Publishing Case Reports

I get a lot of questions from residents and faculty about where to publish case reports.

These can be valuable exercises for residents and medical students and, when done well, can add to the literature about 1) uncommon presentations of more common conditions or 2) uncommon conditions.

Below, I've included some resources about WHERE and HOW to try to publish case reports.

Most journals that will publish these charge a fee for publication. This is not necessarily indicative of a predatory publisher (though those are out there), but may limit access for some as the fees can range into the thousands of dollars for a single publication.

Where to publish case reports

Where to publish case reports - A nice listing from George Washington University of possible journals and fees, with links to some howto pages also.

How to choose the best journal for your case report - An article from the Journal of Medical Case Reports.

Where to publish case reports - A couple of hints, plus links to "journal finders".

Publishing case reports - A site from Wake Forest with multiple links/resources, including a nice howto.

Journal of the Medical Library Association article - On journals that publish case reports. PDF available with a listing of journals. This article was published in 2016, so expect changes.

Specific Journal ideas:

  • HCA Healthcare Journal of Medicine - A new journal - not yet indexed in Medline or searchable on PubMed, but free to publish and includes a dedicated case reports section for resident and faculty authors.

How to publish case reports

Where to publish case reports - A howto page and video from George Washington University and other linked resources.

Publishing case reports - A site from Wake Forest with a nice howto and multiple links/resources for publishing.