A journal that has published case reports may not invite them now, and consent forms, fees and preprint rules can rule it out before an editor reads a word.
Start with the lesson, not the journal list
Deciding where to publish a case report gets much easier once you can say, in one sentence, what the case teaches. Journals state what cases they want, and their criteria differ more than their titles suggest. Three dedicated case report journals show the range. The details here and below come from their instructions for authors at the time of writing, so check the current version before relying on them.
- BMJ Case Reports publishes common and rare cases, provided there is something new to learn.
- Journal of Medical Case Reports lists specific grounds, such as unusual side effects of medications, unexpected presentations of a disease, new associations between diseases or symptoms, and findings that shed light on pathogenesis.
- JACC: Case Reports, a cardiology title, accepts everyday educational or rare cases with clear learning objectives, whether the condition is rare or common.
Rarity, then, is not the test. The test is whether you can name the lesson and the reader who needs it:
| If the lesson is mainly about | The readers who need it most |
|---|---|
| A missed or misleading diagnosis | Clinicians who see the presenting complaint, not only specialists in the final diagnosis |
| An unexpected adverse effect | Prescribers of that drug, and the specialty that manages the reaction |
| A new association or mechanism | The specialty that studies the underlying disease |
| A management problem with no clear guideline | Clinicians in the specialty that faces the decision |
If the point of the report is that a treatment worked, expect fewer takers. BMJ Case Reports does not publish case reports assessing the efficacy or effectiveness of new interventions or drugs, and Journal of Medical Case Reports will not consider case reports describing preventive or therapeutic interventions, because these generally require stronger evidence.
The four kinds of journal that take case reports
| Journal type | Best fit | Check before shortlisting |
|---|---|---|
| Dedicated case report journal covering all of medicine | A lesson useful across specialties | Case criteria, cost model, consent form |
| Dedicated case report journal for one specialty, sometimes linked to a society journal | A lesson for that specialty's readers | Author or format rules specific to that title |
| Specialty journal with a case report article type | A case that could change practice in that field | Whether case report is still a listed article type, and its limits |
| Journal with a clinical image or other short case format | One striking finding that needs little context | Word, reference and author caps for that format |
A specialty title may even be designed with early-career authors in mind. JACC: Case Reports aims to be a publication vehicle for early-career cardiologists, and asks that the first author of a clinical case be an early-career practitioner or trainee, or that the authors explain why not.
Short formats are separate article types, not shortcuts. BMJ Case Reports treats clinical case reports and images as distinct article types with their own templates. If your lesson depends on the whole clinical course rather than one picture, write a full case report.
Be careful with unfamiliar titles. The CARE group's 2017 explanation and elaboration paper noted that new journals focusing on case reports had appeared over the previous decade, some from publishers labelled predatory. Before you trust a new name, run it through our 12 red flags for predatory journals.
Build a shortlist from journals publishing similar cases
The fastest way to find candidates is to see who has published cases like yours:
- Search PubMed for the condition, finding or drug at the centre of your case.
- Apply the Case Reports article type filter, or add "case reports[pt]" to the search, and limit the results to recent years.
- Note the journals that appear more than once.
- Open each journal's current instructions for authors and confirm that case report is a listed article type.
Step 4 is not a formality. A team writing in the Journal of the Medical Library Association searched PubMed for English-language articles tagged as case reports in MEDLINE journals between November 2021 and April 2022, which gave 1,874 journals. When they read the author guidelines, 803 of those journals did not explicitly say they accepted case reports. Their resulting list of 1,028 journals that accept case reports, sorted into 129 specialties, is a useful starting point, but journals change their guidelines, so confirm each one yourself.
Then write down each journal's limits, because they vary. JACC: Case Reports caps a clinical case at 1,500 words, 10 authors and a 150-word abstract, while Journal of Medical Case Reports allows a three-part abstract of up to 350 words and returns submissions without a completed CARE checklist as incomplete. Surgical journals may name the SCARE guideline instead, so use whichever checklist and version the journal specifies.
For the general scope and legitimacy checks that apply to any paper, see how to choose the right journal without getting scammed.
Check indexing at the source
"Is it in PubMed?" is a less useful question than it sounds. PubMed is the search interface, and it draws on MEDLINE, PubMed Central (PMC) and NCBI Bookshelf. A journal's articles can reach PubMed through MEDLINE indexing or through PMC, and PMC also holds individual articles deposited to comply with funder policies. So one PubMed record does not prove the journal itself is indexed.
Look the journal up in the NLM Catalog and read its record:
| The record shows | What it tells you |
|---|---|
| Current Indexing Status: Currently indexed for MEDLINE | It is a MEDLINE journal, so its citations reach PubMed |
| An "In: PubMed" line with PMC, and Not currently indexed for MEDLINE | Its articles reach PubMed through PMC, but it is not a MEDLINE journal |
| No record you can find | Treat any claim of PubMed indexing as unconfirmed and ask the journal for evidence |
In the catalog search box, adding "currentlyindexed" limits results to journals currently indexed for MEDLINE, and "journalspmc" limits them to current PMC journals. Check Scopus or Web of Science claims the same way, in each database's own title list rather than on the journal's homepage.
Work out what it will really cost
Case reports rarely come with funding, so cost often decides between two journals that fit equally well. The team behind that list also sorted journals into five publishing models: subscription with no author fees, subscription with author fees, open access with no fees, open access with fees, and hybrid.
The headline charge is not always the whole bill. The Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) requires listed journals to state every fee an author may pay, including submission fees, editorial processing charges, article processing charges (APCs), page charges and colour charges, or to say there are none. Expect the same clarity from any journal you consider.
The three dedicated journals above use three different arrangements:
- Fellowship. At BMJ Case Reports, the corresponding author must be or become a Fellow, individually or through an institution that holds a Fellowship. Accepted articles carry no additional publication or colour charges, and open access costs a separate fee.
- APC set by article type. Journal of Medical Case Reports is open access, with a lower APC for case reports than its standard rate. The price is fixed by the acceptance date, and discretionary waiver requests are considered only at submission.
- Open-access APC. JACC: Case Reports is open access, with an APC paid by the authors or on their behalf.
Before ranking journals by price, ask your library whether your institution holds a fellowship or open-access agreement that covers any of them, and make waiver requests at submission. Our post on APC waivers and funding language covers how to ask.
Match the consent form to the journal
The ICMJE recommendations on protecting research participants say identifying details should not be published unless they are essential and the patient, parent or guardian gives written informed consent. An identifiable patient should be shown the manuscript, and consent should be obtained whenever there is doubt that anonymity can be maintained. ICMJE leaves it to journals to set their own consent policies, and they differ:
| Journal | How consent is handled |
|---|---|
| BMJ Case Reports | BMJ consent forms are required. Other forms are considered only if they include every BMJ clause, and may still be rejected. The patient must have seen and approved the manuscript |
| Journal of Medical Case Reports | Written informed consent for publication is mandatory for all case reports. Images of patient faces are not considered, and a face that must be shown is cropped to the affected area |
| JACC: Case Reports | Consents are obtained before initial submission and documented in the submission data rather than uploaded, with a confirmation form to sign on acceptance |
The practical rule: choose your first-choice journal and your backup before you sit down with the patient. If they use incompatible forms, you may need a second signature later. Ethics approval is a separate question that depends on your institution and country, so get a written answer from your ethics committee or IRB and word the statement as your target journal asks.
Do not post the case before you choose
Prior-posting rules can knock journals off your list without you noticing. medRxiv declines case reports. BMJ Case Reports does not publish case reports previously submitted to a preprint server, citing patient confidentiality. JACC: Case Reports considers manuscripts only if the data have not appeared on the internet or been published before, except in abstracts of no more than 400 words.
If you plan to present the case at a meeting, check the prior-publication policy of each shortlisted journal before you submit the abstract, and keep slides, images and write-ups off public sites until you know what your target journal allows.
Before you submit
- The one-sentence lesson matches each journal's stated case criteria
- Case report is a listed article type in the current instructions for authors
- Word, abstract, author and figure limits noted for each journal
- Indexing status confirmed in the NLM Catalog
- Full cost known, with fellowship, agreement or waiver routes checked
- Consent signed on a form the first-choice journal accepts
- CARE or SCARE checklist completed if the journal requires one
- Nothing about the case posted publicly
- Second and third journals ranked, with a note on why
Reuse the fit argument in your cover letter. Journal of Medical Case Reports, for one, encourages authors to explain there how the case is rare or unusual and what its educational merits are.
If you are weighing Directive Publications journals, the For Authors page brings together article-type definitions, APC and waiver information, and ethics policies, so you can run the same checks on fit, cost and consent in one place.
Frequently asked questions
Are case reports indexed in PubMed?
PubMed includes case reports, and you can find them with its Case Reports article type filter, but only when the journal's content reaches PubMed, either through MEDLINE indexing or through PubMed Central. A journal can appear in PubMed via PubMed Central while its NLM Catalog record says it is not currently indexed for MEDLINE. Check the journal's NLM Catalog record rather than relying on a badge on its website.
Do case report journals charge publication fees?
Many do, but the models differ. Some open-access journals charge an article processing charge, some subscription journals charge nothing while others add author fees such as page or colour charges, and at least one major case report journal uses a paid fellowship held by the corresponding author or their institution. Find the full fee schedule before you submit, ask your library about institutional agreements, and request any waiver at submission, because some publishers will not consider later requests.
Do I need patient consent to publish a case report?
In practice, yes. ICMJE says identifying information should not be published unless it is essential and the patient gives written informed consent, that an identifiable patient should be shown the manuscript, and that consent should be obtained whenever there is doubt that anonymity can be maintained. Many case report journals require consent for every case report, and some accept only their own form, so choose the target journal before asking the patient to sign.
Which types of journals accept case reports as an article type?
Broadly four types: dedicated case report journals covering all of medicine, dedicated case report journals for one specialty or linked to a society journal, specialty journals that list case reports among their article types, and journals that offer a short case format such as a clinical image. Whichever type you consider, confirm that case report is named in the current instructions for authors, because having published case reports in the past does not mean a journal still invites them.
How unusual does a case need to be to get published?
Less unusual than many authors assume, but it has to teach something. Some journals state that they consider common as well as rare cases when the learning value is clear, while others list specific grounds such as unexpected presentations, unreported adverse drug effects or new disease associations. Write down the lesson in one sentence and compare it with each journal's stated criteria, and note that some case report journals will not consider reports about whether a treatment worked.