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Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals
- International Committee of Medical Journal Editors*. *For a list of members of the Committee, see end of text. Inquiries and comments should be sent to Kathleen Case at the ICMJE secretariat office, Annals of Internal Medicine, American College of Physicians, Independence Mall West, Sixth Street at Race, Philadelphia, PA 19106-1572, USA. Phone, 215-351-2661; fax, 215-351-2644; e-mail: Kathyc@acp.mhs.compuserve.com. This document may be copied and distributed without charge for not-for-profit, educational purposes. A digital version is available on various web sites, including ACP Online (http://www.acponline.org). Rates for 10 or more reprints are available from the American College of Physicians Customer Service Department, phone, 215-351-2600; fax, 215-351-2448. The Uniform Requirements has been published in several journals. Please cite a version that appeared in the primary journal literature on or after 1 January 1997.
A small group of editors of general medical journals met informally in Vancouver, British Columbia, in 1978 to establish guidelines for the format of manuscripts submitted to their journals. The group became known as the Vancouver Group. Its requirements for manuscripts, including formats for bibliographic references developed by the National Library of Medicine, were first published in 1979. The Vancouver Group expanded and evolved into the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), which meets annually; gradually it has broadened its concerns.
The committee has produced five editions of the Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals. Over the years, issues have arisen that go beyond manuscript preparation. Some of these issues are now covered in the Uniform Requirements; others are addressed in separate statements. Each statement has been published in a scientific journal.
The fifth edition (1997) is an effort to reorganize and reword the fourth edition to increase clarity and address concerns about rights, privacy, descriptions of methods, and other matters. The total content of Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals may be reproduced for educational, not-for-profit purposes without regard for copyright; the committee encourages distribution of the material.
Journals that agree to use the Uniform Requirements (over 500 do so) are asked to cite the 1997 document in their instructions to authors.
It is important to emphasize what these requirements do and do not imply.
First, the Uniform Requirements are instructions to authors on how to prepare manuscripts, not to editors on publication style. (But many journals have drawn on them for elements of their publication styles.)
Second, if authors prepare their manuscripts in the style specified in these requirements, editors of the participating journals will not return the manuscripts for changes in style before considering them for publication. In the publishing process, however, …
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