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The CI writing project teaches concepts and practical skills in evidence-based medicine that results in an outstanding publication in a peer-reviewed, indexed journal. CIs are published in The Journal of Family Practice and American Family Physician. If you have any CI questions, please contact the CI Project Manager, Lindsay Barnes, at Lindsay@fpin.org or (573) 256-2066.
1. Getting Started
- Read a Clinical Inquiry in JFP or AFP and become familiar with general format and style.
- The production timeline is ideally nine months to one year, but can take up to three years. Be sure to schedule protected time to author.
- 1. Manuscript Preparation and submission (4 months)
•2 months to recruit librarian and for librarian co-author to complete search
•2 months for the author to write manuscript and submit it for editorial review
- 2. Editorial Review (3 months)
•2 months for the assistant editor and clinician author to revise the manuscript
• 2 weeks for the peer reviewer (PR) to complete and submit their review
• 2 weeks for the author to make PR suggestions
- 3. Publication Review (2 months)
• 1 month for revisions by the associate editor
• Submitted to the Journal of Family Practice or American Family Physician
2. Select A Question
- Go to www.fpin.org and register as an FPIN user. The Register button is at the top left of the home page. Your username is your email address and your password is fpin.
- On the home page, mouse-over the Clinical Inquiries tab and select “Sign-up to Author a Clinical Inquiry.”
- Select “Clinical Inquiries Available Question List.”
- Use the question list drop-down on the sign up form to see the available questions. Select a question and be sure to fill out the form completely.
- When you complete your sign-up for a question, you will receive a confirmation email which you sound save. Make a note of the FPIN question and ID number. These are very important for tracking all manuscripts. The FPIN librarian editor will then begin recruiting for a librarian coauthor to conduct the search.
- Librarians have a minimum of one month to complete their search. The librarian search is due two months before the author’s deadline (So, when choosing a deadline, three months from the day you sign up is the earliest deadline you can choose).
- Authors may also formulate their own questions. The questions will be reviewed by editors and will be accepted, accepted with revisions or rejected. This process will take approximately 2-4 weeks. Send your question to Lindsay@fpin.org. Please be sure to include your name, faculty co-author if applicable, and your institution.
3. Communicate with your Librarian Coauthor
- Ensure proper focus and understanding of the question.
- Remember to use the librarian’s expertise on searching and formatting references.
4. Evaluate and Grade the Evidence
- Once you have identified a source of evidence, appraise it for validity:
- The strength of recommendation (included in the Evidence‐Based Answer) can be determined using the following guide: Strength of Recommendation Taxonomy (SORT): A patient‐centered approach to grading evidence in the medical literature
www.aafp.org/afp/20040201/548.html
- The levels of evidence (included in the Resources) can be determined using the following guide: Center for Evidence‐Based Medicine
http://www.cebm.net/index.aspx?o=1025
- Statistics can be deciphered using the following guide: Statistical Help
www.statsdirect.com/help/statsdirect.htm
- Other useful sites for guidance on critical appraisal and other EBM topics:
- Centre for Health Evidence: Users’ Guides to Evidence‐Based Practice
http://www.cche.net/usersguides/main.asp
- Duke University Medical Center Library: Evidence‐Based Medicine
www.mclibrary.duke.edu/subject/ebm
- The FPIN website has many resources available:
http://www.fpin.org/mc/page.do?sitePageId=71531&orgId=fpin
- Authors should obtain permission from authors and publishers for the use of quotes, tables, and other materials taken from previously‐published works not in the public domain. Electronic or paper letters of permission should accompany the manuscript as separate attachments. Please mention the original source in the figure legend or table footnote.
5. Write following the CI Template
For help writing any aspect of the CI visit the FPIN resources page: http://www.fpin.org/mc/page.do?sitePageId=71531&orgId=fpin
This should be the original wording you received in your sign-up confirmation email.
- Any modifications to the question must be approved by the Editor-in-Chief.
- Changes without approval may result in work that cannot be published because it overlaps another CI.
- If a change is approved, you must share this information with your librarian co-author. It could require a new or modified search.
- Evidence-Based Answer 50-100 words
The bottom-line conclusion based on the best available evidence. State the strength of recommendation. Please read the SORT document for more details.
- Evidence Summary 300-350words
This section should explain the evidence-based answer, and support this answer with available and pertinent evidence. Specifically, outcomes data should be presented, especially patient-oriented outcome data such as pain, functional status, quality of life, morbidity and mortality. Reporting effect sizes with confidence intervals, number needed to treat, likelihood ratios, predictive values, relative and absolute risk reductions and other informative measures is encouraged. P values by themselves are rarely informative for clinical decision making at the point of care. A table or figure to summarize pertinent information is highly desirable. You should report the evidence in standard and consistent ways depending on the type of question.
- Recommendations from Others 75-125 words
Give recommendations from guidelines, consensus statements, or textbooks, in order of preference. Please cite your key reference in your reference list.
- Authors (Clinician, Co-author, Librarian co-author)
Limit to three lines. Include: Names, degrees
Affiliation
City, State (unless included in affiliation, such as University of Missouri-Columbia).
Please limit references to the most important ones, citing a maximum of 10. Cite the key original research articles from which the evidence is summarized, including meta-analyses. If more original research articles are summarized than can be cited, a review article citing those research articles may be cited; otherwise do not cite review articles.
Each reference should have a Level of Evidence notation after it in parentheses.
Authors are responsible for the accuracy of all references. Personal communications and unpublished data should not be referenced.
Tables should be self-explanatory, clearly organized, and supplemental to the text of the manuscript.
Indicate the total number of words here.
- Submission of Manuscripts
Please submit a Word document using Times New Roman 12 pt, double-spaced and with the headings in bold. Authors must complete and submit their author checklist (see end of this document) along with the manuscript.
- Word Count and Tables/Figures
A total word count of 750 words, including the references, is a desirable goal. However, additional words may be allowed if the subject requires it. The key is very concise and tight writing.
A small table or figure should be included (unless it is not appropriate given the topic). Including a table or figure allows readers to quickly scan information, such as the results in the Evidence Summary. Avoid duplicating material in the text and the table. Each table should include a title and be included on a separate page.
In general, reference citations should be mainly in the evidence summary section. There should be a maximum of 10 references, cited in numerical order in the text. Each reference should have a Level of Evidence notation after it in parentheses.
In general, avoid reference citations in the Evidence Based Answer section – the citations can be put in the Evidence Summary section, which is designed to support the EBA. References used in a table should also appear in the order they would appear in the Clinical Inquiry (e.g., citations in a table should be lower numbered than those that appear in subsequent text). In the Reference section, number references consecutively in the order in which they are cited, not alphabetically. Identify references in text, tables, and legends by Arabic numerals, using a superscript. Don’t use embedded footnotes.
Any intellectual property created for a Clinical Inquiry by the author shall become the intellectual property of FPIN, Inc. and author shall execute any documents necessary to secure such rights within 30 days of the transmission of such documents to author by FPIN, Inc. or its agents.
When you are finished with your first draft of the manuscript, send it to the librarian co-author to 1) verify the references 2) add their affiliation and 3) review the entire document. The librarian will return the document to you for final review and submission to FPIN.
6. Upload to the online Editorial Management System
- 1. To upload your finalized manuscript, go to www.fpinems.org and login.
- 2. If you forget your username or password, contact Lindsay@fpin.org.
- 3. After you log in, you will then be asked to choose your role. Pick author.
- 4. Select the revisions required under the status button of your CI.
- 5. Scroll all the way to the bottom and you will see a space for "upload author version." Browse for your document and then click upload.
- 6. After you have done this send an email to Lindsay@fpin.org, and you will be assigned an assistant editor.
7. Editorial and Peer Review
- After uploading your first draft, expect to hear from an assistant editor in two weeks. Your editor will upload a draft with track changes.
- For questions about track changes download an instructional power point at:
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/templates/TC102429201033.aspx
- Follow steps 1-4 above to see the editor’s version.
- You and your editor will go back and forth with revisions, until the draft is ready for peer review.
- After you make peer review changes and your editor approves the draft, it will be sent to the editor-in-chief for review and then onto publication.
- The project manager will notify when your CI is published.
8. Questions?
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