E-Cigarettes: A Global Public Health Perspective

Dear Colleagues,

E-cigarettes and other alternative nicotine delivery devices (ANDs) are a growing global phenomenon with major potential implications for public health. There is ongoing debate about their possible contribution (positive or negative) to addressing the tobacco smoking-related epidemic. Much of the research to date has focused on: exploring the relative harm of using these products compared to tobacco smoking, describing patterns of use, and investigating possible impacts on smoking prevalence through effects on smoking uptake and smoking cessation. Most available evidence comes from high-income countries such as the US, UK and Canada where e-cigarettes are relatively widely available and cheaper than smoked tobacco products; and where tobacco control efforts are well-established and smoking prevalence has been in decline. However, patterns of e-cigarette use and their impacts on smoking prevalence may vary greatly in countries with different levels of development, patterns of smoking, and policy and regulatory environments.

For this special edition we invite the submission of papers on broader aspects of the e-cigarette phenomenon in diverse global contexts (particularly in low- and middle-income countries) including:

• evolving features of e-cigarette (and other ANDs) use, regulatory approaches and market structures;
• exploration of the impacts of different regulatory approaches on patterns of use of e-cigarettes (and other ANDs) and smoking.

Please note, we will not usually consider simple descriptions of prevalence of e-cigarette/ANDs use unless a manuscript provides genuinely novel information e.g. data from a setting where e-cigarette use has not been previously reported, or description of new patterns of use with potentially important implications for public health and tobacco control.

Conflicts of interest/funding

Authors should note that IJERPH will not consider for publication papers reporting work that is funded, in whole or in part, by a tobacco company or tobacco industry organization or affiliate; or papers written by authors who accept tobacco industry or affiliate funding. Other sources of funding, particularly from e-cigarette or pharmaceutical related interests should be fully disclosed. The full policy is available here: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/15/12/2831/htm.

Prof. Dr. Richard Edwards
Prof. Dr. Kamran Siddiqi
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2500 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• E-cigarettes
• ENDs/ANDs
• Public health impact
• LMICs
• Global public health
• Regulatory policy