Author Instructions

Researchers' Journal of Internal Medicine

Everything you need to prepare and submit your manuscript to RJIM. Policies are presented in full and must be followed without change.

Aims and Scope

Peer-reviewed, open-access journal publishing editorials, original research, and case reports on a rolling monthly basis.

Free-Format Desk Review

Submit in your current format for initial suitability review before formatting requirements apply.

Double-Blind Peer Review

Minimum of two reviewers; author identities are never shared with reviewers.

Aims and Scope

Researchers' Journal of Internal Medicine is a peer-reviewed open-access journal. Articles are published on a rolling basis electronically on the first of every month. RJIM publishes editorials, original research, and case reports.

The scope of RJIM includes

Clinical research that addresses issues in patient care, clinical outcomes, treatment strategies, and diagnosis within internal medicine and related subspecialties
Interesting clinical case reports within internal medicine and related subspecialties
Medical education manuscripts that address innovative educational strategies
Issues related to medical research and the publication system

Submission and Peer Review Process

Are you tired of spending hours reformatting your research articles for a specific journal…just to receive a desk rejection? That’s why we have adopted a free-format desk review policy. That means, your submitted article will go directly to the editorial team for review. Editors will review the article for pertinence, writing, and scientific rigor. If the article is suitable for peer review, the authors will be notified and subsequently asked to adhere to the below formatting guidelines.

Articles are screened for plagiarism and ethical violations prior to peer review. The peer review process requires at least 2 peer reviewers. RJIM uses a double-blinded peer review process where your information is never shared with the reviewers. If the article is accepted for final publication, the authors will then have the option to publish with or without an honorarium agreement. More information on the honorarium agreement can be found here.

Submission Types

Type	Word Limit	References Limit	Figures/Tables/Images Limit	Abstract Limit
Editorial	2,000	30	4	250
Case Report	1,500	20	3	250
Original Research	3,500	40	4	300

*Editorials are only available to journal associates. RJIM does not currently publish perspective or commentary articles.

Manuscript Format Requirements

Title Page

The title page should contain a title that is 20 words or less and a short running title of 40 characters or less. Authors should be listed with academic degrees and institutional affiliations. There is a maximum of 5 authors for case reports and 15 for research articles. List 3-5 keywords. Provide the corresponding author’s information including mailing address and email. Any relevant financial disclosures or conflicts of interest should be listed. Articles that include data analysis MUST include a data availability statement. We highly recommend making your data available in a repository, or at minimum, available on request. This file should be separate from the manuscript file, as the peer review process is blinded.

Main Text

The manuscript must be in English. It should not include any names or identifying information about the authors. The abstract can be structured (Background, Objectives, Methods, Results, Conclusions) or unstructured. See word count requirements under submission types above. The main body of research articles should be structured in sections (Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion, Conclusion). Subsections are allowed if they improve clarity. Case reports should include an abstract and be structured with the sections: Background, Case Report, Discussion. Legends to both tables and figures should be included in the main manuscript file. Manuscripts should include page numbers and line numbers.

Stylistic Recommendations

Clarity: Use clear and straightforward language. Avoid overly complex sentences and technical jargon where possible.

Conciseness: Be concise and avoid redundant phrases. Ensure every sentence adds value to your manuscript.

Consistency: Maintain consistency in terminology, units of measurement, and abbreviations throughout your manuscript.

Voice: Use an active voice where possible.

Tense: Use the past tense for describing methods and results, and the present tense for discussing implications and conclusions.

Reference your tables and figures throughout the text in order. Capitalize the reference.

Example:

The primary outcome of our study was important (Figure 1).

Figures, Tables, and Images

All figures, tables, and images must be submitted as separate image files (under the image upload tabs). Acceptable formats include Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG) or Portable Network Graphics (PNG). Patient identification must not be possible by any clinical photos, unless a permission agreement signed by the patient is also included. Images must have a resolution of at least 300 dpi.

References

Citations in the text should be formatted with brackets at the end of a sentence. Include a space before the citation and follow it with a period. Separate two citations with a comma and space. List a range of citations with a dash.

Example:

Include citations like this [1]. Like this [1,2]. Or like this [1-4].

Incorrectly formatted references can slow the publishing process, so be sure to proofread carefully. Use the Vancouver format. Use the numbering option provided in the text box, and ensure that references line up with those provided in the main text. It is imperative that you finish each reference with a DOI with an associated DOI hyperlink.

Example:

Niles MT, Schimanski LA, McKiernan EC, Alperin JP: Why we publish where we do: faculty publishing values and their relationship to review, promotion and tenure expectations. PLoS One. 2020, 15:e0228914. 10.1371/journal.pone.0228914

Production Phase

If your article is accepted, it moves into the production phase. The authors use our production form to input their article elements. If everything is formatted correctly, this is mostly copy and pasting. At this phase, the authors can chose to donate their honorarium back to RJIM, to another charitable organization, or receive it. Payments are made via Zelle. If you choose to receive your profit-share, you will be required to upload a Honorarium Agreement with your production form. Fill out all elements requiring your information, sign, and date. After our team reviews and signs the form, you will receive a completed copy for your records.

Editorial Policies

Prior Publication, Duplication, and Simultaneous Submission

Researchers' Journal of Internal Medicine does not allow the reproduction, duplication, slight modification, or simultaneous submission of content. Submissions undergo a plagiarism screen for signs of these. Authors who violate copyrights, plagiarize, or otherwise fail to meet these terms may be permanently banned from future submissions.

Use of Artificial Intelligence

AI tools are allowed to help develop submissions. Meaningful use of AI must be disclosed at submission and, if applicable, included in the Methods section of the article. In these cases, the authors should clarify the extent of AI use, the software used, and the human oversight provided. AI use for grammar and editing does not need to be included or disclosed. Per current COPE guidelines, AI cannot be listed as an author in publications.

Qualifying Authorship

RJIM adheres to the authorship qualifications outlined by the ICMJE.

According to current guidelines, authorship is based on the following four criteria:

Substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work; or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work;

Drafting the work or revising it critically for important intellectual content;

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.

Contributors who do not meet all four criteria should be acknowledged separately.

Copyright and Permission

All articles published in RJIM are open access under the a Creative Commons 4.0 Attribution license (CC BY 4.0). This permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Authors are responsible for obtaining permission to reproduce any third-party material (e.g., figures, tables) included in their manuscript. All permissions must be submitted with the manuscript.

Authors retain full copyright of published material.

Ethical Approvals

All research involving human participants or animals must be conducted in accordance with relevant ethical guidelines and regulations. Manuscripts must include a statement confirming that appropriate ethical approvals were obtained for the study.

Human Participants:

Authors must provide the name of the ethics committee that approved the study and the reference number where applicable.

Informed consent must be obtained from all participants, if applicable, and this should be stated in the manuscript.

Animal Studies:

Authors must indicate compliance with institutional and national guidelines for the care and use of laboratory animals.

Indexing

DOIs for every article are obtained through Crossref, a non-profit organization that distributes DOIs. This allows your article to maintain a permanent identifier for easy access and referencing. Our website infrastructure is also built to accommodate Google Scholar indexing.

Repository Use

Authors retain full copyright ownership of their material and are free to maintain their research in an institutional or other repository. This includes all versions of the manuscript at any time in the publishing process.

Open Access Policies

RJIM adheres to the Directory of Open Access Journals guidelines, a non-profit organization aimed to increase the visibility, accessibility, reputation, usage and impact of quality, peer-reviewed, open access scholarly research journals globally, regardless of discipline, geography or language.