Title Page:

• Full title
• Author(s) full name, degrees and affiliations
• Mailing address
• Fax and telephone numbers
• Email address of primary contact
• Indicate whether the article has been previously published elsewhere
• Word count of article (see below for suggested word counts)
  

Authors listed in byline qualify by:

• Conception, design, and/or analysis, and interpretation of data
• Writing or revising the manuscript for intellectual content
  

Abstract

• Place at the beginning of the article
  
• Can include information on:
• Background
• Objective/Purpose
• Design and setting
• Patients (or subjects)
• Intervention
• Main outcomes
• Conclusions
• Limit abstract to 250 words

  •  

Key Words: List up to five relevant, medically-based terms

Format of article should follow International Community of Medical Journal Editor (ICMJE) guidelines

Spell Check all words and confirm all technical terms and names

Submit article in an electronic format, preferably Microsoft Word

While use of the first person is not recommended for article formats,  "we" can be used sparingly as appropriate.

Preferred Article Length

• Original clinical research, systematic reviews and meta-analyses, literature reviews, approximately 3500 words; longer articles may be considered
• Pilot studies and other original work, approximately 1500 words
• Book reviews and research letters, legislative issues, education developments, commentaries, approximately 950-1200 words
• Case Studies, 2500-3500 words - Please model your case study after: S. P. Vinjamury, MD, MAOM, MPH(c) (details in Appendix)
  

References

Use END NOTES, not  footnotes

• Use super-scripted Arabic numbers, not Roman numerals
• Place at the end of article
• Article Reference Ex:   Smith T, Tessore P. Title of article. Journal name or abbrev. italicized. 2009;33(4):598-603.
  
• Page numbers referred to are required for books
  

Format all references in end notes by following the examples in this link:

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/bsd/uniform_requirements.html

• If end notes are not used, within the text please cite by author(s) and date in parentheses, ex: (Thomas et al. 2006). However, the journal prefers usage of super-scripted references.
  

• Avoid citing "personal communications” unless necessary; do not list in reference section; place in parentheses in text
  
• When end note references are repeated in text, use the reference number again for that reference. Do not use ibid or op cit.
  

Nomenclature & Abbreviations

• Use standard acupuncture nomenclature abbreviations
• Only use these abbreviations and those easily recognizable in the literature
• The full term should appear at first mention, followed by abbreviation in parentheses
• Abbreviate standard units of measure
• Specific products- use the non-proprietary (generic) names or descriptive terms
• Brand name can be included at first mention
• Pinyin is the standard for Romanization
• Chinese terms- italicize, rather then capitalize, e.g., not Qi but qi, not Shen but shen
• Chinese texts- pinyin name and common English translation, e.g., Su Wen (Plain Questions)
• Acupuncture points- pinyin name, prefixes and point number, e.g., Zusanli ST-36, Ergian-LI-4
• Herb names- italicized pinyin, followed by binomial pharmaceutical Latin in parentheses, e.g., huang qi (Radix Astragali)
  
• Herbal prescriptions- pinyin name, followed by English name used in Formulas and Strategies (Eastland Press), e.g., Wu Ling San (Five Ingredient Powder with Poria).

Tables & Figures

• Submit as separate files; name file with author’s name ("Smith Fig1.tif, SmithTable2.exec, etc.)
• Submit a clear legend as part of the text rather than typed on the actual figure
• Reprinted figures from other sources:

• Must be acknowledged in the legend
• Permission must be obtained by the author(s) and indicated in the file

• Use short descriptive title for each table
• All units of measurement must be included
• Consider the size reduction quality of the tables or figures
• Use only Word Tables or Excel; do not use Power Point
• Indicate the location of figure within the text, i.e., ("Place Figure 1 Here”)
• Clearly identify all symbols and abbreviations; explain scales if necessary

Illustrations, line drawings, halftones, photos should be clean originals, preferably digital

• 300 dpi or higher
• Sized to fit on journal page
• EPS, TIFF or PSD format only
• Submit as separate files and label accordingly
  

Photographs

• High quality color prints (jpeg), full size required, 300dpi
• Photos will be printed in black and white
• Printing color photos will be considered on a case-by-case basis, paid by author (will be charged at current rate)
• The American Acupuncturist has the right to refuse the printing of any photos

BIO

• Limit to 100 words or less for each author
• Place bio(s) following the references
• Author(s) email addresses may be included at end of bio
  

Disclosure of Conflict of Interest and Financial Disclosure

• The American Acupuncturist is obligated to disclose such conflicts to its readers.
• The author(s) should disclose any potential financial or conflict of interest at the end of the article. Conflicts include, but are not limited to:

• Stock ownership
• Employment/consultancies
• Grants
• Patent
• Royalties
• See also: Financial Conflict of Interest by the Division of Grants Compliance and Oversight, NIH (PDF)

Informed Consent, Study Ethics Approval, and Subject to Confidentiality

• For controlled trial research of acupuncture use STRICTA (Standards for Reporting Interventions in Controlled Trials of Acupuncture) (use this link to review the checklist)
  
• Studies on human subjects require review board or ethics committee approval and proof of informed consent from subjects
• Authors without formal ethics review, follow the Declaration of Helsinki
• No subject identification should be in the submission, unless specific to scientific purposes
• Masking subjects’ eyes in photographs is not sufficient to protect identity
• Animal experimentation:

• Authors must state that permission was obtained
• Research conforms to current standards of ethical animal research practices
• Humane treatment and adherence to ethical animal research practices is to be documented

The American Acupuncturist AOM Board Policy on Endangered Species
The American Acupuncturist AOM strongly supports the production of Chinese herbal products that pose no risk to any endangered plant or animal species. Use of rare or endangered plants or animals is unsustainable and at odds with basic principles of harmony and balance, which are central to Oriental medicine philosophy. We applaud the producers and manufacturers who uphold these values, and we encourage our members to support them when purchasing herbs and other traditional medicines.

Acknowledgments
When appropriate at the end of the article, include a short paragraph or a sentence acknowledging technical support for the work or contributions that do not justify authorship. This is an appropriate place to mention previous presentations such as an abstract or poster.

AFTER reading the Author Guidelines and formatting your article to these requirements, please submit the manuscript to submit@aaaomonline.org.

APPENDIX

 

Writing a Case Report

by Sivarama Prasad Vinjamury, MD (Ayurveda), MAOM, MPH

(This updated article was originally published in The American Acupuncturist, 2008, vol 46.)

Abstract

A case report is the collection and publication of important, detailed information about an individual by a practitioner for publication in a journal. It presents the clinical features, diagnosis, investigation, and treatments of cases that are either under reported or unusual in presentation or treatment outcome. This article discusses the different types of case reports and the stages involved in writing a case report.

Key Words: case report, case study, medical writing, acupuncture case report

Introduction

A case report is the collection and publication of important, detailed information about an individual patient within a medical journal. Many acupuncturists or health care practitioners have, at some point in time, encountered an unusual outcome or presentation while treating an individual. Dissemination of this information is invaluable to others in clinical practice. Case reports also provide information on errors in diagnosis, previously unreported adverse reactions to a treatment, and unanticipated beneficial responses to a treatment.

 In general, case reports help describe important scientific information that is either un-investigated or undetectable in clinical trials or other large studies. They aid in hypothesis generation but do not prove cause and effect relationship. Therefore, the writer must avoid drawing conclusions that prove causation or attempt to generalize the findings of a single case report.

 Case report writing is one of the best ways to begin medical writing. Still in its formative stage in the Western clinical setting, acupuncture reporting requires careful documentation of treatment styles and varying responses to needling. Only a systematic recording of procedures and findings will help identify the most beneficial protocols among the myriad complex forms of TCM treatments in use.

There seems to be a lack of case reporting within the field of acupuncture, perhaps due to time constraints or inexperience with clinical writing. Here, then, is a brief overview of the types of case reports, stages of case report writing, and the anatomy of a case report. In addition, some tips on medical writing are included which can further help acupuncturists develop the skills necessary for publication.                                 

Types of Case Reports

Case reports are broadly classified into two types: retrospective and prospective. Retrospective case reports examine the details of a case after the care has been provided. Information is provided from the patient’s record such as history, examination findings, laboratory or imaging results, diagnosis, and the details of intervention and follow-up care. Prospective case reports, on the other hand, are developed prior to the initiation of patient care. They follow the same protocol required of larger studies, from writing a brief proposal to collecting data in a systematic manner.

The planning for a case report includes determination of objectives, logistics of data collection, standardized outcome measures, details of study intervention, and data analysis methods. Although the prospective case reports require a great amount of work initially, the early planning and preparation makes it easy to organize for publication later. In addition, two important things to consider when choosing a journal are whether or not you wish to submit to a peer-reviewed journal and whether its readership includes the target audience intended for that case report.

Regardless of the type of case report, it is necessary to obtain consent from the patient. Approval from an Institutional Review Board (IRB) or Human Ethics Committee might be required for some prospective case report writing. Clinicians are recommended to refer to the Human Subject Protection guidelines provided by the Office for Human Research Protections (OHRP) within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and also contact an IRB for clarification purposes. 

Stages in Writing a Case Report

            There are six stages in writing a case report: Selection of a case, literature search, collecting related information, choosing a journal, writing and summarizing, and final review and editing.

            1. Selection of a case: Identify a compelling case to report. This may be someone who was treated in the past or has yet to be treated. A specific purpose for reporting this case must be contemplated at this stage.

2. Literature search: Perform an extensive literature search on your topic of interest, including searches in PubMed (National Library of Medicine Database), MEDLINE, CINAHL (Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health), AMED (Allied and Complementary Medicine Database), Acubriefs.com (comprehensive database of references on acupuncture established by Medical Acupuncture Research Foundation), and Google Scholar. Many educational institutions subscribe to the above databases or/and online journals, and full-text articles are available for a flat fee per article. If the search results are very few, this indicates the condition selected to report on is rare and stands a good chance for publication (Anwar, 2002). A thorough and critical review of literature provides the background and the current environment of the topic.

3. Collecting information related to the case: A detailed history of the subject’s present illness must be collected from his/her records. This includes onset, severity, aggravating and relieving factors, examination findings, laboratory results, radiographs, photographs, treatment, and outcome Treatment outcomes supported with an objective measure are highly recommended.

4. Choosing a journal: Each journal has different requirements regarding topics of interest, length, and formatting, which all should be considered. Most acupuncture and Chinese medicine journals provide instructions and submission guidelines to authors. It is important that the case report strictly follows these guidelines.

            5. Writing and summarizing: Once the material has been collected, a rough draft can be developed based upon the case description and full literature review.  Some of the issues to consider during this stage are the number of tables, figures, formatting, and the minimum number of references that will be required to provide complete information about the case. Furthermore, the number and order of authors should be decided at this stage. If you have a question about who must be considered as an author, refer to Uniform Requirements for Manuscript Submitted to Biomedical Journals.

6. Final review and editing: After the report is drafted, thoroughly review the article to assess the quality of the overall content. Attention must be paid to word count, punctuation, jargon words, length of sentences, spelling, grammar, and adherence to the journal’s requirements.  It is also wise to evaluate the case report using available checklists.

Anatomy of a Case Report

Although the formats that journals use for case reports do vary, a majority of them follow a pattern similar to the one used for reporting clinical studies. The following sub-headings are advised: title, abstract, introduction (or background), case history (or case description), treatment, outcomes (or results), discussion (or comments) and conclusion.

The title should be short, descriptive, and must draw the reader’s attention. It must include the words "case report” or "case study.” 

The abstract is a summary of the case report, which provides a succinct description of the case, the interventions used, and the outcome. It should contain 100-250 words. The main purpose of an abstract is two-fold. First, it provides clinicians easy retrieval from electronic databases. Second, it gives a glimpse of the information contained in the case report and provides an opportunity to compel the reader to read the full text.

The introduction should clearly define the purpose of the case report while providing background information about the patient’s condition. This information should include one or two sentences each about the disease incidence and prevalence rates, etiology, and current available treatments. A brief literature review is required in this section. Any unusual terms must be defined in this section.

The description of the case is the main body of the text and provides the most important information. The patient’s history of present illness, past illnesses, family history, and personal history, as well as patient demographics, should be detailed in a concise, narrative form. Following this history, all diagnostic data, including laboratory results and examination findings, should be provided. Please remember to provide the normal range for diagnostic tests, whenever it is applicable.

The treatment section should describe the treatment plan and details of the administered treatment(s) according to STRICTA criteria (Macpherson, H, White, A, Cummings, M, Jobst, K, Rose, K, & Niemtzow, R, 2002). These guidelines require rationales that explain why the point selection, diagnosis, and treatment procedures were used. It also requires description of needling details such as depth, laterality, de qi sensation, stimulation of needles, and the number of points used, all of which allow for treatment replication by other practitioners. If it is a non-acupuncture intervention such as Chinese herbal therapy, qi gong therapy, or moxibustion, then the exact dosage, duration, and details of providers’ experience may need to be provided. Other requirements include treatment regimen, co-interventions, and control interventions, if applicable.  Finally, any adverse events should be reported in this section, regardless of severity.

            A results (or outcomes) section should report the exact outcome at the end of the treatment period. Both positive and negative outcomes need to be reported. It is always recommended to describe what happened to each of the outcome measures that were used to determine improvement or the lack of. Specific values (in numbers) are recommended to indicate change rather than a single, generalized sentence, i.e., "patient indicated that his/her pain has reduced at the end of the treatment.”

             The discussion section is a summarization of the patient’s condition and the obtained results. Explain the outcome with other possible mechanisms such as regression to the mean or any influence of co-interventions. Briefly discuss the rationale for choosing the management plan used and compare it with others.

The conclusion is a statement of how the case report contributes to the relevant body of knowledge, but it avoids drawing conclusions that indicate a cause and effect relationship due to the inherent weakness of the case-study design. Usually a sentence on recommendations for future studies on the topic is allowed here.

            All references must be from peer-reviewed journals or other peer-reviewed sources. Ten-fifteen references are standard, though individual journals may have varying requirements. To accurately format the references, refer to the journal’s author guidelines. Software such as EndNote and RefWorks may be useful in this process.

Conclusion 

Despite the limitations of case reports, they are valuable resources of new information and are useful for generating new hypotheses in future, large-scale trials. As case reports are under-represented in acupuncture literature, there is a considerable need to further this body of knowledge in an attempt to understand the role of acupuncture in new and emerging diseases. A well-written case report with ample supportive literature and a detailed description of the management of the case has the greatest chance for publication. 

References 

Alwi, I. Tips and tricks to make case reports. Indonesian Journal of Internal Medicine, 39, 2, 96-98.

Anwar, R. (2004). How to write a case report. Student British Medical Journal, 12, 45-48.

Begg C, Cho M, Eastwood S, Horton R, et al. (1996). Improving the quality of reporting randomized controlled trials: the CONSORT statement. Journal of American Medical Association, 276, 637-639.

Cohen H. (2006). How to write a patient case report. American Journal of Health System Pharmacy. 63, 19, 1888-1892.

Dixon N. (2001). Writing for publication – a guide for new authors. International Journal of Quality in Health Care 13, 5, 417-421.

Green B. & Johnson CD. (2000). Writing patient case reports for peer-reviewed journals: Secrets of the trade. Journal of Sports Chiropractic and Rehabilitation, 14, 3, 51-59.

Kidd M, Hubbard C. (2007). Introducing Journal of Medical Case Reports. Journal of Medical Case Reports, 1, 1, 1-2.

Macpherson H, White A, Cummings M, Jobst K Rose, K, & Niemtzow R. (2002). Standards for reporting interventions in controlled trials of acupuncture: The STRICTA recommendations. Acupuncture Medicine, 20, 1, 22-25.

Ramulu VG , Levine RB, Hebert RS, & Wright SM. (2005). Development of a case report review instrument. International Journal of Clinical Practice, 59, 4, 457-461.

White A. (2004). Writing case reports – author guidelines for Acupuncture in Medicine, Acupuncture in Medicine, 22, 2: 83-86. 

Table 1. Checklist for Case Reports

	Introduction	Yes	No
1	Is the rationale for reporting the case adequately explained?
2	Is the rationale for reporting the case adequately substantiated by references?
	Case Description
3	Is the case described adequately?
4	Is the case described briefly?
5	Is the case described clearly?
6	Are the results of less common laboratory investigations accompanied by normal values?
	Discussion, Comments
7	Is the evidence to support the author’s diagnosis presented adequately?
8	Is the evidence to support the author’s recommendations presented adequately?
9	Are other plausible explanations considered and refuted?
10	Do authors indicate directions for future investigation or management of similar cases?

 

Author Bio:

Sivarama Prasad Vinjamury, MD (Ayurveda), MAOM is a professor of research at the Southern California University of Health Sciences, Whittier, California. He teaches research methodology to students of acupuncture and Oriental medicine. Dr. Vinjamury is also a licensed acupuncturist and Ayurvedic practitioner at the University Health Center at the University. He can be contacted at: sivaramavinjamury@scuhs.edu