Indian Journal of Mental and Community Health

About the Journal

Indian Journal of Mental and Community Health (IJMCH) is an international, peer-reviewed, open-access scholarly journal devoted to the advancement of research in Medical Sciences, with particular emphasis on Mental Health, Community Health, Preventive Medicine, and Public Health. The journal publishes original research articles, systematic reviews, meta-analyses, narrative reviews, short communications, case reports, editorials, and letters to the editor that contribute to evidence-based healthcare and scientific advancement.

Journal Information

Aims and Scope

The Indian Journal of Mental and Community Health (IJMCH) is a peer-reviewed, open-access journal dedicated to publishing high-quality research across Medical Sciences, with special emphasis on Mental Health, Community Medicine, Public Health, Preventive Medicine, Epidemiology, Clinical Medicine, Primary Care, Digital Health, and interdisciplinary healthcare research.

The journal publishes original research articles, systematic reviews, meta-analyses, narrative reviews, case reports, short communications, and editorials.

The scope of the journal includes, but is not limited to:

• Psychiatry and clinical psychology
• Mental health promotion and prevention
• Community psychiatry and psychosocial rehabilitation
• Public health and community medicine
• Epidemiology and biostatistics
• Behavioral sciences and health education
• Substance use and addiction medicine
• Child and adolescent mental health
• Geriatric mental health
• Women’s mental health
• Occupational and environmental health
• Health systems, healthcare management, and policy
• Primary healthcare and family medicine
• Digital health, telemedicine, and artificial intelligence in healthcare
• Non-communicable and communicable diseases
• Social determinants of health
• Lifestyle medicine and preventive healthcare
• Rehabilitation sciences and quality of life research

The journal particularly welcomes interdisciplinary studies that integrate mental health with community-based healthcare approaches and innovative healthcare technologies.

Publication Frequency

Tri-Annual (Three Issues Per Year) The journal publishes three issues annually.

Issue 1: January–April

Issue 2: May–August

Issue 3: September–December

Open Access Policy

The Indian Journal of Mental and Community Health (IJMCH) follows a full open-access publishing model to promote the free exchange of scientific knowledge worldwide.

The journal believes that open access enhances global knowledge exchange, increases the visibility and impact of research, and supports equitable access to scientific literature.

Under this policy:

• Readers may freely read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of published articles without prior permission from the publisher or the author.
• Authors retain copyright of their published work unless otherwise specified by journal policy.
• Published content may be shared and used for educational, research, and non-commercial purposes with proper attribution.
• The journal encourages the dissemination of research findings to researchers, healthcare professionals, policymakers, educators, and the general public.
• IJMCH is committed to maintaining high ethical standards, rigorous peer review, transparency in publication practices, and academic integrity.

Data Availability Policy

The Indian Journal of Mental and Community Health (IJMCH) promotes transparency, research integrity, and reproducibility in scientific publishing.

Authors are encouraged to make relevant research datasets available through recognized public repositories or upon reasonable request, while ensuring compliance with ethical standards, patient confidentiality, and data protection regulations.

A clear Data Availability Statement must be included in all submitted manuscripts specifying the accessibility of supporting data.

Exceptions may apply in cases involving confidential, sensitive, proprietary, or legally restricted data.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) Usage Policy

The Indian Journal of Mental and Community Health (IJMCH) permits the responsible use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools for language editing, grammar improvement, formatting assistance, and technical enhancement of manuscripts.

However, AI tools must not be used for generating substantial scientific content, fabricating or manipulating research data, producing misleading information, or engaging in plagiarism and unethical publication practices.

Authors are required to disclose the use of any AI-based tools or software within the manuscript submission process.

Failure to disclose AI usage or submission of excessive AI-generated content may result in manuscript rejection or further editorial action.

The journal may utilize AI-detection and plagiarism-screening technologies to ensure compliance with ethical publishing standards.

Author Self-Archiving Policy

IJMCH encourages authors to increase the visibility and accessibility of their research by self-archiving their scholarly work in institutional repositories, public repositories, academic networking platforms, or personal websites.

Authors may share accepted or published versions of their manuscripts provided that proper citation and acknowledgment of the final published article in IJMCH are clearly included.

Preprint Policy

The Indian Journal of Mental and Community Health (IJMCH) accepts submissions that have previously appeared as preprints on recognized preprint servers.

Posting a manuscript as a preprint does not influence editorial consideration or peer-review decisions within the journal.

During manuscript submission, authors must disclose details of any existing preprint versions, including the DOI, repository link, or other permanent identifiers, along with information regarding subsequent revisions or updates.

Submitted manuscripts are evaluated solely on their scientific quality, originality, methodological rigor, and academic merit, independent of any preprint posting.

Manuscript Deposition and Archiving

All articles published in the Indian Journal of Mental and Community Health (IJMCH) are preserved through recognized digital archiving and preservation systems to ensure long-term accessibility and permanent scholarly record maintenance.

The journal supports digital preservation initiatives, including the PKP Preservation Network (PKP PN), which provides distributed archiving among participating libraries and preservation systems for secure restoration and accessibility of published content.

Average Time from Submission to Publication

On average, the duration from manuscript submission to final publication in IJMCH is approximately 16 weeks, based on recent publication data.

However, the overall processing timeline may vary depending on multiple factors, including the responsiveness of reviewers, the quality and completeness of revisions submitted by authors, editorial processing time, and the complexity of the peer-review process.

The journal continuously strives to maintain a timely, transparent, and efficient review and publication workflow while ensuring rigorous academic and ethical standards.