CI Corresponding Author Requirements

FPIN Clinical Inquiry Corresponding Author Expectations & Requirements

FPIN acknowledges that reviewing the medical literature and writing an article for a peer reviewed journal is a complex task best done by an experienced author. As a response the Clinical Inquiries editors created the Corresponding Author role.

All Clinical Inquiries will now require a CI Corresponding Author as a co-author.

CI Corresponding Authors will be recognized as the most capable authors in the FPIN community. Having a Corresponding Author will ensure that the Clinical Inquiries series continues to provide the highest level of evidence based answers and summaries for publication in The Journal of Family Practice, American Family Physician and/or Evidence-Based Practice. 

CI Corresponding Authors will also have the opportunity to recruit co-authors who wish to publish in the Clinical Inquiries series. Co-authors may be less experienced (such as a resident or a junior faculty member), or they may be experienced authors who are not yet familiar with the Clinical Inquiries style, methods and process.

The qualifications for CI Corresponding Authors include expert level skills in:

1. Searching the medical literature
2. Critical appraisal
3. Medical statistics
4. Scientific writing.

FPIN expects Corresponding Authors will pay attention to detail, follow instructions, and meet or renegotiate deadlines. CI Corresponding Authors will communicate with co-authors, editors, librarians, FPIN staff, and journal staff in a timely, constructive manner. CI Corresponding Authors should also be open to giving and receiving constructive feedback. They should be facile with word processing software (including track changes features) and any editorial management software required for the project. 

A Corresponding Author may delegate, but ultimately remains responsible for:

1. Serving as the accountable (and corresponding) author
2. Meeting all deadlines agreed upon by the editorial leadership and project manager
3. Engaging in all aspects of developing, writing, and revising manuscripts. The Corresponding Author will be acknowledged as an author

The Corresponding Author will NOT be considered a “consultant,” “editor,” or “peer reviewer” on the manuscript for which they are responsible (though they may play any of these roles on other manuscripts). The Corresponding Author will personally read and analyze all the references in the Clinical Inquiry. They will be responsible for the quality of the manuscript submitted for review at each stage of the editorial process, including responses to peer-reviews, editorial feedback, and final submission to a journal. They will be the primary contact person for the CI project manager. They will ensure the manuscript’s style and format conforms with FPIN guidelines and will continue to revise (or delegate revision) until the manuscript meets journal expectations.

FPIN Plagiarism Policy

Plagiarism is unacceptable for any FPIN publication. If a sentence or paragraph is intentionally used from an existing publication, that sentence or paragraph should be placed in quotation marks and the original authors attributed.

In accordance with the recommendation from the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), FPIN initiates procedures detailed by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

If a plagiarism breach is suspected, FPIN will conduct a full investigation of discovery to determine the severity, cause, and details. A formal inquiry will be sent to the author team. The project’s Editor-in-Chief and/or FPIN’s Executive Editor will make the final determination regarding action which could include rejecting the manuscript and in some circumstances future FPIN work.