A New Chapter for Health Innovation Reports: DOAJ Indexing and the Start of Volume 2

Abstract

Dear Readers,

With great pride and gratitude, I welcome you to the first issue of the second volume of Health Innovation Reports. This issue represents more than the continuation of our publishing journey; it marks a defining moment in the growth of our journal. In 2026, Health Innovation Reports achieved indexing in the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), an important milestone that reflects our commitment to transparency, editorial quality, ethical publishing, and open access to scientific knowledge.

When Health Innovation Reports was first established, our vision was clear: to create a trustworthy platform that supports researchers, promotes high-quality health sciences research, and gives greater visibility to scholarly work from Iraq, the Kurdistan Region, and the wider international academic community. Today, with our inclusion in DOAJ, this vision has taken an important step forward. DOAJ indexing is not only a recognition of our standards; it is also a responsibility to continue improving, strengthening, and protecting the integrity of the journal.

The beginning of Volume 2 comes at a time of renewed ambition. During the past year, the journal grew steadily through the contributions of authors, reviewers, editorial board members, and readers who believed in our mission. Their efforts helped us build a foundation based on scientific rigor, constructive peer review, and ethical editorial practice. This achievement belongs to the entire Health Innovation Reports community, and I extend my sincere appreciation to everyone who contributed to this progress.

Being indexed in DOAJ gives our authors greater visibility and helps their work reach a broader international audience. More importantly, it confirms our dedication to open-access publishing that is fair, accessible, and beneficial to both researchers and society. In a time when health challenges are increasingly complex and interconnected, journals have an important role in making reliable evidence available to clinicians, educators, policymakers, and researchers. Health Innovation Reports remains committed to supporting this role by publishing meaningful work across nursing, medicine, public health, mental health, biomedical sciences, and related health disciplines.

As Editor-in-Chief, I see this milestone not as an endpoint, but as the beginning of a more demanding and promising phase. Our next goal is to further strengthen the journal’s editorial processes, expand the diversity of our editorial board and reviewer network, attract high-quality submissions from different countries, and encourage interdisciplinary research that responds to real health needs. We will continue to support early-career researchers by providing a professional, transparent, and respectful publication experience.

This first issue of Volume 2 therefore carries a special meaning. It reflects both achievement and responsibility. It reminds us that the success of a journal is not measured only by indexing or visibility, but also by the trust it builds with its scholarly community. That trust must be earned continuously through fairness, consistency, transparency, and respect for research ethics.

On behalf of Health Innovation Reports, I thank our authors for choosing our journal, our reviewers for their time and expertise, our editorial board for their guidance, and our readers for their continued support. Together, we have moved from a promising local initiative toward a journal with growing international presence. With DOAJ indexing now achieved, we look forward to a new chapter of wider collaboration, stronger scholarship, and greater contribution to health innovation.

As we begin Volume 2, we reaffirm our belief that open, ethical, and inclusive science is essential for improving health and advancing knowledge. We are honored to continue this journey with our academic community and look forward to the opportunities ahead.