Where to Publish Case Reports
Case reports in indexed medical journals are growing and expanding. Some medical journals specifically publish primarily case reports, such as the BMJ Case Reports from the British Medical Journal and the Journal of Medical Case Reports from BioMed Central. Journals accepting case reports typically will highlight areas of interest (such as surgical or oncology) and the criteria for case reports they will accept — which should be explicitly mentioned in case reports submitted to these journals. Here is a 2017 list of indexed journals that accept case reports.
What do you do if a journal does not explicitly accept case reports? Before beginning to write your case report, it is important to consider the journals in which you wish to publish. You should consider the audience you wish to target and consider the readership of journals to whom your case report will be most applicable. We recommend initially considering at least 3 journals – one first choice, and two backups in the event your first choice does not accept your case report. When considering different journals, the “author guidelines section” is often helpful.
Not all medical journals explicitly accept case reports; however, case reports may appear within another publication type, including a brief report, a letter to the editor, or a hypothesis article. For example, The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) does not accept free-standing case reports; however, other articles in this journal may contain case reports. Driggers et al, in 2016 published a brief report on the Zika virus in the NEJM, including a detailed case report with an excellent timeline documenting maternal viremia and its effect on the fetus. Léauté-Labrèze et al presented infant cases of hemangioma treated with propranolol in a letter to the editor in the NEJM. The Center for Disease Control’s (CDC) Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) provided early reports of HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) in five patients presenting with Pneumocystis carinii.
Depending on your goals, the message you wish to share, and the audience with which you wish to communicate, there are a number of strategies for publication of a case report. Some freely available journal finder tools that may be helpful include:
David Riley MD co-authored this post