Mathematics in Medical and Life Sciences

This Special Issue of Mathematics in Medical and Life Sciences invites original research articles, review or short commentary/opinion pieces that bring together novel data science, mathematical modelling and statistical analysis to improve behavioural realism in methods addressing problems in epidemiology that are impacted by behavioural dynamics. We also value high-quality papers with interesting and relevant research hypotheses and/or new datasets that inform about behavioural attributes applicable to epidemiological questions. Application areas of public, veterinary and plant health are all welcomed. We evaluate submissions based on scientific rigour, technical depth, and ethical standards, regardless of perceived novelty. We welcome original, unpublished, and innovative submissions including, but not limited to the following areas of research or review: 

• Measures of heterogeneity for understanding and predicting behavioural response to disease interventions e.g. quantifying changes in reporting behaviour, predicting the impact of infection prevention and intervention campaigns.
• Real-time measurement of key behavioural indicators associated with epidemiological events e.g., contact patterns, intervention adherence, perception of infection risk and disease severity.
• Causal inference and observational studies on the interdependencies between multiple epidemiological-associated behaviours.
• Mathematical models that can be verified against data to help identify human behavioural changes, including advances in optimisation and Bayesian inference.
• Quantifying how economic disparities, cultural norms, and social inequalities affect disease prevalence, transmission and adherence to health policy.
• Analysis on the spread of misinformation and rumour dynamics e.g. rumour tracing, determining effective debunking strategies.
• Developing evidence-based interventions that use behavioural insights to nudge individuals towards safer practices and improve health outcomes.
• Implications of behavioural change for antibiotic resistance and One Health interventions.
• Applications of deep learning, AI, natural language processing, and generative models e.g. real-time epidemiological surveillance and outbreak response that considers behavioural factors.
• Commentaries on notable challenges and perspectives on the role of interdisciplinary collaboration to address them.

Submission:

• Research articles, reviews, methods, commentaries, data notes will all be accepted.
• All manuscripts must be in English and written in accordance with the “Instructions for Authors”, which can be found on the Journal’s homepage.
• All submissions will be peer-reviewed and meet the same requirements and standards as that of a regular paper submission.
• Submissions must not have been previously published in other journals or conferences; submissions that have already been uploaded to preprint repositories (such as arXiv, bioRxiv and medRxiv) are allowed.
• Select “Behavioural Epidemiology” when submitting your paper to Mathematics in Medical and Life Sciences in ScholarOne.
• Article processing charges are waived for all submissions to this journal in 2024.
• For inquiries about the Special Issue, contact the editors by e-mail.

Instructions for AuthorsSubmit an Article