Jump to: Page Content, Site Navigation, Site Search,
You are seeing this message because your web browser does not support basic web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing and what you can do to make your experience on this site better.
Please ensure that anything you submit to the BMJ conforms to the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors uniform requirements for manuscripts submitted to biomedical journals and also to the BMJ's general article requirements.
Research articles
For detailed advice on preparing and submitting original research articles please follow the highlighted link or click on the menu item to the left of this column. All original research articles are submitted, although we may invite submission (without promising acceptance) if we come across research being presented at conferences, see it in abstract form or on a research registry, or if the authors make an inquiry about the suitability of their work before submission. This editorial explains what kind of research we give priority to, and what services we offer to authors of research: Why submit your research to the BMJ?
Open access. The full text of every research article published in the BMJ is immediately accessible on bmj.com to everyone at no charge. The full text of all research articles is also sent, without further intervention from the author, to PubMed Central, the National Library of Medicine's full text archive, which makes it fully accessible without delay. This means that the BMJ immediately fulfils the requirements of the US National Institutes of Health, the UK Medical Research Council, the Wellcome Trust, and other funding bodies to make publicly funded research freely available to all.
Other article types
We are also pleased to consider submitted articles for these sections which carry a mix of commissioned and submitted articles:
Please follow the specific advice on each of these article types (see links above, and on the left, to detailed advice for these) before submitting your article.
Some types of BMJ article - news, features, observations, head to head, views and reviews - are commissioned by the editors. Hence there's no need to describe their formats here.
Other types of submission
Letters (Rapid responses)
Please note that all letters to the editor must be submitted as Rapid responses to articles published on bmj.com. Use Search on http://bmj.com to find the article you are responding to and then click on the link at the top of the page marked Respond to this article. This is the only way to submit a letter to BMJ: all letters that appear in the print BMJ and on bmj.com have arrived initially as Rapid responses.
Obituaries
We welcome obituaries for doctors within the first year of their death. Please send as a Word file to obituaries@bmj.com.
We assume that material is sent exclusively to us, and we publish the full versions we receive on bmj.com. We produce the short obituaries in the print issue from these full versions. They are a maximum of 150 words, including biographical details: the last position held, date of birth, place and year of qualification, postgraduate qualifications if applicable, and date and cause of death. We publish pictures, which can be sent electronically or as photographs, when we can.
We generally commission the full page obituaries from professional writers.
These usually include up to 850 words. We like personal views to be signed, and publish anonymous pieces only by special arrangement.
Fillers
We try to make the best use of every page of the printed BMJ, so we use small gaps to publish fillers. Most fillers have the added advantage of entertaining readers and making them think. We welcome articles of up to 600 words (we also like and need much shorter ones) on topics such as:
If the filler refers to an identifiable person we will need written consent to publication from that person or a relative.
Minerva pictures
Our online editorial office gives specific advice on submitting photographs: please ensure that you follow this. Please provide two or three sentences (no more than 100 words) explaining the picture, and please send us the signed consent to publication from the patient. We need written consent from every patient, parent or next of kin, regardless of whether the patient can be identified or not from the picture.
Please make sure that the text includes all authors’ names together with their job titles and addresses (including departments’ and hospitals’ names) at the time the patient was seen, and the email address of the corresponding author. We also need to recieve statements of competing interests and copyright/licence to publication.
Pictures we are more likely to accept are those which offer an educational message and which will publish clearly and depict the abnormality obviously.
The criteria we use to reject minerva pictures:
1. Foreign bodies
2. Cases of gross trauma
3. Pictures of poor quality, even if the story is sound and interesting
4. Pictures and stories which are simply "text book" presentations
5. Cases of very rare clinical presentations
6. Submissions which simply criticise other clinicians, or the patient.
Endgames
Endgames is a new section in the BMJ which aims to be a fun, interactive medical education page. We welcome submissions for this section.
Case report
Case reports should be based on topics that are likely to come up in postgraduate medical examinations. The questions about the case history should be pitched with this in mind.
Case reports should have three sub-headings:
Case History—Please provide a short paragraph about the patient, how they presented and any relevant investigation results. This should be no longer than 150 to 200 words long and provide the relevant information for the reader to answer the questions.
Questions—Please provide two or three questions relating to the case report. These should be pitched at a similar level to postgraduate examinations.
Answers—Please provide the answers in short and long formats. The short answers should be no longer than one sentence, and will be used for quick reference in the print journal. We would also like you to provide a long version of the answer which will be posted online. The long answer allows a more in-depth discussion around the topic and should be evidence based. These should be no longer than 800 words and will be peer reviewed.
If your question relates to a real patient you will need to provide a signed BMJ consent form from the patient.
Articles should be submitted as “Endgames" via our online editorial office.
Picture Quiz
The picture quiz comprises two or three short questions which relate to a clinical image. Please provide no more than 75 words to explain the image or background of the patient. The picture can show anything from an electrocardiogram to a radiographic image, and it will need to be submitted as a jpeg file of 300 dpi.
The image should be based on a topic that is likely to come up in postgraduate medical examinations and the questions should be pitched at this level.
Please provide the answers in short and long formats. The short answers should be no longer than one sentence, and will be used for quick reference in the print journal. We would also like you to provide a long version of the answer which will be posted online. The long answer allows a more in-depth discussion around the topic and should be evidence based. These should be no longer than 800 words and will be peer reviewed.
You will need to provide a signed BMJ consent form from the patient.
Articles should be submitted as “Endgames" via our online editorial office.
