The American College of Physicians (ACP) is the definitive US professional society for internal medicine - founded in 1915, headquartered in Philadelphia, and counting roughly 163,000 members across more than 170 countries. Unlike the large commercial houses, ACP is a non-profit society publisher with a deliberately small, high-quality portfolio: the flagship Annals of Internal Medicine (established 1927), ACP Journal Club (evidence summaries, published within Annals since 2008), and the fully open-access Annals of Internal Medicine: Clinical Cases, launched in 2022.

If you work in internal medicine or its subspecialties, Annals is one of the most influential venues you can target: it carries a 2024 Journal Impact Factor of about 15.3 and is the most frequently cited internal-medicine journal in the Journal Citation Reports. This guide covers which ACP title fits your paper, the open-access routes and fees, peer review, and how to submit.

• Annals of Internal Medicine - original research, reviews, clinical guidelines (including ACP's own guideline program), position papers, medical humanities (On Being a Doctor), and In the Clinic educational features. Published weekly online with a monthly print edition.
• ACP Journal Club - since May 2008 a monthly feature within Annals: structured abstracts and expert commentary on the most clinically relevant published studies.
• Annals of Internal Medicine: Clinical Cases - a peer-reviewed, fully open-access journal for case reports and clinical images, indexed in DOAJ and preserved via Portico.

Beyond the journals, ACP produces member publications (ACP Hospitalist, I.M. Matters) and education products (MKSAP), but these are not research venues.

As a subscription-first society publisher, ACP has limited read-and-publish coverage compared with the big commercial houses; ask your library whether any current agreement covers ACP titles.

Annals of Internal Medicine uses single-anonymized peer review: reviewers know author identities, authors do not know reviewers. The journal is closely associated with the ICMJE (its editor-in-chief serves as ICMJE secretary), and editorial practice follows ICMJE recommendations and COPE guidance. Statistical review is standard for quantitative research. Decision times vary by article type; Annals is highly selective, so a well-matched cover letter and strict adherence to reporting guidelines (CONSORT, PRISMA, STROBE) materially help.

1. Pick the title. Original research and reviews go to Annals; case reports and images go to Annals: Clinical Cases.
2. Read the Information for Authors. Each title has its own scope, word limits, and article types at acpjournals.org.
3. Format your manuscript. Use AMA-style numbered references; SciSpace formatting support for ACP titles is available at scispace.com/formats/acp.
4. Submit online. Manuscripts are submitted through the Annals online submission system linked from the journal's author page.
5. Respond to review. Revisions and reviewer correspondence are handled in the same system.

ACP is a COPE member and follows ICMJE recommendations on authorship, conflicts of interest, and trial registration. Clinical trials must be prospectively registered, and reporting-guideline compliance is expected. Retractions and corrections follow COPE procedures. As a society publisher, ACP's publishing program supports - and is accountable to - its physician membership rather than shareholders.

A small portfolio cuts both ways. You get a highly trusted brand, rigorous editing, and direct reach to the internal-medicine community that sets US clinical practice standards. You give up the breadth and cascade options of the mega-publishers: if Annals declines your paper, there is no in-house transfer network, so have a backup venue in mind. For internal-medicine work with practice-changing potential, Annals remains a first-choice target.