The Journal of Pain and Symptom Management is pleased to announce a call for papers that report the results of Quality Improvement initiatives in palliative care.
This publication of brief reports is a joint project of the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine and the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization. Papers focusing on hospice and palliative care settings are encouraged.
The Journal offers this professional forum to encourage dialogue, peer review, and dissemination in response to a growing international concern about quality care, patient safety, and the role of evidence-based medicine. Submissions should describe specific Quality Improvement projects, such as efforts to increase pain screening, encourage goals discussions, promote palliative care consults, encourage earlier hospice referrals, or support staff well-being. Submissions must describe the impact of the intervention, either in terms of change over time or relative to a comparator.
Papers will be considered Brief Reports and must include the following:
1) A structured abstract of <150 words with five headings: Background, Measures, Intervention, Outcomes, Conclusions/Lessons Learned.
2) Five sections—Background, Measures, Intervention, Outcomes, Conclusions/Lessons learned—requiring no more than 1,250 words
3) No more than 10 references and two graphs or tables. (References/tables/ graphs are not included in the word count.)
4) A cover letter specifying that the Brief Report is being submitted in response to this Call for Papers.
Papers that fulfill the length and formatting requirements will undergo preliminary review by the Editors, and some will undergo external peer review. Acceptance for publication will depend on evaluation of the problem addressed, innovation, quality of the description, and clinical relevance of the intervention and outcomes.
Manuscripts submitted in response to this announcement should be submitted online to the Journal of Pain and Symptom Management (http://ees.elsevier.com/jps/) by April 15, 2011.
For questions regarding format or content of potential manuscripts, please contact Dr. David Casarett (Casarett@mail.med.upenn.edu).