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JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MEDICAL INFORMATICS ASSOCIATION
Official Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association

Guide for Authors

New Ways to Publish

JAMIA Online, available at www.jamia.org, now includes PrePrints, e-letters, and data supplements in addition to the articles that appear in print. These online-only materials are linked to the relevant articles and are archived permanently with the articles. They are described here on pp. 111 (e-letters), 112 (data supplements), and 113 (PrePrints).

These guidelines comply with the "Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals: Writing and Editing for Biomedical Publication" by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors. Updated February 2006. URL: External link http://www.icmje.org/ .

SCOPE OF ARTICLES

The Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association (JAMIA) will consider the publication of any original manuscript that deals with the broad field of medical informatics.

ORIGINALITY OF MANUSCRIPTS

JAMIA reviews each manuscript for possible publication with the understanding that no one has previously published it, in whole or in part, simultaneously submitted it elsewhere, or had it accepted for publication elsewhere.Published guidelines detailing JAMIA policy on this matter appear at External link http://www.jamia.org/cgi/content/full/13/1/113 . Authors should not submit material that substantively duplicates content (paragraphs, figures, and/or tables) previously published or in press. To republish such materials may violate copyright law. For the purpose of this policy, any form of mass distribution, including general availability through a web server, is considered to be prior publication. Unless authors notify the Editorial Office prior to review of any manuscripts containing duplicative/overlapping previous publications, subsequent discovery of such overlap may lead to return of the manuscript without review, and possible notification of violations to administrators at the involved authors' institution(s). This policy does not preclude consideration of a much more complete report that follows publication of preliminary findings elsewhere, usually in the proceedings of a conference. Authors must understand, however, that substantially new methods and results must differentiate the new submission from any previously published work, and there must be NO substantial repetition of textual content. Copies of any possibly duplicative material must be included with the manuscript at the time of its initial submission to JAMIA. Authors submitting a manuscript previously reviewed by another journal should provide a copy of the previous critique and an explanation of how authors revised the manuscript in response to that critique. Please address any questions about specific special cases to the Editor.

To ensure adherence to this policy, authors must submit a "Documentation of Originality for Submitted JAMIA Manuscript" form signed by the corresponding author before JAMIA will begin to process the manuscript. Download this form from the JAMIA website, www.jamia.org, or request it by e-mailing the editorial office. Authors may fax signed originality forms to the JAMIA editorial office at (615) 936-5900. Corresponding authors are responsible for obtaining signed originality forms from all other authors of the manuscript when JAMIA accepts a manuscript for publication. JAMIA will delay publication until all authors submit their forms.

Authors should disclose to the editors any financial or commercial interest that they have in products discussed in their manuscript at the time of first submission. Information about such interests will not influence reviewers or the editorial decision if the scientific methods and content are valid. JAMIA will instruct authors on a mechanism to disclose the potential conflict of interest to the reader if JAMIA decides to publish the paper.

MAJOR SECTIONS

JAMIA has found it helpful for authors to report different types of work in different formats. This approach permits a rigorous review process based upon detailed and specific review criteria. At the same time, it encourages publication of different types of work that broadly represent our interdisciplinary field. Each reference in this section provides an example of a type of paper that JAMIA considers for publication. The references point to previously published JAMIA articles. Detailed guidelines by type of paper can be found at www.jamia.org.

Perspectives on Informatics The Perspectives on Informatics section carries opinions of individuals and organizations regarding important topics in the field. Topics may range from ethical dilemmas to formulation of policy or consensus. Position Papers 5 recommend a specific course of action. They should promote discussion of policy questions or potential initiatives. White Papers 1, 2 present a consensus regarding techniques or approaches that will improve the productivity of the field. They should provide a road map for learners, practitioners and researchers alike. Forum Papers 7 point out differences in approach or opinion. They should make the choices clear in situations where there may be more than one right answer. Viewpoint papers8 present an author's perspective about a topic to provoke thought. The opinions must be tenable, but scientific proof of their validity is not required.

The Practice of Informatics

The Practice of Informatics section is targeted toward the needs of people in the biomedical and health professions who use informatics in their work. Papers that further the development of medical informatics as a field are given priority. Examples include career development, or development of novel methods or technologies. Review papers6 present and interpret the state of the art. Over time, these works should serve as a multi-authored text on the practice of medical informatics. Synthesis of Research papers3 review and interpret the work of an investigator or laboratory. They place work that has been reported over time into a broader context. Brief Reviews present a short overview or update on a hot topic.4 Papers on Careers in Medical Informatics 9 provide insight into curriculum requirements, training requirements, and career alternatives.

The Practice of Informatics section also includes papers on the use of information technology in real-world settings. A Technical Milestone 10 provides a detailed description of the development of an innovative technology or information resource. It provides an archival foundation for reports of the application or evaluation of the technology. A Technology Evaluation paper11 reviews the basis of a new technology together with qualitative or quantitative assessment of its effectiveness, shortcomings and cost. Full-length papers on the Application of Information Technology 12 show how to solve practical problems relevant to health care research, health education or health care delivery. Although these papers are not research papers, some aspect of the application must be original and the report must emphasize generalizable concepts gleaned from specific experiences. An Implementation Brief 13 is a case report of an innovative implementation strategy or application. Such a report should document the methods employed and the application's usefulness as measured by the number of users, time saved, cost, or other relevant parameters. A short Technical Brief 14 provides a description of a method or a helpful hint. These papers should give tips and tricks of the trade that others can incorporate into their tool kits. A Historical Perspectives paper30, 31 describes important past events in the history of biomedical informatics. Book Reviews 15 and Software Reviews 16 alert readers to new releases and comment on their utility.

Original Investigations

The Original Investigations section presents original hypotheses and findings. Research Papers should provide an archive of the development of knowledge in the field of medical informatics. A wide range of types of reports is appropriate. The papers may report the formal evaluation of a technique.17 The work may be a report of an approach together with preliminary findings18 or a summarization of decades of work with evaluation of the most recent step.19 Qualitative studies are suitable for full-length research papers if an appropriate methodology such as analysis of a case is utilized.20

As stated earlier, manuscripts will not be published if they have been partially or wholly published, or are to be published, elsewhere. This does not preclude publication of material that has been published in preliminary form in the proceedings of a conference, provided the manuscript includes significant new material and the prior publication is submitted as documentation to JAMIA. The expansion can involve the addition of background material,21 or additional results.22

Preliminary work may be reported in a variety of ways. A Model Formulation 23 paper proposes a model or technique. A Methods paper24 presents signifcant new methods for research or applications in the field. A Case Report 25 explores a method or problem through an example.

Special Sections

A Special Section of an issue of the Journal can be devoted to a coordinated set of manuscripts that focus attention on an important topic.26 Depending on the length of the manuscripts, such sections would be restricted to five to seven papers to permit inclusion of some of the Journal's normal content.

Editorial Comments

Each Editorial Comment places a paper in context27 or presents a balancing view.28 Editorials are also used as a vehicle for bringing attention to an issue that is important to the field.29 Letters to the Editor provide another forum for this type of information.

E-letters

E-letters allow readers viewing a particular article to provide commentary online. After reading a given article, a reader can click "Send a response" from a link in the content box. This brings up a screen for the viewer's name, affiliation, e-mail address, and comments. A member of the editorial team reviews submitted e-letters online at a private location and decides whether to publish them. The published letters appear at the ends of the articles to which they relate. All e-letters relate to an original article; there are no "general" comments. (Please note that this feature is not the same as the traditional letters to the editor, described above, that appear in the print journal. E-letters appear online only.)

PREPARATION OF MANUSCRIPTS

All submissions to JAMIA are in electronic format (see details below).

General Layout

Set the format for the word processor as follows:
  • Margins 1 inch all around
  • Left justify only
  • Double-spaced
  • Twelve-point type Times New Roman font is preferred

    The header should include:
  • Last name of first author
  • Short running title of 40 characters and spaces or less
  • Page # - # of pages

Insert a page break between each of the following sections: title page, abstract, text, acknowledgments, references, individual tables, and legends.

Title Page

The title page includes: title of paper; first name, middle initial, last name, and the academic degree(s) attained by each author (do not include bachelor degrees or fellowships); name of department(s) and institution(s) where the work was done; name, address, and telephone number of one person responsible for all communication concerning the manuscript (include fax number and e-mail address when available).

Abstract

Abstracts for research papers and model formulation papers are limited to 250 words and should be structured according to: Objective, Design, Measurements, Results, and Conclusion. Abstracts for all other types of papers should be unstructured and limited to 150 words. The abstract should be factual, not descriptive. Below the abstract, provide and identify as such three to ten key words or short phrases that will assist indexers. Terms from the Medical Subject Headings list of Index Medicus are preferred.

Text

The text of observational and experimental articles should be divided into sections with headings such as Introduction, Background, Methods, Results, Discussion and Conclusion. Long articles may need subheadings within some sections to clarify their content. Other types of articles such as case reports, reviews, and editorials may use other headings. Detailed guidelines by type of paper can be found at www.jamia.org.

Major sections, and up to two levels of subsections, should be numbered for easy reference by reviewers, following the outline below. All references in the text to a section should be to the section's title because the section numbers will not be included in the published version.
I. SECTION
A. First level Subsection
1) Second level Subsection

Acknowledgments

As an appendix to the text, one or more statements should specify (1) contributions to the work that need acknowledging but do not justify authorship; (2) acknowledgments of grant or other financial and material support, specifying the nature of the support; (3) acknowledgments of meetings at which the paper has been presented in part; (4) financial or commercial relationships that may pose a conflict of interest.

References

References should be typed double-spaced in order of occurrence in the manuscript. All references must be cited in the text, tables, or figure legends. The style of references is the Vancouver style as used by Index Medicus. A sample list of references is available at External link http://www.nlm.nih.gov/bsd/uniform_requirements.html . List all authors when there are six or fewer; otherwise list the first six followed by et al.

The following examples show how to reference an article that is published on-line as a PrePrint ahead of print.

For the time the article is online as a PrePrint only:
J. Am. Med. Informatics Assoc. ##.####/jamia.M1051. Published March 1, 2001
Where ##.####/jamia.M1051 is the DOI assigned by the editorial office to the preprint, on publication.
Once the article appears in print:
J. Am. Med. Informatics Assoc. 2001;9;4:415-422. Preprint DOI ##.####/jamia.M1051


Tables

Tables should be double-spaced and include a title.

Illustrations

Photographs, drawings, graphs, and charts may be computer-generated or scanned. Symbols, lettering, and numbering should be of such proportional size that when the figure is reduced each item will still be distinctly recognizable. If a figure consists of two or more parts, the individual parts should have similar dimensions. Art work submitted at a size suitable for publication +/-40% reproduces best.

For good-quality print production, grayscale (halftone) and color images should be produced or scanned at 300+ dpi and line drawings at 600+ dpi. The journal prints images at 2,400 dpi, but this resolution does not help if the resolution of the original artwork is inadequate. The capture of a direct screen image (often at only 72 dpi) is problematic, particularly when gray tones are employed. Authors may be required to have low-resolution images recreated professionally at their expense after final acceptance of a manuscript. Authors may request print of color figures at their expense.

Legends for illustrations should be double-spaced as a separate section apart from the illustrations themselves, but with numbers corresponding to the figures.

Data Supplements

Data supplements allow authors to include a variety of content with their manuscripts. A supplement may be a text file, a PDF file, a spreadsheet, an HTML document or table, a video, or an audio file. The supplement may consist of one file or multiple files. All data supplements should be submitted as a separate file (Word plus PDF, unless another type is used), not placed at the end of the primary manuscript file. From a usability point of view, the files should be small enough to be downloaded fairly quickly. They should be of common file types that most readers will be able to open and use, such as .pdf, .html, .gif, or .jpg files; QuickTime movies, or .wav sound files.

A data supplement should be submitted to the JAMIA FTP site along with the manuscript, so that it can be considered during the normal review process. If accepted for publication, the data supplement will appear online only, not in the print version of the journal.

Abbreviations

Consult the Council of Biology Editors Style Manual (fifth edition, Arlington, Virginia, American Institute of Biological Sciences, 1983). The first time an uncommon abbreviation appears it should be preceded by the full name for which it stands.

PERMISSIONS

Authors should indicate if the work has been submitted to an Institutional Review Board, and whether approval was obtained.

If text, illustrations, or data supplements include information about individual patients, either the patients should not be identifiable, or the material must be accompanied by written permission to use the identifiable material in print and online publication. Authors must follow local and institutional guidelines regarding protecting confidentiality of patient data and human subjects of research including HIPAA and IRB regulations.

Materials (figures, tables, paragraphs, lengthy quotations) taken from other sources must be accompanied by a written statement from both the author and publisher giving permission to the publishers of JAMIA for reproduction. If clearances are required by the author's institution, statements concerning such clearance should be provided in the manuscript.

Obtain and submit written permission from authors to cite unpublished data or papers still in press.

The corresponding author is responsible for obtaining a signed statement from each author indicating that they take responsibility for the content of this manuscript and that the material has not been published, simultaneously submitted, or already accepted for publication elsewhere.

ELECTRONIC SUBMISSION OF MANUSCRIPTS

Electronic submission is required. AUTHORS SHOULD CONTACT THE EDITORIAL OFFICE IF THEIR SUBMISSION HAS NOT BEEN ACKNOWLEDGED WITHIN THREE BUSINESS DAYS OF SUBMISSION. If the manuscript is accepted, two hard copies of the figures or electronic files converted to .tif may be requested to confirm the validity of the printouts.

General Instructions

The host name of the ftp site is "jamia.mc.Vanderbilt.edu". The login name is jamia and the password is submit. The editorial office must receive manuscripts in both Microsoft Word and PDF formats. Advanced word processor features, e.g. graphics and endnotes, may cause problems and slow processing, due to version incompatibilities.

Specific Instructions

Note: Instructions are in Times New Roman font.
What you will see on the screen is in Courier font.
What you should type is in Courier bold font. Your responses are case sensitive.
If you are to replace the example text with something you choose, it is in Courier bold italic font.
1. Save your manuscript along with any figures as a Word document and as a PDF file. 2. If using a non-Windows based system, skip to step 3. If using a Windows based system:
open a command prompt window (start menu > run > cmd.exe)

from within the command prompt window, connect to the drive and directory containing the manuscript-related files you wish to upload. Do this using the "CD" command, e.g. "CD D:\uploads"

type: ftp

you should now see: ftp>
3. FTP the manuscript to Vanderbilt University by entering:
open jamia.mc.vanderbilt.edu
4. Log on to the Vanderbilt computer:
User name: jamia
Password: submit
5. Indicate binary transmission:
ftp> binary
6. Transfer the file(s) containing your manuscript and if one exists, your cover letter. (The filename(s) should include the last name of the first author.)
ftp> put filename
(Optional)
ftp> put cover_letter_file
ftp> quit
7. Send an e-mail message to:
JAMIA@vanderbilt.edu
describing the submission and whether a cover letter was included


If no cover letter is included, this message will act as your cover letter and will serve as a double check that we were able to read your manuscript. Also, remember to fax your signed Documentation of Originality for Submitted JAMIA Manuscript form to the JAMIA office at (615) 936-5900. As soon as we have printed out a copy of the manuscript, you will receive an e-mail message stating that your manuscript has been received for review and whether or not we have received your originality form (required to initiate review).

8. Contact JAMIA office (by email: JAMIA@vanderbilt.edu) if you do not receive confirmation of manuscript receipt via email in 3-5 business days.


REVIEW AND ACTION

Manuscripts will be reviewed by the Editor and Associate Editors and sent to outside reviewers. Authors are encouraged to suggest individuals who would be particularly suited to review their work. They may also indicate individuals who they think should be excluded from the process. In either case, we reserve the right of final selection. Authors receive notification of initial triage decisions 3-6 weeks after submission. If a manuscript is sent out for outside peer review, authors typically will not receive a decision for 3-4 months. Authors will usually be notified within 12 weeks whether full review indicates acceptance, rejection, or a need for revision. Manuscripts and letters will be edited before publication. The corresponding author will be sent copies of the typeset proof, showing the changes, if any. Authors are responsible for proofreading their articles.

TRANSFER OF COPYRIGHT

Authors will grant copyright of their articles to the American Medical Informatics Association, unless they are federal employees performing the work as governmental activity at the time the work is done, in which case there is no copyright. The American Medical Informatics Association will license back to the authors the right to use their articles for limited purposes as specified in the copyright release form.

PUBLICATION OF ON-LINE PREPRINTS

PrePrints of articles will be posted on JAMIA.ORG during the month following acceptance and receipt of copyright release. The PrePrint will be a PDF of the article as submitted by the author (i.e. not a "camera ready" version), and pagination in the PDF will be in page x of y format, to clearly distinguish the PrePrint from the final form.

REFERENCES (Examples of the types of paper that JAMIA considers for publication)

White paper
1. Stead WW, Haynes RB, Fuller S, Friedman CP, Travis LE, Beck R, Fenichel CH, Chandrasekaran B, Buchanan BG, Abola EE, Sievert MC, Gardner RM, Messerle J, Jaffe CC, Pearson WR, Abarbanel RM. Designing Medical Informatics Research and Library-Resource Projects to Increase What is Learned. J Am Med Informatics Assoc 1994;1:28-33.
2. Friedman CP, Altman RB, Kohane IS, McCormick KA, Miller PL, Ozbolt JG, et al. Training the next generation of informaticians: the impact of "BISTI" and bioinformatics--a report from the American College of Medical Informatics. J Am Med Informatics Assoc 2004;3:167-72.

Synthesis of Research paper
3. Musen MA, Tu SW, Das AK, Shahar Y. EON: A Component-Based Approach to Automation of Protocol-Directed Therapy. J Am Med Informatics Assoc 1996;3:367-388.

Brief Review
4. Lindberg DAB, Humphreys BL. The High-Performance Computing and Communications Program, the National Information Infrastructure, and Health Care. J Am Med Informatics Assoc 1995;2:156-159.

Position paper
5. Board of Directors of the American Medical Informatics Association. Standards for Medical Identifiers, Codes, and Messages Needed to Create an Efficient Computer-stored Medical Record. J Am Med Informatics Assoc 1994;1:1-7.

Review paper
6. Miller RA. Medical Diagnostic Decision Support Systems -- Past, Present, and Future: A Threaded Bibliography and Commentary. J Am Med Informatics Assoc 1994;1:8-27.

Forum paper
7. Friedman CP, Frisse ME, Musen MA, Slack WV, Stead WW. How Should We Organize to Do Informatics? Report of the ACMI Debate at the 1997 AMIA Fall Symposium. J Am Med Informatics Assoc 1998;5:293-304.

Viewpoint paper
8. Matheson NW. Things to Come: Postmodern Digital Knowledge Management and Medical Informatics. J Am Med Informatics Assoc 1995;2:73-78.

Careers in Medical Informatics paper
9. Patton GA, Gardner RM. Medical Informatics Education: The University of Utah Experience. J. Am Med Informatics Assoc 1999;6:457-465.

Technical Milestone paper
10. Spitzer V, Ackerman MJ, Scherzinger AL, Whitlock D. The Visible Human Male: A Technical Report. J Med Informatics Assoc 1996;3:118-130.

Technology Evaluation paper

11. Zafar A, Overhage M, McDonald CJ. Continuous Speech Recognition for Clinicians. J Am Med Informatics Assoc 1999;6:195-204.

Application of Information Technology paper
12. Friede A, Rosen D, Reid J. CDC Wonder: A Cooperative Processing Architecture for Public Health. J Med Informatics Assoc 1994;1:303-312.

Implementation Brief
13. Carter KJ, Rinehart S, Kessler E, Caccamo LP, Ritchey NP, Erickson BA, Castro F, Poggione MD. Quality Assurance in Anatomic Pathology: Automated SNOMED Coding. J Med Informatics Assoc 1996;3:270-272.

Technical Brief

14. Lehv M. Medicare Charges and Operational-year Coding Concept. J Am Med Informatics Assoc 1994;2:124-126.

Book Review
15. Hammond WE: Book Review. Health Information and Health Reform: Understanding the Need for a National Health Information System. By Karen A. Duncan, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1994. J Am Med Informatics Assoc 1995;2:292-293.

Software Review
16. Huber JT, Giuse NB: Software Review. Interactive Brain Atlas, by Sundsten, Brinkley, Eno, and Prothero. J Am Med Informatics Assoc 1995;2:294.

Research papers
17. Hersh WR, Hickam DH, Haynes RB, McKibbon KA. A Performance and Failure Analysis of SAPHIRE with a MEDLINE Test Collection. J Am Med Informatics Assoc 1994;1:51-60.
18. Ozbolt JG, Fruchtnicht JN, Hayden JR. Toward Data Standards for Clinical Nursing Information. J Am Med Informatics Assoc 1994;1:175-185.
19. Sager N, Lyman M, Bucknall C, Ngo N, Tick LJ. Natural Language Processing and the Representation of Clinical Data. J Am Med Informatics Assoc 1994;1:142-160.
20. Southon FCG, Sauer C, Dampney CNG. Information Technology in Complex Health Services: Organizational Impediments to Successful Technology Transfer and Diffusion. J Am Med Informatics Assoc 1997;4:112-124.
21. Henry SB, Holzemer WL, Reilly CA, Campbell KE. Terms Used by Nurses to Describe Patient Problems. J Am Med Informatics Assoc 1994;1:61-74.
22. Nelson BD, Gardner RM, Hedrick G, Gould P. Computerized Decision Support for Concurrent Utilization Review Using the HELP System. J Am Med Informatics Assoc 1994;1:339-352.

Model Formulation paper
23. Dolin RH. Modeling the Temporal Complexities of Symptoms. J Am Med Informatics Assoc 1995;2:323-331.

Methods paper
24. Humphreys BL, Hole WT, McCray AT, Fitzmaurice JM. Planned NLM/AHCPR Large-Scale Vocabulary Test: Using UMLS Technology to Determine the Extent to Which Controlled Vocabularies Cover Terminology Needed for Health Care and Public Health. J Am Med Informatics Assoc 1996;3:281-287.

Case Report
25. Miller PL, Frawley SJ. Trade-Offs in Producing Patient-specific Recommendations from a Computer-based Clinical Guideline: A Case Study. J Am Med Informatics Assoc 1995;2:238-242.

Special Section paper
26. Cimino J. Controlled Medical Vocabulary Construction: Methods from the Canon Group. J Am Med Informatics Assoc 1994;1:296-297.

Editorial Comments papers
27. Gardner RM. Development of Medical Informatics Standards. J Am Med Informatics Assoc 1994;1:79-80.
28. Tuttle MS. Canon Group's Objectives - Are They Achievable? J Am Med Informatics Assoc 1994;1:98-99.
29. Shortliffe EH. Dehumanization of Patient Care--Are Computers the Problem or the Solution? J Am Med Informatics Assoc 1994;1:76-78.

Historical Perspectives papers
30. Barnett GO. Report to the National Institutes of Health Division of Research Study Section on Computer Applications in Medical Communication and Information Retrieval Systems as Related to the Improvement of Patient Care and the Medical Record - September 26, 1966. J Am Med Assoc. 2006; (13)2;127-135.
31. Sittig DF, Ash JS, Ledley RS. The Story Behind the Development of the First Whole-body Computerized Tomography Scanner as Told by Robert S. Ledley. J Am Med Inform Assoc. 2006; (13)5;465-469.



Updated November 2007
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