Call for Papers | Students Have Their Say: Novel Approaches and Solutions to Current and Emerging Public Health Problems

Announcement posted 4/26/24

Preventing Chronic Disease (PCD) is committed to developing the scientific writing skills of public health students. As part of that commitment, PCD is pleased to offer a new student paper publishing opportunity as a special feature of its 2025 Student Paper Contest. This new opportunity will allow high school, undergraduate, graduate, and recent postgraduate students, and medical students and residents to improve their scientific writing skills by serving as lead (first) authors, becoming familiar with a journal’s peer-review process, and receiving feedback from the journal on how to strengthen their submission regardless of whether it is accepted.

Students are invited to submit only one type of article: an Essay. The topic will be how to approach persistent or emerging public health challenges with new approaches and solutions. We believe that students are in a unique position to offer novel ideas and share fresh perspectives, and we want them to have their say!

For this Call for Papers, the journal will consider manuscripts only from students. The essay may be written and submitted to the journal by one student or more than one student. Manuscripts must not be published previously or submitted elsewhere for publication. Students must adhere to the journal’s submission requirements for essays (https://www.cdc.gov/pcd/for_authors/types_of_articles.htm#Essay) and follow this format:

1. Identify the public health challenge
2. Make the case for why it is a challenge
3. Discuss existing or historical approaches used to address the challenge
4. Identify innovative approaches and solutions
5. Describe what populations, groups, and/or organizations might benefit from the innovative approaches identified
6. Conclude by discussing what the future would look like as a result of the uptake of the proposed innovative approaches

Topics students can use to address persistent current and emerging public health challenges in the essay include but are not limited to the following:

• Rural health
• Emergency preparedness
• Building the capacity of future public health experts
• Communicable diseases
• Reducing health disparities and inequities
• Data modernization
• Data privacy
• Racism and health

All manuscripts accepted in response to this Call for Papers will be published in the journal’s collection on a rolling basis. All published essays will be included as a special section of the 2025 Student Paper Contest collection, which is scheduled for release in November 2025. Students may also submit a separate manuscript for the 2025 Student Paper Contest. See PCD’s Announcements page for more information on eligibility and requirements.

Although it is not required, interested students are encouraged to submit an inquiry to learn whether their essay idea aligns with the scope of the journal and the objective of this Call for Papers. These inquiries should be submitted by September 20, 2024. If the essay is to be written by several students, only the corresponding author should submit this inquiry. The corresponding author is the person who takes primary responsibility for communication with the journal during the submission, peer-review, and publication process. The corresponding author’s inquiry should include the following information:

• Article title
• Name of the corresponding author
• Author name(s), degree(s), title(s), and affiliation(s)
• Indicate that the inquiry is related to this Call for Papers
• Abstract (300 words or less)

The deadline to submit a final manuscript is 5:00 PM EST on Monday, March 24, 2025. PCD requires a cover letter from the corresponding author of every paper submitted to the journal. Student corresponding authors are required to submit a cover letter indicating they (and their coauthors, if applicable) are currently matriculated in school. The letter must also identify educational level (high school, undergraduate, graduate or medical student, recent postgraduate, or medical resident), area of study (major), and minor (if applicable).

About the Journal
PCD is a peer-reviewed public health journal published by CDC and authored by experts worldwide. PCD was established in 2004 by the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion with a mission to promote dialogue among researchers, practitioners, and policy makers worldwide on the integration and application of research findings and practical experience to improve population health. PCD has a current Impact Factor of 5.5 (2022) and is ranked 21st of 180 journals in Journal Citation Reports. For more information about the journal, please visit https://www.cdc.gov/pcd.

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