Theme
Occupational Hearing Loss in Africa: An interdisciplinary view of the current status

Guest editors
Katijah Khoza-Shangase
Nomfundo Moroe

Submission deadline: 31 September 2019

Timelines

• Special issue release date: 01 June 2019
• Deadline for submission: 31 September 2019. Submit on to the journal website.
• Review of results: 31 November 2019
• Deadline for revisions: 24 January 2020
• Notification of final decision: 15 February 2020
• Publication date: 03 March 2020 (World Hearing Day)

Background
The Guest Editors of the South African Journal of Communication Disorders Special Issue titled ‘Occupational Hearing Loss in Africa: An interdisciplinary view of the current status’ (Prof Katijah Khoza-Shangase & Dr Nomfundo Moroe) invite research papers from academics and researchers, specifically in the mining sector in Africa, for their special issue. The special issue aims to collate current contextually relevant and responsive evidence that fills the gap in occupational audiology while responding to the call for evidence to be Afrocentric. The goal of the Special Issue is to provide a comprehensive current status overview of occupational hearing loss (OHL) within the African context to contribute towards the industry’s ability to meet the elimination of hearing loss targets. The special issue will, therefore, look at challenges as well as possible solutions for the African context. Papers can be original research or review papers. Papers should address any of the following sub-themes in the field of OHL that are either directly or indirectly related to the main theme:

Sub-themes included are:

• recent advances in the management of occupational noise
• barriers and/facilitators to hearing conservation
• contextual factors influencing the implementation of hearing conservation programs
• monitoring and evaluation factors in occupational noise
• other toxins which contribute to occupational hearing loss
• policy and legislation in the management of occupational noise
• lived experiences of occupational audiologists in the management of occupational noise

Manuscript Information:
Manuscript contributions may consist of the following:

• Original, full-length research-based articles (5000-7000 words): innovative empirical research that covers and provide a comprehensive current status of occupational hearing loss within the African context and how we should contribute towards the industry’s ability to meet the elimination of hearing loss targets.

Preparation of manuscripts:
Manuscript submissions should be in English and adhere to the South African Journal of Communication Disorders guidelines.

• Original articles must fully comply with the South African Journal of Communication Disorders guidelines for manuscripts (abstract and headings style formats; 5000–7000 words, maximum of 60 references with limited self-referencing; abstract, maximum 300 words).
• Shorter format articles should be well-structured (2500–4000 words; maximum 40 references with limited self-referencing; abstract 100–150 words).
• Manuscripts should include a reference list that complies with South African Journal of Communication Disorders referencing guidelines.

Submit on the journal website at sajcd.org.za. On Step 1 of the submission page, select the section labelled ‘Original Research – Special Collection: Occupational Hearing Loss in Africa’ to initiate the submission into the special issue.