Guidelines for Contributors
Medical Economics wants to share expert opinions and best practices about the business of medicine with our physician audience. If you are interested in sharing your expertise by authoring a contributed byline, please read the below information, which includes some requirements, suggestions, and FAQs for Medical Economics guest contributors.
If you have any questions, please reach out to our editorial staff.
Audience: Physicians first and foremost. Connect your expertise with our physician audience, especially those in independent practices. Our readers are primarily family practice and internal medicine, but also include specialists such as pediatricians, geriatricians, emergency docs, and OB/GYN, and health care business executives, consultants, attornies and practice managers.
Content: We strive to offer solutions-oriented journalism and commentary on topics ranging from big-picture issues, trends, and policies, down to practical suggestions for managing practices, personal finance, technology, and more. If physicians would be interested in it, we will consider it.
Does a guest article need to be exclusive? Yes. Guest contributions should not be press releases or material syndicated for use in multiple publications.
Deadlines: Guest articles for online posting DO NOT have set deadlines. (Print articles do have firm deadlines but those are arranged separately.) We will establish a due date after we receive a successful pitch.
Health care, not healthcare. MedEc’s style is to use “health care” as two words, unless the word “healthcare” is part of a specific name.
Headlines and subheads: Please suggest a headline and a subhead that is required for our online format. If you do not suggest either or both, we can create one. MedEc reserves the right to edit suggestions.
Length: 600 to 1,200 words
Style: Associated Press (AP) style. Think of how a general news article is written in the NY Times, Wall Street Journal or Time Magazine. So no endnotes or footnotes or scholarly formats please.
Sources: Guest articles should have quotations or paraphrases from other sources named in the body of the text. Please link to sources in the text or include links after the body copy. Please don’t use endnotes, end citations, or footnotes like a scientific study.
Physicians and other clinicians is the preferred reference for the people we write about. In some instances, it may be necessary to refer to “providers,” but please refer to physicians or doctors and other clinicians when possible.
Formatting: We prefer a Microsoft Word document file attached to an email. Please don’t use double spaces between sentences. Those cause formatting problems on our website.
Credentials/author bio: If appropriate, please include initials that indicate advanced degrees, such as MD, DO, PhD, MPH, MBA, JD, etc. An author biographical note or description should be included to run at the end of the guest article. Usually it’s one or two sentences.
Photo: An author portrait or head shot is suggested but not mandatory. Many guest contributors like a photo to make a more personal connection with readers. MedEc does not guarantee a photo will be published.
Is MedEc a clinical journal? No, it is a physician-facing business-to-business publication. www.PatientCareOnline.com is a sister publications that deals with clinical issues in primary care. Our parent company, www.MJHLifeSciences.com, has other B2B, clinical, peer-reviewed, and patient-facing journals, along with conferences, continuing medical education, and more.
Can I use artificial intelligence (AI) to write my article? No. MJH LifeSciences’ policy is that manuscripts are reviewed with the understanding that they are not ghostwritten, are not written by Al or another digital method, and are not under consideration for publication elsewhere, including on the Internet.
Should I draft an abstract first? Maybe, but it is not required. Some guest contributors submit an abstract, thesis, or nut graf before they (or MedEc) commit to a fully written article.
Is this an advertisement for my business? No. Guest articles and commentaries may come from vendor contributors, but content should be vendor-neutral. (If you are interested in paid advertising in Medical Economics or another MJH LifeSciences publication, that is a separate matter and we can connect you with an appropriate contact.)
Can I link to my own company in the article or my bio? Yes, if you have supporting evidence from your business, generally it is appropriate to cite that in the article. Generally we have allowed business links to be in author bios, but it is not guaranteed.
Can I link to previous articles in Medical Economics or other MJH LifeSciences publications? Yes. Or, we will add at least two hyperlinks to previous related MedEc articles on the topic you write about. This helps in online search engine optimization.
If Medical Economics publishes my guest article, can I share a link over social media? Yes, please! You did a great job reaching out to a smart audience through an established publication. Let your contacts and followers see your work and like, share, retweet, and forward it.
