An Introduction to Publishing Medical Articles with Cureus

Aims and Scope

The Cureus Journal of Medical Science is an Open Access, multispecialty, online-only medical journal owned by Springer Nature. Cureus was founded with a mission to eliminate the barriers to the generation and dissemination of medical knowledge and supports a global community of authors, peer reviewers, editors, and readers.

Cureus publishes medical research and findings that are relevant and applicable to the global healthcare community. Submissions undergo detailed editorial assessment and independent peer review to verify scientific rigor and methodological soundness, with detailed, constructive feedback provided to strengthen the analysis, quality and clarity of the work. Novelty is welcomed but not required for publication; articles that provide useful confirmation, replication, or clarification of existing knowledge are welcome.

Five different types of articles are accepted in the Cureus Journal of Medical Science:

• Original research
• Review articles
• Case reports
• Technical reports
• Editorials

Continuous online publication ensures that all published articles are disseminated quickly to a wide audience via the journal website, PubMed Central and Google Scholar.

Open Access Statement

Cureus’s method of publishing medical articles means that content is freely available to all readers worldwide immediately upon publication, ensuring maximum dissemination of articles, posters and abstracts. Additionally, readers can access all of our articles and other online content without registering for an account. Cureus utilizes a Continuous Article Publication (CAP) model, reducing publication times to a minimum and ensuring timely communication to the community.

Acceptance Policy and Editing Fees

Cureus is committed to providing easy, timely and affordable article publication. We expect all submissions to adhere to our rigorous formatting and language requirements. Placing this responsibility on our authors via our DIY submission process allows many authors to publish medical articles with zero editing fees.

Preliminary acceptance occurs when your article enters peer review, but comprehensive editorial review (and the assurance of publication) will not occur until the article is submitted for publication after peer review.

Articles exceeding our author or reference limits or containing too many formatting and language errors will require the purchase of our Preferred Editing service. However, Cureus does not have universal article processing charges (APCs).

Independent Peer Review

All articles submitted to Cureus undergo independent peer review by relevant specialists. Peer reviewers employed by the same institution or organization as one or more authors are prevented from peer reviewing that author’s article.

At least two completed reviews from independent peer reviewers invited by the journal are required to satisfy peer review. For more information on the Cureus peer review process, please refer to our Reviewer Guide.

Advisory Feedback

Cureus was founded with the goal of breaking down barriers in publication and embracing the medical community of authors and peer reviewers to advance medical knowledge. Mentors and colleagues often have excellent advice and feedback for authors, but should not serve as peer reviewers due to the potential conflict of interest per COPE guidelines.

That’s why we’ve introduced Advisers to the Cureus publishing process. During the initial manuscript submission, authors must invite at least five colleagues or mentors to provide feedback in an advisory capacity.

Advisers are not considered peer reviewers and their comments are not considered part of the formal peer review process. As a result, independent Cureus editors (associate editors) do not need to take their feedback into consideration during their editorial review.

Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement

As a reputable medical journal, Cureus requires that all articles adhere to the highest ethical standard. Cureus does not tolerate plagiarism, data or figure manipulation, knowingly providing incorrect information, copyright infringement, inaccurate author attributions, attempts to inappropriately manipulate the peer review process, failures to declare conflicts of interest, fraud or libel.

Cureus pledges to vigorously pursue and investigate any offending parties to ensure that their transgressions are recognized by their employer, institution and/or relevant governing body. For additional, detailed information on Cureus policies regarding publication ethics and malpractice, please refer to the Plagiarism, Misconduct and Ethics section prior to submitting articles for publication.

PubMed Central Indexing Requirements

The publishing requirements for all Cureus medical journal articles exist in part to ensure that each published medical article is accepted for indexing in PubMed Central (PMC). All stated requirements must be met in order for your article to be published in Cureus and indexed in PMC. Articles published in Cureus will appear in PubMed Central approximately six weeks after publication.