Federal Practitioner^® welcomes submission of manuscripts on subjects pertinent to physicians, clinical pharmacists, physician assistants, advanced practice nurses, and medical center administrators currently working within the VA, the DoD, and the PHS. Authored features include clinical review articles, original research, case reports, discussions of common errors, practice pearls, evidence-based treatment protocols, and program profiles. The journal also publishes bylined editorials and columns, reader letters that pertain to content published in previous issues, and personal essays (including those submitted in response to the Sound Off department prompts) on topics of interest to federal practitioners. Manuscript submissions will be considered for publication only if the author has certified that the work is original, has not been published previously, and is not under consideration for publication elsewhere. All manuscripts are subject to peer review.

Federal Practitioner^® is now using Editorial Manager, a web-based manuscript submission and review system. As of November 30, 2008, all manuscripts must be submitted through this system; e-mail or standard mail submissions will not be accepted after this date. More details about this system, including a link to the Federal Practitioner^® Editorial Manager website, can be found in the SUBMISSION section of these author guidelines.

Federal Practitioner^® uses a straightforward style that balances scholarly discourse with a reader friendly, conversational tone. Contractions are acceptable, and the narrative may use the first or second person. Avoid excessive jargon and define all acronyms. Since the majority of Federal Practitioner^® readers are primary care providers, avoid terminology that is unique to a particular medical specialty. Be concise and use the active voice when possible.

The Federal Practitioner^® style is based upon that established by the American Medical Association, with some modifications. When preparing your manuscript, therefore, it may be helpful to consult the 10th edition of the AMA Manual of Style (2007). If you have additional questions, e-mail us at fedprac@frontlinemedcom.com.

In order to facilitate the double-blind peer review process, the manuscript should contain no author names anywhere in the document, including headers. Authors should be listed on a separate cover page. The manuscript document should begin with the title, followed by the introduction, body of the manuscript, acknowledgements (if applicable), references, figure legends (if applicable), and tables (if applicable). Preferably, figures should be submitted as separate, high resolution files.

Although abstracts are not published within the journal, the inclusion of an abstract with a submission assists in the review process and is required for certain manuscript types. Key words are similarly required. It is not necessary that these components be included in the manuscript file, however, as you will be prompted to enter them separately as part of the Editorial Manager manuscript submission process.

Before submission, review your manuscript for grammar, readability, and accuracy.

In general, manuscripts submitted for consideration as feature articles should be 4,000 words or less, including references. They should begin with a strong introduction that catches the reader’s attention, identifies the need for the article, and explains how the article adds to the literature on the topic. The preferred format for the introduction is three to four paragraphs that follow a “lead, need, sell” structure:

Present background concepts early in the manuscript, followed by more complex ideas. Use subheads to differentiate major points of emphasis. For research articles, follow a standard organizational structure (introduction, background information, methods, results, discussion, conclusion).

Federal Practitioner^® case reports follow one of four formats:

Federal Practitioner^® considers submissions of the following clinician-authored columns:

All columns generally run between 1,200 and 1,800 words, with no more than 10 references. Like features and case reports, columns are subject to peer review.

Federal Practitioner^® has established the following sections to accommodate certain types of brief communications:

Other types of brief communications may be considered on a case-by-case basis. To be considered for publication, communications must include the author’s name, affiliations, and contact information. Identifying information may be withheld from publication at the author’s request. All communications are subject to editing for length, clarity, and journal style. We regret we cannot publish all communications we receive.

Tables and figures (photographs, line drawings, and graphs) should be cited parenthetically in the manuscript text, using Arabic numerals. Each should be cited only once. Provide descriptive headers and legends or captions for each table and figure. Whenever possible, include tables within the manuscript document, following the reference list. Figures should be submitted as separate, high resolution files, but legends may be included within the manuscript document, following the reference list.

If any elements have been adapted or reproduced from a copyrighted source, the authors must acknowledge this fact upon submission and within the manuscript (in the appropriate table footnotes or figure legends). Authors are responsible for obtaining and providing Federal Practitioner® with written documentation of permission for usage (in print and online) prior to publication. Include a signed statement of informed consent to publish (in print and online) any photographs or other images from which individuals may be identified.

Use references to document and acknowledge source information. Reference all statistics and data presented from published studies. Use sound academic judgment about referencing other material. Controversial statements are always stronger when referenced.

Citations in the text should be numbered consecutively with superscript Arabic numerals. Source documents should be listed at the end of the manuscript in accordance with AMA style. They should be numbered to correspond with the order in which they are cited in the text. If a reference is cited more than once in the text, it should appear in the reference list only once, numbered in accordance with its first citation. Please do not use your word processing program’s footnote or endnote functions for references. These functions are incompatible with the software used by our art department.

References should include the following information: names of all authors, complete title of article cited or book chapter, name of journal or book, the year of publication, volume and issue numbers, and inclusive page numbers of the article or chapter cited. For sources that were accessed through the internet, include in the reference the complete URL of the page containing the source, the access date, and dates of original publication and last update (when available). Some examples follow:

To submit a manuscript, go to the Federal Practitioner^® Editorial Manager website (http://www.editorialmanager.com/fedprac).” If you have not already done so, you must register for the site. (Note: If you have been registered for the site as a reviewer, you do not need to register again as an author. All reviewers have the ability to log in as an author should they choose to do so.) After you have registered, you may log in as an author and begin the submission process.

The submission process consists of several steps, which vary depending on the type of manuscript you are submitting. All submissions require you to enter a title, enter key words, select classifications (subject areas discussed in the manuscript), answer several questions about the submission, and attach the following submission components:

The cover page should include the title of the manuscript, a byline listing all individuals who have served in authorship roles for the manuscript, and brief biographical information on the authors (professional and academic titles and affiliations). For criteria defining authorship roles, consult the 10th edition of the AMA Manual of Style (2007) or the ICMJE’s Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals: Writing and Editing for Biomedical Publication. In the byline, include each author's full name, highest relevant degrees and certifications, and military rank (when applicable). Do not include U.S. fellowships. It is also helpful to identify, on the cover page, which author will be serving as the corresponding author.

Authors may prepare their own conflict of interest statements, or they may use the standard Federal Practitioner^® disclosure form, available for download on the Federal Practitioner^® Editorial Manager website (on the Attach Files page that appears during manuscript submission).

You may also download the Federal Practitioner Release form , Copyright form , and Disclosure form here once your article has been accepted for publication.

Separate figure and table files also may be attached to most types of manuscript submissions—although it is recommended that tables be included within the manuscript document whenever possible. Figures, on the other hand, are best attached separately, as high resolution files.

Certain types of manuscript submissions also require that an abstract be entered as part of the submission process. This should be typed (or copied and pasted) into the text box provided.

Once you have submitted a manuscript through the Editorial Manager system, you may check on its status at any time by logging in as an author.

Communications, such as Reader Feedback letters and Sound Off responses, are not submitted through the Editorial Manager system. Communications may be e-mailed directly to the journal office (fedprac@frontlinemedcom.com) or mailed to: Editor, Federal Practitioner, Quadrant HealthCom Inc., 7 Century Drive, Suite 302, Parsippany, NJ 07054-4609. For clarification purposes, please include the name of the department or section (eg, Reader Feedback, Sound Off) in the e-mail subject line or mailing address.

All manuscripts submitted to Federal Practitioner^® for consideration as feature articles, case reports, or columns are reviewed by at least two members of our peer review committee. Peer reviews are conducted in a double-blind fashion, and the reviewers are asked to comment on the manuscript’s importance, accuracy, relevance, clarity, timeliness, balance, and reference citation. Final decisions on all submitted manuscripts are made by the journal’s editor-in-chief (or, in the event of a potential conflict of interest, a designated surrogate from the journal’s Editorial Advisory Association).

Manuscripts that are accepted for publication in Federal Practitioner^® undergo editing for length, clarity, and journal style. Some material may be reworded or reordered to improve readability and eliminate redundancy, but we make every effort to retain the authors’ voice and meaning. Edited manuscripts are returned to the corresponding author for approval prior to publication.

If you have any questions about the preparation or submission of your manuscript or wish to propose a specific topic, e-mail us at fedprac@frontlinemedcom.com.