Clinical-medicine journal workflow (en-clinmed-journal-workflow)
Purpose
This is the routing skill for the specialty-clinical bundle. It does not replace a
single-journal profile; it first classifies the study by specialty, study design,
and evidence strength, then routes into the matching per-journal skill for fit and
re-framing. It is a sibling to en-natsci-journal-workflow (which holds the general
big-four and broad-specialty clinical flagships). These skills are venue-fit aids
only — not clinical, diagnostic, or regulatory advice.
Ask four things first
- Specialty: internal/general medicine, oncology, cardiology, neurology,
pediatrics, psychiatry, surgery, respiratory/critical care, nephrology,
endocrinology/diabetes, hepatology/GI, allergy/immunology, rheumatology, stroke,
radiology, anesthesiology, obstetrics/gynecology, or urology?
- Study design: randomized controlled trial, prospective cohort / observational
study, diagnostic-accuracy study, systematic review / meta-analysis, guideline /
consensus, mechanistic/translational study, or narrative/invited review?
- Evidence strength & impact: practice-changing definitive trial, an important
but not definitive result, a hypothesis-generating or exploratory finding, or a
synthesis?
- Audience: the whole specialty (a society/JAMA-Network/Lancet specialty
flagship), a sub-specialty community, or a general-medicine audience (route up to
the big-four in the natural-science bundle)?
Quick routing
| Manuscript signature |
Prefer skill |
| General internal-medicine trial / comparative effectiveness |
jama-internal-medicine |
| Oncology clinical trial / practice-changing |
jama-oncology / annals-of-oncology |
| Authoritative oncology review |
nature-reviews-clinical-oncology |
| Cardiology specialty study |
jama-cardiology |
| Neurology clinical study |
jama-neurology |
| Neuroscience-to-clinical brain disorders, mechanism + clinical |
brain |
| Cerebrovascular / stroke |
stroke |
| Pediatrics |
jama-pediatrics |
| Psychiatry / mental-health (clinical or population) |
jama-psychiatry / the-lancet-psychiatry |
| Surgery / perioperative outcomes |
jama-surgery |
| Respiratory / pulmonary / critical-care medicine |
the-lancet-respiratory-medicine / american-journal-of-respiratory-and-critical-care-medicine |
| Intensive / critical care |
critical-care-medicine |
| Diabetes / endocrinology (clinical or population) |
the-lancet-diabetes-and-endocrinology / journal-of-clinical-endocrinology-and-metabolism / diabetologia |
| Nephrology / kidney disease |
journal-of-the-american-society-of-nephrology / kidney-international |
| Liver disease / hepatology |
journal-of-hepatology / hepatology |
| Gastroenterology (clinical) |
american-journal-of-gastroenterology |
| Allergy / clinical immunology |
journal-of-allergy-and-clinical-immunology |
| Rheumatology / autoimmune |
arthritis-and-rheumatology |
| Public-health / population-health intervention |
the-lancet-public-health |
| Diagnostic imaging / imaging AI |
radiology |
| Anesthesiology / perioperative medicine |
anesthesiology |
| Obstetrics / gynecology |
american-journal-of-obstetrics-and-gynecology |
| Urology |
european-urology |
Sibling-journal disambiguation
| Confusable targets |
Decision rule |
| A JAMA Network specialty title vs the general big-four (NEJM/JAMA/Lancet/BMJ in the natural-science bundle) |
A practice-changing, broadly significant trial may belong at the general venue; a strong specialty-relevant result routes to the JAMA Network / Lancet specialty title. |
jama-oncology vs annals-of-oncology |
Route by audience and society fit (JAMA Network vs ESMO) and re-check current scopes; both take high-quality oncology clinical research. |
journal-of-the-american-society-of-nephrology vs kidney-international |
Both are top nephrology venues (ASN vs ISN); route by society fit and emphasis and re-check current scopes. |
journal-of-hepatology vs hepatology |
EASL vs AASLD flagships; route by society fit and audience and re-check current scopes. |
the-lancet-psychiatry vs jama-psychiatry |
Both are top psychiatry venues; route by family fit (Lancet vs JAMA Network) and the framing/audience. |
Specialty journal vs the-lancet-public-health |
A population-health/policy intervention routes to public health; a disease-specific clinical result routes to the specialty journal. |
Decision rules
- Match the reporting guideline before submitting. RCT → CONSORT + prospective
trial registration (number in the manuscript); systematic review → PRISMA;
observational → STROBE; diagnostic accuracy → STARD. These are prerequisites, not
nice-to-haves, at these venues.
- Evidence hierarchy sets the venue. A definitive randomized trial outranks an
observational study, which outranks a single-center case series; route the design to
the venue that expects that level of evidence.
- Specialty fit beats prestige. A strong nephrology or rheumatology result is often
better served by the society specialty flagship than by a general journal that will
desk-reject for limited general interest.
- Review vs primary. Nature Reviews Clinical Oncology and similar are largely
invited/commissioned — propose, do not submit unsolicited primary data.
- Ethics, consent, and disclosures (IRB approval, informed consent, ICMJE COI and
authorship, data sharing) are gating items at every clinical venue.
- Always enter the single-journal skill's official-submission checklist before
submitting; never rely on a stale template.
Output format
[Top journal skill] <skill-name>
[Alt 1] <skill-name> (reason)
[Alt 2] <skill-name> (reason)
[Do not submit to] <journal> (one-line mismatch reason)
[Study design / reporting guideline] <RCT-CONSORT / cohort-STROBE / review-PRISMA / diagnostic-STARD>
[Biggest current gap] evidence-strength / specialty-fit / registration / reporting-checklist / ethics / official requirements
[Next step] invoke <skill-name> for single-venue fit and re-framing
Source: brycewang-stanford/Awesome-Journal-Skills → Clinical-Medicine-Journal-Skills/skills/en-clinmed-journal-workflow/SKILL.md
1---2name: en-clinmed-journal-workflow3description: Use when deciding which English specialty clinical-medicine journal skill to invoke next, comparing fit across the 30-journal clinical-medicine roadmap, or routing a manuscript before venue-specific re-framing. Routes by specialty, study design (RCT / observational / diagnostic-accuracy / review), and evidence strength, and flags trial registration and the reporting checklist as prerequisites.4---5
6
7# Clinical-medicine journal workflow (en-clinmed-journal-workflow)
8
9## Purpose
10
11This is the routing skill for the specialty-clinical bundle. It does not replace a
12single-journal profile; it first classifies the study by **specialty, study design,
13and evidence strength**, then routes into the matching per-journal skill for fit and
14re-framing. It is a sibling to `en-natsci-journal-workflow` (which holds the general
15big-four and broad-specialty clinical flagships). These skills are venue-fit aids
16only — not clinical, diagnostic, or regulatory advice.
17
18## Ask four things first
19
201. **Specialty:** internal/general medicine, oncology, cardiology, neurology,
21 pediatrics, psychiatry, surgery, respiratory/critical care, nephrology,
22 endocrinology/diabetes, hepatology/GI, allergy/immunology, rheumatology, stroke,
23 radiology, anesthesiology, obstetrics/gynecology, or urology?
242. **Study design:** randomized controlled trial, prospective cohort / observational
25 study, diagnostic-accuracy study, systematic review / meta-analysis, guideline /
26 consensus, mechanistic/translational study, or narrative/invited review?
273. **Evidence strength & impact:** practice-changing definitive trial, an important
28 but not definitive result, a hypothesis-generating or exploratory finding, or a
29 synthesis?
304. **Audience:** the whole specialty (a society/JAMA-Network/Lancet specialty
31 flagship), a sub-specialty community, or a general-medicine audience (route up to
32 the big-four in the natural-science bundle)?
33
34## Quick routing
35
36| Manuscript signature | Prefer skill |
37|---|---|
38| General internal-medicine trial / comparative effectiveness | `jama-internal-medicine` |
39| Oncology clinical trial / practice-changing | `jama-oncology` / `annals-of-oncology` |
40| Authoritative oncology review | `nature-reviews-clinical-oncology` |
41| Cardiology specialty study | `jama-cardiology` |
42| Neurology clinical study | `jama-neurology` |
43| Neuroscience-to-clinical brain disorders, mechanism + clinical | `brain` |
44| Cerebrovascular / stroke | `stroke` |
45| Pediatrics | `jama-pediatrics` |
46| Psychiatry / mental-health (clinical or population) | `jama-psychiatry` / `the-lancet-psychiatry` |
47| Surgery / perioperative outcomes | `jama-surgery` |
48| Respiratory / pulmonary / critical-care medicine | `the-lancet-respiratory-medicine` / `american-journal-of-respiratory-and-critical-care-medicine` |
49| Intensive / critical care | `critical-care-medicine` |
50| Diabetes / endocrinology (clinical or population) | `the-lancet-diabetes-and-endocrinology` / `journal-of-clinical-endocrinology-and-metabolism` / `diabetologia` |
51| Nephrology / kidney disease | `journal-of-the-american-society-of-nephrology` / `kidney-international` |
52| Liver disease / hepatology | `journal-of-hepatology` / `hepatology` |
53| Gastroenterology (clinical) | `american-journal-of-gastroenterology` |
54| Allergy / clinical immunology | `journal-of-allergy-and-clinical-immunology` |
55| Rheumatology / autoimmune | `arthritis-and-rheumatology` |
56| Public-health / population-health intervention | `the-lancet-public-health` |
57| Diagnostic imaging / imaging AI | `radiology` |
58| Anesthesiology / perioperative medicine | `anesthesiology` |
59| Obstetrics / gynecology | `american-journal-of-obstetrics-and-gynecology` |
60| Urology | `european-urology` |
61
62## Sibling-journal disambiguation
63
64| Confusable targets | Decision rule |
65|---|---|
66| A JAMA Network specialty title vs the general big-four (NEJM/JAMA/Lancet/BMJ in the natural-science bundle) | A practice-changing, broadly significant trial may belong at the general venue; a strong specialty-relevant result routes to the JAMA Network / Lancet specialty title. |
67| `jama-oncology` vs `annals-of-oncology` | Route by audience and society fit (JAMA Network vs ESMO) and re-check current scopes; both take high-quality oncology clinical research. |
68| `journal-of-the-american-society-of-nephrology` vs `kidney-international` | Both are top nephrology venues (ASN vs ISN); route by society fit and emphasis and re-check current scopes. |
69| `journal-of-hepatology` vs `hepatology` | EASL vs AASLD flagships; route by society fit and audience and re-check current scopes. |
70| `the-lancet-psychiatry` vs `jama-psychiatry` | Both are top psychiatry venues; route by family fit (Lancet vs JAMA Network) and the framing/audience. |
71| Specialty journal vs `the-lancet-public-health` | A population-health/policy intervention routes to public health; a disease-specific clinical result routes to the specialty journal. |
72
73## Decision rules
74
75- **Match the reporting guideline before submitting.** RCT → CONSORT + prospective
76 trial registration (number in the manuscript); systematic review → PRISMA;
77 observational → STROBE; diagnostic accuracy → STARD. These are prerequisites, not
78 nice-to-haves, at these venues.
79- **Evidence hierarchy sets the venue.** A definitive randomized trial outranks an
80 observational study, which outranks a single-center case series; route the design to
81 the venue that expects that level of evidence.
82- **Specialty fit beats prestige.** A strong nephrology or rheumatology result is often
83 better served by the society specialty flagship than by a general journal that will
84 desk-reject for limited general interest.
85- **Review vs primary.** Nature Reviews Clinical Oncology and similar are largely
86 invited/commissioned — propose, do not submit unsolicited primary data.
87- **Ethics, consent, and disclosures** (IRB approval, informed consent, ICMJE COI and
88 authorship, data sharing) are gating items at every clinical venue.
89- Always enter the single-journal skill's official-submission checklist before
90 submitting; never rely on a stale template.
91
92## Output format
93
94```text
95[Top journal skill] <skill-name>
96[Alt 1] <skill-name> (reason)
97[Alt 2] <skill-name> (reason)
98[Do not submit to] <journal> (one-line mismatch reason)
99[Study design / reporting guideline] <RCT-CONSORT / cohort-STROBE / review-PRISMA / diagnostic-STARD>
100[Biggest current gap] evidence-strength / specialty-fit / registration / reporting-checklist / ethics / official requirements
101[Next step] invoke <skill-name> for single-venue fit and re-framing
102```
103
104---
105
106**Source:** [`brycewang-stanford/Awesome-Journal-Skills`](https://github.com/brycewang-stanford/Awesome-Journal-Skills) → `Clinical-Medicine-Journal-Skills/skills/en-clinmed-journal-workflow/SKILL.md`
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