About NAM Perspectives
The National Academy of Medicine’s NAM Perspectives periodical provides a venue for leading health, medical, science, and policy experts to reflect on issues and opportunities important to the advancement of the NAM’s mission. NAM Perspectives’ ISSN is 2578-6865.
NAM Perspectives is a journal of the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) that features individually authored papers offering expert insight into urgent and emerging issues in health, medicine, biomedical science, and health policy. The journal supports the advancement of the NAM’s mission by providing a venue for timely, forward-thinking ideas from leaders across disciplines.
This page provides essential information about NAM Perspectives, including its publication formats, editorial process, and authorship policies.
The journal publishes three types of papers:
Commentaries are concise, op-ed style pieces (typically 1,500–2,500 words) that present a distinct viewpoint or call to action. Commentaries are reviewed by the NAM Perspectives Editorial Board and do not undergo external peer review. Submissions are limited to five authors.
Discussion Papers are in-depth, evidence-informed analyses (2,500–10,000 words) that explore complex challenges or opportunities and offer strategic options or frameworks. These papers are reviewed by the Editorial Board and undergo single-blind external peer review. There is no limit on the number of authors.
Discussion Proceedings summarize key themes and insights from NAM-hosted workshops and convenings. These papers are generated by members of the NAM community and are not open for outside submission. All Discussion Proceedings are approved by a designated member of the NAM Executive Team and undergo peer review.
All NAM Perspectives papers are individually authored and do not represent the official positions of the National Academy of Medicine, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, or the authors’ affiliated organizations.
NAM Perspectives Editorial Board Members
- Victor Dzau, MD – President, National Academy of Medicine
- Michael McGinnis, MD, MA, MPP – Executive Officer, National Academy of Medicine
- Kimber Bogard, PhD – Deputy Executive Officer for Programs, National Academy of Medicine
- Samantha Chao – Associate Executive Director, Health and Medicine Division, National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
- Gregg Margolis, PhD – Director, Fellowships Program, National Academy of Medicine
- Se Kim, PhD – Director, Membership and Governance, National Academy of Medicine
To contact NAM Perspectives staff, please email [email protected].
Information for Authors
NAM Perspectives welcomes submissions from individuals with relevant expertise in health, medicine, biomedical science, and related policy areas. Papers must be individually authored and written for an informed, non-specialist audience.
Authors are expected to:
- Maintain a clear, well-reasoned argument supported by evidence
- Ensure balance in both topic framing and authorship composition
- Avoid promotional language
Before submitting, authors must:
- Format their manuscript using official NAM Perspectives templates
- Complete and submit an ICMJE Conflict of Interest form for each author
- Confirm that all figures and tables are either original, in the public domain, or properly licensed for use
Detailed author guidelines, templates, and submission resources are available in the NAM Perspectives Author Toolkit. When ready, authors should submit their manuscript via Scholastica.
Submission and Review Process
All manuscripts submitted to NAM Perspectives undergo editorial and, when applicable, peer review to ensure clarity, integrity, and alignment with the journal’s purpose.
After a paper is submitted via Scholastica, NAM editorial staff conduct an initial red flag review, evaluating clarity of argument, appropriateness for the journal, writing quality, formatting, authorship balance, and potential conflicts of interest. Submissions that do not meet required standards or format guidelines will be returned for revision.
Depending on paper type, submissions then follow one of three editorial tracks:
Commentaries are reviewed and approved by the NAM Perspectives Editorial Board. They do not undergo peer review and move directly into copyediting once approved.
Discussion Papers are reviewed by the Editorial Board and must also undergo external, single-blind peer review. NAM staff select 2–4 expert reviewers based on topic relevance and disciplinary balance. Authors are required to respond to reviewer feedback before a final decision is made.
Discussion Proceedings are developed by members of the NAM community and must be approved by a designated member of the NAM Executive Team. These papers undergo external peer review by two reviewers—one of whom must have participated in the meeting being summarized.
All accepted papers are professionally copyedited, reviewed for potential plagiarism using iThenticate, and finalized in collaboration with the authors before publication.
Research Misconduct and Ethics
NAM Perspectives‘ approach to handling potential research misconduct closely mirrors the approach outlined by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
NAM Perspectives expects that all submissions are free of fabrication, falsification, and plagiarism as defined by the US Office of Research Integrity. In cases of suspected or alleged misconduct, NAM Perspectives follows the recommended procedures from COPE.
NAM Perspectives utilizes iThenticate to screen manuscripts for potential text duplication. NAM Perspectives will also evaluate and investigate issues that are brought to our direct attention and may request additional data from authors. NAM Perspectives may discuss these concerns with the Editorial Board or with the authors.
Authors must place direct quotes or excerpts in quotation marks and must identify the original source reference(s). For overlapping passages that aren’t verbatim, authors must include the original source reference(s).
Corrections and Retractions
Any concerns about the accuracy of manuscripts published by NAM Perspectives should be directed to [email protected]. The Managing Editor will alert the Editorial Board to these concerns. The Editorial Board maintains final decision-making power about editorial corrections or retractions.
Should the occasion arise that a manuscript published by NAM Perspectives requires correction or must be retracted, the web page that contains the HTML version of the manuscript and the PDF version of the manuscript will both be clearly marked as corrected or retracted.
For corrections, the corrections will be marked clearly, on the original web page where the manuscript was published, in track changes or explained narratively, depending on what allows for better readability of the manuscript.
For retractions, depending on the severity of the errors contained within the original manuscript, the Editorial Board will decide whether a full retraction, a retraction with replacement, or a retraction with a republication are necessary. In any case, the web page on which the original article was published will be clearly marked and, if warranted, clearly labeled with directions to access the new or replacement manuscript.
