Short Reports are called brief communications or reports. They cover a range of scientific outputs such as preliminary studies, descriptions of unexpected and unexplained observations or clinical laboratory protocols that can be succinctly described with a few illustrations (figures/tables). In addition, posters from scientific conferences or internal meetings could be summarized and presented as Brief Reports for peer-review before publication.
The Short Research Article section of CAMH aims to facilitate publications of succinct scientific information that will advance the field of CAMH such that there is a prompt change in an ongoing clinical practice or perspective. Furthermore, this section will allow for a rapid dissemination of such information to the scientific community. In other words, this section encourages the creation of awareness among CAMH community for topics that are considered to be of timely relevance.
For our section on Short Research Articles, a standard format, that is most appropriate, is the introduction, methods, results and conclusions/discussion. However, they can also be as short as a single-figure paper wherein there is a short Introduction that describes the question or hypothesis that led to the presented figure, and after which a description of the Methods used is offered. In this single-figure short report, the results section is replaced by The Figure, with its underlying data; and the paper ends with a discussion with an optional Conclusion section.
It is important to note that the scientific information to be shared does not need to come from a stand-alone study or preliminary studies often but can come from omitted sections of papers that may have values that are independently intrinsic and thus necessarily should be shared; can come from recent ideas that differ from previous studies in significant ways; can important negative finding in contrast to majority of previously published studies. Despite the difference in length between short reports and full article, there is no significant difference in quality and rigour including appropriate ethical framework as well as standard reporting. More so, further details are required in short reports, particularly in the methods, description of the results, and/or discussion/conclusions to ensure that reviewers and ultimately readers have sufficient information to understand the description of the work.
There are huge benefits when one publishes a short report. One of these includes the gain in the social capital for recognition as one of the first scholars to publish a significant research outcome. Being the first to communicate an important finding that is peer-reviewed and fast-tracked makes you visible and your work accessible. This means that your chances of your research being noticed are higher. This increases your own reputation and chances of success in your academic work. Secondly, there is an arguable added advantage of getting rapidly cited with increasing numbers of citations due to its impact on scientific community in comparison with regular journal articles. Thirdly, the fast-tracking of peer-review process ensures timelines for jobs, promotions or academic targets are met. It is thus validly clear that credit, feedback and visibility are undeniable gains of short reports.
CAMH is now open for Short Research Article submissions and we encourage any interested authors to submit. Full author guidelines for this article type can be found here. Please email publications@acamh.org if you have any questions.
We are pleased to announce our new section editor, Bolanle Adeyemi Ola, who will be responsible for the Short Research Article section.
Dr. Bolanle Adeyemi Ola is a Professor of Psychiatry in the Department of Behavioural Medicine, Lagos State University College of Medicine and a Honorary Consultant Psychiatrist in the affiliated teaching hospital where he started and runs the first State owned Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service. He is an Associate Editor of CAMH, responsible for the Short Research Articles section.
Dr. Ola’s key area of interest is in the psycho-socio-cultural aspects of children, adolescents, & adults. In the last decade, his focus of clinical research has been on the mental health needs of school-age children in developing countries including Nigeria and the psychosocial needs of children and adolescents in contact with the social-welfare and juvenile justice system. Dr. Ola has received Elsevier Reviewer Recognition Award several times and is one of the most cited psychiatrists in Nigeria and Africa with Google H-index and i10-index of 30 and 51 respectively and a Publons scorecard of 137 Web of Science (WOS) publications, WOS 2,087 citations, and WOS 115 Verified reviews.