How unique or novel is your case? Before approaching the CCRI, please take the time to review the published literature on your topic to make sure that something similar has not already been published. You will be asked by the CCRI editorial committee to explain the scientific relevance of your case (i.e. what it adds to the current understanding of the disease or treatment). This justification should also be clearly explained in your article.  

If you need assistance conducting a  literature review, you can email CaseReports@msf.org for assistance. 

Once you have confirmed that you are reporting something truly novel in the literature, fill out the Concept Note template to tell the CCRI editorial committee more about your case and why it should be published. This process often  helps outline the article and will help committee members suggest a journal where the submission will be most competitive. A template of the Concept Note format can be found below: 

Case reporting concept note template

Please note: Once your Concept Note has been completed, please send it to CaseReports@msf.org along with a copy of the signed informed consent that was obtained from the patient.   

Once a concept has been accepted into the CCRI, you can either proceed directly to producing a manuscript, or meet with editorial staff to receive training resources, determine a journal to target, or even outline your article. Editors are available to meet with authors or to provide remote support, as needed. Once a draft is produced, it should be circulated to relevant MSF counterparts in the mission, cell, and Medical Department. Final drafts can then be submitted to CaseReports@msf.org for medical and copyediting. 

The CCRI editorial committee reviews all submissions to provide content and copyediting. Submissions are discussed monthly at an editorial meeting, and then feedback is provided.  

In most cases, authors will meet with the committee after review to discuss feedback and confirm the journal the article will be submitted to (in some cases, the CCRI editorial staff will contact journal editors with pre-submission inquiries on the authors’ behalf. Authors are encouraged to openly discuss their article throughout the review and revision process to make it as competitive and complete as possible before submission to a journal. 

Once a revised manuscript is ready for submission, it must be approved for publication by the medical director of the section whose health facility treated the patient. The CCRI can assist authors with submitting their manuscript for this approval, or support authors as they navigate the validation process themselves. 

Authors will submit to their target journal themselves, but CCRI staff are available to help troubleshoot issues with editorial managers, copyright, or other questions as needed. 

Congratulations on publishing your case report! The CCRI have a variety of ways they can help amplify a published case report and help disseminate across MSF and to key audiences. CCRI staff can also advise if there are conferences or other opportunities that would welcome novel case reporting from humanitarian settings.