Call for Manuscripts

Supplement on “Homelessness and Infectious Diseases: Understanding the gaps and defining a public health approach”

Call for manuscripts

The Journal of Infectious Diseases (JID) and the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) are inviting submissions for a thematic supplement titled Homelessness and Infectious Diseases: Understanding gaps and defining a public health approach. 

Over 500,000 people experience homelessness each night in the United States. Homelessness is associated with increased risk of numerous infectious diseases. However, significant gaps related to homelessness and infectious disease exist in the scientific literature. Furthermore, the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the need for improved understanding of the infectious disease risks associated with homelessness to create a more equitable future.

JID and CDC encourage authors to submit manuscripts that examine surveillance, research, programs, and policy related to infectious diseases associated with homelessness. Ideally, manuscripts will cover issues related to one or more of these topics:

• Health care access for infectious diseases among people experiencing homelessness  
• Context-specific risks for infectious diseases associated with sheltered or unsheltered homelessness
• Public health interventions tailored for persons experiencing homelessness 
• How health care and public health organizations can support the resolution of homelessness
• Housing as a social determinant of health
• Gaps in the infectious disease literature related to homelessness or housing

Article types and examples

The following types of articles are acceptable: original research, public health evaluation, public health methodology, case study, brief report, reports and recommendations, topical review, and commentary. For more details about specific article types and corresponding review criteria, see JID’s Instructions to Authors.

Submissions should be scholarly in nature and offer a clear contribution to new scientific knowledge or public health practice.

A list of examples includes (but is not limited to):

• Interventions to improve healthcare access and retention for infectious diseases. For example, an evaluation of street medicine outreach programs with regard to infectious disease outcomes or a review of interventions to improve retention in HIV care.
• Outbreak investigations or epidemiologic analyses of shelter systems or encampments.  For example, an analysis of vectorborne disease burden among people experiencing unsheltered homelessness or a foodborne disease outbreak investigation in a shelter system.
• Vaccination outreach and coverage among people experiencing homelessness. For example, an assessment of hepatitis A vaccine coverage among people experiencing homelessness or an analysis of influenza vaccine acceptability.
• Programs that connect healthcare services and housing services. For example, an assessment of linkages to housing among people experiencing homelessness who are seeking care for infectious diseases.
• Policies addressing housing as a social determinant of health as related to infectious diseases. For example, a modeling analysis of policies surrounding homelessness or housing as they related to infectious disease outcomes.

Process and due dates

Authors are requested to first submit abstracts for consideration by JID and the supplement guest editors. Abstract submissions are due to JID no later than midnight February 15, 2022.  

Submit your abstracts to this page by February 15, 2022.

• Select "Submit a Manuscript,"
• Choose “Homelessness Supplement – Abstract" as the article type.

For abstracts that are accepted, authors will be invited to submit full manuscripts which will then undergo peer review. Supplement submissions will be held to the same peer-review standards as other submissions to JID. Invited authors will be asked to submit their full manuscripts by April 1, 2022.

Questions?

Please address questions about this call for papers to one of the guest editors: Dr. Emily Mosites ([email protected]) or Dr. Jay Butler ([email protected])