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: 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 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 Papers5
recommend a specific course of action. They should promote discussion of policy questions or potential initiatives. White Papers1,
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 Papers7 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 Informatics9
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. ATechnical Milestone10
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
Technology12 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 Brief13
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
Brief14 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 Reviews15 and Software Reviews16
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 Formulation23
paper proposes a model or technique.
A Methods paper24 presents signifcant new methods for research or applications
in the field. A Case Report25 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.29Letters 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 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.)
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.
