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Clinical cases are the first step of the medical student into
the world of clinical medicine. Discussion on a clinical case
gives the student – or for that matter, any clinician, a
well-rounded view of the patient’s problems, the likely
causation, and the management and outcome. By extension,
published case reports provide the readers exposure to the
events at the frontline of clinical medicine, whether it is some
rare manifestation or complication, an innovative diagnostic or
therapeutic approach, or a novel association, like the one which
lead to the initial identification of acquired immune deficiency
syndrome. Moreover, for the practicing pediatrician, away from
the esoteric concepts of epidemiology and research, it is the
case-report section that provides a sense of belonging to a
scientific journal. This is more relevant for journals like ours
that are published by professional bodies. On the other hand,
for a young doctor foraying into academic pediatrics, it is the
case report section that provides both an avenue to get your
feet wet in the field of publication and also an outlet for
demonstrating your scientific writing skills.
Although the first written case
description may be more than a few centuries old; in recent
years, most journals have been reluctant to publish case
reports. Even those that are publishing, continue to restrain
them by limiting the word count and the number of authors.
Moreover, the rejection rate for this section is one of the
highest for most journals, reaching 95% for Indian Pediatrics.
The reasons are multifold, including a gross disparity between
the space we have and the number of submissions we receive.
Looking at the multi-faceted
advantages of case reports and the need to make available this
academic avenue to the majority of our academy members, we
propose to start a new journal exclusively dedicated to
publishing case reports, Indian Pediatrics Case Reports (IP
CaRes). This journal will be a quarterly journal publishing
case reports, case series, images, clinical videos,
correspondence and related information, with e-copy mailed free
to all members of the Indian Academy of Pediatrics. Print issues
will be available for subscription to individuals and libraries.
This high volume journal shall publish cases related to all
pediatric subspecialties and allied specialties. There would not
be any restriction on the number of authors, provided they meet
authorship criteria, and word limits will be not too
restrictive. The editorial board has already been constituted,
author guidelines prepared, and the website shall be up and
running within next few months. The journal will share offices
with Indian Pediatrics.
We plan to publish the first issue
in early 2021, and
submissions are welcome at [email protected].
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