Preamble
The Bulletin of Animal Health and Production in Africa (BAHPA) of the African Union Interafrican Bureau for Animal Resources (AU-IBAR) is a peer-reviewed scientific journal which publishes articles on research relevant to animal health and production including wildlife and fisheries contributing to the human wellbeing, food security, poverty alleviation and sustainable development in Africa. The bulletin disseminates technical recommendations on animal health and production to stakeholders, including policy makers, researchers and scientists in member states.
Aims and scope
The Bulletin of Animal Health and Production publishes articles on original research in all aspects of animal health and production, biotechnology and socio-economic disciplines that may lead to the improvement animal resources:
- Veterinary microbiology
- Veterinary epidemiology
- Vaccinology
- Infectious and non-infectious diseases
- Parasitology
- Vector and vector bone diseases
- Genetic improvement and Biotechnology
- Animal production, nutrition and welfare
- All aspects of honey bees, especially their social behaviour, foraging and use of social and solitary bees for crop pollination activities
- Developments in beekeeping equipment and techniques
- Conservation biology
- Wildlife management
- Climate change impacts on animal resources in Africa
- Fisheries, aquaculture
- Livestock trade and Marketing
- Socio-economics and economics of animal resources management in Africa
- Animal welfare
- Disaster risk management
Language
The language of submission should be either in English or French. The abstract, if accepted, is translated into
the other three languages of the African Union (The four working languages of the African Union are currently Arabic, English, French and Portuguese.) by the editors.
For a manuscript to be considered for publication in the BAHPA, it must satisfy the following criteria:
Originality. BAHPA does not accept manuscripts that have already been published elsewhere. However, studies that replicate results that are already in the literature may be considered for publication, as the independent confirmation of results is often valuable, as can the presentation of a new datasets and information.
Audience. Manuscripts submitted must be of broad interest to animal health and production professionals in general and must capture and hold the readers’ attention.
Usefulness. Manuscripts submitted must help researchers, trainers, educators, policy makers and others in all regions of Africa to improve their effectiveness.
Thorough methodology. Manuscripts submitted must be based on valid, scientifically reliable information, documentation, and sound, empirical, logical and theoretical concepts.
Well written to ensure clear and effective presentation of the work and key findings. The BAHPA editorial staff does not copyedit the text of accepted manuscripts. It is therefore, important for the work presented, to be intelligible. Perfect, stylish language is not essential but manuscript must be clear and unambiguous. If the language of a paper is not clear, the Editor can recommend that authors seek independent editorial help before submission of a revised version. Poor presentation and language are justifiable reasons for rejection of the manuscript.
Experiments, statistics, and other analyses performed are described in sufficient detail. The research must have been performed to technical standards that allow robust conclusions to be drawn from the data. Methods and reagents must also be described in sufficient detail so that other researchers are able to replicate the experiments described.
Conclusions are presented appropriately and are supported by the data and information. The results must be interpreted appropriately, such that all conclusions are justified. However, authors may discuss possible explanations for their results as long as these are clearly noted as speculations or hypotheses, rather than as firm conclusions. Inappropriate interpretation of results and unjustified conclusions are justifiable reasons for rejection of the manuscript.
The research meets the highest applicable standards for the ethics of experimentation and research integrity. Research to be published must have been conducted to the highest ethical standards. A brief description of the most common of these is described in the AU-IBAR Editorial and Publishing Policies.
Editorial board
The editorial comprises the Editor-In-Chief (Director of AU-IBAR), the Editor responsible for the management and publication of the Bulletin and 30 reviewers selected from research, academia and development fields.
The Selection of reviewers as members of the Editorial Board is based on factors which include expertise, experience, reputation, number of publications, specific recommendations of authors and academic editors, and the Editor’s own knowledge of a reviewer’s performance.
How to apply:
Interested candidates should submit CVs with information including their name, organization, current affiliation, mailing address, e-mail address, past and current experience, work interest, areas of expertise and reviewing interest and most preferred language when reviewing manuscripts. Your CV or recommendations should be send to bahpa@au-ibar.org not later than 10th December 2021.
The new Editorial Board will be announced by January 2022.