The circulation of the NCMJ is approximately 30,000. Readers represent a broad spectrum of health care professionals, public health professionals, policymakers, government officials, business leaders, educators, researchers, and interested lay people.
The NCMJ publishes 3 general types of articles: original articles, invited contributions, and correspondence. Authors should strive for a concise manuscript that is unencumbered by excessive detail. Manuscripts that do not follow the guidelines for manuscript formatting or are poorly prepared might be rejected for these reasons.
ORIGINAL ARTICLES
The NCMJ generally considers 2 types of research-based manuscripts for publication as original articles: (1) original clinical or health services research and (2) systematic reviews of clinical or health services research. The NCMJ is especially interested in publishing research that has relevance to the health of North Carolina residents.
INVITED CONTRIBUTIONS
Each issue of the NCMJ has a topical focus referred to as the policy forum. The policy forum is introduced by an extended issue brief that provides an overview of key issues related to the focal topic. The issue brief is followed by commentaries and sidebars written by people with special perspectives on or expertise in various aspects of the topic.
The policy forum is complemented by a regular series of departments—Tar Heel Footprints in Health, Spotlight on the Safety Net, Running the Numbers, and Philanthropy Profile—that highlight important people, agencies, and data in areas within the scope of the policy forum.
Each issue might also include additional sections, such as Health Reform in North Carolina, that feature invited material. Guidelines for articles in these sections are the same as those for invited commentaries.
CORRESPONDENCE
Readers are invited to use the NCMJ as a forum in which to foster further discussion about health policy, broadly construed. Correspondence can offer additional perspectives on a topic featured in the NCMJ or address relevant topics not presented in the journal.
Correspondence is limited to 750 words, 5 references, and 1 table or figure. Please format them to accord with the submissions checklist. Correspondence should be addressed to the editor in chief and submitted electronically at ncmedj@nciom.org.
