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Pediatric case reports: assessing recommendations from journals' instructions to authors
Jimmy T Nguyen1, Ramzan Shahid, Ricarchito Manera
1Division of Hematology Oncology.
Insights
Pediatric journals are increasingly publishing case reports (CRs), especially those with lower impact factors. Journals often recommend new insights and observations for CR content.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric medicine
- Medical publishing
- Scientific communication
Background:
- Case reports (CRs) are valuable for medical knowledge and education.
- Objective assessments and content recommendations for pediatric CRs are lacking.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess the publication potential and content recommendations for pediatric case reports.
- To analyze the characteristics of pediatric journals that publish CRs.
Main Methods:
- Reviewed "Instructions to Authors" of pediatric journals.
- Identified active, English-language pediatric journals indexed in major databases.
- Assessed journal characteristics, manuscript restrictions, and writer advice.
Main Results:
- 52% of surveyed pediatric journals publish CRs.
- Journals publishing CRs had significantly lower median impact factors (1.28 vs 2.40).
- Common content recommendations included new insights/observations, clinical relevance, novelty/rarity, and educational value.
Conclusions:
- Approximately half of pediatric journals accept CRs, with lower impact factor journals being more likely to publish them.
- Many journals have specific formatting criteria for CRs.
- New insights and observations on known pathology are the most frequently recommended content criteria for pediatric CRs.
Background:
Case reports (CRs) can be valuable contributions to medical knowledge and education. Objective assessments of publication potential and content recommendations for pediatric CRs are lacking.
Methods:
The "Instructions to Authors" provided by pediatric journals were assessed to determine journal characteristics, manuscript restrictions, and advice to writers. Pediatric journals referenced in the National Center for Biotechnology Information databases were identified by using the search term "pediatric." Further inclusion criteria were: active journals; currently indexed in the PubMed, Ovid, and/or Medline databases; and English as the primary language.
Results:
Sixty-nine (52%) of 132 pediatric journals surveyed published CRs per their author instructions. The median 2011 impact factor for accepting journals was 1.28 (range: 0.47-5.44) compared with 2.40 (range: 0.59-5.50) for journals that did not publish CRs (P < .001). Twelve (67%) of 18 pediatric surgical specialty journals, 16 (55%) of 29 general pediatric journals, and 38 (51%) of 74 nonsurgical pediatric subspecialty journals published CRs. Sixteen journals had a separate Images section. Twenty-five (36%) of 69 journals provided no recommendations. Of the 44 journals that did provide recommendations, new insights/observations (64%) was the most common content recommendation, followed by clinical relevance (41%), novelty/rarity (39%), and instructive/educational value (32%).
Conclusions:
Approximately one-half of pediatric journals surveyed published CRs per their author instructions. Journals with lower impact factors were more likely to publish CRs. Many journals had specific formatting criteria. New insights and observations regarding relatively known pathology was the content criteria most often recommended.
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