[AAHM_Clio_Project] Summer writing?

[Jones, David]

As I’ve said before, NEJM is actively interested in publishing historical perspectives (and for a mix of reasons they seem to be more interested now than usual).  If you have ideas about good ones, please think seriously about submitting them.  They are most interested in historical perspectives on issues of immediate relevance to current practice or policy, or in historical reflections on important anniversaries of articles from their archive or about important milestones.  e.g., the 2012 Greene and Podolsky piece about the 50th anniversary of the 1962 Kefauver-Harris Amendments, or an upcoming piece about the 50th anniversary of Beecher’s 1966 expose about unethical research.

It can be hard to write history in 1200 words with 5 refs, but it is possible.  They will sometimes make exceptions and allow more references, but only to articles from their own archive.  Although NEJM has a very high rejection rate, historians have done better than average: I think the acceptance rate for history perspectives is > 50%.

I’m happy to offer my thoughts on whatever ideas or drafts you might have, with the caveat that I still have only imperfect insight into their interests and tolerances.  I’ve been able to help some authors tailor their pieces before submission, which has improved the odds of acceptance.

I think it is important for historians of medicine to take advantage of this opportunity to spread the word about our work — the editor, Jeff Drazen, is quite interested in history, and that’s something that doesn’t happen often.

Happy brainstorming,

David.

David S. Jones, M.D., Ph.D.
A. Bernard Ackerman Professor of the Culture of Medicine
Faculty of Arts and Sciences and the Faculty of Medicine
Harvard University