BMJ Case Reports

[Thesimplelifeofamyloid]

How valuable is publishing in BMJ case reports for residency? Is BMJ viewed as a lower-tier option for case report publications, versus a specialty specific journal?

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[Lawpy]

I mean case reports are pretty fluff and the journal looks weak.

It's better than nothing but i'd look for something more involved

 

[Thesimplelifeofamyloid]

I mean case reports are pretty fluff and the journal looks weak.

It's better than nothing but i'd look for something more involved

I have 5-6 other things. I just wanted to see if it's worthwhile to search for a better journal for this case report, or just cut my losses. The case came out of an ongoing study that I was helping out with

1. Coauthoring book chapter
2. Another Case report/literature review type article
3. 3-4 presentations, a few abstracts
4. A paper that got published as part of a conference proceeding, being made to a book. Hopefully will be able to put the sister study in an actual journal

Thoughts?

 

[Lawpy]

I have 5-6 other things. I just wanted to see if it's worthwhile to search for a better journal for this case report, or just cut my losses. The case came out of an ongoing study that I was helping out with

1. Coauthoring book chapter
2. Another Case report/literature review type article
3. 3-4 presentations, a few abstracts
4. A paper that got published as part of a conference proceeding, being made to a book. Hopefully will be able to put the sister study in an actual journal

Thoughts?

Oh in that case, i think it's ok. The thing with case reports in general is they're not really viewed of much importance unless it's something completely novel, unexpected and groundbreaking. So journals tailored to case reports are usually on weaker side since people barely reference them.

I think BMJ Case Reports is an ok journal to submit the case report. It doesn't appear to be a predatory nor crappy journal.

 

[Thesimplelifeofamyloid]

Oh in that case, i think it's ok. The thing with case reports in general is they're not really viewed of much importance unless it's something completely novel, unexpected and groundbreaking. So journals tailored to case reports are usually on weaker side since people barely reference them.

I think BMJ Case Reports is an ok journal to submit the case report. It doesn't appear to be a predatory nor crappy journal.

Makes sense. About how much research do you think is competitive?

 

[Lawpy]

Makes sense. About how much research do you think is competitive?

Really depends on the specialty. I think looking at Charting Outcomes is way to go

 

[Goro]

How valuable is publishing in BMJ case reports for residency? Is BMJ viewed as a lower-tier option for case report publications, versus a specialty specific journal?

I just looked for an impact factor and they report that they don't have one,, and another source has it as .44. That's D-league ball. You can do better.

 

[Thesimplelifeofamyloid]

I just looked for an impact factor and they report that they don't have one,, and another source has it as .44. That's D-league ball. You can do better.

Understood. I usually try to avoid them, and find a specialty specific journal. I'm just wondering if I should "risk it all" by trying for a harder journal or take the safe bet on it being accepted before ERAS

 

[Goro]

Understood. I usually try to avoid them, and find a specialty specific journal. I'm just wondering if I should "risk it all" by trying for a harder journal or take the safe bet on it being accepted before ERAS

You can mass email editors of better journals and ask "if this is something they'd be interested in".

 

[GoSpursGo]

How valuable is publishing in BMJ case reports for residency? Is BMJ viewed as a lower-tier option for case report publications, versus a specialty specific journal?

BMJ case reports is a legit journal, and a fine landing spot for a case report. It is also undeniably less attractive than a specialty-specific journal.

The question I think you need to ask yourself is why you think your case should be reported. Is it a truly novel presentation of an interesting medical condition? Do you have some correlative studies that shed light on why your patient presented this way? Or is it simply a cool case that adds to the literature, but isn’t novel?

If there’s something unique about how you’re presenting your case, it may be worth going for a specialty-specific journal. If not, then I think you may have a tough time convincing a “higher tier” journal to take your case. This is where talking with your mentors and getting their sense of a good landing spot for your article can really help.

Finally, keep in mind that no matter how you dress this up, it’s still a case report. This isn’t going to make or break your application, and at the end of the day its probably not worth sinking a lot of time into trying to publish it. In your situation it’s probably not worth shopping around and you may do better to just get it off your plate at a journal where you can be relatively confident of acceptance.

 

[Thesimplelifeofamyloid]

BMJ case reports is a legit journal, and a fine landing spot for a case report. It is also undeniably less attractive than a specialty-specific journal.

The question I think you need to ask yourself is why you think your case should be reported. Is it a truly novel presentation of an interesting medical condition? Do you have some correlative studies that shed light on why your patient presented this way? Or is it simply a cool case that adds to the literature, but isn’t novel?

If there’s something unique about how you’re presenting your case, it may be worth going for a specialty-specific journal. If not, then I think you may have a tough time convincing a “higher tier” journal to take your case. This is where talking with your mentors and getting their sense of a good landing spot for your article can really help.

Finally, keep in mind that no matter how you dress this up, it’s still a case report. This isn’t going to make or break your application, and at the end of the day its probably not worth sinking a lot of time into trying to publish it. In your situation it’s probably not worth shopping around and you may do better to just get it off your plate at a journal where you can be relatively confident of acceptance.

From my understanding, research for residency applications is more of a numbers game then anything. I definitely know it won't break my application, but I think the more generally the better. I was told by an attending that it was pretty unique finding. It was part of an ongoing study that got halted due to covid. I don't know about game changing, but still interesting from a diagnostic standpoint. I targeted a few journals that might take it, and I was given the greenlight in regards to that.

 

[Thesimplelifeofamyloid]

You can mass email editors of better journals and ask "if this is something they'd be interested in".

Thanks for the suggestion! How robust are the replies? I've thought of this before, but I just don't want to get told, "if you're interested in this journal, please go through the appropriate avenues for submission." Is it usually the main editor that you contact?

 

[GoSpursGo]

Thanks for the suggestion! How robust are the replies? I've thought of this before, but I just don't want to get told, "if you're interested in this journal, please go through the appropriate avenues for submission." Is it usually the main editor that you contact?

It’s usually the editor in chief, or the appropriate section editor. I would say that for a case report, you are unlikely to get a useful response to a pre-submission inquiry, though it can’t hurt.

I agree with your prior post that residency is more a numbers game than anything, and that’s where I was going with my advice. This just doesn’t seem like something that is worth investing hours to find an impact factor 2 journal that will take it.

 

[Thesimplelifeofamyloid]

It’s usually the editor in chief, or the appropriate section editor. I would say that for a case report, you are unlikely to get a useful response to a pre-submission inquiry, though it can’t hurt.

I agree with your prior post that residency is more a numbers game than anything, and that’s where I was going with my advice. This just doesn’t seem like something that is worth investing hours to find an impact factor 2 journal that will take it.

Agreed. I can send out a few emails, and see what happens, then do BMJ if all else fails. I just hope people don't see BMJ as the journal that takes anything

 

[agiraffe999]

I mean considering you have to pay to become a fellow, I've never bothered submitting there. I just do other field specific (non-predatory) journals. I'm not a fan of paying to have the privilege to submit to their journal, I'd rather submit somewhere w/o money and seems more legit. I'm not sure tho, just my 2 cents.

 

[Thesimplelifeofamyloid]

I mean considering you have to pay to become a fellow, I've never bothered submitting there. I just do other field specific (non-predatory) journals.

Our department has an agreement with them to submit for free

 

[agiraffe999]

Our department has an agreement with them to submit for free

Oh that's nice then. I wish my school had that. BMJ is also a real medical journal so its not a negative I don't think. Definetly ask one of your attending however

 

[Dwan]

I just looked for an impact factor and they report that they don't have one,, and another source has it as .44. That's D-league ball. You can do better.

Normal journals may have a higher impact, but that's due to the original papers and reviews, not the case reports (hence why many journals are now creating an open-access case report companion, or have stopped accepting them). Case reports are pretty rarely cited anywhere and for residents, are just used to showcase your writing/basic research skills. BMJ Case Reports isn't a terrible journal for this purpose - it is Pubmed indexed and non-predatory. There also isn't a massive upgrade in value in getting into a better journal, as that's more of a function of the case's novelty than your research skills.

 

[Thesimplelifeofamyloid]

Normal journals may have a higher impact, but that's due to the original papers and reviews, not the case reports (hence why many journals are now creating an open-access case report companion, or have stopped accepting them). Case reports are pretty rarely cited anywhere and for residents, are just used to showcase your writing/basic research skills. BMJ Case Reports isn't a terrible journal for this purpose - it is Pubmed indexed and non-predatory. There also isn't a massive upgrade in value in getting into a better journal, as that's more of a function of the case's novelty than your research skills.

Question for everyone: Say if the email for the editor of chief wasn't on the journals website, but their university email could be found when searching on google, would it be reasonable to use that? Or should it be the Associate Managing Editor or production editor?

 

[SurfingDoctor]

Its a publication so that's good. Case reports are kinda garbage, but its better than nothing.