Annals of Emergency Medicine
Volume 48, Issue 6 , Pages 743-749.e4 , December 2006

The Content of Medical Journal Instructions for Authors

Presented at the 5th International Congress on Peer Review and Biomedical Publication, Chicago, IL, September 16-18, 2005. Study 1 was presented orally and Study 2 as a poster.

  • David L. Schriger, MD, MPH

      Affiliations

    • University of California, Los Angeles Emergency Medicine Center, University of California, Los Angeles School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA
    • Centre for Statistics in Medicine, Oxford, UK.
    • Corresponding Author InformationAddress for correspondence: David L. Schriger, MD, MPH, 924 Westwood Blvd. # 300, Los Angeles, CA 90024-2924; 310-794-0593, fax 310-794-0599.
    • ,
  • Sanjay Arora, MD

      Affiliations

    • University of California, Los Angeles Emergency Medicine Center, University of California, Los Angeles School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA
    • ,
  • Douglas G. Altman, DSc

      Affiliations

    • Centre for Statistics in Medicine, Oxford, UK.

Received 23 January 2006 ,Revised 17 March 2006 ,Accepted 20 March 2006.

  • Image Result

    The number of words devoted to the 4 major categories by each journal. Note how few words are devoted to scientific content. See Table 1 for details about the 18 subcategories.

    The number of words devoted to the 4 major categories by each journal. Note how few words are devoted to scientific content. See Table 1 for details about the 18 subcategories.

  • Image Result

    The number of words devoted to the 4 major categories, stratified by the overall length of the Instructions. Only the longest journals have substantial scientific content.

    The number of words devoted to the 4 major categories, stratified by the overall length of the Instructions. Only the longest journals have substantial scientific content.

  • Image Result

    This scatterplot demonstrates that the longer Instructions for Authors tend to address more of the 18 topic categories. General and specialty journals appear to be on the same curve.

    This scatterplot demonstrates that the longer Instructions for Authors tend to address more of the 18 topic categories. General and specialty journals appear to be on the same curve.

  • Image Result

    The number of words devoted to the 4 major categories, stratified by journal status (specialty vs general). There is little difference between the 2 groups.

    The number of words devoted to the 4 major categories, stratified by journal status (specialty vs general). There is little difference between the 2 groups.

  • Image Result

    The length of the Instructions for Authors of the first- and fifth-ranked journals in 10 specialties is compared. Length does not systematically vary with journal ISI rank.

    The length of the Instructions for Authors of the first- and fifth-ranked journals in 10 specialties is compared. Length does not systematically vary with journal ISI rank.

  • Image Result

    This scatterplot demonstrates that, although longer Instructions for Authors tend to address more of the 18 topic categories, specialty journal rank is not associated with length or completeness in an

    This scatterplot demonstrates that, although longer Instructions for Authors tend to address more of the 18 topic categories, specialty journal rank is not associated with length or completeness in any important way.

 Supervising editor: Michael L. Callaham, MDAuthor contributions: DGA conceived and designed the methodological and statistical content study and did the initial data abstraction. DLS and DGA conceived and designed general content study 2. DLS and SA did the data collection. DLS and SA did the data analysis. DLS checked the abstractions and analyzed the data. DLS drafted the manuscript, which was edited by DGA and SA. DLS takes responsibility for the paper as a whole.Funding and support: The authors report this study did not receive any outside funding or support.Reprints not available from the authors.

PII: S0196-0644(06)00478-1

doi: 10.1016/j.annemergmed.2006.03.028

Annals of Emergency Medicine
Volume 48, Issue 6 , Pages 743-749.e4 , December 2006

Article Tools

* Image Usage & Resolution