Author guidelines

CareManagement is the official journal of the Academy of Certified Case Managers. The Academy is the nation’s largest membership organization exclusively for certified case managers and devoted entirely to education. Our mission is to help case managers stay on the forefront of case management practice by focusing entirely on continuing education. Our mission has a method: We provide a stream of continuing education programs as home study articles published bi-monthly in the Academy’s official journal, CareManagement.

If you’re considering writing for us, use these guidelines to help choose an appropriate topic, find out how to submit your manuscript, and increase the chance that we’ll accept it for publication. If we publish your article, you’ll receive several copies of the issue in which it’s published.

About the journal

CareManagement provides a voice for case managers in a variety of settings including hospitals, managed care organizations, rehabilitation and disability centers, home health, and other emerging models of care. Packed with practical information, it keeps case managers up-to-date on disease management, newly published literature, drug information, health care reform issues, best practices, emerging roles, and news related to case management. The journal provides both evidence-based information and practical tips from other case managers that readers can use daily in their practice.

As part of our commitment to enhancing readers’ professional and personal growth and fulfillment, we seek articles that can help case managers grow in their careers.

The journal is sent to 1300 case managers from a wide variety of settings and specialty areas, including acute care, disability, rehabilitation, and managed care.

CareManagement is indexed in the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL) Database.

Editorial profile

Each bi-monthly issue of CareManagement offers compelling two feature articles on clinical and professional topics. These feature articles provide continuing education (CE) to Academy members, and these are the articles we seek from outside authors. Additionally, we seek personal insights from case managers for our “Insights from Case Managers” department. The remaining sections of the journal are staff-written and include the following:

• Departments by our valued partners at the Commission for Case Manager Certification (CCMC), the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF), URAC, and the Certification of Disability Management Specialists Commission (CDMSC)
• Legal Update
• Insights from Case Managers
• LitScan
• PharmFacts
• CM News

Topics to write about

We’re especially interested in timely topics relevant to case management in all settings—hospital, home, or community—as well as current professional issues. In particular, we’re seeking articles that:

• Present cutting-edge case management research that can be translated into practical application
• Discuss new treatments, procedures, or diagnostic techniques that case managers need to know
• Discuss methods to improve patient adherence and persistency with treatment regimens
• Explore the legal and ethical issues that case managers face
• Address important professional and career issues
• Share strategies to improve patient safety and the quality of case management through best practices
• Provide accounts of innovative case management programs
• Explain changes in health reform that affect case management (eg, new models of care)
• Discuss future healthcare trends that will affect case managers
• Introduce technologies that are important for transitions of care or improve case management efficiencies

Before you submit an article...

Please send a brief email query to jmaybin@academyccm.org. In the email, state the topic of your proposed article and briefly describe what the article will include; also, provide a short summary of your background, and explain why you’re qualified to write on this topic. We’ll let you know if we’re interested in the article you have proposed.

Tips on writing for CareManagement

Our journal is written in simple, concise language. The tone is informal unless the topic is heavily research based, in which case, a more scholarly tone is appropriate. Feature articles are 3000 words in length. When writing the manuscript, follow these guidelines:

• Make sure the information in your article is based on the latest case management standards and clinical practice guidelines.
• Be clear and concise. Use short sentences whenever possible.
• Provide practical points. Preferably, give examples from your own experience.
• You may address readers directly, as if you’re speaking to them, if that is your style.
• In general, use active—not passive—verbs. Active verbs engage the reader and make the writing simpler, clearer, and more interesting.
  • Sentence with active verb: Monitor heart rhythm closely.
  • Sentence expressing the same thought with a passive verb: Heart rhythm should be monitored closely.
• Clearly explain theoretical or complex terms in everyday language. Avoid jargon.
• If you are using acronyms or abbreviations, please spell them out on first use and then place the abbreviation in parentheses. Thereafter, the abbreviation may be used.
• When mentioning a specific drug, give the drug’s generic name first, followed by the brand name in parentheses (if relevant).
• Consider using boxed copy (a sidebar) for points you’d like to emphasize, clarify, or elaborate on. Also consider putting appropriate information in tables (in MS Word format). DO NOT USE MS3 Word’s “Insert text box” feature for sidebars. Instead, label the sidebar appropriately and put it at the end of your manuscript, after the article itself.
• List all references at the end of your manuscript. References must be from professionally reliable sources and should be no more than 5 years old.

For reference style, use the American Medical Association Manual of Style: A Guide for Authors and Editors (10th ed). If you don’t have access to this book, include at least the following information for each reference you cite:

• For a book: author(s), book title, edition (if appropriate), place of publication, publisher, and publication date
• For a print journal article : author(s); article title; journal name; year, volume; inclusive page numbers
• For online references : URL (web address) and the date you accessed the website.

Please limit references to no more than 10 unless your article is scholarly and mandates the use of additional references.

About tables, photos, and illustrations

We encourage you to submit tables, photographs, and illustrations for your article (although we can’t guarantee we’ll publish them).

• Submit them in a separate electronic file. Identify the source of each table, photo, or illustration and include a brief caption or label (eg, “Illustration #1: Preventing complications from diabetes. From American Diabetic Association, 2012”). In the body of your article, indicate where the photo or illustration should be placed (eg, <<Insert Illustration #1 here>>). If you believe specific items in the photo or illustration should be identified, tell us this in a note. (Be aware that any person whose image is shown in a photograph must sign a consent form that gives us permission to publish it.)
• Do not embed tables, figures, or images in the same file as the body of your article. Also, do not submit any text in a box or otherwise put rules around it, above, or below it. Instead, label this copy as a sidebar and submit it in a separate word file or at the end of the main article.
• Authors are responsible for obtaining permission for material with a copyright. That includes figures, tables, and illustrations from other journals. It’s best to obtain permission before you submit the article and include documentation that you’ve received permission and any specific credit line that must be printed with the image. However, in cases where you must pay to use an image, note in the submission that you will obtain permission if the article is accepted for publication.

Important cautions

The article must be your own original work. Do not submit material taken verbatim from a published source.

Article length

Use the following as a rough guide:

• CE article: about 3000 words
• Insights From Case Managers: about 700 words

How to submit your article

Submit your manuscript electronically as an MS Word file.

• At the top of the first page of the document, place the article title, your initials (not your name), and the date.
• DO NOT include extra hard returns between lines or paragraphs, extra spaces between words, or any special coding.
• Send a separate cover letter that includes your name; credentials; position; address; home, cell, and work telephone numbers; email address; and your employer’s name, city, and state.
• Keep both an electronic copy and a hard copy for your files.
• Email the article and any other attachments to jmaybin@academyccm.org.

What happens to your manuscript after submittal?

• We’ll send you an email confirming that we received it.
• Your article will go through our in-house editorial process, where professional editors ensure consistency with our editorial style. You will have a chance to review the edited version before it’s published.
• We will email you if we decide not to publish your manuscript.

Thank you for considering publishing in CareManagement, the official publication of the Academy of Certified Case Managers. If you have any questions, please email: Jennifer Maybin at jmaybin@academyccm.org.

Editorial Schedule

Each issue is published the first week of odd months (ie, Jan, Mar, May, July, Sep, Nov).

Due dates for articles are as follows:

• Dec/Jan — Nov 1
  Feb/Mar — Jan 1
  Apr/May — Mar 1
  June/July — May 1
  Aug/Sep — July 1
  Oct/Nov — Sep 1

Click here to download a pdf of this information.