Qualifying for Free Publication

Free publication in Cureus can be earned, but should not be expected unless the authors have thoroughly reviewed all submission criteria and ensured their article satisfies all stated submission requirements.

Eligible for Potential Free Publication: Original Articles, Case Reports, Technical Reports and Editorials

All non-channel and non-competition original article, case report, technical report and editorial submissions undergo a preliminary review to determine if the article meets all Cureus editorial requirements (as listed in this Author Guide) and qualifies for free publication in our medical journal. All non-channel and non-competition review articles require the purchase of our Preferred Editing service.

To remain eligible for free publication, research articles cannot contain more than the following number of authors or references:

• Original articles: 10 authors and 30 references
• Case reports and technical reports: 5 authors and 20 references
• Editorials: 5 authors and 5 references

Exceeding either total will disqualify the article from free publication in our medical journal, regardless of how many errors are found during our preliminary review.

Preferred Editing Required: Review Articles

All non-channel/competition review articles submitted to Cureus will be required to purchase our Preferred Editing service in order to proceed with peer review and publication. This is due to the considerable editorial expenses associated with processing and editing these articles, which typically contain more content and references than other articles.

Editor Check: Preliminary Editorial Review

For the best chance of publishing your medical journal article for free, consider the areas of focus in our preliminary review:

• Is this article well-drafted and scientifically credible? Please refer to the Accepted Article Types section.
• Does this article fit within the journal’s scope? Please refer to the Topics Not Currently Accepted section.
• Are there errors in the following areas?
• Reference formatting and accuracy
• Media quality, formatting, labels and placement
• Spelling, grammar, syntax and punctuation errors
• Author names and affiliations
• Text and article formatting
• Proper use of acronyms and initialisms

Only well-drafted, relevant, credible submissions with few or no errors will be accepted for free publication in our medical journal. Articles with too many errors will be required to purchase our Preferred Editing service (use our calculator to estimate potential editing fees), and articles with severe language issues will require professional language editing by a third party in order to be considered for peer review and free publication in Cureus. DIY editing services such as Grammarly will not be accepted.

Preferred Editing costs are much lower than typical APCs seen in other medical journals. Submit your research today.