Guidelines for Dedicated Issues of Family Medicine

Definition
A dedicated issue is defined as an issue of the journal in which the entire scientific content is devoted to a specific collection of articles on one topic.

Frequency and Funding
No more than one dedicated issue of Family Medicine will be published during a calendar year. The issue will usually be published as a routinely scheduled issue of the journal.

If publication is to include printing of more than the number of copies routinely printed for an issue of the journal, the organization or group responsible for preparing the dedicated issue must identify and provide funding to pay for printing and distributing the extra copies.

Although individual, group, or organizational participation in a dedicated issue is greatly appreciated, it is considered a voluntary activity and thus does not include any financial support.

Selection of Topics for Special Issues
A. Medical and educational professional groups, both within and outside of the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine (STFM), may submit proposals to the editor for dedicated issue topics. If two or more proposals of equal quality are submitted at the same time, preference will be given to the proposals submitted by STFM groups, rather than non-STFM groups.

B. Groups that submit proposals must be nonprofit organizations and not represent specific products or proprietary interests.

C. Groups submitting proposals for dedicated issues must prepare and submit to the editor a detailed concept paper that includes the following information:

1. Title of the special issue.
2. Brief (< 200 words) abstract or description of the dedicated issue’s overall content. This abstract should include an explanation of the topic’s relevance to family medicine academicians.
3. Detailed list of all the articles proposed for the issue, including each article’s:
   a. Title
   b. Author(s)
   c. Content (summarized in < 100 words)
   d. Brief outline of the article
4. Time line for preparation of the dedicated issue.
5. Name and editorial qualifications of the individual who will serve as the “dedicated issue editor” for the issue. This individual will work with Family Medicine’s editor and will assure that manuscripts submitted for the dedicated issue are of high quality and conform to the journal’s usual publication standards. The dedicated issue editor will also assure that all submission and revision deadlines are met.
   

D. Proposals (concept papers) for dedicated issues will be submitted to Family Medicine’s editor and reviewed by the associate editors.

1. The concept papers, or summaries thereof, will be distributed to Family Medicine Editorial Board members and to the chair of the STFM Communications Committee.
2. Editorial Board and Communications Committee members will provide opinions to the editor regarding whether the proposed dedicated issue should be published.
3. After receiving opinions from the Editorial Board and Communications Committee, the editors will make a determination, in consultation with the chair of the STFM Communications Committee, about accepting the proposal for a dedicated issue.

E. Acceptance of a proposal for a dedicated issue does not ensure acceptance of the issue’s individual articles.

1. The dedicated issue editor, designated above, will be responsible for submitting completed manuscripts to Family Medicine’s editorial office according to a schedule mutually acceptable to the journal’s editor and the dedicated issue editor.
2. All manuscripts will conform to the written guidelines for authors used by Family Medicine.
3. Articles submitted for a dedicated issue will go through Family Medicine’s routine peer-review process.
4. To assure quality of journal content, Family Medicine’s editors may determine, based on peer review, that any or all of the articles submitted for the dedicated issue may require revision or may be unsuitable for publication. Family Medicine’s editors will communicate recommendations for revisions directly to the manuscript authors, who will be responsible for completing necessary revisions. If Family Medicine’s editors are considering rejecting an article for the special series, they will confer with the dedicated issue editor before doing so.

F. Dedicated issues will generally be published within 5–10 months after fully completed final versions of all manuscripts, figures, and illustrations are complete and available to Family Medicine’s production staff.