Welcome to the JAMA Network we're glad you've decided to send us
your manuscript let's see what happens after you hit submit the editorial
process might seem like an opaque an arbitrary journey your manuscript enters
a black box and exits with a decision if you're wondering what happens during the
editorial process here's an inside view for manuscripts submitted to JAMA
Network journals we believe our readers and authors deserve editorial and peer
review of the highest quality and integrity and here are the steps we take
with each manuscript to achieve that step 1 editorial review your manuscript
will be assigned to reviewing editor JAMA Network editors represent a wide
variety of medical specialties they are leaders in medicine research and
publishing the reviewing editors will evaluate your manuscript if it appears
to be a good fit for the journal the editors will send it for external peer
review if they decide your manuscript is not a good fit
they will rejected or refer it to another JAMA Network journal but more on
that a little later the editors review all submissions
promptly and typically make the initial editorial decision within one week step
2 peer review if your manuscript has been selected for external review a team
of peer reviewers who have expert knowledge of your field will evaluate it
in detail during this stage a statistical reviewer may also review the
manuscript once peer review is complete the editors discuss manuscripts to
decide which ones will be advanced to the next stage which leads us to step 3
revise and resubmit this step of the journey is in your
hands after you receive comments from the editors and reviewers you should
respond within three to four weeks provide detailed responses to all the
comments and queries itemize your responses and show changes to the
revised manuscript should you have specific questions you may email the
reviewing editor once you have submitted your revised manuscript the reviewing
editor will notify you of any need for further revisions and of the final
decision even if your manuscript is rejected that does not have to be the
end of its journey at the JAMA Network you can choose to have your manuscript
along with any reviewer and editor comments refer to other JAMA Network
journals you'll be able to select this option when you submit your manuscript
here are a few tips to increase the likelihood of a favorable editorial
decision read the journal so you are familiar with your article type your
cover letters should be short and focused tell us why your manuscript is
important and why you chose this journal do not overstate your conclusions be
sure they are supported by data carefully follow the specifications for
manuscript preparation you can find these in the four authors page of each
journals website in the instructions for authors if your manuscript is accepted
we move on to step four post acceptance here manuscript editors improve style
and readability and apply uniform editing and reporting guidelines the
graphics team will reformat your figures and charts and optimize them for
publication and we may invite an expert to write an opinion piece to amplify
your work the JAMA Network also has in-house teams that create podcasts
videos and medical illustrations email alerts and social media marketing help
to disseminate your findings widely there's also a media relations team that
makes your practice changing research is covered in the news and the
production team makes your article available in search engines and medical
databases once your article has been published you can track views citations
and media mentions at the top of your article online with all of these
resources your published article will be widely read discoverable and accessible
submit your manuscript now at JAMA Network com