History
History of The Tropical Journal of Health Sciences (TJHS)
The Tropical Journal of Health Sciences (TJHS) is the official publication of the College of Health Sciences, University of Ilorin. The journal began publication in January 1994, when it released its first volume, Issue 1, under the leadership of Prof. Luke Edungbola, then Editor-in-Chief. At the time, it was under the auspices of the Faculty of Health Sciences, established in 1977. The Dean at the time of the journal’s inaugural issue was Prof. Funsho Komolafe. This faculty was subsequently upgraded to a full College of Health Sciences on April 1, 2004.
From 1994 to 1995, TJHS maintained an annual publication schedule. This frequency was maintained between 1996 (Volume 3) and 2004 (Volume 11), under the editorial board lead by Prof. D.A. Nzeh.
In 2005, under the leadership of Prof. A.B. Okesina as the Editor-in-Chief, the journal the journal increased its frequency to two issues per year, a schedule sustained until 2015. In 2016, the journal published three issues, and from 2017 (Volume 24) onwards, TJHS adopted a quarterly publication model, releasing issues in January, April, July, and October— a practice that continues to the present day.
Online Visibility and Indexing
The journal’s transition to an online presence began in 2005 with the creation of a dedicated webpage on the African Journals Online (AJOL) platform: https://www.ajol.info/index.php/tjhc
Over the years, TJHS has gained wider recognition and indexing through the following platforms:
- DOI assignment via Crossref, facilitated through AJOL
- Visibility on SciSpace: https://scispace.com/journals/tropical-journal-of-health-sciences-12l2k9i7
- Listing on WorldCat, the world’s largest library catalog:
https://search.worldcat.org/title/The-tropical-journal-of-health-sciences/oclc/861490731 - Indexing on African Research Journals (AFJUR): https://afjur.com
- Cataloged in the National Library of Medicine (NLM) / PubMed:
https://catalog.nlm.nih.gov/discovery/fulldisplay?docid=alma9916060283406676 - NLM Unique ID: 101606028
- MMS ID: 9916060283406676
- Summary Holdings: v.18(2011), v.19:no.2(2012), v.21(2014)–v.22:no.1(2015)
Recent Developments (2025)
In 2025, under the Editorial board lead by Prof. M.M.B. Uthman, the journal implemented many strategic upgrade aimed at enhancing visibility, accessibility, and operational efficiency. These include:
- Revalidation of the print ISSN: 1117-4153
- Enrolment for an electronic ISSN (e-ISSN): 2360-879X
- Indexing agreement with EBSCO database
- Launch of an independent journal website: https://tropicaljournalhealthsciences.org
- Deployment of Open Journal Systems (OJS) to manage submission, peer review, and production workflows
These advancements were made possible through the support of IFS Healthcare Limited, led by Dr. Tunde Ayeye, an alumnus of the College of Health Sciences, and were facilitated by the Provost of the College, Prof. B.S. Alabi.
Transition to a Hybrid Publishing Model
With the release of Volume 32, Issue 1 (January 2025), TJHS formally transitioned to a hybrid publishing model:
- Online issues are now published as open access under the Creative Commons CC BY-NC license, allowing free, non-commercial access to the full text of articles.
- Print issues continue as subscription-based.
- In addition, all previous online issues were retrospectively made open access.
Current Status
The Tropical Journal of Health Sciences continues to publish four regular issues annually, while also accommodating occasional special issues, consolidated within the same volume. The journal now maintains an active Crossref membership and DOI prefix-10.64061/tjhs, enabling the independent assignment of DOIs directly through its own platform. The journal maintains a strong commitment to academic quality, global accessibility, and ethical publishing practices.
