New: Journal of Medical Case Reports

In line with this month's JMLA case study focus on how case reports can be used to further medical knowledge, in December 2006 BioMed Central announced that it will be launching a new title, the Journal Of Medical Case Reports.

From the press release:

"Case reports that expand the field of medicine are of interest and value to clinicians. Publishing case reports helps fulfil the need to gather more comprehensive data about individual cases. This potentially valuable resource is currently neglected by any medical journals, so Journal of Medical Case Reports will provide an important outlet for these studies." says Professor Deborah Saltman, BioMed Central's Editorial Director for Medicine.

The journal is currently accepting submissions for its first issue, which is anticipated sometime early this year. With a 2000 word limit for the reports, the editorial team is seeking reports that discuss original reports of general interest in medicine, including:

1. Unreported or unusual side effects or adverse interactions involving medications
2. Unexpected or unusual presentations of a disease
3. New associations or variations in disease processes
4. Presentations, diagnoses and/or management of new and emerging diseases
5. An unexpected association between diseases or symptoms
6. An unexpected event in the course of observing or treating a patient
7. Findings that shed new light on the possible pathogenesis of a disease or an adverse effect