For Authors

About JAMA Health Forum

John Z. Ayanian, MD, MPP

Editor

Melinda B. Buntin, PhD

Deputy Editor

JAMA Health Forum is an international, peer-reviewed, online, open access journal that addresses health policy and strategies affecting medicine, health, and health care. JAMA Health Forum is a member of the JAMA Network, a consortium of peer-reviewed, general medical and specialty publications, and is an official journal of AcademyHealth.

Journal Frequency and Access. JAMA Health Forum is published online weekly, every Friday, with timely news and commentary published throughout the week. The journal receives over 1.1 million online visits annually and more than 2.8 million article views and downloads. All research articles that are accepted for publication require payment of an article processing charge (APC) of $3000. Additional waivers and discounts on open access article processing charges are available for eligible authors from Hinari Core Offer countries. Additional information about the journal's open access options is available here.

Editorial Information. The median time to first decision is 5 days, and 47 days with review. JAMA Health Forum follows the same peer review, editorial, and publishing standards of JAMA and the JAMA Network journals. The Journal Impact Factor is 9.5, the highest ranking journal among health policy & services journals. Additional information on the types of articles published and editorial policies is available in the journal's Instructions for Authors.

Editorial Team. The founding Editor in Chief is John Z. Ayanian, MD, MPP. Dr Ayanian is the inaugural Director of the Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation at the University of Michigan, the Alice Hamilton Distinguished University Professor of Medicine and Healthcare Policy, Professor of Health Management and Policy, Professor of Public Policy, and a practicing general internist. The Deputy Editor is Melinda B. Buntin, PhD. Dr Buntin is Bloomberg Distinguished Professor of Health Policy and Economics, Bloomberg School of Public Health/Carey Business School, Johns Hopkins University. For a complete listing of the journal's Editors, JAMA Forum Contributors, and Editorial Board, see Editors & Publishers.

Mission Statement. JAMA Health Forum is an international, peer-reviewed, online, open access journal that addresses health policy and strategies affecting medicine, health, and health care. The journal publishes original research, evidence-based reports, and opinion about national and global health policy; innovative approaches to health care delivery; and health care economics, access, quality, safety, equity, and reform. Health policy leaders contribute timely and insightful commentary via the JAMA Forum, and news briefs cover major reports released by government agencies, foundations, health policy think tanks, and other policy-focused organizations. JAMA Health Forum is a member of the JAMA Network, a consortium of peer-reviewed, general medical and specialty publications. The journal also presents curated health policy content from across the JAMA Network, including JAMA, JAMA Internal Medicine, and other JAMA Network journals.

JAMA Health Forum
ISSN 2689-0186

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Why Publish in JAMA Health Forum?

Building on a tradition of editorial excellence, JAMA Health Forum provides authors the impact and reach of JAMA and the JAMA Network specialty journals as well as prompt decisions and rapid publication and author-focused services.

Impact and Reach

• Journal Impact Factor of 9.5, the highest ranking journal among health policy & services journals
• Broad reach through email alerts, news releases, and more than 9,800 social media followers (Facebook, X, LinkedIn)
• Over 2.8 million annual views and downloads of JAMA Health Forum articles
• Extensive press coverage, with over 4,600 media mentions in 2023 and 2024 in outlets such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN, and Forbes
• Top Altmetric scores among open access general medical journals—JAMA Health Forum published 23 of the top 50 articles among health policy & services journals
• Open access for all articles
• Invited Commentary published to augment and direct attention to research articles
• Online commenting available to continue review and discussion post publication
• Indexed and covered in Altmetric, CLOCKSS, DeepDyve, Directory of Open Access Journals, EBSCO, AAAS EurekAlert, Google Scholar, Ovid, PubMed/MEDLINE, PubMed Central, READCUBE, Scopus, Sherpa Romeo, Web of Science Emerging Sources Citation Index, and Yewno.

Prompt Decisions and Rapid Publication Timelines

• Prompt, rigorous review by our experienced editors
• Time to first decision: Median time to first decision is 5 days and 47 days with review
• Median time from submission to acceptance: 69 days; 60 days from acceptance to publication
• Expedited peer review and publication for select clinical trials, other major studies, or reports with urgent public health importance
• Coordination with meeting presentation: Opportunity to publish new research simultaneously with your presentation

Author Service

JAMA Health Forum offers unparalleled reach and an author-friendly approach, from manuscript submission through publication.

• User-friendly manuscript submission system and process
• Highest standards followed to improve your accepted manuscript’s accuracy, reliability, and readability
• Prompt, expert review and consideration from our experienced editors
• CME credit available for lead authors who publish in JAMA Health Forum
• High-quality peer review, manuscript editing, and graphics reproduction
• Open access: Authors of research articles pay an article processing charge for immediate open access on the day of publication (waivers and discounts are available for authors from resource-limited countries)
• Display of content on fast, device-responsive website
• Citations, views, and Altmetric score displayed with every article
• Deposit to PubMed Central: The journal deposits all published research articles into PubMed Central (PMC) for authors
• Online extras: Ability to post supplemental content with articles and download article tables and figures as PowerPoint slides
• The JAMA Network advantage: Authors of papers not accepted by JAMA or another JAMA Network Journal may have their papers automatically referred to JAMA Health Forum
• Dedicated media team to promote your article to the news media and on social media

Commitment to Equity

• JAMA Network journals welcome manuscript submissions on equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI).
• For more information, see the JAMA Network EDI Editors, Policies, and Topic Collection

Topics of Interest

JAMA Health Forum will publish research on all aspects of health policy and strategies affecting medicine, health, and health care, including the following:

For more information, see JAMA Health Forum's Mission and Objectives and Instructions for Authors.

Submit your manuscript at https://manuscripts.jamahealthforum.com.

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Updated July 2024