Publication Guide
The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) is the flagship journal of NEJM Group, the publishing division of the Massachusetts Medical Society - a non-profit physician organization founded in 1781 and headquartered in Waltham, Massachusetts. First issued in January 1812 as the New England Journal of Medicine and Surgery, NEJM is the oldest continuously published medical journal in the world and is widely regarded as the gold standard for clinical trial reporting.
Unlike the large commercial publishers, NEJM Group publishes a deliberately small portfolio: four peer-reviewed journals focused entirely on clinical medicine, plus clinician-facing resources such as NEJM Journal Watch, NEJM Knowledge+, and NEJM Resident 360. This guide covers which NEJM Group journal fits your work, what each publishes, access and fee options, peer review, and how to submit.
Which NEJM Group journal fits your paper?
| You're most likely to... | Choose this journal |
|---|---|
| Report a major randomized clinical trial or practice-changing study | NEJM - the flagship; extremely selective, with the widest clinical readership in medicine. |
| Publish original clinical trials or methods work on generating and applying evidence | NEJM Evidence - launched 2022; original research and evidence methodology with a modern digital-first format. |
| Share care-delivery innovation, health-system leadership, or implementation insight | NEJM Catalyst - Innovations in Care Delivery; peer-reviewed since 2020, aimed at clinical leaders and executives. |
| Report AI/ML applications in clinical medicine | NEJM AI - launched 2024; the group's dedicated venue for clinically meaningful artificial intelligence research. |
What NEJM Group actually publishes
- NEJM - original research (especially randomized trials), reviews, Clinical Practice, Case Records of the Massachusetts General Hospital, perspective and editorial content. It holds the highest Journal Impact Factor of any clinical journal (84.5 in the June 2026 JCR release).
- NEJM Evidence - original clinical research, trial design and interpretation, and evidence-methodology articles.
- NEJM Catalyst Innovations in Care Delivery - peer-reviewed articles from healthcare executives, clinical leaders, and clinicians on transforming care delivery.
- NEJM AI - original research and perspectives on artificial intelligence and machine learning in clinical practice.
- Clinical resources - NEJM Journal Watch (specialty literature surveillance), NEJM Knowledge+, NEJM Resident 360, and NEJM Medical Frontiers for readers in China.
Access, open access, and fees
NEJM Group runs a subscription-first model with several routes to compliance and public access. There are no submission fees and no publication charges on the standard track at any NEJM Group journal - publishing in NEJM itself costs authors nothing under the subscription model.
| Route | What it means | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription (default) | Article published behind the paywall; most NEJM research articles become free on nejm.org 6 months after publication | $0 |
| Gold OA option (NEJM) | Immediate open access under a CC BY license, satisfying cOAlition S / Plan S requirements | ~$10,000 - confirm on the current fee schedule |
| Green OA | Accepted manuscript deposited in PubMed Central with a 6-month embargo; NIH and other US federal funder requirements are accommodated | $0 |
| NEJM Evidence / NEJM AI | The journals' own author FAQs state there is no charge to submit or publish; the editorial teams work with authors to meet funder mandates, including NIH and cOAlition S | $0 (verify current policy) |
Waivers and free or reduced-cost reader access are available for qualifying low- and middle-income countries. NEJM Group's participation in transformative (read-and-publish) agreements is limited compared with large commercial publishers - if immediate OA matters to you, budget for the gold OA fee or rely on the green route.
Peer review
NEJM Group journals use single-anonymized peer review: reviewers know the authors' identities, but reviewer identities are not disclosed. The flagship journal is among the most selective in all of science - the overwhelming majority of submissions are declined, many without external review. Initial in-house screening at NEJM is typically completed in under a week, so unsuitable manuscripts are freed quickly for submission elsewhere. Statistical review is a hallmark: trials are scrutinized against their registered protocols and statistical analysis plans.
How to submit
- Pick the right journal using the table above - scope fit matters more at NEJM Group than anywhere else, given the selectivity of the flagship.
- Read the Author Center at nejm.org/author-center (each sister journal has its own author center) for article types, length limits, and editorial policies.
- Prepare your manuscript - NEJM uses AMA-style numbered citations; SciSpace formatting templates for NEJM are available at scispace.com/formats/nejm.
- Register your trial - NEJM requires prospective registration of clinical trials and adherence to ICMJE recommendations, including data-sharing statements.
- Submit online - manuscripts go through the NEJM online submission system (ScholarOne-based). Initial in-house review is usually finished in less than a week.
Ethics and integrity
The Massachusetts Medical Society is a member of COPE and STM, and NEJM follows ICMJE recommendations in full: authorship criteria, disclosure of conflicts of interest, prospective trial registration, and data-sharing statements for clinical trials. Corrections and retractions follow COPE guidance. NEJM's editorial independence from its owner society is long established and central to its reputation as the benchmark venue for clinical evidence.
