Annals of Family Medicine is an open access, peer reviewed original research journal serving primary care researchers and clinicians worldwide. It is among the highest ranked primary care journals by citation metrics and charges no fees for submission or publication. Published since 2003 as a collaborative effort of seven family medicine organizations, Annals of Family Medicine publishes around 120 articles per year over six bimonthly issues. Annals of Family Medicine deposits all published content in PubMed Central (PMC), and is indexed in a number of databases, including MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cinahl, Science Citation Index Expanded, and Current Contents/Clinical Medicine.
Why Publish in Annals of Family Medicine? / Journal Metrics
Is My Article Right for Annals of Family Medicine?
Manuscript Preparation
Submit A Manuscript
Editorial Policies
Author Forms
Copyright/Permissions
ISSNs
Editorial Correspondence
| Why publish in Annals of Family Medicine? | Journal Metrics |
|---|---|
|
- Journal Impact Factor (2023): 4.4 |
Is my article right for Annals of Family Medicine?
Annals of Family Medicine welcomes manuscripts from authors with new knowledge to contribute to understanding and improving health and primary care. We publish a broad range of content, from theory development and rigorous quantitative and qualitative research, to the application of research in practice and the development and implementation of policy. We also welcome work that bridges boundaries between disciplines. Simply put, we support efforts to bring research to practice and practice to research.
Article Length
Tightly written, short manuscripts often have high impact. A limited amount of additional material that provides extra depth may be submitted in appendixes.
- In all article categories below, we welcome brief manuscripts of 800-1100 words, 1-2 figures or tables, and a short abstract. This length is particularly appropriate for papers with a single, crisp, powerful idea or new ideas evaluated with small samples or other limitations.
- Longer articles that convey fully developed, rigorous exposition of a topic may be up to 2700 words with 3-6 tables and/or figures. Some topics, including some qualitative research, may require more words and fewer tables/figures. However, additional length must contribute added value.
- 1200-2500 words is the most effective length for many topics. For example, see www.annfammed.org/content/10/1/50.full and www.annfammed.org/content/11/3/258.full
| What we publish | What we don't publish |
|---|---|
| Original Research. Reports of clinical, biomedical, behavioral, social, health-services, and policy research Methodology. Development of methods to advance understanding Theory. Development and testing of explanatory models Systematic Reviews. Critical syntheses that advance theory, methods, or identify new research directions Research Briefs. Concise reports of research summaries, hypotheses, or works in progress Special Reports. Reports of important, timely topics that do not fit into other article categories. Usually by invitation Essays. Reflections from clinicians, patients, families, communities, and policymakers. Innovations in Primary Care. Succinct stories of on-the-ground innovations that make a difference in primary health care |
Case Reports |
If Annals of Family Medicine is not the right journal for my article, which journal might be more appropriate?
| If your article is: | We recommend submitting to: |
|---|---|
| Educational Clinical A Pilot Study |
Family Medicine American Family Physician PRiMER |
For more detailed descriptions of the types of articles we publish, see our full Instructions for Authors (PDF)
Manuscript Preparation
Manuscripts should be written according to the guidelines described in the ICMJE's "Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals,” which can be found at www.icmje.org.
Annals of Family Medicine encourages tightly written manuscripts with a clear main message, as these often engage a broad readership. On matters of style, we generally follow the current edition of the AMA Manual of Style.
When submitting your work to Annals of Family Medicine, please include the following items:
1. A brief Cover Letter highlighting your article’s unique contribution to the literature and its particular relevance to Annals of Family Medicine readers. (Uploading a cover letter file here is optional; you will be required to type or paste the text of your cover letter into the online submission form itself.)
2. Article Manuscript as a Word document (.docx), with the following elements:
A. Title Page
- article title
- all authors’ full names, degrees, institutional affiliations, and email addresses
- one corresponding author’s name, affiliation, and email address
- all sources of financial and material support for the work
- conference name(s), date(s), and location(s) for any prior presentation(s)
- word count of main text (excluding title and abstract pages, references, tables, figures, and appendices)
- number of tables, figures, and appendices
B. Abstract
- 250 words max, structured as appropriate for the article type
- for Research Briefs and Essays, please provide an overview or summary of 100-150 words
- at least three key words
- list of abbreviations
C. Main article text
D. Acknowledgments (if any)
E. Conflict of Interest Statement
- COI statement is necessary even if none of the authors have any COIs to disclose
F. Numbered References
- For citation formatting examples, see: https://www.nlm.nih.gov/bsd/uniform_requirements.htm
G. Tables, Figures, and Appendices
- place tables, figures, and appendices at the end of the article file or upload them as separate files
3. Reporting Guidelines and/or Checklist (if applicable)
4. Related previously published research by the authors (if applicable)
Submit a Manuscript
Annals of Family Medicine uses a web-based manuscript submission system called eJournalPress. All manuscripts must be submitted through this system.
At any point during the submission process, you may click Save and Exit in the gray column on the left of the screen to pause your work and complete your submission later.
To submit your article, go to afm.msubmit.net. If you already have an account, enter your login name and password. If you need to create an account, or if you have forgotten your password, click on the appropriate link at the bottom of the screen.
From your account, click on Submit Manuscript under Author Tasks. Select the manuscript type for your submission and click Continue.
On the next screen, upload your files. Select the file type for each one. If you wish, you may add file titles and/or descriptions (e.g., Tables 1-3). Click Next (bottom right) to continue to the submission form.
The sections of the submission form are outlined under Manuscript Info in the gray column on the left. Please complete all required sections on each page of the form.
In the Author Information section, click the Add Author button to add your co-authors to the submission record. Check to see if a co-author is already in our system by entering the person’s last name and clicking Find Author. If they are, select their name to add them. If they are not in our system, please create a new record by filling in at least the fields marked with red asterisks. Click Save/Hide after each addition.
When finished, review your files and submission form. Click Edit to make any changes. When you are ready to submit, click Next, then click the Submit Manuscript button. You will receive an automated email confirming receipt of your submission.
Please note: eJournalPress is also used for our peer review process. If you would like to review articles submitted to Annals of Family Medicine, please complete the reviewer information portion of your eJournalPress profile page. Both your author information and your reviewer information will be maintained in the same user account.
After Submitting Your Article
Due to the volume of submissions and our careful consideration of all articles, it can take six to eight weeks from the submission date to complete an initial editorial evaluation. We respond to all authors as promptly as possible, and we appreciate your patience. You may check on the status of an existing submission by signing into your eJournalPress account or by contacting Annals of Family Medicine at annfammed@annfammed.org.
If a revised manuscript is invited by the editors, please complete and return signed Manuscript Agreements (MSAs) and any other required forms to Annals of Family Medicine along with your revision via eJournalPress. Instructions and a link to the form are available below, under Author Forms.
Editorial Policies
AUTHORSHIP POLICY
All articles must name one person as first author. The order in which the names of multiple authors appear should be a decision of the authors. A group may be named as a coauthor of work published by a research network, multi-center trial team, or other group, but it cannot be credited as the first or sole author of the work. Machine learning tools such as ChatGPT cannot be listed as authors. If such tools were used to generatedrafts of the submitted manuscript, this should be disclosed in the Acknowledgments.
Each author must meet all three of the following criteria:
- Conceived and planned the work that led to the article or played an important role in interpreting the results, or both.
- Wrote the article or suggested important intellectual content for its composition or revision.
- Approved the version to be published.
All others who made substantial contributions to the work but who do not qualify as authors (e.g., leading organizations, acquiring funding, collecting data, contributing patients, and outside editors of the manuscript) should be named in the Acknowledgments with their contributions specified. Authors should have written permission on file from each person acknowledged to be so listed.
All authors of articles accepted for publication must sign a Manuscript Agreement form; instructions and a link to this form can be found under Author Forms below. Please note that this form must be signed by hand. We cannot accept digitally signed forms. Policy on Authorship *updated January 26, 2023
CONFLICT OF INTEREST POLICY
A conflict of interest (COI) statement covering all authors must be included in every manuscript. COI statements should account for all potential, perceived, or real conflicts of interest for each author. Conflicts may include, but are not limited to, personal, professional, or financial relationships with manufacturers of products mentioned in the manuscript or manufacturers of competing products. When authors have no potential conflicts of interest, they should state explicitly in the manuscript that this is the case.
Manuscripts should include a statement identifying the organizations that provided support for the research, and the role, if any, of those organizations in designing the study; collecting, analysing, or interpreting data; or writing or submitting the manuscript. If the sponsors had no such roles, the authors should state explicitly in the manuscript that this is the case. Policy on Conflict of Interest *updated September 25, 2008.
POLICY ON SUBMITTING PAPERS REJECTED FROM OTHER JOURNALS
Annals of Family Medicine is happy to consider papers that have been rejected from other journals. We do not require you to reformat them. If you have reviews, please include them and your response to the reviewer comments with your submission. Please also indicate you are including these in your cover letter. All Annals of Family Medicine submissions should include the required elements listed above in Manuscript Preparation.
DUPLICATE, PRIOR PUBLICATION, OR PREPRINT POLICY
PREPUBLICATION RELEASE OF INFORMATION AND EMBARGO POLICY
Author Forms
All authors are required to complete and return the Manuscript Agreement form (MSA) before publication. Please include all MSAs when submitting a revised article. Alternately, you may email MSAs, collectively or individually, to annfammed@annfammed.org.
The MSA form must be hand-signed or signed using a verified digital signature. We cannot accept forms with typed-in names on the signature lines. If hand-signed, sending a picture of both sides of the form is acceptable.
Manuscript Agreement (PDF) (updated December 10, 2020)
Consent of Individual to Publish Material (updated June 15, 2021)
Permission to republish previously published material (updated June 10, 2002)
Reporting Guidelines and Checklists
Copyright/Permissions
To create single reprints for personal use, print the Adobe Acrobat (PDF) files available on the individual article pages.
To order reprints in bulk quantity or ePrints, contact Sheridan at scsreprints@sheridan.com.
For permission to reproduce or adapt content from Annals of Family Medicine for academic classroom use, submit your request to the Republication Department, Copyright Clearance Center, at http://www.copyright.com, or by fax at 978-646-8700.
To reproduce or adapt content from Annals of Family Medicine for any other purposes, send a written request by email to copyrights@aafp.org or mail to the Intellectual Property Department at Annals of Family Medicine, Inc., 11400 Tomahawk Creek Parkway, Leawood, KS 66211-2680; by fax to 913-906-6093.
For more information, visit Annals of Family Medicine's copyright and permissions page.
ISSN
Print: 1544-1709 (ceased printing in 2021)
Online: 1544-1717
Editorial Correspondence
Please address editorial correspondence to:
Annals of Family Medicine
att: Editorial Manager
AnnFamMed@annfammed.org
401-863-1600 (phone)