Aims & Scope
Core Research Domains
HIV Prevention & Prophylaxis
- Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) efficacy and adherence studies
- Post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) protocols and outcomes
- Behavioral interventions and risk reduction strategies
- Prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT)
- Combination prevention approaches
- Novel prevention technologies and microbicides
Antiretroviral Therapy & Treatment
- Highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) regimens and outcomes
- Drug resistance patterns and genotypic analysis
- Treatment adherence and retention in care
- Pharmacokinetics and drug interactions
- Treatment-as-prevention (TasP) strategies
- Novel antiretroviral agents and formulations
Viral Pathogenesis & Immunology
- HIV replication mechanisms and viral dynamics
- Immune activation and chronic inflammation
- CD4+ T-cell depletion and immune reconstitution
- Viral reservoirs and latency mechanisms
- Host-pathogen interactions
- Immune response to HIV infection
Clinical Epidemiology & Diagnostics
- HIV incidence and prevalence studies
- Transmission dynamics and molecular epidemiology
- Diagnostic testing strategies and algorithms
- Viral load and CD4 count monitoring
- Point-of-care testing technologies
- Early detection and acute HIV infection
Secondary Focus Areas
Co-infections & Comorbidities
Tuberculosis-HIV co-infection, hepatitis B/C co-infection, sexually transmitted infections (syphilis, gonorrhea), opportunistic infections, and HIV-associated malignancies with clinical management strategies.
Vaccine Research
HIV vaccine development, immunogen design, clinical trial outcomes, correlates of protection, and novel vaccination strategies including therapeutic vaccines.
Cure Research
HIV eradication strategies, shock-and-kill approaches, gene therapy interventions, stem cell transplantation, and functional cure investigations with measurable clinical endpoints.
Special Populations
Pediatric HIV care, adolescent health, maternal health and pregnancy outcomes, aging with HIV, and population-specific treatment considerations with clinical data.
Neurological Complications
HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders (HAND), AIDS dementia complex, central nervous system manifestations, and neurological outcomes in treated patients.
Clinical Implementation Science
Healthcare delivery models, test-and-treat strategies, linkage to care, retention strategies, and implementation of evidence-based interventions with outcome measures.
Emerging Research Areas
Selective Consideration with Additional Review
Explicitly Out of Scope
We Do NOT Consider
- General immunology without HIV context: Basic immune system studies, non-HIV viral immunology, or immunological research not directly related to HIV/AIDS pathogenesis or treatment.
- Purely social science research: Sociological studies, anthropological investigations, or qualitative research without clinical outcomes, epidemiological data, or intervention effectiveness measures.
- Health policy without clinical data: Policy analyses, healthcare economics, or health systems research lacking original clinical data, patient outcomes, or implementation science components.
- Alternative medicine without rigorous trials: Complementary therapies, herbal remedies, or alternative treatments without randomized controlled trials, systematic reviews, or robust clinical evidence.
- General infectious disease reviews: Broad infectious disease topics, non-HIV sexually transmitted infections as primary focus, or infectious disease research without HIV co-infection context.
- Basic virology of non-HIV viruses: Studies of other retroviruses, general viral replication mechanisms, or virology research without direct HIV application or translational relevance.
Article Types & Editorial Priorities
Priority 1 Articles
- Original Research Articles (clinical trials, cohort studies, mechanistic studies)
- Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA-compliant)
- Clinical Practice Guidelines and Consensus Statements
- Methods and Protocols (novel diagnostic or therapeutic approaches)
Priority 2 Articles
- Short Communications (preliminary findings, pilot studies)
- Data Notes (datasets, registries, surveillance data)
- Perspectives and Commentaries (expert opinion on recent advances)
- Case Series (minimum 5 cases with novel clinical insights)
Editorial Standards & Requirements
Reporting Guidelines
CONSORT for randomized trials, STROBE for observational studies, PRISMA for systematic reviews, ARRIVE for animal studies, and STARD for diagnostic accuracy studies.
Data Transparency
Authors must provide access to underlying data, statistical code, and study protocols. Clinical trial registration required (ClinicalTrials.gov, ISRCTN, or equivalent).
Ethics Approval
IRB/Ethics committee approval mandatory for human subjects research. Informed consent documentation required. Animal studies must follow institutional guidelines.
Preprint Policy
Preprints on recognized servers (medRxiv, bioRxiv) are acceptable. Authors must disclose preprint posting and update with publication details upon acceptance.
