Information for Authors
SGIM Forum offers articles, essays, thought-pieces, and editorials that reflect on healthcare trends, report on Society activities, and air important issues in general internal medicine and the healthcare system at large.
Forum is always looking for additional authors and editors. To apply to write in the newsletter, contact Michael D. Landry, MD, MSc, Editor in Chief, at SGIMForumEditor@gmail.com. Learn more about the position description for associate editors here.
Article Specifications:
- Format: Submit in Word, double-spaced, one-inch margins, 12-point Times New Roman. Type references as text, avoid endnote fields.
- Length: Maximum 1,500 words, including title, authors' names/degrees, bios, article text, references.
- Structure: Article should have an introduction, body, and conclusion. The introduction should outline the article's purpose, significance, and contributions. The conclusion should highlight its contributions to science, literature, and education.
- References: Limit to five, listed at the end. Use Chicago or AMA Style. Manual checks are recommended even when using reference managers (e.g., EndNote, Mendeley, Paperpile).
- Figures & Tables: Submit separately, not embedded in the article. Acceptable formats include high-resolution PDF, JPEG.
- Author Bio: Include affiliation, email, author order. Example: "Dr. XXX (email) is an assistant clinical professor at [University], director of [Program]."
- Authors: Preferably up to five. More may lead to immediate return or shorter article due to space limits.
- Social Media Summary: Submit a 280-character summary with social media handles and hashtags.
- Pull Quote: One sentence from the article for social media promotion.
- Category Selection: Choose three categories from Forum's list for article classification.
Artwork Guidelines:
- Types: Encourage photographs, charts, graphics. Limited to one per issue.
- Format: High-resolution JPEG, 300 DPI. May be resized for publication.
- Color: Consider appearance in black/white/blue for print. Full color online.
- Permission: Ensure patient consent and permission for identifiable photos.
Editorial Policy:
- Submission doesn’t guarantee publication. Editor-in-Chief approves final articles.
- Articles may be edited, amended, or omitted.
- Review period up to three business days.
- Requests for specific issue publication considered but not guaranteed.
- Lead time is two months; submit time-sensitive content 10 weeks in advance.
- Forum publishes original material, encourages summaries of ongoing projects, and serves as an incubator for ideas.
Address submissions directly to:
Michael D. Landry, MD, MSc, Editor in Chief, at SGIMForumEditor@gmail.com
Forum Department | Description |
Sign of the Times | Addresses changing perspectives in general internal medicine including new twists on old concepts - e.g. graduate medical education, primary care redesign, etc. |
President's Column | Includes monthly thought pieces from the current society president |
From the Editor | Includes monthly/semi-monthly thought pieces from the current editor |
From the Regions | Describes regional meetings and their keynote speakers, awards and clinical topics |
Morning Report | Involves a presenter and discussant who describe an interesting clinical scenario |
Medical Education | Describes topics of interest to medical students, residents, fellows and clinician educators including residency training, fellowship opportunities, curriculum development, writing and publishing, mentorship and faculty development |
Annual Meeting Update | Features seasonal content that highlights the annual meeting |
Researchers' Corner | Describes work of interest to clinician-researchers including research methods, study design, grant writing, funding opportunities and opportunities to collaborate on research projects |
Health Policy Corner | Covers health policy developments of interest to faculty in general internal medicine including healthcare reform, advocacy, health systems redesign, funding issues and healthcare disparities |
From the Society | Covers issues such as leadership initiatives, membership surveys and capital campaigns that affect the general membership |
Improving Care | Describes current and emergent topics of interest in improving clinical practice |
Perspective (includes Editorial/Commentary/Essay/Point-Counterpoint) | Presents thought pieces written by SGIM members. Point-Counterpoint is designed to cover two perspectives on a controversial issue. |
Leadership Profile/In Conversation | Includes interviews with notable figures in general internal medicine |
Breadth | Formerly Medical Humanities - Published as an outlet for creative writing by members, residents and medical students. To celebrate the work of generalists, through stories about the virtues of generalistswhether from the wards, the clinic, the health policy arena, research, or even from the wilderness beyond medicine |
Commission/Committee/Interest Group Update | Provides news from committee, commission, and interest groups of interest to Society members |
Best Practices | Articles on quality improvement in all areas of clinical medicine and medical education |
Technology Update | Describes innovations in technology including electronic medical records, smart apps, social media and tools for practice management and patient care |
Leadership and Healthcare Administration | Topics of interest to those in leadership positions as well as those who aspire towards diverse roles in leadership |
Ask an Ethicist | Provides answers to questions in clinical ethics posed by SGIM members. Members of the SGIM Ethics Committee respond to real ethics cases and questions submitted by SGIM members. |
Patient consent must be obtained if a submission contains potentially identifiable health information. Permission to publish photos with identifiable individuals is required. A signed statement attesting to having obtained consent must be provided and can be obtained here:
Promoting your own work is an important process for increasing the visibility and impact of your work. To achieve maximum impact, it is important that you consider taking steps now that we’ve notified you that we’ve accepted your work for publication.
Your article will appear online first online. It is important to time your promotion with the online publication date. Before appearing online, the article is “embargoed,” meaning it can’t be shared publicly. This means that you can’t promote it until the embargo date.
- Share the link to your published article or the full issue pdf via social media. Consider what readers and followers need to know when you post your article. Why is this work important? Make sure to use relevant hashtags for your article. Mention the handles of colleagues and others who may be interested in and repost your article. For example, you could also include #SGIMForum, #ProudToBeGIM, and @SocietyGIM.
- Consider using other social media outlets, such as Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, or any other social media platforms you use. Post a one or two-sentence description of your article on your personal pages and provide a link to the published article. If a visual is available and appropriate, be sure to include it, as readers tend to react to visuals. Various tools or apps exist to help with making quick, easy visuals.
- Share your article with your Department or Division for inclusion in listserv email updates. Or, you may contact your institution’s communication officer and encourage them to do a press release. You can help them by providing a clear, non-scientific explanation of your work, why it is important, and the next research. You are free to share your article with media outlets once it is published on the Forum website.
- If you blog, share your work. If you follow other bloggers’ work, consider directing them to the link to the published article in Forum online. You could also explain why your work is worthy of being mentioned.
Our publisher, Springer Science, has partnered with Edanz to help you edit your manuscript. Click on the link below to visit the Journal Author Academy and take online courses on writing your manuscript and editing/peer review.
Forum Contacts
Michael D. Landry, MD, MSc
SGIM Council Ex-Officio
Thank you for your contribution to SGIM Forum!
If you have questions or additional tips for fellow writers for the forum, please contact Editor-in-Chief Michael D. Landry, MD, MSc.
