AJPM-NOW: September 2020

September 2020

Dear AJPM reader,

We’re pleased to welcome our readership back to AJPM-NOW, which has been on hiatus the last several months as we all adjusted to working remotely and to the new normal. These are challenging times for everyone as we endure the continuing fallout from a global pandemic that has called into question the state of preparedness in the U.S. and our capacity to respond to an unprecedented public health crisis. The COVID-19 pandemic has also highlighted pernicious racial and ethnic disparities in health that continue to plague this country.

In our September issue, we address the COVID-19 pandemic with studies that examine access to testing, socioeconomic risk factors, and the role of health policy, in addition to other important preventive medicine and population health issues including substance use disorders, health disparities, and mental health, which have all been heightened during the pandemic.

We hope you find our September articles to be timely, topical and informative.

Yours in prevention and health,

Matthew L. Boulton, MD, MPH

Editor-in-Chief

American Journal of Preventive Medicine

@AJPM_Editor

Peer Review Week: September 21-25

Peer Review Week is observed globally each year, honoring the central and essential role of peer review in scientific publishing. This year’s celebration will be held September 21 – 25, with the theme of “Trust in Peer Review.”

AJPM would like to thank our many reviewers. Peer reviewers have been the invisible heroes of 2020, as AJPM and many other journals have experienced unusually high volumes of submissions. We would also like to share some resources we have developed to help both new and experienced peer reviewers:

A Guide to Peer Review

Reviewer Checklists

Marijuana: Policy and Risk Factors

Marijuana Legalization and Youth Marijuana, Alcohol, and Cigarette Use and Norms

Marijuana Vaping in U.S. Adults: Evidence From the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System

Featured Collection: Black/African American Health Disparities

Systemic racism is a serious public health problem in the U.S. To raise awareness, AJPM has released a collection of research on health disparities among Black and African American persons and communities, which is available to download for free on the AJPM website for both subscribers and non-subscribers.