BMJ Case Reports publishing, sharing and learning through experience

Why BMJ Case Reports?  I have an interesting and rare Case to share.  But where and how do I publish the Case?  Should I publish the Cases in national journals and conference papers?  Low impact…  I would like International recognition.  What about International journals?  Low acceptance rate… Sound Familiar? Now you have BMJ Case Reports!

Covers all disciplines Unlimited number of case submissions Simple submission steps Over 200 case submissions received by editorial each month Currently achieving an 80% acceptance rate The only published peer-reviewed case reports database Over 6,000 case reports published from over 70 countries How can BMJ Case Report help me? The largest single collection of medical cases in the world!

Rare disease Unusual presentation of more common disease/injury Unusual association of diseases/symptoms Unexpected outcome (+ or -) including adverse drug reactions Novel treatment/new drug/intervention Established drug/procedure in new situation Off licence use of drugs Novel diagnostic procedure Myth exploded Learning from errors New disease Types of Cases Covered in Case Reports

Disciplines Covered Anaesthesia Cardiovascular medicine Complementary medicine Dentistry and oral medicine Dermatology Diagnostics Drugs and medicines Ear, nose and throat/otolaryngology Emergency medicine Endocrinology Gastroenterology General practice/family medicine Genetics Geriatric medicine Haematology (incl. blood transfusion) Immunology (incl. allergy) Infectious diseases Intensive care Neurology Nursing Nutrition and metabolism Obstetrics and gynaecology Oncology Ophthalmology Orthopaedics Paediatrics Palliative care Pathology Pharmacology and therapeutics Prison medicine Psychiatry Radiology Rehabilitation medicine Renal medicine Respiratory medicine Rheumatology Sexual health Sports and exercise medicine Surgery Urology Ethics Ethnic studies Health economics Health informatics Medical education Medical management Occupational & environmental medicine Public health Smoking and tobacco Sociology Statistics and research methods ■ Clinical ■ Non-Clinical

Looking for cases in casereports.bmj.com

Sample Case Report

Writing your Cases

How to write a good Case Report? Know what journal you are publishing in Read some of the cases published Know what the journal is looking for Follow the guide provided by the publisher Use simple language and grammar Seek help from your senior colleagues

What BMJ Case Reports Editors are looking for? Healthcare workers including medical students and junior doctors must find the cases a valuable learning resource, both relevant and engaging. Valuable clinical or ethical lessons Common cases presented in an unusual way Present diagnostic challenges where there are pitfalls to learn from

BMJ Case Reports – A typical structure Summary Background Case Presentation Investigations Differential diagnosis Treatment Outcome and follow-up Discussion Learning points/ take home messages

Title and Summary You do not need to include “a case report” in the title. The summary will be freely available online. Use up to 150 words to summarise the case presentation and outcome. Emphasise the learning points

Background Why you think this case is important – why did you write it up? Why is the case of interest to readers? Is this a prevalent health problem? Is there a clear message?

Case Presentation Presenting features, medical/social/family history. This is the patient’s story – be sensitive to patient confidentiality How did they present? What is the relevant history? Why is this relevant? Explain your findings and how they influenced your decisions *Do not use abbreviations for diseases or investigations.

Investigations If relevant. All investigations that create a background picture are relevant. All investigations that are crucial to management decisions should be discussed in full Choose appropriate images and videos to illustrate your point (maintaining patient confidentiality).

Differential Diagnosis If relevant. Please don’t list these. What we want is to see how the final diagnosis was derived. What are the consequences to management or treatment for the differential diagnosis?

Treatment, Outcome and follow-up Include treatment used if relevant. Always include follow up data where you can to show the outcome of the treatment The follow-up period should be defined. Please state if the patient has died even if not directly related to your case.

Discussion Include very brief review of similar published cases. Describe mechanisms of injury, guidelines and their relevance, diagnostic pathways (can use diagrams) and the points of interest of the case. A brief summary of relevant clinical guidelines is appropriate. Did you make an exception? Did you have to adapt the guidelines?

Learning Points/ take home message 3 to 5 bullet points. Compulsory/required field This is the most crucial part of the case What do you want readers to remember when seeing their own patients?

Research and Publishing Ethics You must have signed informed consent from patients (or relatives/guardians) before submitting to BMJ Case Reports. Please anonymise the patient’s details as much as possible Consent forms are available in several languages: -consent-forms

Submitting your Cases

All authors need to register once on the submission system (ScholarOne Manuscripts). Authors that have registered can log in using their ‘User ID’ and ‘Password’. It’s your first time…

First time authors need to fill out a form

After you Log-in Go to “Author Centre”

Use the Templates Use the Templates: - Full Cases - Images

Note your Fellowship Code! You need to enter this code at the end of the submission process of each case Fellowship Code XXXXXX Fellowship Code XXXXXX

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