The American Journal of Managed Care®
Manuscript Processing and Peer Review
ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF RECEIPT
Following submission through Manuscript Central, a unique, confidential manuscript number will be assigned and an email receipt will be sent. Be sure to have submitted all required documents/information. [PRIOR TO SUBMISSION CHECKLIST]
INTERNAL REVIEW BY EDITORS
Each manuscript is assigned to one of the co-editors in chief for an internal evaluation to determine its appropriateness. Manuscripts that do not meet AJMC's criteria for overall appropriateness, relevance, originality, and scientific merit will be returned promptly (usually within 2 weeks) so that authors may pursue alternate avenues for publication.
PEER REVIEW
Reviewer selection is ultimately the decision of the editors, but authors may provide the names and email addresses of preferred or nonpreferred peer reviewers. Manuscripts deemed appropriate for AJMC will be sent to external peer reviewers. Typically, a manuscript will be sent to a minimum of 2 reviewers who will be asked to provide feedback on the scientific merit of the paper. The reviewer's evaluation is requested back within 3 weeks. Editorial decisions are based on the comments of the reviewers, both those provided to the author and any confidential comments to the editor.
CRITERIA FOR EDITORIAL DECISIONS
Manuscripts are judged on the interest/importance of the topic, the intellectual and scientific strength, the clarity of the presentation, and relevance to AJMC readers. The paper's strength is compared with others under review and the number of accepted/previously published papers in the category. Original research and review articles should describe how their findings add to the existing literature.
EXPEDITED REVIEW
Manuscripts may be considered for expedited review / early publication if they are of very high quality, have findings likely to affect practice immediately, and if rapid publication would minimize adverse patient care consequences. Early publication is decided at the discretion of the co-editors in chief.
ACCEPTANCE OR REJECTION
Most authors can expect a first decision on their manuscript in approximately 2 months. At any time in the process, authors can log on to our web-based tracking system to check the status of their manuscript submission. However, we communicate editorial decisions on acceptance or rejection only to the corresponding author.
ON ACCEPTANCE
Almost all papers accepted require some editorial or statistical revision before publication. An edited version of the manuscript in Word will be sent to the corresponding author approximately 4 to 6 weeks before the issue date. Additionally, 2 sets of PDF page proofs (a first proof and a final proof) will be sent to the corresponding author for review before publication. Manuscript edits and first proofs must be returned to the editorial office within 48 hours, and final proofs must be returned within 24 hours.
ETHICAL/INFORMED CONSENT POLICIES
By submitting a manuscript to AJMC, the authors confirm that the research meets ethical guidelines, including adherence to the legal requirements of the study country. Manuscripts submitted to AJMC that describe research on human subjects must include in the Methods section a statement of institutional review board approval or exemption and a confirmation that informed consent was obtained from study participants. Please see the ICMJE Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals for further details on protection of research participants.
By submitting a manuscript to AJMC, the authors confirm that they have obtained the appropriate permission to cite personal communications and/or to reuse content (eg, text, tables, figures) from other sources. Signed statements of permission must be provided to the journal upon request.
EDITORIAL CONFLICTS OF INTEREST
Final decisions regarding manuscript publication are made by a co-editor in chief. In the event that the editor has a conflict of interest with a submitted manuscript or the authors, the editorial decisions are made by the other co-editor in chief or one of AJMC's associate editors who does not have a conflict of interest related to the manuscript.
CORRECTIONS, RETRACTIONS, AND EDITORIAL EXPRESSIONS OF CONCERN
Requests to publish a correction or retract an article must be communicated to the editorial office at info@ajmc.com. If a correction is necessary, the original article will be corrected online with a note indicating the correction and date, and a correction notice summarizing the errors and changes will be published in the next issue of the journal and linked online to the original article and its PubMed entry. If a retraction is necessary, the original article will be updated online with a note indicating the retraction and date, and a retraction notice will be published in the next issue of the journal and linked online to the original article and its PubMed entry. The journal may publish editorial expressions of concern at the discretion of the co-editors in chief; these expressions of concern will be published in the next issue of the journal and linked online to the original article and its PubMed entry.
