Publishing with Us

For Authors

Everything authors need to know before submitting to The Practical Medicine, including submission steps, article types, open access policy, and author rights.

Why Publish With Us

The Practical Medicine offers authors a rigorous, transparent, and author-friendly publication experience. As a Gold Open Access journal, your work reaches readers without paywalls — maximising visibility, citation potential, and real-world impact from the moment of publication.

  • Fast decisions — first editorial decision within 21 days of submission
  • Founding year waiver — all APCs fully waived for manuscripts accepted in 2026
  • CC BY 4.0 licence — you retain copyright; anyone can read, share, and build on your work
  • Rigorous peer review — single-anonymised review by at least two independent experts
  • Broad scope — biomedical and clinical medicine across all subspecialties
  • Global reach — open access means your work is accessible to researchers, clinicians, and policymakers everywhere

Submission at a Glance

Manuscripts are currently submitted by email to weopenaccess@gmail.com. Before submitting, please ensure you have read the Author Guidelines and Manuscript Preparation pages in full.

StepAction
1Check that your work falls within the journal's Aims & Scope
2Read the Author Guidelines and select the appropriate article type
3Prepare your manuscript according to the Manuscript Preparation guidelines
4Complete the relevant reporting guideline checklist (CONSORT, PRISMA, STROBE, etc.)
5Draft your cover letter
6Email all files to weopenaccess@gmail.com

Article Types We Accept

We welcome a range of article formats to accommodate different research outputs:

  • Original Research — empirical studies with novel findings (max 5,000 words)
  • Systematic Review & Meta-Analysis — PRISMA-compliant; registered protocol preferred (max 8,000 words)
  • Narrative Review — authoritative overviews of a topic (max 6,000 words)
  • Clinical Trial Report — CONSORT-compliant; trial registration mandatory (max 5,500 words)
  • Case Report — CARE-compliant; patient consent required (max 2,000 words)
  • Letter to the Editor — brief communications or responses to published articles (max 800 words)

Full word limits, reference limits, and abstract requirements are detailed in the Author Guidelines.

Open Access & Article Processing Charges

All articles are published immediately and permanently open access under the CC BY 4.0 licence. No subscription fee is ever charged to readers.

In 2026, all APCs are fully waived. Authors whose manuscripts are accepted during the journal's inaugural year pay nothing to publish. From 2027 onwards, a structured APC schedule will apply, with discounts and full waivers available for authors from low- and middle-income countries and HINARI-eligible institutions. Rates will be confirmed and announced in advance of implementation.

For full details, see our Article Processing Charges page.

Author Rights & Licensing

Under CC BY 4.0, authors retain full copyright over their published work. You are free to:

  • Post any version of your manuscript to a preprint server or institutional repository at any time
  • Share your published article on your personal website, ResearchGate, or Academia.edu
  • Reuse figures, tables, and text from your own published article without requesting permission
  • Include your published article in a thesis or dissertation

The only requirement is appropriate attribution to the original publication.

Preprints

We actively encourage authors to post preprints prior to or concurrent with submission. Preprint posting does not affect eligibility for submission or the editorial assessment process. Please disclose the existence of a preprint in your cover letter and provide the preprint server name and any associated identifier.

After Acceptance

Following acceptance, authors will be asked to prepare the final version of their manuscript using the journal's formatting template. The formatted manuscript will be reviewed and confirmed with the corresponding author before publication. Authors are asked to respond to any outstanding queries within 48 hours to avoid delays in publication.

DOI registration is planned to commence within the journal's first year of publication. Articles published prior to DOI registration will be assigned DOIs retrospectively once registration is in place.

Contact

For all author enquiries, please contact the editorial office at weopenaccess@gmail.com. Please include your manuscript title and submission date in all correspondence.