According to the ICMJE, supplements are collections of papers that deal with related issues or topics, are published as a separate issue of the journal or as part of a regular issue, and maybe funded by sources other than the journal’s publisher.  For the PAMJ, supplements can contain a combination of various types of articles. Since its inception in 2008, more than 20 supplements have been published in the PAMJ. Supplements provide an opportunity for organizations, projects, universities to showcase their work and demonstrate their commitment to research.  Supplements published in the PAMJ have been commissioned by organizations such as the WHO Regional Office for Africa, the African Field Epidemiology Network, the US CDC/Global Immunization Division, and AMREF Kenya

The publication of a supplement differs, in various ways, from the publication of regular articles. Prospective supplement sponsors should get in touch with the PAMJ editorial office. The supplement sponsors will be asked to provide the following information:

• A title, and scope of the supplement
• Submission to a supplement is usually limited to a selected group defined by the supplement sponsor (researchers of a specific organization or university, outputs of a project, participants to a program, etc..). If, however a call for paper is to be issued, the supplement sponsor will specify the target audience for the call for paper (who is eligible to submit manuscripts for the supplement?)
• The supplement sponsor will estimate the number of manuscripts to be included in the supplement which should not be less than 5.
• The supplement sponsor and the PAMJ will agree on a timeline for publication of the supplement.
• The supplement sponsor will nominate 2 to 3 guest editors for the supplement, one of which will be the primary guest editor, and will communicate with the PAMJ editorial team on matters related to the supplement.
• Eventually, the supplement sponsors or supplement primary guest editors will propose a list of potential peer-reviewers for the supplement. However, all articles submitted to the supplement will go through the PAMJ peer-review process.
• Guest editors to agree on the final list of manuscripts to be included in the supplement. PAMJ however reserves the right to not publish a manuscript from the supplement. If such a case arises, the editorial office of PAMJ will provide a clear explanation of the reasons why it finds the manuscript unfit for publication in the PAMJ.
• The PAMJ may require an upfront payment of 50% of the cost of the supplement before the first manuscript of the supplement is submitted.
• The remaining 50% of the payment will then be completed before the publication of the supplement.
• The PAMJ will provide an electronic print-ready PDF version of the supplement to the sponsoring organization.
• Depending on prior arrangement, the PAMJ will provide printed copies of the supplement book to the supplement sponsor.

Issues associated with the publication of a supplement

The PAMJ prioritizes the processing of supplement submissions. Supplement submissions should adhere to the journal instructions for authors on other editorial policies. Significant deviations in the supplement publication timelines may occur, due mainly to the delay, by authors, to submit their manuscript or to respond to the requests for correction from the editorial team.

The PAMJ adheres to the ICMJE Principles on supplements.

View the PAMJ Supplement page.

For more about publishing a supplement with the PAMJ, contact the editorial office at sales-service@panafrican-med-journal.com