The American Journal of Managed Care®
Manuscript Specifications
Submission components (cover letter, manuscript text, tables, figures, related papers, etc) must be uploaded through our web-based tracking system. Log on to http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/ajmc to register and begin the online submission process. All manuscripts should include the following components:
Title Page. To facilitate our review process, each manuscript must include both a blinded and unblinded version of the title page which includes the following:
- Manuscript title (<10 words, should be concise and stimulate reader interest) and a brief running title
- Full names of each author, followed by their highest academic degree (unblinded title page, only)
- Institutional affiliations for each author at the time the work was completed (unblinded title page, only)
- Name, address, and email address of the corresponding author (unblinded title page, only)
- Précis to appear on the table of contents (<25 words, concise summary of the article)
- Takeaway Points (<100 words, summary statement—followed by a few concise bulleted points—that demonstrates the real-world impact your work has on the managed care decision makers in our audience, how your research adds to the existing literature, and how it can advance/inform clinical and policy decisions regarding health care reform).
- Indication of the funding source (including grant numbers, grant agencies, corporations, or sponsors)
- Number of pages, references, figures, and tables
- Word count (excluding references, tables, and figures)
Abstract. An abstract is required for all manuscript submissions. The abstract should be <250 words and, for Original Research, should consist of 5 paragraphs entitled: Objectives, Study Design, Methods, Results, and Conclusions. The abstract should briefly describe the purpose of the study or investigation; how the data were obtained and how the study was conducted; the analytical methods; the salient results; and the principal conclusion. Authors must also select 3 to 5 key words that best describe or classify the article.
Text. All manuscript text should be double-spaced, in Times New Roman type, 12-pt font size, including the acknowledgments, references, tables, and legends, and submitted in Word (not PDF). Cite references, tables, and figures in sequential order in the body of the paper. Measurements of length, height, weight, and volume should be reported in metric units. Temperatures should be given in degrees Celsius. Blood pressures should be listed in millimeters of mercury. Except for units of measure, abbreviations are discouraged. Any abbreviation or acronym must be spelled out in full when it first appears in the text, followed by its abbreviation in parentheses. State the generic name (not the trade name) for all pharmaceutical products. Please make sure that all participants are referred to appropriately and in line with AMA style. For more information on preferred usage of terms for race, sex, gender, age, and socioeconomic status in your submitted manuscript, please refer to our Equity Guidelines.
Sections. Original Research articles should contain 5 main sections denoted by bold headings: Objectives/Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion, and Conclusions. The Discussion section should include a subsection of Limitations. The other main sections may have subsections as needed. Articles in other manuscript categories (eg, Trends From the Field) may include these sections and subsections when appropriate.
Acknowledgments. Include a list of acknowledgments, if appropriate. Refer to the "Manuscript Authorship" section for an explanation of what constitutes authorship and for guidance in distinguishing contributions that warrant an acknowledgment. The corresponding author must affirm that they have received permission to list the individuals in the acknowledgment section (bottom of Authorship Form).
References. It is the responsibility of the authors to complete and verify all references. References should conform to the AMA Manual of Style.2 Cite references in the text sequentially as a superscripted number after any punctuation mark. Two references are cited separated by a comma, with no space. Three or more consecutive references are given as a range with a hyphen.
**If a referencing program has been used during the drafting of the manuscript (eg, EndNote or Reference Manager), please disable before submitting.**
Per AMA style, number references sequentially in the order they appear in the text (do not alphabetize author names). Identify references with superscript Arabic numerals. References cited only in tables or figures should be numbered in accordance with the sequence established by the first mention of that particular table or figure in the text. Begin the reference list on a new page. List all authors and/or editors up to 6; if more than 6, list the first 3 followed by “et al.” Journal references should include the issue number in parentheses after the volume number. Journal names should be abbreviated according to the journals list in PubMed.
References to papers accepted but not yet published should be designated as "in press" and included in the reference section. Information from manuscripts submitted but not accepted should be cited in the text as "unpublished observations" with written permission from the source. (Include copies of any "in press" and "submitted" manuscripts [ie, papers under consideration at other journals] for the editors' evaluation as part of your submission.) Avoid citing "personal communication" unless it provides essential information not available from a public source, in which case the name of the person, their degree, and the date of communication should be cited in parentheses in the text. Authors should obtain written permission and confirmation of accuracy from the source of a personal communication (see "Permissions" section). In text, do not use footnotes; instead include them in parentheses in the body of the manuscript. (Footnotes should only be used in tables and figures.)
Reference Style Samples:
1. Garber A, Goldman DP, Jena AB. The promise of health care cost containment. Health Aff (Millwood). 2007;26(6):1545-1547. doi:10.1377/hlthaff.26.6.1545
2. Wynia MK, Schwab AP. The value equation: the decision-making process should be sensitive to value. In: Ensuring Fairness in Health Care Coverage: An Employer's Guide to Making Good Decisions on Tough Issues. AMACOM; 2007:131-149.
3. Federman S, Coleman A. Improving maternal health by expanding Medicaid postpartum coverage. The Commonwealth Fund. December 7, 2022. Accessed March 14, 2023. https://www.commonwealthfund.org/blog/2022/improving-maternal-health-extending-medicaid-postpartum-coverage
Graphic Elements. Judicious use of graphic elements (tables/figures) is strongly encouraged, as space in the Journal is limited. No more than 5 combined graphic elements may be printed; additional elements can be included in the online eAppendix. The Journal will print only essential tables and figures and reserves the right to move graphic elements to the eAppendix according to space constraints.
Tables. Place each table on a new page. Number all tables sequentially in the order they are cited in the text. Include a title for each table. All acronyms must be defined at the bottom of the table. Footnotes should be identified using superscript lettersa,b,c (not asterisks or special symbols) and explained in a footnote to the table. Please submit tables in an editable format (ie, Word or Excel), not as a picture.
Figures. Place each figure on a new page. Figures are generally redrawn by our production team. Avoid the use of shading in bar graphs or pie charts (use color or crosshatch patterns instead). Number all figures sequentially in the order they are cited in the text. Include a title for each figure. All acronyms must be defined at the bottom of the figure. Footnotes should be identified using superscript lettersa,b,c (not asterisks or special symbols) and explained in a footnote. Any previously published figures must be accompanied by written permission from the publisher and/or copyright holder (see "Permissions" section).
Supplemental data (eg, appendices and/or lengthy tables) will be posted "as is" on the Journal's website at the time of publication. Authors should indicate what material is intended for supplemental content and include the appropriate reference or callout in the text to these elements.
Cover letter. A blinded (ie, names and affiliations of authors removed) cover letter must accompany each submission and include any background information about the submission (ie, how it contributes to the existing literature, whether any portion has been previously presented or published, etc) that would aid in the editors' initial evaluation. Include a statement that the manuscript has been read and approved by all authors.
PREVIOUS REVIEWS AND AUTHOR REPLIES
If a version of the manuscript has been previously submitted for publication to this or any other journal, authors are asked to include copies of the peer-reviewers’ comments, together with a letter detailing how the authors have addressed these comments.
Manuscript Authorship
Only persons who have made a direct contribution to the content of a paper should be listed as authors. The number of authors listed with the manuscript should not exceed 10; more than 10 requires written justification and approval from the co–editors in chief. However, group authorship may be used where specified authors (not more than 10) assume responsibility for the entire group (eg, Paula T. Einhorn, Barry R. Davis, Barry M. Massie for the ALLHAT Collaborative Research Group). In this case, only the specified authors must meet the criteria for authorship outlined below, and all members of the group may be listed in a footnote, but are not acknowledged as authors.
Nonhuman artificial intelligence and machine learning tools do not qualify for authorship. If such tools are used to draft, prepare, or edit the manuscript (beyond simple tools for checking spelling and grammar), the authors must take responsibility for the content generated and disclose the use of these tools in the Acknowledgments. Disclosures should include a description of the content and the name, version number, and manufacturer of the tool.
1) AUTHOR DISCLOSURE FORM
All authors must read and sign the Journal's Author Disclosure Form (http://www.ajmc.com/authorshipforms). It is our policy to have all authors disclose relationships with any commercial interest that may present a conflict of interest if: (a) the relationship is financial and occurred within the past 12 months; and (b) the author discusses products or services of that commercial interest. Relevant financial relationships are those relationships in which the author (and/or the author's spouse or partner) benefits in any dollar amount by receiving a salary, royalty, intellectual property rights, consulting fee, honoraria, ownership interest (eg, stocks, stock options, or other ownership interests, excluding diversified mutual funds), or other financial benefit. Financial benefits are usually associated with roles, such as employment, management position, independent contractor (including contracted research), consulting, speaking and teaching, membership on advisory committees or review panels, board membership, and/or other activities for which remuneration is received or expected. In addition, authors are required to report all financial and material support for their research, which includes (but is not limited to) grant support and funding sources and any provision of equipment or supplies.
The name of the organization funding or initiating a research project should be made explicit on the title page (eg, "This study was funded by the XYZ Corporation."). Relevant financial relationships (whether direct to the authors or through a third party) for research and/or writing, including funding, grants, honoraria, etc, must also be named on the title page. If the funding organization had any role in the collection of data, its analysis and interpretation, and/or in the right to approve or disapprove publication of the finished manuscript, this must be noted in the cover letter and described in the Methods section of the text. The editorial staff may inquire further about financial disclosure after the manuscript is submitted. If the manuscript is accepted for publication, disclosure statements will be printed as part of the published paper.
2) AUTHORSHIP FORM
All authors must read and sign the Journal's Authorship Form (http://www.ajmc.com/authorshipforms). AJMC uses the criteria provided by the "Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals" to determine authorship. Each author should have participated sufficiently in the work to take public responsibility for the content. Authorship credit should be based only on substantial contributions to (a) conception and design, or analysis and interpretation of data; and to (b) drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content; and on (c) final approval of the version to be published. Conditions (a), (b), and (c) must all be met. All authors are required to read and sign the Journal's Authorship Form affirming that they have met the criteria for authorship and have agreed to transfer copyright to The American Journal of Managed Care/Clinical Care Targeted Communications Group, LLC. Individuals who have contributed to a paper but who do not meet the criteria for authorship should be acknowledged.
Both forms should be included with submission and uploaded directly to Manuscript Central. Forms can also be sent to info@ajmc.com. Please be sure to include the manuscript title, authors’ names, and/or manuscript number in your email.
PERMISSIONS
Data and/or figures reproduced from another published source must be properly cited and acknowledged. Authors are required to obtain written permission from the appropriate author and/or copyright holder to reproduce previously published or copyrighted material. Authors must also obtain permission from at least 1 author when citing unpublished data, "in-press" articles, and/or personal communications. Copies of permission statements should be uploaded with manuscript submissions.
NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH-FUNDED RESEARCH
The editors of AJMC encourage authors to adhere to the NIH Public Access Policy. Authors (and not the Journal) are responsible for their NIH-funded studies and should submit a version of their "accepted manuscript" to PubMedCentral (PMC). An "accepted manuscript" refers to the prepublication version of the paper (ie, not yet edited or laid out) for which AJMC has issued a notice of final acceptance.
The "accepted manuscript" submitted to PMC should prominently display the following disclaimer immediately following the title:
"This is the pre-publication version of a manuscript that has been accepted for publication in The American Journal of Managed Care (AJMC). This version does not include post-acceptance editing and formatting. The editors and publisher of AJMC are not responsible for the content or presentation of the prepublication version of the manuscript or any version that a third party derives from it. Readers who wish to access the definitive published version of this manuscript and any ancillary material related to it (eg, correspondence, corrections, editorials, etc) should go to www.ajmc.com or to the print issue in which the article appears. Those who cite this manuscript should cite the published version, as it is the official version of record."
Authors are responsible for informing PMC that it should not make the accepted manuscript publicly available in the PMC repository until 6 months after the date of publication in The American Journal of Managed Care. Authors should not submit copies of the final published version (eg, PDF or html versions copied from www.ajmc.com) to PMC. This action would violate the Journal's copyright agreement.
For inquiries about posting your published research in The American Journal of Managed Care at other locations, contact info@ajmc.com.
Before submitting your manuscript, please review the following items to make sure your submission is accurate and complete.
- Include the complete mailing address and email address of the corresponding author
- Provide names, degrees, affiliations, and email addresses for each coauthor
- Clearly indicate source(s) of funding in the cover letter and on the title pages
- Prepare a précis (concise summary of the article; no more than 25 words) for use in the table of contents
- Provide "takeaway points" that summarize the real-world implications of your research to managed care decision makers (<100 words)
- Include a structured abstract (<250 words)
- Select 3 to 5 key words
- Obtain permission to reproduce material from other sources
- Include an appropriate and timely list of references, cited in numerical order as they appear in the text
- Submit copies of "in press" and related publications
- Enclose a completed Authorship Form signed by each author (please be sure that Section D has been completed)
- Enclose a completed Author Disclosure Form signed by each author
