The Journal of Student-Run Clinics

Mission

The Journal of Student-Run Clinics (ISSN 2474-9354) is a student-run, peer-reviewed publication with a specific focus on student-run clinics (SRCs). The primary goals are to spread inspiration for and increase communication regarding SRCs and best practices in patient care, student education, and practice management in such clinics through the regular showcasing of original media submitted by students and faculty actively involved in SRCs around the globe. Welcoming content from a wide range of topics, the publication is primed to highlight insights and innovations related to different aspects of SRCs, from clinic models to quality improvement to ethics and beyond. The content is free to access and there are no submission or publication fees. Finally, the Journal of Student-Run Clinics seeks to be a nexus of inter-clinic and inter-disciplinary engagement and collaboration through shared participation in the publishing process at all levels in associated institutions everywhere.  

To make our materials more accessible, it is also our priority to be indexed by popular searchable databases such as MEDLINE and PubMed Central once we achieve the publication volume and quality criteria established by the National Library of Medicine. As the Journal of Student-Run Clinics grows, we anticipate a natural progression to this stage.

The Journal of Student-Run Clinics is the official journal of the Society of Student-Run Free Clinics (SSRFC). The SSRFC is an international, interprofessional association that promotes collaboration between student-run free clinics through the sharing of ideas, resources, and data and contributes to the growth of new clinics. Although the SSRFC largely represents clinics that provide their services for free, both the Society and the Journal welcome participation from all student-run clinics.

Scope

A student-run clinic is loosely defined as a service-learning project organized and motivated by students that seeks to regularly provide health services of any discipline (i.e. medical, dental, physical therapy, pharmacy, veterinary, etc.) to the local community. The Journal of Student-Run Clinics considers submissions on diverse topics related to SRCs including but not limited to the following:

  • Demographic studies: studies regarding population needs assessment, disease prevalence, community mapping, and characteristic surveys of patients, students, or faculty are examples of this class of article.
  • Outcomes: this type of article describes the quantified results of a project or intervention, such as in patient care quality improvement, medical education, community impact, practice management, health economic impact, or other area. Even if projects do not have positive or practically significant outcomes, submission with a discussion of challenges and potential points of improvement is encouraged.
  • Descriptive Articles: this category may provide details of establishment, function, and evaluation of strengths and weaknesses of a clinic model, educational series, outreach project, interdisciplinary program, technology implementation, fundraising endeavor, or other SRC initiative.
  • Reviews and Meta-analyses and systematic or narrative reviews of literature pertaining to specific questions relevant to SRCs can be submitted for publication.
  • Perspectives Analyses of ethical/legal, social, business, or other perspectives on SRCs, their activities, the target population, participants, or other component will be considered for perspective articles.

Article Types

The Journal of Student-Run Clinics categorizes submissions into five general types:

  • Original studies
  • Descriptive reports
  • Literature reviews
  • Meta-analyses
  • Perspective articles

The level of peer review that each submission undergoes is dependent on the article type. 

Article Type    Student Review       Faculty Review   
Original study X X
Descriptive report X  X
Literature review X X
Meta-analysis X X
Perspective X  


Publication Process

Submissions are accepted continuously and the Journal of Student-Run Clinics publishes on a rolling basis. Submissions are categorized by article type to determine level of review. All articles undergo an initial screening by trained student reviewers at affiliated institutions using a structured review form to assess relevance and readability, as well as general methodological and ethical validity. The screening process is not designed to exclude works based on perceived impact, but rather to select for articles of potential interest to the greater SRC community. If a manuscript passes the initial screening and is of an article type that requires further review, it is sent for evaluation by faculty experts. Utilizing the comments and recommendations from the reviewers, the editorial board then classifies a submission for acceptance with or without revision or rejection.

Accepted manuscripts are published under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which allows for unrestricted sharing and use of all content with proper citation. 

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Lessons

  1. The Journal of Student-Run Clinics
  2. Introduction to Peer Review
  3. The Peer Review Process
  4. Guide Rubric: Relevance
  5. Guide Rubric: Validity
  6. Guide Rubric: Readability
  7. Reviewer Etiquette & Writing Comments
  8. Using the Online Reviewer Interface
  9. Summary & Reviewer Contract

Recommended for first time student reviewers: lessons 1 through 9
Recommended for first time faculty reviewers: lessons 1, 3, 7, 8, and 9