AFP Photo Quiz Information for Authors
American Family Physician
Photo Quiz
Information for Authors
Photo Quizzes should be original articles that have not been published previously and are not under consideration for publication elsewhere. Articles that demonstrate a family medicine perspective on and approach to a common clinical condition are particularly desirable.
Authorship:
- Photo Quizzes by medical students are not considered for publication. It is required that resident physicians, if involved with the manuscript, work with an experienced attending physician who serves as first and corresponding author.
- For military authors, please include your medical degree in addition to your military rank.
- All authors must complete and sign author statement [1-page PDF file; About PDFs] and conflict-of-interest forms [2-page PDF file; About PDFs]. The forms may be faxed or scanned and e-mailed to Amber Huntzinger at the time of your submission (contact information follows this guideline). View more information about what constitutes a conflict of interest.
Images:
- Authors should submit original color photographs, slides, radiographs, or digital images that conform to the illustration guidelines outlined in this document.
- Figures should be original images. Do not obtain images from textbooks, journals, the Internet, etc. Acceptance of your Photo Quiz constitutes transfer of copyright.
- They must be in focus and clearly show the feature you describe for readers.
- If you add wording, arrows, etc., also provide a clean image for our production department to work with.
- Each figure should be submitted as a separate digital file, not embedded in a Word document.
- Photographs in which a patient is identifiable (i.e., the patient would be able to identify himself or herself) must be accompanied by a signed patient consent form [1-page PDF file; About PDFs] granting AFP permission to publish the photo. Please note that obscuring the eyes does not provide adequate anonymity.
Text:
The text of your Photo Quiz should include the following elements: 1) title, 2) introduction paragraph presenting the clinical scenario, 3) a question with one correct and three or four incorrect answers, 4) discussion of correct answer, 5) brief explanation of incorrect answers, and 6) a differential diagnosis table. The following are specific instructions for each element (View manuscript template [1-page Word file; About Downloading]):
- The Photo Quiz department intends to help our readers improve their clinical skills through learning about common clinical conditions with visual components. The primary avenues for this are images (e.g., a skin rash), radiographs, sonograms, and ECGs.
- Photo Quiz is not a case report. It uses case-based teaching to illustrate and educate on a common clinical topic. Two primary criteria for publishing a Photo Quiz are 1) the problem is commonly seen by practicing family physicians and 2) the image shows a typical example. Thus, we prefer images that show typical pathology or common variants rather than “once-in-a-lifetime” cases.
- The title should hint at the diagnosis without giving it away.
- The introduction paragraph presents the scenario that goes with the image. Include clinical information that would logically be included for the presenting complaint.
- The question should be one to four sentences in length and contain the appropriate information needed to answer the question using the image. The question can be arranged in any of the following formats:
- Reader chooses the correct diagnosis: “Based on the patient’s history and physical examination, which one of the following is the most likely diagnosis?"
- Your answer choices can include other physical findings, laboratory values, typical pathology, appropriate treatment, typical clinical course, appropriate treatment setting, etc: “Based on the patient’s history and physical examination, which one of the following (physical finding, laboratory value, etc.) is most likely?”
- Reader chooses the appropriate treatment for the condition: “Based on the patient’s history and physical examination, which one of the following treatment options is most appropriate?”
- Please provide one correct and three or four incorrect answer choices. Answers should come from an appropriate differential diagnosis for the condition you present.
- The discussion of the correct diagnosis should cover important key features of the diagnosis, including defining features, epidemiology, clinical findings, and treatment. Begin with a short explanation of why the photo makes the diagnosis correct. Please limit your discussion to 300–500 words.
- Follow your discussion with brief (one to two sentences) explanations of each incorrect answer, describing why they are incorrect or not typical of the photo.
- Create a “Selected Differential Diagnosis” table listing your answer choices and key characteristics of each (View table template [1-page Word file; About Downloading]). Because some clinical presentations may have more than four or five possible diagnoses, you may include other key diagnoses in your differential table. However, please limit this to the most common diagnoses because we do not need to list every possible differential.
- Please avoid discussing how you treated your particular patient or managed his or her disease course.
Submit Photo Quizzes to:
Amber Huntzinger, Manuscript Editor
ahuntzin@aafp.org
11400 Tomahawk Creek Parkway
Leawood, Kansas 66211
Phone: 800-274-2237, extension 5104
Fax: 913-906-6080
Amber Huntzinger, Manuscript Editor
ahuntzin@aafp.org
11400 Tomahawk Creek Parkway
Leawood, Kansas 66211
Phone: 800-274-2237, extension 5104
Fax: 913-906-6080
