HOME AUTHOR INSTRUCTIONS REVIEWER INSTRUCTIONS LOGOUT JOURNAL HOME

Manuscript Submission Instructions

For complete manuscript preparation instructions and guidelines regarding journal policy, see JAMA’s Instructions for Authors .

NOTE: Please ensure that your browser is set to accept cookies , as the system requires them for proper operation.

Navigating the Site
Information and Materials You Will Need
Submission Process
Protected/Encrypted Files
Unusual Characters
Getting Help
Checking Manuscript Status
Review Process
Submit Your Manuscript

The first time you use the JAMA manuscript submission site, you will be asked to register for an account, which includes choosing a user name and password. You will use the same user name and password for author and reviewer functions. Please save this information and do not share your user name and password. After setting up your account and logging in, you will reach a Home Page personalized for you, where different categories of tasks are listed. If you are required to perform a task, a red arrow will appear next to a manuscript link. If no red arrows are visible on your Home Page, you have no outstanding tasks to complete.

You may log into the system at any time to submit a manuscript or to check on the status of previously submitted manuscripts. To submit a manuscript, select the Submit Manuscript link.

If you have previously submitted a manuscript to JAMA, at least 1 of these folders will appear beneath the Submit Manuscript link:

  • Live Manuscripts: This folder includes links to all manuscripts currently under review.

  • Post Decision Manuscripts: This folder includes links to all manuscripts for which a final editorial decision has been made.

Information and Materials You Will Need

Before submitting a manuscript, please gather the following information and materials:

All Authors:

  • Full names: First Name (Given) and Last Name (Family or Surname) (eg, Jane Q. Author or Q. Jane Author, not JQ Author or QJ Author).

  • Email addresses: Accurate email addresses are required for all authors. All communications concerning manuscript submissions and authorship forms are done through email.

  • Postal/mail address and telephone number for the corresponding author..

  • Title. You can copy and paste this from your manuscript, but do not delete the title from the manuscript file. Make sure there are no line breaks in the title.

  • Abstract. You can copy and paste this from your manuscript, but do not delete the abstract from the manuscript file. If submitting a structured abstract, add a line space between each section. Follow word limit instructions for abstracts (see Instructions for Authors ).

Conflict of Interest Disclosures: Each author’s potential conflicts of interest including relevant financial interests, activities, relationships, and affiliations as well as declarations of no conflicts of interest, must be included in the Acknowledgment section of the manuscript. Authors who are asked to revise their manuscripts, and before manuscripts are accepted, will be asked to submit a completed ICMJE Form for Disclosure of Potential Conflicts of Interest (available online at http://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/pages/instructions-for-authors ). Corresponding authors will be asked to verify that the disclosure information in the Acknowledgment section of the manuscript is consistent with that reported in the ICMJE disclosure forms. Each author will be sent an email with instructions for completing the forms at the appropriate time. For more information see the Instructions for Authors .

Clinical Trial Registration: Registration is required for all randomized clinical trials. The name of the registry and registration identifier must be included at the end of the abstract. Authors of randomized trials should also submit CONSORT flow diagrams, completed CONSORT checklists, and copies of trial protocols. Please review Trial Registration Requirements located in the Instructions for Authors .

Cover letter: Include a cover letter and complete contact information for the corresponding author (affiliation, postal/mail address, email address, and telephone number) and whether the authors have published or submitted any related papers from the same study (see Duplicate/Previous Publication or Submission ).

Manuscript: Submit the manuscript file (Article File) in Word format. Do not submit the manuscript file as a PDF. Your manuscript will be converted to a PDF during the submission process. Do not include line numbers as these will be added to your manuscript during the PDF conversion process. The manuscript file should be double-spaced throughout, and should contain the following items in this order: title page, abstract, manuscript text, acknowledgment section, references, figure legends, and tables. Figures should be submitted as separate files (1 file per figure or composite figure) and not included in the manuscript text.  For other requirements, see the Instructions for Authors .  We recommend individual file sizes of no more than 500 KB and not exceeding 1 MB, with the total size for all files not exceeding 5 MB (not including any video files). Additional information on preparing files suitable for editorial assessment can be found in the Manuscript Preparation and Submission Requirements section of our Instructions for Authors .

Tables: For initial submission and review, acceptable table file formats include Excel and Word. If using Excel, do not place tables on individual spreadsheets within the same file because only the top sheet will be converted. Preferably, tables should be appended to the end of the manuscript text file (after any figure legends) instead of being uploaded as separate files. Additional information can be found in the Instructions for Authors and in the Table Creation section . Please note: If you are asked to submit a revised manuscript, you will be asked to place the tables at the end of the manuscript file, after any figure legends if you have not already done so.

Figures: For initial submission and review, acceptable figure file formats are AI, BMP, DOC, EMF, EPS, JPG, PDF, PPT, PSD, TIF, WMF, and XLS. For initial submission, figures can be included in the manuscript. If the manuscript is revised, figures must be uploaded as separate files. In addition, for multi-part figures, create 1 file for each figure, with all parts included in the same file. Figures should be of sufficient quality for editorial assessment. If your manuscript is accepted, you may be asked to provide high-resolution, uncompressed TIFF files (see Figure File Requirements for Publication ). Additional information on figure preparation can be found in the Instructions for Authors .

Online-Only Supplements: Authors may submit supporting material to accompany their article for online-only publication when there is insufficient space to include the material in the print article. This material should be important to the understanding and interpretation of the report and should not repeat material in the print article. The amount of online-only material should be limited and justified. Online-only material should be original and not previously published.

  • Online-only material will undergo editorial and peer review with the main manuscript. If the manuscript is accepted for publication and if the online-only material is deemed appropriate for publication by the editors, it will be posted online at the time of publication of the article as additional material provided by the authors. This material will not be edited or formatted; thus, authors are responsible for the accuracy and presentation of all such material.

  • Online-only material should be submitted in a single Word document with pages numbered consecutively. Each element included in the online-only material should be cited in the text of the main manuscript (eg, eTable in the Supplement) and numbered in order of citation in the text (eg, eTable 1, eTable 2, eFigure 1, eFigure 2, eMethods). The first page of the online-only document should list the number and title of each element included in the document.

Video: For editorial and peer review of an initial submission, videos in .mov, .wmv, .mpg, .mped, .mp4, or .avi file format. To facilitate uploading and reviewing, the initial video submission should not exceed 25 MB, should be no longer than 5 minutes, and should have a minimum width of 480 pixels. If your manuscript is accepted, you may be asked to submit a higher quality version of the video without any restriction on file size.

  • For each video, provide a citation in the appropriate place in the manuscript text and include a title (a brief phrase, preferably no longer than 10 to 15 words) and a caption at the end of the manuscript. In the video caption, specify the video file format and briefly describe the content of the video. Also, enter the same title and caption in the designated fields on the Web-based manuscript submission system when uploading each video. If multiple video files are submitted, number them in the order in which they should be viewed.

  • If patient(s) are identifiable in the video, authors must submit with the video the Patient Permission form completed and signed by the patient. See also Patient Descriptions, Photographs, Videos, and Pedigrees below.

  • If the author does not hold copyright to the video, the author must obtain permission for the video to be published in the JAMA. This permission must be for unrestricted use in all print, online, and licensed versions of the JAMA. Additional information can be found in the Instructions for Authors .

Note: If the manuscript and accompanying video(s) are accepted for publication, all video files will be placed into a journal video frame and may be edited by journal staff according to journal style. The journal staff may contact you to request the original full-size video without text of labels to be sent by email, FTP, or CD/DVD.

Audio: For editorial and peer review of an initial submission, submit audio files in .mp3, .wav, or .aiff file format. To facilitate uploading and reviewing, the initial audio files submitted should not exceed 10 megabytes, sampling rate should be either 44.1 kHz or 48 kHz, bit rate should be either 16 or 24 bit, and audio level should not exceed 0 dBFS. For each audio file, provide a citation in the appropriate place in the manuscript text and include a title and a caption at the end of the manuscript.  If your manuscript is accepted, you will be asked to submit the original uncompressed audio file with no minimum file size.

Authorship Forms: Authorship forms are required for all authors. Each author will be sent an email with instructions for submitting the forms at the appropriate time.

Patient Descriptions, Photographs, Videos, and Pedigrees: Include a signed statement of informed consent to publish (in print and online) patient descriptions, photographs, videos, and pedigrees from all persons (parents or legal guardians for minors) who can be identified in such written descriptions, photographs, videos, or pedigrees. Such persons should be offered the opportunity to see the manuscript before submission. (See Patient Permission Form) Please do not send masked photographs of patients.

Submission Process

The manuscript submission process includes 6 steps that gather information about your manuscript and allow you to upload the pertinent files (cover letter, manuscript text, tables, figures, and related materials).

  1. Select Manuscript Type. Choose the type of manuscript you wish to submit. A brief description of the manuscript type will appear with a link to the Instructions for Authors.
  2. Upload Manuscript Files. Click the Browse button to view a directory of your computer.  Navigate to where your files are stored. You may select more than 1 file at a time to upload. After selecting the files, click the Upload Files button. Alternatively, you may select your manuscript files for uploading by dragging and dropping files stored on your computer into the designated area on the screen. After your files are uploaded, use the Move icon to place the files in the correct order.

    Supplemental Material. The types of supplemental material include Online-Only Supplemental Material , Trial Protocol/Statistical Analysis , Supporting Checklists and Diagrams , Confidential Additional Documentation, Author Form , and Patient Permission Form. Click on the supplemental material type to view our Instructions for Authors for more information.

  3. Enter Manuscript Information. You will be asked to enter author details including contact information for all authors. Unique, valid email addresses are mandatory. You will be guided through a series of screen requesting additional manuscript information and affiliations for you and your coauthors.

  4. File Verification. After the individual and/or merged PDFs have been created, you will be asked to review and approve the PDF of you cover letter and the merged PDF of your article file to ensure that you are satisfied with how your manuscript is displayed for editors and reviewers.

  5. Review Manuscript Information. Confirm that your manuscript information is complete and correct any errors.

  6. Submit Your Manuscript. When you are satisfied that the submission is complete, click the Submit button. We will not begin the editorial review process until you click this button.

Protected/Encrypted Files

The manuscript submission system cannot convert password-protected or encrypted files. If any of your files are password protected or encrypted, you should disable the protection or encryption before submission.

Unusual Characters

Occasionally you may notice that unusual or erroneous characters appear in your text in place of the intended text. This is caused by your browser character settings. To prevent this problem, you should make your character settings as broad as possible by choosing a Unicode or ISO character setting. To check or change your current settings, choose View from your browser menu and then Encoding.

Getting Help

If you need additional help, you can click on the help signs that appear throughout the system. A help dialogue box will pop up with context-sensitive help. If you have questions or problems with your submission, please contact the editorial office by email at jamams@jamanetwork.org or by telephone at +312-464-4444 (7 AM to 5 PM Central Time, Monday through Friday).

Checking Manuscript Status

After you approve your manuscript, you are finished with the submission process. To check the status of your manuscript throughout the editorial review process:

  1. Log into the system with your user name and password.

  2. Select the Live Manuscripts folder on your Home Page.

  3. Select the Check Status link for the appropriate manuscript.

Review Process

The manuscript submission and editorial review process is as follows:

  1. An author submits a manuscript.

  2. The manuscript is assigned to an editor.

  3. The editor reviews the manuscript and makes an initial decision based on manuscript quality and editorial priorities, usually either to send the manuscript to peer reviewers or to reject the manuscript at that point so that the author can submit it to another journal.

  4. For those manuscripts sent to peer reviewers, the editor makes a decision based on editorial priorities, manuscript quality, reviewer recommendations, and perhaps discussion with fellow editors. At this point, the decision is usually to request a revised manuscript, reject the manuscript, or provisionally accept the manuscript.

  5. The decision letter is sent to the author.

Submit Your Manuscript

The manuscript submission process starts by clicking the Submit Manuscript link on your Home Page. Make sure you have gathered all of the required manuscript information listed above before starting the submission process.

We prefer that all submissions be handled via the online system unless otherwise noted. After completing your submission online, do not send an additional copy by mail or fax.

If you cannot submit online for any reason or have other questions about manuscript submission, please contact the JAMA editorial office at jamams@jamanetwork.org or +312-464-4444 (7 AM to 5 PM Central Time, Monday through Friday).

Please press HOME to continue.