Author guidelines

Types of articles

The Weekly Epidemiological Surveillance Report (WESR) classifies published articles into five main categories.

  1. Original articles
    1. Outbreak investigation
    2. Research
    3. Public health program evaluation and surveillance evaluation
    4. Health situation analysis
    5. Review article
    6. Case report
  2. Summary reports of disease outbreak investigations/health threat verifications
  3. Summary reports of epidemiological surveillance activities
  4. Disease/Health Threat Situational Reports
  5. Note from the field/Health Alert Reports/Guidelines for surveillance and investigations, protocols for control and treatment/executive summaries of relevant research

*Note: the articles type 5 may vary, depending on the health situation.

Details of article types published in WESR

1. Original articles

1.1 Outbreak investigation report: This manuscript provides detailed information on disease/health threat outbreaks including causes, sources, route of transmission, and spread. It should be composed of abstract, keywords, introduction, methods, results, discussion, limitation, actions taken, public health recommendation, conclusion, acknowledgment, and reference parts. It should not exceed 14 pages in length.

1.2 Epidemiological research: This type of article answers research questions by selecting the study type, collecting and analyzing data, as well as studying disease control and prevention measures and policies/laws related to disease/public health threats, following the ethical standard. Content includes abstract, introduction, study design, materials and methods, results, discussion, limitations, conclusion, recommendation, acknowledgment, and reference. This report should not exceed 14 pages in length.

1.3 Public health program evaluation and surveillance evaluation: This study assesses the public health program/ intervention and surveillance systems related to epidemiology and disease control, such as communicable diseases, non-communicable diseases, and occupational diseases. Content includes abstract, keywords, introduction, methods, results, discussion, limitations, conclusion, recommendations, acknowledgment, and reference. This report should not exceed 14 pages in length.

1.4 Health situation analysis: This manuscript shows an analysis of data from surveillance systems to explain the disease occurrence and distribution by person, time, and place. It also includes measures for preventing and controlling diseases/health threats and policy recommendations. This report should not exceed 14 pages in length.

1.5 Review article: This type of article reviews or gathers knowledge from various domestic and international journals or books. Content consists of an abstract, keywords, introduction, methods, results, and conclusions drawn from the author’s opinions. References should be new, and this report should not exceed 8 pages in length.

1.6 Case report: A case report presents a case study of a new or rare disease or syndrome. It must provide comprehensive details, including disease Situation, case characteristics, signs and symptoms, clinical course, discussion or observational points, informed consent and reference. The length of the article should not exceed 10 pages.

2. Summary of Outbreak and Health Hazard News Inspection for the Week

Provides information about disease outbreaks/health threats reported by each Provincial Public Health Office, 13 Disease Prevention and Control Offices, the Health Department of Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, and related agencies through the Department of Disease Control’s outbreak monitoring program. This report is prepared by the Situation Awareness Team, Department of Disease Control.

3. Summary report of epidemiological surveillance

It reports on the number of cases and deaths of notifiable disease and provides recommendations and measures for disease control and prevention. The data are collected from local clinics and hospitals and sent to the Division of Epidemiology to compile and present. The table is presented in English language. The report is published weekly.

4. Disease/health threat situation

This article presents detailed information on the situation of diseases that have outbreaks during the week, both within the country and abroad. It demonstrates epidemiological characteristics, utilizing data from laboratory surveillance systems and other relevant surveillance systems, and public health recommendations. The content includes an introduction (providing an overview of the situation, including knowledge if it is about new emerging disease or rare diseases), epidemiological characteristics, related surveillance systems, coordination with relevant organization, disease/health threats control measures at central and local levels, risk communication, public health recommendations and reference. The length should not exceed 4 pages.

5. Reports of alerted health events that include guidelines for surveillance and investigations, protocols for control and treatment, and executive summaries of relevant research, investigations and health situation analyses. *

  • Preliminary report or short communication: This article presents preliminary results of ongoing research studies or investigations of diseases/health threats that are either in progress or in the process of preparing a manuscript. This article should not exceed 8 pages in length.
  • Executive summary report of outbreak investigation: This section describes the initial investigation of a health disease/hazard outbreak. It is reported shortly after the event’s occurrence. It includes topics such as background, preliminary investigation details, disease/health threats situation in the affected area, characteristics of case(s)/event, laboratory test results, environmental survey, conclusion of the preliminary investigation, actions taken, coordination with relevant agencies, risk communication at central and local levels, recommendations, acknowledgment, and reference. This report should not exceed 4 pages in length.
  • Proactive communication: This article focuses on public communication which is to provide accurate information to a wide readership, reduce panic, and the risk of disease/health threats spread. The content includes background, trends in outbreaks/diseases domestically and internationally, disease/health threat analysis, risk communication at the local/national level, recommendations, acknowledgment, and reference. It should not exceed 4 pages in length.