The Article Submission Process

1. Read the list of suggested general topics to see what types of subjects are desired. Read the introduction to the journal. Personal medical histories and personal requests for diagnoses or advice are better for the forum or blog sites, rather than for the journal.
2. Scan the table of contents of prior journals (when some exist), to avoid duplication of a previously covered topic.
3. Identify your topic for an article.
4. Before writing the article, send a few sentences on your idea for the article to the Managing Editor, Robin Owen at robin@epilepsytherapyproject.org. The initial concept will either be approved or declined. This step may save you much wasted time and effort.
5. If the initial concept is approved, draft an article according to the format suitable for the journal. Photographs, charts, drawings are welcome, and can make an article more interesting and informative, provided that they advance the message of the article.
6. Email the article to Robin Owen at robin@epilepsytherapyproject.org. The article will then be distributed, usually to two or three members of the Editorial Board. They will provide an anonymous evaluation (so they can be honest) of the article prior to possible publication in the journal. Some articles will be judged to be suitable for the journal, others for posting elsewhere on the epilepsy.com website, and still others may be declined. Please do not feel too badly if your idea or article is declined, it will usually be because its message, while valuable to some, does not speak to a large number of potential readers. The Editorial Board may suggest changes in the articles, with reconsideration of the revised article.
7. If your article is accepted, it will go through a process of editing for language and style. You will have right of approval over the final product. The journal will have final decision as to whether it gets published on epilepsy.com.
8. If you have a good idea, but you are not comfortable writing an article, contact Robin Owen at robin@epilepsytherapyproject.org to discuss using an interview process to create the article.
9. You will be asked to assign copyright to epilepsy.com. This is a legal necessity so that epilepsy.com does not later stand accused of "stealing" or "plagiarizing" your work. Epilepsy.com will not pay for articles published in the consumer journal.
10. After publication, readers may post comments on your article in a discussion thread. You are welcome to explain or respond if you wish in the discussion thread. The Editorial Board, or an invited medical person, may from time to time publish an editorial comment on your article.

Continue to the Article Format

Section Editor: Robert Fisher, M.D., Ph.D. and Robin Owen
Last reviewed: December 31, 2008