Categories of Journal Submissions

1. Categoriesof Journal Submissions Barbara Gastel, MD, MPH Texas A&M University Knowledge Community Editor, AuthorAID

2. Overview:Some Common “Metacategories” • Reports of original research • Other articles presenting new information • Review articles • Opinion pieces • News articles and feature articles • Other

3. Reports of Original Research • The core of most journals • Subcategories • Full-length reports of research • Can have different names in different journals • Examples of names: “Articles”, “Original Articles”, “Original Contributions,” “Reports”, “Research” • Brief reports of research • Sometimes brief because the research is preliminary , less extensive, or less important • Examples of names: “Brief Communication”, “Research Letter”

4. Other ArticlesPresenting New Information • Examples • Case reports • Descriptions of new methods • Program descriptions • Sometimes included in a single category such as “Dispatches” • Sometimes appear in separate categories

5. Review Articles • Summarize and integrate the research published on a given topic • Can include • traditional review articles • systematic review articles • meta-analyses • In some journals: different categories for review articles on different types of subjects

6. Opinion Pieces • Include such items as • Editorials • Sounding boards • Book (and other media) reviews • Most letters to the editor • Present evidence-based opinion • Can have different names

7. News Articles and Feature Articles • Included in some journals • Can be by staff members, freelance journalists, or volunteers • Examples of topics: • Conferences • Awards • Trends • Policy • Controversies • People (some article types: profiles, obituaries)

8. Other • Personal essays—for example, in the section “A Piece of My Mind” in JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association • Essays about cover art • Poems • Photos or other images of professional or other interest • Other

9. A Suggestion: For ideas of what article categories to include and what to call them, look at other journals.

10. Thank you!