BMJ Case Reports
Publishing, sharing and learning
through experience

Agenda•Introduction to BMJ Case Reports•

Website demo•

How to write a good case report•

How to submit a case report•Questions

Introduction to BMJ Case Reports

casereports.bmj.com

What is BMJ Case Reports?
•The largest single collection of medical cases in the world•

Over 20,000 case reports published from over 120 countries•

An invaluable educational resource for all healthcare professionals, providing
clinically important information on common and rare conditions•All cases are peer-reviewed and published cases are indexed on MEDLINE,PubMed Central, Scopus, Embase and Google Scholar•Key 2019 publishing statistics:•Acceptance rate: 54%•

Average time from submission to first decision: 66 days•

Average time from acceptance to publication: 17 days

Benefits to users••

An invaluable educational resource for all healthcare professionals•

Vast database of real-world clinical scenarios•

Reuse material personally and for teaching without further permissions•

Easily download images into PowerPoint presentations•

Learning Points included in each case•

Educational Q&As

A supportive introduction to medical publishing for first-time authors•

Submit as many case reports as you like•

Simple submission steps•

Rigorous-yet-sympathetic peer review and rapid publication•

Gain international recognition and publicity for your cases

Specialties covered (clinical)
Anaesthesia

Geriatric medicine

Palliative care

Cardiovascular medicine

Haematology (incl blood transfusion)

Pathology

Complementary medicine

Immunology (including allergy)

Pharmacology and therapeutics

Dentistry and oral medicine

Infectious diseases

Prison medicine

Dermatology

Intensive care

Psychiatry

Diagnostics

Neurology

Radiology

Drugs and medicines

NursingRehabilitation medicine

Ear, nose and throat/otolaryngology

Nutrition and metabolism

Renal medicine

Emergency medicine

Obstetrics and gynaecology

Respiratory medicine

Endocrinology

Oncology

Rheumatology

Gastroenterology

Ophthalmology

Sexual healthGeneral practice / family medicine

Orthopaedics

Sports and exercise medicine

Genetics

Paediatrics

Surgery
UrologySpecialties covered (non-clinical)
EthicsOccupational and environmental medicine

Ethnic studies

Public health

Health economics

Smoking and tobacco

Health informatics

Sociology

Medical education

Statistics and research methods

Medical managementTypes of cases covered•

Full text•‘Images in…’ – 1 or 2 striking/clinically important images with a brief description•

Global health – e.g. expedition medicine, humanitarian aid, refugee health,conflict, violence, telemedicine, e-health, health innovations
Findings that shed new light on the possible
pathogenesis of a disease or an adverse effect

Other full case

Learning from errors

Rare disease

Medical student electives

Reminder of important clinical lesson

Myth exploded
New disease
Novel diagnostic procedure
Novel treatment (new drug/intervention;
established drug/procedure in new situation)

Unexpected outcome (positive or negative)
including adverse drug reactions
Unusual association of diseases/symptoms

Unusual presentation of more common
disease/injury
Video reports

Top 10 most read cases published in 2019
Fetus in fetu in an adult woman‘Dragon horn SCC’
Boerhaave’s syndrome in an ultra-distance runner
Plant-based dietary approach to stage 3 chronic kidney disease with hyperphosphataemia
Pseudomembranous conjunctivitis: unveil the curtain
Sore throat turned to be a bronchogenic carcinoma with superior vena cava syndrome
Uvular necrosis as a cause of throat discomfort after endotracheal intubation
Shrinking of a Tarlov cyst
Sepsis-induced digital ischaemia in a professional pianist, in the absence of vasopressors
Re-expansion pulmonary oedema in pneumothorax

Website demo

Browsing and searching for cases
Find a case using
the search bar or
click ‘Advanced
search’ for more
options

Browse cases byspecialty

View cases
published in thelast month or thefull archive

View cases
receiving the mostattention online

View most readcases

Example of an ‘Images in…’ caseAdditional options
for every article
including citation
tools, socialsharing,
responses, article
metrics and alerts

View a PDF of thearticle

Altmetrics
summary shows
how muchattention thearticle is receiving
onlineAutomaticallydownload image
into a PowerPointslide

How to write a good case report

Handy hints•

Know what the editors are looking for – view the Author Instructions andAuthor FAQs•

Explore some of the published cases•

Read the Guide to Writing and Publishing a Case Report•

Follow the templates provided – Full Case, Images In… or Global Health•Use simple language and grammar•

Seek help from your senior colleagues•

Further tips available on the BMJ Author Hub

What are the editors looking for?
•Healthcare workers, including medical students and junior doctors, must findthe cases to be relevant, engaging and a valuable learning resource•

Valuable clinical or ethical lessons•

Common cases that present a diagnostic, ethical or management challenge•

Cases where there are pitfalls to learn fromTypical BMJ Case Report structure•

Abstract•

Background•

Case presentation•Investigations•

Differential diagnosis•

Treatment•

Outcome and follow-up•

Discussion•

Learning points/take home messages

Title and abstract•

You do not need to include‘case report’ in the title•

Keep the title clinical andstraightforward•

The abstract will be freely
available online•

Use up to 150 words tosummarise the casepresentation and outcome•

Emphasise the learningpoints

Background•Why do you think thiscase is important – why
did you write it up?

•

Why is the case ofinterest to readers?

•Is this a prevalent healthproblem?

•Is there a clear message?

Case presentation•

Presenting features,
medical/social/family history•

This is the patient’s story – besensitive to patient confidentiality•

How did they present?

•What is the relevant history?
Why is this relevant?

•Explain your findings and how
they influenced your decisions•

Do not use abbreviations fordiseases or investigations

Investigations•If relevant. All
investigations that create abackground/baseline
picture are relevant•

All investigations that arecrucial to management
decisions should be
discussed in full•

Choose appropriate images
and videos to illustrate yourpoint (maintaining patient
confidentiality)Differential diagnosis•

If relevant. Please don’t list
these•Show how the final
diagnosis was derived•

What are theconsequences tomanagement or treatment
for the differential
diagnosis?

Treatment, outcome and follow-up•

Include pharmacologicaland non-pharmacologicaltreatment•

Always include follow up
data where you can toshow the outcome of thetreatment•

The follow-up period
should be defined•

Please state if the patient
has died even if notdirectly related to yourcase

Discussion•

Include very brief review ofsimilar published cases•

Describe mechanisms of injury,guidelines and their relevance,diagnostic pathways (can usediagrams) and the points ofinterest of the case•A brief summary of relevant
clinical guidelines is appropriate•

Did you make an exception?

•Did you have to adapt theguidelines?

Learning points/take home messages•

3 to 5 bullet points•

Compulsory field•

This is the most crucialpart of the case•

What do you wantreaders to remember
when seeing their ownpatients?

Other sections•

References (Vancouver style)•

Figure/video captions•

Patient’s perspective

Research and publishing ethics•

You must have signed informed
consent from patients (orrelatives/guardians) before submitting
to BMJ Case Reports•

Please anonymise the patient’s details
as much as possible•

Consent forms are available in 19
languages fromhttps://casereports.bmj.com/pages/authors/#consent

How to submit a case report

3 easy steps to submit a case•Complete a simple Word template•

Obtain a signed patient consent form•

Submit online

How to submit your case

Click on ‘Submit acase report’Register on the submission system

All authors need to register on the submission system(ScholarOne Manuscripts). Click on ‘Create An
Account’…

… and complete all 3 steps of the registration process.
Ensure you complete all required fields. At the end ofStep 3 on the ‘User ID & Password’ page, click on‘Finish’ to complete your registration.

Login and navigate to Author Dashboard

Once you have registered, enter your User ID andPassword and click ‘Log In’.
Once logged in, click on ‘Author’ in the navigation bar
at the top of the page.

Complete the submission process

Click on ‘Begin Submission’ to start the submission
process.
Complete all 6 steps of the submission process. Youwill need to upload a signed patient consent form
alongside your article. You can download this fromhttps://casereports.bmj.com/pages/authors/#consent

Enter your Institutional Fellowship CodeIn ‘Step 5: Details & Comments’, enter yourInstitution’s Fellowship Code in the box provided inthe Funding section. Ask your Librarian for yourFellowship Code.

To submit your paper, ensure all sections arecompleted correctly, then click on ‘Submit’ at the end of
Step 6.

Thank you
Any questions?
Elena Kalceff
BMJ Australia
ekalceff@bmj.com

casereports.bmj.com

BMJ Publishing Group Limited 2020. All rights reserved.