The Journal of Rural Health
The Journal of Rural Health, a quarterly journal published by the National Rural Health Association, serves as a medium for communication among health scientists and professionals in practice, educational, research and policy settings. It is a peer-reviewed international journal devoted to advancing professional practice, research, theory development and public policy related to rural health.
The JRH Editorial Board is currently revising and updating its guidance on inclusivity and language for authors. In the meantime, please refer to the CDC's recommendations for inclusive communication.
Online access to articles
NRHA only provides full-text articles online to members. To access the journal, you will be prompted to log in using your NRHA member user ID and password. Contact NRHA's membership team with any questions about logging in.
A free online journal subscription is included with your NRHA membership.
You can also access article abstracts through the National Library of Medicine's PubMed.
- Subscribe to The Journal of Rural Health
- Instructions for authors submitting to The Journal of Rural Health
- Journal Editorial Board
Special Issue on Rural Veteran Health - Call for Abstracts
Rural Veteran Health Care: Research and Innovative Practices to Improve Veteran Access to High-Quality Comprehensive Care in Rural Settings
The Journal of Rural Health is launching a special issue focused on rural U.S. military veteran health care and health outcomes. This issue aims to highlight research and innovations that:
- Support the delivery of accessible, high-quality, integrated health care to rural veterans;
- Optimize the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) workforce capacity to meet the needs of rural veterans;
- Develop and evaluate care coordination strategies across VHA and non-VHA health care systems to ensure a cohesive network of care in low-resource settings; and
- Improve rural veterans’ access to resources addressing social drivers of health, thereby reducing inequities caused by geographic distance.
Submission Process and Guidelines
Authors interested in submitting an article for this special issue should first submit an abstract outlining their proposed manuscript. The abstract should explicitly describe how the manuscript aligns with the goals of this special issue.
Key Dates:
Abstract submission deadline: April 30, 2025
Notification of acceptance: May 31, 2025
Full manuscript submission deadline: September 30, 2025
Please review the full guidance and additional information on how how to submit an abstract. If you have any questions, please contact Gaby Boscan.
Journal Contents
Every issue of the journal offers original research encompassing evaluations of model and demonstration projects to improve rural health, statistical comparisons of rural and urban differences, and mathematical models examining the use of health care services by rural residents. Summaries of recently published rural health research discuss the objectives, geographical focus, databases, methods and outcomes of the research.
Rural health professionals can find descriptions of innovative practice techniques geared toward rural settings and recommendations and guidelines for the delivery of rural health care services. Discussions of diseases prevalent in rural populations are also addressed in the journal.
Articles on rural public policy assess the impact of initiatives on rural populations and review current legislation and how it can affect rural health. The journal also offers analyses of the process and dynamics of public policy development and proposals for new policy perspectives to alleviate rural health problems.
Specific rural health programs and practices are visited through the journal. These case studies offer a glimpse of how certain techniques and policies have worked in practice in rural settings.
Solicited critiques of recently published books relevant to rural health offer you an overview of the content and an assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of a publication.
The education of rural health professionals is also a focus of the journal. You'll find descriptions of innovative training programs, critiques of current approaches to professional training, and demonstration project evaluations inside the journal. New strategies to educate rural health practitioners for the future are examined as well.
Subscription
Your individual, organizational or supporting membership in NRHA includes a subscription to the journal. Persons only wishing to subscribe to the journal without becoming a member can do so through Wiley Publishing.
For advertising and sales information contact see our page at Wiley Publishing.
Australian e-journal
Rural and Remote Health is committed to providing an easily accessible peer-reviewed evidence base for rural and remote health and is the only international journal in this field. Subscription to RRH is free.
For more information or special/supplemental issue proposals, contact Gaby Boscan.