Articles should be a critical academic analysis of a topic relating to clinical practice, policy, ethics, science, or primary care organisation. The emphasis is on the critical analysis. We welcome discussion and debate on topics that are relevant and important to our readership that includes practising GPs and clinicians, primary care researchers, and policy makers. Analysis articles should not present new data, include new research findings, or promote a service or product.
We recommend that articles be co-authored by GPs and specialists working together and we encourage different perspectives and international collaboration. Articles written by specialist colleagues alone are unlikely to meet the needs of our readership.
Analysis articles will normally be either 2 pages or 4 pages in the print BJGP.
In all cases, more figures/tables can be accommodated but the word count may need to be adjusted accordingly.
This is a new section for the BJGP. We have long appreciated that it has not always been easy for non-research articles that detail innovations in practice and policy in general practice and primary care to be published.
Sometimes articles about innovations can work as individual viewpoint and opinion articles for BJGP Life/Life & Times so do consider whether you are offering a more individual/practice experience and that section is better suited.
Innovation in Practice articles should be a description of an innovation in general practice or primary care that is novel and would be of interest to others in terms of clinical practice or healthcare policy. They will more commonly be initiatives that are conducted at a systems level rather than an individual practice — although we recognise that some practices provide care for tens of thousands of patients. Straightforward practice audits will not be accepted.
See this example.
As an academic journal, we expect articles to have a concise, but accurate, summary of the relevant literature to set the scene for the innovation. The key results of the service evaluation should be presented, but these are not necessarily expected to be reported in full in the final article. We will publish supplementary files with fuller results if necessary. (Supplementary files are accessible online alongside the final article but are not formatted or edited.)
Innovation in Practice articles should not present research findings or promote a commercial service or product though we do recognise that some innovations may be related to new proprietary technology.•
They may present some data as part of audit or quality improvement projects but, fundamentally, the ‘innovation’ should be novel rather than part of what might be regarded as routine care. Typically, this will mean that these will not have been considered by a UK research ethics committee as the work would be considered as a service evaluation. The editor will, if there is doubt, make a final decision on this.
Innovation in Practice articles will, as for Analysis articles, be up to 4 pages long to fit into the print BJGP.
Word count: 1800 word maximum
Figures and tables: 2–3 figures or tables depending on exact nature.
References: 12–20 references
We will expect Innovation in Practice articles to follow the structure below.
Introduction: 400–500 words
Provide a concise precis of the known evidence in this area.
What you did: 400 words
Use this section to describe the innovation and what you did differently.
What did you find? 400 words
Present your results here
What have you learned? 400 words
Summary of key learning from this innovation.
Key messages: 100 words
This should bullet-pointed — typically there will be 3–4 bullets with key messages and takeaways for providers/policymakers.
In some cases, more figures/tables can be accommodated but the word count may need to be adjusted accordingly.
All Innovation in Practice articles will be published as diamond Open Access – this means there will be no cost to the authors but the papers will be freely available under a CC-BY-NC license.
*Notes
Innovations that have any commercial products at their core will be considered by the editorial team — we appreciate that new technology will fall into this category. As for any article, the journal will require declarations of interest and, in line with BJGP editorial policy, if there is a conflict that may exclude the article from publication. This is often a matter of judgement and the editor’s decision will be final.
