions, family relationships, etc.

All authors of the publication must declare all relationships that may be considered as having a potential conflict of interest solely in relation to the published text.

If there is no conflict of interest in relation to the article submitted, the following statement must be added directly to the manuscript: the authors declare that they have no conflict of interest in relation to this article.

If one or more conflicts of interest exist with one or more of the authors of the article, the complete list of these authors must be mentioned.

Conflicts of interest must be clearly stated.

Examples of conflicts of interest to be mentioned at the end of the text, under the acknowledgements (if applicable), with the initials of each author:

K.Y.M. Financial interest in company X

K.Y.M. Owner, manager, employee, membership of a decision-making body in company X

K.Y.M. Clinical trials: as principal investigator, coordinator or principal investigator for laboratory X

K.Y.M. Clinical trials: as co-investigator, non-principal investigator, study collaborator for laboratory X

K.Y.M. Occasional work: expert reports for company X

K.Y.M. Conferences: invitations as an auditor (travel and accommodation expenses paid by company X)

K.Y.M. Close relatives employed by companies

In the event that no conflict of interest in relation to the submitted article has been transmitted by the author(s), the following mention will be published in the article:

‘Conflict of interest: the authors have not transmitted any conflicts of interest’.

 

REFERENCES

The number of references is limited to 5 for editorials, notes and letters to the Editor; a minimum of 10 and a maximum of 30 for original articles; for review articles, references may be exhaustive.

References are written in Vancouver, which is a numerical bibliographic style. References must be numbered in the order in which they appear in the text and identified in the text.

References are written according to the models below:

 

  • For a periodical article
  • If there are fewer than 6 authors
  • Makoutodé M, Sawadogo M, Capo-chichi MT, Paraiso NM.

Prévalence du tabagisme chez les jeunes de la ville de Ouidah.

Me d Afr. Noire 2006; 53(10):539-44.               

  • If there are more than 6 authors, cite the first 6, followed by ‘et al’.
  • Nys P, Merceron RE, Cordray JP, Guillerd X, Voilemot N, Tramallonit J, et al.

Thyroïdites de Hashimoto à aspect nodulaire ou pseudo-nodulaire. Intérêt de l’examen cytologique.

Presse Med 1995; 24 (14): 675-8

  • For a periodical review article
  • Barrier JH, Piette JC, Levesque H. La formation médicale continue et l’évaluation des pratiques professionnelle de l’interniste : enjeux et débats.

Rev Med Interne 2007 ;28: 813-17.

 

  • For a book
    • Up to 3 authors:
  • Author(s) …Boisacq-Schepens N, Crommelinck M.

Title………...Neuro-psycho-physiologie. 1, Fonctions sensori-motrices.

2e éd. Paris: Masson; 1994. (Abrégés).

  • For more than 3 authors, cite the first 3, Authors followed by ‘et al.

 

  • Ancelle T. Statistique épidémiologique. 2ème éd. Paris: Maloine; 2006. 300p. (coll. Sciences Fondamentales).

 

  • For an article published in a periodical Collection
  • Fewer than 3 authors for
  • the chapter ………. Amiel-Tison C.

Title of chapter.......Avenir cérébrale à long terme des complications périnatales.

In: Vert P, Stern L, editors. … scientific editors

Médecine néonatale. Paris: Masson, 1985. p. 284-311

  • More than 3 authors for
  • the chapter……….Bariety J, Chevalier J, Nochy D, et al.

Title of chapter ......La Biopsie rénale dans le syndrome néphrotique à lésions glomérulaires minimes.

In: Droz D, Lantz B, editors. … scientific editors

La Biopsie rénale. Paris: INSERM, 1996. p. 109-34.

 

  • For an electronic document
  • Houinato DS, Adoukonou TA, Adjien KC, Gnonlonfoun D, Avodé DG, Preux PM. Prévalence de la migraine dans une population de travailleurs à Cotonou au Bénin.

Afr J NeurolSci [En ligne] 2009;28(1). Disponible sur: URL:

<http://ajns.paans.org/article.php3?id_article=293.pdf>. [Consulted on 11/07/2024].

 

  • For a thesis
  • Ouendo EM. …………………. abbreviated name

Indigence et soins de santé primaires en république de Bénin : approche de solution au problème d’identification des indigents dans les formations sanitaires publiques.

Thèse: Santé publique: Univ. Libre de Bruxelles ; 2005 ; 670

 

  • For a dissertation
  • Ronengar M. …………………. abbreviated name

Etude des déterminants de l’accessibilité des populations aux médicaments essentiels génériques dans les formations sanitaires publiques de la commune d’Agbangnizoun au Bénin.

Mémoire: Santé publique: IRSP Ouidah; 2008; 455.

PRE-SUBMISSION CHECKLIST

  • Text in Times New Roman font, size 12, double-spaced.
  • Number of pages, margins and line spacing respected according to editorial instructions
  • Title in French and English
  • Affiliation of all authors
  • Name, first names, telephone number and email address of corresponding author.
  • Structured abstract in French (250 words) and English
  • Five (05) key words maximum in French and English
  • Each part of the document is clearly separated and starts on a new page.
  • References cited in the text, numbered and placed in square brackets
  • Full list of references at the end of the text, listed in the order in which they appear in the text
  • References formatted according to Vancouver standards
  • Table titles and table references in the text
  • Titles and captions of figures and references to figures in the text