Guidance and Resources for Family Medicine Scholarship

Do you want to contribute your knowledge and experience to academic family medicine scholarship but don’t know where to begin? STFM recently released a series of 3 podcasts called “Demystifying the Publishing Process”¹ that pulls back the curtain and gives valuable advice from Sarina Schrager, MD, MS, Family Medicine’s Editor-in-Chief, and Octavia Amaechi, MD, Family Medicine’s Associate Editor for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusivity. The podcast series complements resources the family medicine journals and STFM have created for authors and reviewers just getting started in scholarly activities or who are ready to take their scholarship to the next level.

High quality scholarship with a wide range of voices is key to advancing academic family medicine knowledge, driving innovation, sharing best practices, increasing health equity, and contributing toward better health outcomes for all. Aside from reading family medicine journals, one great way to gain confidence in scholarly work is by applying to be a peer reviewer.^2,3,4 There are multiple benefits to reviewing family medicine articles, including:

• Contributing to the body of knowledge of family medicine scholarship, strengthening the specialty and the family medicine journals (your review is your chance to pre-emptively influence the literature that gets published!),

• Gaining exposure to diverse, current topics in academic family medicine; refining your own ideas for future research or methodology

• Learning about the publishing process from the reviewer perspective including timelines, communication, and gaining knowledge about different types of publications submitted for review

The peer-review process depends upon a robust pool of reviewers.⁵ First-time reviewers bring fresh perspectives to the process that may favor longstanding, repeat reviewers.⁶ Dr Schrager states, “If we want to advance our discipline, then we want to publish the highest quality papers we can and we can’t do that without a broad group of peer reviewers who are volunteering their time to help us.”

When contemplating writing, there are a variety of publication types to consider. A first-time author may wish to respond to a published article in the form of a commentary or a letter to the editor. Another option is to transform a presentation into a publication with a Family Medicine Focus infographic or write a book review. Writing about teaching or clinical work through a case report can transform an interesting grand rounds or morning report into a published work. Crafting a narrative is a way to tell a story that doesn’t involve a literature review or formal discussion. Family Physicians Inquiry Network’s Evidence-Based Practice⁷ is an opportunity to write or update answers to family medicine questions.

When considering which journal to submit potential publications to, Drs Schrager and Amaechi recommend considering several factors:

• General fit and type of paperIntended audience- the people who may be interested in reading your work and who you want to read your work

• Main journals of citations in literature review

• The Journal/Author Name Estimator (JANE)⁸

STFM and its journals have developed resources for authors to start or strengthen their scholarship journey. Dr Christopher Morley, PhD, MA, PRiMER’s Editor-in-Chief, emphasizes that the journal supports early career scholarship by:

• Focusing on basic rigor and quality over “cite-ability” or novelty

• Sticking to a brief report format for all publications

• Pushing the entire editorial and review process to be instructive

• Infusing the developmental philosophy of the journal into all roles and processes

There are fellowships for writers such as the CERA Fellowship,⁹ which offers a yearlong exposure to survey methodology, and the Medical Editing Fellowship,¹⁰ which offers an intensive, yearlong experience as a member of a peer reviewed journal’s editorial team. Additionally, there are resources for underrepresented in medicine (URM) early-career faculty, such as PRiMER’s URM Author Mentorship Program¹¹ and the Leadership through Scholarship Fellowship.¹² Experienced STFM editors offer valuable guidance on how to review a paper¹³ and how to turn a presentation into a publication in a Family Medicine Focus infographic.¹⁴

Family medicine journals serve many purposes, one of which is meeting authors and scholars where they are in their writing and publishing career so they can begin the process of deepening their insights and ultimately increase the real-world impact of primary care research.

• © 2024 Annals of Family Medicine, Inc.