Guide for Authors

An appeal from the founder of EJMCR

Welcome to the European Journal of Medical Case Reports. We have proudly served the healthcare community for over seven years, offering our services free of charge. However, due to rising publishing costs, we have recently introduced a nominal article processing charge. With a surge in submissions, we are actively seeking skilled reviewers in various specialties. Your participation as a reviewer is crucial in advancing medical science and improving patient safety. Your expertise will have a profound impact on healthcare and humanity. Interested professionals are invited to express their willingness to review cases by contacting us. Together, we can continue to make a significant difference.

EJMCR also accepts videos related to case reports, medical/therapeutic/surgical techniques, and Ultrasound Scans.

Submission Guidelines for the European Journal of Medical Case Reports (EJMCR)

European Journal of Medical Case Reports is a not-for-profit journal. We follow ethical publishing practices as recommended by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

1. Manuscript Eligibility and Scope

To ensure each manuscript contributes meaningfully to the medical community, all submissions must fulfill at least one of the following criteria:

Diagnostic or treatment challenges with significant clinical insights.
Findings suggesting new mechanisms of disease pathogenesis or adverse effects.
Lessons learned from misdiagnoses or clinical errors.
Unusual presentations of common diseases or injuries.
Rare or newly identified diseases with clinical significance.
Novel diagnostic procedures or techniques with implications for practice.
New therapeutic approaches, including innovative drugs/interventions and established treatments in novel contexts.
Unusual associations between diseases and symptoms that broaden diagnostic awareness.
Unexpected outcomes, both positive and negative, including adverse drug reactions impacting clinical decision-making.

2. Article Types Accepted

EJMCR accepts the following types of articles:

Case Reports: Detailed reports of individual clinical cases.
Case Series: Analyses of multiple similar cases.
Review Articles (Only systematic or Scoping Reviews): In-depth reviews on case-related topics.
Original/Research Articles: Studies relevant to cases.
Editorials: Perspectives on emerging clinical issues.
Letters to the Editor: Short commentaries or responses.
Clinical Images: Unique or critical visual findings.

All manuscripts must be submitted through our online submission system. The editors reserve the right to return manuscripts not adhering to these guidelines.

3. Contacting the Editorial Office

For any inquiries, authors are encouraged to contact the EJMCR Editorial Office at contact@ejmcr.com for timely assistance throughout the submission process.

4. Manuscript Preparation

General Format
Submission Files: Authors must upload three separate files:

Title Page: Including manuscript title, author names with full affiliations, and contact information for the corresponding author.
Main Text File: This file should contain the abstract, main text, tables, figures, and references.
CARE Checklist: A completed CARE checklist, required for case reports (available in the DOWNLOAD section).

Please see the Downloads Section in our website for a sample Title Page and CARE Checklist.

Formatting Specifications:
Line Numbers: Add continuous line numbers to the main text. If you are using MS Word, go to Layout --> Line Numbers --> Continuous.
Spell Check: Use American English and proofread all files before submission.

Title Page

The title should be specific, informative, and concise. Each author’s name should include their department, institution, city, postal code, and country. Also, include the fax, telephone number, and email of the corresponding author. Each author’s contribution to the manuscript and their role in patient care should be clearly stated.

Abstract

A structured abstract is required.

Case Reports: Use the following subheadings: Background, Case Presentation, and Conclusion, limited to 250 words.
Research Articles: Use the following subheadings: Background, Aims and objectives, Settings, Methods, Results, and Conclusion.

Provide 5–8 MeSH keywords for subject indexing.

Main Text

The main text must adhere to the following word limits (excluding the title page, references, tables, and figure legends):

Types of Manuscripts	Abstract	Main text	Tables/figures	Referneces
Case reports	200 words (structured)	1500 words	8	15
Original Articles	250 words (structured)	2500 words	8	30
Review Articles	300	3500 words	10	50
Letter to editor	Not applicable	500	2	5

Structure of the main text:
Background: Context and significance of the case.
Case Presentation (or Methods and Results for research articles): Detailed clinical findings or methods.
Discussion: Interpretation in the context of existing literature.
Conclusion: Summary of clinical implications.

Post article information:

Acknowledgment: List contributors and sources of support.
List of Abbreviations.
Declarations: Conflict of Interest, Funding, Consent, Ethical Approval.

Declarations:
Conflict of Interest: Disclose any conflicts of interest; if not, you can state the following:
Example: "The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest regarding the publication of this article."

Informed Consent: Please specify if a written informed consent to publish/present this case was obtained from the patient or parents/guaridans of the patient in case of a child/minor.
Example: Written informed consent was obtained from the patient/from the parents/from the next kin of the patient (if the patient is deceased or unable to provide consent for publication).

Ethical Approval: State whether institutional approval was required.
Example: "Ethical approval is not required at our institution for anonymous case reports."
Or
Ethical approval was granted by Ethics Committee/Institutional Review Board/Research Committee (choose whichever is applicable) via reference/letter number ---- dated: -----.

Funding:
Disclose all funding sources. If no funding was received, state "None."

References:
References and In-Text Citations: Authors are responsible for reference accuracy. The recommended number of references for case reports is 10–15.
Format:
Use square brackets [1] for in-text citations, and they must be placed before punctuation marks.
List references in order of appearance, with full journal titles where possible.
For references with more than six authors, list the first three, followed by "et al."
Example: Blinder JJ, Goldstein SL, Meo SA, et al. J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 2012;143:368-74. https://doi.org/10.1155/2012/130973

Figures and Illustrations:
Quality Control: Images must be reviewed by relevant specialists.
Submission Format: Embed figures in the main document; please don't submit images separately.
Resolution: Minimum 300 dpi for images.

5. Ethical Responsibilities of Authors

Authors must adhere to ethical standards to uphold the integrity of the scientific record. This journal aligns with COPE guidelines for ethical publishing and will address potential misconduct accordingly.

Authors must:

Ensure the manuscript is not under simultaneous consideration by other journals.
Avoid duplicate publication, unless extending prior work with transparency.
Avoid data fabrication or manipulation.
Refrain from plagiarism; proper attribution is essential.
Confirm consent from all co-authors and affiliated institutions.
Ensure the listed authors have significantly contributed and share responsibility for the content.
Address any authorship changes or disputes with documented consent.
Be prepared to submit raw data or supporting documentation upon request.
If misconduct is suspected, EJMCR may investigate and take necessary actions, which could include rejection, retraction, or notifying the author’s institution.

6. Ethical Policies (Compliance with Ethical Standards)

EJMCR upholds the following policies:

Authorship Integrity
Plagiarism and Copyright Compliance
Reporting Standards
Data Availability
Conflict of Interest Disclosure
Patient Confidentiality and Consent
Ethics Approval for Human and Animal Studies
Image Integrity
Research Misconduct

Authors must familiarize themselves with these ethical standards and ensure compliance. [The policies can be accessed from here].

7. Post-Acceptance

Copyright and Open Access: Authors retain copyright but grant the journal publication rights under a CC BY license, allowing reuse with attribution. Learn more.

Offprints: Corresponding authors can order offprints post-publication.

Proofreading: Proofs should be reviewed within five working days to correct typesetting errors. Post-publication changes are limited to Errata.

Online First: Accepted articles are published online with a DOI ahead of print, making them citable immediately.

Language Editing: Authors must provide a language editing certificate and plagiarism report upon if suggested by the editor or the reviewers.
Recommended services:
SofiaFields Editorial Services: https://sofiafields.com/
Peak Medical Editing: https://www.peakmedicalediting.com/

8. Article Processing Charges

Upon acceptance of your manuscript, contingent on meeting our editorial standards and agreeing to publish under the CC BY license, an Article Processing Charge (APC) (£200.00 for case reports) will apply. This fee is charged after the initial manuscript screening and is necessary to cover the publication costs. The APC ensures that your work is processed efficiently and made accessible to a global audience under open-access terms.

We don't offer full waiver but 25% discount is available for students and trainees and 35% discount is offered to the authors from developing countries.

9. License to Publish

By submitting to EJMCR, authors agree to have their article published as open access CC BY license. Authors must either assert copyright ownership of the content and figures in their manuscript or secure permission to publish them under this license.

Author Warranties:
The article is original, not under consideration elsewhere, and free from libel or plagiarism.
Permissions for copyrighted material are obtained.
The publisher reserves the right to withdraw content breaching these warranties.