Instructions to authors
Manuscript preparation
Charges, licences, and self-archiving policy
Article Promotion
About the journal
JAMIA is AMIA's premier peer-reviewed journal for biomedical and health informatics. Covering the full spectrum of activities in the field, JAMIA includes informatics articles in the areas of clinical care, clinical research, translational science, implementation science, imaging, education, consumer health, public health, and policy. JAMIA's articles describe innovative informatics research and systems that help to advance biomedical science and to promote health. Case reports, perspectives and reviews also help readers stay connected with the most important informatics developments in implementation, policy and education.
Contact the Editorial Office at jamia.editorialoffice@publishingsolutions.net
Editorial policy
JAMIA considers publication of any original manuscript in biomedical and health informatics. This includes informatics manuscripts in the areas of: clinical care, clinical research, translational bioinformatics, consumer health, public health, and imaging. Papers submitted to the journal will be screened for plagiarism using Similarity Check / iThenticate plagiarism detection tools.
Conflicts of interest
If any of the Editors feel that there is likely to be a perception of a conflict of interest in relation to their handling of a submission or book for review, for example if the author is at the same institution as the Editor, they will declare it to the other editors and/or editorial board, and the submission or review will be handled by one of the other editors.
As part of the online submission process, corresponding authors are required to confirm whether they or their co-authors have any conflicts of interest to declare, and to provide details of these.
If the manuscript is published, Conflict of Interest information, including if none was declared, will be communicated in a statement in the published paper.
Authorship
Authorship is limited to those who have made a significant contribution to the design and execution of the work described. Any contributors whose participation does not meet the criteria for authorship should be acknowledged but not listed as an author. The Journal will contact all listed authors at the point of submission to confirm their role. For a detailed definition of authorship, please see the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) definitions of authors and contributors.
The Journal does not allow ghost authorship, where an unnamed author prepares the article with no credit, or guest/gift authorship, where an author who made little or no contribution is listed as an author. The Journal follows Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidance on investigating and resolving these cases. For more information, please see the OUP Publication Ethics page.
Natural language processing tools driven by artificial intelligence (AI) do not qualify as authors, and the Journal will screen for them in author lists. The use of AI (for example, to help generate content or images, write code, process data, or for translation) should be disclosed both in cover letters to editors and in the Methods or Acknowledgements section of manuscripts. Please see the COPE position statement on Authorship and AI for more details.
After manuscript submission, no authorship changes (including the authorship list, author order, and who is designated as the corresponding author) should be made unless there is a substantive reason to do so. The editor and all co-authors must agree on the change(s), and neither the Journal nor the publisher mediates authorship disputes. If individuals cannot agree on the authorship of a submitted manuscript, contact the editorial office at jamia.editorialoffice@publishingsolutions.net. The dispute must be resolved among the individuals and their institution(s) before the manuscript can be accepted for publication. If an authorship dispute or change arises after a paper is accepted, contact OUP’s Author Support team. COPE provides guidance for authors on resolving authorship disputes.
After submission, changing who is designated as the corresponding author will be permitted only where there is a substantive reason to do so. For the avoidance of doubt, changing the corresponding author in order to access Read and Publish funding is not permissible. For more information on Read and Publish funding, see the Open access charges section.
CRediT
The Journal uses the contributor roles taxonomy (CRediT), which allows authors to describe the contributor roles in a standardized, transparent, and accurate way. Authors should choose from the contributor roles outlined on the CRediT website and supply this information upon submission. You may choose multiple contributor roles per author. Any other individuals who do not meet authorship criteria and made less substantive contributions should be listed in your manuscript as non-author contributors with their contributions clearly described. Following manuscript submission, any changes to contributor roles require the approval of the editor.
Manuscript preparation
Article types and word counts
JAMIA word limits exclude materials in Acknowledgments and in References sections. Supplemental materials such as additional tables, figures, data sets and source code can be included for online only publication. For all articles, authors are required to submit related published materials (including articles published in conference proceedings) to allow reviewers to assess the degree of overlap. These materials can be entered as appendices "for review only".
Please note that all submissions should be double-spaced.
Research and Applications
Research and Applications articles describe original work in the formulation, implementation, or evaluation of informatics-based studies and investigations. The articles do not need to be limited to hypothesis-driven research, and they can, for example, report on an innovative application of information technology, the detailed description of a new methodology, or the formulation and formative evaluation of a new model. The structured abstract should contain the headings: Objective, Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion, and Conclusion. The main text should, in addition to the sections corresponding to these headings, include a section describing Background and Significance.
Word count: up to 4000 words.
Structured abstract: up to 250 words.
Tables: up to 4.
Figures: up to 6.
References: unlimited.
Reviews
Review articles contain systematic reviews of the literature or concise tutorials on topics of broad interest to the readers.
The structured abstract and text for a systematic review should follow the same format as the one required of Research & Applications articles described above.
The structured abstract for a tutorial should contain the headings: Objectives, Target Audience, and Scope (covered topics).
Word count: up to 4000 words.
Structured abstract: up to 250 words.
Tables: up to 4.
Figures: up to 6.
References: unlimited.
Brief Communications
Brief Communications are short versions of Research and Applications articles, often describing focused approaches to solve a particular problem, or preliminary evaluation of a novel system or methodology.
Word count: up to 2000 words.
Structured abstract: up to 150 words.
Tables: up to 2.
Figures: up to 3.
References: unlimited.
Case Reports
Case Reports describe the experience of an institution or consortium in implementing information systems or informatics methods.
Word count: up to 2000 words.
Structured abstract: up to 150 words.
Tables: up to 2.
Figures: up to 3.
References: unlimited.
Perspectives
Perspectives report on the views of an organization or opinion leaders on topics of importance to the readers, including new policies and regulations, new directions for research, and perspectives on the success or failure of informatics initiatives affecting a large number of individuals.
Word count: up to 2000 words.
Structured abstract: up to 150 words.
Tables: up to 2.
Figures: up to 3.
References: unlimited.
Correspondence
Correspondence articles contain letters to the editor, with requests for clarification or criticism from readers, and rebuttals from authors.
Word count: up to 1000 words.
Tables: up to 1.
Figures: up to 1.
References: up to 5.
Editorials and Highlights
Editorials and Highlights are commissioned articles.
Word count: up to 1000 words.
Tables: up to 1.
Figures: up to 1.
References: up to 5.
Cover letter
Your cover letter should inform the Editor of any special considerations regarding your submission, including but not limited to:
- Details of related papers by the same author(s) already published or under consideration for publication.
- Details of previous reviews of the submitted article.
- Copies of related papers, previous Editors’ and reviewers' comments, and responses to those comments can be submitted using the File Designation "Supplementary file for Editors only". Editors encourage authors to submit previous communications as doing so is likely to expedite the review process.
NIH Employees
Manuscripts authored or co-authored by one or more NIH employees must be submitted with a completed and signed NIH Publishing Agreement and Manuscript Cover Sheet according to NIH’s Employee Procedures.
Crossref Funding Data Registry
In order to meet your funding requirements authors are required to name their funding sources, or state if there are none, during the submission process. For further information on this process or to find out more about CHORUS, visit the CHORUS initiative.
Title page
The title page must contain the following information:
- Title of the article.
- Full name, postal address, e-mail and telephone number of the corresponding author.
- Full name, department, institution, city, country, and degree of all co-authors.
- Up to five keywords or phrases suitable for use in an index (it is recommended to use MeSH terms).
- Word count, excluding title page, abstract, references, figures and tables.
Manuscript format
The manuscript must be submitted as a Word document. Compiled PDF is accepted only if the source file is LaTeX.
The manuscript should be presented in the following order:
- Title page.
- Abstract (Note: references should not be included in abstracts or summaries).
- Main text separated under appropriate headings and subheadings using the following hierarchy: BOLD CAPS, bold lower case, Plain text, Italics.
- Tables should be in Word format and placed in the main text where the table is first cited.
- Tables must be cited in the main text in numerical order.
- Acknowledgments, Competing Interests, Funding and all other required statements.
- Reference list.
Images must be uploaded as separate files (view further details under the Figures/illustrations section). All images must be cited within the main text in numerical order and legends should be provided at the end of the manuscript.
Appendices should be uploaded using the File Designation "Supplementary File" and cited in the main text.
Please remove any hidden text headers or footers from your file before submission.
Graphical/Video Abstracts
JAMIA offers authors the opportunity to publish either a video or graphical abstract that illustrates the content of an article. This image can contain text such as labels, but does not have a figure legend. There are no costs to add these features to an article. Abstract files should be submitted at the revision stage, and uploaded as separate files outside of the main manuscript.
Style
Abbreviations and symbols must be standard. SI units should be used throughout, except for blood pressure values which should be reported in mm Hg.
Whenever possible, drugs should be given their approved generic name. Where a proprietary (brand) name is used, it should begin with a capital letter.
Acronyms should be used sparingly and fully explained when first used.
Figures
For more information on preparing figures, see OUP’s Author Resource Centre on figures.
Figure accessibility and alt text
Incorporating alt text (alternative text) when submitting your paper helps to foster inclusivity and accessibility. Good alt text ensures that individuals with visual impairments or those using screen readers can comprehend the content and context of your figures. The aim of alt text is to provide concise and informative descriptions of your figure so that all readers have access to the same level of information and understanding, and that all can engage with and benefit from the visual elements integral to scholarly content. Including alt text demonstrates a commitment to accessibility and enhances the overall impact and reach of your work.
Alt text is applicable to all images, figures, illustrations, and photographs.
Alt text is only accessible via e-reader and so it won’t appear as part of the typeset article.
Detailed guidance on how to draft and submit alt text.
Tables
Tables should be in Word format and placed in the main text where the table is first cited. Tables must be cited in the main text in numerical order. Please note that tables embedded as Excel files within the manuscript are NOT accepted. Tables in Excel should be copied and pasted into the manuscript Word file.
Tables should be self-explanatory and the data they contain must not be duplicated in the text or figures. Any tables submitted that are longer/larger than 2 pages will be published as online only supplementary material.
Multimedia files
You may submit multimedia files to enhance your article. Video files are preferred in .WMF or .AVI formats, but can also be supplied as .FLV, .Mov, and .MP4. When submitting, please ensure you upload them using the File Designation "Supplementary File - Video".
References
Authors are responsible for the accuracy of cited references and these should be checked before the manuscript is submitted.
Citing in the text
References must be numbered sequentially as they appear in the text. References cited in figures or tables (or in their legends and footnotes) should be numbered according to the place in the text where that table or figure is first cited. Reference numbers in the text should be inserted immediately after punctuation (with no word spacing)—for example,[6] not [6].
Where more than one reference is cited, these should be separated by a comma, for example,[1, 4, 39]. For sequences of consecutive numbers, give the first and last number of the sequence separated by a hyphen, for example,[22-25]. References provided in this format are translated during the production process to superscript type, and act as hyperlinks from the text to the quoted references in electronic forms of the article.
Please note that if references are not cited in order the manuscript may be returned for amendment before it is passed on to the Editor for review.
Preparing the reference list
References must be numbered consecutively in the order in which they are mentioned in the text.
Only papers published or in press should be included in the reference list. Personal communications or unpublished data must be cited in parentheses in the text with the name(s) of the source(s) and the year. Authors should request permission from the source to cite unpublished data.
Reference style
List the names and initials of all authors if there are 3 or fewer; otherwise list the first 3 and add ‘et al.’ (The exception is the Journal of Medical Genetics, which lists all authors). Use one space only between words up to the year and then no spaces. The journal title should be in italic and abbreviated according to the style of Medline. If the journal is not listed in Medline then it should be written out in full.
Example references
Journal article
13 Koziol-Mclain J, Brand D, Morgan D, et al. Measuring injury risk factors: question reliability in a statewide sample. Inj Prev 2000;6:148–50.
Chapter in book
14 Nagin D. General deterrence: a review of the empirical evidence. In: Blumstein A, Cohen J, Nagin D, eds. Deterrence and Incapacitation: Estimating the Effects of Criminal Sanctions on Crime Rates. Washington, DC: National Academy of Sciences 1978:95–139.
Book
15 Howland J. Preventing Automobile Injury: New Findings From Evaluative Research. Dover, MA: Auburn House Publishing Company 1988:163–96.
Abstract/supplement
16 Roxburgh J, Cooke RA, Deverall P, et al. Haemodynamic function of the carbomedics bileaflet prosthesis [abstract]. Br Heart J 1995;73(Suppl 2):P37.
Electronic citations
Websites are referenced with their URL and access date, and as much other information as is available. Access date is important as websites can be updated and URLs change. The "date accessed" can be later than the acceptance date of the paper, and it can be just the month accessed.
Electronic journal articles
Morse SS. Factors in the emergency of infectious diseases. Emerg Infect Dis 1995 Jan-Mar;1(1). www.cdc.gov/nciod/EID/vol1no1/morse.htm (accessed 5 Jun 1998).
Electronic letters
Bloggs J. Title of letter. Journal name Online [eLetter] Date of publication. url eg: Krishnamoorthy KM, Dash PK. Novel approach to transseptal puncture. Heart Online [eLetter] 18 September 2001. http://heart.bmj.com/cgi/eletters/86/5/e11#EL1
Language Editing
Language editing, if your first language is not English, to ensure that the academic content of your paper is fully understood by journal editors and reviewers is optional. Language editing does not guarantee that your manuscript will be accepted for publication.
Further information on the Language services in available.
Several specialist language editing companies offer similar services and you can also use any of these. Authors are liable for all costs associated with such services.
Preprint Policy
Authors retain the right to make an Author’s Original Version (preprint) available through various channels, and this does not prevent submission to the journal. For further information see our Online Licensing, Copyright and Permissions policies. If accepted, the authors are required to update the status of any preprint, including your published paper’s DOI, as described on our Author Self-Archiving policy page.
Charges, Licences, and Self-Archiving Policy
Open Access
Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association (JAMIA) authors have the option to publish their paper under the open access initiative; whereby, for a charge, their paper will be made freely available online immediately upon publication. After your manuscript is accepted, the corresponding author will be required to accept a mandatory licence to publish agreement. As part of the licensing process, you will be asked to indicate whether or not you wish to pay for open access. If you do not select the open access option, your paper will be published with standard subscription-based access and you will not be charged.
JAMIA offers the option of publishing under either a standard licence or an open access licence. Please note that some funders require open access publication as a condition of funding. If you are unsure whether you are required to publish open access, please do clarify any such requirements with your funder or institution.
Should you wish to publish your article open access, you should select your choice of open access licence in our online system after your article has been accepted for publication. You will need to pay an open access charge to publish under an open access licence.
Details of the open access licences and open access charges.
OUP has a growing number of Read and Publish agreements with institutions and consortia which provide funding for open access publishing. This means authors from participating institutions can publish open access, and the institution may pay the charge. Find out if your institution is participating.
Please note that you may be eligible for a discount to the open access charge based on society membership. Authors may be asked to prove eligibility for the member discount.
Data Archiving
JAMIA recognizes that data are important components of scientific reporting and that they must be archived for future generations. JAMIA authors can now deposit their data in a public repository, known as Dryad, at no charge. Authors will be sent a link upon submission to JAMIA that describes the process for depositing data. Data will not be required for the review process. All analyses reported in an article must be repeatable using the archived data.
The inclusion of a Data Availability Statement is a requirement for articles published in JAMIA. Data Availability Statements provide a standardized format for readers to understand the availability of data underlying the research results described in the article. The statement may refer to original data generated in the course of the study or to third-party data analyzed in the article. The statement should describe and provide means of access, where possible, by linking to the data or providing the required unique identifier.
More information and example Data Availability statements can be found here.
JAMIA supports the Force 11 Data Citation Principles and requires that all publicly available datasets be fully referenced in the reference list with an accession number or unique identifier such as a digital object identifier (DOI). Data citations should include the minimum information recommended by DataCite:
[dataset]* Authors, Year, Title, Publisher (repository name), Identifier.
*The inclusion of the [dataset] tag at the beginning of the citation helps us to correctly identify and tag the citation. This tag will be removed from the citation published in the reference list.
Self-archiving
Self-archiving refers to posting a copy of your work on a publicly accessible website or repository. Under certain circumstances, you may self-archive versions of your work on your own webpages, on institutional webpages, and in other repositories. For information about the Journal's policy, and to learn which version(s) of your paper are acceptable for self-archiving, please see our Author self-archiving policy.
Preprint use of journal content
Authors may also upload their accepted manuscript PDF ("a post-print"*) to institutional and/or centrally organized repositories. However the journal strongly encourages authors to deposit the final published version of the article instead of the post-print version. This will guarantee that the definitive version is readily available to those accessing your article from such repositories, and means that your article is more likely to be cited correctly.
* Definition of a post-print: The final draft author manuscript, as accepted for publication, including modifications based on referees' suggestions but before it has undergone copyediting and proof correction.
If uploading a post-print to a repository, authors are required to include a credit line (see last bullet point below) and a link to the final published version of the article.
Authors should include the following credit line when depositing post-prints: This is a pre-copy-editing, author-produced PDF of an article accepted for publication in JAMIA following peer review. The definitive publisher-authenticated version [insert complete citation information here] is available online at [insert URL that author receives upon publication here].
Prior to acceptance for publication, authors retain the right to make a pre-print* version of the article available on your own personal website and/or that of your employer and/or in free public servers of preprints and/or articles in your subject area, provided that where possible:
*Definition of a pre-print: An un-refereed author version of the article.
You acknowledge that the article has been accepted for publication in JAMIA ©: [year] [owner as specified on the article] Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Medical Informatics Association. All rights reserved.
Once the article has been published, we do not require that pre-print versions are removed from where they are available. However, we do ask that these are not updated or replaced with the finally published version. Once an article is published, a link could be provided to the final authoritative version on the Oxford Journals Web site. Where possible, the pre-print notice should be amended to: “This is an electronic version of an article published in [include the complete citation information for the final version of the article].”
Once an article is accepted for publication, an author may not make a pre-print available as above or replace an existing pre-print with the final published version.
More information on Author self-archiving policy.
In case of any additional queries, please contact Journals Permissions.
Article Promotion
Social Media
JAMIA content that is shared on Twitter is the most read journal content. As part of manuscript submission, we want you to submit a tweet about your article. If your article is published, we may tweet about it and we encourage you to do the same.
Good tweets are informative, practical and brief. Don’t use complicated language and use a hashtag that makes sense along with the #JAMIA hashtag. Can you make it fun? That will make your tweet even better. If your article have keywords that are recognizable to the general public, that may also increase the reach of your tweet. #health, #medicine, #cancer, #healthIT
For more information about how to use Twitter and other social media venues to connect with academic researchers, students, authors, and others around the world, visit our Social media for Authors page.
