How to Write a Short Communication or Brief Report

A short communication is not a long paper with paragraphs cut out. It is one finding, reported completely, inside limits the journal sets and enforces.

Guide · 11 min read · Directive Publications Editorial Team

What counts as a short communication

A short communication is a journal article type built for one focused finding. Journals give it different names: short communication, brief report, research letter, rapid communication, research note. The names overlap but the rules behind them do not, and the rules are what you write to.

Two examples show how far apart they can be. At the time of writing, JAMA's instructions for authors describe Research Letters as "concise, focused reports of original research" and say that, in general, they should be divided into Introduction, Methods, Results and Discussion. Eurosurveillance's guidance for authors says the opposite for its rapid communications: they "should not have an IMRaD (Introduction, Methods, Results and Discussion) structure", and should use subheadings that suit the content, starting with a brief description of the current event and the aim of the study.

So the first lesson for anyone learning how to write a short communication is that there is no single short communication format. There is the format of the journal you are submitting to.

When a short format suits your study

Common reasons for choosing a short format include a finding that is clear but narrow, a result that is time-sensitive, or a study that was always small in scope. Those are good reasons. Choosing it because the study feels too weak for a full article is not, because the short format removes space, not scrutiny.

A study suits a short communication when:

• the main message fits in one sentence with one key number;
• the methods can be described accurately in a few paragraphs, with any extra detail allowed in a supplement;
• one or two figures or tables carry the evidence;
• the discussion needs to place the result, not build a new argument.

It is a poor fit when the work has several outcomes that only make sense together, when the methods are new and need full description, or when you would have to leave out a limitation to make the word count. In that case write the full article.

Be careful with the opposite temptation. Splitting one study into several short reports so each carries a fragment of the result is the pattern editors call salami slicing. If you are unsure where the line sits, our guide to salami slicing and duplicate publication explains how editors judge it.

Read the journal's limits before you draft

Limits in short formats are tight and journals enforce them. JAMA's instructions state that Research Letters "not meeting these specifications are generally not considered". Write to the limit from the first draft rather than cutting a long draft down.

Here is how two journals set out their short formats, against JAMA's own full-length research article. Check the live instructions before you rely on any figure, because journals revise them.

For your own target journal, collect the same rows, plus three more that catch authors out:

• Supplementary material. JAMA allows online supplements for Research Letters "only for brief additional and absolutely necessary methods but not for any additional results or discussion". Other journals are more generous. Know which rule applies before you plan to move anything out of the main text.
• What counts toward the word limit. JAMA, for example, defines its Original Investigation limit as words of text, not including the abstract, tables, figures, acknowledgments, references and online-only material. Other journals define it differently, so read the definition.
• Author and affiliation rules. Check whether the format limits the number of authors and what it requires for each one. JAMA's Research Letter section, for example, asks for each author's full name, academic degrees and institutional affiliation.

How to write a short communication, step by step

1. Read the journal's format rules. Fill in the table above for the exact article type you are targeting: words, references, figures, tables, abstract and supplement. This short step decides everything that follows.
2. State the single finding. Write one sentence with the main result and its key number, for example the direction and size of an effect with its confidence interval. Every paragraph you write later either supports that sentence or goes.
3. Set a word budget. Divide the limit across the sections before you draft. A starting split is suggested in the next section.
4. Draft the methods and results first. These are what reviewers check and what readers need to judge the finding. Report design, setting, participants, the outcome and how it was measured, and the analysis. Then report the main result with its effect size and uncertainty, not a p-value alone.
5. Write a short introduction and discussion. Give only the background needed to see the gap your finding fills. In the discussion, say what the result means, how it compares with the closest prior evidence, the main limitation, and what should happen next.
6. Cut to the limit and check the extras. Trim to the word count, then check the figure, table and reference caps, the abstract rule, and the cover letter. Disclose any related publication or submission in the cover letter.

Budgeting words across the sections

In a short paper, words go where the evidence is. A common mistake is to spend a third of the limit on background and then squeeze the methods into two sentences a reviewer cannot evaluate.

As an illustration only, for an 800-word IMRaD-style research letter you might start from something like this and adjust:

The split is a planning tool, not a rule, and it will not fit formats such as Eurosurveillance's that do not use IMRaD. The principle carries over: protect the methods and results, and compress everything else.

Some cuts that cost nothing:

• Drop sentences that restate a table or figure. Point to it instead.
• Replace a paragraph of background with one sentence and one well-chosen reference.
• Remove "it is important to note that" and similar framing. Short formats have no room for it.
• Merge study limitations into one sentence that names the limitation that matters most, rather than a list of generic ones.

Two things are not cuts: removing the denominator for a percentage, and removing the measure of uncertainty for an estimate. Reviewers are likely to ask for both.

Keep the reporting complete in fewer words

A short article still reports a study, so the reporting guideline for that study design still applies. A trial reported in a research letter is still a trial, and a cross-sectional analysis is still an observational study. If you are not sure which guideline fits, our overview of CONSORT, PRISMA and STROBE helps you choose. JAMA, for example, says that apart from the abstract and key points, Research Letters "should follow all of the guidelines" in its manuscript preparation requirements.

Practical ways to stay complete inside the limit:

• Use the table for detail. Participant characteristics, definitions and secondary numbers often fit more efficiently in a compact table than in prose, provided the journal's table cap allows it.
• Use the supplement where the journal permits. Put additional methods detail there if allowed, but check the rules first. As noted above, some journals do not accept extra results or discussion in a supplement for short formats.
• Report the essentials in the main text. Ethics approval, consent where relevant, trial registration where relevant, funding and competing interests are not optional because the article is short.
• Keep the title precise. In a short format the title and, where there is one, the short abstract do much of the work of telling readers what you found. Name the population, design and outcome.

Rapid communication: what "rapid" means

Some journals offer a rapid communication route for findings that are urgent, such as an emerging outbreak. Eurosurveillance, for instance, describes its rapid communications as "timely, authoritative short reports" where quick dissemination "could potentially lead to a prompt change in an ongoing public health situation". It says they are usually published within two weeks of submission and undergo rapid independent peer review by at least one expert in the field.

That is a specific editorial commitment for a specific kind of finding. It does not mean any short paper will be handled quickly, and a journal advertising speed is not the same as a journal with a defined fast-track process. Before choosing a route because it promises speed, read our guide to rapid publication claims and what fast review really involves.

If you do submit to a rapid route, help the editor triage it. Say in the cover letter why the timing matters and to whom, and make sure the manuscript is complete, because returning it for missing declarations wastes the time you were trying to save.

Publishing a fuller paper later

Some short communications are followed by a longer analysis of the same study. That can be legitimate, but only with full transparency.

The ICMJE recommendations on overlapping publications define duplicate publication as a paper that "overlaps substantially with one already published, without clear, visible reference to the previous publication". They also say that when a manuscript reports work already reported in large part, or closely related to another submitted or accepted paper, the submission letter "should clearly say so" and the authors should provide copies of the related material so the editor can decide how to handle it.

The ICMJE text says journals may still consider a complete report that follows a preliminary report such as a letter to the editor, a preprint, or a meeting abstract or poster. A peer-reviewed short communication is a formal publication, so treat any later paper on the same data with more care:

• cite the short communication in the fuller paper and explain the relationship;
• make sure the later paper adds substantial new data or analysis, not the same result in more words;
• tell the editor of the second journal in the cover letter and supply the earlier article;
• check both journals' policies before you plan the sequence.

If you know at the outset that a full paper will follow, consider whether the short communication is needed at all. Sometimes the better route is a preprint now and one complete paper later.

Before you submit

1. Article type selected in the submission system matches the one you wrote for
2. Main text within the word limit, as the journal defines it
3. References, figures and tables within their caps
4. Abstract present or absent, and of the right length, as the format requires
5. Supplement contains only what the journal allows for this format
6. Main result reported with its denominator, effect size and uncertainty
7. Reporting guideline items for the study design covered in text, tables or permitted supplement
8. Ethics, consent, registration, funding and competing interests stated
9. Related publications and submissions disclosed in the cover letter

A good short communication reads as if the limit was never a constraint: one clear finding, enough method to trust it, and nothing a reader would miss. Directive Publications sets out its requirements in its author guidelines, so you can check fit and format before you start. When the manuscript is ready, you can submit it directly.