Original ResearchOctober 2020
Home/Journal Finder/Annals of Internal Medicine
Internal medicine
Annals of Internal Medicine
American College of Physicians
General internal medicine; broad internal-medicine readership, not a narrow subspecialty audience
ISSN 0003-4819 (print)ISSN 1539-3704 (online)Access Subscription
SubscriptionPublishing model
Verified 2026-10Field-level — see each tab
CiteScore≈14.1*
Impact FactorNot disclosed by publisher
QuartileNot yet verified
Article Fee (APC)Not disclosed by publisher
First DecisionNot yet verified
Acceptance RateNot disclosed by publisher
Overview
Annals of Internal Medicine is published by American College of Physicians. General internal medicine; broad internal-medicine readership, not a narrow subspecialty audience
Key information
PublisherAmerican College of Physicians
ISSN (Print)0003-4819
ISSN (Online)1539-3704
Publishing modelSubscription
Journal websitewww.acpjournals.org/journal/aim
CountryUnited States
FrequencyMonthly
Subject categoryMedicine (general and internal medicine)
EditorChristine Laine, MD, MPH, FACP
Established1927
SubmissionsOver 3,000 a year
Editor, year established and annual submission volume are taken from the American College of Physicians' own pages — its media-kit page for the journal (“Editor: Christine Laine, MD, MPH, FACP”, “Established: 1927”, “Over 3,000 manuscript submission annually”) and its history pages, which date the first issue to 1 July 1927. Both read 12 October 2026.
Aims & scope
- General internal medicine
- broad internal-medicine readership, not a narrow subspecialty audience
Reporting guidelines accepted
CONSORT (controlled trials)CHEERS (cost-effectiveness analyses)STARD 2015 (diagnostic test studies)STROBE (observational studies)STROBE-ME (molecular epidemiology)COREQ (qualitative research)GRIPS (genetic risk prediction studies)SQUIRE (quality improvement studies)TRIPOD (multivariable prediction models for prognosis or diagnosis)
Original Research
- Text
- ≤3500 words (excludes abstract & references)
- Abstract
- ≤275 words, structured
- References
- 75 or fewer
- Tables / figures
- 4–6 tables/figures combined
Systematic Reviews & Meta-analyses
- Text
- ≤4000 words (excludes abstract & references)
- Abstract
- ≤275 words, structured (Background, Purpose, Data Sources, …)
- References
- No fixed cap — past 100, may need an online-only appendix
- Tables / figures
- Aim for 4 or fewer combined
Clinical Guidelines
- Text
- Flexible — the journal states it is “flexible with length, references, and other format requirements”; past 4000 words may need an executive summary
- Abstract
- ≤275 words, structured
- References
- Not stated
- Tables / figures
- Not stated
Position Papers
- Text
- ≤4000 words (excludes abstract & references)
- Abstract
- ≤275 words, unstructured
- References
- Not stated
- Tables / figures
- Not stated
Narrative Reviews
- Text
- ≤3500 words (excludes abstract & references)
- Abstract
- ≤275 words, unstructured
- References
- 75 or fewer
- Tables / figures
- 4 or fewer combined
Editorials
- Text
- 1000 words maximum (excludes references)
- Abstract
- None
- References
- 10 or fewer
- Tables / figures
- Typically none — occasional exception at the editors' discretion
Brief Research Reports
- Text
- 700 words maximum (excludes references)
- Abstract
- None
- References
- 5 or fewer
- Tables / figures
- 2 maximum combined
Structure: Background, Objective, Methods and Findings, Discussion, References
Case Reports / Series
- Text
- 700 words maximum (excludes references)
- Abstract
- None
- References
- 5 or fewer
- Tables / figures
- 2 maximum combined
Structure: Background, Objective, Case Report, Discussion, References
Important notes
- Word limits exclude the abstract, references, table titles, figure legends and footnotes unless stated otherwise.
- Requirements vary by article type and are set by the publisher — confirm against the live author guidelines before submitting.
- Also in the full guide, without separate numeric limits verified here: Rapid/Living Reviews (follow the Systematic Review format), Research & Reporting Methods, Academia & the Profession, Ad Libitum, Graphic Narrative, History of Medicine, Ideas and Opinions, In the Balance, Letters, Medicine and Public Issues, On Being a Doctor/Patient, and Personae.
Not sure which article type fits your manuscript?Our editors can review your draft and recommend the right fit before you format it.
Ask an editorGeneral formatting rules that apply across article types. Specific word, abstract, reference and figure limits vary by article type — see the Article types tab for those.
General requirements
Title & running titleTitle ≤15 words, plus a running title of 7 words or fewer; the text word count itself excludes the abstract, figure legends, table titles, footnotes and references
Reference styleNational Library of Medicine style (Citing Medicine, 2nd ed.) — references are numbered in the order they first appear in the text; the journal's in-house style manual draws heavily on the AMA Manual of Style, 11th ed.
Figures & tablesNumbered in the order they appear in the text; legends lead with a short title and explain every abbreviation and symbol; pie charts and 3-D graphics are avoided; survival plots show numbers at risk below the axis
Word limitsVaries by article type — see the breakdown below
Manuscript template
No downloadable manuscript template is published — formatting follows the journal's in-house style manual plus the relevant reporting-guideline checklist (CONSORT, STROBE, PRISMA, etc.)
Information on the submission process and the ethics and publication standards Annals of Internal Medicine applies.
Submission process
Submission systemeJournalPress
Author guidelinesView on journal website
Account requiredTypically yes — eJournalPress is an online submission portal
Ethics & publication standards
Follows ICMJE recommendations and COPE core practices
Author declarations
- Conflict of interest disclosureMandatory — ICMJE disclosure form
- Funding statementMandatory — state funder's role, or that there was none
- Funding source's role in the studyDesign, data analysis/interpretation and the decision to publish — stated in Methods
- Author responsibility attestationData access, analysis accuracy, authority over preparation and submission
- All-author approvalEvery author approves the manuscript and agrees to journal terms, incl. copyright
Per the journal's own “Information for Authors” document, Section C “Funding and Disclosures” (dated 2026-09-16) — not an independently itemized checklist beyond what that section states.
Reporting guidelines to use
Use the guideline matching your study design — these are the reporting checklists the journal accepts, not a list of required documents we've independently verified.
CONSORT (controlled trials)CHEERS (cost-effectiveness analyses)STARD 2015 (diagnostic test studies)STROBE (observational studies)STROBE-ME (molecular epidemiology)COREQ (qualitative research)GRIPS (genetic risk prediction studies)SQUIRE (quality improvement studies)TRIPOD (multivariable prediction models for prognosis or diagnosis)
Per the journal's own “Information for Authors” document (p.33, dated 2026-09-16) — Annals endorses the EQUATOR Network's reporting guidelines by study type.
Author guidelines
Read the complete and latest author instructions on the journal website.
View author guidelinesData availability
A data-sharing statement is published with every original research article, systematic review/meta-analysis and brief research report; clinical trial manuscripts also need an ICMJE-compliant data-sharing statement
Document and declaration checklists (cover letter, disclosures, registration numbers, etc.) follow ICMJE recommendations generally — we have not independently itemized Annals of Internal Medicine's exact required-documents list, so check the live author guidelines before submitting.
Sample articles
Recent, relevant articles published in Annals of Internal Medicine. These examples help you understand the journal's scope, style and expected quality — we only list one once its title, DOI, year and article type are verified against the publisher's own page.
ReviewSeptember 2020
Medicine and Public IssuesSeptember 2020
LetterSeptember 2020
Infection Fatality Ratios for COVID-19 Among Noninstitutionalized Persons 12 and Older: Results of a Random-Sample Prevalence Study
A correction to this article was later published (10.7326/L20-1152).
Special ArticleSeptember 2020
Ideas and OpinionsOctober 2020
EditorialOctober 2020
On Being a DoctorJanuary 2021
LetterAugust 2020
Filter examples
Article type
Learn from examples
- Review the structure, formatting and presentation style the journal actually publishes.
- Use examples together with the Article types and Manuscript specs tabs, not as a substitute for the journal's own guidelines.
- Check article-type-specific requirements before drafting.
Title, authors, article type, date and DOI confirmed against each article's own page on acpjournals.org. 3 further articles flagged for this journal are still pending verification and are not yet listed.
General stages a manuscript moves through at most peer-reviewed journals — this sequence is standard academic-publishing practice, not a claim we've verified against Annals of Internal Medicine's own workflow. Durations below are shown only where the publisher has actually disclosed them.
Submission
Manuscript submitted via the journal's submission system.
Initial screening
Administrative and scope check by the editorial office.
Editorial decision
Editor decides whether to send the manuscript for peer review.
Peer review
External review by expert referees.
First decision
Accept, minor/major revision, or reject.
Revisions
Author submits a revised manuscript, if requested.
Final decision
Editor confirms acceptance.
Publication
Online-first, then the print/issue assignment if applicable.
Key timeline statistics
First decision timeNot yet verified
Acceptance to publicationNot yet verified
Total time to publicationNot yet verified
Timeline by article type
Original ResearchNot yet verified
Systematic Reviews & Meta-analysesNot yet verified
Clinical GuidelinesNot yet verified
Position PapersNot yet verified
Narrative ReviewsNot yet verified
EditorialsNot yet verified
Factors that may affect timeline
- Type and complexity of the study
- Speed of author response to reviewer comments
- Number of revision rounds
- Availability of expert reviewers
- Editorial and production workload
- Compliance with the journal's own guidelines
General tips for faster processing
- Confirm the manuscript fits the journal's scope before submitting
- Follow the author guidelines and formatting requirements closely
- Respond to reviewer comments completely and promptly
- Submit all required documents and declarations at the time of submission
The stage sequence and general tips above reflect typical academic-publishing practice, not data we've verified against Annals of Internal Medicine specifically. Any duration we haven't independently confirmed from the publisher reads as "not yet verified" rather than an estimate.
Indexing and abstracting services
MEDLINE (PubMed)
Scopus
Web of Sciencenot yet verified
Embasenot yet verified
DOAJnot yet verified
Google Scholarnot yet verified
EBSCOhostnot yet verified
ProQuestnot yet verified
OCLC WorldCatnot yet verified
Web of Science indexing not independently confirmed for this title
Citation metrics
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
Only 2024 is verified — we don't have a sourced multi-year CiteScore history for this journal, so earlier years are left blank rather than estimated.
Not yet verified
Requires a licensed Scopus/JCR/SCImago lookup we have not run for this title.
Not yet verified
Requires a licensed Scopus/JCR/SCImago lookup we have not run for this title.
Not yet verified
Requires a licensed Scopus/JCR/SCImago lookup we have not run for this title.
Journal quartile
CategoryQuartilePercentile
Medicine (general and internal medicine)Not yet verifiedNot yet verified
Scopus and Web of Science classify journals into their own category sets — we show the one subject category we've confirmed rather than listing categories we haven't checked.
Additional metrics
h-indexNot yet verified
Total citationsNot yet verified
Documents publishedNot yet verified
Citations per documentNot yet verified
CiteScore details (2024)
Citations 2021–2024Not yet verified
Documents 2021–2024Not yet verified
CiteScore 2024≈14.1*
Metric notes
- CiteScore here is an aggregate pulled from a third-party metrics site, not fetched from Scopus directly — confirm there before citing it.
- Impact Factor, SJR, SNIP, quartile, h-index and citation counts require a licensed Scopus/JCR/SCImago lookup we have not independently run for this title.
- Indexing status reflects only what we've checked against the publisher or the NLM Catalog — an item marked not-yet-verified may still index this journal.
Indexing and metric information is shown only where we've verified it directly, and may change — confirm current figures with the indexing services themselves.Search on Scopus Search on Journal Citation Reports
Publication charges and author-facing fees. American College of Physicians has not published a per-route APC schedule we could independently verify for Annals of Internal Medicine — every amount below is honestly unknown rather than estimated, not a $0 fee.
Publication charges (APC)
Publishing routeAmountNotes
Open access (Gold OA)Not disclosed by publisherPublication and immediate open access
Hybrid (optional OA)Not disclosed by publisherOptional open access, if offered — not confirmed for this title
Subscription (no OA)Not disclosed by publisherAccess via institutional subscription
Additional charges
ItemAmountNotes
Colour figuresNot disclosed by publisherCheck the journal's current policy
Page chargesNot disclosed by publisherNot confirmed either way for this title
Supplementary materialNot disclosed by publisherNot confirmed either way for this title
Check current fees
Publication-charge and open-access policy pages change independently of this profile.
Visit journal websiteLicence & copyright
- Publishing agreements and licence terms are set by the publisher and vary by publishing route.
- We have not independently verified Annals of Internal Medicine's specific licence (e.g. a named Creative Commons variant) — confirm on the journal website before relying on it.
Based on what American College of Physicians has publicly stated for Annals of Internal Medicine as of our last check — verify current fees and policy on the journal website before budgeting or submitting.
- Best fit for manuscripts in general internal medicine; broad internal-medicine readership, not a narrow subspecialty audience — not a narrow subspecialty-only readership.
- No downloadable manuscript template is published — formatting follows the journal's in-house style manual plus the relevant reporting-guideline checklist (CONSORT, STROBE, PRISMA, etc.)
- Formatting is article-type specific — see the Article types tab before drafting, rather than assuming one universal word limit.
- Reference style: National Library of Medicine style (Citing Medicine, 2nd ed.) — references are numbered in the order they first appear in the text; the journal's in-house style manual draws heavily on the AMA Manual of Style, 11th ed.
These notes are Pubrica's own read of the journal's published guidelines, not a claim about editorial preference or acceptance likelihood.
Verified against the journal's official author information (acpjournals.org/journal/aim/authors) and its published author-information guide.
Want the full narrative guide — worked examples, common mistakes, a complete reference list? Read the Academy formatting guide for this journal.