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Cumberland Medica

Guide for Authors

Contents

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Who Can Submit?

Submissions are currently accepted from Thomas F. Frist, Jr. College of Medicine students, faculty, and staff.

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Submission Types

  • A Research Article is a scientific report that is designed to answer a pertinent research question based on original research findings from a study in basic, biomedical, clinical, health systems science, or health sciences.
  • A Literature Review can be a systematic, scoping, or narrative review. However, narrative reviews must be conducted with a systematic approach. Reviews should relate to a topic in basic, biomedical, clinical, health systems science, health sciences, or medical education.
  • A Methodology Report is a concise description of a new or substantially improved analytical methodology used in a relevant research field that includes basic or clinical science.
  • A Case Report or Case Series is a detailed description of medical history, diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up of one or more patients with unique or rare clinical presentations, unexpected complications, and/or novel treatment approaches.
  • Medical Education submissions explore innovations, challenges, and best practices in medical education. We invite reflective essays, programmatic assessments, or reports on new curriculum designs or instructional methods. Submissions should provide valuable insights for educators, administrators, and learners, offering practical implications for enhancing medical training.
  • Medical Arts and Literature are original poems, short narrative-driven essays, drawings, or photographs of literary and/or artistic merit on themes related to illness, spirituality, medicine, health care, and/or medical education, including how these topics relate to vocation, formation, technology, nature, faith, science, culture, and community.
    The essays are narrative-driven, built around a real-life story rather than an argued thesis. An idea-driven piece, if the subject is urgent and compelling, may be considered.
  • Medical and Scientific Media are clinical, scientific, or diagnostic media of educational value. Examples include clinical photographs, electrocardiogram, images of peripheral smear and gross specimen, radiographs, CT, MRI images, and ultrasound video.
  • History of Medicine articles should focus on original research work detailing the history of medicine at any level (local, national, international) from any period in time. This would include research on the history of medical organizations, medical schools, medical treatments, medical illnesses (including epidemics), historic diagnostic techniques, and effects of historic medical issues on society and the profession of medicine.
  • Faith and Medicine is either a longer, conceptual argument addressing a particular issue of spirituality or religion in health care, or a shorter narrative on the significance of spirituality or religion in personal formation, medical education, medical practice, or the health care system.
  • Service-Learning Reflections are narratives on personal experiences and impacts of the service-learning experience on personal development, medical education and health care system.
  • A Research Precis is a brief and concise summary of the research work of a student of the Thomas F. Frist, Jr. College of Medicine presented at the College’s annual research conference. It will include a text and graphic abstract.
  • Opinions and Perspectives provide critical insights on current or emerging topics pertinent to medical education and health care system from invited experts in the relevant field.

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Overview of the publication process

Submitted manuscripts must describe original work not previously published and not submitted for consideration for publication elsewhere.

Authors will follow the format requirement in preparation for each type of article described below and submit their manuscript via the submission portal. All submissions will undergo an editorial and/or peer review process before consideration for publication. Authors are required to provide names and contact information of three experts in the relevant field who are not related to, or collaborators of, any of the authors for consideration as potential peer reviewers.

Articles are published as they are reviewed and accepted.

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Authorship

To determine authorship, follow the recommendations from the ICMJE, which recommends authorship be based on the following 4 criteria:

  • Substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work; or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work; AND
  • Drafting the work or reviewing it critically for important intellectual content; AND
  • Final approval of the version to be published; AND
  • Agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.

All those meeting all four criteria should be designated as authors. Those who do not meet all four criteria should be acknowledged.
The corresponding author takes primary responsibility for communication with the journal during the manuscript submission, peer review, and publication process.

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Who Can Submit?

Manuscripts that contain data collected from experimental animals must contain the statement in the Materials and Methods section that “all procedures involving experimental animals were approved by the relevant Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee”. Manuscripts that contain data collected from human research subjects must contain the statement that “all procedures involving human research subjects were approved by the relevant Institutional Review Board”. Case reports must contain the statement that “Consent for publication was obtained directly from patient(s).” Service-learning reflections that contain identifiable human images must contain the statement that “Consent for publication was obtained directly from people depicted.”

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Rights for Authors and the Belmont Digital Repository

As further described in our submission agreement (the Submission Agreement), in consideration for publication of the article, the authors assign to Belmont Digital Repository all copyright in the article, subject to the expansive personal--use exceptions described below.

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Attribution and Usage Policies

Reproduction, posting, transmission or other distribution or use of the article or any material therein, in any medium as permitted by a personal-use exemption or by written agreement of Belmont Digital Repository, requires credit to Belmont Digital Repository as copyright holder (e.g., Belmont Digital Repository © 2024).

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Personal Use Exceptions

The following uses are always permitted to the author(s) and do not require further permission from Belmont Digital Repository provided the author does not alter the format or content of the articles, including the copyright notification:

  • Storage and back-up of the article on the author's computer(s) and digital media (e.g., diskettes, back-up servers, Zip disks, etc.), provided that the article stored on these computers and media is not readily accessible by persons other than the author(s);
  • Posting of the article on the author(s) personal website, provided that the website is non-commercial;
  • Posting of the article on the internet as part of a non-commercial open access institutional repository or other non-commercial open access publication site affiliated with the author(s)'s place of employment (e.g., a Phrenology professor at the University of Southern North Dakota can have her article appear in the University of Southern North Dakota's Department of Phrenology online publication series); and
  • Posting of the article on a non-commercial course website for a course being taught by the author at the university or college employing the author.

People seeking an exception, or who have questions about use, should contact the editors.

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General Terms and Conditions of Use

Users of the Belmont Digital Repository website and/or software agree not to misuse the Belmont Digital Repository service or software in any way.
The failure of Belmont Digital Repository to exercise or enforce any right or provision in the policies or the Submission Agreement does not constitute a waiver of such right or provision. If any term of the Submission Agreement or these policies is found to be invalid, the parties nevertheless agree that the court should endeavor to give effect to the parties' intentions as reflected in the provision, and the other provisions of the Submission Agreement and these policies remain in full force and effect. These policies and the Submission Agreement constitute the entire agreement between Belmont Digital Repository and the Author(s) regarding submission of the Article.

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Contact

Email the Editor-in-Chief at CMJ@belmont.edu with questions.