The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) is the world’s leading medical journal (NEJM, n.d.). The journal receives approximately 5000 submissions a year and the majority of them are from authors not based in the United States. Upon receipt of the manuscript, at least five experts edit and review it prior to it being published. The review process is stringent and NEJM accepts only five percent of articles submitted for publication (NEJM, n.d.). The process of publication involves the collaboration of editors, statistical experts, illustrators, manuscript editors, proofreaders and production personnel (NEJM, n.d.). An example of an article which went through this process and was successfully …show more content…
Editing is usually a two-step process: an associate editor reviews the manuscript submitted and then forwards the manuscript to the journal’s deputy editor for further review. In some cases, a peer reviewer conducts further review of the manuscript which is at the discretion of the editors. In considering a research article for publication, an associate editor assesses the author’s work to determine whether the basic criteria have been met. For the NEJM, these criteria are quality, novelty, and potential clinical impact (NEJM, n.d). If these criteria are met, the in-house deputy editor then reviews the manuscript. If the deputy editor disagrees with the associate editor’s opinion following the initial assessment, he or she sends the manuscript to peer review. In addition, a statistical consultant reviews most research articles prior to acceptance (NEJM, …show more content…
At the time of publication, the survey showed that few hospitals were adopting the use of EHRs. The study also found that in spite of EHR adoption, it was not used on a wide scale (Jha et al., 2009).
Principles of Composition
First, the authors observed the principle of abbreviation. This principle necessitates that a phrase used at least three times be abbreviated (APA, 2010). For example, the phrases American Hospital Association (AHA) and Veterans Health Administration (VHA) were each used at least three times and were abbreviated when they were introduced.
Secondly, the authors observed the APA rule of numbers. The rule is that numerals are used to express numbers 10 and above and words used to express numbers below 10 (APA, 2010). With the exception of one instance where the numeral five was used instead of spelled out, the authors consistently observed the rule of numbers in their paper.
Lastly, the authors used transition words appropriately and effectively in this paper. For example, the transition words third, fourth, finally, although, in summary, however, etc. could be identified in the writing where they had been used to link sentences within and between paragraphs.