ABOUT THE JOURNAL

The Indian Journal of Health Social Work (IJHSW) is the culmination of the collective effort of social work professionals and academicians across the country to create a platform for exploration, discussion, research, and action on the social determinants and correlates of health care.

The Indian Journal of Health Social Work is a biannual journal published in January and July of each year. The IJHSW is an official publication of the All India Association of Medical Social Work Professionals (AIAMSWP) and is indexed in the UGC-CARE list. The journal accepts original research work, review articles, case reports, informative materials, & brief communications related to social work practice in health care.

Aims and Scope

Aims

The Indian Journal of Health Social Work (IJHSW) is a peer-reviewed and UGC-CARE-listed academic journal dedicated to advancing knowledge at the intersection of health and social work practice, education, and research. The journal aims to:

• Publish high-quality, original research that contributes to the understanding of health-related social issues
• Promote evidence-based social work practice in healthcare settings
• Encourage interdisciplinary collaboration among social work, public health, medicine, and allied disciplines
• Provide a platform for researchers, practitioners, and policymakers to disseminate innovative ideas and findings
• Contribute to the development of equitable, inclusive, and sustainable health systems

The journal seeks to bridge the gap between theory, research, and practice in health social work at the national and international levels.

Scope

The journal welcomes manuscripts addressing a broad range of topics within health social work, and allied fields, including but not limited to:

Health Social Work Practice

• Medical and Psychiatric Social Work
• Hospital-based social work interventions
• Palliative and End-of-Life Care
• Rehabilitation and Disability Studies

Public Health and Community Health

• Community Health and Primary Healthcare
• Health Promotion and Disease Prevention
• Epidemiology and Social Determinants of Health
• Maternal and Child Health

Mental Health and Psychosocial Well-being

• Mental Health Interventions and Counselling
• Psychosocial Support in Crisis and Disaster Situations
• Substance Use and Addiction Studies
• Trauma, Stress, and Coping Mechanisms

Health Policy and Systems

• Health Policy Analysis and Implementation
• Health Governance and Administration
• Universal Health Coverage and Equity
• Health Insurance and Financing

Social Dimensions of Health

• Gender and Health
• Ageing and Geriatric Care
• Child Health and Protection
• Marginalised and Vulnerable Populations

Interdisciplinary and Emerging Areas

• Digital Health and Tele-social Work
• Environmental Health and Sustainability
• Occupational Health and Workplace Well-being
• Ethics and Human Rights in Healthcare

The journal particularly encourages research that integrates social work perspectives with health systems, policy frameworks, and community-based interventions.

EDITORIAL POLICIES

Publication Frequency
The “Indian Journal of Health Social Work” is a biannual journal published in January and July of each year.

Acceptance Dates Consistency

In keeping with international standards of bibliographic accountability, from the forthcoming issue onward (Volume 7 | Issue 2), all articles published in the Indian Journal of Health Social Work will carry complete and consistent publication records. Dates such as “Submitted,” “Revised,” “Accepted,” and “Published” will be mentioned on the first page of each manuscript. This ensures verifiable, transparent publication records that authors may cite in their academic credentials, and that evaluating bodies, including university appointment committees, may rely on with confidence.

Article Types

Indicative word limits for each category are as follows. The word limit ordinarily includes the abstract, tables/figures, and references, unless otherwise specified.

• Review Articles: This section publishes critical, thematic, or narrative reviews on pertinent topics relevant to health social work and allied fields. Review Articles should ordinarily be less than 6000 words.
• Original Research Papers: This section publishes original quantitative, qualitative, mixed-method, or practice-based research papers. Original Research Papers should ordinarily be less than 5000 words.
• Commentary & Invited Articles: This section publishes short analytical, reflective, or perspective-based articles on specific issues relevant to the journal’s scope. Commentary & Invited Articles should ordinarily be 2000–3000 words.
• Forum: This section provides space for concise discussion, exchange of ideas, or responses on issues of academic or professional relevance. Forum contributions should ordinarily be 1200–2000 words.
• Case Reports: This section publishes reports of new, interesting, or rare cases of professional significance in the field of health care social work practice. Case Reports should ordinarily be 1500–2500 words.
• Brief Communication: This section publishes concise reports from preliminary studies, pilot work, smaller datasets, field-based observations, or other emerging issues of significance. Brief Communications should ordinarily be 1200–2000 words.
• Letters to the Editor: A brief letter (maximum 500 words, including references, and without tables or figures) will be considered under this section.

All submissions must demonstrate originality, methodological rigour, and relevance to the journal’s scope.

Manuscript Format

A.Title Page (to be submitted separately)

· The title of the article should be bold, centred, and typed in normal size with 12 points and a Times New Roman font.
· The title page should be uploaded separately and should contain the full article title, author name(s), academic/professional designation, institutional affiliation, ORCID ID where available, postal address, pin code, email, and mobile number of the corresponding author.

B.Main Manuscript File

· The main manuscript file should contain the title, abstract, keywords, main text, tables/figures, acknowledgements, funding information, declaration of interest, ethics statement where applicable, and references, as relevant to the article category, but should not contain author names or any other identifying information.

C.Abstract and Keywords

.Except for Letters to the Editor, all manuscripts should ordinarily be accompanied by an abstract written in clear English.
· The abstract should ordinarily not exceed 300 words and should be followed by 3 to 6 keywords.
· Abstract should ordinarily include the background, aims/objectives, method, results, conclusion, and keywords, wherever applicable to the article type.

D.Contents of the Write-up

· The manuscript should be written in English and should conform to the word limit prescribed for the relevant article category.
· As a general rule, submissions should follow the indicative limits stated under Article Types.
· Manuscript or informative material should be typed in 12-point font size and Times New Roman with line spacing of 1.5 and single column on standard A4 size paper.
· All headings must be bold-faced, aligned left with 12 points in Times New Roman, and sub-headings in 10 points.
· Article titles should be informative, reflecting the true sense of the manuscript, and within two lines.
· Tables should be numbered and accompanied by short titles at the top.
· The authors should make sure that tables and figures are referred to in the main text.
· References should include a list of all articles and books at the end of the paper. Arrange alphabetically by the author’s names and date of publication in parentheses. The author should follow the APA 7th edition style for the reference list.
· Declaration of interest must be mentioned by the author at the submission. Funding support, if any, and an ethics statement, where applicable, should be provided before the references.

Note: Click here to download the manuscript template.

Editorial Independence

All editorial decisions are made solely by the Editor-in-Chief and Editorial Board on the basis of scholarly merit and peer review. The All India Association of Medical Social Work Professionals (AIAMSWP), as the publisher, has no role in manuscript selection or rejection. No acceptance or rejection is influenced by commercial, political, or institutional considerations.

Submissions by Editors

Manuscripts submitted by any member of the Editorial Board are handled by a separate editor who was not involved in the original submission and has no conflict of interest with the author. The submitting editor is excluded from all stages of the review and decision process. Double-blind peer review applies in all such cases.

Special Issue Editor

IJHSW welcomes proposals from eminent scholars and practitioners to serve as Guest Editors or continue with the existing editorial team for Special Issues focused on emerging themes in health social work, medical and psychiatric social work, palliative care, community health interventions, and interdisciplinary healthcare practice. Proposals should include a brief thematic rationale, a proposed timeline, and a list of potential contributors. Guest editors will be formally acknowledged in the published special issue and on the journal’s website. Interested scholars may write to the Editorial Office at aiamswpeditor@gmail.com.

Peer Review Policy

All submissions received by the Indian Journal of Health Social Work (IJHSW) are subject to editorial screening before publication. Manuscripts found suitable for peer review ordinarily undergo a rigorous double-blind peer-review process to ensure quality, validity, and academic integrity. The journal adheres to established ethical guidelines in scholarly publishing. Manuscripts considered appropriate for external review are ordinarily sent to at least two independent reviewers under a double-blind peer-review process. Final decisions are taken by the Editor-in-Chief and/or Editorial Board on the basis of reviewer comments, scholarly merit, and the journal’s scope.

Review Timeline

IJHSW is committed to a transparent, timely, and rigorous peer review process. The typical timelines for each stage are as follows:

Authors may write to the Editorial Office if they have not received communication beyond the above timelines.

Research Ethics Policy

For manuscripts involving human participants, personal data, case material, interviews, surveys, or institutional records, authors should state whether ethics approval, permission, exemption, waiver, or a statement that such approval was not required applies under relevant institutional or disciplinary norms. Where applicable, authors should confirm informed consent and appropriate confidentiality safeguards. Where such approval or permission is not reasonably available, the Editor may exercise discretion in light of the nature of the work and the ethical safeguards described by the author.

Reviewer Pool Acknowledged

IJHSW sincerely recognises the invaluable contribution of its peer reviewer community. The journal periodically acknowledges the contributions of its peer reviewers in the journal and/or on the website. Scholars with expertise in medical social work, psychiatric social work, public health, community medicine, palliative care, disability studies, and related fields are welcome to register as reviewers. To join the IJHSW Reviewer Panel, please write to the Editorial Office with your areas of expertise and institutional affiliation.

Open Access Policy

This is an E-journal that provides immediate free access to all published articles and is publicly available, supporting worldwide knowledge exchange on the association’s website.

Creative Commons

Articles published from the forthcoming issue onward will ordinarily be made available under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence (CC BY 4.0), unless otherwise stated.

Plagiarism Policy

The journal is strictly against any unethical act of copying or plagiarism in any form. Plagiarism is said to have occurred when large portions of a manuscript have been copied from existing, previously published resources. All manuscripts submitted for publication to the Indian Journal of Health Social Work may be screened for plagiarism by the Editorial Office using appropriate tools or reports. Manuscripts found to contain substantial overlap, unattributed copying, or other forms of plagiarism at any stage of review or publication may be rejected, returned for clarification, or withdrawn, as appropriate. Authors may also be asked to submit a plagiarism report where required by the journal.

AI Disclosure Policy

IJHSW requires authors to disclose any use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) or AI-assisted tools, including large language models, AI writing assistants, AI-based data analysis, or image generation tools, in the preparation, writing, or analysis of their submitted manuscript. Such disclosure must be included under a clearly labelled subsection within the Methods or Acknowledgements section, specifying the tool(s) used and the nature of their application.

Correction Policy

IJHSW is committed to maintaining the integrity and accuracy of the published scholarly record. Where significant factual errors are identified in a published article by the authors, editors, or readers, authors are provided an opportunity to correct their manuscript in accordance with the journal’s correction policy. In cases involving serious ethical violations such as plagiarism, data fabrication, or undisclosed duplicate publication, the journal will issue an Expression of Concern or proceed with a formal Retraction in accordance with the guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). Retracted articles will remain accessible in the archive and will be clearly marked as retracted with the reason stated. Authors, reviewers, and readers are encouraged to report concerns to the Editorial Office.

Appeals and Complaints

Authors who wish to appeal a rejection must email the Editor-in-Chief at aiamswpeditor@gmail.com within 7 days, quoting their Manuscript ID and stating the grounds for appeal. Appeals are considered only where a procedural error or material misunderstanding is alleged; disagreement with the reviewer’s judgement alone is not sufficient. Appeals will be acknowledged within 7 working days and ordinarily decided within 30 working days. Where appropriate, the appeal may be referred to an editor not involved in the original decision. Complaints about editorial conduct may be raised with the Editor-in-Chief.

Journal Sponsorship

The Indian Journal of Health Social Work is an official publication of the All India Association of Medical Social Work Professionals (AIAMSWP). So, the journal is not sponsored by any organization/institute/agency.

Copyright Policy

Authors retain copyright in their work. By submitting to the journal, authors grant the Indian Journal of Health Social Work the right to review, publish, reproduce, and disseminate the accepted manuscript as part of the journal. Articles published under the journal’s open-access policy may be shared and reused in accordance with the applicable Creative Commons licence. Authors must ensure that the manuscript is original, is not under consideration elsewhere, and has been approved by all co-authors. The corresponding author accepts responsibility for communication with the journal on behalf of all co-authors. The journal may require submission of a signed copyright/licence declaration form at the time of acceptance.

Note: Click here to download the copyright form.