Peer Review Process
Peer-Reviewed Submissions (original research, brief reports, case reports, review articles)
All submissions are reviewed initially for compliance to manuscript preparation guideline by the editorial staff. If they pass this “technical check,” the editor-in-chief makes an initial editorial decision. While manuscripts may be rejected immediately or given feedback directly from the editor, most papers will be subject to peer review. Those papers are managed by the editor-in-chief or assigned to the deputy editor or an editorial fellow, who coordinates the review process. A minimum of two peer reviewers are assigned to each submission, and author revisions are typically required as a result of reviewer comments. WMJ uses a double anonymized process for all submissions (authors do not know the identity of reviewers, and reviewers do not know the identity of authors). When reviewer feedback has been addressed to the satisfaction of the editor or fellow responsible for the manuscript, they make a recommendation to the editor in chief, who makes the final determination regarding publication. Additional final revisions may be requested at the time of acceptance by the editor-in-chief.
Editorial-Reviewed Submissions (commentaries, letters to the editor, “As I See It” [narratives])
All submissions are reviewed initially for compliance with manuscript preparation guidelines by the editorial staff. If they pass this “technical check,” the editor-in-chief makes an initial editorial decision. Some manuscripts may be rejected immediately; for the others, the editor may invite one to two additional reviewers. Revisions may be required. The editor-in-chief makes the final decision regarding publication.
Human Subject Recruitment and Informed Consent
For all manuscripts reporting data from studies involving human participants or animals, formal review and approval (or waiver) must be obtained from an institutional review board or ethics committee and should be described in the METHODS section. For studies involving human subjects, the METHODS section should also include a statement regarding how informed consent was obtained from the participants, whether oral or written, and any participation incentives offered.
Study subjects’ identifying information should never be included in manuscript text or accompanying materials (e.g., figures, tables, appendices) unless it is essential for the purpose of the study and the subjects have given written informed consent for publication. In any case where subjects’ identifying information is included in a submission, informed consent should be indicated in the ACKNOWLEDGEMENT section of the manuscript, and the corresponding author may be asked to provide documentation of informed consent.
Ethical Responsibilities of Editors and Reviewers
WMJ editors, editorial fellows and reviewers must not disclose or discuss unpublished materials in a submitted manuscript with anyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers, or members of the WMJ editorial team. Deputy editors, editorial fellows and reviewers are expected to notify the editor-in-chief of suspected plagiarism, duplicate publication, and any ethical concerns such as conflicts of interest among authors.
Reviewers are expected to disclose any conflicts of interest and recuse themselves from the peer review process if a conflict exists for a manuscript they have been invited to review. Reviewers who seek assistance from a trainee or colleague in the performance of a review should acknowledge these individuals’ contributions in the comments submitted to the editor.
Corrections and Retractions
If a correction is required in a published article, the journal will publish a correction notice as soon as possible detailing the changes from and citing the original publication; this correction notice will be included with the Table of Contents for the current issue. The journal also will post an updated version of the article detailing the changes from the original version and the date the changes were made.
If a substantive error is identified in a published article—e.g., confirmed errors that significantly affect the integrity of the publication or the interpretation of its results (such as falsified, fabricated, or omitted data; plagiarism; undisclosed conflicts of interest)—the editor-in-chief will decide whether to publish a formal correction, retraction, expression of concern statement, or whether to initiate a published discussion via letters to the editor. In such rare cases, a new document will be published describing the nature of the error and a link back to the published article containing the error will be included. A prominent corresponding link to the error statement will be added to the article containing the error. In the rare event of a retraction, a prominent mark and statement will be added to the published article identifying it as retracted, in addition to the link to the editorial retraction statement.
Copyright and Permissions
WMJ (ISSN 1098-1861) is published by the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health and the Medical College of Wisconsin. Unless otherwise noted, all WMJ content is copyrighted by the Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System and The Medical College of Wisconsin.
Each submitted manuscript must be accompanied by a cover letter that includes the following statement: “In consideration of WMJ’s taking action in reviewing and editing this submission, the author(s) hereby transfer(s), assign(s), or otherwise convey(s) all copyright ownership to WMJ in the event that this work is published in WMJ.” All co-authors must sign the letter.
Permissions to reproduce, reprint or adapt material from WMJ may be acquired through RightsLink from the Copyright Clearance Center (CCC). To learn more, visit the CCC website.
Advertising Guidelines
WMJ may accept advertisements so long as their content and inclusion does not interfere with the journal’s mission or objectives. Advertising will not influence editorial decisions or editorial content. Placement of advertising adjacent to (i.e., next to or within) editorial content on the same topic is prohibited. All advertisements are subject to approval by the WMJ Editor-in-Chief and/or the WMJ Publishing Board on behalf of the Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System and The Medical College of Wisconsin.