JAMA-EXPRESS: Rapid Peer Review and Publication

KEYWORDS:
• manuscripts, medical
• peer review, publishing
• peer review, research
• publishing

Rapid dissemination of results of high-quality scientific investigations is desirable and now possible, prompting editors and researchers to examine ways to reduce the time from completion of a study to publication of the results.¹ Delays from study completion to article publication can occur at many stages, including by researchers in submitting the manuscript,² by editors and peer reviewers during editorial evaluation and peer review, by authors during manuscript revision, and by limitations imposed by journal space and frequency of publication.³ JAMA has made many efforts to minimize the delay, with an average turnaround from submission to publication of 180 days and acceptance to publication of 60 days. For an article of substantial public health importance, however, even this time may be too long. Two journals have recently announced fast-track processing of manuscripts.^4-5

JAMA has had a rapid review and publication option for selected manuscripts available for some time. For example, a report of fatal adverse drug events with mibefradil was released and full text was posted on the JAMA Web site 3 days after acceptance and published in THE JOURNAL 3 weeks after acceptance.⁶ With the speed of communication afforded by the Internet both before and after publication, the option of rapid review and publication is not just possible but essential for a biomedical journal. Therefore, we are pleased to announce JAMA-EXPRESS—EXpedited Peer Review and Editorial System for Science.

JAMA-EXPRESS has been created to provide rapid, rigorous peer review and editorial evaluation, revision, release, and publication of papers of great scientific or public health importance. Manuscripts eligible for EXPRESS consideration are high-quality, rigorously conducted research studies that report new important information regarding treatment or prevention of disease. Randomized controlled trials will receive the highest priority, but prospective cohort studies and other designs also may meet the EXPRESS criteria. Major, potentially practice-changing studies reporting the full results of abstracts scheduled to be presented at upcoming scientific meetings also will receive high priority for EXPRESS consideration, for several reasons. Abstract presentations of major papers often attract great interest from physicians, the media, and the public, but detailed information regarding the study is limited by space and presentation time. Moreover, journals discourage authors from releasing all study results to the media to prevent dissemination of results before full peer review.⁷ Coordination of the presentation at an upcoming scientific meeting with EXPRESS publication will facilitate complete and thorough reporting of major findings, minimize the constraints authors feel regarding prepublication publicity, enhance consistency between abstract presentations and published reports, and ensure that the results presented in abstract form are available⁸ and published in full.⁹

The target turnaround time for EXPRESS articles is 6 weeks from the time of submission to the cover date of the issue in which the published article appears, and, for articles believed to be so important as to warrant immediate release, 4 weeks from submission to release and full text posting on the JAMA Web site. EXPRESS publication of manuscripts that report the complete results of an abstract will be timed with the abstract presentation provided authors submit completed manuscripts at least 6 weeks before the presentation and the editors agree that EXPRESS publication is appropriate.

To achieve such rapid publication while maintaining highest scientific quality requires several steps. First, the editors will screen articles before formal submission, enabling us to contact peer reviewers about incoming EXPRESS manuscripts. Second, EXPRESS manuscripts will undergo the same rigorous peer review and editorial evaluation as other scientific articles published in THE JOURNAL. We plan to have peer review completed within 48 hours, permitting editorial review and request for revision to be completed within 72 hours. Third, JAMA-EXPRESS teams of editors, copy editors, and production staff will carry out the same quality steps as for all JAMA articles but much more rapidly. When deemed appropriate, editorialists will be contacted at the time of manuscript submission to permit editorial comment on critically important research.

To receive consideration for EXPRESS publication, authors should contact the editors in advance regarding submitting a paper and must send a draft of the manuscript for informal review. Within 24 hours, the editor will notify the author whether the manuscript is appropriate for EXPRESS consideration, and the author is expected to inform the editor when the manuscript will be formally submitted in JAMA format, along with completed authorship, financial disclosure, copyright transfer, and acknowledgment forms. The manuscript should be submitted electronically via e-mail or computer disk and in hard copy. An accurate submission date is important, since peer reviewers will be requested based on that date. The authors must revise the manuscript in response to reviewers' and editors' comments within 48 hours of the request for revision and the revision must be satisfactory to the editors. Also, the authors must review the edited typescript and final proof and return them within 24 hours. Authors must be willing to commit to the extra effort necessary to adhere to such a tight schedule in return for rapid dissemination of study results. However, authors should keep in mind that the decision regarding EXPRESS consideration rests with the editors; that the process is labor intensive, expensive, and cannot be applied to all manuscripts; and that there is no guarantee that a manuscript considered under JAMA-EXPRESS will be accepted for publication.

To contact the editors about submitting an EXPRESS publication, call (312) 464-2402 or send a message via e-mail to jamaexpress{at}ama-assn.org. To request 24-hour review of a manuscript for consideration for JAMA-EXPRESS, send the manuscript via e-mail (to the above address) or fax ([312] 464-5824), with a cover page to the attention of Margaret A. Winker, MD, with a request for EXPRESS consideration.

We believe that EXPRESS publication of major studies and coordinating publication of full-length articles with abstract presentations at scientific meetings will greatly enhance the ability of THE JOURNAL to fulfill its objective to promote the science and art of medicine and the betterment of the public health.