Publication Guide
The American Diabetes Association (ADA) is the definitive scholarly society for diabetes research and clinical care. Founded in 1940 and headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, the ADA publishes four peer-reviewed journals through its publishing arm at diabetesjournals.org: Diabetes (established 1952), Diabetes Care (established 1978), Diabetes Spectrum, and Clinical Diabetes. Together they cover the full arc of the field - from molecular pathophysiology to bedside management and patient education.
Diabetes Care is the society's flagship clinical journal and one of the most-cited titles in endocrinology and metabolism; it is also where the ADA publishes its annual Standards of Care in Diabetes, the most widely used clinical practice guideline in the field. This guide covers which ADA journal fits your paper, open-access options and fees, the peer-review workflow, and how to submit.
Which ADA journal fits your paper?
The four journals serve distinct audiences, so choosing correctly matters more here than at large multidisciplinary publishers.
| You're most likely to... | Choose this journal |
|---|---|
| Report basic or translational science - islet biology, insulin signaling, genetics, metabolism, animal models | Diabetes - the society's original research journal (est. 1952), focused on the physiology and pathophysiology of diabetes. |
| Report clinical research - trials, epidemiology, health services, emerging treatments and technologies | Diabetes Care - the flagship clinical journal (est. 1978) and among the most-cited venues in endocrinology and metabolism. Highly selective. |
| Write for diabetes educators and the multidisciplinary care team - translating research into practice | Diabetes Spectrum - practice-oriented articles, care innovations, and patient-education content. |
| Write for primary-care clinicians managing diabetes day to day | Clinical Diabetes - concise reviews, practical guidance, and case-based content for frontline practice. |
What the ADA actually publishes
- Diabetes - original basic and translational research on the physiology and pathophysiology of diabetes mellitus, including laboratory, animal, and human studies. Indexed in Scopus, Web of Science, and PubMed.
- Diabetes Care - clinical research across care, education, nutrition, and psychosocial research; epidemiology and health services; emerging treatments and technologies; pathophysiology and complications; and cardiometabolic risk. Publishes the annual Standards of Care in Diabetes.
- Diabetes Spectrum - translation of research to practice for diabetes educators, nurses, dietitians, pharmacists, and other members of the care team.
- Clinical Diabetes - reviews and practical clinical content aimed at primary-care providers who treat people with diabetes.
The ADA also publishes abstracts from its annual Scientific Sessions, the largest diabetes research meeting in the world.
Open access and fees
ADA journals are subscription-based (hybrid) with an optional paid open-access route; there are no fully open-access titles in the portfolio.
| Route | What it means | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Hybrid OA (CC BY option) | Pay a fee to make your individual article immediately open access under a CC BY license | ~3,500 per article; confirm on the journal's current fee schedule |
| Green OA (self-archiving) | Deposit the accepted manuscript in a repository per the journal's self-archiving policy | Free |
| Subscription (default) | Publish behind the paywall; no OA fee | Standard publication charges may apply - check the fee schedule |
Fee waivers are available in cases of hardship - contact the editorial office. Some institutions have read-and-publish arrangements that can cover OA fees for affiliated authors; check the ESAC agreement registry or ask your library before paying an APC out of pocket.
Peer review process
- Model: single-anonymized peer review across the portfolio - reviewers know author identities, authors do not know reviewers.
- Selectivity: Diabetes Care and Diabetes are highly selective; the two practice-oriented journals are more accessible but still fully peer reviewed.
- Turnaround: varies by journal and season (submissions spike around the Scientific Sessions); allow several weeks to a first decision at the flagship titles.
- Ethics: the ADA follows COPE guidance on authorship, conflicts of interest, and misconduct.
How to submit
- Pick the journal. Use the decision table above - scope fit is the most common desk-rejection reason at specialty society journals.
- Read the author guidelines. Each journal's instructions cover article types, word limits, and reporting standards (CONSORT for trials, STROBE for observational studies).
- Prepare your manuscript. ADA journals use AMA-style numbered references; SciSpace templates for ADA journals handle the formatting automatically.
- Submit via Editorial Manager. All four journals handle submissions through Editorial Manager - create an account, upload files, and suggest reviewers where invited.
- Respond to review. Revisions are handled in the same system; decisions typically move through the journal's associate editors.
Ethics and integrity
The ADA is a member of COPE, OASPA, and STM. Its journals require disclosure of conflicts of interest, adherence to human- and animal-research ethics standards, and trial registration for clinical trials. Retractions and corrections follow COPE guidelines.
Templates and formatting on SciSpace
SciSpace hosts formatting templates for ADA journals, including AMA-style numbered citations, so you can write once and export a compliant manuscript. Open the journal's SciSpace page from the list above to start from the correct template, check journal metrics, and review submission details before you submit.
