Guidance for new authors

Unless you have a track record as an author, it is unusual for a journal to give you an idea to write about, or to commission an article. Usually it is down to newly qualified doctors to come up with an idea.

Before you commit time to writing an article, consider your idea and all the options available to you. Talk to colleagues. Take a look online, perhaps on a general search engine such as Google, or medical search engine such as Pubmed and get an idea about what has already been written on the topic you hope to write about. This might help you gauge how original, well documented, or topical the subject is.

Editors are after the best content for their readers so consider how relevant your article will be to the readers of the journal that you plan to submit to. It is worth considering if your article is relevant to specialists, or to a wider audience, to doctors in a specific area of the country, nationally, or internationally.

To browse BMJ Journals follow this link. To look at the content of a specific journal, choose from the dropdown list on the right hand side, and select “go”. This will take you to the homepage. You will be able to look at recent content and think about how your idea might fit in.

From most of the BMJ Journals’ home page, you can select the link “About the journal” on the navigation bar - for example, the Emergency Medicine Journal. This will bring up a section on the remit of the journal. On a further navigation bar that appears beneath “About the journal” you can also click on and read “Instructions for authors” from this screen.

“Instructions for authors” will give you guidance about the types of articles they accept and instructions on how to present and format your article. Following these instructions will show editors that you have carefully considered the article.

When editors are reading an article they may be looking for important topics for their readers, originality, and potential to improve patient care. They are also looking for clear and honest writing.

You are likely to improve your chances of publication if you choose the right journal, follow its advice to authors and submit it with the correct information, such as competing interest statements or patient consent. A cover letter can outline the importance of your article to the journal’s readers.

Before you commit time to writing you could consider contacting the relevant editor to discuss your submission. Contact details can be found on journal websites. It is best to keep this brief. Outline your idea, the type of article you want to write, what you qualifications have (and those that any co-authors may have), and how you can be contacted.

It is unusual for a journal to make a commitment to publish an article without seeing the finished product, and it is common for ideas to be rejected. Do not be put off. You may be able to present your idea to another journal, and you are likely to learn something from this process.

• An Endgames article for The BMJ – a common case or image, with questions and evidence based answers aimed at newly qualified doctors.
• A Minerva image for The BMJ – a clear, high quality image with a short educational message.
• An Essentials article for The BMJ – an article that covers the basics that all doctors ought to know, and may be particularly useful for training clinicians and students.
• A case report for BMJ Case Reports. Alternatively, look at guidance on The BMJ's and BMJ Journals' websites about the types of case reports they consider publishing.
• A BestBET article for the Emergency Medicine Journal – rapid evidence based answers to real life emergency medicine clinical questions. See examples of these articles. NB: Not submitted to the journal but to an external site.
• A Rapid Response to something that you have read in the journal, or related to something else which you believe is important to readers of that journal.
• An education article that is relevant to students. These are published in The BMJ in the Essentials series. See examples of Essentials (also under former series title Competent Novice).
• A Careers article for The BMJ’s Student section. Articles might explain ways to boost your CVs, tips for electives, and what you need to know as a final year medical student applying for and starting the UK foundation programme. More information in Student author guidelines.

• Use the consent form to get the patient's permission for publication for any article that contains personal medical information about an identifiable living patient. We are unable to publish such article without consent.
• Make sure any images are high quality 300 dpi.
• Always credit other people's work properly, using Vancouver style references. Many journals use plagiarism detection tools so, if you copy and paste chunks of text or take original ideas and facts from other sources without proper credit, you may well get caught.
• Write as you speak. Keep it simple and informal. Write in the active. For example, “you can gain unique experience” instead of “unique experience is gained”. Keep paragraphs short, breaking up text with subheadings.
• Spell out abbreviations the first time you use them.
• Be specific about what country/area you are talking about. For example, Department of Health initiatives cover England only, GMC is UK-wide. Also do this with any statistics. Be clear what area/country they cover.
• Please spell check your work before submitting it.

First your article will be read by one of the editors. If they think the article is promising it may be sent to another editor for a second opinion, or out for external peer review depending on the article type. This means that other clinicians will be asked how suitable they think the article it is for publication. Their comments should be constructive. If the editors decide to pursue your article they may ask you to make some alterations. If the article is accepted you will be contacted at a later date to make minor alterations and clarifications as the article is prepared by the production staff for publication.