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Call for Papers

Thomas B. Cole, MD, MPH; Annette Flanagin, RN, MA

JAMA. 2004;292:3030.

Five million deaths from violence and injuries are estimated to account for 9% of global mortality,^1-2 with violence leading the causes of death among people aged 15 to 44 years.³ Violence affects many more survivors of all ages, who often live with disabling physical conditions and mental health symptoms. Despite the magnitude of this burden, as well as the known consequences of exposure to violence among survivors, research on violence prevention remains underfunded, understudied, and a neglected public health concern.

To focus attention on and support research in this area, we invite manuscripts reporting research on the causes, consequences, and prevention of interpersonal violence as well as the prevention and management of the health effects of violence among survivors of armed conflict, war, mass displacement, torture, and other human rights abuses for consideration in JAMA’s next theme issue on violence and human rights, to be published on August 4, 2005.

We welcome reports of original research, evidence-based reviews, and commentaries. We will consider case-control, cohort, time series, survey, and other observational studies, but we particularly encourage authors to submit randomized controlled trials (with individual, group/community, or cluster randomization), which are the best methods available to evaluate preventive measures and other interventions, even in these difficult and often uncontrolled settings. For example, we are interested in controlled studies of interventions for the prevention and treatment of the effects of intimate partner violence^4-6; child abuse^7-8; youth violence^9-10; mental health effects of terrorism,¹¹ sexual assault,¹² and community violence¹⁰; war- and conflict-related malnutrition,¹³ infectious diseases,¹⁴ trauma, mental health symptoms,¹⁵ and disability¹⁶; health concerns of refugees and displaced people^{13, 17}; and violations of human rights.¹⁸

Manuscripts received by March 1, 2005, will have the best chance for acceptance in this theme issue. All submitted manuscripts will undergo JAMA’s usual rigorous editorial evaluation and peer review. Please follow JAMA’s instructions for authors (http://www.jama.com) for manuscript preparation and submission.

Editorials represent the opinions of the authors and THE JOURNAL and not those of the American Medical Association.

Author Affiliations: Dr Cole (tbcole{at}bellsouth.net) is Contributing Editor and Ms Flanagin (annette_flanagin{at}jama-archives.org) is Managing Senior Editor, JAMA.

REFERENCES
1. Krug EG, Meddings DR. Research on violence and injury prevention could save millions of lives every year. In: Matlin S, ed. Global Forum Update on Research for Health 2005. London, England: Pro-Book Publishing Ltd; 2004:125-127. 2. World Health Organization. Injury: A Leading Cause of the Global Burden of Disease, 2000. Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization; 2002. 3. Krug EG, ed, Dahlberg LL, ed, Mercy JA, ed, Zwi AB, ed, Lozano R, ed. World Report on Violence and Health. Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization; 2002. Available at: http://www.who.int/violence_injury_prevention/violence/world_report/en. Accessed November 22, 2004. 4. Wathen CN, MacMillan HL. Interventions for violence against women: scientific review. JAMA. 2003;289:589-600. FREE FULL TEXT 5. McFarlane J, Malecha A, Gist J, et al. An intervention to increase safety behaviors of abused women: results of a randomized clinical trial. Nurs Res. 2002;51:347-354. FULL TEXT | ISI | PUBMED 6. Foshee VA, Bauman KE, Ennett ST, Linder GF, Benefield T, Suchindran C. Assessing the long-term effects of the Safe Dates program and a booster in preventing and reducing adolescent dating violence victimization and perpetration. Am J Public Health. 2004;94:619-624. FREE FULL TEXT 7. Olds D, Henderson CR, Cole R, et al. Long-term effects of nurse home visitation on children’s criminal and antisocial behavior: 15-year follow-up of a randomized controlled trial. JAMA. 1998;280:1238-1244. FREE FULL TEXT 8. Eckenrode J, Ganzel B, Henderson CR, et al. Preventing child abuse and neglect with a program of nurse home visitation: the limiting effects of domestic violence. JAMA. 2000;284:1385-1391. FREE FULL TEXT 9. Chan LS, Kipke MD, Schneir A, et al. Preventing Violence and Related Health-Risking Social Behaviors in Adolescents. Rockville, Md: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality; September 2004. Available at: http://www.ahrq.gov/clinic/epcsums/adolvisum.htm. Accessed November 15, 2004. Summary, Evidence Report/Technology Assessment: No. 107. AHRQ publication 04-E032-1. 10. Stein BD, Jaycox LH, Kataoka SH, et al. A mental health intervention for school children exposed to violence: a randomized controlled trial. JAMA. 2003;290:603-611. FREE FULL TEXT 11. North CS, Pfefferbaum B. Research on the mental health effects of terrorism. JAMA. 2002;288:633-636. FREE FULL TEXT 12. Krakow B, Hollifield M, Johnston L, et al. Imagery rehearsal therapy for chronic nightmares in sexual assault survivors with posttraumatic stress disorder: a randomized controlled trial. JAMA. 2001;286:537-545. FREE FULL TEXT 13. Lopriore C, Guidoum Y, Briend A, Branca F. Spread fortified with vitamins and minerals induces catch-up growth and eradicates severe anemia in stunted refugee children aged 3-6 y. Am J Clin Nutr. 2004;80:973-981. FREE FULL TEXT 14. Aaby P, Garly ML, Bale C, et al. Survival of previously measles-vaccinated and measles-unvaccinated children in an emergency situation: an unplanned study. Pediatr Infect Dis J. 2003;22:798-805. ISI | PUBMED 15. Igreja V, Kleijn WC, Schreuder BJ, Van Dijk JA, Verschuur M. Testimony method to ameliorate post-traumatic stress symptoms: community-based intervention study with Mozambican civil war survivors. Br J Psychiatry. 2004;184:251-257. FREE FULL TEXT 16. Donta ST, Clauw DJ, Engel CC Jr, et al, VA Cooperative Study #470 Study Group. Cognitive behavioral therapy and aerobic exercise for Gulf War veterans’ illnesses: a randomized controlled trial. JAMA. 2003;289:1396-1404. FREE FULL TEXT 17. Neuner F, Schauer M, Klaschik C, Karunakara U, Elbert T. A comparison of narrative exposure therapy, supportive counseling, and psychoeducation for treating posttraumatic stress disorder in an African refugee settlement. J Consult Clin Psychol. 2004;72:579-587. FULL TEXT | ISI | PUBMED 18. Flanagin A. Human rights in the biomedical literature: the social responsibility of medical journals. JAMA. 2000;284:618-619. FREE FULL TEXT