Editorial Policies

Focus and Scope

New Solutions delivers authoritative responses to perplexing problems, with a worker’s voice, an activist’s commitment, a scientist’s approach, and a policy-maker’s experience.

New Solutions explores the growing, changing common ground at the intersection of health, work, and the environment. The Journal makes plain how the issues in each area are interrelated and sets forth progressive, thoughtfully crafted public policy choices. It seeks a conversation on the issues between the grassroots labor and environmental activists and the professionals and researchers involved in charting society’s way forward with the understanding that lack of scientific knowledge is no excuse for doing nothing and that inaction is itself a choice.

In recognition of the globalization of health problems, environmental issues and economic activity, the Journal strives for an international focus. It investigates problems of occupational and environmental health with the people at risk—the workers and the community—uppermost in mind. And New Solutions takes the discussion beyond merely explaining the extent of hazard, the parameters of debate, and the limitations of scientific knowledge to offer actions—solutions—to deal with the dilemmas of workplace, community, and environmental threat.

New Solutions is written for both the academic and educated lay audience. Its intention is earnest: to affect the public health policy discussion and shake up the policy debate.

 

Section Policies

Comment and Controversy

Opinion pieces relevant to environmental and occupational health policy.

Checked Open Submissions Unchecked Indexed Checked Peer Reviewed

Scientific Solutions

Charting Solutions - Actions must be taken to protect public health even when science doesn't have all the answers on a particular issue.  For the 'Scientific Solutions' section of this journal, we are seeking articles which are unembarrassed about urging strong action on the basis of less-than-definitive science, but which also explicitly acknowledge gaps, uncertainties and disputes about the knowledge base.

Editors
  • Richard Clapp, Boston University School of Public Health
  • Craig Slatin, University of Massachusetts Lowell
Checked Open Submissions Checked Indexed Checked Peer Reviewed

Feature Articles

Environmental and Occupational Health Policy research articles, often incorporating recommendations for policy or further research. May address public health research issues and the politics of conducting environmental and occupational health research and practice.

Checked Open Submissions Checked Indexed Checked Peer Reviewed

Observatory of the Americas

Articles regarding environmental and occupational health policy issues throughout the Americas, particularly relevant to struggles related to globalization of economics and trade and the affect upon workers, communities, the ecosystem, sustainability, and democratic participation in governance, social investment, and distribution of resources.

Checked Open Submissions Checked Indexed Checked Peer Reviewed

Movement Solutions

Papers that describe progressive social movement activities and efforts, describing successes and the steps toward them, as well as challenges and barriers faced in efforts to promote environmental and occupational health, and prevent morbidities and mortality due to occupational and environmental exposures and conditions.

Checked Open Submissions Checked Indexed Checked Peer Reviewed

Documents and Reports

Letters, reports, or policy papers from the archives of activists or partisans of an issue. Contributors are invited to submit these for selection by the editors.

Checked Open Submissions Unchecked Indexed Unchecked Peer Reviewed

Voices

Interviews that present stories and information relevant to environmental and occupational health policy, from activists, workers and union members, advocates, and scientists. Contributors may submit interviews or suggest individuals or small groups for interview.

Checked Open Submissions Checked Indexed Unchecked Peer Reviewed

Book Reviews

Editors
  • David Bennett
Checked Open Submissions Checked Indexed Unchecked Peer Reviewed
 

Peer Review Process

New Solutions, a Journal of Environmental and Occupational Health Policy seeks to publish articles, reviews, commentaries, interviews, and documents focused on environmental and occupational health policy issues of interest to public health scientists and professionals, program managers, labor and enivronmental advocates and activists, and scholars. Although we are eager to publish new scientific results, these papers should present insightful and original discussions of and contributions to policy thinking in environmental and occupational health. Because New Solutions seeks to promote dialog across a broad set of actors, readability and general interest are important to us.

Reviewers are consultants or advisors to the editors. We communicate with authors and make the final decisions on publication. For many review requests, we have selected the reviewer for a particular area of knowledge or point of view and we will note this in the letter transmitting the manuscript for review. Because reviewers are the experts on particular issues, one of their important functions is to protect the Journal from publishing articles that offer nothing original, present faulty data, analyze it improperly, or draw an inappropriate conclusion. This is not to exclude opinions with which we disagree.

If the ideas contained in a manuscript are important and deserve publication, a reviewer can help us and the author improve the presentation to make it readable by a general public health readership.

 

Manuscripts are reviewed with the understanding that they:

  • are original;
  • are not under consideration by any other publisher;
  • have not been previously published in whole or in part (not applicable for the journal's Document Section);
  • have not been previously accepted for publication (not applicable for the journal's Document Section);
  • have not been previously reviewed by New Solutions;
  • will not be submitted elsewhere until a decision is reached regarding their publication in New Solutions.

Generally, at least three (3) reviewers are selected for manuscripts submitted for the journal's peer reviewed sections. Whenever possible, the reviewers include at least one public health scientist, a policy specialist and a policy “user” – that is, an intelligent lay reader.

Peer reviewers are asked to indicate the strengths of mansucripts in terms of relevance to advancing environmental and occupational health policies and prevention of illnesses, injuries, and fatalities related to occupational and environmental exposures and conditions.

The review is double blind – authors’ names are not revealed to reviewers; and reviewers may request anonymity. We use a standard format and offer anonymity to reviewers who choose it. We also look for a recommendation: publish; publish with revisions; or reject. Reviewers usually offer specific edits and summarize their critique of the paper.

 

ABSTRACTED & INDEXED IN

  • MEDLINE: The Inational Information Services Corporation (NISC)
  • Pubmed
  • All-Russia Institute of Scientific and Technical Information
  • Alternative Press Index
  • BioBusiness
  • Cumulative Index to Nursing & Allied Health Literature
  • EBSCO Publishing Databases
  • Ergonomics Information Analysis Centre
  • IBZ (International Bibliography of Periodical Literature on the Humanities and Social Sciences)
  • IRB (International Bibliography of Book Reviews of Scholarly Literature on the Humanities and Social Sciences)
  • Linguistics and Language Behavior Abstracts
  • The Left Index (NICS)
  • The National Inquiry Services Centre (Pty)Ltd (NICS/NISCSA)
  • Public Affairs Information Service, Inc. (PAIS)
  • Sociological Abstracts, Social Planning/Policy & Development Abstracts

 

History of New Solutions

New Solutions began as a peer reviewed journal in 1990. It was founded and produced for seven years by the Alice Hamilton Library of the Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers International Union (OCAW). Its editor was Dr. Charles Levenstein, of the Department of Work Environment, University of Massachusetts Lowell. Its original publisher was Tony Mazzocchi, former vice president of OCAW, one of the figures behind passage of the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Act. Mazzocchi was a leader in raising health and safety issues for working people in the 1950s and ’60s and for drawing public health professionals and activists together to work on problems faced by workers and their communities. Mazzocchi was deeply concerned about environmental issues and sought an arena in which scientists, environmentalists and trade unions could come to terms with the implications of the policies for environmental remediation and improvement. In 1998, publication of the journal was moved to Baywood Publishing Company, Inc. Charles Levenstein continued as the editor, working with Mary Lee Dunn, Assistant Editor. In 2007 and 2008, a transition toward a new editorial team was initiated, consisting of Drs. Craig Slatin and Eduardo Siqueira, of the Department of Community Health and Sustainaiblity, University of Massachusetts Lowell, and Dr. Beth Rosenberg, of the Department of Public Health and Family Medicine, Tufts University School of Medicine. Dr. Charles Levenstein will become editor emeritus with the first issue of Volume 19 of New Solutions. The Oil, Chemical, and Atomic Workers International Union merged with the United Paperworkers International Union, which then merged with the United Steel Workers of America in April 2005. New Solutions maintains a relationship with the USW, whose web site is: http://www.usw.org/usw/program/content/index.php New Solutions continues is relationship to the University of Massachusetts Lowell through the Center of Public Health Research and Health Promotion, http://www.uml.edu/centers/cphrhp/ and the Department of Work Environment http://www.uml.edu/college/she/WE/Default.html

 

Access to Table of Contents and Articles Online

New Solutions is published annually in 1 volume (4 issues) by Baywood Publishing Company. Issues available in print only. Separate articles can be accessed as pdf files from Baywood Publishing Company

 



ISSN: 1541-3772