UPDATED call for papers: a special issue on Black Health and anti-Black racism in health care in Canada
On December 22nd 2021, the Black Health Education Collaborative (BHEC) suspended the special issue on Black Health and anti-Black racism in health care in Canada due to a letter published by CMAJ (which was retracted on December 23rd), as well as ongoing concerns regarding anti-Black racism. Members of the special issue working group have been in dialogue with CMAJ editors to ensure that the journal is taking effective and appropriate measures to address concerns. The BHEC and special issue working group members have now agreed to continue working on the special issue as CMAJ has committed to the following steps:
- All CMAJ Group staff will be participating in anti-Islamophobia training, which will be complete by the end of the first quarter of 2022, and which will include training on Islamophobia experienced by Black Muslims in Canada.
- CMAJ editorial leadership will be engaging (an) anti-racism consultant(s) who specialize(s) in addressing organizational racism to work with the editorial team to conduct systems analysis of how the journal has operated, identify effects of systemic anti-Black racism and provide direction on how to develop and embed anti-racist publishing practices at CMAJ Group.
- CMAJ will report annually on progress in addressing anti-Black racism at the journal; it will report on the journal’s publication of Black health topics over time and, as data become available, on rates of publication of Black and other racialized authors in CMAJ.
- CMAJ will assemble a permanent advisory panel comprised of Black health practitioners and researchers who have expertise in anti-Black racism and the health of Black people in Canada, to advise journal editors on submissions from Black authors, topics related to the health of Black people in Canada and other submissions related to race and ethnicity.
As such, the special issue will go ahead. Decisions on submitted papers have been delayed but work on them has now resumed. To allow authors who still wish to submit work time to do so, the deadline for article submission for the special issue has been extended to March 20th, 2022.
Original call for papers
Anti-Black racism is a threat to public and population health in Canada. Scholars and researchers in social and health sciences have been studying and documenting the effects of anti-Black racism and its impact on health inequities in Canada for decades, yet systemic racism has undermined the publication of this work. In 2020, CMAJ entered into conversation with Dr. Onye Nnorom and Dr. OmiSoore Dryden, the co-leads of the Black Health Education Collaborative, regarding ways to increase publications focusing on Black health and anti-Black racism in health care, resulting in this call for papers on a special issue.
CMAJ has been part of the system that has marginalized work related to the outcome of anti-Black racism on health. It’s time for Canada’s national medical journal to right this wrong.
CMAJ recognizes the need to increase spaces that welcome research and best practice debate led by Black scholars for the wellbeing of Black communities. As such CMAJ will be devoting a special issue to the theme of Black health and anti-Black racism in health in Canada in the second quarter of 2022. Our intent is to centre the scholarship of Black authors, including Black learners.
We invite submissions of high quality, scholarly articles on topics related to the theme, including but not limited to
- The role colonial medicine has played in reproducing anti-Black racism in North America
- How to address Black people’s differential access to a broad range of health care services in Canada (including, but not limited to, the areas of obstetric care, pain management, preventive health care and mental health services)
- Health inequities: Black health disparities and how systemic anti-Black racism has resulted in differential/inequitable health outcomes for Black Canadians
- #BlackInMedicine, describing the lived experiences of Black learners and practitioners in the field of medicine in Canada
- How to address differential access to medical education for Black people in Canada, and ways to combat racism in medical education
- Addressing racial profiling and racist treatment of Black patients and Black health care workers in the health care system
- Addressing anti-Black racism in public health responses
- Anti-Black racism in carceral systems and its relationship with health including mental health
To plan and shape the issue, CMAJ has formed a working group comprised of external experts and editors. Members of the working group are
- Dr. OmiSoore Dryden, James R. Johnston Chair, Black Canadian Studies, Faculty of Medicine, Dalhousie University, Co-Lead, Black Health Education Collaborative
- Dr. Notisha Massaquoi, assistant professor, Department of Health and Society, University of Toronto Scarborough
- Dr. Mojola Omole, surgical oncologist and journalist in Ontario
- Ms. Camille Orridge, senior fellow, Wellesley Institute
- Dr. Bukola Salami, associate editor at CMAJ and Associate Professor of Nursing, University of Alberta
- Ms. Erin Russell, senior editor at CMAJ
- Dr. Andreas Laupacis, senior deputy editor at CMAJ
- Dr. Kirsten Patrick, interim editor-in-chief at CMAJ
Authors should please submit via CMAJ’s manuscript submission platform.
General guidance for authors of CMAJ articles can be found on the Submissions Guidelines page.
Students who are interested in submitting are strongly encouraged to work with their supervisor.
More specific instructions for the preparation of articles in the categories Research, Commentary, Analysis, Practice, Review and Humanities is also available.
Submissions considered potentially suitable for the issue will undergo peer review. Note that articles not chosen for the special issue will not be rejected automatically; they may be considered via usual processes for publication in a regular issue of CMAJ.
If you have an idea for a submission and are not sure whether it would fit we encourage you to send a detailed proposal or abstract for the working group to consider. Please send all proposals to [email protected] and not to individual members of the working group.
The working group is committed to capacity-building and development. As such, CMAJ editors may consider offering a webinar for potential if interest exists. If you are interested in attending a session on how to prepare a paper for publication in CMAJ please email [email protected] to declare your interest.