Has the NTD Community Neglected Evidence-Based Policy?
PLoS neglected tropical diseasesPublished 11 July 2013Open access
Sukrti Nagpal, David Sinclair, Paul Garner
Citations17
SJR quartileQ1
SJR score1.37
SNIP1.44
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TL;DR
It is concerned that the neglected tropical disease (NTD) academic community has been slow to engage in evidenceinformed policy and debate, and may be falling behind international best practice.
Keywords
Immunology and MicrobiologyMedicineNursing
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