Egypt to host EMMJ6 Conference of Medical Journals from Sept. 1-4th 2013

 Egypt to host EMMJ6 Conference of
Medical Journals from Sept. 1-4th 2013

CAIRO: Bridging the gap: challenges and opportunities in publishing health science journals in the Region is the theme of the Sixth Regional Conference on Medical Journals in the Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMMJ6) to be held in Cairo, Egypt from September 1-4 2013. The conference is preceded on 1 September 2013 by a half-day of preconference workshops for those interested while the actual conference will start on September 2nd 2013 and last for three days.
It may be mentioned here that the five previous conferences were held in Egypt (2003), Saudi Arabia (2004), Iran (2006), Bahrain (2008) and Pakistan (2010) which all raised awareness on issues relating to quality, publishing ethics, peer review and indexing of health science journals in the Region. This conference aims to build on that momentum and carry it further at national level. Thus, the main focus of the Conference will be on strengthening the capacities of editors of health science journals and other interested partners with the aim of promoting the quality, relevance, accessibility and availability of evidence to guide health policy and planning at national and regional levels. Editors of health science journals, as well as others involved in publishing health science journals in the Region are invited to participate.
The conference is being organized by Academy for Scientific Research and Technology (ASRT), Egypt, World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean and Eastern Mediterranean Association of Medical Editors (EMAME). The conference objectives are that it will serve as a regional platform to:

• Identify and discuss the challenges and opportunities of health science journals in the Region
• Share and disseminate the latest information/trends relating to health science journal editing
• Promote the continuing education of health science journal editors
• Promote open access and online publishing of journals
• Facilitate communication and collaboration between journal editors in the Region

At the end of the conference it is expected that it will result in increased commitment of health science journal editors to promote the quality and role of journals in the Region in addressing health issues and priorities. A draft declaration endorsing the ICMJE “Uniform requirements for Manuscripts submitted to biomedical journals: Writing and editing for biomedical publication” including a clear statement on adherence to ethical conduct in research and publishing, agree on a group of authors to develop a working paper on the status of health science journals in the Region, with a proposed roadmap to enhance the quality of the journals (based on the deliberations during the conference)
Editors and assistant editors of health science journals from the Region, interested health and biomedical researchers besides those interested parties including: authors, publishers, online publishers, scientists, scientific and technical editors, production managers, etc., will find it extremely useful and informative.

Workshops: There will be four pre-conference workshops on September 1st on Peer Review, Editorial office management, Planning a long term vision & strategy and Publishing ethics. Further details about the conference including registration are available on the conference website www.emmj6.eg.net