HR

Health Research Policy and Systems

Health Research Policy and Systems is published in collaboration with the World Health Organization. The journal has an international approach that specifically includes low- and middle-income countries. It explores the role of evidence-based health policy and health research systems in ensuring that knowledge from research is used effectively to improve health and health equity. The journal particularly welcomes research-on-research papers addressing research capacity building, prioritisation, conduct or use and/or that explicitly investigate the interaction between research and health policy or health systems.

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Subject Health Policy & Services
Impact Factor 3.2
Quartile Q1
Open Access Type Open
ISSN 1478-4505
eISSN 1478-4505
Invitation Only Yes
Cost Range Article processing charge: £2490.00 GBP / $3590.00 USD / €2890.00 EUR, subject to VAT or local taxes where applicable.

Submission Instructions

Health Research Policy and Systems is an invitation-only journal. Submissions are accepted by invitation from the editorial board only. The following article types are accepted:

Research

Cover Letter A cover letter is required. The cover letter must explain why the manuscript should be published, address any issues relating to journal policies, declare any potential competing interests, confirm all authors approved the submission, and confirm the content has not been published or submitted elsewhere.
Abstract An abstract is required. Abstract must not exceed 350 words. Abstract must be structured. Abstract must include the headings Background, Methods, Results, and Conclusions, and articles reporting health care interventions on human participants must also include a Trial registration section with registration number and date.
Manuscript Manuscript must include Background, Methods, Results, Discussion, Conclusions, and a Declarations section. Manuscript must include three to ten keywords, a list of abbreviations if abbreviations are used, documentation of any Large Language Model use in the Methods or another suitable section, and a Declarations section with the subheadings Ethics approval and consent to participate, Consent for publication, Availability of data and materials, Competing interests, Funding, Authors' contributions, and Acknowledgements, using 'Not applicable' where a subsection is not relevant.
References References must follow Vancouver style. Only published, in-press, or publicly available articles, clinical trial registration records, and abstracts may be cited; unpublished abstracts, unpublished data, and personal communications must not appear in the reference list; journal abbreviations must follow Index Medicus/MEDLINE; and web links must be assigned a reference number and listed in full in the references.
Figures & Tables Tables shorter than one page may be placed within the manuscript, tables longer than one page may be placed at the end of the document, and figure titles and legends must be provided in the main manuscript rather than in the graphic file. Figures must be numbered in order of first mention and multi-panel figures submitted as a single composite file, while tables must be numbered and cited in sequence and created using the word processor's table function rather than embedded as figures or spreadsheet files.
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Review

Cover Letter A cover letter is required. The cover letter must explain why the manuscript should be published, address any issues relating to journal policies, declare any potential competing interests, confirm all authors approved submission, and confirm the manuscript has not been published or submitted elsewhere.
Abstract An abstract is required. Abstract must not exceed 350 words. Abstract must be structured. Abstract must include background, main body of the abstract, and short conclusion.
Manuscript Main text should include a Background section, the body of the article, a Conclusions section, and a Declarations section. Review manuscripts must include three to ten keywords and a Declarations section with the subheadings 'Ethics approval and consent to participate', 'Consent for publication', 'Availability of data and materials', 'Competing interests', 'Funding', 'Authors' contributions', and 'Acknowledgements', with unused headings retained as 'Not applicable'.
References References must follow the Vancouver reference style. Only published, in-press, or publicly available e-print or preprint items may be cited, unpublished abstracts/data and personal communications must not appear in the reference list, journal abbreviations must follow Index Medicus/MEDLINE, and web links or URLs must be numbered and included in the reference list in full with title, URL, and access date.
Figures & Tables Tables shorter than one page may be placed within the manuscript, tables longer than one page may be placed at the end of the text file, and figure titles and legends must be provided in the main manuscript rather than in the graphic file. Multi-panel figures must be submitted as a single composite file, tables must not be embedded as figures or spreadsheet files, and tables must be created using the word processor's table object function.
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Study Protocol

Cover Letter A cover letter is required. Cover letter must explain why the manuscript should be published, address any issues relating to journal policies, declare any potential competing interests, confirm all authors approved the submission, and confirm the manuscript has not been published or submitted elsewhere.
Abstract An abstract is required. Abstract must not exceed 350 words. Abstract must be structured. Abstract must include the headings Background, Methods, Discussion, and Trial registration, with the trial registration number as the last line of the abstract.
Manuscript Manuscript must include a title page, keywords, Background, Methods/Design, Discussion, and a Declarations section. Manuscript must include three to ten keywords, include all Declarations subheadings even if marked 'Not applicable', and document any use of a Large Language Model in the Methods section or another suitable section.
References References must follow Vancouver style. Only published, in-press, or publicly available articles, trial records, and abstracts may be cited, unpublished abstracts/data/personal communications must not appear in the reference list, and dataset identifiers including DOIs should be given as full URLs.
Figures & Tables Tables shorter than one page may be placed within the manuscript, tables longer than one page may be placed at the end, and figure titles and legends must be provided in the main manuscript rather than in the graphic file. Figures must be numbered in order of first mention and multi-panel figures submitted as a single composite file, while tables must be numbered in sequence and created using the word processor's table function rather than embedded as figures.
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Recent Publications

Instituting solidarity: the role of research institutes in advancing global health equity

M. Ndu, H. Healey, J. Natukunda, U. Karunakara, C. Atuire, E. Nouvet

10.1186/s12961-026-01500-6
View Publication

Evaluability assessment of a targeted national anti-child poverty policy: option appraisal for evaluating the Scottish Child Payment

Michal Shimonovich, Olivia K. L. Hamilton, Peter Craig, Gerard McCartney, Anna Pearce, S. Vittal Katikireddi, Rachel M. Thomson

10.1186/s12961-026-01489-y
View Publication

Correction: Engaging patients throughout the continuum of implementation science and practice: adapted evidence mapping review and practical guide for clinicians and researchers

Lauren Steeves, Srinivas Sampalli, Robin Urquhart

10.1186/s12961-026-01497-y
View Publication

Supporting policymakers with a decision aid to evaluate the impact of e-cigarette flavour restrictions

Angela S. Attwood, Jennifer Ferrar, Mark J. Gibson, Martin Dockrell, Marcus R. Munafò, Jasmine N. Khouja

10.1186/s12961-026-01494-1
View Publication

Using participatory methods to develop context-specific local government actions to create healthy food and physical activity environments for school-aged children: a case study in Flanders

Jessie Van Kerckhove, Maïté Verloigne, Leonor Guariguata, Stefanie Vandevijvere

10.1186/s12961-026-01495-0
View Publication

Frequently asked questions

How long does it take to publish?

Submission to first decision (median): 21 days.

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Is a cover letter required?

A cover letter is required and should explain why the manuscript should be published in Health Research Policy and Systems, address any issues relating to journal policies, declare any potential competing interests, confirm that all authors approved the submission, confirm that the manuscript has not been published or submitted elsewhere, and identify the special issue name if applicable. Authors may also suggest preferred and non-preferred peer reviewers in the cover letter.

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What are the publication costs?

An article processing charge applies for each accepted article. The current APC is £2490.00 GBP / $3590.00 USD / €2890.00 EUR, subject to VAT or local taxes where applicable.

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Research Topics

Health Policy Implementation Science Health Systems, Economic Evaluations, Quality of Life Global Maternal and Child Health Primary Care and Health Outcomes Global Public Health Policies and Epidemiology Healthcare Systems and Reforms Global Health and Surgery Mental Health and Patient Involvement Healthcare Policy and Management Health Sciences Research and Education Community Health and Development Health and Medical Research Impacts Evaluation and Performance Assessment Global Health Care Issues Public Health Policies and Education Ethics in Clinical Research Healthcare cost, quality, practices Global Health Workforce Issues Clinical practice guidelines implementation Delphi Technique in Research Health disparities and outcomes Child Nutrition and Water Access Pharmaceutical Economics and Policy Interprofessional Education and Collaboration Viral Infections and Outbreaks Research

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