Writing & Publishing

Select a journal first - then follow its guidelines for authors, and format as you write. 

• Use the directories in the Identifying Journals section below to pick 3-4 possibilities.
• Visit then journal website and read its aim and scope to see if your article type and subject are an appropriate fit
• Read an article from the journal if possible
• Have a list of top 3 journals - if journal 1 rejects your manuscript, edit to journal 2's guidelines and submit again!
• Submit to 1 journal at a time!  It is unethical to submit to more than one journal at a time
• Avoid Predatory Journals - see box on left

SPI-Hub -Scholarly Publishing Information hub - Vanderbilt University Medical Center

JANE (Journal Author Name Estimator) uses PubMed data

Directory of Open Access Journals

Open Access Journal Finder

Publisher-specific:

Elsevier Journal Finder 

Springer-Nature Journal Finder

Wiley Journal Finder

Wolters Kluwer / Lippincott Journal Finder

These local/regional journals won't have impressive impact factors but may be an avenue to publication, especially for a quality improvement project or smaller study.  Many of these do not show up in Medline but would be discoverable in a Google Scholar search.  If you have not had success with larger journals, or you have a very small study, consider:

Graduate Medical Education Research Journal-Affiliated with the Office of GME at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.   Provides a platform for residents and fellows to publish peer-reviewed, high quality scholarly work. NO fees. At least one author of the manuscript must be a resident or fellow. Preference will be given to articles that include a house officer as either the first author or the corresponding author.

Advances in Clinical Medical Research and Healthcare Delivery publishes reports of original research, guidelines, case reports and series, narrative reviews, systematic reviews and commentaries on a broad range of topics. ACMRHD is most interested in manuscripts that will influence practice and address important advances in medical research, education and health care delivery.

HCA Healthcare Journal of Medicine - Aims to publish cutting edge research and educational materials that provide practical clinical care information or impact evidence-based medicine. Open Access / No Article Processing Charges. Sponsored by HCA Healthcare Graduate Medical Education. Currently accepts original research, literature and systematic reviews, quality improvement and patient safety studies, and case reports.

Cooper Rowan Medical Journal - open-access, partially student-run, peer-reviewed journal encompassing up-to- date research first-authored by current medical students, allied healthcare students, and residents/fellows (all years) in training. CRMJ prioritizes publishing research that addresses conditions frequently impacting medically underserved patients and focuses on understanding the comprehensive health care systems for underserved populations.

Spartan Medical Research Journal – published by the Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine accepts: Original Contributions (i.e., research and quality improvement/patient safety oriented manuscripts), Clinical Practice, Clinical Reviews, Systematic Reviews, Brief Reports, Medical Education, Letters to the Editor.  No article fees.

The Kansas Journal of Medicine publishes original research, reviews, commentaries, and case studies on all aspects of clinical medicine, health care delivery, health policy, and medical education. In PubMedCentral, NOT indexed for Medline

OSMA Journal (Oklahoma State Medical Association)Open Access / No Article Processing Charge. NOT indexed for Medline

Journal of Patient Centered Research and Reviews - published by Advocate Aurora Health. devoted to advancing patient-centered care practices, health outcomes, and patient experiences.  does not consider single case reports or letters to the editor/noninvited commentaries. No article fees.

Patient Experience Journal - accepts Research, Literature Reviews, Case Studies, Personal Narratives, Book Reviews.

SN Comprehensive Clinical Medicine - accepts Original Research, Brief Communications, Case Reports, Commentaries and Reviews. No  APC.

Cureus Journal of Medical Science offers a "crowdsourced" kind of peer review.  If you meet their submission criteria, there is no APC (publishing is free) -  however there's a trend toward charging for Preferred Editing - averaging $370.  Some people have expressed concerns about quality -- consider it as a 2nd or 3rd choice. Cureus publishes all approved articles under a CC-BY license so authors retain full copyright of their work.

Use these Reporting guidelines/ checklists by study type, created by the EQUATOR Network.

Randomized Trials               CONSORT

Observational Studies          STROBE

Systematic Reviews             PRISMA

Quality Improvement            SQUIRE

Or try:

Writing in Boxes for Scientific Journals - this modules takes you step by step through the IMRAD sections of a manuscript. If you need some prompts, this might be useful.

Suggested order for manuscript sections: 

1.Prepare tables & figures (if you have them)

2.Write up the literature review (use your study protocol!)

3.Write Methods

4.Write Results

5.Write Discussion & Conclusions

6.Write Introduction

7.Write Abstract (if you submitted an abstract for a conference, you may need to re-write

8.Create article title (brief & compelling)

Every journal is different - so not all will require all of these elements. Most publishers use an online submission system such as ScholarOne or Editorial Manager.

• ORCID ID (not all journals require)
• Cover letter
  • Corresponding author info
  • Disclosure of COI, or statement that authors have no COI
  • Statement that article is not under consideration elsewhere
• Title page (including acknowledgements, COIs)
  • Running title (usually 40 characters or less)
  • Author(s) full names, highest degrees, affiliations
  • Institution name / Dept. where study was done (* and footnote if affiliation has changed)
  • Acknowledgements of financial support (incl. grant numbers)
  • COI explanations, if needed
  • Name, address, phone, email of corresponding author
• Manuscript file (without author identifiers)
  • This may include abstract, keywords, list of abbreviations, references, figure legends
• Figures
• Tables
• Reporting guidelines (CONSORT, PRISMA, SQUIRE) -- NOT always required
• Supplementary files
• COI disclosures

Example list from Medicine