By Suha Tayyab
Writing a case report might seem as intimidating as baking a cake but in reality, it’s pretty simple if you have the right recipe with you. The recipe being, knowing what to do before writing a case report, how to structure the case report, and icing or in this case, formatting it to the journal’s requirements. Voila! You’re done!
Let’s begin with a few things you want to do before sitting down to write a case report. First of all, you should be clear about the specialty you are interested in. This will not only help you target the topics of the case report but will also allow you to center your opportunities (volunteer work, research, electives) in your specialty of interest and build your CV around it.
Now look for a medical journal that accepts case report in your specialty of interest. It’s preferred to choose a well-reputed journal that is
1) Peer-reviewed
2) Double-blinded
3) Has a good impact factor
4) Good citation index
5) lndexed in PubMed
The next step is to search for ‘Instructions for author’ of the medical journal chosen. Instructions usually include the preferred font style, size, page spacing, etc. It is noteworthy that each journal has its own specific requirements. Now read the instructions, refer to around 10-15 articles in the journal and notice how the articles follow the instructions of the journal strictly.
Once all of that is done, now comes the easy part, writing the case report. You read that right! The easy part! A case report consists of an introduction, case presentation, conclusion, and discussion. Let's break it down. Begin your introduction with a general explanation of your topic and funnel it down to what makes your topic unique. Case presentation is written as done in your wards. This includes a description of case presentation, diagnosis, labs, management, follow-up with details relevant to the case. The conclusion has the new learning pointers that your case report brings forward which can add to medical literature.
Finally, there are a few causes of rejection that can put your work to waste and you must definitely avoid them. Firstly, if your case report is not unique, has a lot of literature already present in the database on your topic, and has no new learning pointers, it is considered to be a huge red flag for rejection. To avoid that, make sure you perform a literature search to establish the uniqueness of your topic. The second cause of rejection can be submitting the case report in an irrelevant journal for publishing. If your case report is regarding cardiology, submit it to a cardiology-based journal and not radiology. Moreover, if your topic is regarding a highly specialized specialty, say, neuro-oncology, it is better to submit it in a neuro-oncology journal instead of neurology or oncology journals. It increases the likelihood of your case getting published. Thirdly, if your case report is not properly formatted according to the journal’s instructions, it will undergo rejection instantly. So, it's best to always read instructions for the author thoroughly and format your case report accordingly. And lastly, if there is the use of inconsistent or wrong English with mistakes of grammar, punctuation, expression, or writing a half paper in American English and the other half in British English can result in rejection too. In that case, it is recommended to read 'Elements of style’ which is a widely used grammar book in American high schools so you can familiarize yourself with the proper use of English.
To conclude, case report writing is one of the easiest articles to pen down. It takes relatively less time and is successful in terms of publishing if done correctly.