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Author guidelines
(Last updated 28/03/2008 / Hugh Ip)
Why write for the Student BMJ?
The Student BMJ is an international magazine for medical students and is available both free on the web and in paper form for our subscribers. More than 20000 people subscribe and we currently get more than 250 000 visits (2 million hits) each month, so it's the ideal forum for you to share your ideas and experiences with an international community of medics. Before you actually start writing, it's worth asking yourself a few of questions to save yourself a lot of time and effort.
- What message do you want to get across and do you think it will fit into the Student BMJ? (See section make up to get a better idea of what we publish.)
- Do you think it will interest other people?
- Has it been done before in the same format in the Student BMJ? (You can find out by doing a search on the Student BMJ website.
- If you are writing about patients you have seen, or about experiences involving patients in any way, have you obtained written informed consent from them? If you haven't, the Student BMJ will not publish the article.
- If your article criticises anyone or an organisation, please ensure that it's balanced, based on verifiable facts, and provides fair comment. The UK-where the Student BMJ is published-has very strict laws on libel.
- At this point, it's worth noting that we don't publish original research papers. Nor do we publish essays that you have written for your course-in other words, articles should be written with the Student BMJ in mind.
If you have satisfactorily answered these questions then the next thing to do is write your article for the appropriate part of the magazine. The Student BMJ is divided into various sections, each of which has different requirements for the articles published in it. Below are the guidelines for the different types of article published in the Student BMJ.
There is also some general advice that applies to all authors and all articles. Other important things to find here are information on consent and where you can also get the official BMJ consent paperwork. Please note that we do not pay authors for unsolicited submissions.
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We only consider cases that are common or of high educational value for other reasons.
Some General Advice for Authors
Click here for further information on the use of images
- Read the guidelines for the type of article you want to write.
- To make sure that the topic you want to write about has not been covered before, do a quick search in our topic collections (which covers all content since January 2000) and in our SEARCH field at
www.student.bmj.com
- If you are still unsure about the subject you want to write about, or feel like you need more advice, contact the editor at
studenteditor@bmj.com. When you submit an idea to the editor, please do not send the ideas as attachments, and please do not send in the complete article. Brevity is what editors like most, and the longer your pitch, the less likely you are to be heard. Try to confine your idea to not more than 50 words of continuous prose.
- Remember that the Student BMJ has a broad international readership so try, as far as possible, to keep your articles internationally relevant and keep the language as simple as possible.
- Our policy now is that all articles for the Student BMJ should be submitted through the BMJ and sBMJ's online editorial office at http://submit.bmj.com. We do not consider submissions through e-mail any longer. This applies even to invited articles (for example, when you pitch an idea to the student editor who tells you to go for it) and most commissioned articles. We send nearly everything out for peer-review, and do this through the online office. Furthermore, our email and online office systems are not integrated, so we can't do anything with an article that comes in through email. Using both email and the online office to submit articles often leads to confusion, and it can waste both your and our time.
- You will first need to register yourself as an author at submit.bmj.com. You will then be able to access your author area and to submit your article by following up the instructions on the website.
- If you have any high quality pictures to accompany your article, please upload them as associated files. These must be high resolution JPEG or TIFF files. This is essential for "People" and "Picture Quiz".We do not consider submissions without high resolution pictures for articles that belong to either of these sections.
- You can upload diagrams and annotations, but please note that we always get these redrawn by a professional illustrator.
- As far as is possible, please upload your manuscript as a word document (or rich text format, if you use Mac). Do not upload your manuscripts as pdf files. And do not include references as end-notes if you use Microsoft Word.
- Some basic statements, such as copyright and competing interests, need to be included in every manuscript. Please make sure that you include them in your manuscript before submission.
- Unless explicitly stated by the editor, there is no guarantee of publication of your article.
- Most submitted articles will have to go out for review to two of our medical student advisors. We have more than 120 student advisers from all around the world who help guide the Student BMJ and its content. We invite student advisors - usually two per article - to view articles through the online editorial office and write there a report on each article's importance, relevance, and content. We will usually also send editorials and articles for the education section to one or more specialist peer reviewers as well. Student advisers and peer reviewers advise the student editor on whether to accept, reject, or return the article to the author for amendments. But the editor's decision is final and may not always agree with the advisers' and reviewers' views.
- Even if your article is accepted for publication, it will be edited, and will normally undergo changes before it hits the pages. If we make major changes to your article (not very often) we will send it to you to approve. If you are emailed for approval or to check the article, we need you to get back to us very quickly (within 3 days) if we are to consider any further changes you make.
- Please note that if you submit work to the Student BMJ then you may not submit it elsewhere for publication without our explicit consent. As the publisher of content, we hold the exclusive licence of your article. On the same note, we will not publish an article that has been published elsewhere.
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Types of article in the Student BMJ
ATTENTION: To ensure that articles in the Student BMJ are authoritative and accurate, our policy is that all Education articles and Editorials must be co-authored by an expert. The co-author has to do something to be eligible for authorship-thinking through and discussing with you the ideas in the article, writing or rewriting it, and approving the final version. Just adding his or her name isn't enough. Nor is mere acknowledgement of their contribution.
Frontiers
- Frontiers are meant to inform students about the latest developments in the field of biomedical research. We pay equal attention to basic and clinical sciences to appeal to a broad spectrum of medical students and to encourage scientific thinking
- This section is almost always written by in-house editorial staff, and we do not consider submissions for this section via Bench>Press. If, however, you come across an interesting story that you think is suitable for us, please contact studenteditor@bmj.com. Note that we rarely cover research articles from highly specialised journals.
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Editorials
- Editorials discuss current hot topics or important issues in medicine and medical education. Topics can relate to anything from reforms in undergraduate education to the influence of international policy on health to new surgical techniques. There is a lot of scope for ideas and we do especially like topics that are controversial.
- All facts in an editorial should be referenced, though we do place a standard limit of 12 references at most per article. We are increasingly putting the references on the website only and not in the paper magazine.
- An editorial shouldn't be any longer than 800 words.
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News
News writing is a skill and is quite specific. You can get an idea about how to write them by reading other news stories.
- We publish news bites and where possible, news features every month. These are almost always commissioned by the editor. However, if you have an interesting idea for either of these, do pitch them to the editor (in not more than 50 words of continuous text).
- Do not submit news features or news bites through Bench>Press on submit.bmj.com, as we do not consider unsolicited submissions for this section. Your article will be immediately rejected.
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Education
- Education articles are meant to teach students things that they will need during their undergraduate studies, in their exams, and in their early years as doctors.
- The Student BMJ has a policy of trying not to publish material that students can just find in standard text books. Education articles should either be about subjects not well covered in academic books, or if about commonly covered subjects then the article should provide a new way of learning about it. This should be presented in a novel way (for example, have case studies, scenarios, and key points) so that your article is different to what our readers would see in a standard text book.
- Education articles MUST BE coauthored with an expert in the area you are writing about. For example, if you are writing an article about x rays, then it should be written in conjunction with a radiologist.
- The maximum number of words for an education article is around 1800 (the ideal length is between 1600-1800. However, if the subject you want to write about needs more space then you can split it into 2 parts or even work on a series of articles. However, if you want to do this then you should check with the editor and, for series, you will need to produce an outline of the whole set of articles saying what you will cover in each.
- Diagrams and boxes should be clear and properly referenced in the article text.
- Picture quizzes should be in standard format. Look at previous quizzes for an idea of how you should write them. The format is a brief presentation, a few questions based on the image, the answers, and then a discussion. The word limit for the text is 800 and don't forget that you will need the patient's written informed consent to publication using the BMJ's consent form at
http://resources.bmj.com/bmj/authors/checklists-forms/patient-consent-form
Click here for further information on the use of images
- PubMedic: the word limit for the text is 1000. It has to be co-authored by an expert if you're writing about technical issues.
- Please note, we do not consider original research articles or patient case reports that are rare or those that do not fit the Picture Quiz format for publication in the journal.
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Papers plus
- Paper plus is the section where we discuss an original research study published already in the BMJ, and then get a critical appraisal guide written by an expert to help readers begin to understand research. Understandably, this requires expert skills, so we don't consider submissions from students for this section. All paper plus articles are commissioned by the editor.
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Careers
- Careers is a section dedicated to medical careers, both undergraduate studies and specialties after you qualify. We work extremely closely with the BMJ's Career Focus magazine (careerfocus.bmjjournals.com). If you have questions about this section please contact the editor of Career Focus (pcross@bmj.com).
- Careers contains a wide range of careers type advice ranging from getting ahead in a certain specialty to taking time out of your studies and personal development. It also focuses on problems that medics face including illness, medicolegal matters, and time management.
- Articles on specialties, other careers, and exams should be co-authored with an expert in the area you are writing about. For example, if you are writing about how to become a cardiothoracic surgeon, then write it in conjunction with a cardiothoracic surgeon.
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People
- They are basically interviews with inspiring and interesting biomedical personalities-students or professionals.
- Before you write one, always contact the editor of the Student BMJ (studenteditor@bmj.com).
- It should be more than a catalogue of achievements. They should give us a glimpse of the person behind them. You should include reasons for any decisions made, any regrets or disappointments, and, most importantly, some advice for others.
- Write the interview in the common question-answer format. Check the archive for similar published material.
- The word-limit for a one-page interview is 1000 words. We rarely go for longer articles. If you wish to go for a longer interview, consult with the student editor before doing so.
- For all profiles you should send us at least one good photo of the person you are writing about. You'll have to upload it as an associated file in Bench>Press when you submit the article. It has to be a high resolution JPEG or TIFF.
Click here for further information on the use of images
- Before submitting your article to the Student BMJ please show the completed article to the person you have interviewed, and ask them to confirm in writing that they're happy for you to submit the article to us (an email will be fine). Please copy that email into your covering letter when you submit the article to the Student BMJ.
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Life
- Life articles are about anything to do with medicine and being a medical student so the scope of these is enormous. Articles can cover special projects, (such as working in a refugee camp), alternative or eccentric subjects which usually have some sort of medical link (such as radical medical innovations), general life experiences and student issues or problems (such as studying for exams), or political topics (such as describing or critiquing a health care system)-the list is endless.
- Writing life articles should be fun as you have more creative licence with them than other articles.
- If you have an idea, you may want to pitch it at the editor, who can give you more advice about how to approach it.
- We don't require an expert coauthor for Life articles but any facts you mention should still be referenced.
- The ideal word count for this section is around 1600-1800.
- In the past, we have published articles about electives and exchanges. From now on, all reports are to be submitted via the International experiences section on student.bmj.com
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Spotlight on
- These are magazine style features allowing students to cover topical and controversial subjects in a lighter way than an editorial. Examples of topics include medical students receiving free gifts from pharmaceutical companies, views from doctors about accession to the European Union, and the effects of the Bologna process, and so on.
- We'd like the subject to be as topical and as cutting edge as possible. But you should always try to address the issue in an objective way and represent both sides of the argument if you can.
- For this section, we strongly advise you to pitch your idea to the editor first of all (studenteditor@bmj.com ). We will be able to give you guidance about how to approach your topic and suggest angles to take and people to speak to.
- You should try to seek out good sources of information and get quotes from experts
- As usual, any facts should be backed up with references.
- Make good use of boxes and sources or links for further information.
- This feature can also be longer than an editorial and can be up to 2000 words.
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Article Responses (Rapid Responses)
- Article responses are exactly that-responses to something previously published in the Student BMJ.
- They should all be submitted as article responses to the relevant article or letter, through the rapid response system on student.bmj.com
- At the end of each article on the web, there is the option to submit a response to the article. This is where you should write them.
- A letter shouldn't be any longer than 400 words.
- All letters submitted as article responses are published on our website unless they are in breach of libel laws or ethical committee guidelines (these are set by BMJ)
- There is no guarantee of publication of any letter or rapid response in the paper version of the Student BMJ.
- Please note that even though we have a low threshold for posting rapid responses (in line with bmj.com policy) your rapid response will not be posted if it is libellous or defamatory in any way
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Reviews
- The Reviews section includes a number of different articles.
- In the past, we have featured a lot of books, but we are moving away from them towards more website reviews (see below for "What's on the web"), workshops and seminars for students, theatre, and film.
- A review is an article that critically appraises a CD ROM, film, audio CD, art or museum exhibition, theatre play, or other form of media. The subject of the review has to have some sort of link to medicine or medical students. It is often worth checking with the editor if you are in doubt about your subject.
- Note that we do not publish reviews of academic text books in the paper version of Student BMJ.
- The maximum number of words for a review is dependent on the subject. For CDs and CD ROMs we normally look at no more than 500 words. For reviews of films and exhibitions and plays we allow up to 900 words.
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Viewpoint
- These articles have replaced personal views and allow you to express your own point of view on any issues relevant to medical students. You can use it as your soapbox to have a rant or to recount your own experience of something. We like these to tackle controversial subjects.
- An article for Viewpoint shouldn't be longer than 480 words.
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What's on the web?
- You should review what is available on the internet about a certain subject. For example, past reviews have included health news, choosing your specialty, and medical mistakes.
- Authors are expected to select at least five websites and compare and contrast them noting how easy they are to navigate, the information available, how useful they are and so on.
- They should be no longer than 500 words.
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Eyespy
- Eyespy is a section where you can read snippets of information about quirky reports, which you may not have seen in the global medical press or which are relevant to medical students. If you see a study that relates to medical students, this is your opportunity to highlight it and bring it to the fore.
- You should send in any unusual or funny medical reports you come across. You will get no publication credit for this (after all, it isn't your original publication) but it helps us to compile Eyespy and you can mention it on your CV.
- The type of things you may want to submit to Eyespy are studies about medical students that will not make a news story, novel research and studies, outcomes from international conferences and workshops, and so on.
- We also publish very short case reports on important or unusual clinical presentations.
- You can submit a photo and short patient report for Eyespy. This must be coauthored with an expert or the doctor who looked after the patient. It should not exceed 200 words and the photo must be supplied. Please also ensure that you obtain full, written patient consent (see the section in these guidelines on consent).
- Do not submit any information for Eyespy through Bench>Press. The article will be immediately rejected.
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Consent
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Plagiarism
- Plagiarism is the use of others' published and unpublished ideas or words (or other intellectual property) without attribution or permission, and presenting them as new and original rather than derived from an existing source.
- The intent and effect of plagiarism is to mislead the reader as to the contributions or the plagiariser. This applies whether the ideas or words are taken from abstracts, research grant applications, ethics committee applications, or unpublished or published manuscripts in any publication format (print or electronic).
- Plagiarism is serious scientific misconduct.
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What we do if we suspect research or professional misconduct
- if an editor has concerns that a submitted article describes something that might be considered to constitute research or professional misconduct, the case may be discussed with the BMJ Ethics Committee.
- if the case cannot be resolved by discussion with the author(s), and the editor still has concerns, s/he may report the case to the appropriate authorities. If, during the course of reviewing an article, an editor is alerted to possible problems (for example, fraudulent data) in another publication, the BMJ editor may contact the journal in which the previous publication appeared to raise the concern
- the BMJ is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) http://www.publicationethics.org.uk Cases of research or publication misconduct may also be referred to COPE in an anonymised format.
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Libel
- The United Kingdom has very strict libel laws. You can be sued for libel "if you lower someone's standing in the eyes of his or her peers."
- To defend itself against an accusation of libel, a publication has to prove that the statement it published was true, that it was published "without malice," and, where possible, was in the public interest.
- If an allegation turns out to be false (ie based on incorrect facts), we will find it hard to defend, so fact checking is imperative. But we may have a small chance of defending ourselves, if the allegation has been shared fully with the "accused", and that he or she has had a chance to respond, and if that response has been forwarded unedited to us.
- So here are a few "musts" for authors of articles which criticise people or organisations:
- Ensure that you check all your facts
- Ensure that all articles are balanced. If you are publishing an allegation against someone, you must give the accused a chance to reply.
- When you approach the accused, you must reveal in detail what your allegations are, so that he or she can have a chance to answer them in full. If, for example, you are going to claim that a hospital employed a doctor who was not properly qualified, and it did not investigate complaints against that doctor, you must put all the allegations in full to the hospital management, so that it has the chance to answer each and every one of the allegations.
- It is no defence to say that an allegation has already been published elsewhere. If an allegation about a doctor or a drug company has appeared in a newspaper in Spain, Italy, or the US, for example, we cannot rely on that fact to defend ourselves. Firstly, that local newspaper might have got the facts wrong; secondly, the libel laws might be different in that country. So although the doctor/company might not have sued in that location, he or she could come after the BMJ in the UK, because our libel laws are so tight.
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Rates of Pay for Authors
- The Student BMJ does not pay authors for unsolicited submissions through Bench>Press, whether the article is published in print or online. However, we do pay authors for articles commissioned by the editor.
- We pay in the author's local currency, based on the exchange rate from sterling at the time.
- Payment is only made after publication of the article, and can take up to four weeks from that point.
- The rates of pay for authors, are
- Short reviews (<500 words), personal views, fillers, other miscellaneous articles less than 500 words - £50 (€80, $80 or whatever the current exchange rate is)
- Editorials, education articles, careers articles, profiles, life articles, long reviews (>500 words) - £100 (€160, $160 or whatever the current exchange rate is)
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After your article is accepted...
- Once your article is accepted, it will be archived in our bank of articles. We will, of course, try and publish all accepted articles as soon as possible. However, we are a monthly journal, and we receive far more manuscripts than we can regularly publish - hence, some delay is inevitable in publishing many manuscripts. We usually publish accepted article within three to six months after acceptance, although very rarely, this may run up to a year. We are trying to minimise such occurences as much as possible.
- Please do not send e-mails to the student editor (or for that matter, the technical editor, or papersadmin@bmj.com) enquiring as to when your article will be published. It is very difficult to gauge this and provide an accurate reply. When we do go ahead and publish your article, the technical editor (and sometimes the student editor) will contact you for any enquiries, and for you to approve the final edited proof of the article. At this stage, it is essential for you to get back to us as soon as possible to avoid any delay in publishing the article.
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Suggesting/Submitting Pictures
- We aim to publish all accepted articles in the Student BMJ with suitable illustrative images or arresting pictures. This is because, all our our research shows that readers are more likely to read an article that has images in it, so our editorial policy is not to print articles with no images (or tables). While we do encourage authors in general to submit pictures of their own, with the exception of picture quiz articles, we are unable to use most of them, as they are not of sufficient resolution, or do not conform to the standards we expect. We try to let authors know when we commission images, but this is not always possible because of time constraints when we are putting pages together.
- If you want to submit pictures to illustrate your article, please attach them as supplementary files, and not in your original manuscript, as the size of the articles tend to increase with pictures, and some of our advisers with no access to broadband may not be able to access the article for review. In addition, we require all articles to be of high resolution - 300 dpi and higher, preferably as a JPEG or TIFF file. Alternatively, you can provide some verbal picture suggestions at the end of your article, which might help us to commission better pictures suited to your article.
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