Editorial Changes and Charges

As the saying goes: ‘The only constant thing in life is change’. In line with this mantra, there are bound to be changes in the structure and processes of the African Journal of Paediatric Surgery (AJPS). In order to keep up with the surging in flow of articles and to ensure the quality assurance processes of editorial oversight and peer-review process, the Editorial Board has now decided to have assistant editors to man different subspecialties of paediatric surgery for greater editorial efficiency. At the moment, specialties such as gastroenterology, urology, cardiothoracic surgery, oncology and hepatobiliary will be covered. These changes will be reflected in the Editorial Board composition in subsequent issues. In a similar vein, and due to prevailing economic realities chiefly due to the high cost of publishing and the dwindling value of the Nigerian currency, the board has come to the painful but necessary decision to adjust the article processing charges upwards starting from 1st January 2024. Articles accepted before this date will be charged according to the current charges. Consequently, from 1st January 2024, the article processing charges after acceptance of manuscript will now be $250.00. Similarly, the authors are to determine if they want their articles published in colour for the print versions of the journal. Such services will now be offered at a rate of $50.00/page. These charges must be paid before article can be moved to production. In this last edition of AJPS for this volume, Bandyopadhyay and Lakhoo[1] in an invited Editorial give a bird’s eye view of the evolution of paediatric surgery on the African continent and how efforts of paediatric surgeons and their associations are impacting positively on the outcome of children who require surgery. There are also other reviews, original articles and case reports in this issue that forms an interesting reading to our audience.